November 9, 2022

"During his victory speech, J.D. Vance specifically named 34 people for thanks/gratitude. Trump was not one of them."

 Tweets C-SPAN Communications Howard Mortman.

177 comments:

tim maguire said...

Given that the red wave never really materialized, some of Trump’s endorsements (Mehmet Oz) and the distraction of picking a fight with deSantis on the eve of election means Trump may get a lot of the blame. I think it was Stephen Green who quipped that you can’t have a party leader who isn’t a party man. Even if Republicans still manage to take both houses, it was a bad night for Trump. And if that’s how it works out—Reps just squeak by and Trump gets the blame, I’ll call it a good night.

MayBee said...

I'm happy Vance won.
Time for Trump to exit gracefully.

Saint Croix said...

ha ha ha ha

Trump, get thee to church and thank the Lord for allowing you to be president. Enjoy your retirement. Enjoy your life.

If you want an afterlife, you will not buy your way in.

I am not kidding. I hope you are reading this.

God bless.

Shouting Thomas said...

Yes, the Trump era crashed and burned last night.

He’ll lose if he’s candidate in 2024. Time to ditch the personal loyalty and to find an electable candidate.

Saint Croix said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Big Mike said...

It’s good to thank the people who helped you get there when you win big..

Sebastian said...

"During his victory speech, J.D. Vance specifically named 34 people for thanks/gratitude. Trump was not one of them."

JD is a smart man. #MoveOn.

Saint Croix said...

One of the irritating things about Christians

is that they know who the messiah is

and it's not Caesar

it's never been Caesar

Howard said...

I just wish that fat fuck would lose some weight. He's a disgrace to the Marine Corpse.

Maynard said...

Given how the economy will crash in 2023, it's best the the GOP did not win the Senate. I still expect them to take the House. I also expect the DNC Media to blame Republicans for the economy.

Given that Trump will get a lot of blame for GOP under performance, it's best that DeSantis represent the GOP in 2024. He will likely run against Governor Hair Gel.

Trump's initial appeal was that he is not a politician. Now that he is playing the GOP leadership role, his lack of political skills are obvious. Republicans have to be a lot more clever because they have to fight against the corrupt Media and Deep State. Trump is not very clever - part of his appeal and-art of his problem.

Oh Yea said...

That's why Trump wasn't a major factor in my vote for Vance. Vance is primarily an opportunist and changed his position on Trump to get the nomination in primary. Now that he is elected, he won't need to run for re-election for 6 years which at best will be the end of Trump's last term. Besides it was McConnell that supported Vance with a multi-million ad buy that may have been decisive, so his allegiance will be primarily to McConnell in the future, not Trump.

D.D. Driver said...

Brian Kemp must be laughing his ass off this morning. Maybe we should talk about Kemp as the Anti-Trump primary candidate. All he does is lock horns with the superstars in both parties, and just keeps winning.

Kemp 2024!

Achilles said...

Wow.

This narrative was easy to predict and is obviously cooked up by the leadership of both parties/regime.

If the Republican Party rejects Trumpism it will lose in 2024.

I will not support any candidate that returns to the Bush/Romney mold of the Republican party.

That now includes Desantis who the Regime has clearly chosen.

Heartless Aztec said...

Trump - a political Hindenburg. Vast and shining as it sailed across the skies. Horrific as it burned and crashed to ground, people jumping and running for their lives.

"Oh,the humanity..."

Achilles said...

tim maguire said...

I think it was Stephen Green who quipped that you can’t have a party leader who isn’t a party man. Even if Republicans still manage to take both houses, it was a bad night for Trump. And if that’s how it works out—Reps just squeak by and Trump gets the blame, I’ll call it a good night.

Republicans deserve to be a minority party.

wildswan said...

I'm just going to wait awhile on the why and the wherefore. The whole thing shows you can't trust polling any more. Races that polling said tightened did not tighten. So how to know what happened? Back to the drawing board.

hawkeyedjb said...

Hawkeye was prepared to come here and eat his earlier words of disparagement toward the Trump-endorsed candidates. Sadly, that will not be necessary. Given the conditions facing the nation and the feebleness of our current president, I count this as a wipe-out of the Republicans. I thought Trump was a good president, but his endorsed candidates have handed over many winnable seats to the Democrats. Mr. Trump's time has come and gone, and he is now one of the Democrats' greatest assets. They will continue to spend their money to support Trump-endorsed Republicans in primary elections, to give them easy targets in the election that counts. That strategy worked in spades this year, and I expect it to be used wherever possible in the future.

Amadeus 48 said...

Trump continues his career as an annoying loser through another election cycle.

Saint Croix said...

"J.D. is kissing my ass and he wants my support so bad."

At a rally, Trump said that.

He's a comedian, I get it.

Making fun of people, I get that too.

They remember what you said and they are humiliated and not thankful at all for knowing you.

Do you get that, Mr. Trump?

Lucien said...

Boy it sure looks like this is just about a fifty-fifty country.
I guess that means the major parties will want to move further from the center.
Go figure.

Marcus Bressler said...

TDS abounds.
Very disappointing night with the exception of Georgia governorship and DESANTIS TOP GOV. LOLz

I got my mandatory evacuation text alert 90 minutes ago. Not going anywhere. Cat 1? I laugh in Nicole's face.

Marcus B. THEOLDMAN

When the police come by and bang on the door, I'll ignore them like a girl's angry father.

Yancey Ward said...

"He’ll lose if he’s candidate in 2024. Time to ditch the personal loyalty and to find an electable candidate."

Yes, Trump would surely lose in the general election in 2024, but don't kid yourself- the Republicans don't have an electable candidate for the Presidency because mail-in-voting has turned AZ and GA very light blue, and WI, MI, and PA are still fairly deep blue despite 2016's results. Tony Evers is a non-entity, and won last night handily.

Remember- the Republicans have lost the following states to the Democrats since the Bush II presidency- New Hampshire, Virginia, Nevada, and Colorado; and Arizona and Georgia are now tossups going forward.

People keep harping on how Republicans didn't put up the best candidates last night. This is fucking nonsense. If candidate quality mattered last night, Fetterneck would have lost in a landslide- Democrats ran the more awful candidates in tons of races last night, and still won handily. The only thing that matters right now is the method of voting. You want to know why DeSantis won in a landslide in Florida? He won as easily as he did because the state takes vote fraud seriously because of what happened in 2018 when Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties tried to steal the elections the week after Election Day. The same is true of Ohio- they don't let the big cities mail out ballots willy nilly.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Shouting Thomas = the sane post.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Saint Croix said...

"at a rally... he said that>"
I didn't laugh. Sounds unserious, juvenile and even back-stabbing.

Gunner said...

When I saw Oz and Fetty were tied or Oz was barely ahead after the debate, I knew he was not winning that race.

MadTownGuy said...

It's facile to blame Trump, but other factors such as younger voters seeing socialism as a desired outcome, and mail-in voting/vote harvesting/magic votes at the last minute, are likely to come into play. Here in PA, I think Mehmet Oz got the Todd Akin treatment through crossover voting in the primary. Back in WI, i find it hard to believe that Tony Evers is anywhere near as popular as the voting seems to indicate.

Big Mike said...

Trump's initial appeal was that he is not a politician. Now that he is playing the GOP leadership role, his lack of political skills are obvious. Republicans have to be a lot more clever because they have to fight against the corrupt Media and Deep State. Trump is not very clever - part of his appeal and-[p]art of his problem.

This

AMDG said...

Blogger Achilles said...
Wow.

This narrative was easy to predict and is obviously cooked up by the leadership of both parties/regime.

If the Republican Party rejects Trumpism it will lose in 2024.

I will not support any candidate that returns to the Bush/Romney mold of the Republican party.

That now includes Desantis who the Regime has clearly chosen.

11/9/22, 7:04 AM

——————

Yes, let us ignore that guy who went from a 0.1% victory 4 years ago to a 20% victory 4 years later.

Instead let’s support the guy who is personally responsible for Senate losses two cycles in a row.

The view must be magical from the Fat Tub of Goo’s colon.

Trump is ovah. Enough Americans are disgusted by his antics that he cannot win. He can only help the Democrats win.

tim maguire said...

Achilles said...If the Republican Party rejects Trumpism it will lose in 2024.

I will not support any candidate that returns to the Bush/Romney mold of the Republican party.


Achilles said...Republicans deserve to be a minority party.


You present a false choice. In 2016 there were no alternatives to Trump, today there are. Trump advanced weak candidates and then, for no good reason, picked a fight with one of the Republican's rising stars and most successful politicians mere days before the election.

