still no one is addressing the fact that about 40% of voters nationally, and strong majorities in about 20 states are all in on the most horrific aspects of Trumpism.
This is not going away any time soon, regardless of whether Kasich and Romney and other so-called "sane" Republicans try to push back.
Many support "Trumpism" because they support Trump. It's a cult and I am not sure it has any staying power after Trump. Some of Trump's supporters voted for Obama and most of the rest voted for Romney.
What will happen to that 40% if people like Romney regain control of the Republican Party? Rather than lead his supporters Trump caters to their fears and insecurities. It's a major part of the tragedy.
Many support "Trumpism" because they support Trump. It's a cult and I am not sure it has any staying power after Trump. Some of Trump's supporters voted for Obama and most of the rest voted for Romney.
What will happen to that 40% if people like Romney regain control of the Republican Party? Rather than lead his supporters Trump caters to their fears and insecurities. It's a major part of the tragedy.
it's a cult of hatred for the libs and the "elites" and people of color and "SJWs" and everyone else they feel aggrieved toward. It's not going away. Besides, when Sr. goes away, these voters have Jr and Eric and Ivanka to step into the void.
Anyone who thinks Trump is some sort of historical aberration and normalcy is just ahead of us if he can be defeated is kidding themselves. Trumpism is the culmination of 50 years of GOP strategy to divide and conquer.
it's a cult of hatred for the libs and the "elites" and people of color and "SJWs" and everyone else they feel aggrieved toward. It's not going away. Besides, when Sr. goes away, these voters have Jr and Eric and Ivanka to step into the void.
Anyone who thinks Trump is some sort of historical aberration and normalcy is just ahead of us if he can be defeated is kidding themselves. Trumpism is the culmination of 50 years of GOP strategy to divide and conquer.
Republicans will want to defeat Dems at all costs. If insane doesn't work they will give sane a try. If Trump turns out to be a one termer, they will shift gears. The tea party cheered loud and long for Sarah Palin. File her name under "where are they now,"
Donny Jr. maybe, although I imagine he will just go kill a few endangered species with Eric.
Ivanka? She faded into the background when her Dad got really unpopular. Why would she bother?
I do not know whether the Republican Party will survive Trump. I never felt that way before but the issue of Race caused the demise of the Whigs and the birth of the Republican Party. The issue of Race may now doom the Republican Party.
Today's Republican Party is not the Party of Lincoln. That Republican Party effectively became the Democratic Party during the Civil Rights Era.
Republicans will want to defeat Dems at all costs. If insane doesn't work they will give sane a try. If Trump turns out to be a one termer, they will shift gears. The tea party cheered loud and long for Sarah Palin. File her name under "where are they now,"
Donny Jr. maybe, although I imagine he will just go kill a few endangered species with Eric.
Ivanka? She faded into the background when her Dad got really unpopular. Why would she bother?
And Palin was the same grievance politics as Trump. Even if I'm wrong about the Trump kids taking over, someone will. There is no sanity left among GOP primary voters. It's not credible to believe that after all these years of insane grievance politics, from Palin to the Tea Party to Trump, that sanity will suddenly rule in the Republican Party. The next person is going to look and sound saner than Trump, and try to code the racism a little more subtly. But it's going to be somebody just like Trump otherwise. Somebody like Tom Cotton comes to mind.
yeah, I don't see the R's coming down to earth any time in the near future. +90% approval among R's for the whole presidency. Besides the electorate, don't forget how elected R's have been completely in the tank for Trump.
And keep your eye on Matt Gaetz for 2024. The guy scares me.
In Joe Biden’s America your job is illegal, you are locked in your home, borders don’t exist, MS-13 lives next door and the police aren’t coming when the mob arrives.
It's no longer a question of whether an open QAnon supporter will appear on a @GOP presidential ticket - it's a question of when. https://t.co/zB0j1OfxTf
How is it legal to be standing there pointing guns at people? If I have a permit to carry and walk by that guy, I may just shoot him claiming I feared for my life, he was there pointing a gun at me.
