September 16, 2020

"If President Trump defies today's swing-state polls and pulls off another upset, what will we have missed that could have been a clue?"

That's one hell of a "we" from Axios!

The article is "The Trump identity and fashion statement" (Axios) and please click through and see the photograph — just a collection of Trumpsters, but oh, that shirt!

I've put some thought into what would be the thinking of a man who went out in that shirt — true love for Trump? amorphous rowdy enthusiasm? fun getting in the face of those who would call him deplorable? — but then I switched to thinking about the mind set of editors who would choose that man in that shirt to influence readers to feel alienated from Trump supporters — to comfortably read that "we" without stopping to question the us-versus-them presentation.

The answer to the question above — what clue will we have missed? — is:
Trump flotillas ... Trump flags bigger than American flags ... Trump truck rallies ... Trump shirts ... Trump underwear ... lawns that don't have a Trump-Pence sign or two but 50 or even 100 — a forest.
That's a lot of clues. But I get the point.
To his diehard supporters, Trump isn't just a candidate. He's a lifestyle choice and a vehicle for self-expression — a way to continually flip the middle finger at big media, big business, big government ... anything big....

Axios CEO Jim VandeHei: "In your lifetime, do you ever remember a Ronald Reagan flag as big as the American flag in somebody's front yard? Do you ever remember someone spray painting 'Obama' on their boat?"...
The article presents a "bottom line":
Trump touts a "silent majority," and pundits pundit about "shy Trump voters" who may be missed by pollsters. But one of the stories of this election is that the Trump vote is screaming, not silent.
So there are the out-and-proud Trumpsters, but that doesn't mean "the shy Trump voters" are not real. It may make the shy ones even shier to see the overt ones so exuberantly expressive.

179 comments:

Michael K said...

When Reagan was president, the threat was from the USSR, not from the Democrat Party which was still sane and which cooperated in governing.

Sydney said...

Hahaha. I look at that shirt and think Trump supporters have a sense of humor. Like the yard signs that have Trump's hairdo on the top of them. Can you imagine the Biden campaign poking fun at Biden? Then again, maybe that "Truth over Lies" slogan is meant to be ironic.

Ken B said...

Scott Adams made your point pungently: apparently people come in two kinds, shy and fuck-off.

rcocean said...

That shirt is great. Trump = America, just by NOT being an America hating liberal Democrat like Biden/Harris and the MSM. Besides, the Liberal/Left/Axios have already made it clear they despise the flag, the national anthem, patriotism, and any statue of any White man/woman born before 1930. Trump obvious love of country and fighting for better trade deals for the USA, makes him a lot of friends.

BTW, I love how the press concentrated on 5 boats - out of 500 - swamping in the lake water. "Haha, take that you damn Republicans!" - they really are a bunch of creeps.

daskol said...

That is the perfect shirt for 2020's politics of the gut. Visceral, felt in the viscera, disgusting like viscera and like that shirt.

rcocean said...

BTW, Trump supporters need to do more than take a boat ride or wear a shirt. They need to maker sure all their friends, neighbors, and family vote Trump. this is Biden's election to lose, and he's still ahead.

Chris said...

I'm a shy trump voter because I work in a community of brain numb Biden supporters, and they are the kind that will make you pay for even liking Trump.

mockturtle said...

Re the shirt: It worked, didn't it?

Dave Begley said...

Big Ten to play football. Trump wins MI, WI, MN, OH and PA.

How's that for swing states?

Big watch party at Meadehouse. Nebraska v. Wisconsin!

JPS said...

At this point, I am probably a shy Trump voter. Didn't vote for him in '16, still have some problems with him. But the left has gone batshit insane and I refuse to vote Biden to placate them.

It's not Trump's exuberant supporters who make me shy. It's the people who would vandalize my house, threaten my family, and do their best to run me out of my career field if, let's say, I put up a Trump lawn sign, or drove to work with a Trump bumper sticker. (I'd better have some cash set aside for repainting and tire replacement if I do any such thing.) All things it would never occur to me to try against my neighbors with their BIDEN and BYEDON signs.

So the better question than "what will we have missed...?" is, "will we acknowledge that we repulsed a lot of people who didn't even much want to support Trump, or will we bang on about how we really won fair and square, and the forces of evil cheated?"

I have a prediction on that one. I hope I'm wrong.

gilbar said...

“What do you mean we, white man?"

wendybar said...

Lefties burning down cities, beating up white people, killing cops, spewing racism, ect...ect...ect... All you have to do is OPEN YOUR DAMN EYES!!!

mockturtle said...

This morning while walking the dog I actually saw a tiny Biden flag, half hiding in someone's garden. Are they embarrassed about their support? All the Trump flags are yuuge, out and proud. And no, they don't fear backlash from their neighbors. This only happens from the left.

gilbar said...

as i said a few days ago...

EVERYONE, and EVERYTHING is apposed to President Trump
The Media
The Big Corporations
The Pundits
EVERY ONE! and EVERY THING

except
The American People

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

"If President Trump defies today's swing-state polls and pulls off another upset, what will we have missed that could have been a clue?"

Well that Royal "we" doesn't help.

I'm hoping this will be a new dawning in America where people like Jim VendeHei will direct their time and energy into trying to figure out how the world forgot that it revolves around people like Jim VandeHei.

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

It's as plain as the nose on their collective face.

Nonapod said...

that doesn't mean "the shy Trump voters" are not real

Exactly. Just because there's a group of extremely vocal Trump supporters doesn't exclude the possibility that there's a huge number of quiet supporters. Within the group of voters who will ultimately vote for Trump, you're going to have all sorts of attitudes about Trump himself, ranging from absolute devotion to outright disgust for the guy on a personal level.

People who reduce Trump voters to a tribe of blindly devoted cult members are missing the bigger picture and aren't thinking critically about their fellow human beings. They're either incapable of imagining certain possibilties or they're not allowing themselves to imagine them because they're afraid to challenge their own assumptions.

h said...

One way to get things wrong is to mis-weight the party affiliation of people in your polls. The exist polls in 2016 (for what that's worth, but it's the best we have) showed: 36% Dem, 33% Rep, 31% ind.

The most recent Economist/Yougov poll (which publishes extensive information on all questions, sampled: 34.2% Dem, 24.8% Rep, 41% Independent.

Taking the preferences for each party as correct in the Economist/Yougov, if you use the exit poll party weights instead of the polls party weights, you get the 9-point Biden lead shrinking to a 4-point Biden lead.

I realize that the 2016 exit polls are not any kind of predictor of the 2020 vote. But if the polls end up being wrong and too pro-Biden, this is the first place I'd look as a pollster.

h said...

And, I should have added to a previous comment: the news media clearly believes that constant repetition of an untruth can make "true" or "as good as true". Applying this thinking to polls means constant repetition of "Biden is way ahead in the polls" can make it true, or as good as true.

tim in vermont said...

If these were Democrats, they would be seen as the froth on a giant wave of voter enthusiasm.

Achilles said...

This is what a preference cascade looks like.

Mike Sylwester said...

President Trump will win all the states he won in 2016, plus Minnesota and New Hampshire, which he almost won in 2016.

That's his floor. We will see how many more states he will win.

The electorate is not going to position Kamala Harris to become the US President.

Carol said...

Well I think the point of the regattas and car parades is to signal to the shy voters that they're not alone in their area. We're not the demonstratin' kind, so we need to do something. The Tea Party protests were an anomaly.

I am going to suggest a car parade here. We'll avoid downtown though.

hombre said...

“Shyness” in Trump voters is a result of fear that a bumper sticker will result in your car being vandalized, a t-shirt will result in assault, a yard sign may result in broken widow or even arson.

Shyness may stem from concern that a BLMer or Black Panther will be outside your polling place with a club. It may result from knowing that support for the police, the flag or the National Anthem will have negative consequences outside the confines of your home - or inside if you are sheltering a child who is a Marxist Democrat.

Support for the military is okay because the Dems don’t want to alienate them in case they are needed to evict Trump from the White House.

Democrats and their minions have broken the country. Electing Trump, if it is even possible in the face of lefty fraud, won’t save us, but it will give them the finger.

Birches said...

We live out in the exurbs. I noticed last week that there are Trump signs and flags all over the stand alone houses, but none in the master planned neighborhoods. There are plenty of Trump voters in the neighborhoods, they just don't want to deal with the hassle from the woke neighbors. These are the shy Trump voters.

JAORE said...

Like real estate, the three most important factors are location, location, location.

There are plenty of deep red areas where Trump flags fly proudly.

There are plenty of deep blue areas where just wearing a MAGA hat will get you assaulted. even if you are a seven year old boy.

Bryant said...

I live in California and this video was taken in the San Fernando Valley which is a very democrat heavy area:

https://twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/1305333978703028224

We also have street vendors in our town selling Trump merchandise on the street corners, which is something I've never seen before. It seems like something has changed and the Trump supporters are getting more excited and less shy as the election gets closer.

Leland said...

