Another handpicked candidate by Trump is about to flame out, and deservedly so. Don’t worry, I blast Harris too.
Republican Party Kamikazes
Here we go again. The Wall Street Journal comments on Republican Party Kamikazes
If you want to understand why Republicans keep losing elections they should win, events this week in North Carolina and Washington, D.C., are illustrative. The party keeps nominating candidates whose record makes them unelectable in competitive races, and too many candidates who happen to win in safe GOP seats have no interest in governing.
The meltdown of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the GOP nominee for Governor of North Carolina, is embarrassing to behold. His campaign was already in rough shape before CNN reported that he had once called himself a “black NAZI!” and defended slavery on a pornographic forum. The network said he posted the sexually explicit and graphic messages from 2008 to 2012 on “Nude Africa,” a pornographic site with a message board. CNN said he posted that he enjoyed watching transgender pornography, including “tranny on girl porn.”
Mr. Robinson published a video on Thursday denying that the words reported by CNN were his, and the state GOP is sticking with him. “Mark Robinson has categorically denied the allegations made by CNN but that won’t stop the Left from trying to demonize him via personal attacks,” the party said. If those aren’t Mr. Robinson’s words, he is the victim of a libelous smear, but CNN’s trail of internet evidence looks compelling.
One reason the story has resonated politically is that Mr. Robinson is already famous for his incendiary public declarations. He has said homosexuality and transgenderism are “filth.” He has campaigned against the separation of church and state and made polarizing statements on race and education. He is losing badly to Democrat Josh Stein, the state’s Attorney General, for the open Governor’s seat.
Yet GOP voters nominated Mr. Robinson anyway. It’s another example of Republicans falling for someone who claims to be a “fighter” but whose language and extreme positions make him toxic in a general election. Republicans did the same in nominating Doug Mastriano for Pennsylvania Governor in 2022. Donald Trump endorsed both men.
That cost the Harrisburg statehouse for another four years, and Mr. Robinson could depress turnout for the GOP in the Tar Heel State this year. That could hurt Donald Trump in a swing state he needs to defeat Kamala Harris and regain the White House.
The Republican kamikaze wing was also on display in the U.S. House this week. Fourteen Republicans joined Democrats to defeat Speaker Mike Johnson’s attempt to keep the government funded after the current budget expires at the end of this month.
Mr. Johnson had attached a voting-integrity provision to his six-month funding bill at the demand of the Freedom Caucus. But the SAVE Act had no chance of passing the Senate, and the GOP’s do-nothing wing refused to go along with Mr. Johnson in any case.
Mr. Johnson now must come up with a funding bill that can attract Democrats in the House if he wants to avoid a government shutdown. That means accommodating some of their terms, which means no policy reforms and a funding extension that runs right up to the Christmas holiday. That’s what Senate Democrats and the big spenders in both parties want so they can jam another omnibus spending blowout into law and skip town.
Compelling Evidence
Here is the Compelling Evidence the WSJ cited.
If your only rebuttal is “That’s CNN”, then you have no rebuttal.
How Trump Cost Republicans the Senate
Trump cost Republicans Senate seats in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona.
Trump also cost Pennsylvania the Governorship in 2022.
That’s not just my opinion, its also the opinion of the National Review in its take How Trump Cost Republicans the Senate
This is the first in a series of articles looking at Donald Trump’s impact on the Republican candidates chosen to run in the 2022 midterms.
When you look at the big Senate races, it is clear that Donald Trump blew his party’s chances at claiming the majority.
What follows is an examination of exactly how badly Trump harmed Republicans, beginning in this first installment with the big three Senate races in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona. All three were eminently … [Paywalled]
The National Review is a conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs.
The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr.
Judge of Character
Trump is one of the worst judges of character in history. If you disagree then please explain Trump’s cabinet.
Trump Administration Departures, Resignations and Firings
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly (2nd L top row) who U.S. President Donald Trump said will leave his job at the end of 2018 and former Trump administration appointees are seen in this combination photo, (top row L-R) Rex Tillerson, Kelly, Jeff Sessions, Michael Flynn, H.R. McMaster, Scott Pruitt, Tom Price, and Nikki Haley, (middle row L-R) Anthony Scaramucci, Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer, Gary Cohn, Hope Hicks, Rob Porter, and Omarosa Manigault, (bottom row L-R) David Shulkin, Rick Dearborn, Joe Hagin, Tom Bossert, Sebastian Gorka, Dina Powell, Marc Short, and Don McGahn, from Reuters files.
That Reuters List is from 2018. Many other followed.
Resigned Under Pressure
The Brookings Institute counts 24 who resigned under pressure and another 22 who simply resigned.
Trump constantly surrounded himself with people whose advice he refused to take.
Ultimately, Trump openly feuded with his own Vice President.
