stevenkesslar

Of course not. You completely dismiss what younger American Jews say. Let alone Palestinians. Duh! The very fact that they are Palestinian disqualifies them from expressing concerns about the mass slaughter of their women and children. No, there is absolutely nothing genocidal about that. You could give a flying fuck what younger American Jews think. You are close-minded, and clearly expressing your close-minded pro-Genocide views right now. You have no interest whatsoever in what half of younger American Jews think. You just want to cling to your close-minded belief in genocide. And attack anyone who does not support your opinion as "Jew-hating". Including about half of younger American Jews. Why do you think half of younger American Jews are "Jew-hating"? Because I think you are wrong. I think they are deeply offended when they hear your guy, Trump, call people VERMIN. Because they are 1000 % clear about who said that word in the 20th Century, and what it meant for Jews. But instead of being honest and just saying, "Yes. I am for genocide against Palestinians," you do a very poor and cheap impersonation of Roy Cohn. Turn my words around and accuse me of being anti-Semitic when I'm attacking anti-Semitic language. It fits. You've always been the cheap, close-minded clown anyway. Why do you attack about half of younger American Jews who express these views? It's all right here. A nice 39 page analysis of American Jewish opinion by the Jewish Electoral Institute. Which you, a pro-Genocide Jew, can't be bothered reading. You are close minded and hateful. You do not want your support for genocide challenged by anyone. Why are you so cruel? Why don't you speak out against Trump calling people VERMIN? When he said it, he was not attacking the use of the word. He was using the word to say PEOPLE are VERMIN. Why do you support Trump using what is arguably the most anti-Semitic word in history against people? NO! NO! NO! I WILL NOT READ FACTS! I WANT TO BE CLOSE MINDED! WHEN BIBI THE BABY KILLER IS UNSHACKLED AND KILLS MANY MORE PALESTIANIAN WOMEN AND CHILDREN, IT IS ALWAYS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. I AM ABSOLUTELY COMMITTED TO BEING A PRO-GENOCIDE JEW!

What's that based on? According to close to half of younger American Jews, you, my pro-Genocide Jew, are supporting policies of Israel that are RACIST an/or APARTHEID and/or GENOCIDE. This is not my opinion, my dear pro-Genocide Jew. This is what American Jews are saying, through the work of the Jewish Electoral Institute. Are they "Jew-hating" when they say YOU support genocide? Do you think almost half of younger American Jews are "Jew-hating" or anti-Semitic? What is your definition of "Jew-hating"? Someone who does not want to see Bibi The Baby Killer up his game and slaughter hundreds of thousands of Palestinian women and children, with Trump and Huckabee being silently complicit? You clearly and repeatedly express pro-Genocide views every time you open your mouth here about Palestinians. Any concern about the tens of thousands women and children killed by Bibi The Baby Killer doesn't count because it is stated by Palestinians (and the UN, and many nations and agencies). The way you personally try hard not to kill Palestinian women and children is to dismiss anything anyone says about them. Including up to half of younger American Jews. You can kill as many Palestinian women and children as you want, in your view. Because they are Palestinian. And if Bibi The Baby Killer killed them, it obviously needed to be done. That's genocide, according to over 1 in 3 younger American Jews. Others call it racism, or apartheid. Which do you think it is? Or do you think up to half of younger American Jews are "Jew-hating"? Anti-Semitic? What are they when they decry your genocidal fever dreams?

Sorry that Secretary Pete has to go. But at least he will replaced by someone who actually seems to stand for something bigger than having sex with children, drugs, and rolling over the Department of Justice. I'm all for Republicans touting family values, including LGBTQ families like Secretary Pete's. It's not a good look when they turn out to be sex traffickers who vote against child tax credits to help working class families. Trump taps former lawmaker and reality TV star for Transportation Duffy has nine chjildren. He ended his Congressional career after four terms because his wife had a difficult pregnancy, with a fetus the doctors could tell had a hole in its heart that would need surgery right after birth. The child, a girl who was born with Downs Syndrome, is fine now. When he gave up his seat Duffy said he loves politics, but he loves his family more. It makes sense to pick a respected House Republican, since so many of the infrastructure projects involve politics in red states and red districts. Hopefully this signals we don't have to have infrastructure wars and CHIPS repeal wars like the Trump 1.0 "kill Obamacare" wars. This is the kind of conservative Republican Administration that would deserve, and easily earn, respect. Not the child sex guy.

Well, you got those two right. 😉 And there is no doubt that Hegseth will drive us back to looking at Gays in the military as suspect. He probably can't bring back Don't Ask Don't Tell. But he'll make women and The Gays feel less welcome. Trump’s Pick For Defense Sec Spent His College Years Crusading Against ‘Glorification of Diversity’ And ‘The Homosexual Lifestyle’ Why do you keep praising people who trash The Gays, @EmmetKruelty? I hope Democrats drop the stuff about his sexual harassment deal, at least as a reason not to confirm him. Unless the woman steps forward and asks to be heard. Right wing Bozo Mollie Hemingway is making an interesting argument about Gaetz. She is saying no one accusing him can be trusted. One is Joel Greenberg, the politician/pimp who was sent off to jail. And is completely untrustworthy, Hemingway says. The other is the woman Greenberg pimped out to Gaetz, allegedly. And she is essentially a "prostitute". Egads! It's not a bad argument. But if Greenberg is a slimebag who is untrustworthy, what does that make his close friend Matt Gaetz? One Florida state legislator described what they both stand for this way: In the case of Gaetz, there is a woman who says Gaetz had sex with her as a child. She has told he story to the ethics committee. She deserves a hearing. I think it is worth talking about why people who voted for Trump to get lower prices are instead going to get lower standards. Including trying to ram through a sex trafficking sleazeball to be the Attorney General. By comparsion, Hegseth seems like a Boy Scout. Or at least he looks like one on TV. Which is obviously what Trump cares about. What I'd like to find out is why a guy who was found unqualified for much lower positions in the Department of Defense by Trump 1.0 in 2016 is now ready to run the massive department? Is that what a stint at Fox News prepares you for? What I learned after helping vet Pete Hegseth for the RNC in 2016 What a shocker!