I don't think it is idolatry rather than a warning sign to those that might otherwise peacefully protest.

Gusty Winds said...

It will be interesting to see how many silent Trump voters have developed in Madison since the town started eating itself.

tcrosse said...

A clear-eyed evaluation of the Biden-Harris ticket would be a tip-off.

rhhardin said...

I photograph every lawn campaign sign, and have so far this year a dozen Trump signs and no Biden signs.

William said...

It's a hate crime to burn a rainbow or BLM flag. Burning or showing disrespect for the American flag is considered a hallowed Constitutional right. I'm not sure where the Constitution stands on Trump flags. Some scholars claim that waving it is a hate crime and burning it is a civic obligation, but consensus has not yet been reached.

Shouting Thomas said...

I’m almost motivated to buy a MAGA hat and wear it everywhere in public. Not my style to advertise or talk about politics anywhere but FB and a couple of comments sections, but I’m tired of the intimidation.

BLM’s intent is to intimidate us from public expression. The virus scam was intended to stop people from assembling in public to speak freely. Wearing masks, intended to hobble us from speaking freely. The threat of public violence from ANTIFA is intended to shut us up.

Drago said...

The media will continue their "Biden is really super duper ahead and we all know it but it wont be visible on election night when Trump is ahead because all the "mail in" ballots we need to "Find Al Franken Style" to throw the election after weeks and months of additional counting isn't yet complete" ploy.

This will tie into their massive army of lawyers and law firms that are already on board the democraticals Orwellian named "Transition Integrity Project" that will attempt to steal the election across all battleground states and sow massive chaos.

Which will be timed with a massive democratical-aligned Big Tech/legacy media blackout of any stories/narratives that in any way support Trump's political/legal position.

The democraticals/LLR-lefties have learned their lessons since their refusal to accept defeat in 2000, 2004 and 2016.

And we are going to see the entire deep state and its holdover actors continue to work with them (its already been going on for months as our cities burn and cops are killed) to create another of their "color revolutions". (See: George Kent, Marie Yovanovich, Victoria Nuland, et al)

It's what these guys did in Ukraine with the Orange Revolution and what they are doing as we speak in Belarus.

We now see full blown marxist revolutionary warfare in the streets married to near complete democratical leftist control of our institutions and 95% of the media.

And what sits at the very end if the democraticals still come up short?

A call for their obama-ized military to remove Trump via military coup.

Here's a refresher for how obama purged 200 of our most senior officers in his first 4 years in office and replaced them with willing sycophants at the highest reaches of our military:

https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/197-military-officers-purged-by-obama/

Leading to this:

"Two more data points (among several that could be provided). Over the summer, two former Army officers, both prominent in the Democrat-aligned “national security” think tank world, wrote an open letter to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in which they urged him to deploy the 82nd Airborne Division to drag President Trump from the Oval Office at precisely 12:01 PM, January 20, 2021.

About a month later, Hillary Clinton declared publicly that Joe Biden should not concede the election “under any circumstances.” The old English major in me interprets the word “any” to mean “no,” “none,” “nada,” “niente,” “zero,” “zilch” “bupkis”…you get the idea.

This doesn’t sound like the rhetoric of a political party confident it will win an upcoming election."


Ladies and gentlemen, its all happening right in front of us and they aren't even bothering to hide it anymore.

Mattman26 said...

In their hatred, they “miss” that there are many who love Trump.

They can’t even imagine it.

RichardJohnson said...

So there are the out-and-proud Trumpsters, but that doesn't mean "the shy Trump voters" are not real.

It is not difficult to find examples of harassment of people wearing MAGA paraphernalia. Which is why I don't wear any MAGA paraphernalia. I don't want to turn a mundane trip to the grocery store into a political crusade. I don't recall any such harassment of people wearing Obama or Hillary paraphernalia.

Fernandinande said...

That's one hell of a "we" from Axios!

That's the same "we" who are "all in this together".

a dozen Trump signs and no Biden signs

Around here there approximately zero political yard signs, but when the useful idiots start shambling around with their BLM signs, they're answered by hundreds of vehicles flying Trump and US flags.

Drago said...

Mike Sylwester: "President Trump will win all the states he won in 2016, plus Minnesota and New Hampshire, which he almost won in 2016."

There are far left/marxist democrat governors in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Kentucky.

These governors and their hack secretaries of state will never certify any vote that shows Trump ahead no matter how far ahead he is.

They are going to go Full Resist Mode and we will be in the courts all the way to January 2021.

Guaranteed.

Massive violent demonstrations in the streets combined with round the clock media/big tech pro-dem narratives and lies, media/big tech blackouts on Trump messaging, lawsuits in every single city and county in the key states with more and more democrat votes magically appearing every single day, threats and violence against Trump supporters increasing with full democrat DA support, no ability for people to defend themselves against the lefty mob, etc.

Sound dystopian?

Well then, get set. Because I think its going to be even worse than that.

We are about to get the Full Commie Revolution treatment in our streets and media and courts and deep state (Law Enforcement/Intel/Military obama holdovers) that the democraticals/LLR's have been building for 3 generations and they've got their Brown Shirt shock troops already fully prepped.

Big Mike said...

What are they missing? It’s called the enthusiasm gap. Four years ago I was ready to crawl five miles over broken glass to vote against the Queen of Corruption. Today I’d crawl ten miles over broken glass to vote for Trump. I’m sure there are people who feel about Trump the way I felt about Clinton, and lots of them, but there are more who feel the way I do, plus motivation to vote “for” is always stronger than motivation to vote against.

Owen said...

Prof. A: “... It may make the shy ones even shier to see the overt ones so exuberantly expressive.”. Wait: “shier”? Surely it’s “shyer”?

But to your point, yes, I think the presence of the noisy overt supporters allows the shyer ones to draft along unobtrusively. The hard work of yelling at and being yelled at by Trumpophobes is done for them.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

On the one hand, Democrats are confident of an easy win. On the other hand they are dripping with self doubt and desperation. I’ve never really seen anything quite like it. I suspect at least some of them realize the media bubble they inhabit may not be allowing them to understand the whole story.

Drago said...

Did you happen to catch the story of the Milwaukee man who had the Lefty Brown Shirt Mob show up at his house because he had an American and Trump flag visible on his property?

The lefties swarmed his house for hours last night and then the lefties called in a "brandishing a gun thru the window" charge against the man at home with his family and the local DA democraticals got the democratical controlled police to go in a make an arrest of that man.

It's all battlespace prep to let Trump voters know that if they dare to speak up or support Trump once the revolution is fully launched after election night then the democraticals will use their official and street "power" to come after you and your family.

"WATCH: Milwaukee man mobbed by BLM activists—arrested for trying to defend his home"

https://thepostmillennial.com/watch-milwaukee-man-mobbed-by-blm-activists-arrested-for-trying-to-defend-his-home

Michael said...

Leave it to the press to mock the clothes of a deplorable. Their own suits are of the department store variety and always Ill fitting. I have personally met a number of these fabulist and they are poorly clad. And shod. Really crappy shoes

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Of course it is solidarity!! And a bit of 'in your face' attitude.

Addressed to the lefties...not anyone here in particular..(well maybe...but...I'm not naming names �� )

What better way to make a group of people solidify than to constantly attack, insult, ridicule, harass and tell them that they are the racists and are your enemy. Marginalize and blame Trump and all "White People" for every perceived wrong. Make them attend punitive workshops to tell them how horrible they are....on and on and on.

Even if all of your insults are only based on your own paranoid delusions (yes lefties I'm lookin' at you)....those people who you are targeting WILL solidify into a group to protect themselves and to be better able to counter attack YOU.

Before they were Trump supporters, the people who support Trump now, have been under constant attack. By the Left. By the Media. That is why they voted for Trump. He offered an alternative and a way to push back. This is why they will vote for Trump again.

If there isn't a Trump and you succeed in stealing this election.....better be careful.....because someone else will fill the void that YOU have created. This is how Hitler came to be after WWI and the disastrous Treaty of Versailles.

You think Trump is Hitler.....think again. Hitler is in the wings waiting for his cue.

LINK

**The overly punitive treaty, imposed as “victors’ justice” on helpless Germany by the triumphant Allies, was chiefly responsible for making World War II inevitable. Its “war guilt” article humiliated Germany by forcing it to accept all blame for the war, and it imposed disastrously costly war reparations that destroyed both the post-World War I German economy and the democratic Weimar Republic. The treaty, therefore, ensured the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party

Martin said...

From the linked article:
"It's all part of one of the big Trump triumphs — convincing his voters that an attack on him is actually an attack on them."

Could the fact that for 4+ years most of the Democratic Party, media, and cultural elites have used their big megaphones to call Trump's supporters racists, xenophobes, ignorant, stupid, deplorable, irredeemable, losers, etc. have something to do with that? Every day, for about 1,500 days and still counting?

Trump didn't have to do a thing, his opponents had already convinced his voters of that by the tine of the 2016 election. Now he just reminds them.

minnesota farm guy said...

