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John Byrne
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Posted: 27 March 2023 at 3:52pm | IP Logged | 1  

From NPR:

“The survey of more than 1,300 adults also found that despite the love for him among Republicans, Trump remains highly disliked, continues to struggle mightily with independents — and 6 in 10 Americans don't want him to be president again.”

The majority of Americans didn’t want him the first time, and look how that turned out.

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Rebecca Jansen
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Posted: 27 March 2023 at 5:10pm | IP Logged | 2  

I think it's just very difficult to sustain a level of shared righteous outrage for this many years for enough people to get this conman back to his unprecedented position, re-allowed on twitter or not (which I don't even know if he has been using). Tying their grievances to a billionaire affluenza 'victim' also will have worn thin.

I hope for a future where he, and anyone following or trying to go further with this dumbing down inflaming of cultural divisions while siding with fascists like Putin, is widely regarded as a bad joke very few will want any kind of repeat of. The Republican party, or some kind of conservative party, is a basic requirement to have a democracy and I hope they get more sane and healthy with whatever Lincoln or Kasich, Murkwosky and Romney sorts remain (or hopefully return). If they can rally around Reagan as the last best leader they had that is not totally hopeless, he can be found to have supported some gun control and regulation for example, but some of the more recent sorts waving the name and displaying photos have taken extreme positions opposite of Reagan... for example 'evil empire' Russia being an ally; can't imagine old Ronald being in any way on board for that! His son is currently a great voice for separation of church and state.

Biden has committed a couple unforced errors (Afghanistan withdrawl), it comes with the job, he knows his hands will get some dirt on them, but is provably a more positive and effective president. He's learned a bit more caution over time. I hope a large majority will be intelligent and back him, especially versus any extreme anti-'Woke' would-be revolutionaries should they get to a point of being the challenger. When our Canadian Prime Minister Jean Cretien did not join Bush Jr.s Iraq invasion on the WMD 'info' I was on the other side of that and disagreed... but still, you back your elected leader! In every other way Canadians stood with the U.S. and President George W. Bush! I was very wrong about Iraq and the Liberal PM was a great credit to our country and showed the conviction to do the right thing when outnumbered. This is what you do as a real leader and earn people's respect.

I hope that quality of earning respect is not closed to a lot of people in the U.S. due to party affiliations, right vs. left... that is plain stupid and also I hope unsustainable over the long haul. It goes both ways too though; you must be open to having and showing respect for a Republican, not to say there can't be criticism of course, but this whole 'enemies' toxicity weakens. Nobody should be on side with what weakens. It is a tool of those concerned only with personal gain, they misuse the power you grant them.

There is usually little luxury affordable to attack or demonize others culturally whatever the grouping, other than provably negative actor or agitator groups. I read a quote by an early 20th century German architect the other day that was something to effect that "bored children start fights, nations start wars". I think the bored (or spoiled children) among us, especially would be leaders, have got to go to a time-out corner very soon. The future is not secure and must always be fought for even by those of us who have no inheriting children directly. I want there to be more to inherit than the wind, that's for sure! From that perspective all this childish drama stuff is a backwards distraction. Let's stand by liberty and justice for all and not just some, that is the standard that has been set before us all and for the entire planet (as we do not currently have any other).

Let those who have ears tune out the froot loops! They are wastes of time and belong to some not in the least great yesterday. I wish the media would start not bothering with the reality show drama people, I hope their repetitive 'performance' acts are no longer 'enjoyable' if they ever were and fail to gain the ratings. For news and information one needs to find trusted sources and patronize those lest we all be written off as idiots.
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John Wickett
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Posted: 28 March 2023 at 12:58am | IP Logged | 3  

"The majority of Americans didn’t want him the first time, and look how that turned out."

I was shocked that he won the Republican nomination in 2016, so admittedly, I may be way off, but I don't think he can win again.  Even Republicans who liked his policies don't seem to want him back.  

