2024 Presidential Election thread

[Edman85]

13 minutes ago, pfife said:

Not for me.  I make over 50% more now annually than I did in 2020.  Portfolio is ridiculous in a good way, now compared to then too.    

OTOH, My family is much more fractured than it was then though and it's directly related to politics so that sucks.    And I really wish Biden would have fixed the Trump Dam Breakages that happened in mid-Michigan in May 2020 and destroyed my hometown. 

I mean, the same is true for me in the first paragraph, but the fractured family and social circles are something I would pay all that money to amend.

[CMRivdogs]

I remember the weekend prior to the shutdown. We had planned a quick trip to Williamsburg to do the pre-drywall walk thru on our house. My wife called and said with everything happening she couldn't make the trip (drive), then booked me on a flight for the afternoon before and returning the next day.

I did the walk thru, faced timed with my wife and caught the flight home. DTW was a ghost town.

In a few ways we are better off than 3/15 or so. We figured my wife would need to retire since they didn't want folks to work remotely. It opened up several business related possibilities. She's consulting at her pre retirement job as well as picking up opportunities elsewhere. We're much happier here and closer to family.

I don't credit any of that to Trump  

[pfife]

9 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Ok Stan.  😃

Spent 10k on a tasty round steak too 

Edited March 6 by pfife

[mtutiger]

22 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

I mean, the same is true for me in the first paragraph, but the fractured family and social circles are something I would pay all that money to amend.

Some of it may just be getting older and being more guarded in discussing politics, but the Trump years (especially post-COVID) has kinda made discussing anything political with parts of my family similar to walking on nails.

I don't have too much of an issue avoiding those topics, I just don't care enough to engage anymore.... but it becomes difficult when it comes up organically with another family member and you have to diplomatically manage it in a way that doesn't cause anything to escalate or anything like that.

I just wish it could go back to the days when it wasn't like that.... when politics was a lower stakes topic that you chatted about for a few minutes before moving off onto football or baseball. And while we can all try to be the change we want to be in our own lives, in the bigger picture, I don't see it happening anytime soon.

Edited March 6 by mtutiger

[mtutiger]

Four years ago:

 

[chasfh]

26 minutes ago, mtutiger said:

Four years ago:

 

And all those guys standing around Trump, officials of some sort I suppose, and saying to themselves, yup, this is completely normal.

[Tiger337]

4 hours ago, oblong said:

I think there's room post Trump for the likes of Cheney/Kinzinger/Flake/Haley in the GOP.

Trump has a hold on the party, as long as he is the top dog. If he loses in 2024 then that's it.  He's done.  He has the trials to contend it and the GOP can finally move on.  The lackeys like Cruz and Graham know it's a fraud.  Trump losing will ease the pressure.  That's why Haley is smart to take the high road and be the option post Trump.

A 2028 without Trump or Biden is a lot different than what we have today.

I dont think Haley needs Donald Trump at all. She would beat Biden in my opinion head to head.

If Trump wins, his son or daughter will run in 2028.  

[1984Echoes]

5 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

....  I see some others assuming that Biden will win easily and I just don't see it.  

I do.

[1984Echoes]

5 hours ago, mtutiger said:

I could be proven wrong, or maybe it's likely that I am, but her statement today was interesting because it forwent an endorsement in favor of putting the onus on Trump to make a compelling pitch to her supporters, which he will likely need  in an election in order to win...

This was what I took from her statement as well.

To flesh that out:

1) In my opinion, she can now go "silent mode", and will. As stated, the onus is on TRUMP to pull back in moderate Republicans.

2) He won't be able to do it... which means he gets clobbered in November.

3) This allows Haley to IMMEDIATELY take the lead on "How do we fix this?"

4) I believe this is her game. To remake the next version of the Republican Party into "not-MAGA". That doesn't EXCLUDE them from the Republican Party. But there would now be a "repudiate Trump" reason (he gets clobbered again in November) to fix the GOP. And the agenda would no longer be to "bootlick Trump no matter what". She should be able to take some of Trump's talking points ("tough on the border") and redefine them as Republican and not Fascist. As long as Trump the "strongman" (hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!) is on the docket, it's all about his fascist cult and not about a two party system under American Constitutional Democracy.

5) She was pulling hard on Centrists (Republican or Indie), moderate Republicans (the few who remain), and right-leaning Indies, specifically. This is where she is going to start efforts on a "New Republican Party". I have no idea where this goes/ what kind of policy platform they might set/ whether MAGA can be roped in, or not... etc.

6) But demolish Trump in November first, and then see what happens.

I think this is her game plan.

