17 Comments

Chris, you’re contributing to the nonsense of Trump’s having a massive mandate by saying he won the popular vote. True, he got more votes than Harris, but he still only managed a plurality. A majority of Americans who voted, voted for someone other than Trump.

If Trump had any kind of mandate, we wouldn’t be looking at a House with a razor-thin margin just like last term.

Don’t lend credence to Republican claims of a mandate when this is a case of saying it DOES make it so.

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And it is not like Republicans are all alone on Capitol Hill. There are still Democrats, Republicans have a very narrow majority, and Donald J Trump is kicking off with some spectacularly poor choices. He cannot possibly fulfill his campaign promises, and all the decisions that he is making point to higher prices and a worse economy. Don’t expect Democratic silence. Most voters did not think the next four years would be fulfillment of his fever dreams of retribution…..look for buyer’s remorse 2026.

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Donald Trump won the popular vote. You might want to redefine what that means, but nobody is going to go along with that. By your standard, Ronald Reagan barely ‘won’ the popular vote in 1980 and Bill Clinton never won it.

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Updated vote counts as of earlier today:

Harris: 75.7 m votes (48.5%)

Trump: 77.9 m votes (49.9%)

Other: 2.6 m votes (1.6%)

Turnout: 156.1 m votes (vs 158.6 m in 2000)

Trump margin: +1.4%

The EC distorts the picture. This is nowhere near a “historic mandate.”

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Yes, Trump won the popular vote, the first Republican to do that in 20 years. That cannot be denied.

However, you don’t need to “redefine” majority to see that this election always was and has turned out to be a very very close one. Per the numbers that David posted, can you call this a “landslide” that would lead to believing that Trump had a “mandate”? I think that would be going a step too far, but when has Trump ever *not* lied when it was to his advantage?

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Thank you, David! Also, Trump only got about 750,000 more votes than in 2020, which when factoring in the rise in US population in the last 4 years, means he got a lower percentage of the voters than before.

Also, in the 7 swing states, Democrats won down ballot races in 5 of them: NV AZ MI WI all voted for a Dem Senator, and NC for a Dem governor plus several other Dems. The exceptions are PA Senator (though it's still undecided who wins there) and GA who had nobody of note running down ballot. Plus the NC Dem down ballot candidates received MORE votes than Trump got. For sure Harris lost in all the swing states, but it is NOT a mandate. No way.

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The GOP won 52% of the house vote this year to the Dems 47%... that would be crushing if not for Illinois gerrymandering and the fact of wasted votes in the cities from new black/brown republicans. And all the votes aren’t counted yet, you can’t assume that Trump isn’t at 50%+

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The House majority is so tiny Hakeem Jeffries is likely to be in control of passing all Congressional legislation. Again. Anything that adds to the national debt, like a tax cut for the rich, or paying to deport millions of people, even Republicans won’t tolerate. Trump likely doesn’t need Congress at all to do some things and will use executive action. But then the blue states will sue him. Tenth Amendment vs Supremacy Clause battles is what I want to see. As it supports the idea of defanging the federal government which Trump supports. Ironic. But he may not understand that he is the federal government now lol

All this misses the realization that Trump isn’t going to do anything that makes him unpopular. Like closing down millions of schools when the department of education goes away. Parents will be mad as all heck He may do this anyway, see the carnage then reverse himself.

That said, most of his staff picks (Dog killer the exception) are smart people. Who won’t do daft things like Bannon did. His chief of staff Susie Wiles in particular. She will most likely tell him the truth of what will happen, preventing the chaos before it happens. Let’s hope so.

While Harris lost everywhere, with every demographic a 2% move back to them over the next 4 years will put them back in Presidential power. Congressionally, Democrats actually did quite well.

When Democrats are back in power (it will happen at some point before the next Republican picks retire) the US Supreme Court will be reformed. Perhaps limiting their rein to a decade. So I’m less concerned about them. They are incredibly unpopular, partisan and prone to taking money from oligarchs. That’s not sustainable in a Democracy.

So yes, Republicans have total control. And, no they don’t. lol

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Plus the Dems still have lawyers, lawyers, lawyers. Plus the ACLU, NAACP, and other initials that can help keep things in line. I do admit I am OK so far with his picks for top positions, like Rubio and Noem should be fine. But Trump had better allow Senate confirmation hearings, or there will be trouble.

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What is the GOP gonna DO?

Answer: MAGA! 😎

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Nov 13·edited Nov 13

Who’s in?

The clowns. Yes men. Literally the worst possible sycophants/boot lickers that one can imagine getting jobs that they are totally unqualified to perform.

Coming up; Sarah Palin for Press Secretary, and Don Jr. for Court Jester.

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In all due respect, Republicans do not control the House, the election is not over in many states, House, Senate counts and recounts are still ongoing. Stay safe

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Nov 13·edited Nov 13

Chris, this is my belated comment to a Mailbag item you wrote last Friday (it was saved in my Inbox). You were right. As a Democrat I have to say that the commenter's remark showed a common attitude which is very damaging to Democrats' prospects. It's similar to when people were offended when told that millions of voters thought Biden was too old. People don't seem to understand that in politics, perception is reality.

Anyhow, I've pasted in the back-and-forth you had with a disappointed reader in your Friday Mailbag (saved in my inbox) because I think it's so important it bears repeating and pondering.

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“Q: I’m really disgusted by all the Monday morning quarterbacking, with finger pointing at Kamala Harris, I.e. “she wasn’t a good candidate”, “she did too much of this/she didn’t do enough of that”, etc. You, Chris by virtue of your Thursday morning post, are one of those doing the finger pointing at her. And then you went on to say in a https://substack.com/redirect/59cac6cc-48e6-4778-9f75-eae12a485b13?j=eyJ1IjoiMWJ5dTNzIn0.nhVGGPP1Oh8t8lSQFY2aqaxdnXKZQtigKyMO-NZ2Ra4 that Biden started this disaster in motion by announcing in March of 2020 that he would be choosing a woman as a VP. I believe this is grossly unfair and feeds into the misogyny that has been clearly present in this country. Your comments would be much appreciated, because I’m depressed and pissed at the same time.

A: To be clear: I did not say anything about March 2020. That was a senior-level Democratic strategist. I simply published what he sent me. You are free to disagree with his views! But I didn’t write that.

As for your point about criticizing Harris, I am not totally sure what you think should happen after the Democratic nominee loses all 7 swing states and Donald Trump improves his showing from 2020 in 48 out of the 50 states?

This was a comprehensive defeat for Harris and Democrats. And while I think there were absolutely atmospheric factors at work here (Biden’s unpopularity, economic pessimism etc.) I do think that Harris made mistakes as a candidate — most notably by moving far too slowly to separate herself from Biden.

Again, this question feels infused with the “we did nothing wrong and need to change nothing” mentality that I think is absolutely corrosive for Democrats going forward.”

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I would be lying if I said I wasn't worrried about the NEW administration that is coming in about 70 days. I honestly believe that he will not be the President for ALL Americans, just those who voted for him. Has anyone noticed that no one is talking about a fake or fraudulent election? I wonder why? How did the democrats get is so wrong? The Republicans control all three, Presidency, Senate and the House........, it is going to be a long four years for the our nation. Let's see if our economy improves (which people will say it is, even if it isn't) and if our 401k increase. If you know how to read the stock market (either way, up or down) the next four year should be good with all the uncertainty that is surely headed our way.

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I play some remixes of a Biblio track I love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRI2u1v4uCM

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chill ambient, thanks

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Destroy the EPA

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