In addition to their personal dislike for Trump, I think most Republicans understand he is immensely unpopular outside of the party (in 2020 he got more votes than any Republican who has won the presidency, but still lost the election), and they want to run someone who has a chance to win.  

"I hope they get more sane and healthy with whatever Lincoln or Kasich, Murkwosky and Romney sorts..."

Republicans outside of Utah will never support Romney again.  He's too phony.  Romney has been one of Trump's most vociferous critics (and I agree with Romney's criticisms of Trump), but he acted like Trump was the greatest thing since sliced bread when he needed Trump's money to fund his campaign, and when he thought Trump might hire him as Secretary of State.  Romney has no principles.  He'll say whatever he thinks will get him elected.  Dissatisfaction with career politicians like Romney is one of the factors that led to the election of Trump.

If De Santis runs, the Republican nomination is his to lose.  Of the others who's names have been coming up a lot, Nikki Haley, Mike Pompeo and Tim Scott are all way behind Trump and De Santis at this point, but I think all of them have the potential to gain some momentum when campaigning really gets started and a few primaries have happened.  Ramaswamy is interesting.

It will be interesting to see what Democrats do.  I think saying Biden has a couple of unforced errors is a gross understatement.  In my opinion he and Harris are both unelectable.  Newsom appears to be positioning himself, but I think he is perceived as too out of touch.  I think there will be a big tug of war between the progressive and moderate wings of the party.
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Rebecca Jansen
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Posted: 28 March 2023 at 5:03am | IP Logged | 4  

I think of Romney as the candidate who made some comment about a factory in China he was involved in having barbed wire fences to keep out people wanting the great jobs there as well as wanting to fire Big Bird. That he, and until recently Liz Cheney, may be the best of what still have actual positions says a lot I'm sure... John McCain was a Republican most people respected but even he was very wrong about as often as right.

I definitely know that Biden's faults are extremely exaggerated however, ludicrously so, as were Hilary's. Which is not to say they didn't have some, but in contrast to characters like Dick Cheney or Donald Trump it's like comparing a jaywalker or litterbug to an armed robber or rapist! There can be huge amounts of smoke and no actual fire, and also buildings burnt to the ground while a fire department was sabotaged from arriving at all and a large number of people never even told about it. Biden is not sabotaging critical institutions, Biden is not packing courts with totally unsuitable religiously extreme candidates far above their attained level solely to overturn existing precedent based law, Biden is not putting people in charge of the postal service who have a long history of fanatical desire to see it minimized (and because the current president was almost charged in connection to misusing it in an importing tax evasion scheme), Biden did not put anti-LGBT+ extremists in charge of the Voice Of America news service thus undermining it's credibility abroad perhaps permanently. I could go on and on... a short memory is the hallmark of idiots basically. You can't tell me Biden compares to Nixon, or Agnew, or Reagan in the Iran-Conta debacle, based on some heavily inflated innuendo about one son? They never put up because they know they'd have to shut up so a lot of the hyperbole and smoke is all you will keep getting if you allow certain sources of misinformation into your diet. How long will the U.S. and it's people continue to have the time for that? If you don't know how you can, and have, done a lot (huge understatement) worse than Biden or Clinton then you are willfully being ignorant beyond any acceptable point at this stage. They are all going to have some strings and some dirt to get to that level if they are competent of doing the job (was Carter fully competent? Lovely human being though). I actually think John McCain might've been good had he been picked instead of Bush Jnr. for 2000, but we'll never know. Next time around he'd had to sell out much further, to the Robert Dole or Mitt Romney level, to survive the primaries process that for the Republican party has been a race to the bottom than to the top. Bush Snr. for the 1980 race seemed the superior candidate, and at least once he did eventually get in the big chair he did do a lot to clean up after Reagan (who more than tripled your national debt) even though it meant breaking his sacred promise for the extremely simple (and wealthy) of 'no new taxes' (Reagan enacted many by the way).

