So what did trump do wrong while most of the gop was basenghi missing in action darning their socks certainly not prison reform for non violent affairs something you think would concern you maybe when thd dems were burnibg half the country down while locking down people with a vengeance

Apologies for the delay. Dashed off a quick reply earlier to someone else and was getting back to you before real life intervened.

Seems I probably owe you one. OK – you’re long-winded and opinionated as usual, but left out the huffing and puffing (Thanks!) this time.

No worries, you do not owe me it. And as for huffing and puffing, I just act as I usually do.

(UPDATE: Turtler, have forgotten the HTML for blockquote within blockquote—sorry about that) – Edited part of that quote to correct your spelling of Hinderaker, so maybe it ain’t actually a quote? No biggie tho.

Yeah no worries. It was a bad SIC on my part, so correcting it is only fair. Let it never be said I am flawless, I absolutely and completely am not.

I stand by the fact that the reality was and is REAL. Look at what the DEMs did, in an amazingly short time, to correct a definitely losing Biden/Harris ticket. Switching from a standing President as candidate—to a chackling word-salad like the unpopular VP Harris was a bold and smart move.

Bold? Maybe. Smart? More dubious. It was very obviously a decision made by committee, compromise, and corruption that fully satisfied nobody and is now trying to avoid coming apart at the seams. And the fact remains that it also helped split the Dems further and put some assets in jeopardy (even if scant). And in the face of a far more urgent need to replace it than there is to replace Trump (who at a minimum showed himself to have his own mind – regardless of what quality we assess that to have – and competed in a competitive primary).

And then the wrangling over who would be Harris’s VP further caused drama given the anti-Zionist and outright anti-Jewish backlash that led to the emergence of Walz, an authoritarian crypto-Maoist with a track record of dishonesty and stolen valor that handed the opposition the chance to make hay.

This was not “intelligence”, this was a mixture of an internal power struggle and gut reaction, and even if we wish to accord the Dems (or at least those that favored it) credit for this reality, that credit needs to be massively watered down by the aforementioned factors.

Moreover, it was not comparably “intelligent” to the idea of ditching Trump. Who wants to argue that Harris can bring more voters into the pile compared to Biden’s supposed 80 million? Because I have not seen that be argued even among most of Kamala’s supporters, who usually preached some kind of “legitimacy” that she was VP.

This is in sharp contrast to Trump, who visibly added to the Republican and Conservative coalition in both 2016 and 2020 (and did so most dramatically here) and who was.

The timing was perfect,

No it very provably was not for the reasons we mentioned. Having it happen earlier would have removed any doubt about things like the fate of Biden’s war chest or voter registration, and also would have allowed for a more orderly transfer of power (whether to Kamala or to whoever else) as well as hammering out a VP.

perhaps a tad slow,

Indeed to say the least.

but Biden was the standing president (when he wasn’t falling down ? ).

And how is that a benefit or indication of “perfect timing”? It threw the DNC logistics into a tizzy, denied Kamala or whoever the “benefits” of incumbency (such as they are) in the coming election, and so on. Those aren’t necessarily FATAL wounds or setbacks, but they underline the imperfection and flaws of this.

You are too opinionated here,

Perhaps I am, but I can say the same for you.

misspelled Hinderaker again,

Indeed.

and have totally missed what the DEMs just accomplished.

“Totally” missed? I had been chronicling the Kamala v. Biden power struggles for months by now, and have brought up the issues with the timing, which have had very real effects.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13657003/Inside-conservative-legal-fight-Biden-2024-ballot.html

So I think I am the one who has a better grasp on the upsides and downsides of what this was, as well as the fact that – above all else – it was anything but ‘perfect” but a desperation gamble when their first choice (already no great achievement) failed. Was there some skill or intelligence there? Maybe. But it was no great act of intelligence or foresight, and indeed the desperation and haste of it undermines the entire campaign.

Back in 2016, I was a NPA Florida voter and liked Cruz & Rubio, but Trump had amazing support even back then.

Indeed.

Kept getting calls from the Trumpers—not harassing but bordering on it. Blogs and news comment sections were managed by them also.

My apologies for that, it sucks.

Trump proved to be a terrible leader,

To which I’d argue “compare to who?”

and America is best served by a President who at least has some natural Leadership qualities.

To which I’d counter: “Define natural leadership qualities.” Because I think it is fairly clear Trump has some. Maybe not as much as he or his fans claim, but still. Charisma and management come to mind, even if neither is perfect. As is having an idea for where and how to strike deals. In many ways I’d argue he ran into a bunch of very key problems there, now underlined by him -years later now – reaching out to try and bury the hatchet with Kemp in spite of the latter’s proven track record of being – to put it credibly – two faced. Many of his efforts to push olive branches to the Party Establishment and the Left at the wrong time or place.

Phoning Mike Pence and Brian Kemp.

Likewise his energy and willingness to stump across the country both for himself and for other party candidates on a level there.

On reflection, Cruz would’ve been the perfect choice in 2016.

Even as a Cruz fan, there ARE no “perfect choice”s. There are always tradeoffs, even if there are choices that are clearly superior or inferior. And while Cruz was the other outsider insurgent candidate of the Republican Party and the one whose values generally align more with me, he did not have the exact magnitude of grassroots support Trump did or (For better or worse) his skill at making deals.

And this is particularly evident when you look at the actual “Non-White” voting share and campaigning in the rust belt.

The REP party needed to change from the ‘Party of Whites’ – to at least reflect the changing demographics of America.

