Allan Lichtman's 13 Keys to the White House

[Aseahawkfan]

I sure hope you're right. Harris's liberal past may come back to haunt her. She's done a complete 180 on the subject of fracking, a big issue in western PA, something that could decide the election. Trump touched on it during the debate, but he couldn't drive the point home. That's one of the problems with Trump, is that he's not articulate enough to push such a subject and take advantage of an obvious weakness. Instead, he acts like a professional wrestler and keeps talking about weird stuff, like immigrants eating people's pets or some stupid crap like that. And, he's cozied up with that moon bat Laura Loomer whom even people like MTG have denounced. He'll literally hop in bed with anyone who supports him.

One of the weird confounders in this election is the Israel-Palestine War. I don't know if you know many Muslims, but some Muslims believe Trump would do a better job settling the Israel-Palestine conflict. He would actually get it settled down and stop the war, whereas they think Harris would leave it ongoing by taking a weak stance supporting both Israel and Palestine. Whereas Trump would make a strong deal with Israel and a strong deal with Palestine. I don't know that I believe it, but some do believe that Trump would better handle both the Israel-Palestine conflict and the Ukraine conflict. Weird to me since Trump is pretty obviously pro-Israel, but it is a possible confounder if people perceive it to be true. All either one needs is for enough voters to vote on a certain issue like the economy or foreign conflicts to push them in one direction or the other which is why I don't rule out some surprise bombshells closer to election day as the political warfare really heats up.

It's why I don't think either one gains from another debate. Kamala did her job winning or holding her own so she didn't lose the voters Joe lost by looking lost and senile. Now it's going to come down a big push convincing swing voters on key issues in swing states. Both should concentrate on this.

I still think Kamala edges out Trump barring some big bombshell or big mistake by Harris, which could happen.

[River Dog]

I sure hope you're right. Harris's liberal past may come back to haunt her. She's done a complete 180 on the subject of fracking, a big issue in western PA, something that could decide the election. Trump touched on it during the debate, but he couldn't drive the point home. That's one of the problems with Trump, is that he's not articulate enough to push such a subject and take advantage of an obvious weakness. Instead, he acts like a professional wrestler and keeps talking about weird stuff, like immigrants eating people's pets or some stupid crap like that. And, he's cozied up with that moon bat Laura Loomer whom even people like MTG have denounced. He'll literally hop in bed with anyone who supports him.

One of the weird confounders in this election is the Israel-Palestine War. I don't know if you know many Muslims, but some Muslims believe Trump would do a better job settling the Israel-Palestine conflict. He would actually get it settled down and stop the war, whereas they think Harris would leave it ongoing by taking a weak stance supporting both Israel and Palestine. Whereas Trump would make a strong deal with Israel and a strong deal with Palestine. I don't know that I believe it, but some do believe that Trump would better handle both the Israel-Palestine conflict and the Ukraine conflict. Weird to me since Trump is pretty obviously pro-Israel, but it is a possible confounder if people perceive it to be true. All either one needs is for enough voters to vote on a certain issue like the economy or foreign conflicts to push them in one direction or the other which is why I don't rule out some surprise bombshells closer to election day as the political warfare really heats up.

It's why I don't think either one gains from another debate. Kamala did her job winning or holding her own so she didn't lose the voters Joe lost by looking lost and senile. Now it's going to come down a big push convincing swing voters on key issues in swing states. Both should concentrate on this.

I still think Kamala edges out Trump barring some big bombshell or big mistake by Harris, which could happen.

I know several Muslims, but we never talk politics.

If Trump and his advisors thought that they couldn't win or that they were behind, they'd be anxious for another debate. But I think that they know that this election is theirs to lose. Harris is trying to run away from her liberal past, her position on fracking being just one example. She and her advisors are fully aware that a liberal cannot win a nationwide election, so she's doing everything she can to distance herself from her past. Heck, Biden was perceived as a moderate when compared to Harris in the 2020 primaries, and he barely won.

I don't think foreign policy is going to help or hurt Harris. What she needs to start harping on is the economy/inflation. She needs to point out the fact that the primary reason for inflation was the severe imbalance between supply and demand caused by the pandemic and start trumpeting the latest inflation figures. Personally, I don't think inflation is completely gone away, but at this time, it's appearing to be more of a non-issue than it did a few months ago, and the fact that voters have identified it as their #1 concern is huge and has a potential of swaying a lot of moderate voters.

I just don't like the way this campaign is going.

[Aseahawkfan]

I know several Muslims, but we never talk politics.

If Trump and his advisors thought that they couldn't win or that they were behind, they'd be anxious for another debate. But I think that they know that this election is theirs to lose. Harris is trying to run away from her liberal past, her position on fracking being just one example. She and her advisors are fully aware that a liberal cannot win a nationwide election, so she's doing everything she can to distance herself from her past. Heck, Biden was perceived as a moderate when compared to Harris in the 2020 primaries, and he barely won.

I don't think foreign policy is going to help or hurt Harris. What she needs to start harping on is the economy/inflation. She needs to point out the fact that the primary reason for inflation was the severe imbalance between supply and demand caused by the pandemic and start trumpeting the latest inflation figures. Personally, I don't think inflation is completely gone away, but at this time, it's appearing to be more of a non-issue than it did a few months ago, and the fact that voters have identified it as their #1 concern is huge and has a potential of swaying a lot of moderate voters.

I just don't like the way this campaign is going.

The demographics are strange since Trump. They mostly go like normal with some confounders that lead to slight deviations from the norm which is why he is seeing unusually strong support in certain communities that don't usually vote for Republicans.

Now someone shot at him again. The left has spun up the hate and tyrant rhetoric so high that people are taking shots to stop Trump now. Not sure what would happen of Trump was shot prior to the election. Could go real, real bad or a non-factor, but I wouldn't like it. From what I understand people behind the scenes are unhappy the person missed the shot.

We don't need a Kingfish situation on the national scale.

I watched a video concerning how Orthodox Jews will vote and they are heavily favoring Trump. This is one of the things I want to see. How the Jewish vote goes with the Democratic Party fracturing into an anti-Semitic faction. Jewish folk are a usually reliable group of Democratic voters, but recent events have shown a strong anti-Semitic and anti-Israel faction amongst the Democrats. They are trying to hide it as much as possible, but it's there and can be found by anyone looking.

[Aseahawkfan]

Now we have a .50 rate cut from The Fed. Probably late to affect the elections much.

Israel has ramped retaliation against Hezbollah. Pretty crazy move with the pagers and hand held radios. This is an escalation by Israel which will require retaliation by Hezbollah to further exacerbate the Israel-Palestine conflict. I know for pro-Israel voters and the anti-Israel voters, who has a better chance of ending this war will weigh on their minds when they vote. One of the many confounders this election.

[River Dog]

Now we have a .50 rate cut from The Fed. Probably late to affect the elections much.

Israel has ramped retaliation against Hezbollah. Pretty crazy move with the pagers and hand held radios. This is an escalation by Israel which will require retaliation by Hezbollah to further exacerbate the Israel-Palestine conflict. I know for pro-Israel voters and the anti-Israel voters, who has a better chance of ending this war will weigh on their minds when they vote. One of the many confounders this election.

Agreed that the Fed rate cut won't affect many votes, but not because it's too late. It's because Harris isn't doing enough to take advantage of it. Most people aren't even aware of it let alone smart enough to understand how important it is to the economy.