Here in the SE corner of MN there are a bunch of aggressively proud Trump supporters. Flags, 4x8 Trump /Pence signs, lawn signs. A lot more than I saw in 2016. Unfortunately I am not traveling to the north central part of the state as I did in 2016, but I'll bet the same flagrant pro-Trump display is going on there.

Lance said...

It's all part of one of the big Trump triumphs — convincing his voters that an attack on him is actually an attack on them.

This misunderstands Trump's supporters: they have been alternately attacked and ignored, both economically and culturally, since long before Trump's presidential run. They have been looking for someone to fight back since at least Bush 43.

Skeptical Voter said...

I like the T shirt on the guy. It's a fashion statement. And it's a tough one to carry off unless you've drunk enough beer to fill that face out. But the wearer was dedicated and got the job done.

Drago said...

Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers have just fired one of their Spanish-language broadcasters, Luis Moreno Jr for nothing more than simply being a Trump supporter in his private life.

He did nothing professionally to advance that personal political position. Just some very typical likes and standard issue support comments in his private life and social media.

That was enough for the Panthers to tell him to get lost.

Hispanic supports Trump. Organization fires Hispanic.

He must be a White Hispanic.

Chick said...

What would we have missed? How about that we are clueless and useless.

Temujin said...

"But one of the stories of this election is that the Trump vote is screaming, not silent."

Democrat voters are out there screaming as well. BLMers in your face

But Dems are not just screaming. They're destroying businesses, residences, entire neighborhoods, and parts of multiple cities. And now they're shooting police.

A guy wearing a Trump t-shirt may show some bad taste, but he's doing anything. He's just wearing a bad shirt. Take a look at Portland and ask yourself who's doing the screaming?

rehajm said...

They're just looking at the top line percentages in those matchups, relying on the RCP 'average' or similar that mixes absurdly bad or manipulative polling with some better ones. Nate's 'graded' weighted averages are pure propaganda...

A few things you would have missed:

Undersampling
Measuring registered vs likely voters
Overweighting Democrats more than +2
Over/underweighting 'independents'.
Cherry-picking 'independents' by age, geography, race, political leanings.
Trump improved numbers with blacks
Trump improved numbers with latinos
Trump's approval ratings consistently higher than Obama's
Voter reported most important issues- crime, violent protests, economy, favor Trump.

mockturtle said...

'What will we have missed?'

The will of the American people, as usual.

JML said...

I'm pro-Trump and very vocal in my FB postings, but there is no way I'd wear a Trump hat or shirt in NM, fly a Trump flag or have a sign or bumper sticker. My property would get vandalized and I would be assaulted one way or another. (I did wear a hat in rural Southern CO and felt very comfortable doing so.) If I was polled, I tell them I'm libertarian and will vote that way.

clint said...

Remember that the guy with the 50' Trump flag in his yard might well be a "shy" Trump voter, in that he screens his calls and chooses not to talk to pollsters.

Re: Yard signs...

I'm in deep, deep Biden territory, and the vast majority of the yard signs around here are either the "BYE DON" signs or "NOPE" with the orange swoosh Trump hair on top. These have mostly replaced the early wave of "Ridin' with Biden" and "Biden/Harris" signs (which never came close to the number of Black Lives Matters yard signs).

It's pretty clear that even here no one is voting for Biden, they're voting against Trump. The enthusiasm gap is huge.

Ann Althouse said...

"Wait: “shier”? Surely it’s “shyer”?"

I thought so too, but I followed the pressure of the spellcheck.

Ann Althouse said...

Googling, I'm seeing: "Both are acceptable in the U.S., however "shier" is the preferred spelling in American English and "shyer" is the proper spelling in the Queen's English."

Aesthetically, I prefer "shyer," but it spellchecked as an error and "shier" did not, so I yielded.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

I live in Ozaukee county and I’m actually surprised at the number of Bidet signs I’ve seen. Of course, this is near Cedarburg which has experienced a large influx of North Shore Nancies who have been fleeing Milwaukee over the last decade. It’s like those blue staters who move to Republican areas to escape the mess they created and then feverishly go to work trying to import the same dystopian hellscape into their new home.

Phil 314 said...

"So the better question than "what will we have missed...?" is, "will we acknowledge that we repulsed a lot of people who didn't even much want to support Trump, or will we bang on about how we really won fair and square, and the forces of evil cheated?""

In 2016 it was "Yeah but I just can't vote for Hillary! She's just despicable"
In 2020 it will be "Yeah but I just can't vote for the Democratic Party! they are batshit crazy!'

tim in vermont said...

"Biden telling the foreign leader that he wants to stay “deeply engaged” in their diplomatic work as a private citizen.” - Recording of Biden talking to Ukraine after Trump had won.

Wasn’t a Logan Act violation a pretext they were using to go after Trump during the transition? You gotta hand it to them for chutzpah. I am sure Biden wanted to keep the cash flowing.

rehajm said...

I'm not sold on the shy Trump voter theory, that they would be reluctant reveal their support in public is one thing but while sitting at home talking to someone on the phone? Seems to me more of the typical omission of good Republican samples because Rs don't pick up the phone...

Carol said...

Some of the support is over the top. Like that he was Sent by God. And I don't think Trump believes his own bullshit, that he loves his country, he loves the troops, he loves his flag!

But he saw an opening. The God/Country niche was empty!

Marketing. Works for me!

Phil 314 said...

"Aesthetically, I prefer "shyer," but it spellchecked as an error and "shier" did not, so I yielded."

little people prefer "shire"

tim in vermont said...

"So there are the out-and-proud Trumpsters, but that doesn't mean "the shy Trump voters" are not real. “

It would be a full time job weeding out the logical errors in press reports.

danoso said...

There are places where your enthusiasm is allowed to show. Where I live if I so much as put a Trump 2020 bumper sticker on my car the tires would be slashed within a week. Folks like me will be coming out of the woodwork on Nov 3

Bay Area Guy said...

""If President Trump defies today's swing-state polls and pulls off another upset, what will we have missed that could have been a clue?"

Hahahahah!

Well, for starters:

1. Your Polling Pied-Piper, Nate Silver, is not a pollster. He knows nothing about polls. He is a poll reader. He reads the polls, and tells you who is winning, which even a monkey could do.

2. In 2016, Nate read the polls and told the world that HIllary had 71% shot at winning.

3. Nate was wrong, because the polls were wrong.

4. In 2020, the polls are still wrong. They oversample Dems, they undersample rural voters, they fail to account for "shy" Trump voters.

So, here's a clue Axios!

5. The polls are off, which means Nate Silver is off.

policraticus said...

I was a "never Trump" Republican in 2016. I have remained what I would call "Trump-skeptical" ever since. But, slowly, between Trump's genuine accomplishments and the truly unhinged and dishonest attacks on him, including the impeachment debacle and the outright lies concerning his response to Charlottesville, I decided to vote for him. I think the Kavanaugh hearings were what really tipped the scales for me, but I've held my peace until much more recently.

I've known Joe Biden my whole life, when he was elected as senator I was 7. Whatever he once was, he is no more. His assertion that his election is the only way to stop the rioting comes far to close to a Mafia shakedown than an argument from principle, it should be an outrage and that it is not makes it all the more outrageous. His decision to advance a person such as Kamala Harris as Vice President seems so unconscionable, it hardened my resolve.

My wife was another "never Trump" Republican, but much filled with much more "suburban mom" disgust at Trump's persona than I had. As I drifted slowly toward grudging respect, she hardened into much more strident opposition. She could see my points, but she had such visceral hatred she couldn't find herself able to change her mind. Until last week. Until she saw the rioting and the tepid response of the Democratic party. Until she read "In defense of looting." Until she heard the chants in LA, "We hope they die!" She looked at me this morning, as we were watching CNN, and said, (verbatim) "They are making me vote for this man. I can't believe it. But this is madness." We still find Trump off putting, we are still disgusted by his personal behavior and we are still frustrated by his tweets and boorishness, we still believe he is unfit for the office. You'll never see me hoisting a Trump flag, or wearing a MAGA hat, or joining a Trump parade.

But come November, I am pulling the lever for Trump. God help us, somehow he is the best bad option.

Kevin said...

"If President Trump defies today's swing-state polls and pulls off another upset, what will we have missed that could have been a clue?"

They will have missed all the Russian collusion that was hidden from the Dems and their media allies by John Ratcliffe.

And they won't be afraid to roll out Impeachment II on another party-line vote as long as the Dems retain the House.

Mike said...

"Shy" supporters are the people who see a boat parade and are amused.

William said...

No Trump sign on lawn (scared of vandalism); no Trump sticker on car (ditto).

But big Trump flag on boat. Best I can do.

Richard Dolan said...

"It may make the shy ones even shier to see the overt ones so exuberantly expressive."