This article is a bit thin and speculative, but the premise makes sense. Trump is all about appearances, image, never admitting he’s wrong, and always having the last word. Nyaah-nyaah stuff. Come October, if the writing is on the wall, I think he’d totally bail on the race, citing some modern-day bone spurs BS. This way he’d spare himself the personal humiliation of losing in a landslide and he can pretend he went out on his own terms. He’d save face, at least in his own mind, and he can hold his head high while pissing on everyone via Twitter for the rest of his life.
This article is a bit thin and speculative, but the premise makes sense. Trump is all about appearances, image, never admitting he’s wrong, and always having the last word. Nyaah-nyaah stuff. Come October, if the writing is on the wall, I think he’d totally bail on the race, citing some modern-day bone spurs BS. This way he’d spare himself the personal humiliation of losing in a landslide and he can pretend he went out on his own terms. He’d save face, at least in his own mind, and he can hold his head high while pissing on everyone via Twitter for the rest of his life.
whatever he decides, he's got about 8 weeks to make that call. Once he's nominated it becomes a 50 state nightmare of trying to replace him on the ballot.
This article is a bit thin and speculative, but the premise makes sense. Trump is all about appearances, image, never admitting he’s wrong, and always having the last word. Nyaah-nyaah stuff. Come October, if the writing is on the wall, I think he’d totally bail on the race, citing some modern-day bone spurs BS. This way he’d spare himself the personal humiliation of losing in a landslide and he can pretend he went out on his own terms. He’d save face, at least in his own mind, and he can hold his head high while pissing on everyone via Twitter for the rest of his life.
I think we're a long way off from that. I think he'll go with 'the election was rigged, it's all fake news, I'm not leaving' angle before he tries to back out. It's not like it's his money the campaign is spending, and I'm sure he'll find a way to steal some of it along the way.
This article is a bit thin and speculative, but the premise makes sense. Trump is all about appearances, image, never admitting he’s wrong, and always having the last word. Nyaah-nyaah stuff. Come October, if the writing is on the wall, I think he’d totally bail on the race, citing some modern-day bone spurs BS. This way he’d spare himself the personal humiliation of losing in a landslide and he can pretend he went out on his own terms. He’d save face, at least in his own mind, and he can hold his head high while pissing on everyone via Twitter for the rest of his life.
whatever he decides, he's got about 8 weeks to make that call. Once he's nominated it becomes a 50 state nightmare of trying to replace him on the ballot.
yeah, but it's not as if he could give a sh** about that. For me, I'd love to see the Repubs in disarray. It would be hilarious.
This article is a bit thin and speculative, but the premise makes sense. Trump is all about appearances, image, never admitting he’s wrong, and always having the last word. Nyaah-nyaah stuff. Come October, if the writing is on the wall, I think he’d totally bail on the race, citing some modern-day bone spurs BS. This way he’d spare himself the personal humiliation of losing in a landslide and he can pretend he went out on his own terms. He’d save face, at least in his own mind, and he can hold his head high while pissing on everyone via Twitter for the rest of his life.
I don't believe this for a second. Don't be fooled by this, we need to get out the vote and vote him out, and also make sure we capture the Senate.
If a replacement nominee is chosen with weeks to spare before Election Day, the states shouldn’t have much problem reprinting ballots listing the new presidential nominees.
But Trump and Clinton are already receiving votes, with absentee voting beginning last week in North Carolina. Early voting starts in some states on September 23. What if voters begin casting ballots before the presidential nominees get switched?
It turns out the party’s new candidate would essentially get the votes cast for the previous one. This is because when voters head to the polls, they’re not really voting for a presidential candidate. Instead, they’re voting to select the representative that will represent their state at the Electoral College, which in turn meets in December to officially elect the next American president. ...
This is why Clinton or Trump could theoretically still drop out at any point up to and including Election Day itself. It doesn’t even matter, technically, if the candidates’ names don’t appear on the ballots.
