Republicans 2020

[ZiprHead]

Threads merged. Thanks, JP, for the heads up.

 

[Sarpedon]

With Amash dropping out of the Republican party and considering a run for the Libertarian nomination, it is possible that the biggest challenge to Trump from the right will come from outside the Republicans. In that event, winning the primary won't be the end of it for Trump.

 

[Elixir]

With Amash dropping out of the Republican party and considering a run for the Libertarian nomination, it is possible that the biggest challenge to Trump from the right will come from outside the Republicans. In that event, winning the primary won't be the end of it for Trump.

'Fraid he'd bleed just as much from the Dems as from the 'Pugs.

 

[Sarpedon]

Really? He's one of the rightest righties there is. I have respect for his integrity, but no sympathy for his policies.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

With Amash dropping out of the Republican party and considering a run for the Libertarian nomination, it is possible that the biggest challenge to Trump from the right will come from outside the Republicans. In that event, winning the primary won't be the end of it for Trump.

'Fraid he'd bleed just as much from the Dems as from the 'Pugs.

Maybe not. Recent polls have registered men voters who definitely will vote for trump or lean voting for Trump is 51% to 49%. Registered women voters who definitely will NOT vote for Trump or lean not voting for Trump is 60%. Libertarians seem to be more attractive to men than women voters.

2018 was notable in that Generation X, Millennials and Generation Z voters for the first time out numbered Baby Boomers and old generation voters. Younger generation women voters strongly dislike the GOP. And 2020 will see women voters activated over the abortion issue, birth control, Planned Parenthood defunding et al. Plus issues like global warming. I see little room here for Libertarians to win over younger women voters.

2020 will be an election angry younger women voters will probably decide, Libertarians will not matter much at all.

 

[Sarpedon]

Except to suck the vote of the elusive principled conservatives.

 

[Elixir]

Except to suck the vote of the elusive principled conservatives.

Yeah, that. Especially if the Dems nominate someone who is easily propagandized as a "radical leftist extremist". A lot of people who don't pay much attention will be wholly confused and will vote "safe" just in case the stories are true...

 

[lpetrich]

Donald Trump’s Excessive Swearing May Push Away His White Evangelical Voters | Hemant Mehta | Friendly Atheist | Patheos
noting ‘Using the Lord’s name in vain’: Evangelicals chafe at Trump’s blasphemy - POLITICO Like

... Trump crowing, “They'll be hit so goddamn hard,” while bragging about bombing Islamic State militants. And Trump recounting his warning to a wealthy businessman: “If you don't support me, you're going to be so goddamn poor.”

...
One of the pastors said he was “appalled” by the president’s remarks at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in March, in which Trump accused his political rivals of trying to run him out of office with “bullshit” investigations and oversight actions.

“You know, I’m totally off script right now,” Trump said at the time. The rest of his speech was littered with cursing, as he promised to “keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country” and throw undocumented immigrants “the hell out.”

More from that article:

For evangelicals, however, Trump’s indelicate language has frustrated religious fans who have otherwise been true blue supporters of his agenda. They agree with his social policies, praise his appointment of conservative judges and extol his commitment to Israel — often tolerating Trump’s character flaws for the continued advancement of all three. But when it comes to “using the Lord’s name in vain,” as Hardesty put it, “the president’s evangelical base might be far less forgiving.”

…

“Carelessly invoking the Lord’s name in a fit of anger is one thing,” said one of the pro-Trump pastors [who asked to remain anonymous], quickly adding that he would not encourage such behavior. “But,” he continued, “repeatedly doing it for shock value … that does raise questions about the president’s respect for people of faith.”

This reminds me of what Rev. Billy Graham objected to when Richard Nixon's White House tapes were revealed. It wasn't the discussion in them of Watergate shenanigans that bothered him. It was the profanity in them - Richard Nixon was very potty-mouthed in them.

 

[lpetrich]

Trump rages over poll numbers and coverage of his racism after approval ratings plummet | The Independent

Donald Trump has vented his anger over media coverage of his repeated racism after a series of polls showed his approval ratings had fallen and that he was on track to lose the 2020 election.

The president lashed out in a series of Sunday-morning tweets, renewing his attack on The New York Times in an apparent continuation of his longstanding campaign to discredit news organisations which cover stories he does not approve of.

He is a very sore loser.

Donald J. Trump on Twitter: "The New York Times will be out of business soon after I leave office, hopefully in 6 years. They have Zero credibility and are losing a fortune, even now, especially after their massive unfunded liability. I’m fairly certain they’ll endorse me just to keep it all going!" / Twitter

Such remarkable anger.