Not feeling that. More likely that the shier ones live in places, work for employers or circulate in social sets where being open about being a Trumpster is very likely to cause you problems. AA lives in one such place, as does any academic or big-corporation employee or resident of any deep-blue location (among others). For instance, I'm not seeing any pro-Trump signs, shirts, hats in Brooklyn, but come election time, Trump will end up with 20-25% of the vote here. The anti-Trumpers feel empowered (privileged!) to act out their anti-Trump feelings with little fear of the consequences in those locales -- just look at the cancel craziness in universities, the 'training' required by the big corporations, the attacks on people wearing MAGA hats, etc.

Big Mike said...

Building on DBQ's comment, I recall an exercise we went through in a high school social studies class, some fifty plus years ago. We were asked asked whether, if we had a large red button we could push to kill all the communists in the world, would we push it? Living in a rural to suburban area close enough to Chicago to root for the Cubs and the White Sox (the Bulls had not yet been formed, and Bears were terrible), we enthusiastically agreed that we would do so immediately.

Then the teacher asked what we would do about the conditions that created communism in the first place.

Fifty years later the question is turned on its head. If the Democrats get rid of Trump, what do they intend to do about the conditions that made Donald Trump a winning Presidential candidate in the first place?

Darrell said...

Trump in a landslide.
Lefties continue their bullshit until volleys fly. It ends the next day and the media
goes on a 24/7 tribute to the fallen heroes, songs are written, movies made--until they all go out of business as people ignore them. Soros dies when his human skin lampshade catches on fire, then proceeds to Hell to burn for all eternity. Greta Thunberg burns her lips blowing up a diesel bus at the exhaust tip.

Darrell said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Professional lady said...

I don't believe the polls that Biden is ahead in Michigan and neither does Debbie Dingell who is a Democrat in the House of Representatives. I hang up the phone every time a pollster calls. There are Biden Harris signs and BLM signs in my neighborhood. There's also the Love is Love, Science is Real type stuff. Very few Trump signs. There are lots of American flags up - I think a good percentage of them indicate support for law and order and will translate to support for Trump.

RichardJohnson said...

AA
Googling, I'm seeing: "Both are acceptable in the U.S., however "shier" is the preferred spelling in American English and "shyer" is the proper spelling in the Queen's English."

As a lifelong American, have never seen "shier" used before, so I find laughable the assertion that "shier" is the preferred spelling in American English. But I also find laughable the assertion that there are 57 different gender varieties- or whatever the approved number is today.

rehajm said...

You will have missed this one:

Trump overtakes Biden 47%-46%, hit 52% approval...

'Trump shows surprising strength among other minority voters, suggesting perhaps that he is attracting Hispanic support.'

How surprising...

Mary Beth said...

They are missing the same thing they missed in 2016, the Trump supporters are having fun.

They're having a meltdown this morning because Trump retweeted a meme version of the video where Biden played Despacito. The meme has him playing "Fuck the Police" by NWA instead. I'm not sure that is funnier than how he actually played a song with lyrics about sniffing a woman's neck, but whatever, the upset over it "not being true" is great, especially from news outlets that push one fake story after another. At least no one pretends that memes are real.

Howard said...

Herd Mentality is an equal opportunity employer.

Danno said...

The clueless kids at axios are as dense as hell. Down in PCBFL over the Labor Day weekend I saw tons of Trump flags on houses, pickup trucks and boats because it is safe down there. Up in St. Paul you would likely be firebombed if you had a Trump sign or flag in your yard. I had a David Durenberger yard sign viciously destroyed in St. Paul way back in 1982 and he wasn't even very conservative. Why are these so-called journalists so stupid?

Greg The Class Traitor said...

What have they missed?

1: Polling routinely finds too many white college indoctrinated voters, and not enough "working class" voters, compared to the number of people who actually vote. So they're getting the population wrong

2: IMAO the "shy Trump" voters are going to be found in the suburbs. College educated, like their life, and understand that a Biden Admin will likely destroy it. As would publicly supporting trump. So they mouth the right things, or say nothing, but they're going to vote straight ticket GOP.

Because Democrat Mayors stop the police from protecting homes and businesses from rioters.
Democrat City Council members work to cripple and defund the police, so they can't protect your home from criminals.
Democrat DAs refuse to prosecute rioters.
Democrat Judges release rioters with no bail, so they can riot night after night.
Democrat Governors refuse to send in support when a Mayor DOES want to stop the rioters
Democrat Members of Congress refuse to support Covid relief for American workers
And a Democrat President would have a DoJ that punished police and private citizens who protected homes and businesses from riots, rather than going after the rioters

And Democrat neighbors will destroy anyone who publicly disagrees with their current orthodoxy

Yancey Ward said...

"Do you ever remember someone spray painting 'Obama' on their boat?"...

No, but I did see this on some yachts.

Yancey Ward said...

It is pretty fucking simple- if my Trump loving colleague comes up and asks me about how I feel about Trump, I will be open and honest in my support. If someone from ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN/completely unknown calls me up and askes about it, it is going to be malicious lie about how I love and support the cadaver of Joe Biden.

In other words, you aren't typically going to be shy with your friends.

rcocean said...

Shyter = trumpster + shy

Matt said...

I didn't vote in 2016 because I thought Hillary was going to win and I think that we're past the point of no return anyway.

I will be voting for Trump this year because its the most effective way I have of saying "FUCK YOU" to the left without having my life ruined.

Yancey Ward said...

"Aesthetically, I prefer "shyer," but it spellchecked as an error and "shier" did not, so I yielded"

When in doubt, be more shy.

Gk1 said...

I am seeing the same nervous signs from bay area liberals that they don't quite believe the polls either and are afraid of another 2016 surprise. I tell them that since they have tried to culturally make it illegal to support trump in any way, of course it will drive people underground.

They are stung when they try to consort with a tradesmen installing a generator about the trump magnet on his tool box and are politely told "Yeah, I think he's done a great job!" and all they can do is sit there in disbelief (I heard this the other day) They really don't understand how this is possible.

I think a counter question to Axios and the other liberals is how do you plan to rule the country with 46% of the people you routinely call racists and idiots? How about the other 18% who are tired of your bullshit? Do you think it ends here if Trump lose? What do you do if the majority of americans think the race was stolen by mail in fraud? What will you do then?



Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

for me it's not about Trump it's about his corrupt lying antifa nazi enemies called the modern democrat party.

Also known as - the forces of pure evil.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

"Biden telling the foreign leader that he wants to stay “deeply engaged” in their diplomatic work as a private citizen.” - Recording of Biden talking to Ukraine after Trump had won.


Why not? Ukraine and our tax dollars made Hunter Biden very rich.

Yancey Ward said...

I live in California and this video was taken in the San Fernando Valley which is a very democrat heavy area:

https://twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/1305333978703028224

This will be breathlessly reported in the NYTimes as evidence of right-wing rioting.

buwaya said...

A possible alternative motto (on a hat or shirt say), in places where it is somewhat prudent to conceal Trumpness -

"Die gedanken sind frei" (thought is free)

from the ancient German student song. Best in Fraktur text probably.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3h6ZZ28QtX4

The implications are also, of course, that the local environment is not as "liberal" as the residents may imagine, etc.

If it becomes a meme it may aquire a negative connotation. But then that too is a trollish jiu jitsu.

mockturtle said...

I hang up the phone every time a pollster calls.

With caller ID I don't even answer it.

mikee said...

Well, Joe Biden has dementia and the press covers it up as best they can. So they know about THAT little problem already, despite a minimum of news coverage about it.

Kamala Harris was, and is, so unpopular she dropped out of the race before the Iowa primary, and the press covers it up as best they can. So they know about THAT little problem already, despite a minimum of news coverage about it.

The Democratic Party leadership promoted and encouraged riots, arson and murder and the press covers it up as best they can. So they know about THAT little problem already, despite a minimum of news coverage about it.

I think I can continue in this manner for about a week or so, but those two top my list of things the press knows but ignores. Will the press be surprised that they already knew these things after Trump wins a landslide?

Greg The Class Traitor said...

rehajm said...
I'm not sold on the shy Trump voter theory, that they would be reluctant reveal their support in public is one thing but while sitting at home talking to someone on the phone?

You trust that some random person who calls you on the phone is an honest pollster? Not some leftie looking for people to attack? Not some left wing hack who's got an agenda, and will advance it regardless of what you say?

And, even if you believe that, why would you help them, and give them some of your valuable time? You don't have anything better to do?

daskol said...

No Trump sign on lawn (scared of vandalism); no Trump sticker on car (ditto).

But big Trump flag on boat. Best I can do.


This is fascinating. I live deep in enemy territory, where I'd definitely be vandalized if I flew a Trump flag at my home. It's all BLM related flags or Bernie or still more radical stuff, many of them put up I believe defensively over last few months as we're only a few blocks away from the Barclay's Center where the protesters would gather and turn into less peaceful protesters by evening. But I went to Fire Island over Labor Day weekend, and at the marinas on both the mainland and the island there was nothing but Trump flags on the boats. There was a sad looking little sailboat with a Biden flag, but it was all Trump on the motorboats and it was mostly motorboats. Man those boat people love them some Trump. It was fascinating to be among Trump supporters in this locale, where I'm used to taking abuse for interrupting people on their anti-Trump diatribes to tell them that, hey, not everyone is on the same page politically. It was all the more enjoyable for the fact that among our party were some die-hard bubble dwellers who don't even know any Trump supporters personally, a la Pauline Kael, to see their reaction to being surrounded by people they're sure can't exist (or if they exist, must not be the pleasant, partying folks they seem, but fascists).

gerry said...