I'm not sure how much the latest Arab-Israeli conflict will change any votes. Like we agreed on earlier, most people don't vote according to international politics.

[Aseahawkfan]

Agreed that the Fed rate cut won't affect many votes, but not because it's too late. It's because Harris isn't doing enough to take advantage of it. Most people aren't even aware of it let alone smart enough to understand how important it is to the economy.

I'm not sure how much the latest Arab-Israeli conflict will change any votes. Like we agreed on earlier, most people don't vote according to international politics.

Normally, I would agree with you which is why I don't bring up Ukraine much.

Israel and Palestine is a very different animal because of certain growing Demographics in America. Jews are 2.5% of the American population. There are about 7 million or so Jews with their associated supporters and detractors. There are about 4.5 million Muslims in America now with their associated supporters and detractors. These populations are not spread evenly between all states, but concentrated in certain areas. There is a reason Ilhan Omar is from Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib is from Michigan. These states have large concentrations of Muslim voters, enough to provide swing votes. We know Jewish folk have large concentrations in New York, California, New Jersey, and Florida.

Muslims almost universally believe Israel is an oppressor state. Jews almost universally believe Israel has a right to exist. These opposing beliefs are going to grow in force as more Muslims immigrate to America. Muslims at 4.5 million and growing are starting to reach a number to challenge the Jewish vote in America. Maybe they are not big enough to be in play this election, but maybe they are in places like Minnesota and Michigan. You can see both Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib breaking with their party on the issue of Israel-Palestine. It is an important issue and will grow in importance as the Muslim population in America grows and that voting bloc gains more power. They are concentrated surprisingly in swing states.

I know you're probably not following it closely, but a lot of the anti-Israel sentiment is being pushed by Muslim students in universities pushing the anti-Israel ideology from the Muslim world and finding supporters amongst Americans who are always looking for the next protest against the oppressor which Israel is being sold as.

America is set up to respond to voting blocs. The Muslims are a voting bloc now in America concentrated in certain states, some of them swing states, and they are very focused on the Israel-Palestine Conflict as an issue of concern enough to sway their vote. It may not be consequential enough to affect this election unless Minnesota and Michigan are in play, but it's only going to become more consequential as Muslims in America grow in number.


On a side note, the election interference from other nations is very focused on encouraging Americans to vote a certain way that they perceive better for their country. So they will manipulate social media to push a candidate and viewpoint that benefits them. I don't know how we secure the flow of information with social media in play and nations like Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran pushing propaganda through social media to Americans. The anti-Ukraine sentiment in the Republican Party is believed to be finance by pro-Russian elements using social media influencers in America. Iran is also believed to be pushing anti-Israel sentiment in America through social media. All of this is in play.

[curmudgeon]

Kamala wins easily. Many people think she’s great and her reign will bring us great joy by unburdening the past. Others believe it’s the end. Only God knows……

[c_hawkbob]

Bringing us great joy by unburdening the past ain't all that lofty a bar. Trump losing will accomplish that regardless of his opposition. And I'm here for it.

[River Dog]

Kamala wins easily. Many people think she’s great and her reign will bring us great joy by unburdening the past. Others believe it’s the end. Only God knows……

Honestly, it's difficult for me to tell when you're serious and when you're being sarcastic.

Trump is sure throwing so much crap on the wall by making promises to do everything from capping credit card interest rates to not taxing tips in an effort to buy votes. Let's see if I can get all of them without doing a search:

He wants to end taxes on tips, on overtime, and on Social Security income. He wants to cap credit card interest rates. He plans to cut in half insurance rates on cars. Not exactly sure how he plans on doing that as the government has no control over private insurance companies. He plans to issue death sentences to drug dealers. He wouldn't have that power, either, He wants to round up and deport 20 million illegal aliens.

Of course, Kamala Harris doesn't want to be left out. She plans to push for a federal ban on corporate food price gouging, taking a familiar page from the Democratic playbook that the root of all evil is big corporations and the rich. She plans on expanding the child tax credit, give first time home buyers $25K, a $5-50K tax deduction for start-up businesses. And that's not to mention student loan forgiveness, of which Biden keeps trying to get through the courts.

So where is all this money coming from? Do we just simply tack it onto the national debt? Doesn't either one of these yahoos understand what's causing inflation? This is one of the reasons why I can't stand either party.

[Aseahawkfan]

Honestly, it's difficult for me to tell when you're serious and when you're being sarcastic.

Trump is sure throwing so much crap on the wall by making promises to do everything from capping credit card interest rates to not taxing tips in an effort to buy votes. Let's see if I can get all of them without doing a search:

He wants to end taxes on tips, on overtime, and on Social Security income. He wants to cap credit card interest rates. He plans to cut in half insurance rates on cars. Not exactly sure how he plans on doing that as the government has no control over private insurance companies. He plans to issue death sentences to drug dealers. He wouldn't have that power, either, He wants to round up and deport 20 million illegal aliens.

Of course, Kamala Harris doesn't want to be left out. She plans to push for a federal ban on corporate food price gouging, taking a familiar page from the Democratic playbook that the root of all evil is big corporations and the rich. She plans on expanding the child tax credit, give first time home buyers $25K, a $5-50K tax deduction for start-up businesses. And that's not to mention student loan forgiveness, of which Biden keeps trying to get through the courts.

So where is all this money coming from? Do we just simply tack it onto the national debt? Doesn't either one of these yahoos understand what's causing inflation? This is one of the reasons why I can't stand either party.

RD, you been watching this game too long to not know these are empty promises that will be blamed on opposition Congress or forgotten about once either is in the White House. You know this game by now.

[River Dog]

Honestly, it's difficult for me to tell when you're serious and when you're being sarcastic.

Trump is sure throwing so much crap on the wall by making promises to do everything from capping credit card interest rates to not taxing tips in an effort to buy votes. Let's see if I can get all of them without doing a search:

He wants to end taxes on tips, on overtime, and on Social Security income. He wants to cap credit card interest rates. He plans to cut in half insurance rates on cars. Not exactly sure how he plans on doing that as the government has no control over private insurance companies. He plans to issue death sentences to drug dealers. He wouldn't have that power, either, He wants to round up and deport 20 million illegal aliens.

Of course, Kamala Harris doesn't want to be left out. She plans to push for a federal ban on corporate food price gouging, taking a familiar page from the Democratic playbook that the root of all evil is big corporations and the rich. She plans on expanding the child tax credit, give first time home buyers $25K, a $5-50K tax deduction for start-up businesses. And that's not to mention student loan forgiveness, of which Biden keeps trying to get through the courts.

So where is all this money coming from? Do we just simply tack it onto the national debt? Doesn't either one of these yahoos understand what's causing inflation? This is one of the reasons why I can't stand either party.

RD, you been watching this game too long to not know these are empty promises that will be blamed on opposition Congress or forgotten about once either is in the White House. You know this game by now.

Yeah, you're right. Every POTUS candidate on both sides of the aisle has made a litany of promises knowing full well that they can't or won't fulfill them, so in some respects, what we're seeing is nothing new.