Top Staffers Quit Mark Robinson’s Campaign Following Claims of Racist, Antigay Posts
The Wall Street Journal reports Top Staffers Quit Mark Robinson’s Campaign Following Claims of Racist, Antigay Posts
Four senior staffers stepped down from North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s embattled gubernatorial campaign following accusations that the candidate posted racist and antigay views on the internet more than a decade ago.
Senior adviser Conrad Pogorzelski, campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, finance director Heather Whillier and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk quit the campaign Sunday, Robinson said in a statement.
Last week, the Republican candidate committed to stay in the governor’s race against state Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, denying he had made inflammatory comments on a pornography-website message board more than a decade ago.
“Let me reassure you, the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” he said in a video posted on X shortly before CNN published a story accusing him of using antisemitic and racist slurs.
Trump Sticks With Robinson
NBC reports Trump has no plan to pull his endorsement of Mark Robinson after alleged porn site scandal.
Donald Trump is facing calls both from his allies and from within his own campaign to pull his endorsement from scandal-plagued North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, according to four people familiar with the discussions.
In a statement, the Trump campaign did not directly address the underlying reporting about Robinson, whom the former president endorsed in March and has called “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
There are pockets of advisers within the Trump campaign who have quietly been urging him to withdraw his endorsement of Robinson, but so far those requests have fallen on deaf ears, according to a campaign official who, like others in this piece, was granted anonymity to speak about the matter freely.
Additionally, Republican members of the North Carolina congressional delegation, including Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis, and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, who is from North Carolina, planned to privately urge Trump to pull his endorsement of Robinson, according to a person familiar with the conversations.
But if Trump does end up pulling his support, it would be a break from what he has done in the past. He rarely backtracks on endorsements publicly because he has long believed doing so would make him look weak — which is a part of the reason he is unlikely to formally withdraw his endorsement of Robinson.
Recent polling has had Trump in a statistical dead heat with Vice President Kamala Harris in the state, at roughly 48%. That outperforms Robinson, who has been polling in the low 40s against Democrat Josh Stein, who has consistently had a lead in the race.
Even before Robinson’s alleged message board comments were unearthed, he was seen as an underdog in his own race and a potential drag on Trump because of past controversial comments. He has called same sex marriage “wickedness,” said women who get abortions are not “responsible enough to keep your skirt down” and mocked the victims of school shootings.
Robinson is not the only controversial candidate Trump has stood by.
In 2017, Trump backed the failed Alabama Senate bid of Roy Moore, who had been accused of sexual misconduct with young girls.
During the 2022 midterms, Trump endorsed North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s failed re-election bid after the freshman lawmaker had been embroiled in several scandals — including bringing a loaded handgun to an airport, being eyed by ethics watchdogs over suspicions about possible insider trading related to a meme cryptocurrency.
Trump also stood by Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker in 2022, even after a report that the staunchly anti-abortion candidate had paid for a woman’s abortion in 2009.
No Time to Waste
Trump is still continuing his disastrous debate.
He attacks Harris but can’t bring himself to focus on anything of consequence.
Karl Rove says Trump Acts as if He Has Time to Waste
Every presidential campaign wrestles with how to use its three biggest resources—money, issues and time. The last is the most precious. Campaigns can always raise more money or generate more issues. But they can never create more time.
This is why Kamala Harris’s campaign wisely isn’t responding to many of Donald Trump’s attacks. The Republican, unfortunately, has been wasting precious time going after her on inconsequential matters. The Biden-Harris record on inflation, the border and world events remains relatively unmentioned. He’s letting her skate.
Mr. Trump also spent days complaining Ms. Harris hadn’t gone through any primaries, making her selection undemocratic. He called it “the first ever ‘Coup’ in America” and whined it was “not fair.” Team Harris ignored him.
Mr. Trump also complained on and on that Ms. Harris not only hadn’t laid out her agenda; she didn’t even have a policy page on her website. When she put one up Sept. 8, the Trump campaign called it “a late-night, half-ass wish list to her website to solve the problems SHE helped create over the past four years.” Again, swing voters don’t appear to be upset about this issue. Many were busy getting their kids back to school.
Mr. Trump chewed up more valuable time whining that Ms. Harris had changed her positions on fracking, the Green New Deal, the abolition of private health insurance and other progressive nostrums. “Everything that she believed three years ago,” Mr. Trump grumbled in their debate, “is out the window.”
Ms. Harris has been content to let Mr. Trump fritter away the past eight weeks on these ridiculous attacks. Every day he focused on them—and on calling her a “Marxist, communist fascist” without concrete evidence—he neglected topics where he could inflict damage.
With less than seven weeks until Election Day—and voters in some states already receiving mail-in ballots—Mr. Trump better stop wasting time.
Will Mr. Trump manage to hit the bull’s-eye? Drilling down on real issues in a sustained way may not appeal to the former star and co-producer of “The Apprentice.” But if he doesn’t, and instead continues failing to spell out his second term agenda, swing voters may swing away from him.
Is Trump’s Message Wrong?
The problem in many cases isn’t that Trump’s message is wrong.