Why are these so-called journalists so stupid?

Because they are Progressive/Democrat/Communist believers.

JMW Turner said...

"Shier" is awkward, "Shyer" contains the root word "Shy", therefore intuitively understood. This English major leans O.E.D.
Having owned a business, I developed the practice of not talking politics or religion to the public. I wasn't there to debate issues (and piss off) customers when we were transacting business matters. Never displayed bumper stickers on my vehicles or yard signs in my yard. Suppose that would make me a "shy" Republican in my smallish town.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Big Mike said. If the Democrats get rid of Trump, what do they intend to do about the conditions that made Donald Trump a winning Presidential candidate in the first place?

I might add.....Conditions that THEY created and which they continue to make even worse.

If they Democrats think Trump 101 is horrible....wait until they see what they have created in the new model. Trump plus.

(note: I do not want to see this new model either. God forbid. But I fear this is where we are headed)

TrespassersW said...

I had occasion to drive 260 miles (round trip) through northern Minnesota late last week. I saw several Trump-Pence signs along the way. Not a single Biden-Harris sign.

But I have no idea what that signifies. None whatsoever.

Marc in Eugene said...

I'd never write 'shier' because I read it as being a form of the verb, to toss or throw (think 'coconut shy'), and also, as AA and others have pointed out, it is not an atractive word. Dryer or drier? Apparently you can write either one when referring to a machine for drying but I'd never write 'drier' for that, either.

Drago said...

policraticus: "We still find Trump off putting, we are still disgusted by his personal behavior and we are still frustrated by his tweets and boorishness, we still believe he is unfit for the office. You'll never see me hoisting a Trump flag, or wearing a MAGA hat, or joining a Trump parade."

Question for you and your wife:

Could any other politician who did NOT have Trump's mentality and toughness and willingness to fight and fight hard survive against the global onslaught of what the deep state/media/democraticals/FakeCon LLR's/"Allied" intel services brought against him?

Remember, we already know obama/biden/brennan/comey had the spying and frame up operation underway in late 2015, after years of using the FISA702 database and other intel tools to spy on republicans for years, and regardless of who the republican nominee was these democraticals were going to be using that illegal East German Stasi info against them.

Gk1 said...

Rcocean may be right and we have to check our own biases and believe the polls. The steady drip, drip of negativity by the media & culture for the last 4 years could have so tainted Trump he's unelectable.

I don't have any real empirical evidence in my own life to go off of other than see how people are reacting. Trump people seem boisterous and energized, democrats seem dyspeptic and fearful. Biden supporters never spontaneously gather to show support or greet him on his infrequent visits someplace. Isn't that strange? When they do "gather" it looks sad like a few handful of fat, middle aged, party functionaries driving outdated SUV's. 0 energy.

If they were so far ahead they wouldn't be butt hurt when trump tweets out a viral video of Biden playing "Fuck the police" rap music. They sure don't act like they are ahead.

Gospace said...

Drago said...
Did you happen to catch the story of the Milwaukee man who had the Lefty Brown Shirt Mob show up at his house because he had an American and Trump flag visible on his property?

The lefties swarmed his house for hours last night and then the lefties called in a "brandishing a gun thru the window" charge against the man at home with his family and the local DA democraticals got the democratical controlled police to go in a make an arrest of that man.

It's all battlespace prep to let Trump voters know that if they dare to speak up or support Trump once the revolution is fully launched after election night then the democraticals will use their official and street "power" to come after you and your family.

"WATCH: Milwaukee man mobbed by BLM activists—arrested for trying to defend his home"


You start arresting people for NOT shooting while defending themselves, they're soon going to start shooting.

As far as signs and flags go- I live out in ruralville, I have a Trump 2020 flag up. Along with a U.S. Flag and a Gadsden Flag. I don't have a bumper sticker on my car. It gets parked sometimes in shopping malls...

Something a friend and I have both noticed. Every house with a Trump flag flying also has a U.S. Flag flying- and almost everyone with a Trump sign has a U.S. Flag flying. None of the houses either of us has seen that have Biden signs have U.S. Flags flying. His explanation is they're Communists... I have seen zero Biden flags.

But that brings up a question. There are a lot of houses with just the U.S. Flag flying with no political signs or flags. Flying any flag requires more effort than not flying one. Who do you think those people are voting for? A yard with a U.S. Flag and a Gadsden Flag with no political signs? Or is the Gadsden Flag itself a political sign? I imagine all those flying a Gadsden Flag are voting Trump. How about a U.S. Flag and a Christian Flag with no political signs? Think they're Biden/Harris voters? There's several houses in the area with The Battle Flag of Norther Virginia. commonly known as the Confederate Flag, flying, almost all of them with Gadsden Flags, and half or so with U.S. Flags. Hmmm... wonder who they're voting for. One house, just one I've seen, with no political signs but a Bennington 76 American Flag and a pirate flag displayed. Political statement or not? Who for?

Bay Area Guy said...

At the very least, the delusional Democrats should not be too surprised if/when (don't too cocky) Trump wins reelection in Nov.

They have been so warned. Fool me once Nate Silver, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

Of course, they're gonna file an avalanche of lawsuits, protests, riots and try to fuck with the Electoral college folks.

Democrats are awful people.

Russell said...

The most annoying part of the Trump era has been the media acting like every bit of his personality cult, never mind his actions in office, is new and unique. And I totally get why it can be off putting and a bit stomach churning. And it certainly can be obnoxious. But no more obnoxious than the 'how dare you question Obama you racist!' nonsense we heard repeatedly from 2008 until now. I also remember the several viral videos of children being made by their parents to sing the praises of President Obama. There were many overtly fascist movies with FDR treated as the savior as well. Personality cults can be obnoxious and fascist in many different ways.

I do think the 'Trump flag as big as an American flag' seems obnoxious but I honestly have not seen such a thing in the red areas of Florida I live in. I see Trump SIGNs all over the place. That sounds like a journalist over psycho analyzing a specific nuance they saw.

In terms of people who would vote Trump being silent, that simply has to do with the many many people who really think he's awful but are smart enough to know that:

A) he's temporary and unlike the Democrats is not proposing anything that will hinder the prosperity of my future grandchildren.
B) Everything he tries to do is pushed back on by the opposition party, many in his own party, many people in his admin vying for the next tell all book, and not to mention a historically hostile media. Oh, and the lawyers in the White House have been pretty effective at keeping his twitter voiced ideas from going anywhere. That all puts a very effective check and a balance on his worst instincts.
C) The Dems are crazy. Seriously crazy. Don't have the space to list all the ways that is true here. And utter principle free hypocrites on a myriad of things, not the least of which is pushing a candidate on us that has a more valid accusation of sexual assault on him than what drove them crazy with Kavanaugh. And a Biden admin would have utterly no pushback from a compliant media.
D) Voting Trump can be seen as both embarrassing and the only reasonable choice. I would love to vote Libertarian, but every day these sanctimonious Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) make me want to vote for Trump OUT OF PURE SPITE OF THEIR SELF DELUSION.

Unknown said...

Well two items to put on the missed list is how the media is covering up (1) Biden's cognitive problems and (2) pushing myths about Trump that only anti-Trumpers believe. Preaching to the choir may increase turn out but calling the opponents racist, Nazis, stupid, or saying they are promoting them by voting for Trump - will not change anybody's beliefs. So much fake crap has been thrown on Trump, people now ignore if any new crap is real.

When I was young, I recall hearing that one should clean up one's own house before criticizing someone else's. But their vitriol, assaults, arson and looting is for a good cause. I have lost track of how many times I have heard that defense.

steve uhr said...

Ann is sure obsessed with Trump these days. Writing constantly about other persons obsessed with Trump. I guess your target audience has an insatiable appetite for that sort of thing.

stlcdr said...

Axios has not been around long - I recall when it showed up a few years ago (maybe 4?) - yet it is made out to be a 'newsworthy' site.

Todd said...

"If President Trump defies today's swing-state polls and pulls off another upset, what will we have missed that could have been a clue?"

Sure it has been said (cause it is obvious), you don't get truthful results when people are fearful of giving you the truth.

It is are easier to avoid or lie than tell the truth to pollsters and risk getting doxxed, hounded, fired, beaten up, or worse. Lefties don't want the truth, they just want you to fall in line.

Big Mike said...

Why do I think things are going well for Trump? He is reducing ad buys in battleground states and increasing his campaigning in states that RealClearPolitics rates as “leans blue.” His internal polling must be telling him something different from what the “pros” at Axios are seeing.

rehajm said...

You trust that some random person who calls you on the phone is an honest pollster?

