Although he is pretty close to 100% with his appointees "flood the zone" doesn't require a 100% success rate. You see any elite colleges rising up to defend Harvard? Being Tony Soprano is effective. And if the Senate approves his "big beautiful bill" it would be hard to characterize that as anything other than an enormous win. Democrats have roughly a year to get themselves together if the goal is to save the world.
Appreciate you asking. Far from an expert although I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night. I think it starts with recognizing the electoral map for Senate (and, thus, electoral college) works against today's Democratic Party. No reason to cry about it, hate the electorate, threaten to change the electoral college or pack the Supreme Court. Party needs to adjust to win. And that means safe seat Democrats have to get on board and stop feeding heroin to their base and recognize the damage they do to their purple district brethren (great example was Kelly Ayotte's campaign for NH Governor was built around MA politicians saying progressive stuff). I also think the party that believes more government is the solution and that preaches about protecting democracy has to be ethically perfect - start by kicking the Clintons and the Bidens to the curb. They are all awful people even if they have been on our team. And send anyone else packing who has questionable ethics. Democrats with the Clintons act like Giants fans who defended Barry Bonds or Pats fans with Spygate. It might be unfair but the bar for Dems is higher than for the other guys because we believe in government and they don't.
But how does a party "kick the Clintons to the curb"? It's not like there's a central committee that must approve everyone who says they are a Democrat. People join the party because they want to, and they sometimes run for office and other people decide to vote for or against them. There's no great organizing principle in that way.
Also, let's not forget that Biden and Clinton were fairly popular with Americans, by and large. Both got to be presidents, Bill Clinton for two terms!
I certainly agree that the Democrats have some ideas that aren't popular with Americans--I am thinking gender ideology--but it's not as if the GOP doesn't have that problem. They do all sorts of things Americans dislike, none the worse for their electoral prospects.
They had Bill Clinton speak at the convention! Democratic electeds need to be comfortable talking negatively about both the Clintons and the Bidens, The Hunter Biden situation should have led to Biden's resignation instead of "what a loyal dad". As it regards "the Democrats have some ideas that aren't popular", their brand is currently toxic. Take a look at polling. It is way worse than "gender ideology". Democrats have run on "we are not Donald Trump" multiple times now because they are unpopular on immigration, handling of the economy and the culture wars. Democrats need to meet the voters where they are which is right of center on most issues other than healthcare. If a normal Republican had run in the general Dems would have lost 55-45. Luckily the GOP base loves Trump.
I don't know if I agree that Americans are in general right of center; I think most Americans' view of politics is inchoate, utterly malleable, and often self-contradictory. It's hard to know why people vote the way they do, and I usually figure they are swayed mostly by the fundamentals instead of culture war issues.
They control the House, Senate and Presidency despite an historically unpopular leader at the top of the ticket. Plenty of data (including that from Catalist this week ttps://catalist.us/whathappened2024/ ) but let's try this another way . . . if a normie Republican like Haley or DeSantis had competed against a normie Dem (Whitmer or whomever) what do you see as the likely result?
This post and others of yours before it are very reassuring. There’s another Substacker, Mersault, who recently posted a similar perspective in a post called, “The Great MAGA Unravelling.” A wonderful read in case you or anyone here hasn’t seen it. And I too have argued that Trump is the leading vulnerability in this whole sorry episode in our nation’s history. Trump IS losing and, most recently, Trump seems to be losing IT (as in control over his own mind). But he’s also the poster man-child for winning by losing. — or ‘failing-up.’
Because he really has succeeded a great deal.
He has succeeded in turning the presidency itself into a worldwide shakedown racket where he and his family and a few other close associates and opportunistic American Confederates are amassing great wealth and not a little political power.
He has succeeded in cracking open the paper-thin facade of liberal norms and order — and the institutions we have built to institutionalize them.
He has succeeded in unleashing a form of political and martial ‘shock and awe’ that goes beyond a mere self-enriching shakedown. He has been serving a much more fundamental purpose in enabling a national and global geopolitical SHAKEUP. Not only are the bulwarks of liberalism being deconstructed at home — forcing we in the managerial elite to taste of the precarity of our social status and assumed economic security; but so are the bulwarks of the entire post-WWII and post-Soviet Union/Eastern Block liberal world order being broken-up. Trump, both because of and in spite of his pathos and depravity is forcing our nation into a radical reset — a reset that many historians and other scholars and experts believe has been needed for some time.
To me, the most critical issue for those of us wanting to perpetuate our nation and world along the lines of liberal values is that we must understand and address the larger historical forces at work here that the confab of Trump with our home-grown reactionary neo-Confederates. The latter are the real danger!