Thanks for posting that video. It should be clear I read and watch a lot of right-wing media. I am a political junkie, so I at least want to hear what the other side is saying. Cenk is of course left-wing. But he is one person I rarely listen to. I did listen to his debate with Lichtman, in which Lichtman creamed him. So of course Cenk is the kind of guy who wants to gloat, just like @EmmetKruelty does. But even now, he is just dead wrong. He can't trash The Keys without understanding what they say. Even now, Cenk fails to grasp the most basic facts. Cenk's point is that Lichtman was wrong in 2024 because incumbency didn't help Harris. Apparently, Cenk is unaware that Lichtman took the incumbency key away from Harris precisely because she is not the incumbent. So Cenk's argument is misinformed. Lichtman turned the incumbency against Harris. So it could not be a reason Lichtman was wrong in saying she would win. Like he so often is, Cenk is just spreading misinformation, without intending to. He never does his homework. It would be interesting to hear which other keys Cenk things Lichtman should have turned against Harris. But instead Cenk just wants to gloat. I'll admit that I took Lichtman and Selzer seriously. Was I wrong to? I actually don't think I was. They are widely respected experts. Everyone took Selzer seriously this time. And in 2020. And in 2016. Everyone took Lichtman seriously in 2016, when he said Trump was going to win. Including Trump. Do experts have to be right 100 % of the time? No. But this one is a big one. Selzer was smart to be humble and quit while she is mostly ahead. Lichtman is digger his hole deeper. At this point Lichtman is doing something particularly unhelpful. I don't think it is helpful for him to suggest that maybe Latino men voted for Trump because of disinformation. I'd rather argue they voted for Trump because of inflation and their pocketbook. There is no simple one truth. Some Black women are saying, probably correctly, that some Latino men simply would not vote for a Black woman. There's going to be a reckoning around that, somehow. But for most (White) Democrats, I think the best argument now is that we need to take the economic concerns of working class Latino men (and Asian and Black and White working class men) very seriously. I think Democrats got the memo. I still think Lichtman's Keys are fantastic. Mostly, because they compliment American voters, and say we make smart decisions. So in 2024 it makes it possible to say, "You know what? Latino men are not stupid. They are concerned with higher costs, and putting food on the table for their family." I think that is closer to true than saying Latino men are racist or stupid. I will keep insisting that 2024 was actually a victory for multi-racial democracy. 2024 proved that all Americans are free to vote, and free to vote as they damn well please. We may deeply disagree. But that is why it's a democracy. Where I wish Lichtman would go is this: where was his interpretation of his Keys wrong? He is a mere mortal. It would be a better look if, like Selzer, he simple admitted that all humans make mistakes. He is saying that his "party mandate" key is perhaps in part to blame, because we never had a Democratic primary. My own view is that switching in Harris with no primary was one of the smart things Democrats did. I will always believe the polls were right. We would have done far worse if Biden were at the top of the ticket. Most Republican politicos believe that. They thought they would have something like a Reagan 1980 landslide. I think it is logically next to impossible to argue that all the money, joy, energy, and volunteers Harris brought in didn't help. The fact that it was not enough doesn't mean it didn't keep things from being much worse. The key that I think is obviously suspect is his short-term economy/recession key. Lichtman did count that key against Bush 41 in 1992. And what mattered most, of course, was that he was right. Bush 41 did lose in 1992. But Lichtman's very weak argument was that even though the recession ended in 1991, it was not formally declared over until after the election in 1992. As if anyone cares! What Lichtman also argued at the time, on TV, is that everybody still says we're in a recession in polls. Maybe that is what his key should measure. Because that was obviously THE KEY for a lot of working class voters in 2024, who had voted for Biden in 2020 and were pissed off. If you change that key to be against Harris, that would have been 5. Lichtman's system says you need 6 against you to lose. But Gore also had 5 keys against him in 2000, and lost narrowly. The system is based on the idea that Americans make common sense decisions based on important things. It is almost obviously true that in 2000 and 2020 we had close races, and many Americans had some deeply conflicting impulses. In retrospect, I think had Lichtman counted that short-term economy against Harris, he would have a lot less egg on his face today. The reality that I will always believe is that Harris did a much better job than Biden would have, in a race that was always likely to penalize the incumbent party because of the inflationary economy of 2022. And the higher prices and especially higher rent that have not gone away. And, like in 2000, it was actually close. @EmmetKruelty will keep insisting 2020 was stolen, and 2024 was a landslide. But as of now Harris lost by about 4.5 million votes LESS than Trump did in 2020. Trump lost by 7 million votes. Harris lost by 2.5 million, and that number keeps getting smaller. On the electoral side, if 150,000 Trump voters switched to Harris, she could have won all three blue wall states. My guess is 150,000 2024 Trump voters did vote for Biden in 2020, and were punishing him for inflation and immigration. @EmmetKruelty is a fan of simple-minded dogma and cruelty. I still like Lichtman's Keys. At some point I hope he stops his "disinformation" rant and decides maybe his Keys need a tune up.

Exactly. Spread hate. Attack. Divide. This is the Trump Doctrine. First, Ann Selzer is a highly respected professional who exudes grace. This is not something Trump respects, or even understands. It is graceful for Selzer to admit her mistake and resign. Of course, you and Trump would agree. ATTACK THE BITCH! Selzer was the canary in the coal mine whose polls showed in 2016 and 2020 that Trump was doing way better in Iowa than the MSM thought he would do. Trump praised her. Now he says attack her. Lichtman was the canary in the coal mine who said Trump was going to win in 2016. Trump sent him a note praising him. So this is so Trump. Of course he is going to only want facts and opinions he agrees with. If Trump does not like it, attack. If Trump does not like it, divide. If Trump does not like it, spread respect. Duh! Of course not. Spread hate. Thank you for revealing so clearly what Trump and MAGA stand for. ALL ABOOOOOOOOOARD THE HATE TRAIN TRUMP2024 MAGA SPREAD DIVISION SPREAD HATE SPREAD TAX CUTS FOR BILLIONAIRES

Duh! You just keep confirming my point. At the very least, you are closed-minded, if not outright hateful, of most American Jews. Do you actually hate most American Jews? And if so, is THAT anti-Semitic? You like to label me as anti-Semitic for attacking the kind of hateful language YOU and TRUMP constantly use. Like calling people vermin. Is the national Jewish Electorate Institute anti-Semitic? Do you hate and dismiss them, because they are revealing facts that you don't like? You don't want to accept that almost half of younger American Jews think Israel is racist, and/or an apartheid state, and/or committing genocide. But it's true, whether you accept it or not. Your deep wretched hate does not cancel out facts. You just want to be secure as a pro-Genocide Jew. You don't want your ideology of hate and genocide disturbed by facts or contrary opinions. I can post that chart 1 million times, but you will not waver from being a pro-Genocide Jew. Who cares what other American Jews think? You are using the Goebbels playbook to dismiss Palestinian life completely. Goebbels 101 is that we dismiss whatever Jews say. Duh! Why? Because they are Jews. You dismiss any fact that any Palestinian says because she is a Palestinian. Of course, the United Nations and lots of other organizations are saying most of the tens of thousands the IDF and Bibi The Baby Killer have killed in Gaza are innocent women and children. But it doesn't matter at all to you whether it is Palestinians, or the UN, or the Jews being surveyed by the Jewish Electorate Institute saying it. You are deeply and hatefully committed to being a pro-Genocide Jew. No other facts matter. No other opinions matter. And it is 1000 % Goebbels and genocidal to say we can specifically dismiss what Palestinians say, simply because they are Palestinian. That is the definition of bigotry, and racism, and apartheid, and genocide. It is what you say every time you open your mouth. And it is completely consistent with your dogma that we tried very hard not to kill Palestinian women and children. But, after all, they are Palestinian. What were we supposed to do? Why are you so cruel? What are you so hateful? Why are you for genocide?