It's foolish to ignore Trump's baggage under any circumstances, most of all when he's become a net negative.

hawkeyedjb said...

MadTownGuy said...
"It's facile to blame Trump, but other factors such as younger voters seeing socialism as a desired outcome..."

It looks like we have elected a socialist to congress from our formerly-solid Republican district.

Achilles said...

Are you Trump haters going to deal with the fact that Mitch McConnell actually openly sabotaged many republican candidates?

Or the obvious fraud?

AMDG said...

Blogger Yancey Ward said...
"He’ll lose if he’s candidate in 2024. Time to ditch the personal loyalty and to find an electable candidate."

Yes, Trump would surely lose in the general election in 2024, but don't kid yourself- the Republicans don't have an electable candidate for the Presidency because mail-in-voting has turned AZ and GA very light blue, and WI, MI, and PA are still fairly deep blue despite 2016's results. Tony Evers is a non-entity, and won last night handily.
—————

Georgia is not light blue. Republicans won every constitutional office. Both my state rep and state senate seats flipped from blue to red. Last year the Democrats attempted to take over my suburban city and we’re smashed.

The problem last night was that the Republican candidate was a terrible choice. Any generic Republican would have beaten Warnock, but no, Trump digs up a mentally ill man with a checkered past.

In Georgia Trump is the Democrat’s best friend. For Republicans he is stage 5 ass cancer.


Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Tim Maguire 8:07 - bingo.

Iman said...

Embrace the Suck. It’s over. New leadership is needed in the Republican Party, no more McConnell or McCarthy… the Macs are OUT!

wendybar said...


"I will not support any candidate that returns to the Bush/Romney mold of the Republican party."

Me neither. Why bother voting when both parties want the same things. WAR.

Amadeus 48 said...

This election was a push, much to my surprise. You can't cook 435 HR races scattered across the country. This is a vote for the status quo, for whatever reasons.

People need to look at what DeSantis and Kemp did to solidify their hold on their electorates. A couple of things are obvious but surely not enough. They were both incumbents with records known to the voters. They both ran against well-known opponents with some prior successes and some prior failures. Neither allowed themselves to be cowed by the herd of independent minds that make up the self-styled illuminati class and their virtue-signaling attendants. Neither of them dwelt on the outcome of the 2020 election, but rather they both focused on making their argument for winning in 2022.

I hope DJT will enjoy a healthy retirement.

wendybar said...

If you all think Democrats won't do the same things to DeSantis, as they did Trump, I have a bridge to sell you. I hope his family can handle the stress, because it IS coming. The Democrats found a winning strategy, and they won't stop at Trump.

Howard said...

Putin lost

Lurker21 said...

The boy is learning how to be a politician.

In the 19th century, when Chester Arthur wouldn't do his mentor Roscoe Conkling's bidding, cartoonists referenced Henry V and Falstaff.

I know thee not, old man. Fall to thy prayers.
How ill white hairs become a fool and jester!
I have long dreamt of such a kind of man,
So surfeit-swell'd, so old, and so profane;
But being awak'd, I do despise my dream.
Make less thy body hence, and more thy grace;
Leave gormandizing; know the grave doth gape
For thee thrice wider than for other men—
Reply not to me with a fool-born jest;
Presume not that I am the thing I was,
For God doth know, so shall the world perceive,
That I have turn'd away my former self;
So will I those that kept me company.
When thou dost hear I am as I have been,
Approach me, and thou shalt be as thou wast,
The tutor and the feeder of my riots.
Till then I banish thee, on pain of death,
As I have done the rest of my misleaders,
Not to come near our person by ten mile.
For competence of life I will allow you,
That lack of means enforce you not to evils;
And, as we hear you do reform yourselves,
We will, according to your strengths and qualities,
Give you advancement. Be it your charge, my lord,
To see perform'd the tenour of our word.
Set on. [Exeunt the KING and his train]

Aggie said...

I really was hoping for solid wins in state government last night, so that the process of balloting could start to be corrected. It seems pretty clear based on the last 2 elections now that when a purple-bluish state starts facilitating absentee balloting and moves toward commonplace mail-in balloting, that there is a stage being set to make that state blue and keep it that way. I'm not including states that have gone to mail-in successfully, with the appropriate safeguards - I'm referring to states that are exploiting mail-in as a new way of finding ballot box magic. Like states where vote-counting takes days, I tell you, maybe even weeks. While others somehow finish overnight.

Michael K said...

Apparently, the voters love $6 gas, inflation, no heating oil and massive agricultural failures. We had a Sri Lanka election yesterday.

Sally327 said...

I'm sure Trump asked Vance not to mention his name, not wanting to steal any of the candidate's moment.

Sure, that must have been it. Or the music started playing and Vance ran out of time, like when an Oscar winner forgets to thank her husband or Mom or God before getting shooed off the stage.

The Donald won't mind. He's not only modest and humble, he's also kind and forgiving.

Ha! Not really. I can see that sour pout in my mind's eye right now.

CStanley said...

I think we need to lock Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, and Ronna McDoaniel in a room and not let them out until they come to terms of a cease fire agreement and figure out how the party can field and support electable, effective candidates. The infighting needs to stop before they allow the Democratic Party to take the whole country down.

Achilles said...

tim maguire said...

Achilles said...If the Republican Party rejects Trumpism it will lose in 2024.

I will not support any candidate that returns to the Bush/Romney mold of the Republican party.


Achilles said...Republicans deserve to be a minority party.

You present a false choice. In 2016 there were no alternatives to Trump, today there are. Trump advanced weak candidates and then, for no good reason, picked a fight with one of the Republican's rising stars and most successful politicians mere days before the election.

It's foolish to ignore Trump's baggage under any circumstances, most of all when he's become a net negative.



Are you going to deal with the fact that Mitch McConnell and the Republican party actively sabotaged these candidates?

Mitch McConnell is not even a net negative. He is openly a traitor.

Mitch McConnell has chosen Desantis. If enough of you Republican voters go down this path you deserve to be a minority party.

Cappy said...

For some reason in Ohio Antifa high school drama coaches seem to want to fight Marines behind the high school bleachers, on line, anyway.

Saint Croix said...

Achilles, you have a weak spot!

(sorry, couldn't help it)

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

AMDG said...
Yes, let us ignore that guy who went from a 0.1% victory 4 years ago to a 20% victory 4 years later.
Instead let’s support the guy who is personally responsible for Senate losses two cycles in a row. ...[..] [Trump]He can only help the Democrats win.


This.

Only/Ever-Trumpers are slow to get it, and perhaps never will. Somehow - the ONE old man and his immense ego and immaturity can save us. Something something about the super-powers of Mitch McConnell and Squish Romney.

without Trump - and with a solid candidate - Romney can be GONE in 2 years. But alas - the Trumpsters will do all they can to keep Romeny - so they can bitch about him.

Jefferson's Revenge said...

Achilles- My understanding is that once they got the nomination Trump gave them no money. McConnell funded Vance when he was running out of money. I don't call that sabotage. Trump has collected a lot of money and he has not given it out to his chosen candidates.

Everyone in the country, Trump included, thought DeSantis was committing political suicide when he opened up Florida. That took more guts than any political act I have seen, possibly in my lifetime. No Bush/Romney Republican would have done that. Trump did not even do that. Give DeSantis some credit for that act. If he was wrong the headline would have read "Florida Governor Kills Millions".

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Achilles- The voters of Florida chose DeSantis - based on his promises kept. Based on his record of achievements...
Geez - listening to you yammer on about McConnell endlessly is going to nauseate all of us.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Again - Gen z showed-up to vote. They are all socialists folks. Chi Com Virus killed the elderly.

TickTock said...

I believe Yancey Wardis correct. Ihe change in voting method is responsible, and will be permanent. Life will be blue from here on out.

wendybar said...

Howard said...
Putin lost

11/9/22, 8:33 AM

He lost when your Hillary lost in 2016.

CStanley said...

Achilles, can you expand on the claim of sabotage by McConnell? I’m open to hearing it but I’m a long way from agreeing with your “ever Trump” stance. As others are pointing out, there’s a difference between needing Trump to come in in 2016 to disrupt things and supporting him now.

I’m not convinced that McConnell or any other GOP-e mucked things up any more than Trump did. I certainly didn’t see McConnell celebrating the losses of any of Trump backed candidates, for example (as Trump did last night with O’Dea.) Or dropping hints that he had dirt on them which he might decide to use later (as Trump did to DeSantis.)

wendybar said...

And China wins, right Howard???

Saint Croix said...

