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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#156576: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:39:31 AM

[up][up][up] It would require Trump fucking up badly enough to alienate even his rabid supporters. Which I don't see happening even if he did murder someone in public.

edited 18th Nov '16 11:39:50 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#156577: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:41:29 AM

[up][up][up]Sure. But the brakes just broke. Either we get on track so that we have time to fix them, so that hopefully we can start reversing direction soon, or we dive off the edge.

edited 18th Nov '16 11:41:53 AM by Gilphon

Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#156578: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:42:06 AM

Race, class issues asside, the cold reality is that if there is to be any hope of prying the government away from Republican hands, some of the people who did not vote or voted Trump are going to have to be convinced to flip. Those voters happen to be largely rural whites.

We should absolutely not bow down to bigotry but it's going to require dealing with the "I voted for Trump for economic reasons" people as people with valid problems who made a bad decision, not the eternal enemy. The enemy sits in his golden tower on 5th Avenue, and in Congress. Treating the swing voters as the enemy is playing into his hands.

edited 18th Nov '16 11:43:20 AM by Elle

Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#156579: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:43:05 AM

So Trump won with less votes than Romney won with. Since a good chunk of Trump's voters were blue dog Democrats that means an even larger chunk of Republicans didn't vote for him.

A lot of them were vocal opponents of Trump and endorses Clinton, but I'm willing to bet just as many stayed home on election day. Any chance of courting the rest of them into the fold?

RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#156580: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:44:26 AM

Remember when Trump bragged that he could shoot someone dead in broad daylight, and people would still vote for him? He was absolutely right. We're in a post-truth society, even more than we were already, and even if people don't like Trump, they love the idea of Trump.

Which is why I feel like we basically need a Good Counterpart to Trump. Someone who can outdo him in terms of political showmanship and charisma, yet is actually, you know, not an absolutely detestable human being. And we also need Trump to seriously fuck over his own voters, in ways that not even they can ignore.

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#156581: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:45:19 AM

[up] We had one: Barack Obama. But he can't run for a third term.

Disgusted, but not surprised
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#156582: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:46:23 AM

[up][up] There's always Kanye West...tongue

[down] Wouldn't stop him from running against Trump. Especially if he's absolute trash in his first term.

edited 18th Nov '16 11:47:59 AM by DingoWalley1

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#156583: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:46:47 AM

[up] He's a Trump supporter though.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#156584: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:49:41 AM

I think in terms of showmanship, Bernie has similar amounts of charisma as Trump. If he reworks his policies into something more functional next time around, he could provide a strong opposition.

"All you Fascists bound to lose."
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#156585: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:50:47 AM

[up]That's if he hasn't kicked the bucket yet. (Which is something I hate to say, but there you have it.)

RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#156586: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:53:27 AM

Even if he can't run, Obama can still put his charisma and popularity to good use if he turns to activism - which I pray on my knees that he does. Don't abandon us, Obama. You're the only one who can find Trump's Horcruxes.

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#156587: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:54:39 AM

Sanders may be old but I doubt he'd have run for President if there were any near-term worries about his health. And he's not currently ruling out 2020 although it's a long shot (he compared it to the chances of him going to the moon, then pointed out that Elon Musk is working on sending people to Mars so the chance shouldn't be underestimated.).

edited 18th Nov '16 11:57:21 AM by Elle

TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#156588: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:57:26 AM

The Stress would've easily killed Sa fees while he was in office. The fact that Reagan lasted as long as he did was a goddamn miracle.

New Survey coming this weekend!
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#156589: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:57:40 AM

Assuming of course he is able to win the primaries in 2020.

Disgusted, but not surprised
PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#156590: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:58:38 AM

Even if he can't run, Obama can still put his charisma and popularity to good use if he turns to activism - which I pray on my knees that he does. Don't abandon us, Obama. You're the only one who can find Trump's Horcruxes.
Obama's more or less said once he's out of office and taken a brief vacation to relax and unwind a bit, he plans to take the kid gloves off.

The Democrats basically have a ton of guys waiting to fight back against the worst excesses of the Trump Presidency and the Republican Congress.