The problem is Trump keeps focusing on the wrong message, and even worse, in the wrong way.
Belittling people and preposterous name calling is not presidential. Nor will it will over a single independent voter.
It’s the wrong message because anyone still undecided will not be swayed by childish antics.
But name calling will win meaningless cheers from clueless supporters. And Trump can’t resist going after cheers.
I discussed this long ago.
March 1: Trump Would Rather Win Adoration From the Base Than Win the Election
Recently, Trumped picked J.D. Vance not because Vance was the person who could most help the ticket. Rather, Trump picked Vance because no one sucked up more.
Trump repeatedly picks people who suck up to him the most, then gets rid of them and calls them names if they ever disagree.
Please recall Trump appointed Chairman Powell. Then Trump publicly bashed Powell and now vows to dump him.
August 8: Trump Fires Arrows Missing the Target Badly, Will a Recession Save Him?
Trump’s strategy has gone from boring to shockingly bizarre and counterproductive. Does Trump think his opponent is Brian Kemp or Kamala Harris?
Let’s Now Blast Harris
August 6, 2024: How Progressive is Tim Walz, Kama Harris’ VP Running Mate?
A friend told me that Walz was not as much a Liberal Progressive as I thought. Let’s investigate.
August 16: Kamala Harris and Her Free Money, More Inflation Now Proposals (MIN)
Does anyone still have their Whip Inflation Now (WIN) buttons? If so, toss them in favor of MIN buttons, soon to be the new collectable.
August 24: Vote for Harris if You Want Radical Racial Indoctrination of Your Kids
What starts in California and Minnesota is guaranteed to not stay in California and Minnesota if you vote for Harris.
September 21: Harris Declines to Comment on Her Changing EV Position (Everything Else Too)
Let’s tune into the internet archive Wayback Machine to Kamala Harris’ Climate Plan for the People to see what she was saying about climate change and EVs.
Let’s Blast All of Them
September 23: Trump Proposes a Cap on Credit Card Interest, So Does AOC and Bernie
The competitive self-destruction of the Republican party as we once understood it is on full display today.
Some Hope for Trump
September 23: Take Heart Republicans, Mark Zandi Says Harris Will Win
Mark Zandi is the near-perfect contrarian indicator. I am wondering if anyone is better.
I don’t care about persons or parties. I care about policies.
As you might decipher, I am sick of this whole damn mess.
I wonder how many people sit this out. Will there be a smaller turnout than four years ago?
Sadly I agree with what you have written
Trump is running a terrible campaign
DJT will will NC by 5-10pts.
no amount of political “analysis” will change this.
BTW, the senate was lost by Lindsey Graham’s big mouth (idiotic statements pushing national abortion ban just days/weeks before midterm). any other analysis/conclusion is just plain wrong.
Trump should be walking away with this election. Two thirds of the country thinks it’s on the wrong track which presumably includes a significant of Harris supporters.
Mish,
This is not one of your best pieces. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this day? While thankful that you point out the one sided comments of the entrenched media and Karl Rove, all this piece does is give credence and more airtime to that claptrap non-sense. Democrats make bad choices also. Look at Dem Convicted Felon Mendez of NJ – gold bars as bribe payments and the house of cards falling around the Dem Stronghold in the NYC Mayors office. Nobody is perfect and bad decisions like that can be made by everyone.
This piece is word salad and an example of how your blog positions can be Mugwump or sit on both sides of the fence so in the end you can say “I told you so”. I’ve been reading your blog since about 2008 or 9 and it’s changing to rely on way too many long article citations without giving much of that good old “right on the money” insight.
Calling Jeff Green!!! And All EV Fan Boys
Is the EV Revolution Dead?
https://youtu.be/Zjuj1xB_Ze8
Our government (Federal, State, and Local) has violated the contract (the Constitution) with the citizenry.
That is the crux of the matter.
Names in elections ( like Harris or Trump) matter not. Put in any name from the two main political parties, and the contract remains unbearably broken.
An 1860 event may be at hand.
Just in time to be parodied for the new season premiere of Saturday Night Live.
“I only hire the best” – Trump
The best, after actually working with Trump, leave because of the man, or is fired because they don’t worship Trump.
If they are “Never Trumpers”, it’s from experience, so it’s not some TDS or other meme crap thrown about by MAGA alter boys.
My close relative served as protective duty to Trump for the early years of his admin (I met Trump personally a quite a few times backstage during his events), and as a hard right political person as he is, he even despises Trump as a simple horrible, ungrateful aristocrat. First-hand experience
Mind you, I voted for Trump the first time because what he said about Hillary was far, far worse, and don’t regret that vote at all.
His simps love that he craps on them. Makes them feel anointed. You can’t reason with that kind of person.
I wish you were wrong, but I know you’re right. I’m not optimistic anymore, and I know that whoever is elected on the one hand won’t have enough time to rectify the wrongs and on the other will fast track all the things that will make us an even more third world country. No winners.