Learn your self-interest first of all, I can guarantee many of the grotesquely (plus generational) wealthy (which would include the Bush family, W. bought record amounts of oil reserves when the price was at an all-time high to his and his family's personal gain) know theirs in detail... and then quit voting against it! Seeing poor people, blacks and women 'for' Trump or DeSantis is basically like seeing Jews for Hitler or some of those deluded Jim Jones parishioners... among the saddest sights in this world. Get more conflict of interest laws on the books before it's too late, and let the obsessed over fetuses that aren't viable die earlier and their 'mothers' not bleed to death, please.

Edited by Rebecca Jansen on 28 March 2023 at 5:10am
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Vinny Valenti
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Posted: 28 March 2023 at 12:16pm | IP Logged | 5  

"and when he thought Trump might hire him as Secretary of State."

---

Could be a very naive perception on my part, but I took Romney vying for SOS as him doing so in order to rein in Trump as much as possible.
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John Wickett
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Posted: 28 March 2023 at 3:20pm | IP Logged | 6  

"Could be a very naive perception on my part, but I took Romney vying for SOS as him doing so in order to rein in Trump as much as possible."

Possibly.  That's not my perception.  Over the years Romney has flip-flopped on many issues; not just his support for Trump.  That is impacting my view of Romney, but like you, I am speculating.  You may be right.

"...but in contrast to characters like Dick Cheney or Donald Trump it's like comparing a jaywalker or litterbug to an armed robber or rapist!"

This is a bad argument.  Biden is good because others have been worse?  That sets a pretty low standard for evaluating the President of the United States.  By saying that Biden has performed badly, I'm not implying that Bush or Trump were good.  I suggest that we set aside partisanship and objectively judge each of these presidents on their own merits (or lack thereof).   


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Rebecca Jansen
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Posted: 28 March 2023 at 4:43pm | IP Logged | 7  

It's not Biden good because others bad, it's Biden sufficiently proven competent in the job with x amount of experience in extreme stark contrast to proven not at all competent, or in Trump's case a total zero in experience and unwilling to learn anything. You put up an objectively provably competent candidate or you can put up an objectively and provably incompetent one (or Judge as the case may be way above their expected level in terms of experience and qualifications and extreme youth for some ideological/religious type cause soley). The both sides are equal/as bad argument is the one that has outstayed it's welcome, not to say there are not flaws and flawed candidates on the Dem side. One party is extremely off the rail to the weakening and division of the country. Personally I used to vote in Canada for a party that no longer exists named the Progressive Conservative party. I wish the 'left' in both countries would pack up all the spending on dedicated bike lanes painted green with their own traffic light system and elaborate subsidized bicycle share programs, also properly deal with the drug addicted and mentally ill people who are a minority that cause a great majority of costs and problems and get in the way of the helpable poor; either incarcerated criminally for unending thefts and/or violent attacks/threats, or under a section of the mental health act based on their unchanging and proven inability to run their lives even moderately successfully. You need an effective conservative party to balance the 'bleeding liberalism' or 'nannytopia' sorts, not some bunch of froot loops boiling everything down to an enemies list in a state of war with the goal of obliterating the other party/ies..

So sure, you come up with someone better than Biden, wonderful! I sure don't see them. I will even vote 'nannytopia' over a divisive fascist admiration society with candidates that get through to running who are proven to be most incompetent and counter to the nations stability and strength. Thus you saw Liz Cheney and other long-standing Republicans actually, amazingly, unprecedentedly even, advising their supporters to vote for Biden!

It is utterly sickening there is even a pretense of twice-impeached guy or bonkers attack all 'wokeness' Florida guy running for the top job in a national election. Totally inappropriate. Just DeSantis selling anti Dr. Fauci merchandise to raise funds ought to disqualify him with anybody, he is already long 'at war' with your own public servants/government infrastructure! I said once, if a neighboring town wanted to elect a person as chief dog catcher that was clearly going to be damaging I would speak up. Pretty much the whole western world is shocked and worried by who/what has been getting into office and on the bench in the U.S. particularly starting under Bush Jnr. This is absolutely no lie and no exaggeration. You either 'get well' soon or... ? I am extremely thankful that Joe Biden at least is available, the angry child level ridiculing and name-calling of him is totally unprofessional and well beneath what anybody should want.