I could see a Trump voter fucking with with a pollster by lying. But a shy Trump voter who is fearful won't bother answering the phone or hang up.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

People who reduce Trump voters to a tribe of blindly devoted cult members are missing the bigger picture and aren't thinking critically about their fellow human beings. They're either incapable of imagining certain possibilties or they're not allowing themselves to imagine them because they're afraid to challenge their own assumptions.

9/16/20, 9:27 AM

Exactly. I don't have a Trump sign on my lawn, don't wear MAGA hats or own any Trump t-shirts. I can't wait to vote for him in November.

The media is missing the shy Trump voters because if they actually investigated them (something journalists once did), they'd find many disillusioned Democrats. Some voted for Hillary in 2016. That upsets the narrative.

The only mainstream media coverage given to Brandon Straka's #WalkAway movement predictably portrayed it as some sort of Russian psych-ops thing. Yeah, all those WalkAway black and Hispanic and gay people who post videos on YouTube explaining in detail why they've had it with the Dems are all being paid by Putin. Keep on believing that, idiots.

Rory said...

"I could see a Trump voter fucking with with a pollster by lying. But a shy Trump voter who is fearful won't bother answering the phone or hang up."

I think a lot of shy Trump voters are Democrats living double lives. They have to answer the phone - Republicans curmudgeons screen.

n.n said...

There is no Trump diversity class, which are partisan sociopolitical constructs (e.g. "="; Some, Select Black Lives Matter; female chauvinism). The people acting on principles are all American. That's the missing, ignored link. But, do continue your witch hunts, warlock trials, and protests founded on false premises. #HateLovesAbortion

Matt Sablan said...

"If they Democrats think Trump 101 is horrible....wait until they see what they have created in the new model. Trump plus."

-- I remember saying that Trump is the result of treating Romney, Bush, and McCain... exactly as they're treating Trump.

JB71-AZ said...

@Big Mike: "Fifty years later the question is turned on its head. If the Democrats get rid of Trump, what do they intend to do about the conditions that made Donald Trump a winning Presidential candidate in the first place?"

Double down on them. We are serfs, we MUST be punished lest we think ourselves equal to their chosen groups. Higher taxes? They know what the repercussions will be, and WANT them. Wars? Hey, it'll divert the populace. Riots? 'Vote for us, or the beatings will continue'.

At a certain point it's pretty much impossible to miss.

Re pollsters - I'm not answering numbers I don't recognize. They can leave voicemails. Texts, I'll occasionally answer then block - one asked whether they could count on my vote for Joe.

I replied "Only if I die before the election. You Democrats are crazy, and not in a good or fun way."

I'm also getting a lot of texts from Rs, asking for money - but I just block those.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

rehajm said...
I could see a Trump voter fucking with with a pollster by lying. But a shy Trump voter who is fearful won't bother answering the phone or hang up.


Yep. Which means, IMO, that the polled support for Biden in the suburbs is much higher than the reality that will show up in the vote

TreeJoe said...

My boss told me in a private conversation that he had gotten to a point where he "Didn't know if [he] even wanted anyone on the team who could even vote for Trump at this point."

Here's the thing. I despise Trump's style and frankly his many failures to lead. I voted for him in 2016 because Clinton was uber corrupt AND GOOD AT IT and on the basis that rooting out corruption is much harder than rooting out a potentially inept outsider President.

Nearly 4 years later, the Democrat party is in a worse spot. Biden is a worse politician and his policies and positions have been a mockery for literally decades. He was picked in 2008 because he would give Obama the gravitas of experience & foreign policy and he was an establishment candidate - and then he accomplished next to nothing on all his named initiatives.

He's being run by a group of people who are openly catering to far leftists actively engaged in rioting and seeking to dismantle American systems, who have decried the country itself for what it stands far...

And Biden and his team will be enabled by their party. Trump, by contrast, remains heavily isolated and held back by the checks and balances of our constitution.

Why wouldn't I vote for Trump in such a situation? His results say he won't hurt the country and will most likely help, while being a PITA communicator and struggling to build and lead the government.

RMc said...

Big Ten to play football. Trump wins MI, WI, MN, OH and PA.

Unless, of course, football fans spread the virus anew and people start dropping like flies.

Just sayin'.

Todd said...

Mike Sylwester said...

The electorate is not going to position Kamala Harris to become the US President.

9/16/20, 9:30 AM


Careful! 4 years ago there was NO WAY Trump could win.

In this case, there really ARE that many stupid people and don't forget the fraud! It could easily be POTUS Harris...

Sebastian said...

"a way to continually flip the middle finger"

Which is something, better than nothing.

Kathryn51 said...

How many of these phone calls are from bona-fide pollsters and how many of them are hired by the political parties for their get-out-the vote campaigns. That's the issue here in Washington state where we don't register by party so phone banks are a standard method of identifying like-minded folks.

No way do I answer a poll in this state since it is likely to be the local Dem machine making the call.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Good article on the MidEast peace process

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/bryan-preston/2020/09/16/the-magnetic-genius-behind-the-branding-of-the-abraham-accords-n935335

wildswan said...

"what clue will we have missed?"

Latinos come to this country, save money as a family group and buy a business. Antifa/BLM burn it down (or one like it owned by friends of friends) and the Dem DA releases the burners and they go burn another business a Latino family saved five years to buy. Yes, Antifa/BLM burns it down and the Dem DA releases the same burners and on and on. The story of the protected burners goes through the Latino community. No one says anything. The Dems expect to get the Latino vote (Which in Madison is larger than the black vote) without trouble. What clue will they have missed?

Michael K said...

I guess your target audience has an insatiable appetite for that sort of thing.

Says the CNN viewer which has nothing else on.

Whiskeybum said...

Bushman of the Kohlrabi @ 10:28

I also live in southern Ozaukee County and have noticed the same thing as you regarding a lot of Biden yard signs. This is a very red area in the state, so that's what makes it so surprising. I figured some of it had to do with the supposed DNC taking place in Milwaukee this year, but a number of them have popped up well after the convention. I'm also guessing that there's a huge correlation between these yard signs and homeowners with at least 1 teacher's union member in the family. They also have a tendency to put up somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-8 signs per yard instead of just one.

I also agree with you on your assessment that a lot of 30-somethings are abandoning the hip life in downtown Milwaukee and fleeing to the nicer suburbs. Just the other day I was in line at the checkout counter at the local drug store and overheard a 30-something woman tell the cashier that she was just moving into the area. The cashier asked where she was moving from, and the woman replied that they were moving from downtown MKE to Cedarburg. I don't know anything about the woman's politics, but I can take a wild guess, so I just had to quietly roll my eyes and shake my head when I heard that.

Big Mike said...

@steve uhr, how about you go back to defaming the kids from Covington Catholic? You weren’t much good at that, either, but Nick Sandmann could use more money.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

reminder:

Jeremiah_1:19
@anthonymcng
·
Sep 14
Replying to
@robbystarbuck
and
@realDonaldTrump
Every @realDonaldTrump
supporters should volunteer as Poll Observer at every freaking Poll Station, especially the Battleground States! I think the @TheDemocrats
are going cheat like hell this Nov!

Drago said...

Quick interesting note: the latest ABC poll has Under 29 year olds as a full one third of their polling base to get the fake numbers they need to buck up the Harris-Biden Campaign.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I told the truth to a pollster, and the pollster hung up on me!

make of it what you will...

5M - Eckstine said...

I appreciate the Flamboyant offense of the large Trump flag supporters. Their lead allows the defense to quietly work to sack Biden and intercept Harris.

The big Ten is back.

Drago said...

I am happy to report that on today's Harris-Biden Campaign road trip, Not-A-Real-Dr Jill Biden was happy to step in for the unavailable Joe Biden and speak to about 10 really enthusiastic fans who sat quietly on a lawn with tables of apples next to them for about 15 minutes.

This was followed by a raucus 4 car "parade" where Jill Biden stood in the street and greeted people in each of the 4 cars before being whisked away from the surging throng to the next hectic overflow democratical/LLR-lefty "event".

Drago said...

Hey, anybody else catch CBS news using pictures of the Trump Latino event while using a scroll/chryon claiming it was a Biden event?

Good times. Good times.

I'm Full of Soup said...

After the riots this summer, I find it hard to believe the voters of Minnesota and Wisconsin will vote for Biden over Trump. But Minnesota especially has elected some real strappers like Al Franken, the current US Senator Smith who was a bigwig at Planned Parenthood, the former govenor and the current balless governor.

Michael said...

I always lie to Presidential election pollsters. At least the two times I was contacted and happened to answer. I can feel the elation in the pollster’s voice as we proceed through the litany.

JaimeRoberto said...

My neighbor is the loud Trump voter with a Trump flag flying from his garage. I'm the shy voter because I don't want to deal with the vandalism, not that it has helped. My sprinkler line that waters a tree next to the property line with my neighbor got cut. Maybe it's just a coincidence. Or maybe not.

gerry said...

