I’ve tried everything to avoid thinking about the next election — family travel, yard work, crossword puzzles. But now it’s only five months away, barely longer than the gestation period of a North American beaver, or the Stanley Cup playoffs. November can’t be avoided any longer.
In this climate of political frenzy, anyone who tries to predict the outcome must be either deluded or clairvoyant. Yet we’re close enough, perhaps, to see some key features of the battlefield. For instance:
There will be no Trump collapse.
From the moment late in 2016 when Hillary Clinton’s formless, themeless, listless campaign handed the White House to Donald Trump (assisted by Comrade Putin), Democrats have been counting on the reckless, heedless, careless novice to return the favor. Rather than melt down, though, President Trump is gaining strength.
After a rocky start, the president has cut himself loose from the highly unpopular Congress to create a clear account of his unusual reign, which he repeats with unflagging discipline. He’s a rulebreaker who gets results, and the enemies of change are conspiring to stop him. This is a polarizing message, indeed. But Trump appears to understand that popularity and unpopularity aren’t necessarily opposites. They can be partners: Emotion runs both ways.
Since Trump found his footing and lasered in on this message, his political fortunes have brightened considerably. Last December, the RealClearPolitics rolling average of presidential approval polls showed him underwater by a dangerous 21 percentage points. Nearly 60 percent of Americans disapproved of the president’s performance, while his approval rating sagged into the 30s.
But look what’s happened since. Despite a stalled stock market, and with the Republican agenda dead in the water, Trump’s numbers have popped to the surface. His approval rating has risen from a dismal 37 percent to 44 percent — not bad in this sour age. (At the same point in his presidency, Barack Obamahad fallen to 46 percent approval on his way down to 44.)
Meanwhile, the gap between Trump’s approval and disapproval numbers has narrowed significantly, from 21 points to eight. Admittedly, that’s a pretty solid eight-point deficit; the intensity of opposition to Trump is unusually high. But his command of the GOP going into the midterm is complete. According to Gallup polling, Trump enjoys greater Republican loyalty than any president of the post-World War II era other than George W. Bush after 9/11.
Democrats have a mammoth task on their hands.
Trump’s utter domination of the political debate — he programs the news with his Twittering thumbs — has made it easy to forget the rest of the story. From state legislatures to governor’s mansions, from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other, Democrats enter this election from the bottom of a deep, deep hole.
And their Plan A for escaping the hole, a big Blue Wave that will lift Democrats from coast to coast, may already have crested far out at sea. Looking again at the polling averages on RealClearPolitics, we see that Democrats enjoyed a sturdy 13-point advantage over Republicans in December among voters asked which party they favored to run Congress. That edge has ebbed to a mere 3.2 points.
Everyone who finds their candidate did not win the election is disappointed, and sometimes that lasts for a long while. However, the Democrats turned that into their campaign platform, making their tag line a guttural scream at the sky. Trying to concoct some imaginary crime with which to impeach Trump is not an agenda; it’s a scheme.
The media will continue to campaign for the far left, so election predictions are guesses, at best. However, we who care for this nation can only hope that Republican control in Congress and support for Trump’s agenda increases. If the economy stays strong and Trump makes a good showing in N. Korea (either achieving positive results or showing strength by walking away from insincere negotiations, will provide the impetus for electoral gains.
Meanwhile, the left, out of desperation and spite, continue to root and hope for failure for the United States. What a campaign.
It doesn’t matter, polls ,predictions, media frenzy, get your ass out and vote anyway. Every election every time there is the smallest referendum vote.
This is a great opening paragraph:
Today, Pres Trump is sitting down with Kim Jong Un in Singapore.
But there are always wrenches thrown into the works: Today Larry Kudlow suffered a heart attack in DC.
One wonders if he will ever return to Trump’s economic advisor role.
Hope so, prayers and best wishes.
America had better pray to God that there will be. Donald Trump does not represent traditional American values, either conservative or liberal. Nor do the policies he’s enacting benefit the nation as a whole or the average American.
