The Republican Party, recognizing that its wishful Ward Cleaverism is doomed by demographics and decency, has publicly abandoned its unspeakable platform and thrown all of its hopes behind election-rigging and a cult of personality. Knowing their denials of responsibility for four years of Trump chaos won’t win a majority of 2020 voters any more than promises of chaos won a majority of 2016 voters, Republicans can only resort to money, messaging, and celebrity.
Hence the placement of celebrity Kanye West on the ballot in eight states, including Minnesota:
Rapper turned presidential candidate Kanye West will appear on the ballot in Idaho, Minnesota and Tennessee, adding to five states Forbes previously verified, after a string of failures in states West tried to qualify to run in, including Missouri, Wyoming, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Montana.
Forbes determined last week that West had made the ballot in at least five states: Iowa, Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Vermont [Elena Lyn Gross, “Kanye West Will Now Appear on the Presidential Ballot in Eight States,” Forbes, 2020.08.26].
West has admitted he’s playing at politics to harm Joe Biden’s chances of winning:
When asked directly if he was running to hurt Democrat Biden’s campaign West, running as an independent, had earlier told Forbes he was ‘walking’, adding: ‘Walking…to win.’
The Grammy award winner was later probed on the fact it is not possible for him to win in 2020, suggesting he is running as a distraction. Vocal Trump supporter West replied: ‘I’m not going to argue with you. Jesus is King.’
He did not confirm who was helping to run his strategy. But when asked about harming Biden’s chances, West replied: ‘I’m not denying it; I just told you’ [Lauren Fruen, “‘I’m Not Running for President… I’m Walking’: Kanye West Suggests He IS Running a Spoiler Campaign Against Joe Biden as He Is Approved for Colorado’s Ballot and Shares His 2020 Vision Board,” UK Daily Mail, 2020.08.07].
And Republicans are coordinating with West, in possible violation of campaign finance law.
The numbers now suggest West’s marginal efforts won’t swing the election. Polls show Biden up by five percentage points in Minnesota, thirteen in Colorado, and 26 in Vermont. Polls show Trump up by two in Iowa, two in Arkansas, nine in Tennessee, nineteen in Oklahoma, 33 in Idaho. An effective jester-spoiler campaign could thus pull ten electoral votes from Biden in Minnesota and block Biden from picking up six in Iowa and six in Arkansas. But Biden’s Electoral College math is stronger now than when we reviewed it in June: NPR on August 3 put 297 Electoral College votes in Biden’s column with 71 still up for grabs; 270 To Win puts 262 in Biden’s column with 157 in toss-up territory.
But Republicans have turned into the Stunt Party. They can’t win on policy—they won’t even talk policy—so they resort to dirty tricks, bully memes, and celebrity, celebrity, celebrity.
Tune out Kanye and the pop-culture warriors, America. Treat the election as a job interview, and hire the team that running to govern, not sell caps and boost its Instagram Likes.
Waiting for sunrise and Camron Parish surge results, Gov Kristi expiriated in a long NPR interview, and while not having seen the RNC and its offshoots, I can tell you super model uneducated Kristi had no message, no content, no intelligence and was as vacuous and predictable as always. Her reading level seems to equal Trump’s. Sturgis was great btw, she told the nation.
She was successful in promoting the untrained wanna be para military soldier with the AR15 in a Wisc crowd trying to promote order by wearing camouflage-killing two BLM protestors. She may as well wear the white dunce cap of the KKK.
Kanye has serious mental issues, but even he would know not to rob Peter to pay Paul. All these names and now Laura, yes, Hurricane Laura has struck with a sober vengeance and right during trump’s thingy. We are short half the money for FEMA disaster help. Can you believe it? The Senate, under Vladimir Thune and EB5 Short Rounds, allowed this to happen..without congressional approval. Reminds me of Falwell dipping into the books and whatever.
“To provide financial assistance for the needs of those who have lost employment as a result of the pandemic, I [Trump] am directing up to $44 billion from the DRF at the statutorily mandated 75 percent Federal cost share be made available for lost wages assistance to eligible claimants, to supplement State expenditures in providing these payments. At least $25 billion of total DRF balances will be set aside to support ongoing disaster response and recovery efforts and potential 2020 major disaster costs.”
Fellers, that potential 2020 major disaster just happened again. This is August and there are still some months left for even bigger ones to strike. Funny how that pesky nature has turned her fury on the one country that has proven it cares little about it.