But at least those that I remember from the past weren't nearly as specific, like Bush 41's "no new taxes" pledge or Reagan's promise to reduce the size of government. Those were more general, and one can argue that the circumstances changed from the time they made those promises. These are much more detailed, like supporting a bill to increase the capital gains tax for those earning $1M+ to 28%, as you yourself have pointed out, or eliminating SS taxes, the repercussions of which would be disastrous as that tax revenue goes right back into SS. The dirty little secret is that only 40% of SS recipients pay federal tax on their benefits, meaning that those in the most need will not get any benefit at all from such a proposal, not to mention bringing insolvency of the program a year earlier and require larger cuts when it goes bust.

Plus, particularly in the case of Trump, some of them the President doesn't have the power to do, like issuing death sentences to drug dealers. Anyone that believes that he does needs to have their head examined.

I hear some of these promises from both sides and I just shake my head in disbelief. These people are clueless. But thankfully, most of these proposals will never come to fruition anyway.

[Aseahawkfan]

Yeah, you're right. Every POTUS candidate on both sides of the aisle has made a litany of promises knowing full well that they can't or won't fulfill them, so in some respects, what we're seeing is nothing new.

But at least those that I remember from the past weren't nearly as specific, like Bush 41's "no new taxes" pledge or Reagan's promise to reduce the size of government. Those were more general, and one can argue that the circumstances changed from the time they made those promises. These are much more detailed, like supporting a bill to increase the capital gains tax for those earning $1M+ to 28%, as you yourself have pointed out, or eliminating SS taxes, the repercussions of which would be disastrous as that tax revenue goes right back into SS. The dirty little secret is that only 40% of SS recipients pay federal tax on their benefits, meaning that those in the most need will not get any benefit at all from such a proposal, not to mention bringing insolvency of the program a year earlier and require larger cuts when it goes bust.

Plus, particularly in the case of Trump, some of them the President doesn't have the power to do, like issuing death sentences to drug dealers. Anyone that believes that he does needs to have their head examined.

I hear some of these promises from both sides and I just shake my head in disbelief. These people are clueless. But thankfully, most of these proposals will never come to fruition anyway.

I would bet many Democrats would love a Reagan or Bush Sr. back as a candidate to vote for at this point. Politics has gotten too celebrified, especially the presidency. People running for office are viewed as celebrities rather than professional politicians expected to know how to govern well. I want to go back to the time when presidents were considered professionals and we didn't need them to be on talk shows or hang out with celebrities for clout. Governing was a real job that required real governing skills and knowledge of government. Seems to not be the case much any longer. Just make stuff up and put yourself on social media.

[Aseahawkfan]

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/23/mayor-of-only-muslim-governed-us-city-endorses-trump

Here is an example of what I'm talking bout as a confounder in the elections. Muslims are extreme social conservatives. I have never much talked to a Muslim that approved of homosexuality or the transgender movement unless they themselves were homosexual. It's very sinful in their culture. A lot of immigrants lean more social conservative. This particular town is in Michigan is heavily Arab-American and their Mayor threw his support behind Trump.

I keep hearing the Republicans complaining Democrats are bringing in immigrants to vote. If Republicans get smart, they'll find a lot of immigrants will vote in a socially conservative fashion if they can be convinced that a Republican candidate isn't an anti-immigrant racist. That is the danger of Trump in a rally. If he is in a rally in this town, he likely isn't pitching his anti-immigrant rhetoric. His pitching them on other issues like he can settle the Palestine-Israel conflict and won't support the Democrat's social agenda which isn't popular with social conservatives even on the Democrat side.

These are the kind of confounders that can surprise come election day that are hard to poll for in tight elections in battleground states with large immigrant populations who leaders might take them in a different direction than expected even if they normally vote Democrat.

I'm still expecting a Kamala win, but this type of stuff is definitely one of those hard to account for confounders.

I read an article that Macklemore shouted "F America" at some concert in Washington State to protest America sending weapons and money to Israel to support their war efforts. There is apparently a Palestine support concert going on to provide Palestinian relief. This is in a heavy blue state that views Biden and Kamala as supporting an oppressive Israeli regime. The Muslim vote is not going to shrink in the coming years. It's going to grow stronger and more vocal as we bring folks in who absolutely will not support America's normal stance on Israel. Even if it doesn't affect this election, the growing Muslim vote and presence of immigrants from Muslim countries unfriendly to Israel will grow and grow and grow. I expect them to outnumber the Jewish vote within 20 years. How will Jewish voters react to immigration that directly undermines American support for Israel? It's going to be an interesting future in politics as immigration starts to bite the usual strong Jewish support for Democrats in the ass. You could have seen this coming a mile away, but it's one of those things no one wants to openly address due to the problems it creates in the competing agendas in America.

[Aseahawkfan]

Hmm. Now Trump appears to have pulled even in polling. Not sure the Kamala hideaway strategy is working as well as expected, but not sure her talking is any better. Might be tight down to the wire.

[River Dog]

Hmm. Now Trump appears to have pulled even in polling. Not sure the Kamala hideaway strategy is working as well as expected, but not sure her talking is any better. Might be tight down to the wire.

I'm still having nightmares about this election, like seeing the Ghost of Christmas Future. I don't even like thinking about it, I leave the room when my wife has on the TV news. Trump is in a better position at this same point in time now than he was in 2016 as well as in 2020. Harris is a weak candidate, made a bad choice in selecting Waltz as her running mate, other than abortion hasn't defined what she stands for, has a tendency to talk in word salads. She's been the beneficiary of some very good economic news yet hasn't been able to take advantage of it. About all she's said is vote for me because I'm not Donald Trump.

I saw someone on social media make an analogy that changing out Biden for Harris is like sh!tting your pants and changing your shirt, which kinda sums it up for me. The problem is that she's the best the Dems have to offer.

Even if Harris wins, Trump has already sowed enough doubt about the integrity of the election that I wouldn't be surprised if we have a riot that makes January 6th look like an office party picnic.

[Aseahawkfan]

I'm still having nightmares about this election, like seeing the Ghost of Christmas Future. I don't even like thinking about it, I leave the room when my wife has on the TV news. Trump is in a better position at this same point in time now than he was in 2016 as well as in 2020. Harris is a weak candidate, made a bad choice in selecting Waltz as her running mate, other than abortion hasn't defined what she stands for, has a tendency to talk in word salads. She's been the beneficiary of some very good economic news yet hasn't been able to take advantage of it. About all she's said is vote for me because I'm not Donald Trump.

I saw someone on social media make an analogy that changing out Biden for Harris is like sh!tting your pants and changing your shirt, which kinda sums it up for me. The problem is that she's the best the Dems have to offer.

Even if Harris wins, Trump has already sowed enough doubt about the integrity of the election that I wouldn't be surprised if we have a riot that makes January 6th look like an office party picnic.

I just want the thing over with a timetable on when Trump leaves office if he wins or just over if Kamala is in there.

I'm tired of seeing Dems paint Trump as Hitler and talking about him doing coups. I'm tired of Republicans crying about stolen elections and if Trump loses it was stolen. I want to get it over with, see what happens, and hopefully get back to some sanity.

Democrats and Republicans can't keep looking at each other as some terrible enemy and expect that to go well for a long period of time. That's what they're doing right now, both parties. Trump started it, but the Democrats have worsened it whether they want to admit it or not by how they have reacted to Trump building up in to this hugely polarizing figure that makes it so no one really listens to them any more because they've thrown so much crap at Trump that it's become like the little boy who cried wolf and it makes them seem like liars too.

