Trump Vs Mexico

[Ten oz]

Back to D. Trump...

 

That blowhard has gone up in the polls to within 5 % points of H. Clinton the Democrat front-runner and has completely left behind his competitors for the Republican nomination such as J. Bush.

He has gone from ralleys in venues seating thousands, to venues seating tens of thousands, and is on the cover of Time magazine.

Thank goodness there are still 15 odd months to the election.

 

Maybe this thread should be rolled into the "What is America's Biggest Problem" thread.

The general election is still a year plus away. Currently Hillary is running unopposed basically. Meanwhile the Republican primary is a media firestorm. All the pundit talk, headlines, blogging, facebook posting, tweeting, and etc is about the Republican primary because nothing is happening on the other side. So it is no surprise candidates in that race have gaining numbers on Hillary who at this point has a low smoldering campaigning capturing few headlines. Wait until the the primaries are over. Wait until the real race, the general election, the fight starts in the spring. There are many narratives that have yet to play out. We haven't been hit with the "First Women" president narrative yet. We will also get hit with an Obama retrospective as his years in office draw to a close. Oh yeah, there is also this guy named Bill who has thus far stayed out of site who will be out in force. He is sort of a big deal in many circles. The real show hasn't begun yet. Hillary hasn't started competing yet. Even still she is ahead. Bad sign for the right.

[swansont]

Trump didn't fight as a soldier in any wars, like the list of monsters I listed. He is a big, confrontational mouth, but will he go nutty on the world with a big stick?

 

The big problem here is that he hasn't done anything, and like many people observing how things work from afar, he assumes it's easy. So he can boldly say that he will do X, Y and Z, but he's never done X, Y and Z, so he doesn't realize how it will all bog down. He may very well decide that military action is the right course of action, because he oversimplifies it. (Look at the last >decade. Even people with military understanding oversimplified things)

[overtone]

 

 

The big problem here is that he hasn't done anything, and like many people observing how things work from afar, he assumes it's easy. So he can boldly say that he will do X, Y and Z, but he's never done X, Y and Z, so he doesn't realize how it will all bog down

I doubt either Trump or his supporters care whether any of the stuff he talks about is realistic, or anything he can actually do.

 

There's truth, there's falsehood, and there's bullshit - Trump's not dealing in truth or falsehood. He's a Republican politician. The reality based community does not have Republican representation, or vice versa.

[swansont]

I doubt either Trump or his supporters care whether any of the stuff he talks about is realistic, or anything he can actually do.

And that scares me.

[Phi for All]

The real show hasn't begun yet. Hillary hasn't started competing yet. Even still she is ahead. Bad sign for the right.

 

I think this landslide will be a good thing for the right. For too long, the Republicans have been avoiding ANYTHING the Democrats support, even smart things. This seems to suggest that the two parties have nothing in common, and we all know that can't be true. It's just not possible that the majority of Republicans share no stances with the majority of Democrats.

 

Yet we've seen how this Republican party of the last couple of decades seems determined to draw a line that excludes anything the Democrats want done, even if it's in the best interest of the vast majority. If you really talk to people, you find they have MUCH more in common, but holding the party line has become a bizarre thing for those on the right, and the farther right the more bizarre it's gotten. I'm hoping this current circus with Trump will help underscore how hideously inaccurate Republican representation has become.

[Willie71]

Unfortunately, in states where Republicans are in control, we have seen defunding/dismantling of education, increases in poverty, increases in unemployment, resulting in an unhappy, unsuccessful population. Then the politicians blame the out group, such as the illegal immigrants, or the Muslims, or Obama for their problems. It's the same way Hitler blamed the Jews for the problems caused by the austerity measures after WWI. Austerity causes social unrest, just what the doctor ordered for Republicans. It makes divide and conquer easier. We see the same progression here with Harper. We have a few decades to go, but it's on it's way. I agree that this is a frightening time in history.

[Ten oz]

 

I think this landslide will be a good thing for the right. For too long, the Republicans have been avoiding ANYTHING the Democrats support, even smart things. This seems to suggest that the two parties have nothing in common, and we all know that can't be true. It's just not possible that the majority of Republicans share no stances with the majority of Democrats.

 

Yet we've seen how this Republican party of the last couple of decades seems determined to draw a line that excludes anything the Democrats want done, even if it's in the best interest of the vast majority. If you really talk to people, you find they have MUCH more in common, but holding the party line has become a bizarre thing for those on the right, and the farther right the more bizarre it's gotten. I'm hoping this current circus with Trump will help underscore how hideously inaccurate Republican representation has become.

In my opinion a big part of what the Republican party is currently experiencing is a result of their Southern Strategy. They pandered to evangelicals and southern bigots to win electoral votes cynically assuming the angry low information voter would be low maintenance. However the opposite has turned out to be true. They have been a high maintenance faction who have only gained leverage over the party by driving other groups out. The Republican is no longer viable as a major party without those angry supporters gained through the Southern Strategy. It is self inflected wound that is starting to appear fatal.

[overtone]

 

 

The Republican is no longer viable as a major party without those angry supporters gained through the Southern Strategy. It is self inflected wound that is starting to appear fatal.

The Republican controlling elites have used the forty years of political dominance they gained via the "Southern" vote to not only block but roll back the New Deal. That effort continues, and continues to bring results step by step. This isn't a fatal wound, but a long and probably continuing strategical success.

 

They may not even need the Republican Party any more - they can feed off the chaos of its disintegration, if that's its fate now, to consolidate their purchase (pun intended) in the Democratic Party or make some other move.

The monstrosity they have created, currently represented by the Donald, will continue to be useful far beyond its current and nominal Republican Party affiliations. Useful to them - the country will of course be trashed by this thing's Tantrum Parties. And at least some will discover that the sources of their prosperity and power were not, as they thought, invulnerable properties of the global economy. But too late for the rest of us.

[Ten oz]

The Republican controlling elites have used the forty years of political dominance they gained via the "Southern" vote to not only block but roll back the New Deal. That effort continues, and continues to bring results step by step. This isn't a fatal wound, but a long and probably continuing strategical success.

 

They may not even need the Republican Party any more - they can feed off the chaos of its disintegration, if that's its fate now, to consolidate their purchase (pun intended) in the Democratic Party or make some other move.

The monstrosity they have created, currently represented by the Donald, will continue to be useful far beyond its current and nominal Republican Party affiliations. Useful to them - the country will of course be trashed by this thing's Tantrum Parties. And at least some will discover that the sources of their prosperity and power were not, as they thought, invulnerable properties of the global economy. But too late for the rest of us.

 

Much of the successes gained in rolling back the New Deal were made possible by having numbers on federal courts. In order to maintain that advantage towards the long game Conservatives still need to win the White House. Still need to be in position to place federalist judges. Angry Southern votes have pushed the majority of every voting demographic out of the republican party. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, LGBT, and etc all went Democrat by over 70% in the last couple elections. Lose the White the House for another 8yrs and Conservatives may lose the Courts. Scalia and Kennedy will both be 80yrs by the time Hillary is elected. Lose either of them during her terms and the dam begins to crack. Corporation person-hood, Voting rights, Presidential authority, privacy, torture, and a long list of tight conservative 5-4 victories will be at risk.