Say what you want about Ward Cleaver, the man had character. He raised some pretty decent kids, though most of us thought Eddie Haskell was funniest. We all knew someone like Eddie, and we secretly wished we could be as sneaky and fake as him. Eddie, as a disingenuous and frightened adolescent wanna be bully, grew up into Donald Trump. And that is where the funny ends.
Trump doesn’t know about or care about the suburbs generally, but he may know something about the collar counties around Milwaukee and the Philadelphia suburbs, and that may be his angle in this. He has lost ground in these suburbs and he must be hoping that the racial angle will be just enough to tip these states.
Why are we continuing to refer to the “GOP” or the “Republican Party?” These entities no longer exist. They have morphed into the POT (Party of You know who, eh?).
Let’s start using the correct term.
Fair point, Donald: Ward Cleaver was a reasonable fictional role model.
Ward Cleaver also lived in a sanitized world with no racial strife (only one black actor ever appeared on the show), no civil unrest, no serious crime, no political debate or upheaval… and no overtly incompetent and malicious narcissist in any high position of power. Trumpists want to believe they offer a re-creation of that fantasy world, when the man they support is actually leading us to something more like Marcos’s Philippines, or Pinochet’s Chile, or Mussolini’s Italy, or the Kims’ North Korea, where the only domestic “peace” is really conformity enforced by state terror and violence.
As with any kind of event like this, there will be some duds and some studs. In case you just want the goodies (are we the baddies, Hans?), here’s a short list of my favorites. I was inspired by Governor Noem, Chen Guangcheng, Abby Johnson (science + philosophy = human rights at conception), Elise Stefanik, Double mastectomy survivor Kayleigh McEnany, The First Lady, and the best presentation of the entire event IMHO, Kellyanne Conway.
I don’t post much anymore because I know the disparity in our views is cognitively disruptive for some folks. That being said, I just wanted to drop in and say hi and for those interested in a less partisan analysis to drop a few pointers.
There were other speeches that were pretty good, too.
Lastly, I just want you to know that I don’t hold any ill will for any individuals here, even if I do liberally rip-up what I perceived to be questionable arguments and ideas like a pit bull.
Sincerely,
John
Kanye will rap it out of the park in Idaho. Those spuds love those rappers, Straight out of Compton. Probably beat trump there.
Fearful Fool, aka Cadet Bone Spurs, is having an even bigger fence put up around Our Capitol. Photos included here, no paywall. is.gd/hSykzG
So Kruel Kristi is emulating her hero, once again.
The TC, trump Cult, shortens your life too. Hence the decision to forgo a 2020 platform.
“According to Jennifer Karas Montez, a sociologist at Syracuse University and the study’s lead author, ‘Across a huge range of issues, the more liberal version of state policies predicts longer life expectancy, and the conservative version predicts shorter life expectancy.’
“[Michael] Hobbes [writer for Huff Post], explains that the study published in Milbank Quarterly ‘illuminates the choice before Americans in the 2020 election. While the Republican Party has declined to release a national policy platform for the next four years, the GOP currently holds 29 state legislatures and 26 governorships and has spent decades enacting its preferred policies in conservative states. Over the last decade, a growing body of research has found that these policies are negatively affecting the health of constituents.'”
is.gd/JURUXa
And oh btw, I doubt the tC convention will mention the plan to end Social Security. Here’s the details, courtesy of Sheila Kennedy. is.gd/YFfwe2
Now that I’ve chewed on a variety of icky crap, I think ill make a pitcher of strawberry margaritas to wash it all down. Later, my friends.
Dale: “disparity in our views” is a politic way of sidestepping that you are saying you are lying to us hoping we don’t catch you. Then you pat yourself on the back telling yourself what a good job you think you are doing, here.
Steve Vladeck
@steve_vladeck 12hr
“The result of a consistent and total substitution of lies for factual truth is not that the lie will now be accepted as truth and truth be defamed as a lie, but that the sense by which we take our bearings in the real world … is being destroyed.”
— Hannah Arendt (1967)
Daniel Dale https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HnhIncE1my8
It’s just another sickening and depraved act by Depraved Donny that he’s using a seriously mentally ill man to aid his election cheating.
West’s wife, Kardashian, has asked Depraved Donny to leave him alone. Of course that didn’t work because DD cares only about himself. Since then Kardashian has asked voters not to sign his petitions or vote for him.
The trump Cult is stronger than the Kardashian cult.
John Dale-if you were ‘inspired’ over this Trumpfest you must REALLY get ‘inspired’ over a Playboy magazine.
It doesn’t take a whole lot to amuse my pet rock, either.