Trump's a racist. Trump's a Russian plant. Trump attempted a coup. Trump's a felon. Trump raped kids and woman. Trump cheated on his taxes. Trump's a criminal. Trump's going to destroy America. Trump's Hitler. Trump's done this bad thing and that bad thing. Trump's the Boogeyman. I'm waiting for someone to accuse Trump of being the Anti-Christ. You can only listen to this type of constant rhetoric for so long before you tune it out. It's reached the point where it's all being tuned out as both sides have reached a point of such stupidity I can no longer listen and many are no longer listening because they are either in their echo chamber believing what their chosen candidate or party is selling or tuned out like I am because of the sheer volume or crap being thrown.

I want it over. Find out who I gotta tolerate for the next four years, then hopefully move on to some sensible politician next presidential election cycle.

I hope for no violence this time around.

Three more weeks until I find out and then see what happens and settle in for four years of whoever wins. This has been the most tiresome eight years of American politics I can recall.

[River Dog]

This has been the most tiresome eight years of American politics I can recall.

No bout adout it.

The momentum is definitely on Trump's side. Harris is way too liberal to run effectively in the rust belt states, ie PA, MI, and WI, where the election will be decided. At least Biden was from Delaware and had somewhat of a moderate reputation. But sending a California liberal with the voting record that Harris has, ie Green New Deal, anti-fracking, etc, and expect her to win over moderates in that region is insane. She won't talk about the 4 issues that moderates are most concerned about, ie the economy, inflation, immigration, and crime. All she can do is talk about is abortion, gun violence, how Trump is unfit, etc, liberal-orientated issues that aren't going to move any votes into her column.

I'm not even sure that it's going to be a close election anymore. Trump could win all 7 swing states.

[Aseahawkfan]

There have been so many stranger confounders internally too.

Dick Cheney is voting for Harris and endorsed her. He is about as Republican as they come. I know for all Cheney's faults and viciousness, he loves his daughters and his country. I know he took the position he did because after January 6th, he knew Trump had gone too far with his irresponsible wielding of power.

On the Kamala side, the fact that some of the unions are not endorsing her is wild to me. Teamsters are not endorsing a candidate. One of the biggest unions in America basically told the Democrats we don't support your candidate. They endorsed Biden in 2020, but they don't like Harris-Walz. That is a big deal.

I can't stand watching these commercials. The messaging from both candidates is, "The other guy is worse than I am and will destroy the country." Trump comes on and calls Harris, "Comrade Kamala." And Harris gets on and says "Send me money for no other reason than challenging Trump." I don't even know what she believes or cares about. I can't even recall from her message on the videos.

You don't seem to have direct friends or family that either hate or support Trump. I have both. The whole focus is on hate for Trump or love or support for and hate for Biden. It's terrible to listen to. No issues being discussed. No positive vision for the nation. Just vote because the other side is stupid and bad for the country.

I cannot recall Americans being at each other's throats like this. I've always had both Democrat and Republican friends and family. You don't break family or friendships or bother each other much over politics until now. Trump hate or love has caused so many breaches that should not be happening. You should never put politics before family or friendship unless there is some real point of contention like an issue as a big as slavery. This division due to hate or support for one man is ridiculous. No one should support or hate one man that much. It's not mentally healthy personally or as a nation.

[Aseahawkfan]

Trump seems to have really closed the gap.

It seems even males of African descent seem to have a surprising number going with Trump over Kamala. I'm starting to wonder if Trump's shot at Kamala at that news conference wasn't another calculated move by Trump to tap into a negative stereotype for Kamala that worked. She is married to a white Jewish man, light-skinned, and seems to associate heavily with her Indian mother more than her father. Trump's campaign team may have known he had little chance of gaining mainstream support of Americans of African descent, so he went for the low blow to attract the element of the Americans of African descent vote that doesn't like Kamala in the same way some didn't view Russell as "black" enough to gain those votes in a tight election in swing states with some large voting blocs of Americans of African descent like Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Detroit. He doesn't have to pull that many votes to flip those states and targeting those who respond to his negative viewpoints do exist. So when the mainstream sees what he did as stupid, his move hit who it aimed at which wasn't mainstream voters, but the voters who believe stuff he says prior to him saying it. There were already voters in the Americans of African descent community who don't see Kamala as one of them, that is who Trump wanted to attract. It may have worked.

I actually talked to a lady at work of African descent who completely agreed with what Trump said about Kamala, doesn't think of her as black, and doesn't view her as part of the community. She said, "She was fake." She thought this before Trump said it. She never liked Kamala.

This is what I always wonder with Trump if his campaign management is tapping into these voters. The negative voter who hates the mainstream of each party and believes all types of crazy stuff, which is apparently working even this election.

Riverdog's terrible prediction has a very real chance of coming true. It's going to tight and down to the wire. And Trump really can win.

[Aseahawkfan]

Now Joe Rogan has platformed Donald Trump a week and a half before the election to his millions of followers. Not necessarily an endorsement, but a three hour interview that makes Trump seem like a more decent guy than the Democrats are painting him is not favorable to the Democrats. I have never seen a presidential interview like the Rogan interview. If Trump wins, this may be the reason.

That Rogan interview is getting almost a million views an hour on Youtube. So this doesn't even include Spotify. Kamala should maybe take Rogan up for the interview to counter this. Trump sounds very reasonable. The whole Hitler and tyrant comparison sounds as stupid as they are listening to him. He's working the Joe Rogan crowd with his calm, sensible Trump persona making more lucid arguments and making everyone he likes sound great and everyone he doesn't sound like idiots.

What timing by Trump and Rogan. 10 days until the election and Rogan platforms Trump and keeps Trump focused enough to sound reasonable and lucid.

[curmudgeon]

No worries. Raskin, Elias and company will prevent a Trump inauguration. Harris will be installed…..

[c_hawkbob]

No worries. Raskin, Elias and company will prevent a Trump inauguration. Harris will be installed…..

The only thing that will, or needs to, prevent a Trump inauguration is the will of the people.

[River Dog]

This election looks bad. I hate to even turn on the TV as watching Trump talk makes me sick to my stomach. IMO Trump is going to win 5 out of the 7 swing states. The latest betting odds, which is probably more reliable than polling information, has Trump at 56 vs. Harris at 43. Get ready for another 4+ yearlong s*** show. The only pol the Dems have that could beat Trump should be in a nursing home. It's a sad state of affairs.

So much for Allan Lichman's 13 keys. Trump found the master key.

[Aseahawkfan]

We'll see. A few more days and we'll know for sure.

I did wonder if the Kamala hide and seek strategy was going to work. Seems like the Dems put Kamala in there per her push, then the strategy was ride the relief from Biden being out and a new candidate infuse the voters with the desire to vote for her. Then she started talking and doing extremely fake things like pretending she is interested in guns or cares about stopping illegal immigration just added to her feeling of fakeness. I'm not sure how you as a voter can buy what Kamala is selling when she's had four years to speak up about the border and has been in the nation long enough to know her stance on gun rights. It was a bad look for her to focus on issues that don't matter to her base or party.

Trump says crazy stuff, but it's the same crazy stuff. Voters look at Trump and go, "Yeah. He's pretty crazy" but he's a crazy we know and he stays the same all the time. Trump seems far more of a real person than any of the Dems. His message has been the same since he started.

I still think this election is tight. No serious mistakes must be made by either candidate in the new few days.