Duh! You think I didn't know that? You are close-minded, hateful, and bigoted. If it doe not conform to Nazi MAGA ideology, you dismiss it. And you are like a Nazi in that specific sense. Maybe you do or don't want to kill lots of Palestinian women and children. But you definitely dismiss any fact or opinion that does not conform to your narrow ideology and hatreds. Why are you so cruel? Why are you so hateful? But I have to agree. The Guardian prints articles by assholes who savage Trump mercilessly. Why would write shit like this, anyway? How Donald Trump seduced America’s white working class by JD Vance I'm not laughing my ass off. I'm still waiting for those good ideas. Tax cuts for billionaires? Tax cuts for Trump donors? Cut Obamacare? TRUMP2024 MAGA LIES DELUSION HYPOCRISY TAX CUTS FOR BILLIONAIRES

I posted it already. And you denied the poll. Just like you deny any fact that doesn't support your cruelty and lies. Why are you so cruel? why are yo dishonest? Why do you despise half of American Jews, who you refuse to even try to understand? ALMOST A MAJORITY OF YOUNGER JEWS SAY ISRAEL IS RACIST, AND/OR AN APARTHEID STATE, AND/OR COMMITTING GENOCIDE Every word, every sentence, and every paragraph you write on this topic exposes your devaluation of the lives of Palestinian women and children. If a Palestinian said it, obviously we can just dismiss all that stuff about the mass slaughter of women and children. There can be no genocide when we know the IDF tries very hard not to kill the tens of thousands of Palestinian women and children they killed. It is their own fault. Killing Palestinian women and children is always their own fault. Just like being Jewish vermin was their own fault. And, no, liar. I am not making an anti-Semitic statement. I am attacking an anti-Semitic statement, and the hatred and bigotry and devaluation of life it exposes. Your seeming dismissal and hatred of about half of American Jews, especially those under 40, is more difficult to understand. Where is that coming from? Why are you the Jew and Gay who puts down Jews and Gays, and is happy to dismiss them and vilify the? Liberal Jews, Palestinian women and children, transgender children, and Black women are all the same to you. Attack them! Dismiss any fact that gets in the way! In the case of Palestinian women and kids you are literally saying killing them is fine, as long as we pretend we tried not to kill them as we plan how they will die. As long as we did not intentionally say, "Let's willfully plan to kill as many children as possible," it makes no difference when we kill tens of thousands of women and children. Do you deny The Holocaust, too? You and Trump share the same heroes and hatreds.

Wealthy? Want to join the Trump administration? There’s a tax break for you An obscure rule allows appointees to defer taxes on assets they shed to avoid conflicts of interest. TRUMP2024 MAGA LIES DELUSIONS TAX CUTS FOR BILLIONAIRES AND CORPORATIONS! JUMP ON BOARD NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

Since we're dealing with facts and reality, unlike @EmmetKruelty, this is a good read. I’ve been on the road speaking to the US right. Trump’s victory was not a surprise The Guardian, for some reason, is good at seeing the handwriting on the wall. In September 2016 they went to Youngstown, Ohio and did an amazing piece (the embedded 11 minute vide) that scared the shit out of me. Because it portrayed briefly and aptly on video how there really was a grassroots movement forming around Trump. They showed how it was fueled by anger and resentment about how the factories were closed and the good blue collar jobs were gone. The piece that got all the media play was racist Kathy Miller saying, "There was no racism before Obama." So it was easy to think they were racist and wrong. Which many of them were, and still are - as this new Guardian piece argues. But there is no question that Trump 2024, like Trump 2016, is a septic tank for storing and then shitting out all kinds of discontents - some very real, some imagined. The imagined one is that the economy sucks for everybody. The Guardian is already wrong, in that - literally in a matter of days, if not hours - the shittiest economy in the world is now the best economy ever. Trump voters who are middle aged or seniors had to somehow forget that their homes are worth more than ever, and their retirement accounts are full of gains. Especially in 2024. That said, the difference between 2016 and 2024 is that 2016 did not come right after a period of inflation that was the worst in about half a century. That does explain why Trump came close to winning 50 % of the vote this time. They did attract some Joe Rogan bros, including some Latinos, who are pissed off about rent, and car prices. But they have little or no plans to actually do anything about it. So the racism is still there. Trump called "Cackles" dumb, stupid, ignorant, and every trope used to put down Black women. And lots of Republicans love it. They'll pile on in a somewhat confused way that all Kamala had to sell was empty joy. But, at the same time, she was still the Angry Black Woman. My more direct line is my Trumpy niece. She goes off with no sense of regret that all the Black women she knows (she actually knows none, as far as I can tell) just like Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama. As if that is a problem. I could call her a racist. It would not change her mind. And letting her say what she really thinks gives me a way to hear and understand how at least some rich White Trump supporters feel. The economy is not their problem. And they say very racist things, very cluelessly. The thing that Guardian piece really got right is that Harris is not an economic populist. And she had no working class populist fight to fight. Sitting down with Liz Cheney to fight for democracy has a lot of appeal. But not to the working class, especially. She didn't fight for the tax increases on the rich her and Biden fought for and won. Because they didn't. She couldn't fight for the student debt relief her and Biden fought for and won. Because they didn't. She couldn't fight for the child tax credits her and Biden fought for and won. Because they lost them, thanks to Manchin and Sinema. That would have been a very different campaign, that lots of pollsters like Stan Greenberg, who understand what works with the White working class, would have argued for. Unless and until Democrats have a reckoning about actually fighting for the working class, Trump has a real some chance of putting together a coalition of Latinos and Blacks. He could decide to raise taxes on billionaires like him. So that Latino and Black Moms and Dads who work their asses off can have child tax credits. Or child care. Or higher minimum wages. Or whatever other economic plan they want. And maybe Trump will surprise us and do this. But, probably, he won't. So it will be trickle down Trump. Give the money to Elon Musk, the richest man in the world. Let him break shit. And hope some of it trickles down to you. Okay. Maybe stuff won't get done. But at least shit will get broken. The Trump true believers are almost all the White nationalists, with the most extreme views. And i think somehow they have it in their mind that even though they love to put down Black women like Harris, somehow Black women are going to run to be on the Trump train. It is delusional. And that is before all the current anger of Black women rises up, and all the pain to Latinos and Blacks begin.