If you all think Democrats won't do the same things to DeSantis, as they did Trump, I have a bridge to sell you. I hope his family can handle the stress, because it IS coming. The Democrats found a winning strategy, and they won't stop at Trump.

Wendybar, seriously, why have you lost faith in Trump?

He's not dropping out!

So this idea that they just killed Trump, and now they're going after DeSantis, and they will get him too...

Uh, Trump's not dead. He is running. The media will keep on hating him until he retires.

And I don't think he's going to leave the scene gracefully.

I could be wrong.

Anyway, Trump and DeSantis are both super-tough.

The media can try to call them both Hitler, or fascist, or whatever, but you can't actually play that game with multiple Republicans. People notice the lie!

I'm very bullish on 2024. Republicans should not fall into depression. Be optimistic. Remember, Joe Biden is fit as a fiddle, and ready to run!

That fucker in California reminds me of Christian Bale in that movie, American Psychopath. (Same haircut).

That Saturday Night Live skit I love does not mention Gavin Newsome. He's a likely candidate if Biden retires.

I think there's a 90% chance Ice Cream Joe will be running. It will be delicious.

jaydub said...

"I will not support any candidate that returns to the Bush/Romney mold of the Republican party.
That now includes Desantis who the Regime has clearly chosen."

Oh, nooos! All is lost! Achilles is taking his ball and going home. Consider the sheer idiocy of the second sentence above: DeSantis not only won in a the governorship by an historic 59.4% landslide he also provided the coattails to permit a clean sweep of all statewide offices. But "The regime" chose him?

On the bright side, Achilles leaving the party should raise the Republican Party IQ average a few points, so we've got that going for us. Which is nice.

narciso said...

you don't recognize when a country is stolen from you, when the murderers of countless elder, the enablers of the wholesale destruction of cities, the looters of our prize strategic reserves are not held accountable,

veni vidi vici said...

Trump is the Moses of MAGA. He brought the GOP to a set of workable ideas with appeal to new audiences (e.g., the Hispanic vote, younger people) but he is fated to remain on the leaving shore as the movement crosses the sea to its promised land where it will either grow and thrive - or wander aimlessly in the desert of husked men without chests like McConnell/McCarthy and dies from dehydration.

His worst fear, being uncredited/unthanked, increasingly appears to be his fate. Most people won't care because of his boorish proclivities but some - mainly among the "unconnected" who saw him as a beacon of hope and someone who saw and heard them in their small lives and respected them - will hold onto their devotion like many did Reagan and Kennedy before him.

So it goes.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Yancey - Do not disagree at all..
Like you said perfectly - the GOP in Florida took voting seriously - and made it honest again.
All while the rest of the GOP around the nation took a nap.

Once a state goes blue, it's over forever - because the left install the Chicago way.
I still want the best candidates...

OZ took a beating up front (by the GOP faithful!) - even tho he is clearly superior to the man-baby trust-fund pro-crime monster who pulled it out. OZ even got Trump's support - and it did not matter.

Drago said...

We've just completed an election where the Senate Majority leader openly sabotaged and attacked his "less preferred" republican candidates across the board (there's about 6 or so candidates on the McConnell sabotaged list) for months, funded an insurgent campaign (Murkowski) and paid over $10M to attack the nominated republican Tshibaka in Alaska, had Karl Rove's PAC run targeted ads in PA that lifted up the democratical candidate Shapiro.

McCarthy went full Frank Luntz and came up with some watered down "Commitment to America" that no republican actually ran on (any reader from a district where their candidate did run on it can correct me) and also actively sabotaged multiple candidates.

AZ Gov Ducey, McCain-ite and head of the RGA, with McConnell/McCarthy had control of the messaging strategy, campaign planning, purse strings and coordinated their actions such that candidates were left high and dry. Purposely.

Case in point and typical: Once Doug Mastriano won the PA republican Gov primary, he traveled out west & met directly with Doug Ducey to lay down next steps.

After a pleasant 2 hour lunch where Mastriano thought things went great, Ducey told Mastriano that he, Mastriano, was not "his kind of people" and told Mastriano he would not be getting much support from the RGA.

The democraticals then raised a kajillion dollars for Shapiro and spent months attacking Mastriano with no response from Doug because there was no money allocated.....and as noted above, all the while Rove is running anti-Fetterman ads which also were a back door compliment to Shapiro.

I guess that was just an "accident".

But why wouldn't these ultimate establishmentarian and GOPe-ers do that? They know that the Trump Is Always The Only Reason Bad Things Happen narrative was already pre-primed and they could undercut their own party, have Trump blamed, and then consolidate their GOPe control over a lesser party.

A lesser party....but one that they control. Which is their goal.

The shared goal in the hearts and minds of the republican base, like those conservatives and republicans who post at Althouse with varying opinions and outlooks, was to win big last night.

And they expected that. How could it be otherwise? We have what we have in the White House and that guys policies are being rejected "on the street" across the nation.

But winning a big majority is NOT the goal of McConnell and McCarthy. Their goal is a controllable minority or slight majority. That's the ticket needed for "compromise" failure theater. It's hard to hide intent with large majorities, which is why Ryan left. The jig was up for him in 2018.

What happens when the party base wants to go in a different direction but the established party leadership does not? Well, take a look at Britain where the Tories, just a short while ago, won the biggest victory in generations....only to have the entire Tory leadership go Labour-Lite (because deep down the Tory leaders ARE Labour-lite). And now Labour is set to make an explosive return at the next election. A large and solid majority with the base sending clear policy objectives....thrown away. Now the Tories are delivering a green agenda, and not controlling borders, and allowing the EU to dictate policy, etc.

The Tories will lose their once massive majority in the next election. I feel sorry for the Torie establishment leaders. They don't have the Trump Get Out Of Jail Free Card!

But McConnell/McCarthy/Ryan/Frank Luntz-types/Wall Streeters do!

Not a bad bit of work for the GOPe over the last 9 months and it sure paid off for them last night. If only I could have been a fly on the wall on the McConnell/Murkowski congratulatory phone call last night (don't worry GOPe-ers, you probably got her over the line once again for 6 more years).

Oh, sorry. Forget everything else. It's all Trump's fault. Hooray Mitch! Hooray Kevin! Hooray Doug Ducey!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Jefferson's Revenge said---
"Trump has collected a lot of money and he has not given it out to his chosen candidates."

Inga said...

Most hurt this AM, Drago and Achilles and then there’s Meade who predicted a large red tidal wave the size of a small red tidal wave (or some such thing).

Inga said...

Oh and let us not forget Michael K, who is an angry old man this AM, but hey what else is new?

Ficta said...

Yes! @HunterBidens.... The Tik Tok lunatics at the White House. The constant "fascism is coming" drumbeat. The under 30s are too ignorant to realize it's nonsense. They also don't know what inflation is, and since they still live with their parents, they don't care. All that horseshit was for GenZ and they came out in droves to "save democracy". I believe in America, but my faith is sorely tested sometimes.

Drago said...

HBFPFH: "Geez - listening to you yammer on about McConnell endlessly is going to nauseate all of us."

Mustn't criticize the King of the GOPe, and Chuck Schumers bestest working partner.

Next up for McConnell: making sure Walker does not win the runoff, because Laxalt in NV looks pretty good (he flipped Washoe County and did very well in Clark) and Masters in AZ is poised for about 4 or 5 more major election day vote drops which the reps were winning last night at a 70% clip.

This is when we see if all the complainers re: Trump/GA/2020 will be holding the GOPe-ers to the fire to ensure support for Walker in the runoff in Dec (and thank God someone told the stupid GA GOPe-ers to not schedule a runoff on Jan 5! Who does that?)

Meanwhile, our hopes for at least a Sunbelt sweep continues with Lake/Masters/Hamadeh in AZ and Lombardo/Laxalt in NV.

If we pick up those governerships (and the Hamadeh AG battle in AZ) we can effect the needed campaign reforms that DeSantis pushed through in FL that make FL the most transparent and efficient state in the union for voting. And we could have it done by 2024 so the Maricopa Shuffle and the Clark County Two-Step get stifled in its tracks.

Along with the solid NC win, in particular the republicans winning the 2 Supreme Court seats, which is incredibly important (court switched from 4-3 dem to 5-2 rep) as the dem Court stopped all republican redistricting and voter integrity laws. Now it will approve them.

We have a chance during this disappointing time, well, for me, not McConnell, to nail down the sunbelt. If we don't do that........

Drago said...

Inga: "Most hurt this AM, Drago...."

LOL

I've been paying close attention for quite some time. "hurt" doesn't enter into it.

