"The voters who are angriest at the Biden Administration, Republicans, are also those who would have voted against Democrats anyway."
I don't know if this is true. I doubt that there were too many "keep a force around in Afghanistan" Trump voters, and while many Biden voters would have liked to see our presence in Afghanistan wound down, the angriest seem to be those who think that Biden's sin wasn't extracting troop out of Afghanistan, but rather that he did it in the stupidest and cruelest way possible. This is something we came to expect out of Trump, and a core expectation among Biden voters is that we would have deliberation, clear thinking, and a respect for avoiding unnecessary cruelty to replace the "F* You I Got Mine" attitude of the Trump administration. We (I'm one of those voters) expected Biden to be better at this, and he was just as bad as what we replaced.
"Democrats are unlikely to bail on Biden because of the Afghanistan debacle unless the Administration fails in other areas as well."
This is probably true for as long as the figurehead of the GOP is the man who surrendered to the Taliban in the first place. As long as Trump, Pompeo, and folks of that ilk continue to maintain control, Democrats have nothing to fear. However, if we start to see another GOP power center arise around folks like Cheney, Sasse, and Kinzinger, the folks who crossed over to Biden (and some Democrats) will have an excellent alternative to start seriously considering.
I think the stay-in-Afghanistan folks were probably mostly traditional Republicans and most of them probably went Trump. That does involve some speculation on my part.
I am a stay in Afghanistan peep. We had very few troops there and zero deaths. The troops were special forces who did intel for the pathetic Afghan Army. There were no front line troops who engaged with the enemy. They were special forces and pilots. No American has died there for yrs.
David, I am a traditional conservative and I definitely did not vote for Trump. I'm Thatcher from the Erickson board.
So, I didn't vote for either. I voted down ballot but not for the president because for some sad reason America can't come up with a candidate who doesn't suck. Trump is wack and Biden is a leftist. Jeez, who to pick?
Regarding the Afghan fiasco.... There is not a dime's worth of difference between Trump and Biden's policy. They were both playing to the "no more endless wars" crowd who is almost always wrong. "America First" between the two world wars is illustrative. That convinced the small island of Japan that they could conquer the US by bombing Hawaii. heh. They believed the goofers that America didn't have the guts to defend itself because of the press' covering of America First and America First was popular but dumb on stilts.
History repeats because human nature is constant. What happens when enough of US gutlessness convinces foreigners that an AXIOS of Russia, N Korea, China, and assorted Islamists (who hate the West) decided we are easy pickin's? What then? With our current crop of Sad Sack politicians what are we going to do? Maybe give Hong Kong (heh), Taiwan, S Korea,....there is a long list on an ascending scale.
I can't totally agree with not voting (Trump would have been better as will soon be apparent) but you articulate your reasons very well. I believe Biden is on his way out and democrats are trying to keep him lucid long enough to ram through their progressive legislation. Once he's gone, assuming Republicans stay healthy and on point, the democrats will lose their Senate majority.
Yep. I'm really from the greater Seattle area which means I don't live in Seattle.
This is what I believed happened in the last dem primary. Most of the candidates were from the left which broke up the hard left vote and left the field to what the moderates thought was a moderate candidate. Same way Trump won the primary. There were lots of good conservative candidates and the conservative split their votes six ways from Sunday and ended up with Trump who is without a political identifier but strong on performance art.
i do believe that there is a critical mass that has been reached with Afghanistan, gas prices, grocery prices, and general disgust and negativity currently for the GOP to take both the House and the Senate in the midterms. Message will be critical. Will it be conservative or a Trumpian one? Also the more more Trump interjects himself into the coming elections it is a problem for the GOP in the burbs. They really do not like him.
Long story long it looks to be a good midterm for the GOP depending on the state.
I don't remember the show but recently someone discussing journalism on TV said that if there's a question mark in a headline, you can bet the answer is "no". So far I've found that to be true. Trump hatred is a powerful force. I thought both staying or leaving Afghanistan were no-win situations. Biden and his idiot political appointees have turned withdrawal into a humanitarian, political, military and diplomatic nightmare. I'll take Trump's policies and all his personal flaws over the total incompetence and waste demonstrated by this administration.
The Trump administration gave us more energy independence, a border almost under control and a Covid vaccine. Name anything the Biden administration has gotten right.
The Trump Admin helped cut red tape re: the vaccine, which helped (though Pfizer was already working on a vax prior to Warp speed). They didn't (and still don't) push the vaccine anywhere near as much as they should/could, sabotaging the attempt to take credit for it.
How do those two examples offset the 650,000+ dead due to failure to have a consistent plan and message on COVID? We all know nowhere near that number had to die.
The (currently one-year) expanded and fully refundable tax credit is a good example: it's got the potential to cut childhood poverty by 40%. Of course, you have to see that as a positive which I'm not sure you do.
You gave non-measurable examples, easily defeated with facts. You really think childhood poverty ain't measurable? You're just fine with kids going hungry or being homeless? What is wrong with you?
And a border under control? I assume you only mean the physical border, not people overstaying their visas coming through airports. Even then: border crossings ROSE every year of the Trump Administration.
When I worked in Air Defense Command, I received some training in electronics warfare. You are the blogosphere equivalent of countermeasures by enemy aircraft. You throw out false targets and signal interference in attempts to mask an inferior argument.
"The voters who are angriest at the Biden Administration, Republicans, are also those who would have voted against Democrats anyway."