In other words, there is no fact you won't deny. Why do you hate American Jews, though? It is kind of weird. Almost half of American Jews think Israel is racist or genocidal or both for the mass slaughter of Palestinian women and children. Denying the mass slaughter is one thing. Hating American Jews and saying they are wrong is another. Why are you so cruel? TRUMP2024 MAGA LIES DELUSIONS TAX CUTS FOR BILLIONAIRES AND CORPORATIONS! JUMP ON BOARD NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

What is up with the lies and delusions? I mean, Trump is unhinged, and getting worse. But why is everybody who elected him delusional? Even for a party that disdains facts, this is kind of funny to watch. Kind of funny in that it is also sad that the delusions and lies will cause so much pain. Sorry, Democrats. America is Just Not That Into You. I'll start with funny full on delusion and hate. Apparently the Democratic Party is now Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. America hates us. And we can't handle the truth! Which is why we won Senate seats in 4 of 5 swing states. It's why we may have picked up one US House seat. It's why Trump's "landslide" was a few million votes, less than half of Biden's "landslide" in 2020. But most MAGA folks will have nothing, nothing, nothing to do with reality. You're like Pavlov's dogs. Trump says, "Stolen election. Beat cops." You say "stolen election" and go beat the shit out of cops. Trump says, "I win landslide. Perfect economy." You say, "biggest landslide ever." Trump feeds you lies and delusions, and you obey. For all your lies and cruelty, I have to admit you are a very cute and obedient puppy. Woof! Here pup, here's another lie. Chew it down! I challenge anyone to read that unhinged article and figure out which landslide Trump just won. It's just unhinged. Maybe Democrats don't understand Trump just won Nixon's 1972 landslide. Or maybe we don't understand Trump just won Reagan's 1980 landslide. It's all just delusion. I do understand math. Reagan beat Carter by 10 points. Nixon beat McGovern by 33 points. Trump is beating Harris by less than 2 points. Right now he is at exactly 50.0 % of the vote. Enjoy your delusional majority while it lasts, @EmmetKruelty. By the time California's votes are counted it will be less than a majority. In California, where Reagan and Nixon did win massive landslides, Harris is currently beating Trump by 20 points, 58 to 38. Some landslide! Some Reagan! Some Nixon! Here pup! Here pup! Have another lie as a reward! Good pup! Chew it down! Unity, But Not Compromise, Is the Path Forward Frank Miele is a MAGA true believer I like to read to get a more coherent and mostly rational view of the often unhinged bullshit and lies of MAGA politics. If I want fully unhinged cruelty and lies, all I have to do is read @EmmetKruelty to get the scoop. So I give Miele credit for at least thinking about unity, as opposed to @EmmetKruelty. Miele flat out rejects the idea of "compromise" or "bipartisanship" as delusional unity, and instead says what MAGA folk truly believe. This is a civil war. And we will do whatever the fuck it takes to win. That speaks to the heart and soul of Trump and MAGA for sure. Thankfully, this time it has not involved cop beating. Yet. That sums it up nicely. In slightly less polite language, "crush the fuckers." And, yes, lies and @EmmetKruelty are okay. But, please. Let's be careful out there. And let's try not to beat any cops this time. It's not a good look, and hard to deny. But at least if we have to beat cops or whatever we have a Fox News loyalist at Defense and a sex trafficking loyalist at DOJ. Woo hoo! I like unity! See how hard Trump tries to unify? Here pup! Here pup! Have another lie. Chew it down. The idea that Trump (and Musk) are like Lincoln trying to free the slaves actually fits well with the fully unhinged brand of MAGA. I think the feeling among the older true believers is I can't have my factory job and my old way of life back. But at least I can be freed of the Deep State, whatever that is. And that Joe Scarborough! Fuck those former right wing elitists who stand up for democratic principles! So Trump has to do three things: break shit, break shit, and break more shit. Who knew that Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard, and Pete Hegseth were freedom fighters, liberating the slaves from whatever bad shit (or laws) get in Trump's way as he commits felonies, lies, rapes, and gives tax breaks to himself and his donors? Speaking of which, where in any of this unhinged delusional nonsense is there anything about Trump's # 1 priority in Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0: cutting taxes for billionaires like Trump and Musk, and corporations? And of course rich Trump donors? We don't talk about that, do we? We also don't talk about the #2 priority, cutting Obamacare. Or at least cutting working class health insurance premiums, and maybe Medicaid. Because that is what Trump's rich conservative donors have wanted for a very long time. MONEY FOR BILLIONAIRES, MONEY FOR BILLIONAIRES, MORE POWER FOR CORPORATIONS. That's the real agenda. Here pup. Here pup. Have another lie. Chew it down. Good pup. We are freeing you slaves from the Deep State. Be an obedient pup now while we cut taxes for billionaires! And don't beat any cops, okay? Biden clearly fucked up with immigration. So Democrats can blame ourselves for that. It is the part of "break shit, break shit, and break shit" that actually does fit with the public mood to some degree: deport, deport, deport. That said, the Fox News/Votecast poll says most Americans oppose mass deportation, and would like to see a path for illegals to become citizens created. The interesting question which I spend no time thinking about is this. Will Trump do it in a moderate way, so he can do something that visibly makes things better, and then say he is done? Or will he go for the most extreme @EmmetKruelty version, which is what his White nationalist base wants? Time will tell. We sure know Trump never does extreme things that play to his delusional base, though. Here pup. Here pup. Have another lie. Good boy. I think where the rubber really hits the road, after the opening act of trying to ram through a child sex offender and loyalist to head DOJ, is when we get to the part about cutting taxes for billionaires and corporations. In a better and purer America, Trump could deport the vermin and lower taxes for Trump and Musk and billionaire donors by royal edict. Republicans in the Senate might not even go along with that. Whether they roll over like good puppies for the sex trafficking AG will be a big clue. But at some point Trump is going to have to disguise the fact that the real agenda all along was to break shit, cut taxes for billionaires and corporations, and take the health care insurance premiums of Latino Moms and Black Dads away. Good luck with that. It was wildly unpopular in Trump 1.0. Better luck next time. Oddly, for extremist Republicans, many of these MAGA true believers like Miele also argue Trump is the new FDR. They sure love this "landslide" idea way more than "stolen election, beat cops." The delusion Biden had is that he could have FDR's power without having FDR's landslide, and Senate, and House. But at least he had very popular ideas. And Biden did know how to do compromise, and actually win bipartisan laws. But for Manchin and Sinema, we would have had higher taxes on billionaires. There could have been some watered down student debt relief that passed through Congress. Child tax credits that helped tens of millions of working class families would have survived, and helped them put food on the table and gas in the tank. Arguably, those three actions alone would have given Harris some specific things to fight to keep, and win narrowly rather than lose narrowly. Trump's problem is he can't put lipstick on the pig of tax cuts for billionaires and corporations, which is his #1 priority. He will work hard to convince people that letting oil company CEOs do whatever they want lowers costs. And on that Trump has a point. So, like with Biden, there are some actually popular things - more drilling in the US - that he can get done and sell. But mostly it is delusions of grandeur. Trump, the world's biggest narcissist, will be way better at Biden than that. Democrats won almost every Governor and House seat they held before the election. We may gain one US House seat from 2022. Not a victory, but not a shellacking. The painful losses were Senate seats in red states that are now MAGA strongholds in their delusional civil war. Democratic Governors have already made clear they will be smart, and reserved. Let Trump have his lies and delusions. Deport, and free the slaves. Work with him where we can. I think they are wise to wait for the house of cards to collapse by itself. TRUMP2024 MAGA LIES DELUSIONS TAX CUTS FOR BILLIONAIRES AND CORPORATIONS! JUMP ON BOARD NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