Ex-Rep. Joe Walsh apologizes for supporting "unfit" Trump, calls for GOP challenger | Salon.com
He criticized Trump for his deficits, his trade wars, his bigoted demagoguery, his embrace of foreign strongmen like Vladimir Putin, and his attacks on intelligence agencies.

“We need someone who could stand up,” he wrote, “look the president in the eye and say: ‘Enough, sir. We’ve had enough of your indecency. We’ve had enough of your lies, your bullying, your cruelty, enough of your insults, your daily drama, your incitement, enough of the danger you place this country in every single day. We don’t want any of this anymore, and the country certainly can’t stand four more years of it.’”


...
"One of the reasons I wrote this op-ed was to apologize — to apologize for the role that I played in putting an unfit con man in the White House," Walsh told CNN. "The country was divided before Trump. That's why we got Trump. I was at the head of that divide, talking about and pushing ideas I believed in.”

How many other Republicans agree with him at least partially? If they are, then they are not talking very much.

 

[lpetrich]

Anthony Scaramucci no longer backs Trump's reelection, says change may be needed at top of ticket - CNNPolitics (Aug 12)

The former aide said that although he believes Trump's policies are "very, very good for the American people," the President's "rhetoric is so charged and so divisive that we have to all just take a step back now and say, 'what are we doing, actually?'"

"He goes after individuals as the President of the United States on his Twitter account, OK, which incites hate, which incites death threats," he said, adding later, "The racially charged comments, the divisive tweeting, the nonsense coming from the President is not helping the country."

Anthony Scaramucci says he's putting together coalition to stop Trump in 2020 - CNNPolitics (Aug 19)

Anthony Scaramucci, a former White House communications director who has recently withdrawn his support for President Donald Trump, said Monday that he is putting together a coalition of former Trump Cabinet officials to denounce the President ahead of the 2020 election.

"I'm in the process of putting together a team of people that feel the exact same way that I do. This is not a 'Never Trump' situation. This not just screeching rhetoric. This is -- OK, the guy is unstable. Everyone inside knows it, everyone outside knows it. Let's see if we can find a viable alternative," Scaramucci told CNN's Alisyn Camerota on "New Day."

"Moreover, I have to get some former Cabinet officials in unity to speak up about it. They know it's a crisis," he added. Scaramucci did not provide any names of people associated with the coalition he said he is assembling, but predicted that by "middle to late fall" there will be a "trove" of people willing to speak out against Trump.

But is either Walsh or Scaramucci considering any alternative candidates?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Trump rages over poll numbers and coverage of his racism after approval ratings plummet | The Independent

I hate hearing how Trump's approval has plummeted. If has been consistently between 39 and 44 percent since January. The plummet amounts to a 2+ pt drop recently, which it keeps doing every few months.

But is either Walsh or Scaramucci considering any alternative candidates?

There is a wise Native American saying that goes way back asking "Who the fuck is Scaramucci and why does anyone fucking care what he says?" Trump is no different than he was when running for the Presidency. He was as unpredictable with his staff then as he is in the White House. Scaramucci's epiphany is less impressive seeing he has a book due (or just out?), and also, what the heck does he know about anything about politics? Who would he suggest as a replacement?!

 

[lpetrich]

Could Trump Drive Young White Evangelicals Away From The GOP? | FiveThirtyEight

But there are increasing signs of a generational rift: Younger white evangelicals have not fully bought into Trump’s politics and are less receptive to Trump’s message of cultural decline. The age gap among white evangelicals in some ways just mirrors the age gap among the public overall with regards to Trump, but in conversations with a number of younger white evangelical Christians, many said they are reexamining the way their faith informs their politics and whether the two have become too tightly intertwined.

...
Indeed, young adults are upending many of the religious conventions and cultural assumptions that defined American public life in the past. Young people don’t feel particularly negatively toward atheists, nor do they view Islam as incompatible with American values. They don’t feel especially confident in religious leaders and they don’t see religious commitment as synonymous with virtue. The 2018 General Social Survey found that the majority of young adults say that people with strong religious beliefs are often intolerant of others. Even back in 2015, the overwhelming majority of young adults said they do not believe America is a Christian nation — one in five said it never was — and being Christian is not an important part of being American. The Christian consensus of previous generations, such as there was, is gone.

But critically, for young white evangelical Christians, this is the way it has always been. Numerically, they are already in the minority. Only 8 percent of adults under 30 are white evangelical Protestants. The segment of that age group that’s unaffiliated with any religion is nearly five times as large. Among Americans age 65 and older, white evangelicals account for more than one quarter of the population. Not surprisingly, young adults today are actually more likely to say they know an atheist than an evangelical. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Burns’s group of friends in high school included people of color, gay and lesbian people, and atheists. “If I limited myself to only conservative white Christians, it would be pretty lonely,” she said.