LOL, a black Nazi and tranny porn enjoyer almost became NC governor. This country has turned into a clown show. And despite what all the Dem bots and shills are spamming on these threads, their party has no shortage of degenerate freaks so they oughtn’t be so mouthy.
Right on!👍
I love it. Remember that behavior if only normal when liberals do it. As long as you vote democrat you can do anything you want
I think the real issue is this one (from the article):
“Too many candidates … in safe … seats have no interest in governing.”
Mish in 2028
I’ll take Trump’s picks over Biden’s collection of faggots, trannies and pedophiles ANY DAY.
Once Seabass and Steve were shown the door, the illusion of swamp draining faded quickly.
Look the WSJ ain’t what it used to be. It suffers under TDS and does the regime media.
Did this guy say these things? Really? Really?
Did Donald blow himself up time and time again. YES. And are people thin skinned? YES. TDS journalists are a real and this is a type of October surprise.
KEEP this up and you will get what you sectretly wish for -the woman.
“Look the WSJ ain’t what it used to be. It suffers under TDS and does the regime media.”
Sure because the owners (same as Fox) Murdoch family are such crazy liberals… LOL at your completely ignorant comment
You’re justified in being sick of the whole damn mess. It’s possible we’ve reached a point that politics can’t fix.
Best thing that could happen in Nov is that Trump loses hard & him & the MAGA loony bin sail off into history.
There’s a long list of campaign mistakes made but there’s not much point discussing them because a normal candidate wouldn’t have made them in the first place.
Perfect comment and %100 correct. You will get a lots of down votes because most people here are just like Trump loonies.
The Dem candidate never got a vote in a primary and/or the convention. She has not stance that any on can resolve as she will be like Joe run by the three letter agencies. If she gets in that will be the last real election this country will have in my life time and maybe yours. You can vote national socialists of the German variety (National Socialist German Workers Party) or the American variety (democrat) but you can’t vote them out.
It’s very easy to play Monday Morning Quarterback. There will be nowhere to hide after 4 more years of whatever the platform represented by the Biden/Harris Political Straw Man Show, or front, or whatever it is.
God forbid 8 more years. Move south to Mexico? Move north to the Canadian Tundra and build an Earth Ship?
Trump is running an incredibly bad campaign.
One terrible strategic point: Why rush to have a presidential debate in Jun?
If you really nail your opponent so bad he has to withdrawal, no problem, his party can put someone else in at the coming convention.
If Trump could have controlled himself & waited until Sep, he would be in a better position now.
When criticizing DJT, anytime you resort to citing Never Trump institutions such as National Review and Karl Rove you’ve lost the argument. Might as well have ink-horned in the opinion of the Lincoln Project and invoked the ‘Very Fine People’ and ‘Suckers and Losers’ hoaxes
No, an argument isn’t “lost” citing weak sources of support. Mish’s argument stands on its own, and it reflects the ugly reality.
I think Mish woke up on the wrong side of the bed the day he threw this piece together
Good luck to Trumpy Drumfy. He is painful to listen to, just talks nonsense. 15 seconds induces brain numbness. But the Dems are not much better, just corporate propaganda. He is much more amusing.
For someone in another country.
The MAGA way seems to be to never admit you were wrong, no matter how ridiculous you look. JD is still trying to sell his Haitians are eating our cats myth.
Trump has great political instincts when it comes to the media, but his strategic IQ is very low. Besides supporting low quality candidates that can’t win in purple electorates, another recent example is putting the House speaker into a no-win situation with the SAVE act.
It is the House Speaker’s fault, for taking instructions from someone who is outside the government.
Trump isn’t running against Harris, he’s essentially running against himself. He’s his own worst enemy. The guy is hot mess. If Trump didn’t act like such a shithead this election cycle would have been over before it even began with a landslide win for Trump. Had the Democrats picked a better candidate to replace Joe Biden they would be way ahead in the polls. The country might be better off by randomly selecting the president based on a social security number lottery.
I’m not suprised by any of this though. The candidates are little more than caricature of the body politic. Get your popcorn ready.
He’s a shithead candidate for shitheads. If he weren’t nobody would pay any attention to him at all.
James Monroe is not available, but Jimmy Carter is.
So who do you suggest should choose the better candidate to lead GOP, Mitch McConnell, maybe Romney, George Bush #2 ?
Trump steps on a lot of toes and they squeal.
Harris chosen without any voting, now that’s democracy at play Democrat style.
At least Trump in his own way has reached out to a large swath of Working Americans who are now paying the price for DC Uniparty. For that alone he will be going back to Pennsylvania Avenue for Four years.
Better get the “election was stolen” cards out to console yourself, because the only place trump will be going is jail.
On Biden-Harris watch Three wars brewing around the Globe. Ukraine, Israel, South China Sea and Taiwan.
Lloyd Austin tells Biden to his face No long range missiles into Russia, bad idea, not going to happen.
Food and Shelter costs to the Moon.
Wide open borders with accompanying rise in Crime rates across the Nation.