This is more rant on what Democrats can do if they want to take back the House in 2026, and the Presidency in 2028. Out of curiosity, I went to Ruben Gallego's campaign website to see how he talked about the economy. It's only four paragraphs, so it is easy to read. But the first and last paragraphs I will highlight. What I find striking about that is the language seems wholly lifted from any of the polling Stan Greenberg has been doing literally going back to the Bill Clinton era, when he helped Clinton fashion his own brand of piecemeal economic populism. His rant is that taxing the rich and corporations is one of the most wildly popular issues Democrats have. These are just words on paper, of course. But it sure doesn't seem like it hurt Gallego in one of the most purple states in America. In fact, Arizona is the swing state with the biggest margin between a winning Senate candidate and Harris. Gallego carried Arizona by 2.4 %, while Harris lost it by - 5.5 %, her biggest loss of the seven swing states. That's an 8 % margin. The next biggest margin was about 5 % in Nevada, where Harris lost by -3.1 % and Rosen won by 1.7 %. Compare Gallego's language to Elisa Slotkin's economy page on her campaign website. She's more specific in the way Sherrod Brown encourages. Here are dozens of ways I fought for you every day. Here is a child care center or health care center I helped get funded. That's all great. But there's no big language about class, or demanding corporations or the rich pay their fair share. It worked well enough for Slotkin, who won by 0.3 % - the narrowest win of any swing state Democratic Senate race. Gallego's class rhetoric about the rich and corporations certainly did not seem to hurt him in purple Arizona. The problem with this approach for Biden was that corporate whores like Kirsten Sinema and Joe Manchin were not on board. Did I mention they were the two Senators who blocked taxing the rich more, and continuing the child tax credits? Manchin and Sinema are gone. But, actually, Nancy Pelosi almost got her wish. Almost every Senate seat in a blue state and almost every Democratic House member won re-election. Gallego pledged at the time that if he replaced Sinema he'd provide the vote she wouldn't. He won. She's history. Could there be a lesson in that for Democrats? Pollster Stan Greenberg's wife is House member Rosa DeLauro, who was head of the Appropriations Committee and one of the chief backers of the expanded child tax credits that died thanks to Manchin, Sinema, and Republicans. I've been ranting about those tax credits for two years. To the extent that one of my Gay friends asked me why anyone Gay should possibly give a shit. I now have a good answer. He is in despair over Trump's victory. If we don't want Trump to win, maybe Democrats have to fight like hell to give working class Hispanics and Blacks and Whites a reason to vote Democratic. Democrats Lost 12-Point Lead Among Child Tax Credit Recipients After It Expired That poll was done in 2022, after the one year of expanded child tax credits that cut child poverty in half expired. The credits helped tens of millions of working class parents in 2021, right before inflation was about to climb to its peak in Summer 2022. So losing a $300 a month tax credit and paying maybe $300 a month more for groceries and gas due to inflation was a double whammy. If that poll is correct, there was a 15 % shift among people who got the tax credits after they expired, from +12 % Democrat to + 3 % Republican. I'm suspicious about that poll. It could have been measuring something else - like the rise in inflation itself. I very much doubt all these low information working class voters followed the nuances of the child tax credit debate. But one way or the other it makes sense that taking the credit away from working class families that said they gave them a little or a lot of help didn't help Democrats. And that hit exactly the voting bloc that nailed Kamala Harris's coffin shut - younger and/or Latino and/or Black and/or White working class voters that may have flipped to Trump, or perhaps more likely just didn't bother to vote. It's hard to imagine that if Harris had gone to the mat saying I fought like hell to save these tax credits, and I will fight like hell to keep them as POTUS, that would not have helped her with working class Moms and Dads of every race who felt like they gave them some help. She could have argued, "I could not stop global inflation. But here are ways that I could fight for you. And I did. And I will keep fighting." I am pretty sure that is why AMLO's successor won a landslide victory in Mexico among ......................... wait for it ............................ WORKING CLASS LATINOS. There is a growing symphony of stories of people in these groups - especially younger voters - saying we did what we needed to do to elect Biden and Harris in 2020. And we were told there would be student debt relief, and more affordable child care, and child tax credits. And higher taxes on the rich to pay for them. And we either never got them, or they were taken away. There are plenty of good explanations for all this. Sinema. Manchin. SCOTUS blocking Biden's student debt relief plan. But it is quite understandable that if if you start with 100 % of a voting bloc you won in 2020, some number - 5 % or 10 % or 20 % - are just going to give up. Because they feel they got nothing and are going nowhere. All I have to do to understand this is listen to my 2020 Biden voting nieces and nephews. Right or wrong, part of the anecdotal complaining is that it didn't even seem like Biden was fighting the good fight. He just got old and quiet. At least Harris seemed like she had the energy to fight. Gallego also talks in his website about "the dignity of work". The possible danger for Democrats is that we go back to 1980 and 1984, when Reagan won a landslide railing about welfare and government handouts instead of work. But that does not seem like the problem today. The problem today is Latino Moms and Dads with a few kids feel like they are working their asses off, can't get ahead, can't afford child care, and sure as fuck can't buy a home. Republicans are not going to solve this problem by rewarding billionaire Trump donors with massive tax cuts, which is going to be their #1 priority. Democrats ought to be able to figure out how to fight and win, like Gallego and Slotkin did. And Harris almost did, in an anti-incumbent year when inflation was a wall of lava aimed right at her.

That at least implies you are a person. I've never heard of people getting personal with "bots". So, inquiring minds want to know. Are you a person? And why does your English vary between seemingly just like a native speaker, to seeming like someone learning a foreign language.

So are you saying you are an actual person, not a bot? Good to know. Sometimes you write in a way that makes it clear your English is very good - congratulations! - but not your first language. Other times, like above, it seems perfect. There is a wide variation. Maybe there is more than one of you. Or maybe you use ChatGPT a lot. Anyway, kudos to you for mastering a foreign language.

I'm not a ChatGPT fan, personally. But I asked you since you seem to enjoy it. Or maybe you are just mocking me, for sounding like ChatGPT. 😉