Here's what will bother me going forward: unlike parliamentary parties when they lose and dump all their leadership for a new team, it looks like the same republicans who helped engineer this will not be going anywhere at least for awhile.

It's the biggest weakness of our current system. Failure only gets rewarded.

Drago said...

HBTPFH:

"Jefferson's Revenge said---
"Trump has collected a lot of money and he has not given it out to his chosen candidates.""

The very thing you don't criticize McConnell/McCarthy and Ducey for doing. And Trump is gearing up for a presidential run.

I'm assuming you are praising Trump, correct? Or did I miss your McConnell/McCarthy/Ducey criticisms? I mean, its gotta be there, right?

Can you point out where you criticized the GOPe-ers for holding back cash? Just for reference, mind you.

Thanks in advance.

Mike said...

Dang! Inga's back. I sorta missed her.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Inga- Soak it up - your band of crooks won. Abortion!!!!!

What's emanating from your penumbra said...

The republican MAGA movement is not about fealty to Trump. It's about values and policy preferences. If Trump had been shown to be a continuing benefit for the movement, as reflected in the last 2 elections, I would be willing to continue to support him. That has not been the case.

If you're feeling defensive about people abandoning Trump, consider the supporters of Beto or the Stacy Abrams. Those candidates are proven losers. Their supporters might still like them and think they would make effective leaders. But that's not possible if they can't get elected. As someone who thinks Beto and Abrams would be disastrous leaders, I would love to see their supporters continue to push them to the top of the Democrat ticket.

Now apply that to Trump. If you're doing exactly what your opponents hope that you will do, and it is proving to not be successful for you, you're probably doing something wrong. That doesn't mean you have to abandon your values, principles and policy preferences, it just means find a better politician.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Inga- we are not fooled. DeSantis is your next reliable Hitler.

Achilles said...

CStanley said...

Achilles, can you expand on the claim of sabotage by McConnell? I’m open to hearing it but I’m a long way from agreeing with your “ever Trump” stance. As others are pointing out, there’s a difference between needing Trump to come in in 2016 to disrupt things and supporting him now.


One example Drago pointed out above.

Pulling funding from Bolduc in Vermont. Pulling any support of Zeldin.

Setting up ranked choice in Alaska. Openly funding attacks on Tsibaka.

But the biggest issue is the mail in voting, drop boxes, and ballot harvesting that is being supported by the GOPe machinery.

In Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania you have Republicans that are supporting these obvious voter fraud schemes. Vos, Doucey, Brnovich, Raffensburger, Kemp etc...

Republicans will not win a national election if this continues. Desantis will not be able to defeat any democrat in 2024 if these state machines continue vote harvesting.

You all want to blame Trump. That is a fucking moronic take.

But half of republican voters are on the left side of the bell curve too. I am preparing for a future where the obvious results of Democracy occur every time it is tried. Half the voters are deciding to take the other half's stuff.

We were a Republic once.

Drago said...

Saint Croix: "Wendybar, seriously, why have you lost faith in Trump?
He's not dropping out!
So this idea that they just killed Trump, and now they're going after DeSantis, and they will get him too...
Uh, Trump's not dead. He is running. The media will keep on hating him until he retires.
And I don't think he's going to leave the scene gracefully.
I could be wrong.
Anyway, Trump and DeSantis are both super-tough.
The media can try to call them both Hitler, or fascist, or whatever, but you can't actually play that game with multiple Republicans. People notice the lie!
I'm very bullish on 2024. Republicans should not fall into depression. Be optimistic. Remember, Joe Biden is fit as a fiddle, and ready to run!"

I agree with all of this. Trump isn't going anywhere, will probably announce next week and it sure looks like DeSantis is getting very close to the Rubicon, after which it will be weapons free on all sides. But probably not until later in 2023.

Then its on and it will get "officially" ugly because, as St Croix says, neither of these guys will be backing down, nor should they.

But I'll say this again, if DeSantis is seen as coordinating with the establishment types to remove Trump via lawfare and the corrupt deep state practices, that's going to really harm the Draft DeSantis effort incredibly. Almost certainly politically fatally.

And I still believe Garland-DOJ/FBI/dem/GOPe alliance on that front is going to go forward with it, with one caveat: What if the GOPe-ers come to believe they have wounded Trump enough that they don't have to do that and potentially alienate the entire Trump-supporting GOP base? In that case, they might decide to make DeSantis the potential "hero" to save Trump from further inquisition activities.

DeSantis as the Savior of Team Trump and Master of Fairness And Righteousness In Govt is a much more pleasant campaign theme then that of the cackling birdlike creature on Jabba's back as dudes are tossed to the Jabba's rancor.

Drago said...

Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker: "Yancey - Do not disagree at all..
Like you said perfectly - the GOP in Florida took voting seriously - and made it honest again.
All while the rest of the GOP around the nation took a nap.

Once a state goes blue, it's over forever - because the left install the Chicago way.
I still want the best candidates...

OZ took a beating up front (by the GOP faithful!) - even tho he is clearly superior to the man-baby trust-fund pro-crime monster who pulled it out. OZ even got Trump's support - and it did not matter."

Complete agreement on these points with one quibble: all support received helped, but it wasn't enough to get over the line against the machine the dems have built in PA. Which is why Rove pumping up Shapiro, with McConnell/Ducey support, is unforgiveable in my book.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

OT perspective:

In CO - Polis(D) (who is a billionaire with family money) infused his own campaign with millions and millions of his own money. He is very savvy - albeit grotesque to those of us who know what a fraud he is.

Heidi Ganahl(R) - who really had no contact with Trump (for or against) she ran a clean grass-roots campaign and fought hard against Polis' pro-crime / pro-drug / pro-tax and fee agenda.
But she was massively out-spent. Polis' ads littered the TV and social media spaces. Plus - for some reason I cannot comprehend - he is popular with the far left.

but - Heidi did worse against Polis than O'Dea did against Bennett.

O'Dea was openly hostile to Trump. Heidi was 100% neutral with Trump. curious.

PM said...

1. Trump fixed SCOTUS, a longer-lasting accomplishment. So thanks for that.
2. Dems owe victory to Gen Z, as in lazy, who will demand gov't freebies for decades.

Drago said...

While we are praising the work done in Florida by DeSantis and his team regarding election integrity, transparency and efficiency and noting that Lake in AZ and Lombardo in NV have already said if they are elected they will be doing the same, a question arises:

In GA, where the republicans have Kemp as Governor, Raffensberger (ugh) as Sec of State, Chris Carr as Attorney General and strong republican majorities in the House and Senate for the last several years, why hasn't that crew done in GA what DeSantis and his team did in Florida?

wendybar said...

narciso said...
you don't recognize when a country is stolen from you, when the murderers of countless elder, the enablers of the wholesale destruction of cities, the looters of our prize strategic reserves are not held accountable,

11/9/22, 9:21 AM

THIS^^^^

Rabel said...

I've said from day one that this guy is a fraud and a snake. But that's just my opinion.

Lars Porsena said...

There are two electorates: one shows up and votes at a polling place, the other early votes, votes by mail, votes at a drop box, votes absentee. Would you want to venture a guess which way each one votes?

tim in vermont said...

In both PA and AZ, heavily Republican in-person voting was significantly hampered by easily avoidable technical problems, printer settings and lack of paper.

Sounds like this election got fortified too.

RMc said...

The media will keep on hating (Trump) until he retires.

And well beyond. They still hate Nixon and Reagan.

Drago said...

Howard: "Putin lost"

Putin is richer than he's ever been and Biden's policies are directly providing the funds for ALL of Putin's activities.

That's why the russki's paid millions to Joe via Hunter.

Of course, I'll bet the russki's could have purchased Joe for a lot less then they did. I guess Putin's pals just wanted to make sure. The ChiCom's get favors from the Biden's just by dropping some diamonds, cocaine and underage trafficked prostitutes to Hunter!

I imagine the ChiCom's have a much better bribe to reward ratio than the russkis when it comes to the Biden's.

I'm sorry, let me dumb it down for Howard: "bribe to reward" is sort of like "return on investment" Howard. Actually, in this case its exactly like that.

RMc said...

The media will keep on hating (Trump) until he retires.

And well beyond. They still hate Nixon and Reagan.

RMc said...

The media will keep on hating (Trump) until he retires.

And well beyond. They still hate Nixon and Reagan.

Michael K said...


Blogger Inga said...

Oh and let us not forget Michael K, who is an angry old man this AM, but hey what else is new?