What don’t you understand about the fact that he pushed through huge permanent tax cuts for corporations, millionaires, and billionaires, while tossing working and middle class families a handful of peanuts that quickly phase out? These are tax cuts that will enormously benefit Trump, his family, and his associates.
What don’t you understand about the degree of fiscal irresponsibility demonstrated by bumping deficits up to a trillion dollars per year when there’s no compelling need to do so? Do you think those deficits are going to prove more detrimental to the wealthy, or to everyone else?
Republicans ‘don’t want the tweet that I got’: Mark Sanford says Trump sealed his loss
Open your eyes and engage your brain. Can’t you figure out what’s happening?
@Greg: Trump took SC so was it wise to bash him in the primary, knowing Trumps habit of bashing back? Trump may not have taken notice had Sanford just stayed with his platform.
Standing up for your principles and saying what you believe must be said isn’t always the easiest or safest option, but doing otherwise also has a cost.
@Greg:
He certainly does far more than Obama or Hillary did.
All current indications show you are wrong.
They benefit everyone. THAT’S what the left can’t stand; that they benefit everyone, not just the elitists THEY choose. They also hate that someone is getting to keep the money THEY want to spend to buy votes.
Um… that is the responsibility of YOUR party, who was blocking the passage of a spending bill to keep the government open until they got all the spending they wanted.
I guess you don’t even know who Sanford is; the governor who, while having an affair with his Argentine model, abandoned his office. ““Mark Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA. He is MIA and nothing but trouble,” Trump wrote. “He is better off in Argentina.” Now, what if Trump had endorsed him? I don’t really think you would have been happy with that, except for the endless campaign fodder it would have provided. Sandford is poison and shouldn’t be in office for anything.
Yeah. Despite massive opposition, some from his own party, Trump is succeeding in repairing the damage Obama left, establishing respect for the US around the world again, growing the economy and trying to establish trade equity. These things are the LAST thing liberals want to see a Republican accomplish, since they have been unable to achieve any of it.
@Deplorable Me:
The resistance movement shows exactly what they dont want to see, their brainwashed followers to wake up and join other citizens find common ground and be proud of how you were born, without their faux constructs.
@kitt: And most liberals DON’T see it… ever. For, they cling to their mainstream, far left, corrupt propaganda outlets that either will not report on the progress made or misrepresent it (like CNN harping on the menu at the Singapore summit!! What kind of sh!t is that?). I don’t know how many times, even here, when discussing issues some liberal is taken completely by surprise with some basic fact kept from them by the media. Yet, if they are stupid and ignorant, it is only because they choose to be. The facts about the character of the media they adore are well known.
@Deplorable Me, #7:
Do you mean traditional American values like greed, duplicity, jingoism, racism, plutocracy, and criminality? If so, you might be correct.
Donald Trump used his charity money to pay legal bills, promote hotels, lawsuit alleges
@Greg:
Ha! I could not have put it better myself! Of course those are what Democrats consider “values”, as they are all elements within every action they take. Yep, you NAILED it!
Meanwhile, Trump is restoring the rule of law, Constitutional guidance and leadership to the office of the Presidency.
Really. Well, they took in $18 million and paid out $19 million to charities, so if they did, that would be a neat trick. No, Greggie, this is just more straws you pitiful, whiny, crybaby liberals continue to grasp at.
@Deplorable Me, #7:
Do they really? By how much has the average worker’s tax obligation actually been reduced? That much-touted January paycheck increase isn’t an accurate indicator. The withholding rate was certainly reduced because a new withholding schedule was applied, but to what extent has giving them their own money back simply been a matter of eliminating their 2018 federal refund? I guess we’ll find out early next year.
In any case, the tax cut for the wealthiest is permanent, while everyone else’s is only temporary. Apparently that doesn’t matter to Trump supporters.
You should explore the possibility of a career in stand-up comedy.
The State of New York says he’s lying, and are apparently ready to prove it in court.