Even If Trump wins Riverdog. at least you know when he'll be done. You'll have four years of Trump and then it will all be over at worst. I want to know when this thing ends.

[River Dog]

We'll see. A few more days and we'll know for sure.

I did wonder if the Kamala hide and seek strategy was going to work. Seems like the Dems put Kamala in there per her push, then the strategy was ride the relief from Biden being out and a new candidate infuse the voters with the desire to vote for her. Then she started talking and doing extremely fake things like pretending she is interested in guns or cares about stopping illegal immigration just added to her feeling of fakeness. I'm not sure how you as a voter can buy what Kamala is selling when she's had four years to speak up about the border and has been in the nation long enough to know her stance on gun rights. It was a bad look for her to focus on issues that don't matter to her base or party.

Trump says crazy stuff, but it's the same crazy stuff. Voters look at Trump and go, "Yeah. He's pretty crazy" but he's a crazy we know and he stays the same all the time. Trump seems far more of a real person than any of the Dems. His message has been the same since he started.

I still think this election is tight. No serious mistakes must be made by either candidate in the new few days.

Even If Trump wins Riverdog. at least you know when he'll be done. You'll have four years of Trump and then it will all be over at worst. I want to know when this thing ends.

Harris is distancing herself too far away from Biden. This economy isn't doing that badly. The September report just came out, and inflation is at 2.1%, a gnat's ass away from the Fed's target of 2.0%. The other problem with her is her liberal past. She's not attracting moderate voters. Things like her anti-fracking stance from years ago has hurt her in western PA. She's a typical Dem, the only thing she can talk about to bring down prices is price gouging and corporate profits, tax the rich, and so on. What she should be out there telling people how much prices will go up if Trump get elected and slaps a 60% tariff on China and 20% on all other imports instead of using the class warfare talking points.

I really don't think this election is close. If you take a look at where Hillary and Biden stood in the polls vs. Trump at this point in time in the election cycle in 2016 and 2020 and compare it with where Harris is at, Trump is well ahead. Since Bush 43 in 2004, with the exception of Romney in 2012, Republican POTUS candidates have outperformed the polls. I'd love to be wrong.

[Aseahawkfan]

Harris is distancing herself too far away from Biden. This economy isn't doing that badly. The September report just came out, and inflation is at 2.1%, a gnat's ass away from the Fed's target of 2.0%. The other problem with her is her liberal past. She's not attracting moderate voters. Things like her anti-fracking stance from years ago has hurt her in western PA. She's a typical Dem, the only thing she can talk about to bring down prices is price gouging and corporate profits, tax the rich, and so on. What she should be out there telling people how much prices will go up if Trump get elected and slaps a 60% tariff on China and 20% on all other imports instead of using the class warfare talking points.

I really don't think this election is close. If you take a look at where Hillary and Biden stood in the polls vs. Trump at this point in time in the election cycle in 2016 and 2020 and compare it with where Harris is at, Trump is well ahead. Since Bush 43 in 2004, with the exception of Romney in 2012, Republican POTUS candidates have outperformed the polls. I'd love to be wrong.

We'll see in a few days. You may be right.

Look, I think the Democratic Party really needs to change their issues. They are on the bad side of a lot of issues. They played badly versus Trump by relying on every trick in their playbook to make a guy look bad to the point they became the little boy who cried wolf. No one is stupid enough to believe Trump is Hitler, a fascist, a rapist, a Russian traitor, going to destroy the country, a racist, a stupid man, a bad businessman, an evil mastermind who will take over the nation never allowing elections again, launched a coup, and did everything short of murder. It got so ridiculous that people tuned out everything the Democrats were doing because it was too much to believe.

It did not help that Trump took some of the usual Democratic issues. When I have Republican friends accusing Democrats of being warmongers that Trump will stop, something is wrong. Apparently the Democrats want the War in Ukraine now because they are making money on it and using it as a distraction from their bad governing. That is bonkers as I've heard that accusation leveled at Republicans many times. The Democrats have a massive anti-war voting bloc that is causing them issues with their support of Israel in the current conflict. Democrats cannot afford to be warmongers, so that is a pretty crazy idea being pushed by the Trump supporters.

Trump is really hard for Democrats to campaign against on issues because he took some of their issues by painting himself as pro-working man, anti-war, and great for the economy and free speech. When is the last Republican you saw paint themselves as pro-working man?

So hard for the Democrats to win on issues. They threw everything and the kitchen sink at Trump to make him look like the Devil to the point no one even listens to it anymore as it sounds too ridiculous to believe. They are canceling people who don't agree with them which looks like a threat to freedom of speech. They have let anti-Semitic elements in their party have too loud a voice. Their economics are bad as you've always known.

So if Trump wins, Democrats did it to themselves.

On a side note, Inslee just oked a wind farm in Washington State. I wonder if it will be in your area of the state as you have more open land. A big, ugly, bird killing wind farm for for power.

At least many are starting to look at nuclear as an option as the new technologies are making it a pretty good choice for power versus environmental impact. The better path forward is more power generated using less land and resources.

[River Dog]

Harris is distancing herself too far away from Biden. This economy isn't doing that badly. The September report just came out, and inflation is at 2.1%, a gnat's ass away from the Fed's target of 2.0%. The other problem with her is her liberal past. She's not attracting moderate voters. Things like her anti-fracking stance from years ago has hurt her in western PA. She's a typical Dem, the only thing she can talk about to bring down prices is price gouging and corporate profits, tax the rich, and so on. What she should be out there telling people how much prices will go up if Trump get elected and slaps a 60% tariff on China and 20% on all other imports instead of using the class warfare talking points.

I really don't think this election is close. If you take a look at where Hillary and Biden stood in the polls vs. Trump at this point in time in the election cycle in 2016 and 2020 and compare it with where Harris is at, Trump is well ahead. Since Bush 43 in 2004, with the exception of Romney in 2012, Republican POTUS candidates have outperformed the polls. I'd love to be wrong.

We'll see in a few days. You may be right.

Look, I think the Democratic Party really needs to change their issues. They are on the bad side of a lot of issues. They played badly versus Trump by relying on every trick in their playbook to make a guy look bad to the point they became the little boy who cried wolf. No one is stupid enough to believe Trump is Hitler, a fascist, a rapist, a Russian traitor, going to destroy the country, a racist, a stupid man, a bad businessman, an evil mastermind who will take over the nation never allowing elections again, launched a coup, and did everything short of murder. It got so ridiculous that people tuned out everything the Democrats were doing because it was too much to believe.

It did not help that Trump took some of the usual Democratic issues. When I have Republican friends accusing Democrats of being warmongers that Trump will stop, something is wrong. Apparently the Democrats want the War in Ukraine now because they are making money on it and using it as a distraction from their bad governing. That is bonkers as I've heard that accusation leveled at Republicans many times. The Democrats have a massive anti-war voting bloc that is causing them issues with their support of Israel in the current conflict. Democrats cannot afford to be warmongers, so that is a pretty crazy idea being pushed by the Trump supporters.

Trump is really hard for Democrats to campaign against on issues because he took some of their issues by painting himself as pro-working man, anti-war, and great for the economy and free speech. When is the last Republican you saw paint themselves as pro-working man?