More details from Ballotpedia (again in 2016), addressing the wrinkle of states with restrictive elector laws:
Step 1: Trump formally resigns [from the race; this is 2016].
Step 2: The RNC calls a meeting and, by a majority vote of its membership, selects a new nominee. ...
The following parts of Step 3 would likely need to be done simultaneously:
Step 3a: Instead of seeking to replace Trump’s name on all 51 ballots with the new nominee, the RNC and state parties instruct Republican electors to vote for the new nominee in December. This step is trickier than it might seem since some electors may be loyal to the original nominee and refuse to vote for the replacement nominee. Some could step down and be replaced by alternate electors. ...
Step 3b: The RNC issues legal challenges to states with “faithless elector” laws dictating how electors must cast their votes. This would only need to happen in states that (a) the GOP ticket won and (b) have strict laws on the issue.
Step 3c: Inform voters that even though on the ballot it will say “Donald Trump” they will actually be voting to elect the new nominee. ...
Step 4: Assuming that (a) the RNC is successful in its legal challenges to states with “faithless elector” laws, (b) the replacement nominee wins enough states to secure 270 electoral votes, and (c) the RNC manages to convince Republican electors in those states to pledge to vote for the replacement nominee instead of Trump and the electors follow through with this pledge in December, the replacement nominee wins and becomes president.
Trump is not a quitter. He would rather go down in flames. Dictators are “fighters” in their own minds. They sincerely believe what they’re doing is the right thing, so they don’t give up that easily, unless they are physically removed.
Assuming that (a) the RNC is successful in its legal challenges to states with “faithless elector” laws, (b) the replacement nominee wins enough states to secure 270 electoral votes, and (c) the RNC manages to convince Republican electors in those states to pledge to vote for the replacement nominee instead of Trump and the electors follow through with this pledge in December, the replacement nominee wins and becomes president.
I wasn't referring to what would happen in the Electoral College, but replacing his name on the ballot. Presumably if Trump was so unpopular he dropped out, the RNC wouldn't want him on the ballot. And that's 50 different sets of laws to deal with.
Assuming that (a) the RNC is successful in its legal challenges to states with “faithless elector” laws, (b) the replacement nominee wins enough states to secure 270 electoral votes, and (c) the RNC manages to convince Republican electors in those states to pledge to vote for the replacement nominee instead of Trump and the electors follow through with this pledge in December, the replacement nominee wins and becomes president.
Piece of cake.
Well, we may find out about faithless electors today (my money is that the Constitution permits faithless electors).
I wasn't referring to what would happen in the Electoral College, but replacing his name on the ballot. Presumably if Trump was so unpopular he dropped out, the RNC wouldn't want him on the ballot. And that's 50 different sets of laws to deal with.
Presumably, provisional ballots in Wisconsin could still swing the election.
This article is a bit thin and speculative, but the premise makes sense. Trump is all about appearances, image, never admitting he’s wrong, and always having the last word. Nyaah-nyaah stuff. Come October, if the writing is on the wall, I think he’d totally bail on the race, citing some modern-day bone spurs BS. This way he’d spare himself the personal humiliation of losing in a landslide and he can pretend he went out on his own terms. He’d save face, at least in his own mind, and he can hold his head high while pissing on everyone via Twitter for the rest of his life.
whatever he decides, he's got about 8 weeks to make that call. Once he's nominated it becomes a 50 state nightmare of trying to replace him on the ballot.
yeah, but it's not as if he could give a sh** about that.
This. Trump’s first, second and third consideration is himself, himself and himself. If the sh*t hits the fan and come October trump is trailing Biden by 15-20 and Republicans are jumping ship or at least distancing themselves from the orange *** clown, I don’t think he’d hesitate to bail to try to save face personally. He won’t give a crap about the wreckage he leaves behind.
This is admittedly an unlikely scenario , but not totally far-fetched if things keep going the way they’ve been going recently.
This. Trump’s first, second and third consideration is himself, himself and himself. If the sh*t hits the fan and come October trump is trailing Biden by 15-20 and Republicans are jumping ship or at least distancing themselves from the orange *** clown, I don’t think he’d hesitate to bail to try to save face personally. He won’t give a crap about the wreckage he leaves behind.