But people like you are concerned Vanity fair Magazine might run a survey about hurt feelings.
Democrats these days are what Dr. Joeseph Goebbles called führer rhein (pure for the führer). After WWII nobody could find anyone who supported him, he just did it all by himself. Amazing isn’t it.
The Rhein is a river.
Add the Red Sea Naval War with the Iranians and I think there are 1 or 2 wars under way in Africa. All this erupted immediately after the current administration hacked their way into office. Why doesn’t anyone but Trump talk about this – and then everyone , including Mish, bashes Trump for it.
This is bazar. Orwellian, or more like Twilight Zoneish as this country is on the precipice of entering the Twilight of its journey.
“…So who do you suggest should choose the better candidate to lead GOP..”
Let me let you in on little secret.
TRUMP DOES NOT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU, AND NEITHER DOES HARRIS!!!
You and your vote is a means to an end for these charlatans. You’ve been hijacked.
Trump tells you exactly what you want to hear (the vitriolic BS) to get you all riled up. He’s a blowhard just as much as Harris is. You are the only one that will make you life better. My first suggestion would be to turn off the propaganda machine that is CNN, FOX, ABC, NBC, etc, and disconnect from the emerging internet based propaganda machine that is alt. media. You are being told half truths from all angles whose sole purpose is to elicit a strong emotional response. Edward Bernays would be so proud of the manipulation machine he birthed. I doubt you’re truly listening though, so carry on.
What you outline is the problem in America. You believe these people have no effect on your Life cause you are just too smart.
I do not care if Trump gives a Fuck about me as am not looking for another Great White Father in Washington.
What I do know is their is a bunch in DC that have proven they are no fucking good. For them it is only about power and control.
They are in the process of screwing over this Nation so they can have money and Power.
Out of them all the Hatred expressed towards one man tells me he represents what the DC crooks are afraid of. Exposure to the American people.
He is only one man but DC Denizens Fear him.
I want my country Back and will support anyone who will put the Screws to D.C. Devils.
The real battle is between wall st and main street, and wall st is winning and has been winning for a long time. You are a wall st guy, and a very good one at that. So am I, so the policies of wall st will not harm us, but is seriously harming main st. Your heart seems to be with main st, and the reason why you have frustration with Trump. Really, there is only very few who will truely fight with Trump. The downside of being with Trump are real and large. Its been like watching a full bee hive attacking one person.
I follow TN, GA, and Florida political happenings. Lived and worked in TN for 20+ years. GA is home and where we vote with a beach house in Florida so we follow Florida politics. For sure Herschel didn’t help but over the last several years the state Democratic Party has poured resources into rural GA. So instead of writing off rural areas and losing 70-30% they still lose but by 10 points less which allows for statewide victory on things like Senator.
Less than 24 hours after CNN (CIA News Network) runs the hit piece on Mark Robinson, Kampaign Kamala runs an ad tying Robinson to Trump. Koordination?
Trump picked and supported and still supports Robinson.
Who is to blame here?
I wrote a comment a while ago about my surprise not seeing a bunch of Trump or Harris poster boards or lawn signs or bumper stickers as I move about the city.
The comments on the last few political posts by Mish are very telling.
Gone are the die hard trumpers – where did they go?
Gone are the apologists for trump – where did they go?
Gone are the rabid ZH trolls that came in to bash dems – where did they go?
Where are the TDS-II people? The comment count is a key data point in understanding where this election is going just like the DJT ticker symbol. The enthusiasm and hope for trump is mostly gone.
What we do have now are defeatist comments like, “trump could have won…if only he….”
The election is over.
Counting chickens I see
Counting = data. Data = Analysis. Analysis = Forecast. Counting = Forecast. It’s math.
This post by MIsh is about NC and their candidate….and yet Trump is still ahead in NC despite this. The idea that this election is over is complete rubbish.
What’s rubbish or not will be settled in 41 days.
No, you said its over today. So its over. She won. You don’t need to wait. Print those Time magazines
If only it would be settled in 41 days. That requires everyone being able to accurately count ballots that were accurately recorded by legal voters, and then properly handled. But we seem to have widespread difficulties with every stage of the process.
Yet, I’m not seeing any signs for Harris, even in the mostly Democrat areas of my town here in Tennessee. It seems that everybody has Trump fatigue or Biden/Harris fatigue. Trump may win, but he doesn’t have great support. Harris may win, but she too has little support. Either way, we’re going to get mostly incompetent, petulant “leadership” with potentially disastrous global consequences along with a muddled set of domestic policies that will fail – again, either way – to address the economic and financial pitfalls we are facing as a nation. What we will get is more useless spending with concomitant siphoning by various favored constituencies, moralistic hectoring from people who have no morals, and a series of evasions of responsibility coupled with effusive condemnations of supposed “roadblocks” to the prosperity both claim to be able to deliver but won’t come near to accomplishing.
That’s because they’re usually stolen by butthurt trumpers that spend their spare time making bomb threats.