The only reason they haven't shown up before is Clinton's political machine would of steamrolled them.

The Stress would've easily killed Sa fees while he was in office. The fact that Reagan lasted as long as he did was a goddamn miracle.
One wonders how well Trump will survive. He's a 72 year old man who eats a lot of unhealthy food, is overweight, sleeps only 2 hours a day and is on cholesterol medication.

edited 18th Nov '16 12:00:01 PM by PotatoesRock

RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#156591: Nov 18th 2016 at 12:00:20 PM

I just hope it's enough.

If Obama winds up kicking some ass once he's out of office - you know how I've been comparing Trump and the GOP to Voldemort and the Death Eaters this entire time (because it's a completely apt comparison)? This is going to be like when Dumbledore's Army finds out Harry Potter is still alive.

Also, it would be darkly karmic if Trump wound up keeling over from stress. Although then we get President Pence. Hooray.

edited 18th Nov '16 12:00:48 PM by RBluefish

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#156592: Nov 18th 2016 at 12:01:56 PM

Well, if he's used to not sleeping much that's probably a benefit at least.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Memers Since: Aug, 2013
#156593: Nov 18th 2016 at 12:02:09 PM

The fact that Reagan lasted as long as he did was a goddamn miracle.
He didn't really make it intact, his wife was running a lot of it by the end of his term.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#156594: Nov 18th 2016 at 12:02:49 PM

[up][up][up] To say nothing of the GOP Congress and their own horrific long-standing agendas. Such as Paul Ryan's dream of demolishing Medicare.

edited 18th Nov '16 12:03:08 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#156595: Nov 18th 2016 at 12:02:50 PM

So those Rust Belt workers are literally voting for their own deaths?

That's not an especially new phenomenon, either.

Even before Trump, working class America has routinely supported the GOP because they enshrine the 50's america values and society, which is what the GOP represents to them. They view the democrats as "communists" and elitist snobs, which ignores the fact that

a) while liberal smugness might be something of a valid complaint, they're still more liable to help them then the GOP. The GOP has routinely shown that it cares more about making money and remaining in power.

They do not care about improving the conditions of rural or working class whites whatsoever. They care about profiting off the big business that routinely screws over those people and only helps to make an unequal society more unequal. The measures that the democrats at large propose like social security, better access to health care, etc would do a lot to help them, but they're essentially in denial about the fact that "pulling yourself by your bootstraps" sounds nice but many people just can't do that no matter how hard they try because we don't live in an equal society.

The GOP have also displayed a short-sighted greed in regards to the environment, showing that they live in willful ignorance or complete apathy to the idea that they're accelerating a climate change that would cause problems to human society at large.

b) The society and time they're lionizing was morally bankrupt. The 50's sucked for anyone who wasn't white or straight.

edited 18th Nov '16 12:06:18 PM by Draghinazzo

RedSavant Since: Jan, 2001
#156596: Nov 18th 2016 at 12:06:17 PM

President Pence wouldn't be any better than President Trump, though. Trump doesn't know what he's doing; Pence is a fanatic with plans, and a lot of them are very, very bad for anyone who isn't a straight white Christian.

It's been fun.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#156597: Nov 18th 2016 at 12:07:03 PM

[up] As an Asian-American atheist, Pence worries me. I can't imagine how scared I would feel if I wasn't heterosexual.

Disgusted, but not surprised
RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#156598: Nov 18th 2016 at 12:08:53 PM

As another Asian-American atheist/agnostic (hetero asexual), I share your sentiment.

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#156599: Nov 18th 2016 at 12:09:20 PM

[up][up][up]Except Pence is a lot more predictable. As they say, better the devil you know...

edited 18th Nov '16 12:09:36 PM by kkhohoho

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#156600: Nov 18th 2016 at 12:10:04 PM

The Democrats basically have a ton of guys waiting to fight back against the worst excesses of the Trump Presidency and the Republican Congress.

The only reason they haven't shown up before is Clinton's political machine would of steamrolled them.

... Why?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

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