By the way, after a year-long investigation, it was just announced that the FBI’s Inspector General has determined there was no political bias in the FBI’s decision to clear Hillary Clinton.
@Greg:
Isn’t that what the refund is?
That’s up to Democrats. The only reason those have to be re-approved is because Democrats wanted to block them. The tax cuts for “the wealthiest” is aimed towards business, which is a key factor in boosting the economy.
Current events, liberal whining notwithstanding, bears my assessment out.
No, the State of New York wants the IMPRESSION he is lying. That is how the left manipulates the justice system while ignoring and breaking every law themselves. Why do you suppose this was announced on the same day as one of the IG reports comes out?
So, abject stupidity is the reason they inserted “intent” into a charge in which intent has no particular place or bearing? That’s better… I guess. It still says they screwed it up.
I guess when Stzrok and Page were texting each other they would make sure Trump was never President, there was no political bias involved? Wow.
@Deplorable Me: The entire justice dept will close down for one day to attend anti-political bias training 😉
@Deplorable Me, #13:
That wasn’t the question. The question was, How much of the January paycheck increase was really a reduction in taxes? Part of the paycheck increase was nothing more than the removal of excess withholding, which many people do on purpose because they prefer a tax refund to writing a check out to the IRS.
They had a personal bias—otherwise known as a personal opinion. Everyone has a personal opinion. Nor is it unusual to share such opinions with other people you know who are sympathetic with them. The fact that you happen to work for the FBI doesn’t mean you cease having them, or cease sharing them.
The only difference here is that their personal opinions have been involuntarily made public by publishing their personal emails—with an obvious political motivation, I might add.
What do you suppose we would see if all of Devin Nunes’s personal emails were made public?
@kitt, #14:
If you want an example of a monumental waste of time, resources, and tax dollars for the sake of creating a single politically exploitable news byte, you need look no further than that.
Meanwhile, a true crime story begins to unfold. Unlike the Clinton Foundation conspiracy theory b.s., this one has real crimes, real charges, and will involve real evidence presented in a real trial:
Trump Foundation, Accused of Sweeping Violations, Is Sued by New York Attorney General
See if you can sweep all of that away with your Twitter broom, Mr. President. The man is a crook. He’s the head of a crime family—as in, the entire family is involved in crimes. It’s simply the way they conduct business.
Democrats didn’t write or pass tax reform legislation creating trillion-dollar-per-year deficits that guarantee no such extension will be possible.
Why did republicans think the wealthiest people in the country needed permanent tax breaks that will create trillions in new debt, while the middle class deserved a handful of peanuts, and the poorest required cuts to social programs that they depend on just to get by?
@Greg:
Well, ALL of it. That is the tax rate. It is set as a percentage of what is earned and that was reduced. Have you never filed a tax return before? You don’t let Geithner do your taxes, do you?
Ohhhhh…. so they both knew Trump PERSONALLY and didn’t like him. I see. The fact that they both objected to him being President and voted for the other candidate wasn’t political whatsoever. Yeah… I see it now.
I don’t guess you are aware of how the legal system works, but innocence or guilt is not based on lover’s opinions. Remember that blindfold on Lady Justice? Only the EVIDENCE is supposed to matter and that doesn’t include whatever can be INVENTED to support an accusation. And, what we know now, those with strong political opinions AGAINST Trump were manufacturing evidence, using evidence they knew was not verified and never tried to verify it. They ripped the blindfold off and screamed their “opinions” into her face until she collapsed.
I would be very surprised to find emails that said he knew Hillary was innocent but wanted to invent evidence (an “insurance policy”) to keep her from being President.
Why? Because another liberal zealot abusing the legal system says so? The Clinton Foundation sold US influence. It traded uranium for cash. It is a personal ATM for the Clinton’s… while places like Haiti remain a ruin. You don’t reckon the new Attorney General replacing the last Democrat that left in disgrace is trying to grandstand and score some points, do you? Will this be like Mueller’s indictments that, when the defendants step up and demand a trial, they run away and hide because the never expected a trial, just the glory of making an accusation? You liberals continually set yourselves up for big disappointment.