Inga, I am not angry because I sort of anticipated this. Especially when voting machines in Republican districts in Phoenix stopped working. You will have the pleasure of living longer under the rule of these incompetent clowns than I will. Good luck>

Gusty Winds said...

Blogger Drago said...
We've just completed an election where the Senate Majority leader openly sabotaged and attacked his "less preferred" republican candidates across the board (there's about 6 or so candidates on the McConnell sabotaged list) for months, funded an insurgent campaign (Murkowski) and paid over $10M to attack the nominated republican Tshibaka in Alaska, had Karl Rove's PAC run targeted ads in PA that lifted up the democratical candidate Shapiro.

Yup. For some reason the establishment GOP, who's voters abandon in the 2016 Presidential Primary (Trump), think they can force us to come back home. It's not going to happen. We'll stay home and watch the ship burn.

Even if three of the four outstanding Senate races go GOP (AZ, AK, GA, and NV), it's a weak GOP Majority. Murkowski, Romney, and Susan Collins will cross the aisle pretending they are "principled" and bi-partisan.

Jefferson's Revenge said...

Just got an interesting text from a friend. Your 35 year old successful guy- married with a young son. Very liberal. Voted for Fetterman before the debate. Well educated but lives in a liberal bubble.

He likes DeSantis a lot because he governs well. Can we focus on that please?

Sebastian said...

AMDG: "In Georgia Trump is the Democrat’s best friend. For Republicans he is stage 5 ass cancer."

Some want the cancer to metastasize. Here's hoping more of us want chemo.

So, why is Trump so eager to aid Dems? Why are Ever-Trumpers so eager to abet the losing loser?

Politics should not be an exercise in narcissistic masochism.

exhelodrvr1 said...

And Trump sat on about $125M in his PAC fund.

Michael K said...

I’m not convinced that McConnell or any other GOP-e mucked things up any more than Trump did. I certainly didn’t see McConnell celebrating the losses of any of Trump backed candidates,

McConnell clearly favored Murkowski in Alaska and denied any funding to Blake Masters in AZ and Bolduc in NH.I hear he also spent money opposing the other candidate in Alaska and others. We may find out when the final contributions are filed.

Wa St Blogger said...

This was a depressing result. Normally such a weak president would get slaughtered in the midterm. This shows that the Republicans lost hugely because they did not win hugely as should have been the case given the circumstances. America is apparently light blue overall. To vote for more democrat candidates when the democrats are disfavored on every supposedly important issue that voters cared about. Why would they not repudiate the party that they identify ad being wrong on the important issues? I think the pain was not enough to motivate the independents to vote out the Democrats. On big elections people vote party, as Althouse brought up a few weeks ago, and apparently the Dem party is still well liked.

What lesson we can glean from this is that it is not enough to say you stand for X or Y, you have to actually lead in that area. DeSantis showed that standing firm on key issues can be a winning formula. Trump won his first election by sounding like he cared about the people who were hurting, but that does not translate well to lending his support to others who might not sound, themselves like they care about the people.

The Republican party is a mess because the GOPe does not generate enthusiasm among the base or the independents. People still think the Dems care about the little guy. We shall see if that continues the next two years if inflation and other things continue to cause pain.

Narr said...

As a Senator, Fetterman will only be able to vote "Yea" or "Neigh."

Maynard said...

I agree with you Drago about the shenanigans of Ducey (my governor) and McConnell. The latter did not want Masters to win because he would be independent of Mitch. Ducey is simply a corporate RINO.

However, Masters never stood a chance here against the third California senator - The Weasel Mark Kelly.

Trump's endorsements were not helpful at all. He was a good POTUS, but he does not know how to play the political game. He beat Hillary - big fucking deal!

It's not just the RINOs who want Trump gone. I am also moving in that direction.

The next few years will be an economic disaster. 2024 beckons and we need someone other than Trump o run against Governor Hair Gel.

Iman said...

“That fucker in California reminds me of Christian Bale in that movie, American Psychopath. (Same haircut).

That Saturday Night Live skit I love does not mention Gavin Newsome. He's a likely candidate if Biden retires.”


Slick Newsom complements that haircut with a voice that is clearly that of Krusty the Klown of “The Simpsons” fame. Listen to both and tell me I’m wrong.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Sebastian @ 11:00

That. That. That. That is the question.

Drago said...

Maynard: "However, Masters never stood a chance here against the third California senator - The Weasel Mark Kelly."

Given the number of remaining election day ballots (500k-600k?) and those remaining election day vote drops mirror the several from last night where both Lake and Masters pulled around 70% each time, that would mean both Lake and Masters would win with Lake winning easily.

Also take a look at NV Gov and Senate races where both Lombardo and Laxalt flipped Washoe County and significantly held down the dem advantage in Clark County.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Drago - if you are writing all of that directed at me - don't bother. I'm done reading your self-anointed superiority complex analysis. Carry on with everyone else, but I have a feeling they skip it, too.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Horowitz - We need a DeSantis in every Red State. True.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

We can all agree McConnell sucks. So - rather than whining - how about someone do something about it.

Kentucky - what say you? Got a Ron DeSantis lurking about... willing to take fire and run?

Drago said...

HBTPFH: "Heidi Ganahl(R) - who really had no contact with Trump (for or against) she ran a clean grass-roots campaign and fought hard against Polis' pro-crime / pro-drug / pro-tax and fee agenda.
But she was massively out-spent. Polis' ads littered the TV and social media spaces. Plus - for some reason I cannot comprehend - he is popular with the far left."

Heidi did a good job following the Youngkin/Kemp model of how to not alienate Trump/Trump voters but simply couldn't compete with Polis' self-made cash, which also is what makes Polis a tougher competitor: he is a successful and savvy entrepreneur. Plus we are in a blue-blue state.

Narr said...

Maynard writes, "The next few years will be an economic disaster."

I agree, regardless of red waves or wavelets. From that perspective, the R's may have dodged a bullet by not clearing the field of the old DC Corruptocrats. So there is that.

It may not be much consolation to us flyover peasants though.

Jefferson's Revenge said...

Too many are making this a Trump or die battle. I like Trump and would vote for him again if he was on the ballot but he would lose.

Maynard above makes the right point. Trump beat Hillary, a very weak candidate. Trump lost to Biden, an even weaker candidate. He governed with good instincts but did not accomplish much that will last beyond his term Yes, I know the deep taste fought him and he was sabotaged. But he was the President for 4 years and did not put a dent into the deep state.

Yesterday showed me that Trump would lose in 2024. If you don't want to vote for DeSantis because he isn't pure enough for you that's your right. If you don't think that President DeSantis is not better than President Newsome you are a fool.

Drago said...

exhelodrvr1: "And Trump sat on about $125M in his PAC fund."

This is a fair point to make.

But Trump is gearing up for a Presidential run and DeSantis was handed over $200M from the GOPe-aligned Wall Streeters/Hedge Fund guys and if you are going to criticize Trump for sitting on cash, you should also be criticizing DeSantis as well, not to mention all of DeSantis' big money backers who had additional cash they could have given.

And McConnell holding back cash matters as well.

You should try to avoid inadvertently playing the Trump Is A GOPe Get Out Of Jail Free card.

Big Mike said...

Republicans deserve to be a minority party.

@Achilles, I’m a fan of neither gloating winners (e.g., Howard the fool) nor sore losers (e.g., you).

Things Donald Trump could have done to change yesterday’s outcome:

(1) Judging from my Email inbox, Trump’s organization tried to suck up a lot of campaign donations that could have, should have, gone to candidates in lower profile races, e.g., Congress, state legislature, even school boards for Pete’s sake. I don’t think his rallies or his ad buys helped the candidates he endorsed very much, given how few won.

(2) A lot of people, myself included, have noted the poor job Trup did in selecting candidates for endorsement who were not politically savvy enough to best very beatable candidates (Fetterman, Hassan, Whitmer, among others). But there’s a root cause in at least a few cases. He doesn’t seem able to realize when he’s getting bad advice. Whether it’s Chris Christie suggesting Christopher Wray for the FBI job or Sean Hannity pushing Mehmet Oz, his feeling for when people are bullshitting him needs refinement.

(2.1) He seems to believe that celebrity is the key to success, not political experience or expertise. I wonder whether he appreciates how bad a candidate Hillary was, and how hated she was, and how much that contributed to his fluke victory in 2016.