Ann is sure obsessed with Trump these days. Writing constantly about other persons obsessed with Trump. I guess your target audience has an insatiable appetite for that sort of thing.

That, or the Madison rioters got too close to her real estate.

Dr Weevil said...

Even if there were absolutely no danger of vandalism or job loss or even rude criticism for revealing one's political opinions, I expect people on the right would be less likely to respond to polls. Think about it this way. Imagine two people. One of them reacts to any inquiry about his politics by saying "I'm sorry, my political opinions are really none of your business" and (if pressed) immediately interrupts the questioner with "Excuse me, my political opinions are NONE of your DAMNED business" and either walks away or hangs up the phone. The other one reacts with a joyful "I'd LOVE to tell you all about my political opinions! How much time do you have? Shall we get a cup of coffee first? This could take a while!" Which one is more likely to be a Republican and which is more likely to be a Democrat or Socialist or Green? Hint: to put it crudely and invidiously, sexual and verbal promiscuity very likely have a strong positive correlation, and the same goes for sexual and verbal repression. This will tend to skew polling even in the absence of political pressure or downright threats of violence.

Rusty said...

My first clue was all the thousands of people at a Trump campaign stop and the dozen or so at Bidens.
There is no enthusiasm for the democrats among democrats.
I'm sure the postal service will gin some up though.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I'm in my care, listening to local radio. News media break comes on during commercial (standard MSM crap)..

damage from riots will cost insurance companies billions. Not one word on who is to blame. Not one word.
Hack press MSM did mention George Floyd's death caused the riots, and recount this "news" as if rioting is an organic response.

Our press is hot garbage.

Robert Cook said...

Anyone who would wear a t-shirt like that, for any politician, has an unhealthy and wrong-headed connection to his/her candidate, to his/her party, and to politics. For these childish folks, politics is about celebrity and/or dogma worship, by definition unthinking, uncritical, and all-accepting.

Joe Smith said...

We visited Florida in 2016 a couple of months before the election.

I saw 20 Trump bumper stickers for every Hillary one.

I told my wife that he would win Florida and most likely the whole shooting match.

Robert Cook said...

"When Reagan was president, the threat was from the USSR, not from the Democrat Party which was still sane and which cooperated in governing."

No, the USSR weren't a threat. We just claimed they were to justify our own always- (and still-) metastasizing War Department budget, the better to enrich and make more powerful all those entities in government and the private sphere attached to the nourishing the war machine.

The Dems have gone crazy, in that they are racing ever farther rightward, chasing the Republicans, who have fallen over the edge at the rightmost perimeter into a bottomless sinkhole of gibbering insanity.

Robert Cook said...

"Trump = America"

Tragically and horrifyingly true.

bagoh20 said...

Clearly the point of the shirt was the same as all outrageous dress - to get attention.
A very successful effort.

Robert Cook said...

"On the one hand, Democrats are confident of an easy win."

This shows how deluded they remain, having learned nothing from 2016. Rather than examine themselves, they wallow in the self-gratification of conspiracy fantasies of Russian helping Trump into the White House.

TheThinManReturns said...

For all we know Joe Biden is rational and represents Democrat values.

RichAndSceptical said...

My neighbor sees the election as Biblical - good (Republican) vs evil (Democrats). There may be a much larger religious turnout than projected.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

I was shy until the Trump flags and banners started showing up on my street, six at last count. No Biden signs, flags or banners. I now unshyly display a 12-foot banner on my fence. "Trump-Pence 2020" it unshyly reads.

Iman said...

Corksoakers gonna soak corks. And the Left is nothing but corksoakers. I say this with much evidence.

FullMoon said...

danoso said... [hush]​[hide comment]

There are places where your enthusiasm is allowed to show. Where I live if I so much as put a Trump 2020 bumper sticker on my car the tires would be slashed within a week.


2016, living in silicon valley I was tempted to put a Trump stickers on cars sporting Clinton stickers at the mall. The stickers were cheap on Amazon. But then I realized although funny to me and my friends, would probably get some cars keyed, or worse, so I didn't do it.
When people claim Trump supporters are violent, suggest they put a Trump sticker on their car, see what happens.

Tom said...

There are loud and proud Trump supporters — mostly working class and mostly, but not entirely, white.

But I think there’s also a quiet group of Trump supporters who know he’s probably their choice because it’s in their best interest — but, they’re embarrassed by or feel like their liberal friend and colleagues will ostracize them. In that group, I think there’s a shocking number of Black and Hispanic voters who will vote for Trump. This quiet group will put Trump over the top.

Rt41Rebel said...

I dunno, what did you miss last time? Did you give any thought to that in the last 4 years? From where I'm sitting, you're missing the same exact damn thing. Fool me once, yada yada yada.

walter said...

steve uhr said...Ann is sure obsessed with Trump these days.
--
Yeah..she alone. The larger press hardly mentions him.
But hey, steve, you got a bit of grammatical Altparse to sink your teeth into today.
Speaking of which, after Joe inexplicably played Despacito into his mic, he said if he had the talent of the musicians (crooning about the scent of a woman), he would become President by acclamation. See how many times the press spells it "acclimation"...which makes zero sense.

I'm Not Sure said...

I've read (here and elsewhere) more comments than I can remember from Trump supporters who are concerned about becoming the target of vandalism or worse if they were to publicly display their political preferences, yet not a single such concern from a Biden supporter.

I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere.

Michael K said...

No, the USSR weren't a threat. We just claimed they were to justify our own always- (and still-) metastasizing War Department budget, the better to enrich and make more powerful all those entities in government and the private sphere attached to the nourishing the war machine.

Cook is still a dedicated communist, I see. Learned nothing.

Joe Smith said...

"No, the USSR weren't a threat."

Wow...tell that to the millions living under prison camp conditions before the iron curtain collapsed.

You could work for the New York Times...might even get a Pulitzer, comrade.

JPS said...

Robert Cook, 3:42:

"the USSR weren't a threat. We just claimed they were to justify our own always- (and still-) metastasizing War Department budget,"

I try to take you on your own terms, but this one is hard to believe.

How 'bout I meet you halfway? We did use the threat of the USSR to justify a massive War Department (I'm all in favor of the name reversion) budget. Sometimes we even exaggerated that threat. (See also, Missile Gap, at a time when we had a 16:1 advantage in long-range nuclear missiles - but that was to get a Democrat elected, not to inflate the budget.)

Doesn't mean they weren't a threat. They were. (They were proud of being one! Why are you selling them short like this?) Of course, if they'd ever decided to invade western Europe, and nuke the living daylights out of us for trying to stop it, it would have been purely defensive in nature. All of their invasions were defensive, as I recall.

Drago said...

steve uhr: "Ann is sure obsessed with Trump these days. Writing constantly about other persons obsessed with Trump. I guess your target audience has an insatiable appetite for that sort of thing."

The History Channel Presents: Alternative Histories

This week's episode focuses on the "live and let live" democraticals who only wish to be left alone to live their private lives but that darn Trump and a few bloggers just just keep forcing the conversation back to Trump!

Yes, this is what Li'l stevie uhr is pushing which, believe it or not, exceeds the BS being pushed by the democraticals/LLR's over the last couple days that the Middle East is basically peaceful and no one is in conflict and hasnt been for a long time so the agreements yesterday are really just a distraction.

Yes. They are literally making that argument.

Other revised history includes the Nobel isnt a big deal and should be terminated immediately.

DEEBEE said...

Ann, love your commentary rather than just copy pasting without comment. The trumpeter, the Deplorables, the dollar bill “white trash” of that wacky democrat with a southern accent — live life, unsurprisingly, with a physical zest

Drago said...

Joe: "Wow...tell that to the millions living under prison camp conditions before the iron curtain collapsed."

No lefties will even admit the scale of marxist/leninist murder in the Soviet Union...or any of the other millions of innocents plowed under to create a Cookie's People "Paradise".

wildswan said...

He brought us back from China Influence
He'll bring us back from China Flu
Vote Trump!!!

Gospace said...

FullMoon said...
danoso said... [hush]​[hide comment]

There are places where your enthusiasm is allowed to show. Where I live if I so much as put a Trump 2020 bumper sticker on my car the tires would be slashed within a week.

2016, living in silicon valley I was tempted to put a Trump stickers on cars sporting Clinton stickers at the mall. The stickers were cheap on Amazon. But then I realized although funny to me and my friends, would probably get some cars keyed, or worse, so I didn't do it.


That's the whole point of doing it. There are stories of people doing just that to cars parked near the BLM riots, and the rioters returning to find their cars vandalized. Oh, I'm sorry, did I say rioters? I meant, of course, mostly peaceful protesters.

Michael K said...

I'm starting to think the enthusiasm gap maybe be more important. I see those six person Biden rallies and wonder what will happen with the debate, if it happens. Harris got nowhere in the primaries and that was all Democrats.

Big Mike said...

Anyone else think we ought to start up a GoFundMe page to send Cookie on a one-way trip to Russia? Plus Rosetta Stone lessons on spoken Russian, plus reading and writing Cyrillic. He’ll be happier — and, probably, so will we.