If you have an extreme left 'socialist paradise' type where you are, and you have a decent conservative alternative, of course that is entirely understandable. There are aspects of U.S. politics I don't entirely follow; such as where people commit to voting one party across the board loyally for life. Here we have parties that enforce their members to vote 100% with their leader unlike the U.S., and as much as I had problems with Manchin (and Republicans with McCain and Murkowsky) I still think that's one superior aspect over our system.
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ron bailey
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Posted: 28 March 2023 at 5:02pm | IP Logged | 8  

As you know, it's not that Biden is good, it's that he's better. We aren't voting for a candidate in isolation, we're choosing between two (or, someday, more) options. Even if he's only a little bit better, logic demands he is the choice you make (however begrudgingly). 
One was subservient to a despot and was suspicious of NATO, the other regalvanized NATO to thwart said despot's advances. One did everything to deny the threat of Covid, the other did the hard work of doggedly implementing what it took to address it. 
And by the way, the unemployment gains Trump touted so much have been matched or exceeded since his departure. 
I'm no fan of either, but calling Biden unelectable is a bit of a stretch. 
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Rebecca Jansen
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Posted: 28 March 2023 at 5:08pm | IP Logged | 9  

"Unelectable" is entirely hyperbolic when attached to Biden by people who would or did vote in support of Trump. Hilary had this "lust for power in her eyes"... a very silly basis for deciding who you empower the same as 'just don't like them'. I often have voted for candidates I didn't particularly find likable if they were the most competent candidate; obviously I had to at least have some respect for them... but when not I have at my worst not voted (a kind of vote in it's way but pretty sad).

Perhaps civics classes should return covering the weighing of candidates' qualifications? Celebrity or media personality figures have become too successful in filling seats in my opinion, or really anyone dropped in from anywhere without any governmental or political record.

Edited by Rebecca Jansen on 28 March 2023 at 5:13pm
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John Wickett
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Posted: 28 March 2023 at 6:33pm | IP Logged | 10  

"As you know, it's not that Biden is good, it's that he's better. We aren't voting for a candidate in isolation, we're choosing between two (or, someday, more) options."

Agreed.  I'm not arguing that Biden was unqualified or that he should not have been elected.  I'm saying that his record as the President, along with other factors, including his age, will make it difficult (in my view impossible) for him to be re-elected.  The Democrats would be smart to run someone else.
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ron bailey
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Posted: 28 March 2023 at 6:45pm | IP Logged | 11  

I figured that's where you were coming from, John.
It's going to be a very tricky transition to making that switch palatable to the internal powers-that-be should they go that route. Biden would have to magnanimously step aside, and that would be only the beginning of their new troubles, as no one readily comes to mind to capture enough enthusiasm, especially should Trump not get the nomination. There is a pretty deep bench of reasonably electable Republican candidates besides Trump and DeSantis. 
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John Wickett
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Posted: 28 March 2023 at 7:09pm | IP Logged | 12  

"There is a pretty deep bench of reasonably electable Republican candidates besides Trump and DeSantis."

Agreed, but I think De Santis is the clear frontrunner.  

I think most Republicans are just right of center ideologically.  In past years, De Santis would be too far to the right.  But Republicans perceive themselves to be in a cultural war with the far left, and De Santis is willing to take on the Progressives, so Republicans will vote for him, rather than a more moderate candidate who they fear is not strong enough.

Biden magnanimously declaring he won't run again would be huge, because it would enable other Democrats to step forward (with his support).  If Dems start to coalesce around a more moderate candidate by the time debates and early primaries start, then I think Republicans may also move back towards the middle.
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