(3) Friends come and go, but enemies are forever. That’s doubly true in politics. Humiliating Mitt Romney was stupid, and Trump is still paying for it. Snark directed at J. D. Vance or Ron DeSantis risks making a lifelong enemy for no gain to you. In tournament bridge (which I have not played for decades) there is the concept of the “zero percent play” — a play that can only lose and never win no matter how the cards are distributed (consistent with the bidding). In politics putting people down who are technically on your side and burning bridges that aren’t already on fire are zero percent plays,

(4) He could have led. Here’s an example: abortion. How’d the GOP let that climb up to the #3 issue of concern to voters? Well, some legislatures controlled by Republicans passed draconian anti-abortion laws, raising irrational fears in the minds of women that the Democrats are right when they say that electing Republicans means the end of abortion. He had to at least try to defuse that issue, perhaps by assembling a blue ribbon panel to hash out a compromise position along the lines of what Graham proposed in the Senate. Also he needed to keep a searchlight focused on the economic and energy issues. Scare voters about freezing to death this winter. (In New England, some will.)

Achilles, my friend, Trump didn’t have to do all of the above (except not burning bridges that aren’t already on fire), but he needed to do some.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

OT:

How to lose with class: To CO, from Heidi.

"Dear _________, (she actually used my name)

Tonight did not go the way we had hoped and prayed for, but I know this movement is real. This Mom on a Mission is proud to have given a voice to the army of mad moms, dads, and grandparents of Colorado who are scared about what the future of our beautiful state holds for our kids and grandkids.

Governor Polis, I wish you well, and my prayers will be with you. This election is over, but our problems are not. Crime in Colorado is real. Record inflation is real. The state of our education system is real. Please do not ignore the cries for help from so many in our state. I implore you to be a governor for all Coloradans and to seek consensus with those of us on the other side of the aisle, even when that may not be easy.

In scripture, we are told: “Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” – Psalm 30:5

I am a fighter. I’m not sure what my next chapter will be, but I promise I will never stop fighting for the American Dream I have been so blessed to live, and for Colorado families – so many of whom are struggling right now. You have a voice. Make sure those in power understand that the many decisions that they believe should occur in Denver should really be made at the kitchen table; Colorado parents and families matter.

Thank you to my supporters, volunteers, staff, my running mate Danny Moore, and my family for taking this journey with me. May God continue to bless you all and may God bless our home, Colorado."
Heidi

wendybar said...

Gusty Winds said "Yup. For some reason the establishment GOP, who's voters abandon in the 2016 Presidential Primary (Trump), think they can force us to come back home. It's not going to happen. We'll stay home and watch the ship burn.

Even if three of the four outstanding Senate races go GOP (AZ, AK, GA, and NV), it's a weak GOP Majority. Murkowski, Romney, and Susan Collins will cross the aisle pretending they are "principled" and bi-partisan."

11/9/22, 10:59 AM

THIS^^^^

wendybar said...

And we will also stay home when the Rino lovers call us Trump humpers, like somebody on here likes to call members of the party they also vote for. Keep it up. It doesn't win over the people who don't have the same opinions as you.

Yancey Ward said...

LOL! I guess it will take at least another drubbing in 2024 for the GOP to understand that mail-in-voting gives the Democrats a lock on the Senate and the Presidency.

Again, show me how DeSantis wins any state that Trump lost in 2020 other than Georgia and Arizona? I put this right here for your perusal. All of the following states are pretty firmly blue over the last 14 years:

Wisconsin since 1984 (only exception is Trump)
Michigan since 1988 (only exception is Trump)
Pennsylvania since 1988 (only exception is Trump)
Nevada since 2004
Virginia since 2004
Colorado since 2004
New Hampshire since 2000.

Additionally, Trump won Iowa and Ohio handily, but without Trump, Iowa is sure to revert to the Democrat column, and Ohio at best becomes a tossup again.

Richard Dolan said...

Both parties need new leadership. Easier for the Reps to pull off than the Dems, but both have become rigid in resisting what's obvious. Reps can't get past venting over Trump (pro or con) and Dems can't get past their identity politics trap. First one to figure a way through is likely to prevail.

Maynard said...

Let's face it folks. Oz, Masters and Bolduc were weak candidates. Just because they were running against weak Dems in a GOP year does not excuse those selections.

It bothers me that Trump AND Democrat strategists supported these people. Does anyone in the GOP know how to play the fucking game?

Lars Porsena said...

I can't wait to see what committee Senator Fetterman is appointed to. I look forward to his sharp questioning of potential appointees and witnesses that appear before the committee.

Maybe he will just be stored in a closet and wheeled onto the floor for votes.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Buyawa spoke of this outcome often. Most did not listen.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Drago - you're just copying what I already said. Except Polis is a fake-successful entrepreneur - his parents pretty much handed him his business wins.

Yancey Ward said...

Anyone done a wellness check on Greg the Class Traitor?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Big Mike -
Excellent post. 12:01
Trump is ace at burning bridges. Somehow he thinks that he can shrink his support, and still win. Not sure how that works.

Howard said...

I'm Howard the Libtard Troll and I approve this message.

Blogger Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker said...
Drago - ..... I'm done reading your self-anointed superiority complex analysis.


Drago said...

Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker: "Drago - if you are writing all of that directed at me - don't bother. I'm done reading your self-anointed superiority complex analysis."

Some people mistake knowing a few of the basic facts in hand and having some grounding in the background events as having a "self-anointed superiority complex". Yes, a defensive reaction.

I guess you are in that crowd.

Next time around, pay attention to who is actually funding who and why. Or don't. Just continue being you.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Again:

In COLORADO - Gov candidate Heidi Ganahl did worse against Polis than O'Dea did against Bennett.
Both are state-wide races.
O'Dea was openly hostile to Trump. Heidi was 100% neutral with Trump. Curious.

Drago said...

Maynard: "It bothers me that Trump AND Democrat strategists supported these people. Does anyone in the GOP know how to play the fucking game?"

The Pied Piper strategy doesn't always work out. Carter thought Reagan would be easier to beat than Bush and Hillary famously did what she did.

Kari Lake may make them regret her probable election as well in time.

Oh, wait.

Sorry HBTPFH. I know how it upsets you to read stuff like that. You know, historical stuff and all that.

Stiff upper lip there soldier.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Yancey - I think you are super smart and I am often in agreement with you - but I disagree with your Trump analysis.

So does Horowitz. I think he is on to something.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker: "Drago - you're just copying what I already said. Except Polis is a fake-successful entrepreneur - his parents pretty much handed him his business wins."

Polis did some stuff on his own, didn't blow the money, took some risks and he grew the stash. He wasn't a Kennedy that's for sure.

You can't control where you start.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Maynard - I want to know why Trump didn't spend any money on his candidates.

Big Mike said...

It bothers me that Trump AND Democrat strategists supported these people. Does anyone in the GOP know how to play the fucking game?

@Maynard, it didn’t bother me in the slightest. It’s not unusual in politics for something like that to happened. I expected that it was the Democrats to be wrong. Turns out it was me (and Trump).

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I must say I liked OZ. I thought he was well spoken on all the issues. Trump or no Trump - I liked what he had to say.

Inga said...

“And we will also stay home when the Rino lovers call us Trump humpers, like somebody on here likes to call members of the party they also vote for.”

Yay!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Wendy - if you are that weak minded as to stay home based on what one blog-commenter thinks?
Wow - I would think that pro-Trumpers were of heartier stock.

If you'd like to be an entry level member in the Never-DeSantis club - feel free.

I voted for Trump twice. I never really liked the guy. I never fell in love. Do I need to? Is it a requirement for voting?

I liked some of what he did. I wish he were prez right now! But - he is a drag on winning. He is no longer in it for America - he is all about his ego. He is an Obama I I I me me me guy now.
No. thank. you.
I like to win. If you like to lose - you keep on keeping on. Stay home. Have fun.

Rit said...

It is all to easy to blame Trump for a tide that failed to rise. But in a world where John Fetterman was elected to the senate there is something far more complicated going on. We've seen the carnage an addled and cognitively impaired president can do, and yet 2.6 million voters in Pennsylvania have put a clearly brain damaged man who at best could have been considered a dim-witted fool before his stroke, but post-stroke can only be described as a fetid turnip, into a national office.

Given how unpopular Biden is, even within his own party, I find this utterly inexplicable.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Also - the GOP has always had a few squish senators. I wish it were not the case! But my goodness - at what point do you stop the whining? A soft R in a blue state is still better than a hard left loyal dem, in a blue state. Yes yes most of the hatred is based on the squish senators disliking and trashing Trump. fine. Got it. Most of the senators trashed BY Trump (Rubio, Cruz et al...) came round to supporting Trump at every turn. I don't see you praising them.