Taxes owed aren’t a flat percentage of gross income. But that’s another evasion of the question. Any increase in take-home pay that only represents a reduction in one’s year-end tax refund isn’t really a tax cut at all—even though the White House pitch is that your take-home is higher because of a tax cut.
No, they both recognized Trump for what he is, and saw the threat he represents for what it was—something they acknowledged in private communications. Their concerns were entirely justified. He is, in fact, a fraud and a crook, and the center of a dangerously un-American personality cult that threatens our democracy and the rule of law itself.
Every year for the past 50 years. I have always done my tax forms myself, and have always paid every dollar I owed—which has never been a negligible amount. I’ve never received food stamps, or an unemployment check, or any other such assistance. Nor have I whined about paying my share to support such programs. I’m grateful for never having needed them.
We’ll see what charges are supported with evidence in a courtroom. In my opinion, Trump is a crook. Even his lawyers are crooks. I’ve never seen evidence of one damn thing his “charity foundation” has ever done that was purely altruistic. I think it will be demonstrated to have been a scam, much like Trump University was a scam. But we will see, because it is going to a courtroom. We will ultimately reality test the improbable claim that the intelligence community, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the legal system, and all of the nation’s journalistic and media establishment are part of one vast, coordinated conspiracy against the Donald Trump administration. He won’t get to dictate the final report, as he dictated his doctor’s report.
@Greg: The tax rate in the law is what will be applied, altered by any other deductions that can be applied. The rate is well publicized… no mystery at the end of the year. Again, you are hoping against hope for some catastrophic scandal to arise. Sorry… this ain’t the Obama administration.
So they had an imaginary bias (since they didn’t know him personally, and obviously had no real proof to support their prejudice). Is that any better? They STILL ignored facts and evidence to construe a false accusation with which to try and keep Trump, duly elected, out of office.
Well, in my opinion, Hillary is a criminal and there is evidence to support that. I didn’t come to that conclusion simply because she denied me of something. She’s corrupt, a liar and hateful. I don’t know that Obama is a crook, but he was totally corrupt and abused the powers of his office; that too is now supported with evidence.
Somebody offered to settle? They’ve spent 2 years gathering evidence. They’re going to trial with this one.
Here are some of the highlights
Trump, the Great Unifier! (He just got 70 percent of Canadians to agree on something.)
At odds with Trump over trade, Canadians say they will avoid U.S. goods: poll
A similar unifying effect will likely result among American farmers in connection with China’s retaliatory tariffs targeting U.S. corn and soybeans. Stay tuned for breaking developments.
@Greg: So, unfair tariffs that harm US trade is OK with you because foreigners don’t like the issue brought up. Got it. Clear as crystal.
@Deplorable Me, #24:
I don’t grow corn or soybeans for a living, so I suppose any disagreement will be between Donald Trump and the voting American farmers who do. Workers in the U.S. automotive and aircraft industries are also going to get hit.
@Greg: We all know how liberals empathize with the American farmer and rancher. Obama’s BLM taught us that. You’ve never worried about any of those workers enough to address the tariffs that cost them jobs before; why now? Oh… that’s right, you have to whine and bitch and moan about everything Trump has to do to repair the mistakes of the past. Wouldn’t it have been nice if other administrations had handled this problem before it became such a festering problem as to require threats of tariffs?
Trump’s right, China and the G-7 countries do have higher tariffs
In other words, the Chinese government has been taxing Chinese citizens more to buy U.S. goods than the U.S. government has been charging U.S. citizens to buy Chinese goods. So, Trump is fixing that by raising your taxes. He’s not actually levying taxes on the Chinese.
@Greg: Which, unless the other party reduces their tariffs, reduces the sales of those goods, as it makes them more expensive than goods produced domestically. You can try to make the consumer the victim, but in fact the entire country is the victim of unfair trade policies of other countries who have had a free ride up until now.