[1984Echoes]

5 hours ago, oblong said:

I think there's room post Trump for the likes of Cheney/Kinzinger/Flake/Haley in the GOP.

Trump has a hold on the party, as long as he is the top dog. If he loses in 2024 then that's it.  He's done.  He has the trials to contend it and the GOP can finally move on.  The lackeys like Cruz and Graham know it's a fraud.  Trump losing will ease the pressure.  That's why Haley is smart to take the high road and be the option post Trump.

A 2028 without Trump or Biden is a lot different than what we have today.

I dont think Haley needs Donald Trump at all. She would beat Biden in my opinion head to head.

Yes this.

Haley game plan.

[Tigerbomb13]

2 hours ago, pfife said:

Not for me.  I make over 50% more now annually than I did in 2020.  Portfolio is ridiculous in a good way, now compared to then too.    

OTOH, My family is much more fractured than it was then though and it's directly related to politics so that sucks.    And I really wish Biden would have fixed the Trump Dam Breakages that happened in mid-Michigan in May 2020 and destroyed my hometown. 

Congrats on finally getting out of middle management! 😉 

Same on the fractured family. A lot of my cousins/aunts/uncles have gone full MAGA. I had to mute many of them on Facebook years ago after posting so many Covid/vaccine conspiracies. It wasn’t always like this. 

[1984Echoes]

5 hours ago, chasfh said:

... I think it could, I think she's trying, I bet Trump is at least listening, and who knows what will finally come from that.

I don't think she's trying (or don't want to THINK she's trying) until I hear it directly from her mouth.

I want to at least "think" that she has some integrity and is done with Trump. 

[1984Echoes]

5 hours ago, 1776 said:

Good question. I asked myself that question earlier today. My answer is, never say never. However, I just don’t foresee things changing. 

 

Vote for the Constitution of the United States.

You know what that means...

[1984Echoes]

4 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

... The Republican Party is gone and it isn't coming back. After Donald Trump in 2028 it will potentially be Don Jr., Eric, or an adjacent MAGA person leading the way in the party. The days on the Gipper, George H.W. Bush, **** Cheney, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, and company are over and are not returning. This is now firmly the party of MAGA-minded individuals like the Trump family, Steve Bannon, Ben Shapiro, Nick Fuentes, MTG, Matt Gaetz, Loren Bobert, Josh Hawley, and the like.

Not if they get their asses whipped every single election.

[Motor City Sonics]

37 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

Not if they get their asses whipped every single election.

All they need to do is win this one and that'll be it for elections.  

[Motor City Sonics]

Has Nikki's spine turned into a Slinky yet? 

[Edman85]

3 hours ago, mtutiger said:

Some of it may just be getting older and being more guarded in discussing politics, but the Trump years (especially post-COVID) has kinda made discussing anything political with parts of my family similar to walking on nails.

I don't have too much of an issue avoiding those topics, I just don't care enough to engage anymore.... but it becomes difficult when it comes up organically with another family member and you have to diplomatically manage it in a way that doesn't cause anything to escalate or anything like that.

I just wish it could go back to the days when it wasn't like that.... when politics was a lower stakes topic that you chatted about for a few minutes before moving off onto football or baseball. And while we can all try to be the change we want to be in our own lives, in the bigger picture, I don't see it happening anytime soon.

My immediate family hasn't been splintered. I have cousins/aunt/uncle that live close to me that have been splintered by it, particularly COVID, but we are mending those fences ever-so-slowly.

I've noticed it quite a bit when trying to put a golf foursome together. Granted, some people are just tougher to get on the course due to growing families, but there's 1-2 people in my former group who kinda took my place when I wasn't too willing to venture out in those times and they don't want to play with me, so I'm not really invited along, and when I initiate it's tough. Stuff like that...

This comment was from March 5, 2020.

My next seven weekends at this point were filled with trips, multiple social gatherings. That was the norm from roughly 2010 until 2020. It's kiiiiinda true now, actually, but the reason one of those weeks was shot was my grandmother's 100th birthday. She's gone now. I have another family member potentially dealing with dementia likely accelerated by shutdowns. Life isn't better now than it was four years ago, but it is better than three years ago.

[oblong]

3 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

If Trump wins, his son or daughter will run in 2028.  

They won’t have the same charisma. I think Ivanka is happy where she is with Jared and his Saudi money. The two sons are morons. No charm. Trump will fade fast if he loses.  He is 8 years past his peak and the GOP is having to defend banning IVF and forcing middle school girls carrying babies conceived by rape to term. 