That's fun to read. Thank you. I'll say it again. AI at this stage is certainly good at repeating things. But it clearly has no real understanding of what it is saying. One thing I think we know for sure is that we should not count on AI to tell us who the next Clinton or Obama might be. AI sure got that right. There are two silver linings in this election to me. First, it is now clearer than it was a few weeks ago that the US was not spared from the incumbency curse. Genocide Man is a lucky guy. He gets to be the incumbent for as long as he wants, just by killing or jailing his opponents. Trump surely must be jealous! Second, the lesson from this election to Democrats could not be clearer: reconnect with the working class of all races. Or lose. That should be numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 on the list of top ten priorities. We now know it is just basic math. We also know this is easier said than done. I'll be curious to see what Republicans do. In a perfect world, they could parachute new factories in from the sky, to re-employ millions of men making steel and tires. In fact, Biden passed funding for lots of new factories that are being built. It takes time. And I'm not sure that gets us millions of factory jobs, anyway. It will sure help. But Biden and Harris were not rewarded for their efforts. Neither were Republicans rewarded in 2020 for the tax cuts to corporations and billionaires that was the main legislative win of Trump 1.0. So we'll see if they come up with anything better for the working class. I doubt it. Maybe deporting children will do the trick. So since you like playing with ChatGPT, ask these questions: 1. Why did Sherrod Brown lose? 2. What do Democrats have to do to win a US Senate seat in Ohio? Sherrod Brown Has Some Advice for His Reeling Party To draw workers back to the Democratic fold requires telling a better story about what the party has accomplished for them. That's the second autopsy I planned top post on that other thread I started. But your CHATGPT-generated summary of a Democratic to do list is excellent. So I'll post it here instead. This is the problem for Democrats. Sherrod Brown is a poster child, arguably THE poster child, for everything Democrats should do to reconnect to the working class. he survived in Ohio for as long as he did precisely for that reason. And he just lost, by a much wider margin that Harris did nationally. That's a big problem. That said, I think we also just witnessed the solution. It took eight years and and economy ravaged by inflation for a few years for Donald Trump to connect with enough working class voters that he could win 49.9 % or so of the national vote, less than half Biden's winning 2020 margin. If this is the best Trump can do in a year when incumbents were seemingly doomed to fail, Democrats should be able to turn this around enough to win the Presidency back in 2028. But it would take what Brown talks about: talk to workers constantly, win lots of things for workers, talk to workers about what you won for them, and talk to workers about their futures. And remind them that, when his dishonest sales pitch is over and the real work of government begins, Trump's tax cuts and laws are all about helping the rich and corporations. And that often means hurting workers. Part of Brown's problem is that he can talk about successes all he wants. But factory jobs in Ohio have been decimated while he has been a member of the House or Senate. I'll still haven't gotten over the fact that it was political malpractice in 2016 for Hillary Clinton to let Trump blame the loss of factory jobs in the US on Democrats, specifically Bill Clinton. The loss were huge, as that chart shows. And they almost all happened between 2001 and 2008, when George W. Bush, a Republican, was President. And most of the time Brown was a Senator, Ohio was run by Republican Governors and state legislators. So right there Democrats had some problem in terms of how they communicated to workers. Or, maybe not. Maybe the lesson is that politics is and should be, "What have you done for me lately?" Brown pretty much says that in his autopsy, without saying it quite that bluntly. If Obama is in charge for 8 years, and Biden is in charge for 4, Clinton and Harris are simply going to have to carry their baggage if they want to continue in power. The same applied to Trump in 2020. And he lost, too. Another poster child that is a bright spot for me is Ruben Gallego. He talks like a working class Latino, because those are his roots. And his win shifts Arizona a little bit more from red to blue. The bitter part of that victory is that a Hispanic male won a statewide race at the same time as a Black woman lost. What does that say? Was it the incumbency curse, or racism, or sexism? That discussion won't be fun. But nobody who voted for either Harris or Gallego sees Trump and MAGA as the solution for the Latino or Black working class. That's where Democrats have to start.

Actually, the polls were quite close all through the election. And they came closer than in the last few cycles to predicting the result. The last RCP average was literally a dead tie: 48.6/48.7. As of now Trump is winning by 1.8 %. But that will be a bit less when all the votes from California are counted. I did think Harris would win. That wasn't based on the polls. Obviously I was wrong, and your Genocide Pal on the forum is loving it. I'm hoping he fully enjoys his gloating and cruelty. And there you go again, trying to deny you are a Genocide Freak, and there is no genocide. You can tell me. Are there not North Koreans coming to Russia to fight? Is that just a lie? Are there not poor men from poor regions of the rotten and collapsing Federation being sent to Ukraine to be processed into meat because their poor families will make more money than the man could have made in years or decades? Are these lies? How many Russians have been processed into meat so that their families could put food on the table? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? The contrast in the US should be quite clear, even to a Genocide Freak like you who knows shit about democracy and comes here to deny genocide. Some Blacks are pissed at some Latinos because they voted their pocketbook, hoping that electing Trump would somehow make higher prices go away. I agree with the Blacks who are pissed. But that is how democracy works. Latino men don't have to, or want to, go to Ukraine to be processed into meat so their families can put food on the table. That only happens in Genocide World. Lucky you!

The only word I disagree with in what you said is "negotiate". I'm not negotiating or persuading anyone or anything. For all I know, @Moses and @EmmetKruelty are not actual people. They may be bots. Or some Russian guy who gets paid a little bit of money by Genocide Man to stir up trouble online in America. Better that than make your poor family a bit richer by sending your body off to Ukraine to be processed into meat. The real action and the real persuasion was the money and energy and volunteer efforts that just flooded into the Democratic Party. And we lost. So it is sad, and disappointing. I obviously thought we were going to win. With 20/20 hindsight, it now makes sense that the depth of both voter anger and voter apathy was deeper than a lot of us understood. But I don't think MAGA hardliners are going to be persuaded not to be cruel, if that is what you think I think. Quite the opposite. They feel empowered in their cruelty. They are gloating as they sharpen their knives. And I agree with you. Trump will happily slice and dice some of the people who voted for him. Michael Steel just said it quite aptly in the video I posted on another thread. He literally just interviewed an immigrant family who voted for Trump on MSNBC. Even though the father (not the mother) is an illegal immigrant, they somehow think Trump will only go after criminals. Steel did not want to be the jerk who pointed out that being an illegal immigrant is a crime - especially in the eyes of @EmmetKruelty. The knives are being sharpened.

Again, thanks for making me feel better about how stupid AI is. It obviously could not pick up that I was citing what lots of Black leaders are saying on the internet. Which is probably a very watered down version of what is being said in private. So it is fair enough to call it a personal attack. But if AI were a community organizer, it would understand that this is really about coalition politics. And whether members of the coalition can trust each other, and count on each other. Or whether one group is going to feel betrayed by the other. You don't have that in Genocide World. Putin just kills the people who threaten his power. Michael Steel, disgruntled former Black Republican, hit the nail on the head when he said that Republicans who are gloating about how the Democratic Party is going to implode better be careful what they wish for. He referred to MAGA as a "zombie" that is basically the walking dead. I think he is right. They may be able to win 49.9 % of the vote, or something like that. In an election when people were pissed and itching to throw out the incumbent. I think Steel is right that is the Republican Party stood for something America really wanted, they could have won in a landslide. Like they did in 1980. The fact that this is the best they could do in a year that should have been theirs does suggest that the other thing Steel said is correct. If and when the Democrats get their shit together, taking out MAGA will not be a problem. It just got much easier. Because already the focus has shifted completely to how what Trump is doing does not reflect what America actually wanted. America did not vote for more chaos. And yet, here it comes.