Out of curiosity, why do you want the Democrats to win? Based on your economic status (upper middle class with 6 figure income, millionaire) they offer you personally nothing on the upside and plenty of downside (increased taxes on stock gains and social security / welfare payments of which you constantly rail against here coupled with a lessened police presence making you and your family less safe and more likely to be targeted for robbery or worse)?
The Republicans might not be that much different than the Democrats but based on your economic status they offer some potential upside (tax breaks or no increases on stock gains less welfare/social security payments coupled with increased policing / border safety).
As someone of the same economic status as you, it’s an easy vote for Republicans (if I was able to vote as a Canadian citizen) just on the off chance they’ll do something beneficial for me because I know for certain the Democrats will do nothing for me (they are no longer the party of the middle class, they are the party of the poor/welfare/immigrant class).
Who said I wanted democrats to win? I am merely pointing out data points that show reality. If you interpret that as “I want democrats to win” then you’re not thinking or seeing clearly. This is what bias is all about and why I focus on data not politics or feelings or hyperbole.
I will repeat this again: I don’t give a rats a$$ which political clownery is in office. All I care about is me and my profits. I use those profits to take care of me and the people I care about. That’s it. History has shown that the stock market does do better under democrats than republicans, thats a data fact not a political opinion so there is that data point. Go back and look at stock market crashes and they all generally happen under republican presidents.
How many times have you heard me say kill/gut/change social security and medicare? Is that a democrat policy? It was a republican policy at one point and now repubs are knee deep in socialism handouts.
And your argument on tax policy is irrelevant because there are so many taxes: state sales taxes & fees, FICA, state income taxes, property taxes, etc. What republicans or democrats “give” with one hand they take with another. All these parties do is shift who pays taxes and both spend more money. Smart people know how to find the tax loop holes no matter who is in office and you should know this if you’re wealthy like me.
As for immigrants, you already know all the demographic projections if you’ve been paying attention. Without immigrants the economy collapses and your “wealth” evaporates. That’s not hyperbole, that is data fact but you likely can’t see it because of the bias (again another crippling filter that inhibits your ability to see things clearly).
What I truly want is to be left alone. I don’t want religious nonsense shoved down my throat by repubs any more than I want alphabet soup of letters being shoved down my throat by dems. I don’t care what other people believe or do as long as they don’t start imposing their crap on me.
This was once a libertarian blog but it has slowly started to creep into socialism too. It’s truly amazing to me that all roads, even libertarian ones, lead to socialism no matter what.
A vote for trump is a vote for socialism.
A vote for harris is a vote for socialism.
Stop pretending that it’s not the case especially after trump announces more socialism each passing day. Credit card price controls? 200% tariffs on Deere for moving to Mexico? Don’t tax social security or tips? Where is the tax revenue going to be made up?
Did that clarify it for you? Now tell me what is so appealing about socialist trump over socialist harris using data points and not feelings/hyperbole/bias?
Nether of these clowns wills save you, only you can do that.
Thanks PapaDave
I am NOT PapaDave but great minds do often think alike.
I’ve never really understood the “lessened police presence” argument you and others make when referencing the Presidential election. It’s a non sequitur. Neither Harris nor Trump have the power to affect police presence for your family or home, nor does Congress for that matter. Local police is paid for and decided by local politicians. So you can vote locally for whatever level of police (and accompanying taxes) you want, and still vote for a R or D Presidential candidate for an actual real personal reason.
It’s bias that inhibits the person from thinking clearly. I was going to write about that too but I didn’t want to write a 10 page long comment so thanks for covering it.
My city just voted for more police officers and they announced more taxes to pay for it. The executive branch in Washington DC was not involved in the process. Lol.
I think they are all still around. My theory is that political discourse has gotten so toxic that people keep thier mouths shut in public forums to avoid vitriol, an argument, or worse. Why lose a friend or neighbor over who you or they are going to vote for? Why risk your house or vehicle getting vandalized or possible physical harm to yourself from putting up a dumb political sign in your yard or sticker on your vehicle?
This is especially true in areas that lean heavily towards Harris or Trump. Who wants to be that one person to put up a contrarian sign in a sea of red or blue? I sure wouldn’t.
Oh and counting comments and yard signs is hardly scientific.
all counting is scientific but perhaps you don’t understand what science is?
the first step in science is observation.
here ya go.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/science-fair/steps-of-the-scientific-method
Lol….what a buffoon. In no way is counting yard signs in a couple of locations and comments in a few online echo chambers meaningful let alone informative. SMH….
What do lawn signs do? Plant some freaking hostas and take back the weekends.
The “enthusiasm and hope for Trump” was based on his running against Joe Biden.
The only time that Congress, Presidents and their ilk DEBATE ANYTHING is during a lead-up to Election Days…..after that, the issues are PERFECTLY ignored – – as if (the horror) they did not mean ANY of it.
That can’t be, can it, VOTERS?
Not exactly right. There are debates on the floor of Congress but their words are mostly ignored.