Karmi, this kind of BS is what makes others suspect you’re a downright racist. You argue that Ted Cruz would have been the “perfect” candidate. So what do you justify this argument with? His role as an attack dog and investigator? His conservative principles or understated charisma? His role as a vital support player and skill in debate?

No. Only blathering about how the GOP is a “Party of Whites”. And that alone. While saying absolutely nothing about the rest. And the kicker is that even if I accepted this nakedly small-sighted premise, it still doesn’t work given Trump’s success at pulling away Black and Hispanic voters (especially working class men) from the Dems.

Here’s a novel concept. The content of one’s character is far more important than skin color (after all, it was one of the core follies and evils of racism and skin discrimination), and people are far more than the sum of their melanin or skin tone. People may live in communities tied to skin color and racial names, but they live AS Individuals and groups with their own capacity. And no country or society – especially not the US – can survive ignoring this.

Now, consider this a word of advice. If you keep blathering about the “Party of Whites” again I am going to start making flat out accusations of being a superficial racist.

IMHO, Hinderaker was pointing out that the REPs could’ve probably ran any REP not named Trump and the Republic would’ve been better off since 2016.

I don’t believe that is what Hinderaker was claiming, especially given the issues he has clashed with other GOPe members. But that is irrelevant. Whether that is by him, you, or both, it is provably false and we can show this on a statistical level. I also point to the likes of Kaisch and Romney.

Next.

Trump was and is a disaster, as was reflected during his 4-years as President.

To which I would counter: compared to who?

Trump made egregious flaws and plenty of shortsighted decisions (in part due to his ego and desire to make good and show people he wasn’t the demon). But he also had very great achievements, such as economic reform, lethal aid to our Eastern European allies (including Ukraine, which I know is so valuable to you), and deepening ties with Israel, India, and others. He also helped midwife things like the Abraham Accords for relative normalization between the reactionary Sunni governments and Israel in order to form a united front against Iran and its Apocalyptic “Resistance Bloc” while deterring Russia from Eastern Syria and Western Iraq.

OK – two differing opinions—three if we include Hinderaker (you misspelled it again).

Fair.

Point is, the REP party seems unable to change, impossible to change ‘on-the-run’, and under Trump has become even more ‘Party of Whites’.

Karmi, this is more pig ignorant than the ostrich with its head in the sand, since the ostrich at least does it to cool the brain, not for security against outside threats. Trump’s emergence to lead the GOP *REPRESENTS A CRUCIAL CHANGE IN AND OF ITSELF.*

And as for “become even more “Party of Whites”, kindly pull your head out of wherever you’ve stuck it and measure those claims against some indexes of reality.

https://www.tremr.com/james-aldridge/donald-trumps-outreach-to-minority-voters-winning-strategy-or-damage-limitation

https://www.newstandardpress.com/the-donald-and-the-blacks/

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-partisan-gender-and-generational-differences-among-black-voters-heading-into-election-day/

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/us/politics/biden-trump-black-voters-poll-democrats.html

(PS: This is also a good indication that Trump has done better at blunting the anti-GOP and generally racist propaganda that Republicans are White Supremacists and want to put African-Americans “Back in Chains.”)

So Kindly SHUT THE FUCK UP about this “Party of Whites” horseshit and either revealing yourself as a superficial racist, or falsely giving that impression.

And this is before I get into the fact that “Whites” are still a distinct plurality if not majority in the US, and that it is not surprising we would expect Trump to try and curry favor with not only the largest single groups of voting blocs in the country, but ones being explicitly discriminated against by things such as DIE measures. After all, Trump is white himself and he has to at least try and live in this country, as do his family, so there’s personal motives as well as pragmatic and principled ones.

I’ll skip the Thirdly and Fourthly parts—other than to point out that the “TDS” (Trump Derangement Syndrome) works in both directions.

To some degree.

For REPs it falls under the old ‘Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.’

This is cute but wrongheaded on multiple levels.

Firstly: There’s a reason why Einstein (himself a rather naive pro-Soviet Socialist) was not a psychologist or therapist. His grasp of insanity and its different forms is weak. As someone who actually worked in therapy and some mental institutions, I probably am more qualified to speak on it than he is, and that’s in spite of being out of the loop for many developments for about a decade and a half.

Secondly: In many ways Trump is a case of the Republican base trying something else, a more isolationist and America First form of politics to reach out to the rust belt.

Thirdly: If we want to talk about “different results” Trump still has the undisputed largest vote tally of any Republican Presidential Candidate in history. That’s no small feat, and were it not for the literally unprecedented (some might say suspicious) amount of votes for the Dems in the “right” machine politics dominated jurisdictions, 2020 would have been far more decisive a victory for him than 2016.

How do you figure Cruz would have done? Or Kaisch? Romney?

Talking about a “Party of Whites” is a piss poor and frankly counterproductive substitute for strategy or analysis.

BREAKING: Robert F Kennedy Jr drops out of the presidential race – endorses Trump! “in the name of saving democracy”
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2024/08/breaking-robert-f-kennedy-jr-drops-out.html

Full Transcript of RFK Jr’s endorsement of President Trump
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2024/08/full-transcript-of-rfk-jrs-endorsement.html

I comment semi-regularly at PL under a different name (actually my own) and while that is not unfair to Hinderaker it is unfair to a lot of the commenters. While there a few regulars still skittish about Trump most of the commenters there are firmly in his camp. When Hinderaker expresses NT sentiments, not uncommon, he gets an earful from them.

What states would they have won to compensate for losing those three? CA? NY? MA? IL? Sorry, Trump already won TX, FL and OH.

Of course this post is a waste of time because those two will never let themselves be confused by the facts.