"I could go on about Joe Biden, but it suffices to say, he is simply a result of the fatigue the world felt after 4 years of Trump. While a likeable guy, he’s probably the weakest, most nonsensical choice for the White House that the Democrats have offered in a long while. His every move has been to cater to one token identity group or another. He’ll be gone in 2024, and any Democrat gains in Congress will very likely be rendered null in the upcoming midterm election."
In defense of the Trump fans, I'd argue that Hillary Clinton was a more nonsensical Democratic nominee in my lifetime and despite being firmly against Mister Spray Tan, I understand their 2016 votes for him (2020, not so much). PRIMARY voters in BOTH parties chose personality-driven celebrity candidates that led the general electorate being given a choice of two candidates with the highest negatives in our electoral history[1].
This is a consequence of closed PRIMARY systems at the State level where Trumpists and Clintonistas outvoted the more sensible and boring centrist candidates. Until centrists and sane voters can regain control over this process and NOT nominate mouthbreathers like MTG and Madison Cawthorn, our problems will only get worse. Both parties are trapped in a perspective that it's the Base that's most important and are acting accordingly. Until moderates can demonstrate that there are more of them for the taking (and this may no longer be a true reflection of the electorate) then expect more of the same.
(Shorter Chris: Your primary vote in this scenario is more important than your general election vote. Vote both, of course, but DO NOT skip the primaries.)
Apr 14, 2022Liked by Susan Bagwell, Chris J. Karr, Jay Berman
I felt compelled to come out of "retirement" for this one, thanks for the nudge Susan. The older i get, the more i find comfort in normalcy. Seems, there's little of it left these days. Doesn't matter, the newspapers, the television, especially the internet. It appears the goal for all of the above is the extreme, the bizarre and the weird.
I've even found myself shying away from people i have known. Is it me? Is it them? I don't know, i almost don't even care. Old friends are entitled to their beliefs. Vaccinations debates, political differences, supporting crazies, hating immigrants, hating the other party are all the new normal. I have no interest in any of it.
On the rare occasion i watch a news program and i begin to listen to a politician grand standing for that ever so important sound bite, i change the channel. Even more rare is when a politician comes on and sounds normal. My goodness, that is so refreshing. Listening to some one who sounds normal. The tragedy is they are just so few of them left, or perhaps the producers of the show aren't interested in normal. Sanity isn't good television.
Here's the kicker, when it happens, when i see, read or listen to normal people talking common sense, i don't really care which party it comes from. I would be willing to bet there are more of us out here longing for normal, longing for politicians who are looking for solutions irrespective of party affiliation.
Unfortunately knowing that and then identifying them has become a virtual impossibility. Because in the end, that old adage has become today's reality, "nice guys finish last." How sad it that? Might be they'll get their heavenly reward, but for now, we are all trapped in the cycle of the insane. Hence, back to hiding in the bunker and avoiding the rest of the inhuman race as much as humanly possible.
Excellent piece Susan. It's always great to hear your perspectives and insights.
The McCrory-Budd primary race should be interesting to watch. I'm particularly interested in the primary race that Madison Cawthorn has. He's burned a lot of bridges, and now Chuck Edwards is coming at him with a credible challenge. I've not seen polls in that race, but Edwards is the strongest in terms of viability. But there are quite a few opponents running, and what is interesting is that the 30% threshold to avoid a two person head to head runoff. I wonder if the opposition narrowed and coalesced behind one candidate, if that would actually hurt Cawthorn or not, given that low threshold.
On another good note, Lauren Boebert has a serious challenge from State Sen(If I remember correctly) Don Coram. That relatively center-left GOP candidate Marina Zimmerman dropped out. So it is possible that Boebert can be defeated, as the ranks of the opposition have thinned. Coram is a conservative, which is a must for CO-6, but temperamentally much less bombastic than the performative populist Boebert. In Georgia, MTG has a serious challenger from Jennifer Strahan. The latter is firmly conservative(which in GA-14, you have to be, given its a ruby red district), and more so than MTG herself. But Strahan is temperamentally placid, which works in her favor.