So hard for the Democrats to win on issues. They threw everything and the kitchen sink at Trump to make him look like the Devil to the point no one even listens to it anymore as it sounds too ridiculous to believe. They are canceling people who don't agree with them which looks like a threat to freedom of speech. They have let anti-Semitic elements in their party have too loud a voice. Their economics are bad as you've always known.

So if Trump wins, Democrats did it to themselves.

On a side note, Inslee just oked a wind farm in Washington State. I wonder if it will be in your area of the state as you have more open land. A big, ugly, bird killing wind farm for for power.

At least many are starting to look at nuclear as an option as the new technologies are making it a pretty good choice for power versus environmental impact. The better path forward is more power generated using less land and resources.

Yep. The wind farm is just to the south of where I live. Some of those turbines are 670 feet tall, taller than the Space Needle. I can't see it from where I live, but it's going to be visible for a lot of people. I personally don't object to the aesthetics of wind turbines. but a helluva lot of people do. Every local survey I've seen about the issue shows that between 75 and 80 percent of the locals don't want them, yet Inslee shoves them down our throats. And it's not like we need them. Most of our power generated in this region doesn't involve the burning of fossil fuels, it's hydro and nuclear. The Dems have wrapped their arms and legs around solar and wind, which have huge footprints, and refuse to recognize the importance of nuclear and hydro. That's a great example of why Trump resonates for so many people, because of the arrogance of Dems like Inslee.

You're right about the Dems. I'll never forget our good friend C-bob back in 2016 when he said, and I'm paraphrasing, that Trump was the best Republican nominee that the Dems could have ever hoped for. Yet, they can't beat him. What does that say about the Democratic party? That they can't beat the easiest foe they could have ever hoped for? Something is seriously wrong with the Dem's message. They need a complete reset, broaden their tent to include moderates.

I did see where pollsters have added a fudge factor to their polling methods: Pew has also found the majority of pollsters have changed their methods since the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, where Trump's performance was significantly underestimated.

So, who knows. Nevertheless, I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

[Aseahawkfan]

Here we go. Let's see if Lichtman made the right call or we get another Trump surprise.

So glad it should be over and decided in a few days or hopefully by next week. I hope absent COVID we get a smoother process and transition than last time.

[Aseahawkfan]

Unless some surprising shifts occur by tomorrow, looks like Riverdog's nightmare is about to occur: four more years of Trump. And looking like Red in the Senate again too and possibly the House.

Doubt the Dems trying to count until they win will be tolerated this time around. Way too risky for the country to pull that off this time.

I guess we'll see in the next few days. Races are pretty tight, but it looks mostly done with Trump taking the 270 plus electoral votes. PA and AK alone will put him over. It looks like MI and WI are likely going red.

We'll see if much changes when we all wake up tomorrow.

You should have made a bet in Vegas, Riverdog. You're better at prognostication than Lichtman when it comes to Trump.

[c_hawkbob]

Bummer.

[River Dog]

I hate it when I'm right and my nightmares come true. Just like I said, this election wasn't close. I couldn't even look at the results last night, didn't know anything about it until just a couple hours after I got up.

It looks like Trump is going to sweep all of the swing states, won WI, PA, NC, and GA by over 2%, leading in NV and AZ by 4+%, even won the popular vote by a wide margin, currently leading by nearly 5M. Not much bitching or bellyaching that the Dems can do after this election. No Russian interference, no rigged voting machines, no SCOTUS halting recounts, electoral college agreed with the popular vote, there's nothing for them to rationalize their defeat. The Dems had better take a long look in the mirror. Harris was way too liberal, as is 95% of their party. People voted for or against the party, not the person. It's their message that's flawed.

Another 4+ years of a s*** show.

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

You already said it, River. The Democrats had a weak message and ran on a rough record. That Trump won the electoral college and popular vote suggests the Kamala campaign couldn't turn moderates on to them.

ETA: I realize not all votes have been reported, so the popular vote tally isn't finished. Basing my statement on the +5 million for Trump.

[River Dog]

You already said it, River. The Democrats had a weak message and ran on a rough record. That Trump won the electoral college and popular vote suggests the Kamala campaign couldn't turn moderates on to them.

ETA: I realize not all votes have been reported, so the popular vote tally isn't finished. Basing my statement on the +5 million for Trump.

Actually, their track record wasn't that bad, at least as far as inflation and the economy goes, which was identified by voters as the top two criteria. The jobs market is strong, and inflation is back down to the Fed's target. IMO the problem was that Harris didn't talk enough about the good parts of the economy, that their message was all about Trump being a threat to democracy. It was the same mistake that Hillary Clinton made, that all she could talk about was Trump and his basket of deplorables. They should have focused more on what some of Trump's proposals, like tariffs, would do to inflation or how not taxing SS benefits would bring the system closer to insolvency.

It's going to take a pretty big swing to erase a 5M vote lead. That's 3% of the total of votes cast in 2020. As a rule, post-election night vote tallies move by just a percentage or two

[Aseahawkfan]

Actually, their track record wasn't that bad, at least as far as inflation and the economy goes, which was identified by voters as the top two criteria. The jobs market is strong, and inflation is back down to the Fed's target. IMO the problem was that Harris didn't talk enough about the good parts of the economy, that their message was all about Trump being a threat to democracy. It was the same mistake that Hillary Clinton made, that all she could talk about was Trump and his basket of deplorables. They should have focused more on what some of Trump's proposals, like tariffs, would do to inflation or how not taxing SS benefits would bring the system closer to insolvency.

It's going to take a pretty big swing to erase a 5M vote lead. That's 3% of the total of votes cast in 2020. As a rule, post-election night vote tallies move by just a percentage or two

Harris wasn't going to win on talking the economy. No one believes the Democrats are good with the economy except a handful of people who delve deeply on the economy to see both parties are similar. Biden and the Dems were being blamed for the inflation and no one was going to believe otherwise unless you already buy in to Democratic philosophy.

Democrats likely needed to remove Biden sooner, go through the normal primary process to select a candidate, and hope someone far better than Harris won. Harris looked good out of the gate and picked the working class Walz, but the hideout strategy didn't work and Walz proved less good at campaigning than Vance. I do think the Rogan interviews really helped at the end there. He really humanized Trump and kept him focused in ways other interviewers had not which prevented him from rambling too much and appearing incoherent. JD Vance is a very good speaker. No hems and haws or ums, very focused, easy going, intelligent, and comfortable in front of the microphone. Much more so than Walz.

The bigger problem is the Democrats built their entire platform on Trump hate and the Republicans answered back with Democrat hate. All I heard from both parties was how much the other side was going to ruin this country. That's it. Over and over and over again. Constantly from both parties. Democrats with their constant claim of being the "smarter" party because of the number of voters degrees which shows nothing more than the education system has a liberal bias that trains people to be liberal. They are no better at decision making than a working class person. It's a ridiculous assertion. The Republicans answered in kind making the Democrats seem like election cheaters and tyrants pushing cancel culture and trying to use the legal system to punish their political opponents.

How do you run on issues when you've made everything about this one man? The Democrats made everything about Trump the man and very little concerning the issues. The Dems turned Trump into a cartoon villain to their own voters. And turned themselves into cartoon villains to Republicans by doing so. So the election became less about issues and more about two cartoon villains fighting each other with each party seeing their candidate as the hero defeating the other side's villain.

Terrible way to manage politics in my opinion.