Your posts are a bit confusing. I'm not sure what the word count of "Trump" or "Biden" has to do with anything. But I agree with you that, right now, an autopsy does and in fact should start with "Democrats' cry after the trauma of Trump's victory." In terms of "Democrat's cry", I'll briefly restate what I spent paragraphs on in another post. Black women in particular are hurt, and pissed, and feel betrayed. So, to quote Democratic stalwart Donna Brazile, I think it is a good time to sit with that. I'll add this, which I didn't say in the other post. Like me, several of my White Gay male friends, who all voted for Harris, have heard the "angry Black woman" thing from friends and family members who voted for Trump. Meaning they apparently were okay with Trump being a convicted felon, a rapist, a racist, a liar, and a narcissist. But when they looked at Harris and her "joy vibe" they saw ........................... wait for it .................................. AN ANGRY BLACK WOMAN. My simplistic but true read of US political history is that positive social change often if not always starts in the Black community. So I have no idea where this is going. With movements, including MAGA, you never do. But this is going to be a rough ride for Democrats, but also for everybody in MAGA. Because at the end of the day, when Black women are saying they are pissed at the White women and Latinos who we thought would protect us from the racist and rapist, what they are saying is they are pissed that the rapist and racist was allowed to win. Because lots of White women and Latino men said I can accept this. It's okay. So if White men in the MAGA movement somehow think the Black community is all in on MAGA right now, they don't have a fucking clue. It's more like MAGA is the rapist and racist who got away with it. And this is who are. So we have to be clear that America just said, this is who we really are. We are Trump. Trump is America. Honestly, I find that a more appealing alternative to W. So this is bad, for sure, to me. But it is not as bad as it gets. We're not having a debate about fake WMD so we can launch a genocide in Iraq. Putin and Bibi The Baby Killer are the genocidal monsters on the world stage right now. I'm guessing lots of countries will be relieved if America is so focused on itself that it at least doesn't launch enough Iraq War. Meanwhile, I'm going to keep repeating that I see 2024 as a victory for multi-racial democracy. It makes perfect sense to me that Black women in particular are pissed at Latino men. But at the end of the day people voted as they damn well pleased. Which is not what happens in Genocide World. Democracy is messy. Democrats now have all kinds of reasons to think about how we appeal more to the Black working class, the Latino working class, and the White working class. At the end of the day, Black women who are pissed see Trump as the racist and rapist who never should have won. So I wouldn't wait for them to run to MAGA for solutions. And when Trump offers his hog feed of tax cuts for billionaires and cuts the health insurance of Black families, many Black women will say, "You voted for this. This is what you said you want America to be." I read all your posts, and it shows both the beauty and stupidity of AI. Right out of the gate, AI told us that "Kamala Harris received about 68 million votes in 2024." That's off by only about 6 million votes, and counting. Oops! It makes me feel relieved. I worry that when AI gets smart enough, it will make Genocide Man and his mass slaughter look like a peacenik by comparison. World War III could be AI against the entire human race. So it is comforting to know that AI is still basically really stupid. That said, that's a great list of all kinds of reasons Democrats lost. I loved reading it. It makes my posts look brief by comparison. Thank you!

As of right now Democrats look like they may pick up one House seat, since Michelle Steel is currently behind. So the US House is either exactly the same as 2022, or +1 Democrat. Some landslide! The polls showed very clearly that Biden was headed toward a big loss. Possibly a landslide loss, if you believe what people who should know something like Newt Gingrich were saying. That didn't happen. Harris lost by less than half the 7 million votes Trump lost by in 2020. So your cruel, sick, and dishonest notion that the 2020 election was stolen, and we should beat the shit out of cops because of it, but Trump won 2024 in a landslide, is cruel, sick, and dishonest. Of course, on cue, all the Republicans whose net worth went way up under Biden's economy, and said the economy was the worst ever, now say it is the best ever. A large minority of Republicans backed the Jubilant Patriotic Cop Beating because they believed Trump's lie that the 2020 election, which Biden won by 7 million votes, was stolen. Now that Trump won by 3 million votes, there are no election problems whatsoever. Your movement is deeply unprincipled. That is the takeaway from most Democrats about what MAGA is. There may be something called the Republican Party. But it is not the party of Reagan, Bush, McCain, or Romney. It is a deeply unprincipled movement that on it's best day, when incumbents all over the world are being tossed out, could not win 50 % of the vote. So what most Blacks in particular are feeling is, "This is who we are." 2016 was not a fluke. America is saying, "Nope. We choose to elect a felon. We choose to elect a rapist. We choose to elect a liar. We choose to elect a racist. We choose to elect someone who is a narcissistic human being who puts loyalty to himself before everything else." Even the former head of the RNC agrees. And a lot of Blacks both resent and dispute this idea that Blacks are why Harris lost. Of course, the fact that so many Black woman in particular feel sad, and even betrayed, and see racism in the outcome, brings joy to your cruel heart. Now that is something to get excited about! Why are you so cruel? Why do you gloat and find joy in something that makes most Black women sad? What does that say about how YOU feel about Black women? Oh, I know. You're cruel. We know how you feel already. Please, go ahead. Enjoy your cruelty while it lasts. You earned it. It's going to take a long time and a lot of pain to see how this turns out. It is completely understandable that Black women in particular think Harris's loss reveals something about America's racism. They single out White women and Latino men, who voted for a felon and rapist over a career prosecutor who put rapists and felons in prison. As Donna Brazile said, politely, they will just have to sit with that a while. But the anger and disappointment is understandable. Those are the emotions of now. Note that nobody Black I can hear is picking on Trump himself, or even most White men. The thinking, right or wrong, is that we of course knew that if it depended on White men, Trump would win. That is a statistical fact. So it makes sense that the disappointment and hurt and anger is pointed at the people we thought were our allies, but turned out not to be. That's both a challenge and an opportunity for Democrats. One, it says if we want to win we need a bigger and stronger coalition. Two, it also says that whatever all these grieving Black men and women feel the solution is, it is NOT Trump. He is the rapist, the racist, the felon, and the narcissist America chose over a Black woman who is a symbol of law and order, and immigrant success in America. Most Blacks are not feeling warm to Trump and Trumpism right now. You don't understand or give a shit about how most Black women feel right now. It brings joy to your heart. All you want to do is gloat, and talk about how dumb and incompetent "Cackles" is. You could care less how Black women feel about that. You revel in your cruelty. Why are you so cruel, especially to Black women?

And you can deny that you are for genocide of Palestinians all you want. But by your own admission, you simply want to deny reality. Facts? What are they? You make up your own. There can't be genocide, or even death, because you just lie it out of existence. Some bad Palestinian just made this shit up. Probably a good reason to go kill some more Palestinian women and children who we are trying very hard not t kill, right? Why are you so dishonest? Why are you so cruel? Is your point that the 33 % of American Jews who think what Israel is doing to is genocide are actually anti-Semitic? Or is your point that 43 % of American Jews who think what Israel is doing is racist are actually anti-Semitic? What is your point, other than being a cruel liar who denies reality? I won't even ask you about the 25 % of Israeli Jews and 75 % of Palestinians who see what Israel is doing as apartheid. You have made your view of that clear: if Palestinian women and children are dead, that is only because Palestinians are lying about it. If Palestinians women and children are dead, it's only because Israel tried very hard not to kill them when they planned this massive slaughter of women and children. But, wait. It can't be that, because you don't want to believe it. It must be that everyone, including most young American Jews, are anti-Semitic. And please keep the Roy Cohn routine up. It just exposes your cruelty and dishonesty You are a one act wonder who can only deny what others see and blame close to half of American Jews for being anti-Semitic because they call out genocide and racism when they see it. Why are you so cruel? Why are you so dishonest?