As for moderates, none of these challengers are philosophically and ideologically moderate by any means, but they are rhetorically and temperamentally moderate. That is why Boebert, MTG, and Cawthorn won't be able to call their opponents RINOS with any credibility. As for ideological moderates, that makes sense if a Republican or Democrat is running in a swing district, or if a Republican runs in a blue, and a Democrat in a red district. But in the congressional districts represented by Boebert, MTG, and Cawthorn, running a firmly right of center conservative is the way to defeat them. It's the same for Democrats wanting to primary AOC, Omar, Tlaib, and other likeminded leftists in deep blue districts. You need left of center liberals to have a chance of winning, those of the rhetorically and temperamentally moderate kind. It reminds me of former Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel, who was defeated in his NYC district by far left Jamaal Bowman in 2020. Engel is liberal, and not a moderate Blue Dog Democrat. But he was not an extremist, and was temperamentally moderate.
As for the House GOP members who voted to impeach Trump after the 1-6 storming of the Capitol, I think the members that are in the best shape are Jaime Herrera-Beutler of Washington, and Peter Meijer in Michigan. Liz Cheney is vulnerable, but her primary isn't until later in August, so she still has time.
These GOP primaries are going to be very interesting to watch. There is a debate as to what influence the former President has on the GOP, and the results will tell a clearer picture as to where the attitudes of the GOP are at, collectively speaking. I don't expect we will get every result our way. But among Cawthorn, Boebert, MTG, Gaetz, I would be happy if even just defeating two of them. And if we can get 3-4 or so of the GOP representatives who voted to impeach Trump to win, I'd be happy with that. Can't win em all, but any victory and defeat that goes our way, is progress in the right direction.
Still largely a rant about Trump, but at least you have included a few of the democrat faults. That deserves a thumbs up. I agree with you about Governor McCrory. He's a good man. He had to deal with crap from not only Trump fanatics but also from the media, woke corporations and the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Conservatives will not be out of the wilderness until we have a leader that can preach conservatisms. I'm old. Been there done that. Conservatism is a theory of governing. It is not who is your favorite game show host. It is not vote for OZ because he is on TV. It takes someone who can lead like minded people to a philosophy of governing that excludes the passions of the day. We have to find that guy and that would exclude anyone with a close association with Trump who is basically the anti-conservative. Populism is not conservatism.
"I could go on about Joe Biden, but it suffices to say, he is simply a result of the fatigue the world felt after 4 years of Trump. While a likeable guy, he’s probably the weakest, most nonsensical choice for the White House that the Democrats have offered in a long while. His every move has been to cater to one token identity group or another. He’ll be gone in 2024, and any Democrat gains in Congress will very likely be rendered null in the upcoming midterm election."
In defense of the Trump fans, I'd argue that Hillary Clinton was a more nonsensical Democratic nominee in my lifetime and despite being firmly against Mister Spray Tan, I understand their 2016 votes for him (2020, not so much). PRIMARY voters in BOTH parties chose personality-driven celebrity candidates that led the general electorate being given a choice of two candidates with the highest negatives in our electoral history[1].
This is a consequence of closed PRIMARY systems at the State level where Trumpists and Clintonistas outvoted the more sensible and boring centrist candidates. Until centrists and sane voters can regain control over this process and NOT nominate mouthbreathers like MTG and Madison Cawthorn, our problems will only get worse. Both parties are trapped in a perspective that it's the Base that's most important and are acting accordingly. Until moderates can demonstrate that there are more of them for the taking (and this may no longer be a true reflection of the electorate) then expect more of the same.
(Shorter Chris: Your primary vote in this scenario is more important than your general election vote. Vote both, of course, but DO NOT skip the primaries.)
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/04/20/the-remarkable-thing-about-donald-trump-and-hillary-clintons-incredible-negatives/
I felt compelled to come out of "retirement" for this one, thanks for the nudge Susan. The older i get, the more i find comfort in normalcy. Seems, there's little of it left these days. Doesn't matter, the newspapers, the television, especially the internet. It appears the goal for all of the above is the extreme, the bizarre and the weird.
I've even found myself shying away from people i have known. Is it me? Is it them? I don't know, i almost don't even care. Old friends are entitled to their beliefs. Vaccinations debates, political differences, supporting crazies, hating immigrants, hating the other party are all the new normal. I have no interest in any of it.