I don't know if this is true. I doubt that there were too many "keep a force around in Afghanistan" Trump voters, and while many Biden voters would have liked to see our presence in Afghanistan wound down, the angriest seem to be those who think that Biden's sin wasn't extracting troop out of Afghanistan, but rather that he did it in the stupidest and cruelest way possible. This is something we came to expect out of Trump, and a core expectation among Biden voters is that we would have deliberation, clear thinking, and a respect for avoiding unnecessary cruelty to replace the "F* You I Got Mine" attitude of the Trump administration. We (I'm one of those voters) expected Biden to be better at this, and he was just as bad as what we replaced.
"Democrats are unlikely to bail on Biden because of the Afghanistan debacle unless the Administration fails in other areas as well."
This is probably true for as long as the figurehead of the GOP is the man who surrendered to the Taliban in the first place. As long as Trump, Pompeo, and folks of that ilk continue to maintain control, Democrats have nothing to fear. However, if we start to see another GOP power center arise around folks like Cheney, Sasse, and Kinzinger, the folks who crossed over to Biden (and some Democrats) will have an excellent alternative to start seriously considering.
I think the stay-in-Afghanistan folks were probably mostly traditional Republicans and most of them probably went Trump. That does involve some speculation on my part.
I am a stay in Afghanistan peep. We had very few troops there and zero deaths. The troops were special forces who did intel for the pathetic Afghan Army. There were no front line troops who engaged with the enemy. They were special forces and pilots. No American has died there for yrs.
David, I am a traditional conservative and I definitely did not vote for Trump. I'm Thatcher from the Erickson board.
So, I didn't vote for either. I voted down ballot but not for the president because for some sad reason America can't come up with a candidate who doesn't suck. Trump is wack and Biden is a leftist. Jeez, who to pick?
Regarding the Afghan fiasco.... There is not a dime's worth of difference between Trump and Biden's policy. They were both playing to the "no more endless wars" crowd who is almost always wrong. "America First" between the two world wars is illustrative. That convinced the small island of Japan that they could conquer the US by bombing Hawaii. heh. They believed the goofers that America didn't have the guts to defend itself because of the press' covering of America First and America First was popular but dumb on stilts.
History repeats because human nature is constant. What happens when enough of US gutlessness convinces foreigners that an AXIOS of Russia, N Korea, China, and assorted Islamists (who hate the West) decided we are easy pickin's? What then? With our current crop of Sad Sack politicians what are we going to do? Maybe give Hong Kong (heh), Taiwan, S Korea,....there is a long list on an ascending scale.
I can't totally agree with not voting (Trump would have been better as will soon be apparent) but you articulate your reasons very well. I believe Biden is on his way out and democrats are trying to keep him lucid long enough to ram through their progressive legislation. Once he's gone, assuming Republicans stay healthy and on point, the democrats will lose their Senate majority.
Are you the lady from Seattle?
Yep. I'm really from the greater Seattle area which means I don't live in Seattle.
This is what I believed happened in the last dem primary. Most of the candidates were from the left which broke up the hard left vote and left the field to what the moderates thought was a moderate candidate. Same way Trump won the primary. There were lots of good conservative candidates and the conservative split their votes six ways from Sunday and ended up with Trump who is without a political identifier but strong on performance art.
i do believe that there is a critical mass that has been reached with Afghanistan, gas prices, grocery prices, and general disgust and negativity currently for the GOP to take both the House and the Senate in the midterms. Message will be critical. Will it be conservative or a Trumpian one? Also the more more Trump interjects himself into the coming elections it is a problem for the GOP in the burbs. They really do not like him.
Long story long it looks to be a good midterm for the GOP depending on the state.
Hope so.
I don't remember the show but recently someone discussing journalism on TV said that if there's a question mark in a headline, you can bet the answer is "no". So far I've found that to be true. Trump hatred is a powerful force. I thought both staying or leaving Afghanistan were no-win situations. Biden and his idiot political appointees have turned withdrawal into a humanitarian, political, military and diplomatic nightmare. I'll take Trump's policies and all his personal flaws over the total incompetence and waste demonstrated by this administration.
As if the Trump administration wasn't also incompetent and wasteful.
The Trump administration gave us more energy independence, a border almost under control and a Covid vaccine. Name anything the Biden administration has gotten right.
How re: energy independence, exactly?
The Trump Admin helped cut red tape re: the vaccine, which helped (though Pfizer was already working on a vax prior to Warp speed). They didn't (and still don't) push the vaccine anywhere near as much as they should/could, sabotaging the attempt to take credit for it.
How do those two examples offset the 650,000+ dead due to failure to have a consistent plan and message on COVID? We all know nowhere near that number had to die.
The (currently one-year) expanded and fully refundable tax credit is a good example: it's got the potential to cut childhood poverty by 40%. Of course, you have to see that as a positive which I'm not sure you do.
Just as I suspected. You have nothing measurable - only opinions about progressive programs intended to buy votes.
You gave non-measurable examples, easily defeated with facts. You really think childhood poverty ain't measurable? You're just fine with kids going hungry or being homeless? What is wrong with you?
Go ahead and administer defeat.
And a border under control? I assume you only mean the physical border, not people overstaying their visas coming through airports. Even then: border crossings ROSE every year of the Trump Administration.
When I worked in Air Defense Command, I received some training in electronics warfare. You are the blogosphere equivalent of countermeasures by enemy aircraft. You throw out false targets and signal interference in attempts to mask an inferior argument.
Okey dokey, old man. I countered your examples and gave mine. You choose to ignore that because you know you got nothing to back up your position.
I eagerly look forward to my generation taking control of our government. Goodbye