Trump’s win/loss record is not as critical as the effectiveness of these Project 2025 opportunists and consiglieri who are doing the real damage. Trump himself may falter or possibly even sidelined by his own people if he becomes more mentally challenged.
We liberals need to be turning our attention to building-out a positive, proactive alternative to the reset towards autocracy now going on here and worldwide. We need to reassert the liberal/democratic project upon which our nation was founded.
This post and others of yours before it are very reassuring. There’s another Substacker, Mersault, who recently posted a similar perspective in a post called, “The Great MAGA Unravelling.” A wonderful read in case you or anyone here hasn’t seen it. And I too have argued that Trump is the leading vulnerability in this whole sorry episode in our nation’s history. Trump IS losing and, most recently, Trump seems to be losing IT (as in control over his own mind). But he’s also the poster man-child for winning by losing. — or ‘failing-up.’
Because he really has succeeded a great deal.
He has succeeded in turning the presidency itself into a worldwide shakedown racket where he and his family and a few other close associates and opportunistic American Confederates are amassing great wealth and not a little political power.
He has succeeded in cracking open the paper-thin facade of liberal norms and order — and the institutions we have built to institutionalize them.
He has succeeded in unleashing a form of political and martial ‘shock and awe’ that goes beyond a mere self-enriching shakedown. He has been serving a much more fundamental purpose in enabling a national and global geopolitical SHAKEUP. Not only are the bulwarks of liberalism being deconstructed at home — forcing we in the managerial elite to taste of the precarity of our social status and assumed economic security; but so are the bulwarks of the entire post-WWII and post-Soviet Union/Eastern Block liberal world order being broken-up. Trump, both because of and in spite of his pathos and depravity is forcing our nation into a radical reset — a reset that many historians and other scholars and experts believe has been needed for some time.
To me, the most critical issue for those of us wanting to perpetuate our nation and world along the lines of liberal values is that we must understand and address the larger historical forces at work here that the confab of Trump with our home-grown reactionary neo-Confederates are working with. The latter are the real danger!
Trump’s win/loss record is not as critical as the effectiveness of these Project 2025 opportunists and consiglieri who are doing the real damage. Trump himself may falter or possibly even sidelined by his own people if he becomes more mentally challenged.
We liberals need to be turning our attention to building-out a positive, proactive alternative to the reset towards autocracy now going on here and worldwide. We need to reassert the liberal/democratic project upon which our nation was founded.
Although he is pretty close to 100% with his appointees "flood the zone" doesn't require a 100% success rate. You see any elite colleges rising up to defend Harvard? Being Tony Soprano is effective. And if the Senate approves his "big beautiful bill" it would be hard to characterize that as anything other than an enormous win. Democrats have roughly a year to get themselves together if the goal is to save the world.
What should the Democrats be doing that they aren't now? Specifically.
Appreciate you asking. Far from an expert although I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night. I think it starts with recognizing the electoral map for Senate (and, thus, electoral college) works against today's Democratic Party. No reason to cry about it, hate the electorate, threaten to change the electoral college or pack the Supreme Court. Party needs to adjust to win. And that means safe seat Democrats have to get on board and stop feeding heroin to their base and recognize the damage they do to their purple district brethren (great example was Kelly Ayotte's campaign for NH Governor was built around MA politicians saying progressive stuff). I also think the party that believes more government is the solution and that preaches about protecting democracy has to be ethically perfect - start by kicking the Clintons and the Bidens to the curb. They are all awful people even if they have been on our team. And send anyone else packing who has questionable ethics. Democrats with the Clintons act like Giants fans who defended Barry Bonds or Pats fans with Spygate. It might be unfair but the bar for Dems is higher than for the other guys because we believe in government and they don't.
But how does a party "kick the Clintons to the curb"? It's not like there's a central committee that must approve everyone who says they are a Democrat. People join the party because they want to, and they sometimes run for office and other people decide to vote for or against them. There's no great organizing principle in that way.
Also, let's not forget that Biden and Clinton were fairly popular with Americans, by and large. Both got to be presidents, Bill Clinton for two terms!
I certainly agree that the Democrats have some ideas that aren't popular with Americans--I am thinking gender ideology--but it's not as if the GOP doesn't have that problem. They do all sorts of things Americans dislike, none the worse for their electoral prospects.
They had Bill Clinton speak at the convention! Democratic electeds need to be comfortable talking negatively about both the Clintons and the Bidens, The Hunter Biden situation should have led to Biden's resignation instead of "what a loyal dad". As it regards "the Democrats have some ideas that aren't popular", their brand is currently toxic. Take a look at polling. It is way worse than "gender ideology". Democrats have run on "we are not Donald Trump" multiple times now because they are unpopular on immigration, handling of the economy and the culture wars. Democrats need to meet the voters where they are which is right of center on most issues other than healthcare. If a normal Republican had run in the general Dems would have lost 55-45. Luckily the GOP base loves Trump.