I detest Murkowski with a hot raging passion. That said - she usually votes the right way.
Alaska needs to learn how to out-smart her. So far- they have not figured it out.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Jefferson's Revenge said..

"Just got an interesting text from a friend. Your 35 year old successful guy- married with a young son. Very liberal. Voted for Fetterman before the debate. Well educated but lives in a liberal bubble.

He likes DeSantis a lot because he governs well. Can we focus on that please? "


No no no - we don't want the icky liberal to vote the right way. Best to nominate Trump, and lose that voter. Purity, man. Purity.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I find it curious that Trump's super fans are not at all thrilled that DeSatnis won so decisively and so strongly. It's like a crushing blow to them, instead. (like they really wanted Crist to win? yikes)

That's not what team sports should look like.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

ot:

What is this? Look at NY here. What is that? fishy.

Achilles said...

Big Mike said...

Republicans deserve to be a minority party.

@Achilles, I’m a fan of neither gloating winners (e.g., Howard the fool) nor sore losers (e.g., you).

Things Donald Trump could have done to change yesterday’s outcome:

(1) Judging from my Email inbox, Trump’s organization tried to suck up a lot of campaign donations that could have, should have, gone to candidates in lower profile races, e.g., Congress, state legislature, even school boards for Pete’s sake. I don’t think his rallies or his ad buys helped the candidates he endorsed very much, given how few won.


Desantis has more money than Trump saved up.

Desantis put nothing up. Trump put everything up. But Desantis calls himself a fighter.

(2) A lot of people, myself included, have noted the poor job Trump did in selecting candidates for endorsement ... for when people are bullshitting him needs refinement.

These candidates that lost were in the states that had the biggest problems with fraud across the board.

No Republican will win in Pennsylvania with mail in voting.

Lake wins in AZ with the same margins Desantis did under the same voting laws.

Desantis will lose AZ with the same margins Lake may lose by with AZ laws.

(2.1) He seems to believe that celebrity is the key to success, ... to his fluke victory in 2016.

Trump got 75 million votes. Romney 2.0 will not get that many votes. He will get 62-65 million like Romney did.

(3) Friends come and go, but enemies are forever. That’s doubly true in politics. Humiliating Mitt Romney was stupid, and Trump is still paying for it. ... In politics putting people down who are technically on your side and burning bridges that aren’t already on fire are zero percent plays,

Good advice. Hope you people actually apply it to yourselves. Or you can keep calling us Trump Humpers and other childish shit.

We still have Obamacare and no Border Wall because of Republicans, not democrats.

(4) He could have led. Here’s an example: abortion. How’d the GOP let that climb up to the #3 issue of concern to voters? ... He had to at least try to defuse that issue, perhaps by assembling a blue ribbon panel to hash out a compromise position along the lines of what Graham proposed in the Senate...

Trump is not in power. He doesn't control the party machinery. Here is a list of people that have more control over Republican messaging than Trump:

1. Desantis
2. McConnell
3. Ronda whatever her name is

You want to blame Trump. He had less money and resources but put himself out there. These people did not do anything.

Thank you for mentioning the Graham "proposal" to ban abortion. This doesn't support your position at all.

Achilles, my friend, Trump didn’t have to do all of the above (except not burning bridges that aren’t already on fire), but he needed to do some.

Trump was at rallies and has taken the brunt of the Regime fire for 6 years. Nobody put more on the line for you than Trump did.

When Trump is gone I hope Desantis or someone else can do the work he did. But Desantis did not do it this time. Deantis hoovered up record amounts of cash. He is listening to all the wrong people. He is supported by all the wrong people.

It wont matter because Desantis has zero chance of winning Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan or Arizona now.

That means he has zero chance to be president.

Achilles said...

Yancey Ward said...

Again, show me how DeSantis wins any state that Trump lost in 2020 other than Georgia and Arizona? I put this right here for your perusal. All of the following states are pretty firmly blue over the last 14 years:

Wisconsin since 1984 (only exception is Trump)
Michigan since 1988 (only exception is Trump)
Pennsylvania since 1988 (only exception is Trump)
Nevada since 2004
Virginia since 2004
Colorado since 2004
New Hampshire since 2000.


I think AZ and Georgia are for all intents and purposes lost too unless the mail in voting is dealt with.

People are pretending the mail in votes only go to democrats. There are plenty of Republicans getting them too particularly in Georgia.

Achilles said...

Lars Porsena said...

I can't wait to see what committee Senator Fetterman is appointed to. I look forward to his sharp questioning of potential appointees and witnesses that appear before the committee.

Maybe he will just be stored in a closet and wheeled onto the floor for votes.


He is unlikely to even be sworn in.

The Governor will replace him with someone else fairly soon.

Iman said...

“Anyone done a wellness check on Greg the Class Traitor?”

He’s in transit to the frontlines in Ukraine?

Achilles said...

Maynard said...

The next few years will be an economic disaster. 2024 beckons and we need someone other than Trump o run against Governor Hair Gel.

Governor Hair Gel will beat Desantis in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan no matter what the economy does with the current election system. Probably Georgia too.

There are many other forums like this and they are much less myopic than you all. It is really odd that people in this group just can't see past their hands.

Well not that odd I guess.

Known Unknown said...

"Humiliating Mitt Romney was stupid"

Mitt humiliates himself.

Known Unknown said...

"Let's face it folks. Oz, Masters and Bolduc were weak candidates. Just because they were running against weak Dems in a GOP year does not excuse those selections.

It bothers me that Trump AND Democrat strategists supported these people. Does anyone in the GOP know how to play the fucking game?"

Republicans do this navel-gazing self-reflection bullshit all the time while the Dems are Party Uber Alles 24/7 with even the shittiest ratfuckers they can pull out of the weeds to run. They don't throw anyone under the bus unless it's their last resort. Republicans can't wait to turn each other into speed bumps.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Drago is correct about McConnell and Rove and GOPe. There’s no denying that crowd likes being the Washington Generals because it’s an easy gig, highly lucrative, and their pals in the swamp in turn let them win and keep quiet about their sabotage of conservative or Tea Party or Trump candidacies. No one in GOPe thought to use TikTok to reach millennials but Fetterlump and the DNC did. That group early voted like no one else in PA and way more than any group that age had in any election before. He won before he even declined to debate.

Don’t discount Drago just because he tweaks your beaks.

Known Unknown said...

"Trump lost to Biden, an even weaker candidate."

Trump lost to the world. Do you think if Covid never happens he loses to Biden?

Sebastian said...

"if you don't think that President DeSantis is not better than President Newsome you are a fool."

It's simple, really.

Whether he can break through the Dem lock on key states is a question. But Trump couldn't do it in 2020 and would be even weaker next time. Events more than personalities will decide.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

btw- the stock market is way down.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Howard - LOL. Sometimes you gotta laugh.

Iman said...

This stuttering, tired old corksoaker can’t vacate the Oval Office soon enough.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

OMG - the crook is still talking. F **********

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Mike Lee won in Utah - Senate R hold. Despite Romney's refusal to endorse.

Who is running for Romney's seat in Utah in 2024?
He has not committed yet. I'm sure he and the democrats can find his replacement. ..While Republicans take naps.

The Dems have endless funds. They just wasted $200 million on Beto and Abrams.

Lurker21 said...

Harry Truman famously said, if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. I liked how Trump avoided the cheap political stunt of getting a pet, but now it looks like he should have made that trip to the puppy farm. In an environment where everyone's own career is at risk 24/7, no one is going to look up at you with unwavering devotion, except maybe a dog.

Trump the builder must have understood that his business alliances and partnerships weren't warm, or personal, or unconditional or permanently binding. Was it entertainment or politics that convinced him that the game was about attention, affection, self-worth, love and fragile egos, rather than about achieving practical, real world goals?

CStanley said...

Frankly I think we’ll be at war with China and Russia before the ‘24 election so any predictions now will be moot if not taking that into consideration. I doubt there will be a full fledged rallying around the president but who knows how that will play out.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

holy crap - the a$$ho is still talking... make it stop!

Lazarus said...

All of the following states are pretty firmly blue over the last 14 years ...

Were states always this unwilling to vote for presidents of one party and a senator from the other? Or was it that some of them were swing states and now they are solid Democrat?

A candidate who could combine Trumpism with Establishment Republicanism could carry some of those states, but there's no one on the horizon who can.

Michael said...

If we take the house “ nothing gets done!” Which is fine with me.

Drago said...

Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker "holy crap - the a$$ho is still talking... make it stop!"