[River Dog]

Harris wasn't going to win on talking the economy. No one believes the Democrats are good with the economy except a handful of people who delve deeply on the economy to see both parties are similar. Biden and the Dems were being blamed for the inflation and no one was going to believe otherwise unless you already buy in to Democratic philosophy.

Democrats likely needed to remove Biden sooner, go through the normal primary process to select a candidate, and hope someone far better than Harris won. Harris looked good out of the gate and picked the working class Walz, but the hideout strategy didn't work and Walz proved less good at campaigning than Vance. I do think the Rogan interviews really helped at the end there. He really humanized Trump and kept him focused in ways other interviewers had not which prevented him from rambling too much and appearing incoherent. JD Vance is a very good speaker. No hems and haws or ums, very focused, easy going, intelligent, and comfortable in front of the microphone. Much more so than Walz.

The bigger problem is the Democrats built their entire platform on Trump hate and the Republicans answered back with Democrat hate. All I heard from both parties was how much the other side was going to ruin this country. That's it. Over and over and over again. Constantly from both parties. Democrats with their constant claim of being the "smarter" party because of the number of voters degrees which shows nothing more than the education system has a liberal bias that trains people to be liberal. They are no better at decision making than a working class person. It's a ridiculous assertion. The Republicans answered in kind making the Democrats seem like election cheaters and tyrants pushing cancel culture and trying to use the legal system to punish their political opponents.

How do you run on issues when you've made everything about this one man? The Democrats made everything about Trump the man and very little concerning the issues. The Dems turned Trump into a cartoon villain to their own voters. And turned themselves into cartoon villains to Republicans by doing so. So the election became less about issues and more about two cartoon villains fighting each other with each party seeing their candidate as the hero defeating the other side's villain.

Terrible way to manage politics in my opinion.

Democrats have won before by talking about the economy. Bill Clinton used it twice to his advantage. "It's the economy, stupid!" was one of his campaign slogans. The problem was that by her silence, Harris let the Republicans make everyone think that the economy was doing poorly.

There's a lot of fingers being pointed now, and a number of them are saying the same things you have, that Biden waited too long to drop out, that Harris wasn't vetted through a primary contest, that the Dems lied about Biden's physical state, the war in Israel, choosing Waltz as a running mate, too much focus on abortion, that she went into hiding after the convention and let the Republicans define who she was by highlighting her liberal roots, making sure everyone knew that she was a California liberal. She let them define her role as the 'border czar', didn't defend herself by noting that it was pent up demand from the pandemic that was the primary cause of the surge, that illegal border crossings are currently way down, and so on. She never talked about the border despite it being one of the top issues with voters. Had she taken Kelly from Arizona, it would have shown that she was serious about it, but instead, she chose a running mate that is considered further left than she is. All she could ever talk about was abortion and Trump being a threat to democracy.

The other, long-term thing that I think was a factor is that the Dems kept Trump in the news from the day he left office. That idiot DA in New York elevating a misdemeanor to a felony was stupid. All it did was play into Trump's witch hunt narrative. The problems that deep blue California has had, with homelessness, gas prices, budget deficits, crime, and so on, regardless of whether it was fair or not, reinforced in a lot of people's minds what the Democratic Party is all about.

Oh, well. At least we shouldn't have any post-election violence like there would have been had Trump lost in a close election. But I have serious concerns about the direction of this country.

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

They weren’t going to win on economy. It doesn’t really matter that inflation came down this year; prices are still 21% higher than pre Covid and people haven’t forgotten how much they had to spend to survive since that time. Interest rates are still in the 7% range. Perception hasn’t really changed there, and I don’t think the plan to spend more money to get out of it did them any favors.

It also doesn’t matter the immigration is down now. It’s the millions that have already been let in since Biden took office. It’s the flying of Haitian immigrants into small towns that had people concerned as well.

Kamala did very little to alay concerns over these two issues.

No, abortion wasn’t near the issue they thought it would be.

I the issues of student loan forgiveness and trans women in sports, while smaller issues, didn’t help either.

Kamala is still sitting below 70M in the popular vote. It was 81 million last election. Trump was in the same ballpark as last election. What happened there? Why the deficit in the Democrat side? That drop is huge, and, to me, says they could not pull a substantial amount of moderates and may have even lost some of there own. And I’m seeing tons of posts on my FB feed of friends and acquaintances touting the moral and intellectual superiority to those of us who voted for Trump. I’m a law-abiding, productive, educated, intelligent, faithful husband and loving father being called an idiot and degenerate by these people. I’m not buying what they are selling; there wasn’t a reasonable plan forward and you’re (the left in general) certainly not winning me over to your side by disparaging who I am because I disagree with you.

[Aseahawkfan]

Democrats have won before by talking about the economy. Bill Clinton used it twice to his advantage. "It's the economy, stupid!" was one of his campaign slogans. The problem was that by her silence, Harris let the Republicans make everyone think that the economy was doing poorly.

There's a lot of fingers being pointed now, and a number of them are saying the same things you have, that Biden waited too long to drop out, that Harris wasn't vetted through a primary contest, that the Dems lied about Biden's physical state, the war in Israel, choosing Waltz as a running mate, too much focus on abortion, that she went into hiding after the convention and let the Republicans define who she was by highlighting her liberal roots, making sure everyone knew that she was a California liberal. She let them define her role as the 'border czar', didn't defend herself by noting that it was pent up demand from the pandemic that was the primary cause of the surge, that illegal border crossings are currently way down, and so on. She never talked about the border despite it being one of the top issues with voters. Had she taken Kelly from Arizona, it would have shown that she was serious about it, but instead, she chose a running mate that is considered further left than she is. All she could ever talk about was abortion and Trump being a threat to democracy.

The other, long-term thing that I think was a factor is that the Dems kept Trump in the news from the day he left office. That idiot DA in New York elevating a misdemeanor to a felony was stupid. All it did was play into Trump's witch hunt narrative. The problems that deep blue California has had, with homelessness, gas prices, budget deficits, crime, and so on, regardless of whether it was fair or not, reinforced in a lot of people's minds what the Democratic Party is all about.

Oh, well. At least we shouldn't have any post-election violence like there would have been had Trump lost in a close election. But I have serious concerns about the direction of this country.

The days of Clinton and Reagan are long past. Democratic Party stands for trans females in female sports, children getting transition therapy at an age so young they can't choose much else but apparently their gender, open borders, socialist economics with The Squad, environmental extremism, defund the police, critical race theory, and the main thing sustaining the Democratic Party is 60s union Democrats who don't realize their party has gone so far left as to be unrecognizable from the Democrats of old. Last Democratic President to serve in the military was JFK. Last Democratic Presidential candidate to serve in the military was John Kerry.

If the Republicans want to really solidify power, they should pursue the union Democrats and working class like Trump and JD Vance pushed for which at least caused a few of the major unions to avoid endorsing a candidate. JD Vance is middle right. Trump is middle right.

I have zero fear for the direction of the country. Trump has always been middle right. He's far more of a fiscal conservative than a social conservative. Trump wants lower taxes, less regulation, and more money being made. He'll do some token stuff with the borders, but nothing serious. He didn't even put the cages up as that occurred during Obama even though he got blamed for it. Immigration didn't slow down under Trump and it won't again. Trump's going to re-establish his tax cuts. If he can get some of these wars solved, then he'll be doing better than Biden did. I don't care what the reason is or how folks try to spin it, Putin waits for Democrats to be in office to take more land because Democrats are militarily weak and refuse to use the U.S. military for diplomacy even against tyrants like Putin. Trump likely won't use it either as he is very anti-war, but hopefully he'll get some kind of deal done to lower that.