[CMRivdogs]

I don't think the former governor/ambassador is actively involved with this. I don't think she'll quash it either
 

https://www.semafor.com/article/03/06/2024/pro-haley-super-pac-relaunches-as-haley-voters-for-biden?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

A super PAC that urged non-Republicans to cast primary votes for Nikki Haley is pivoting to November, urging Haley’s voters to support President Joe Biden. Starting today, Primary Pivot will become Haley Voters for Biden, and urge anyone who supported Haley in a swing state to stick with the president in November.

“This is an effort from people who have actually supported Nikki Haley to try to guide as many of them as possible toward the candidate that respects democracy, even if they may disagree with him politically,” said Primary Pivot co-founder Robert Schwartz.

In a statement, Primary Pivot said it would focus on Haley voters in states where they could be counted — nearly 300,000 in Michigan, and nearly 250,000 in North Carolina. The super PAC, which started by urging New Hampshire Democrats to temporarily switch their registrations, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to activate potential Haley voters in South Carolina and Super Tuesday states.

There's this

Quote

The New York Times spoke with dozens of Haley voters about what comes next. They found many fell into the “double hater” camp — disliking Trump, but also unenthusiastic or hostile towards Biden.

 

[gehringer_2]

17 minutes ago, oblong said:

They won’t have the same charisma. I think Ivanka is happy where she is with Jared and his Saudi money. The two sons are morons. No charm. Trump will fade fast if he loses.  He is 8 years past his peak and the GOP is having to defend banning IVF and forcing middle school girls carrying babies conceived by rape to term. 

Maduro didn't have Chavez's charisma either. Once you break the system it doesn't matter.

[Tiger337]

40 minutes ago, oblong said:

They won’t have the same charisma. I think Ivanka is happy where she is with Jared and his Saudi money. The two sons are morons. No charm. Trump will fade fast if he loses.  He is 8 years past his peak and the GOP is having to defend banning IVF and forcing middle school girls carrying babies conceived by rape to term. 

Yeah, I agree if he loses, he is done no matter how much he whines the next four years.  If he wins, he'll try to pass it on to one of his children.  I know his sons are morons.  Jr is the stupid version of his father...which is saying a lot.    

[oblong]

Trump’s whole schtick is salesmanship. The silly tweets. The nicknames. He knew how to reach into what a segment of aggrieved people were feeling.  He could speak the language they wanted to hear.   Nobody else can do that. The folks in rural areas with the trump hats and buttons and car flags are doing it for Donald.  Nobody else. 
 

the one person I think could pick up this idea and run with it is JD Vance. 

[Tiger337]

yes, Trump has no intellect, but he is a skilled salesman who knows how to manipulate people.  

It's just amazing to me how many people fall for his act.  

[mtutiger]

2 hours ago, Edman85 said:

My immediate family hasn't been splintered. I have cousins/aunt/uncle that live close to me that have been splintered by it, particularly COVID, but we are mending those fences ever-so-slowly.

I've noticed it quite a bit when trying to put a golf foursome together. Granted, some people are just tougher to get on the course due to growing families, but there's 1-2 people in my former group who kinda took my place when I wasn't too willing to venture out in those times and they don't want to play with me, so I'm not really invited along, and when I initiate it's tough. Stuff like that...

This comment was from March 5, 2020.

My next seven weekends at this point were filled with trips, multiple social gatherings. That was the norm from roughly 2010 until 2020. It's kiiiiinda true now, actually, but the reason one of those weeks was shot was my grandmother's 100th birthday. She's gone now. I have another family member potentially dealing with dementia likely accelerated by shutdowns. Life isn't better now than it was four years ago, but it is better than three years ago.

For the most part it hasn't affected friendships, but COVID made things rocky family wise, although I was lucky that (at least until last year) I was living pretty far away and it mostly manifested in phone calls.

The 2020 post election period, which happened in tangent with COVID, was an additional strain.... conversations would get steered in that direction and hearing about conspiracy theories about the TCF Center and Antrim County and whatnot (none of them made any sense) and I just didn't want to deal with it. I try my best to listen and reason and whatnot even in areas of disagreement, but when you can't even agree on basic facts, what's the point?

Overall, life is a lot better in my case as I've moved up in my career and make close to double what I made four years ago. Although I reckon that may not comport to everyone's experience.

[mtutiger]

1 hour ago, oblong said:

They won’t have the same charisma. I think Ivanka is happy where she is with Jared and his Saudi money. The two sons are morons. No charm. Trump will fade fast if he loses.  He is 8 years past his peak and the GOP is having to defend banning IVF and forcing middle school girls carrying babies conceived by rape to term. 

Uday and Qusay aren't Presidential material, it ain't happening.