I'm starting a thread to post autopsies about what Democrats did wrong. I'll call this one the "The One Percent Hope" autopsy, for reasons I'll outline below. I personally believe in the "Someone In The Crowd" theory of how Democrats will fix this problem. The best example is the post-2012 Mitt Romney autopsy. Republicans decided they needed to stop telling Latinos to "self-deport." They needed to find a candidate who was friendlier to Hispanics. And then came Trump and "Mexican rapists" in 2016. Despite the fact that he won, Trump did about as shitty as most Republicans usually do among Latinos. And now it's 2024, and look at where we are. So maybe the Republicans stumbled on the right guy after all. He certainly was not the GOP Establishment's first choice. We'll know the right person comes along - Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump - when it happens. I cite those four because they all won two terms. While it will involve policies, it will be more about the person and how he (no such luck for she) resonates with voters. Trump has clearly taken over the Republican Party. Like the other three, he is a conviction politician. As W. said, you may not agree with me. But at least you know where I stand. So who better to start an autopsy with than a young, and hot, doctor: John from Tennessee: This is typical of Mark Halperin's 2Way. What I like best about it is that the venue does attract lots of people who voted every which way, or not at all. They are encouraged and able to talk politely to each other. I'm pretty sure the venue attracts people who are more centrist than extreme in their views, regardless of which candidate they supported. Which leads to the thing I like least about this venue: it often feels like a celebration of cynicism. A lot of Halperin's followers don't like either candidate, or either party. So it often feels like an echo chamber of how bad things suck. Halperin himself has a big axe to grind with the mainstream media he used to be a star of. John, earnest and still clinging to hope, fits right in. The comments on this video (if you go to the YouTube page) are interesting to read. They are overwhelmingly positive. A lot of people say John speaks for me. One says he speaks for "millions" of voters. Which is probably true, if we are talking about Millennials and Gen Z. The two two-term Presidents that I came of age under were Reagan and Clinton. Both men left office having greatly restored faith in government. In 1988 and 2000, just under half of Americans felt we could trust the federal government to do the right thing most of the time, compared to about 25 % when both men entered office. It's been all downhill from there. As John mentions: 9/11, the Iraq War, the financial crisis and "the Greenspan economy", then the pandemic and inflation. Rising income inequality and a working class that has at best been stuck for decades. Unlike Boomers and Gen X, who came of age under Presidents that somehow got people to trust government more, Millennials and Gen Z have always lived in a nation where most people have little or no faith in government. What's striking to me about almost every Millennials and Zoomer I know is their lack of faith in just about every institution. Including of course political parties. The phrase that most resonated for me is "the Greenspan economy". As in, reward bad Wall Street (or Trump?) behavior, and let them drive the economy over the cliff. And then bail them out. That has to be at the top of the list of what broke faith in US government, even above W.'s Iraq War. And it happened under Obama. I think the comments accurately reflect how the seeming multitudes of disappointed or pissed young voters hurt Harris. John is probably not in the group of Zoomers and Millennials who can't afford to buy a home, or struggle to pay for rent or child care. But the feeling that nothing works, and voting for Harris won't do any good, is a recipe for Trumpism. Chris Christie speculated in the last weeks of the campaign that Trump was intentionally trying to make everything seem like shit, just to depress turnout among potential Harris supporters. Why have hope? John wants to believe in someone like Obama, and once did. But if we're just going to be cynical, why not vote for somebody like RFK who can't win? While meanwhile the true believers elect a Wrecking Ball in Chief? John's up for it, since it at least gives him a 1 % Hope. Maybe Bobby Kennedy can do some good. My category for this is that desperate people do desperate things. Or they just don't vote. The idea of reluctant Trump supporters having a 1 % Hope actually gives me hope, but in a weird way. It immediately reminded me of Dick Cheney's One Percent Doctrine. Meaning if there is a 1 % chance that Iraq has WMD, we have to treat it as a certainty that they have WMD. That did not end well. The 1 % Hope among people like John that maybe something good will come out of putting some weird mix of Donald Trump and Bobby Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard together sounds about as far fetched. I think it has a 99 % chance of not ending well, just like Iraq did. Trump will fire them if and when they don't do what he wants, most likely. By 2026, like in 2018, people like John will probably be eager to move on to something, and someone, else. It made me laugh when Kristen, the Republican, argued that Trump - unlike Democrats - met people who were angry at "corporate elites" where they were at in 2016. I guess giving tax breaks to billionaires and corporations is the next best thing to Bernie Sanders, huh? 😉 That sure taught corporate elites and Trump donors a lesson in humility! If this is our 1 % Hope, I just don't think this ends well. John's lack of hope in Harris also speaks to what is Kamala Harris's fatal flaw. I've voted for her every time she was on my ballot in California. If she runs for Governor of California, I'll happily vote for her again. But I would never accuse her of being Paul Wellstone or Jeff Merkley, two conviction politicians I knew well when they were nobodies. Both of them managed to win US Senate seats by exuding authenticity long before they ran for anything. And convincing people they would fight for them. I don't think Harris has ever had that, or ever will. John certainly did not feel the vibe. Halperin's 2Way was loaded with voters who did not like Trump, but also did not feel they knew what Harris really stood for. Or, worse, that she was just a phony. Which is a shame. Because she is a great role model. And she had a bunch of modest but pragmatic policies that would have helped people in lots of small ways. Which is maybe what Democrats need in an era when we are a country split right down the middle. Had she won, her caution and fluidity might have worked well in a political environment where you win by inches and compromise. But it seems like it was not an asset in persuading voters. If this were 1988, and she were running to replace a popular two term President like Bush 41 was, her perceived lack of conviction probably wouldn't matter. In 2024, when she had to outrace a wall of lava that would have buried Biden alive, I do think it hurt her. What Democrats need most now is someone like Clinton and Obama with convictions, who can put a new coalition together. I don't think that person has to be White, or male. But I think we now know if they ain't convincing to the working class, we ain't gonna be able to win. And since I named what I see as Harris's worst quality, I'll end with saying what I am grateful to her for. I think the money, volunteers, and energy she brought in saved four of five US Senators that could be saved. Bob Casey was the one close call that didn't make it. I think Gallego, Rosen, Slotkin, and our lesbian sister Baldwin would have all lost with Biden on the top of the ticket. As of right now Democrat Derek Tram has taken a 40 vote lead in one of the few remaining House races, in Orange County. Has anyone else noticed that this "landslide" is nothing like the Reagan landslides of 1980 and 1984, including in the former heart of Reagan country? If Tram ekes out a narrow win, it means Democrats will actually gain one House seat from their 2022 performance. Not the victory I hoped for. But so much for a Trump landslide.