@Deplorable Me, #28:
The reason that 70 to 80 percent of all consumer products sold in Walmart come from China is because corporate America off-shored their manufacturing to maximize profits, not because American consumers demanded foreign goods. Most often, consumers aren’t given the option of paying more to buy equivalent American products, any more than they were given the option of keeping open the factories they worked in to make them.
So why is the appropriate fix to slap penalty taxes on consumers, rather than on the responsible parties? Instead, republicans just gave corporate America a very hefty permanent tax cut. Their rate was just cut from 35 percent to 21 percent.
How is it that republican voters never seem to see the pattern? They just believe what they’re told, however nonsensical, without trying to figure it out for themselves. They don’t recognize a cash grab when they see one.
@Deplorable Me: Sanford exhibited all of the personal values of the left!
@Greg:
Because of rising labor and regulatory costs. That’s why Obama predicted they would never come back; he MADE SURE they wouldn’t. China has no EPA, no unions, no regulations that impedes them competing on the world market. Then, China penalizes any outside company that wants to compete with tariffs.
It’s not a tax on the consumer, it’s a tariff on the goods. You are trying to rebrand it to make it a populist, leftist issue and it ain’t working. However, I’m not too worried about it because I believe we will get a better deal from China. I have confidence because the loser Obama is no longer directing the government.
WE just believe what we were told? YOU believe the most unbelievable crap of all, including Hillary deleting 33,000 emails the government demanded because they were “personal”! People who live in gullible glass houses shouldn’t throw gullible stones.
@Deplorable Me, #31:
Oh, right. American workers should accept cuts in pay and benefits sufficient to make them cost-competitive with Chinese workers happy to make $450 per month.
And what’s a bit of environmental pollution, anyway?
We’ve had our high quality of life for decades precisely because we refused to accept such things. Now it’s slipping away, so the wealthiest can become even wealthier—and pay even lower taxes while doing so.
That’s a fact. Were it not, Trump wouldn’t be able to lead his audience around by their noses with a series of nonsensical 280-character Twitter posts. Nor would they believe the totally ludicrous assertion that Trump & Company are “draining the swamp,” when they’ve actually assembled the largest menagerie of assorted swamp creatures since the days of the Carboniferous swamp forests.
@Greg:
That’s what they’ve been doing due to these unfair tariffs. If Trump can get compromises on the tariffs, we’ll have more manufacturing jobs, which pay well.
The Chinese don’t worry about it, but we do and it adds considerable cost to our products (in case you’ve never properly handled industrial waste), but the Chinese put tariffs on OUR products. See?
You believe anything bad about Trump that’s vomited out and it has made you all look really stupid. But, you never learn; you never learn to take a deep breath and wonder if what you just heard was true, was the Obama administration actually responsible, are liberal policies any better. No, you just nod like morons and scream at the sky. You KNOW you are whiny, crybaby, spoiled idiots when you demand impeachment before Trump even takes the oath of office.
The cost of a liter of milk in Canada is about $2.50 canadian dollars the cost of a liter NYC $1.20 Yes tarriffs are a cost/ stealth tax put on the consumer. Cost for a liter (quart)in Wisconsin .82 cents. Tarriffs or sales tax on food should be outlawed universally it hits the poorest of our citizens.
That’s a price that America as a whole has been able and willing to pay, because we don’t want to be China. The rules have never kept our nation from prosperity. Nor have they kept people from making themselves wealthy. They do get in the way of people who don’t give a damn about the effects their misbehavior has on others, but that’s the entire point of having rules. Such people can’t be allowed to do whatever they want. Their selfish pursuit of their own happiness often tends to diminishes that of others.
@Greg:
You still don’t get it. On top of all that, China adds tariffs. We do all this great tree hugging stuff and the Chinese STILL add tariffs to our products to unfairly compete. This is what Trump is trying to fight, and you leftists take China’s side simply because it is the side opposite of Trump. You side with our enemies because they oppose Trump. You need to take stock of who your allies are.
People who sell Chinese goods do well. Trump wants AMERICANS to do well. I guess you have to be on America’s side to understand this.