DavidUW said...

I finally saw...a Biden Harris sign in my area!

A commie Bay Area neighborhood.

one sign out of the 300 or so homes I count in my "neighborhood"

Plenty of BLM signs in aging white hippy houses (none in the black folks' houses), but no Biden signs until today!

Feel the momentum, Joe. FEEL IT.

Gospace said...

Joe Smith said...
"No, the USSR weren't a threat."

Wow...tell that to the millions living under prison camp conditions before the iron curtain collapsed.

You could work for the New York Times...might even get a Pulitzer, comrade.


Agree. Add that almost all the intelligentsia thought the triumph of Communism was inevitable- right up until the Soviet Union collapsed. The 1989 Berlin Wall destruction wasn't enough to convince them. Come to think of it, for America's college professors, even the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union wasn't enough- they still spout the wonders of Communism and socialism. It's just that the USSR, East Germany, Cambodia, Venezuela as a the latest example, they just didn't do it right. I'm waiting still for the fall of Cuban Communism- it's coming.

Now, I will admit for acute observers, it was obvious the USSR was never as strong as they advertised- but they had The Bomb. Which pretty much by definition made them a world power. Post WWII, every Russian traitor was motivated by the realization their previous worldview was a fraud, IOW, ideological . Almost every American traitor was driven by money and greed. There were few ideological defections. In the case of Bradley Manning- mental illness. A few others like this. That tells you a lot.

And almost everyone who knew anything realized they had a Potemkin military. Now out military always played up the USSR's claimed weapon's capability. Best way in the world to get funding is to claim the adversary has better stuff... When out ship's deploy, they steam, day in day out, 24/7, except for port calls. The Soviet Fleet would venture from the Black Sea, establish anchorage in the Med, sit there for weeks or months, then head back. They couldn't steam continuously. They bristled topside with weapons- looking very menacing. With little if any reload capability. We'd show only 2 or 4 missiles topside, depending on class, with 40 or more belowdecks for reload. Not nearly as menacing looking. But far more capable. The average person didn't know this.

There's also simple things the USSR lied about. Like where Moscow is on a map. Or the population of Moscow.

Joanne Jacobs said...

There are zero Trump signs where I live in California, a few Biden or "By-Don" signs and a couple of "Any Sane Adult" signs. Yesterday, I saw a car with an old "Bernie" sticker and another that said "Settle for Biden." I understand the thinking behind "settle for Biden," but it's way, way too honest. The Democrats' nightmare is that anti-Trump voters don't bother to vote.

In my daily walks, I'm seeing fewer "Black Lives Matter" and other virtue-signaling signs (six or eight statements, such as "Love is love" and "Women's rights are human rights").

MD Greene said...

Let's be real. After the fires in the west, the more sane leaders in the Democratic party will have spread the message to the anarchists: Ixnay on the iotsray.

It is entirely possible that the central core of one party has never absorbed the visceral rage engendered in Trump voters by its 2016 candidate's calling them racists, sexists, homophobes and Islamophobes. The fellow travelers in the WaPO, NYT, CNN and MSNBC continue to share similar disdain every day of the week. This stuff gets under people's skin, and it festers there. In the case of the newspapers, it feels as if they are offering absolution to those who buy online subscriptions, which is a pretty creepy business model.

I NEVER ask people about their voting records, but I have been surprised since 2016 at the people who have volunteered to me that they were Trump voters -- Ivy Leaguers, Hispanic immigrants, Asian immigrants, and everyday working-class people in the two blue states where I spend time. Is it not possible that they still resent being dismissed as bigots by members of a snarky press whose members can't even do pronouns or manage subject-verb agreement?

I have no political opinion to share and no idea how the election will turn out, but the sneering disdain of Trump's antagonists toward anyone who teeters even a teensy bit towards wrongthink just might boomerang on them again.

And, yes, if Trump is re-elected, Antifa and the faux-BLM enthusiasts will get right back to work tearing up Portland, possibly with even greater vigor. My personal belief is they are hoping for the opportunity.

policraticus said...

@Drago

Could any other politician who did NOT have Trump's mentality and toughness and willingness to fight and fight hard survive against the global onslaught of what the deep state/media/democraticals/FakeCon LLR's/"Allied" intel services brought against him?

No. Trump stands alone. But I don’t think most others would have had to. Trump foments discord, either deliberately calculated to drive his enemies into paroxysms of rage, or inadvertently in consequence of his shambolic communication style. He could have been cruising to an easy second term if he had managed to keep his damn mouth shut for 48 hours at a stretch on occasion. He found himself a target and deliberately made himself an even bigger, more obvious one.

Not for nothing, my first preferred candidate In 2015 was Wisconsin’s Scott Walker. Like the Professor, “I’m for boring.” He certainly weathered a storm, on a WI scale that was fairly analogous to the Trump Derangement of today,, and I think he did it with more grace and class than we can ever hope for from the president. The stakes were different, that I grant. But his calm and his resolve did not waver. Right or wrong, I think the country could have used that.

RichardJohnson said...

Robert Cook
No, the USSR weren't a threat.

My hometown had enough people who considered the USSR enough of a threat to flee the USSR.

Jamie said...

Trump would have to be a whole lot worse than he is to keep me from voting AGAINST the party of either appeasement or protection rackets - whichever. One of the two certainly applies, since according to their candidate, riots will increase unless he, Biden, is elected.

Add to my total commitment to voting AGAINST that party, my just-as-total commitment to voting FOR Republicans across the board and down the ticket this year, since some of them are showing sufficient courage to call out the appeasement or protection racket tactics of their opponents. Punish bad behavior to get less of it; reward good behavior to get more of it.

RichardJohnson said...

Robert Cook
"No, the USSR weren't a threat."

I knew a professor who had gone to Moscow in the 1970s for a professional conference. He was a Cold Warrior, courtesy of 2 years as an Army draftee and then 20 years in the Army Reserve. Having seen the incompetence of the Soviet system up close during his visit to Moscow, he decided that the Soviet Union wasn't as much of a threat as he once believed.

That didn't mean the Soviet Union wasn't nasty. One of the Russians at the conference got invited up to a hotel room to chat with the Americans. The phone in the hotel room rang. It was for the Russian. He engaged in a heated discussion, and then turned very quiet. He left the room. Undoubtedly the powers-that-be had told him that there would be some rather negative consequences for him if he stayed in the hotel room with the Americans.

Joe Smith said...

@Gospace

"Now, I will admit for acute observers, it was obvious the USSR was never as strong as they advertised- but they had The Bomb."

Someone once said (accurately, I think) that the USSR was a third-world country with first-world weapons. That made them dangerous.

@Joanne Jacobs

I live in a reasonably conservative area of California (if there is such a thing).

Today there was a Trump 'rally' on four corners of a major intersection in my town. Only 50 people or so, but lots of jumping up and down, lots of huge flags and placards, etc. I didn't see any of that in '16.

wbfjrr2 said...

I wear my veterans for Trump hat everywhere except restaurants. Don't want anything in my food, although at a couple of my favorites my patronage during the stupid shutdown earned me friendship, and the waiters, managers and owners opened up that they also support Trump.
Now I wear my hat there too. But am carrying concealed always, here in blue Tucson.

Of the people I know in my 17 home immediate neighborhood, no signs yet, but three of us have Trump flags ordered and will put them up.
Of the 14 neighbors I know, 9 are Trump supporters, 4 are wildly liberal, and one is Australian and can’t vote but hates Trump.

There are many retired Jewish professionals in this area. I’m wondering how they will react to the ME peace treaties Trump brought about? I think their Trump hatred will insulate them from reason, but there’s always hope.

Interestingly, the Hispanics I know are all going Trump. The Dems selling out to blacks and BLM hasn’t won them Hispanic votes. Remember all the hotness of the Hispanics are going to be the tide that carries the Dems to permanent dominance? I think that if it was ever going to be true (which it wasn’t in 2016) they’ve blown that, maybe for good, by supporting the riots and defunding the police.

Mr. Forward said...

Shire voters are congenital liars. Never trust a hobbit.

Birkel said...

The Mexican (and parts further south) folks that I know well enough to engage on these topics prefer Trump. All of them. They just want to work. They want to work every day. And they don't want the policies of their Third World Shitholes imposed in America.

They all know this is the last best hope they have.

Everywhere else is worse (and will become downright awful) if America succumbs to the feudal instincts of Democratics.

Terry Ott said...

"So there are the out-and-proud Trumpsters, but that doesn't mean 'the shy Trump voters’ are not real. It may make the shy ones even shier to see the overt ones so exuberantly expressive.”

Precisely right. Closed-lipped; would not respond to reporters or pollsters, go to a Trump rally, wear any Trump-promoting garb, put up a yard sign, etc.

I would not use “shy” to describe them. “Private” would be more descriptive, IMO.

Mrs. Bear said...

I live about seven miles from where Joe Biden lives. I have seen one Biden sign and four Trump signs. Interesting.