Reposted with edits:
What does anyone expect from Donald Trump. He has spent his life living in a tabloid bubble of his own making. His personal life was laden with scandal and sleaze, his business life with bankruptcies, lawsuits, hush money, and unsavory affiliations. How can anyone expect a person who has lived life with reckless disregard for the value of good character to be able to judge the character of others? Donald Trump chose Roy Cohn as his attorney and “life coach” before hiring his “fixer” Michael Cohn. When Trump has chosen to branch out beyond real estate, he chose the under-belly of industry, such as casinos and professional boxing. He tried for profit education and his venture was eventually shut down by a judge after being accused of fraud by students. Before his political career his social circle famously included the likes of Don King, a convicted and imprisoned felon, Jeffrey Epstein, the National Esquire’s David Pecker, Roger Stone, and various porn stars. No one should expect Donald Trump to have ability to be a good judge of character. in fact Trump has shown over 50+ years that he is drawn to people of very poor character.
This election was Trump’s to win. He could have pulled it off, if he had focused only on three issues: the economy/inflation, migration, and wars. No need to call names or attack cackling Kamala, let her compare her record with DJT’s.
I agree with you and I have been saying that to everyone around me the last month.
He just doesn’t know when to dial it down and focus. It is like he thinks he has to forever pander to the extreme Trump voters.
He doesn’t…….There are a lot of people, more so than the usual”undecided” voter or whatever the hell they are called. Those are the ones he has to reach.
The Democratic party has done so much damage to this country over the last 3 1/2 years the bill has not even been sent yet, don’t kid ourselves.
Violence in our cities, from non-citizens……..Can’t wait till Chicago goes up in flames one of these night with migrants and african american gangs. Then all the kids now enrolling in your local school that cant speak 2 words of english. Section 8 housing on the brink of bankruptcy. NYS/NY City is bankrupt. There is more to come.
Can the Trump haters stop talking about Trump as if that is solving our problems and can we start fixing what is wrong?
The problem is the Democrats think everything is fine. Apparently this is their plan.
I hate the democrats more than I will ever hate Trump
Mark Robinson is just the tip of the MAGA sleazeberg. “MLK on steroids” and “The cat is in the basement” will probably be the two most memorable phrases of the 2024 campaign.
Guess people missed RFK Jr. and Gabbard on the transition team choosing Trumps staff. With likelihood of RFK Jr. being chief of staff.
Nah that doesn’t matter what matters is what CNN says.
I surely did. Smart choices, thanks for sharing!
Trump taps RFK Jr., Gabbard for his transition team – POLITICO
monkeys do better
Given a pair of candidate photos, monkeys spent more time looking at the loser than the winner, and this gaze bias predicted not only binary election outcomes but also the candidates’ vote share […] Our findings endorse the idea that voters spontaneously respond to evolutionarily conserved visual cues to physical prowess and that voting behavior is shaped, in part, by ancestral adaptations shared with nonhuman primates.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.09.17.613526v1.abstract
What does anyone expect from Donald Trump. He has spent his life living in a tabloid bubble of his own making. His personal life was laden with scandal and sleaze, his business life with bankruptcies, lawsuits, hush money, and unsavory affiliations. How can anyone expect a person who has lived life with reckless disregard for the value of good character? Donald Trump chose Roy Cohn as his attorney and “life coach” before hiring his “fixer” Michael Cohn. When Trump has chosen to branch out beyond real estate, he chose the under-belly of industry, such as casinos and professional boxing. He tried for profit education and his venture was eventually shut down by a judge after being accused of fraud by students. Before his political career his social circle famously included the likes of Don King, a convicted and imprisoned felon, Jeffriy Epstein, the National Esquire’s David Pecker, Roger Stone, and verious porn stars. No one should expect Donald Trump to have ability to be a good judge of character. in fact Trump has shown over 50+ years that he is drawn to people of very poor character.
You posted that twice, you posted that twice.
Only because you cannot edit and I found typos.
Only because you cannot edit and he found typos.
with that resume if he ran as a democrat he would get elected, every time
I wonder how many people sit this out. Will there be a smaller turnout than four years ago?
I predict GOP voter turnout will be much lower than last presidential election and young (women mostly) will be much higher and vote democrat. Can’t wait to see the official numbers…in 41 days and 17 hours….
One problem the GOP has, evidenced by their nominating Trump again this year, is they are so eager to satisfy their rabid and ravenous base, that they forget about cross-aisle/broad appeal. It’s fine to have the perfect candidate for YOUR people, but unless you can appeal to other people who don’t share your core beliefs, your ceiling is artificially self-limiting. The best part of this for the Democrats is that the GOP lives in complete denial of this fact – at least at the national level. Who is the last GOP national candidate that was nominated who had broad appeal? 43? Think about that, and how hard most standard GOP members in 2024 would choke on the idea that Dubyah had “broad appeal” instead of calling him a Deep State tool.
I missed where Harris brings cross aisle appeal?