On the rare occasion i watch a news program and i begin to listen to a politician grand standing for that ever so important sound bite, i change the channel. Even more rare is when a politician comes on and sounds normal. My goodness, that is so refreshing. Listening to some one who sounds normal. The tragedy is they are just so few of them left, or perhaps the producers of the show aren't interested in normal. Sanity isn't good television.
Here's the kicker, when it happens, when i see, read or listen to normal people talking common sense, i don't really care which party it comes from. I would be willing to bet there are more of us out here longing for normal, longing for politicians who are looking for solutions irrespective of party affiliation.
Unfortunately knowing that and then identifying them has become a virtual impossibility. Because in the end, that old adage has become today's reality, "nice guys finish last." How sad it that? Might be they'll get their heavenly reward, but for now, we are all trapped in the cycle of the insane. Hence, back to hiding in the bunker and avoiding the rest of the inhuman race as much as humanly possible.
Excellent piece Susan. It's always great to hear your perspectives and insights.
The McCrory-Budd primary race should be interesting to watch. I'm particularly interested in the primary race that Madison Cawthorn has. He's burned a lot of bridges, and now Chuck Edwards is coming at him with a credible challenge. I've not seen polls in that race, but Edwards is the strongest in terms of viability. But there are quite a few opponents running, and what is interesting is that the 30% threshold to avoid a two person head to head runoff. I wonder if the opposition narrowed and coalesced behind one candidate, if that would actually hurt Cawthorn or not, given that low threshold.
On another good note, Lauren Boebert has a serious challenge from State Sen(If I remember correctly) Don Coram. That relatively center-left GOP candidate Marina Zimmerman dropped out. So it is possible that Boebert can be defeated, as the ranks of the opposition have thinned. Coram is a conservative, which is a must for CO-6, but temperamentally much less bombastic than the performative populist Boebert. In Georgia, MTG has a serious challenger from Jennifer Strahan. The latter is firmly conservative(which in GA-14, you have to be, given its a ruby red district), and more so than MTG herself. But Strahan is temperamentally placid, which works in her favor.
As for moderates, none of these challengers are philosophically and ideologically moderate by any means, but they are rhetorically and temperamentally moderate. That is why Boebert, MTG, and Cawthorn won't be able to call their opponents RINOS with any credibility. As for ideological moderates, that makes sense if a Republican or Democrat is running in a swing district, or if a Republican runs in a blue, and a Democrat in a red district. But in the congressional districts represented by Boebert, MTG, and Cawthorn, running a firmly right of center conservative is the way to defeat them. It's the same for Democrats wanting to primary AOC, Omar, Tlaib, and other likeminded leftists in deep blue districts. You need left of center liberals to have a chance of winning, those of the rhetorically and temperamentally moderate kind. It reminds me of former Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel, who was defeated in his NYC district by far left Jamaal Bowman in 2020. Engel is liberal, and not a moderate Blue Dog Democrat. But he was not an extremist, and was temperamentally moderate.
As for the House GOP members who voted to impeach Trump after the 1-6 storming of the Capitol, I think the members that are in the best shape are Jaime Herrera-Beutler of Washington, and Peter Meijer in Michigan. Liz Cheney is vulnerable, but her primary isn't until later in August, so she still has time.
These GOP primaries are going to be very interesting to watch. There is a debate as to what influence the former President has on the GOP, and the results will tell a clearer picture as to where the attitudes of the GOP are at, collectively speaking. I don't expect we will get every result our way. But among Cawthorn, Boebert, MTG, Gaetz, I would be happy if even just defeating two of them. And if we can get 3-4 or so of the GOP representatives who voted to impeach Trump to win, I'd be happy with that. Can't win em all, but any victory and defeat that goes our way, is progress in the right direction.
Still largely a rant about Trump, but at least you have included a few of the democrat faults. That deserves a thumbs up. I agree with you about Governor McCrory. He's a good man. He had to deal with crap from not only Trump fanatics but also from the media, woke corporations and the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Bingo, amen, and ditto. I think this is your best article yet, Susan.
Conservatives will not be out of the wilderness until we have a leader that can preach conservatisms. I'm old. Been there done that. Conservatism is a theory of governing. It is not who is your favorite game show host. It is not vote for OZ because he is on TV. It takes someone who can lead like minded people to a philosophy of governing that excludes the passions of the day. We have to find that guy and that would exclude anyone with a close association with Trump who is basically the anti-conservative. Populism is not conservatism.