Now that HBTPFH has appointed himself Blog Chairman, and I don't think he believes its an honorary position only, I think the least the Althouse Commentariat should do is purchase him an armband because purchasing him a clue is clearly out of the question.

Drago said...

Althouse Blog Commissar: "holy crap - the a$$ho is still talking... make it stop!"

There's one quick and painless way to make it stop.

See if you can figure it out all by yourself.

Come on.....you can do it......you're so close........

Drago said...

"Club for Growth President David McIntosh said during a press conference on Wednesday that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) failed to make the November midterms an indictment of President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats."

Why would McConnell indict the Biden and democratical agenda and attempt to run against it when McConnell supports about 3/4 of the Biden and democratical agenda?

Important Note: This post was made without prior express permission of Althouse Blog Commissar Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker. Read it at your own peril.

rcocean said...

People upthread have said just what i was going to say. The GOPe/RNC needs to stop wanking on about "Trump" and "MAGA" and start looking into election laws and voter reform.

The Republicans are DOOMED with mail-in voting.

There are too many chances for the D's to game the system, let ineligble voters cast ballots, havest ballots, and just plain commit fraud. We keep running up against the same problem. If the D's are counting the ballots in a deep blue city there is ZERO reason for them to thow out invalid ballots.

They don't have to make ballots up, they just have to accept ballots without question. And there are other ways, in Calf they set up an honor system to register to vote. If you aren't a citizen you have to check a box, if you do NOT check the box you can vote. There is NO penalty for lying. There is NO ONE checking to see if you are a citizen. In effect, non-citizens can vote.

Similarly in Detroit/Phillie they are NOT checking to see if you are real person, a citizen, have signed your ballot correctly, gotten the right date, etc. If its a ballot they count it. They don't have to worry about throwing out R ballots and keeping d ballots, because they know in the those cities 80-90 percent are going to be D. Because of who lives there.

Its not vote fraud, its allowing vote fraud.

rcocean said...

The D's are doing everything possible to "Havest ballots" from Democrat voters. They know which Groups vote D. Why aren't the R's doing this? Why aren't they putting money into getting potential Republican non-voters to cast a ballot?

When the last time the R's had an army of people in Michagan or Penn going door-to-door making sure these people vote R by mail, or in person? Instead they spend zillions on TV ads.

rcocean said...

Well, Romney thanked Trump for endorsing him in 2018, by penning a Jan 2019 wapo op-ed attacking him. I expect Vance will do the same.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Drag oh - Ma'am i was trying to listen to my favorite radio show. Does that compute? or do you need to reflect on how it's McConnell's fault?

Yancey Ward said...

"They[Dems. Y.W] just wasted $200 million on Beto and Abrams."

It wasn't wasted. It did help (to the extent money helps at all) other Democrats running in those two states. It no doubt helped fund a lot of ballot "harvesting" in Georgia.

BUMBLE BEE said...

The "ABORTION" strategy was laid out by the dems years ago. Leftists do that sort of thing. 3-D Chess is what they played. Republicans were trying to not work together to win. It's why they're called the Stupid Party. They're largely stand alone prima donnas.
Unit Cohesion.
In a district close to me a dem widow of a grandson dem rep of an old time conservative who ran as a dem to get elected won easily. Dynasty? She's got shit for brains and has no accomplishments but she squawks the party line like Gadfly and Inga. Job security! which boils down to Unit Cohesion.

BUMBLE BEE said...

The "ABORTION" strategy was laid out by the dems years ago. Leftists do that sort of thing. 3-D Chess is what they played. Republicans were trying to not work together to win. It's why they're called the Stupid Party. They're largely stand alone prima donnas.
Unit Cohesion.
In a district close to me a dem widow of a grandson dem rep of an old time conservative who ran as a dem to get elected won easily. Dynasty? She's got shit for brains and has no accomplishments but she squawks the party line like Gadfly and Inga. Job security! which boils down to Unit Cohesion.

BUMBLE BEE said...

You have mostly McConnells and very few fighters. No Cohesion. Too lazy to work for it.

Yancey Ward said...

HunterBiden'sTaxpayerFundedHooker,

Even if Horowitz is correct, and I hope he is, I really do, it won't matter given the voting systems now in use. DeSantis isn't going to win WI, MI, or PA. He will likely run more like a regular Republican in Ohio, for example, a state that still is probably only about 1% Republican in tilt. In short, Horowitz is claiming Trump is sui generis in much the same manner as Trump is. I don't buy it. If DeSantis had to run in Florida with Pennsylvania's voting system, his 20 point win would have been, at best, 5 points. He was very strong incumbant who bucked the federal government in an important test, and was proven correct on all counts, so deserved re-election by Floridians, but he and the Florida legislature made their jobs much easier by clamping down on vote fraud after the 2018 election. The problem is that he can't do that in Wisconsin, Michigan, or Pennsylvania, nor can the Republicans in those states, apparently. He will be running in 2024 with the exact same built in handicap of having to win a race over the margin of fraud where that margin of fraud is now above 5% of the vote totals.

Saint Croix said...

Have any of the hillbillies actually read Hillbilly Elegy?

Thinking of watching the movie, maybe. Anybody seen the movie?

CStanley said...

For those who are posting comments about election integrity…

Several commenters have lumped GA in with PA, AZ, WI, MI, and have contrasted these with FL.

From what I can tell, the changes in our GA election laws have made things comparable to FL now. I guess I can see some flaws that should be shored up but not a glaring difference. For example, in both states the drop boxes for mail in ballots have to be located inside the early voting stations and only available during hours that the polling place is open.

Am I missing something? My preference would be to eliminate all mail in except the stricter absentee ballot rules as in the past, but in terms of comparing GA to FL I don’t see much difference.

Drago said...

Althouse Blog Commissar (self-appointed): "Drag oh - Ma'am i was trying to listen to my favorite radio show."

Does the written word often flummox and befuddle you so much?

hpudding said...

I’m so grateful for the way Republicans last night exposed themselves as not only mean and angry (like always), but as a party without any policy. Just complaints.

Whining is an art in which Trump has instructed them well.

hpudding said...

I must say I liked OZ. I thought he was well spoken on all the issues.

Lol! So you like the way he spoke quickly enough to confuse himself? The Lizard of Oz can clearly con voters as easily as he can con weight-loss supplement customers!

Cons are going full-on Hollywood mode now that The Apprentice has taught them how. Let me know how your crudités from Wegners go over with the MAGA crowds. It must go well with Donny Twopeach’s typical diet of KFC, Big Macs and other assortments of garbage drive-through food.

Michael K said...

Governor Hair Gel will beat Desantis in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan no matter what the economy does with the current election system. Probably Georgia too.

He won't in AZ if Kari Lake pulls it out and it looks like she will. 600,000 ballots still to be counted and most from PHX suburbs that vote Republican. The voting tabulators failed in those red suburbs. Coincidence, I'm sure.

Yancey Ward said...

Latest look I took at the House election- Republicans have won 210 seats, Dems 189, but the Republicans, at the moment, only lead in 6 of the uncalled races, and only 3 of the other races in which the Democrat leads look possible for the Republican to win. A majority is 218, and I don't think the GOP is likely to get there. We will likely be depending on Joe Manchin again to block some of the Democrat insanity, unless Laxalt ends up losing in Nevada, in which case it won't matter, the Dems won't need him.

Achilles said...

Michael K said...

Governor Hair Gel will beat Desantis in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan no matter what the economy does with the current election system. Probably Georgia too.

He won't in AZ if Kari Lake pulls it out and it looks like she will. 600,000 ballots still to be counted and most from PHX suburbs that vote Republican. The voting tabulators failed in those red suburbs. Coincidence, I'm sure.

The machines were obviously set to fail and they are clearly delaying the count of those votes to delay the news of Lake's victory. They are also trying to make sure Kelley wins.

Arizona may not be lost, but that doesn't matter.

As long as democrats are allowed to gather ballots they mail to the electorate in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and Detroit no Republican will win there no matter how awesome they are.

That means Joe Biden could be a vegetable in a coma with nuclear weapons being detonated and perpetual 8% inflation and he will still be reelected president.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

hpudding - well be happy. Fetterman, the trust fund man-baby, won the election. Have fun with all the criminals.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Yancey, I get you but I think Trump's support is shrinking fast. Re-creating 2016 is not going to happen.

Jim at said...

Republicans last night exposed themselves as not only mean and angry (like always), but as a party without any policy.

We aren't the ones screaming Abortion!!!!!! Nazi!!!!! Save Democracy!!!!! 24/7.

Those are your party's policies, boy. Mean and angry with a healthy helping of projection thrown in.

Own it.