This is admittedly an unlikely scenario , but not totally far-fetched if things keep going the way they’ve been going recently.
agree that it's an extremely unlikely scenario. The most likely scenario IMHO remains Trump screeching and tweeting about "rigged" polls and a "rigged" election, trying to pave the way for lawsuits in dozens of states, and perhaps even incite violence across the country. This campaign is almost certainly going to be a kind of ugliness we haven't seen before.
But if he were to withdraw I would also think it would also be Trump's personal consideration not to appear on the ballot.
“... the power to appoint an elector (in any manner) includes power to condition his appointment, absent some other constitutional constraint. A State can require, for example, that an elector live in the State or qualify as a regular voter during the relevant time period. Or more substantively, a State can insist (as Ray allowed) that the elector pledge to cast his Electoral College ballot for his party’s presidential nominee, thus tracking the State’s popular vote. Or—so long as nothing else in the Constitution poses an obstacle—a State can add an associated condition of appointment: It can demand that the elector actually live up to his pledge, on pain of penalty. Which is to say that the State’s appointment power, barring some outside constraint, enables the enforcement of a pledge like Washington’s.
”Nothing in the Constitution expressly prohibits States from taking away presidential electors’ voting discretion as Washington does.”
But if he were to withdraw I would also think it would also be Trump's personal consideration not to appear on the ballot.
I doubt that that would ever happen. He must know that he is exposed to jail time once he gets out of the WH. For one thing, he already is an un-indicted co-conspirator to Michael Cohen, which typically implies similar sentencing for both, and Michael Cohen went to jail for it. So he has some very real personal reasons to not ever leave the WH voluntarily.
KAGAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and GINSBURG, BREYER, ALITO, SOTOMAYOR, GORSUCH, and KAVANAUGH, JJ., joined. THOMAS, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which GORSUCH, J., joined as to Part II.
ETA: never mind. I saw somewhere else that said it was an 8-0 decision. I'm confused.
The Washington Post describes how the lunacy of the Trumpified Republican Party is playing out:
President Trump’s relentless attacks on the security of mail voting are driving suspicion among GOP voters toward absentee ballots — a dynamic alarming Republican strategists, who say it could undercut their own candidates, including Trump himself.
….The growing Republican antagonism toward voting by mail comes even as the Trump campaign is launching a major absentee-ballot program in every competitive state, according to multiple campaign advisers — a delicate balancing act, considering what one strategist described as the president’s “imprecision” on the subject. “It’s very concerning for Republicans,” said a top party operative, who like several others interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid drawing Trump’s ire. “I guarantee our Republican Senate candidates are having it drilled into them that they cannot accept this. They have to have sophisticated mail programs. If we don’t adapt, we won’t win.”
It’s hard to overstate just how crazy this is. For years, Republicans have been on a cynical rampage against (virtually nonexistent) voter fraud, but there’s always been one thing they didn’t attack: vote-by-mail. Why? Because absentee voting is used mostly by older, whiter voters who vote Republican. The voter fraud cops were interested only in making it harder to vote in person, which is used more by younger, non-white voters who are likely to vote for Democrats.
In other words, Republican strategists know perfectly well which kinds of voting favor which candidates. And the answer is that voting by mail favors Republicans. But Donald Trump didn’t know that because Donald Trump doesn’t know much of anything. So when he saw Democrats demanding vote-by-mail during the initial COVID-19 outbreak, he just naturally assumed it was because vote-by-mail must be good for Democrats. It never occurred to him that this might have been nothing more than a genuine concern for the health and safety of voters. After all, that kind of thing would never occur to him.
So now Republicans are stuck. It’s in their best interest to encourage vote-by-mail, but Trump—and therefore Fox News, talk radio, the Wall Street Journal, etc.—are busily undermining confidence in it. It’s hard to imagine a mess they deserve more.
I hope this catches on: