rstrong wrote:If the Republican leader chosen in a landslide by Republican delegates in the Republican primaries is so alien to your values, then perhaps you should consider not calling yourself a Republican.
As many of them did after the embarrassment of lil bush, the problem is that they just quit calling themselves repugs while continuing to support all things repug, but now being able to deny they had anything to do with bush.
If Trump wins, they simply say that he is a liberal, that they are independents and they will vote as always.
They never own their mistakes.
Trump: “We had the safest border in the history of our country - or at least recorded history. I guess maybe a thousand years ago it was even better.”
billy.pilgrim wrote:As many of them did after the embarrassment of lil bush, the problem is that they just quit calling themselves repugs while continuing to support all things repug,
That works for voters. Not so much for those running for office as Republicans.
Vrede too wrote:Much of what America does is alien to my values. Should I consider not calling myself an American instead of working to get it to better reflect my values?
O Really wrote:... If a few of them get treated unfairly or less than totally honestly ...
Dishonestly is the issue. My politics aren't as valueless, cynical and Machiavellian.
Trash the Trumpettes for being Trumpettes, the silent for being cowards and the rest for being GOP.
You want honesty? How's this: National and most of state politics is a team sport. You don't get to join the team and then decide you can vote any way you want. Of course you can, technically, but if you do you'll be marginalized to the point of further worthlessness. If you want to get anything done, no matter how high-principled you are, you've got to support at least most of the party's efforts. So if you say you're a Republican, you are going to support what they're doing - including supporting Trump's craziness.
Vrede too wrote:Much of what America does is alien to my values. Should I consider not calling myself an American instead of working to get it to better reflect my values?
Being an "American" is a matter of legal citizenship. Being a "Republican" is a voluntary state easily changed. But I'd agree that Trump won the nomination in a landslide. The object in the primaries is to collect delegates, not necessarily popular votes. In a clown car as big as the one the Republicans drove in, it would be difficult for any candidate to get a "landslide" of popular votes in most states. but he racked up delegates in true landslide style, without even much serious competition.
I wouldn't really care much if rstrong and you hadn't lauded it. However, I do cringe when I see Dem ads that are underhanded. One team should strive to be better than the other.
O Really wrote:... Being a "Republican" is a voluntary state easily changed....
True, but that misses the point that one can oppose certain party members and honorably work to make the party better without having to quit the party. If Gore had won and then croaked, should all progressive Dems have been individually tainted with Joseph Lieberman?
If I were making the rules, I'd require all political ads to be about the candidate running it, and ban mention of the opposition. If a candidate was caught in violation, s/he'd be required to pay for positive ads for the competition. It sunk in on me the other day that there's no wonder politicians in general are so hated. Every election season it's constant bashing - painting everyone as crooked, lying, incompetent and worthless. All those epithets don't just melt away after the election. I like Deborah Ross, but if Burr wins, there will still be a lot of people who think he's on the insurance company dole, never goes to meetings, and just walks around being sleazy. If Ross wins, a lot of people will be sure she tries to protect sexual offenders. There's always been mud-throwing, but it's gotten out of hand.
O Really wrote:... if Burr wins, there will still be a lot of people who think he's on the insurance company dole, never goes to meetings, and just walks around being sleazy....
I've always thought that.
That said, I haven't liked most of Ross' ads that much. Too much about income, donors, hearings and "insider" - things that the GOP might say about an incumbent Dem - and too little about what makes her and Dem policy better.
Yeah that's pretty mild and boring stuff for a 2016 campaign. I'd have hung Trump around his neck. Says Burr... "There's not a separation between me and Donald Trump." Play it again, Sam. Play it with Trump grabbing pussy. Play it with any other of Trump's many insults. Play it on every TV show with either an educated or female demo. Kick him down, don't let him get up.
It's weird, we're in a state where the Dems aren't scorching Trumpettes for being Trumpettes discussing Dems that are scorching non-Trumpettes for being Trumpettes.
Well, I understand that associating a down-ballot candidate with the Presidential candidate incurs some risks - and if the other side's Presidential candidate wins, you'll probably end up losing. But in Ross' case, it doesn't matter if she pisses off actual Trump supporters because they're never going to vote for her anyway. But there are a lot of people who don't like Trump and might just go for her if Burr is too closely associated. But mainly she'd want to make sure that anybody who votes for Hillary will also vote for her. If they do, she wins.
McCrory, too. If I were Cooper I'd be saying 'Trump, Duke, education cuts, court decisions, coal ash, voting rights, Trump'. But no, it's all about the crime lab.
In particular, we do not endorse Hillary Clinton’s exemplary leadership during her 30 years in the public eye. We do not support her impressive commitment to serving and improving this country—a commitment to which she has dedicated her entire professional career. Because of unambiguous tax law, we do not encourage you to support the most qualified presidential candidate in modern American history, nor do we encourage all citizens to shatter the glass ceiling once and for all by electing Secretary Clinton on November 8.
Several prominent Republicans cannot bring themselves to publicly endorse Donald Trump, but have said they will still vote for him anyway.
These Republican members of the U.S. Congress — from both the Senate and the House of Representatives — have strongly condemned Trump for his statements about women and some publicly withdrew their support. Nevertheless, they say they will still vote for the reality television star because they fear that a Hillary Clinton presidency would be even worse....
So if Hillary gets elected, there will be a President without a Congressional majority in the House, maybe a Senate majority for a couple of years, who will propose things and make decisions pretty much in line with generic centralist or if we're lucky center-left politics, and those proposals can be over-ridden pretty much at will, just as they did Obama. In their view, that's "worse" than an uncontrollable Trump, creating international and internal mayhem over issues that aren't ever going to happen. Right. Idiots.
O Really wrote:So if Hillary gets elected, there will be a President without a Congressional majority in the House ...
I'm not even getting my hopes up and I can't find where Nate Silver is making a prediction, but I just got this email from Campaign for America's Future:
Hell yes, we can!
The most recent polls by NBC, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Politics, The Washington Post and Reuters show voters prefer that Democrats take control of both the House and the Senate.
But it gets better. The latest from The New York Times indicates that Democrats could overcome enough gerrymandered districts to take the 30 seats needed to send Paul Ryan back to the minority.
This runs counter to a mountain of conventional wisdom about the mood of the country.
Could it be?
The email continues:
Americans are ready to reject the cynicism and corruption of the Republican party. The question is, what will we offer in its place?
Are we ready to do something about the 27 million Americans (including 2.6 million children) who are still uninsured?
Are we willing to take on the corporations and face up to the reality of global warming?
Are we able to build a governing majority that can create good jobs, close corporate loopholes, and make paid family leave a right, not a privilege?
Hell yes! ...
I'm ready, but I'm not sure that Hillary and congressional Dems are.
I take it the mail wanted a contribution?
Anything's possible in theory, but unless Hillary gets up to about 10+ points up on election day and disheartened and disgusted Republicans stay away from the polls in droves, there are just too many bought and paid for gerrymandered seats to overcome.