The party apparatus tried to foist Nikki Haley on its voters. Voters rejected her warmongering neocon ass. If they wanted endless war they’d vote for the democrats.
Only one time in the last 32 years has a Republican candidate for President won the popular vote, George W. Bush in 2004 won by 3 million votes and was riding his popularity and national unity caused by 9/11. Hillary Clinton received nearly 3 million more votes than Donald Trump in 2016 and Joe Biden received nearly 7 million more votes. The Republican Party is clearly the minority party nationally and has been for over 30 years.
Wow, Mish, that’s a hugely critical article of Trump. I can’t say that I agree with all if it, but I’m definitely looking forward to the equally damning article of Comrade Kamala. I won’t hold my breath that it will be anywhere near as critical.
We all know you hate Trump 10x more than Harris, the dumpster fire which is fine. It’s your website & opinions.
As for the 24 listed above, I’d say the vast majority of them are Never Trumpers and people he should have never hired in the first place. Bannon, Flynn and Gorka are about the only ones I see that would be worth their salt.
If Trump wins, he would be smart to have Don Jr as his Chief of Staff. Make Flynn the SecDef and then have someone like Gorka run the FBI. I could see Grenell heading up the CIA, and all of them would most certainly make it through four years and do a fantastic job.
I suggest you have a poor memory
I have blasted Harris and Biden more times than I can recall.
The onus is on you to write the equally critical article of Harris not me the reader to research how balanced you’re not that you claim to be.
We all know that if you were forced to vote, you’d cast a vote for Harris. Again, that’s fine. It’s your vote and your website. You’re just clearly part of the Never Trump crowd. Again, no worries but stop acting like you’re equally balanced. You’re not.
You could write a Doctorate research paper on how screwed up the Afghanistan withdrawal was, how bad illegal immigration is, how bad crime & drugs are getting, how likely it is that Harris will raise taxes and somehow find a way to create even larger annual deficits, use lawfare against political rivals, and how much Harris will trample on our 1A & 2A rights.
Again, there’s lots of reasons not to like Trump the person, but anyone who chooses Harris over him is not putting their country first. That’s legit!
There was nothing even close to as bad during Trump’s 4 years. All we heard from the MSM were lies & exaggerations that fueled the Dems bogus impeachment charges. Sure, he’s got the J6 stain on his term, but J6 was a setup
And don’t get me started about how “bad” it was to try to get Pence to send the votes back to the states.
That entire “potential” maneuver was clearly ambushed by Pelosi when within minutes of the vote, the Capital police stormed inside fleeing tear gas they shot, letting the protestors move into full on riot stage. It’s on video. The police abandon their positions, letting everything spiral out of control and then conveniently Pelosi calls the certification and then when they re-convened days later under different rules, Pence had lost any leverage.
More importantly, can anyone imagine how zonkers the Dems are going to be if somehow Trump pulls off a miracle and wins?
There’s video of Pelosi now three years later admitting that she was responsible for the whole thing. We’ve got dirtbag Chis Miller on record now that he disobeyed an order from Trump and simply scoffs it away by saying I didn’t think he was serious. The J6 True Timeline nails how orchestrated the whole thing was to get Trump and the craziness that’s ensued acting like it was an insurrection. Insurrections must be armed to have any sort of chance at success. The only person shot that day was Babbit by a crazed Capitol Police officer who got a promotion for murdering someone.
J6 was a peaceful protest that the Capitol Police & SecDef allowed to turn into a riot. Hundreds of people were let into the Capitol and have been found guilty of bogus felonies. 25 NG TROOPS WITH ONLY SIDE ARMS, lined up across the front of the steps behind the same metal fencing that was pushed past by the protestors would have kept the entire situation under control. The protestors would have respected the NG troops. That’s Legit!
The damage that the Dems have done to this country is incalculable and strengthens my argument that there’s now a permanent “System” that will keep them in power NO MATTER WHAT OR WHO RUNS AGAINST THEM.
But feel free to keep writing balanced hit pieces on Trump. Either in 50’ish days or Jan 2029, Trump is gone for good, but the legacy of the damage Harris has done and will continue to do will not be going away. It’s only going to get worse.
Go back 4 years on this site and you will see you are even more correct than you think!
“I only hire the best”
The best got a chance FIRST to actually work with him, and then became “Never Trumpers” after actually working with him through real-world experience, and not at the end of a keyboard.
Says a whole lot more than your “Never Trumper” accusation.
Need to change my election formula, Mike. Our choice was between Trump (minor amputation) and Harris (sepsis)…its now up to Trump being a hand amputation. Hopefully the bleeding is stanched. Don’t know if there’s a political antibiotic strong enough for Harris…so much JOY. /sarc
Have to break a few eggs to make an omelette
please, break ALL the eggs
The Clayton Bigsby of 2024. What’s not to like?
Everyone makes mistakes. It’s his time. He comes from a middle class family
A black nazi. See, it really is the big tent party.