I don't know if I agree that Americans are in general right of center; I think most Americans' view of politics is inchoate, utterly malleable, and often self-contradictory. It's hard to know why people vote the way they do, and I usually figure they are swayed mostly by the fundamentals instead of culture war issues.
They control the House, Senate and Presidency despite an historically unpopular leader at the top of the ticket. Plenty of data (including that from Catalist this week ttps://catalist.us/whathappened2024/ ) but let's try this another way . . . if a normie Republican like Haley or DeSantis had competed against a normie Dem (Whitmer or whomever) what do you see as the likely result?
This post and others of yours before it are very reassuring. There’s another Substacker, Mersault, who recently posted a similar perspective in a post called, “The Great MAGA Unravelling.” A wonderful read in case you or anyone here hasn’t seen it. And I too have argued that Trump is the leading vulnerability in this whole sorry episode in our nation’s history. Trump IS losing and, most recently, Trump seems to be losing IT (as in control over his own mind). But he’s also the poster man-child for winning by losing. — or ‘failing-up.’
Because he really has succeeded a great deal.
He has succeeded in turning the presidency itself into a worldwide shakedown racket where he and his family and a few other close associates and opportunistic American Confederates are amassing great wealth and not a little political power.
He has succeeded in cracking open the paper-thin facade of liberal norms and order — and the institutions we have built to institutionalize them.
He has succeeded in unleashing a form of political and martial ‘shock and awe’ that goes beyond a mere self-enriching shakedown. He has been serving a much more fundamental purpose in enabling a national and global geopolitical SHAKEUP. Not only are the bulwarks of liberalism being deconstructed at home — forcing we in the managerial elite to taste of the precarity of our social status and assumed economic security; but so are the bulwarks of the entire post-WWII and post-Soviet Union/Eastern Block liberal world order being broken-up. Trump, both because of and in spite of his pathos and depravity is forcing our nation into a radical reset — a reset that many historians and other scholars and experts believe has been needed for some time.
To me, the most critical issue for those of us wanting to perpetuate our nation and world along the lines of liberal values is that we must understand and address the larger historical forces at work here that the confab of Trump with our home-grown reactionary neo-Confederates. The latter are the real danger!
Trump’s win/loss record is not as critical as the effectiveness of these Project 2025 opportunists and consiglieri who are doing the real damage. Trump himself may falter or possibly even sidelined by his own people if he becomes more mentally challenged.
We liberals need to be turning our attention to building-out a positive, proactive alternative to the reset towards autocracy now going on here and worldwide. We need to reassert the liberal/democratic project upon which our nation was founded.
This post and others of yours before it are very reassuring. There’s another Substacker, Mersault, who recently posted a similar perspective in a post called, “The Great MAGA Unravelling.” A wonderful read in case you or anyone here hasn’t seen it. And I too have argued that Trump is the leading vulnerability in this whole sorry episode in our nation’s history. Trump IS losing and, most recently, Trump seems to be losing IT (as in control over his own mind). But he’s also the poster man-child for winning by losing. — or ‘failing-up.’
Because he really has succeeded a great deal.
He has succeeded in turning the presidency itself into a worldwide shakedown racket where he and his family and a few other close associates and opportunistic American Confederates are amassing great wealth and not a little political power.
He has succeeded in cracking open the paper-thin facade of liberal norms and order — and the institutions we have built to institutionalize them.
He has succeeded in unleashing a form of political and martial ‘shock and awe’ that goes beyond a mere self-enriching shakedown. He has been serving a much more fundamental purpose in enabling a national and global geopolitical SHAKEUP. Not only are the bulwarks of liberalism being deconstructed at home — forcing we in the managerial elite to taste of the precarity of our social status and assumed economic security; but so are the bulwarks of the entire post-WWII and post-Soviet Union/Eastern Block liberal world order being broken-up. Trump, both because of and in spite of his pathos and depravity is forcing our nation into a radical reset — a reset that many historians and other scholars and experts believe has been needed for some time.
To me, the most critical issue for those of us wanting to perpetuate our nation and world along the lines of liberal values is that we must understand and address the larger historical forces at work here that the confab of Trump with our home-grown reactionary neo-Confederates are working with. The latter are the real danger!
Trump’s win/loss record is not as critical as the effectiveness of these Project 2025 opportunists and consiglieri who are doing the real damage. Trump himself may falter or possibly even sidelined by his own people if he becomes more mentally challenged.
We liberals need to be turning our attention to building-out a positive, proactive alternative to the reset towards autocracy now going on here and worldwide. We need to reassert the liberal/democratic project upon which our nation was founded.