You want to talk about what could really be said about the economy, then talk about what the Trump presidency was like prior to the pandemic: as in we were all just fine. Nothing but money being made and a whole lot of pointless pretending that we were worse off than we were.

I know you don't pay it much mind, but this transgender stuff is absolutely ridiculous. Title 9 should not be used to let transitioned females compete against women in sports. Children who can't smoke, drink, join the military, drive, sign a contract without their parents, and so much other stuff be able to decide their misgendered and enter gender transition surgery. Democrats supporting this feels absolutely like crime to me. It is an absolutely outrageous and immoral position that should be pushed back against in the extreme. I don't care what an adult wants to do to themselves, but they need to accept the consequences of their choices which is not competing in women's sports and children need to reach full maturity before making choices that extreme.

How you see what the Democrats are offering as better for the nation shows me you aren't looking too close at what the Democratic Party is doing with the legal system and their social and economic agenda. The Democrats are the ones offering a very dismal future for America of using the legal system to force anyone who disagrees with them to comply by suing them into compliance and threatening to sue corporations until they use their corporate power to threaten anyone's job who doesn't buy into the Democratic platform, especially the alphabet sexuality. How you are ignoring this is beyond me when it is occurring all around you in the news from Democratic State governments suing small business cake makers who don't want to service a homosexual wedding to corporations firing people for what they post on their personal social media accounts.

To you that is a better world it seems, but to me Trump seems the lesser of two evils as he will be America as we know it. No problems acknowledging what a woman is. No Title 9 forcing schools to let biological males that have barely transitioned into women's sports. No environmental extremism. About his most toxic position is on immigration and last time he was in office he barley did much about it as immigration levels were the same.

You've done like so many Democrats and built Trump into more of a villain than he is while talking out both sides of your mouth about how "immigration is at its lowest level" with the Dems even when it wasn't changed much under Trump even with all his talk. Only thing Trump got passed was tax cuts. Nation was find until the stupid pandemic. Trump would have won in a landslide likely if not for the pandemic because a lot of people are tired of the Dems support of weird and unnecessary cultural change which you seem to ignore.

I can't ignore it myself. I support gay marriage, gay adoption, and I don't care what an adult wants to do as far as transition. But this trans female push into women's sports and pushing this stuff on kids is far darker future for America than anything Trump can concoct or pushed. Democrats are pushing a lot of bad ideas for a nation that even Europe is looking at us and going, "Nope."

Take off the Trump hating glasses and look at the current Democratic Party agenda. It is really bad, worst it has ever been.

You know what. I'm doing wasting my time on Trump and the Democrats. Trump has four years in office, then he's done. If a bunch of you want to spend your time feeling your guts wound up over Trump like you've been doing 8 years, have at it. I know when he's done. I'm tired of seeing people make Trump into more than he is. He's just a man. He's not here to destroy America or anything of the kind. He'll ride his second term out and leave office in his 80s feeling great because he got his second term. That's about it.

Then we'll go through this crap again. I'm sure the Democrats will do their best to turn the next Republican president into a villain like they've done with every Republican president in my lifetime from Bush Jr. the war criminal to Trump the Arch-Villain. It's the Democratic Playbook to vilify whoever runs for the Republican Party. I'm tired of listening to it. These two parties suck. I hope for sane leadership next time around,while I doubt I'll get it. These two parties are too entrenched in vilifying each other to win elections at the expense of the nation.

[Aseahawkfan]

They weren’t going to win on economy. It doesn’t really matter that inflation came down this year; prices are still 21% higher than pre Covid and people haven’t forgotten how much they had to spend to survive since that time. Interest rates are still in the 7% range. Perception hasn’t really changed there, and I don’t think the plan to spend more money to get out of it did them any favors.

It also doesn’t matter the immigration is down now. It’s the millions that have already been let in since Biden took office. It’s the flying of Haitian immigrants into small towns that had people concerned as well.

Kamala did very little to alay concerns over these two issues.

No, abortion wasn’t near the issue they thought it would be.

I the issues of student loan forgiveness and trans women in sports, while smaller issues, didn’t help either.

Kamala is still sitting below 70M in the popular vote. It was 81 million last election. Trump was in the same ballpark as last election. What happened there? Why the deficit in the Democrat side? That drop is huge, and, to me, says they could not pull a substantial amount of moderates and may have even lost some of there own. And I’m seeing tons of posts on my FB feed of friends and acquaintances touting the moral and intellectual superiority to those of us who voted for Trump. I’m a law-abiding, productive, educated, intelligent, faithful husband and loving father being called an idiot and degenerate by these people. I’m not buying what they are selling; there wasn’t a reasonable plan forward and you’re (the left in general) certainly not winning me over to your side by disparaging who I am because I disagree with you.

I listened to Kamala. I tried to figure out what her positions were. She had no positions. She kept flip-flopping against her known positions. She has no experience in international affairs. The border czar stuff was made up. She did nothing on the border. Kamala was a blank slate trying to be a chameleon to win votes with no real record in Washington other than supporting the far left agenda with her votes and some hardline legal credentials when AG of California. Not much else to go on.

It was no wonder she played hide away as she had nothing to offer. Democrats should have picked someone with more experience, but they went for the Obama Effect relying on novelty and celebrity over substance and experience.

[River Dog]

I completely agree with you on your take about transgenders. But except in a general sense in how the Democratic Party defines itself such as I mentioned about blue California, it wasn't a major campaign issue. Harris should have been out there hammering on the issues that meant the most to voters, ie the economy, inflation, the southern border, crime, and so on.

My brother-in-law of whom I really like, worked two jobs for most of his adult life, voted for Trump. He agreed with everything I said about Trump's personality, but he hates Democrats and what they stand for. He voted for a philosophy, not a person.

[River Dog]

I listened to Kamala. I tried to figure out what her positions were. She had no positions. She kept flip-flopping against her known positions. She has no experience in international affairs. The border czar stuff was made up. She did nothing on the border. Kamala was a blank slate trying to be a chameleon to win votes with no real record in Washington other than supporting the far left agenda with her votes and some hardline legal credentials when AG of California. Not much else to go on.

It was no wonder she played hide away as she had nothing to offer. Democrats should have picked someone with more experience, but they went for the Obama Effect relying on novelty and celebrity over substance and experience.

I mostly agree. Harris flip flopped on fracking, a huge issue in western PA. All it did was show voters that they couldn't trust her. Biden made a huge mistake by naming her as some sort of border czar as she had no decision-making authority whatsoever, didn't do squat one way or another. They should have anticipated that there would be a surge of immigrants after the pandemic ended and with Trump out of office, and by naming her as a czar, she had to fall on the sword when the inevitable happened. She was a Senator and state AG with no managerial experience, at least none that she could trumpet as a governor could.

The only place I differ with you is on her inexperience in foreign affairs. Trump didn't have any foreign affairs experience, either, yet he successfully ran against a sitting Secretary of State. I don't think the lack of experience in foreign affairs was a factor at all in this election. Unless we're in a war, cold war or otherwise, foreign policy isn't a huge campaign issue.