 

[lpetrich]

Joe Walsh to take on Trump in 2020 Republican primary - CNNPolitics

Walsh had previously called for a Republican to challenge the President, calling him an "unfit con man" who is "bad for the country" earlier this month.

Walsh said he had voted for Trump in 2016, but only because Trump wasn't Hillary Clinton. Where Trump lost him, Walsh said, was during the President's news conference with Vladimir Putin at their summit last year in Helsinki, Finland, at which Trump sided with the Russian strongman over his own intelligence community's assessments of Russian interference in the 2016 US election.

Former Rep. Mark Sanford is also considering running.

This makes two and possibly three challengers for Donald Trump. That should make this thread interesting.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Joe Walsh to take on Trump in 2020 Republican primary - CNNPolitics

Walsh had previously called for a Republican to challenge the President, calling him an "unfit con man" who is "bad for the country" earlier this month.

Walsh said he had voted for Trump in 2016, but only because Trump wasn't Hillary Clinton. Where Trump lost him, Walsh said, was during the President's news conference with Vladimir Putin at their summit last year in Helsinki, Finland, at which Trump sided with the Russian strongman over his own intelligence community's assessments of Russian interference in the 2016 US election.

Former Rep. Mark Sanford is also considering running.

This makes two and possibly three challengers for Donald Trump. That should make this thread interesting.

If Joe Walsh and Mark Sanford are the best they have as challengers, I doubt that Don is too worried.

Isn't Sanford the guy who abdicated his executive responsibility to go on a romp with his girlfriend and lied about his whereabouts. Really, this is the guy trying to upstage Trump?

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Snigger! Hiking the Appalachian trail. A fine, upstanding, moral family man.

 

[scombrid]

Saw a big bubba truck yesterday; jacked up with mud tires, dual exhaust etc.... Stereotype would be for it to be a staunch conservative with a NRA sticker and maybe a "Don't Tread on Me" flag. Had a sticker on the back glass that read "Does your TRUMP sticker make you feel stupid yet". That is a new thing around here in Floriduh.

 

[James Brown]

President Trump's approval ratings seem set in stone.

As I recall, G. H. W. Bush briefly had an approval rating in the 90 percentile.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

View attachment 23374

President Trump's approval ratings seem set in stone.

As I recall, G. H. W. Bush briefly had an approval rating in the 90 percentile.

Gulf "War". I don't trust the polling. The rural areas were strongly for Trump. Granted, he won via a bare minority in three states which made all the difference, so it wouldn't take much, but Trump didn't have a prayer at all prior to the 2016 election.

 

[lpetrich]

Republicans to scrap primaries and caucuses as Trump challengers cry foul - POLITICO

Four states are poised to cancel their 2020 GOP presidential primaries and caucuses, a move that would cut off oxygen to Donald Trump’s long-shot primary challengers.

Republican parties in South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona and Kansas are expected to finalize the cancellations in meetings this weekend, according to three GOP officials who are familiar with the plans.

The moves are the latest illustration of Trump’s takeover of the entire Republican Party apparatus. They underscore the extent to which his allies are determined to snuff out any potential nuisance en route to his renomination — or even to deny Republican critics a platform to embarrass him.

So tRump wants a coronation, it seems.

 

[lpetrich]

Bill Weld 'thrilled' other Republicans are challenging Trump in primary | Fox News

Weld, who launched his own challenge to Trump in April, also said that more Republicans should mount a challenge to Trump – adding that another term in the Oval Office for Trump would be "four years of unadulterated, unrequited payback."

"Payback for what?” Weld said rhetorically. “It's another example of his extreme, malignant narcissism. He's only happy when other people are losing.”

Trump bashes GOP primary challengers including Joe Walsh, Bill Weld

In a pair of tweets Tuesday, the president referred to having "Three Stooges running against me."

"One is 'Mr. Appalachian Trail' who was actually in Argentina for bad reasons," Trump continued.

A second tweet reads: "....Another is a one-time BAD Congressman from Illinois who lost in his second term by a landslide, then failed in radio. The third is a man who couldn’t stand up straight while receiving an award. I should be able to take them!"

Bill Weld, Joe Walsh, Mark Sanford. Though Mark Sanford is still not in the race.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "The GOP is continuing their crusade against democracy.
They’re so scared that Trump will lose that they’re moving to cancel their own primaries.
While the GOP screams that we’re “elitists” for wanting healthcare, they’re handing over party control to lobbyists + rich families. https://t.co/l16UngKie6" / Twitter