This is the most depressing thing I have read in a while. I am not disagreeing with you, it is just depressing to think that Trump is going to be elected as President again. I followed a car with pro-Trump stickers all over the back part of his car, and there are Pro-Trump flags all over my town. I am just sad.
you must live near me. which is pretty much everywhere outside of any city limits! i'm a road cyclist and it saddens me to see the confederate flags on my rides (not many, but it isn't zero). come next year the "vote for chump" signs will be EVERYWHERE. yuck.
It is tough to be a Democrat in my rural area of my red state. We are pretty beaten down by a GOP super majority in the state legislature who spent more time worrying about 5 trans-students who might participate in high school sports than approving the federal money to help poor children get food.
Please don't be depressed. No reason fir that at all. This is just GOP primary election and NOT the General Election. I can tell you with confidence that Donald Trump will not win the Presidency again. Bob Marley said "You can some people some time but you cannot fool all the people all of the time". I know some people are skeptical of my confidence that Biden will win in 2024. Believe some of the polls but people we are still more than a year before the general election!
I cautiously agree with your assessment. There are many more voters who will NEVER vote for Trump than voters who wave MAGA flags everywhere. Even though polls say Biden support is weak, in a general election between the two I believe Trump has no chance. I hope. I pray. Of course there is that dang electoral college that Chris has pointed out multiple times. I get it!
On my soap box a little more -- I would like for journalists, every time they are writing about the massive GOP primary support for Trump, to also point out the amazing accomplishments of the Biden administration to help readers understand there is a massive difference between Biden's first term and Trump's administration. The factual differences between 'trickle down' economics and 'bottom up / middle out' economics. So many differences in policy that are truly helping Americans every day.
Okay, I'm done now. Thank you, Chris, for your wonderful columns!
I live in one of the bluest counties in one of the bluest states in the country (Baltimore County MD) but that doesn't give me a lot of comfort with respect to the next presidential election. At least my bumper stickers don't result in my car being keyed as long as I stay relatively close to home (and I'm not giving up my ByeDon sticker for anyone). But I'm with you in just how depressing it is (and tbh scary if I let my mind go there). It's also - to me - so completely inexplicable.
That oversized rural influence from districts in my state to states like Montana, impacts the election so that getting the most votes doesn't necessarily mean that the candidate wins.
The only thing I can think of which might derail his trajectory is for one of the trials to start sooner rather than later. My hope is once people hear both the testimony of his hand-picked officials/lawyers highlighting Trump's actions to steal an election, and hear Trump's constant public denials (he will not testify), which will sound more detached from reality - - -
Oh, who am I kidding...
And God forbid, what is the situation if anything happens to Biden....
Yeah, Mike, I think the trial thought is a good one. But, honestly, I am very pessimistic that just because he is at rail (or even convicted) that he would not win the nomination.
I hope one or most of the trials start before the General Election as his criminal activities will be brought to open again. Trump should also want the trials to start before the General Election as well if he really thinks he is innocent. He will be exonerated and he can then say that confirms what he has been saying that he is innocent.
Trump knows he is not innocent, therefore, cannot take the risk of multiple guilty verdicts.
Nevertheless, Trump is not going to testify, and will be screaming this is because there is no evidence he committed a crime, and any evidence which is presented will be fake, doctored or exonerates him. He will also point fingers at others who committed the crimes, if any were committed, and he was completely unaware of what they were doing...
I'm not totally convinced Trump knows he's not innocent. He is one of the most self-deluded creatures on Earth. He probably believes he weighs 215 pounds.
He predicts carnage? I fear that’s what we’ll definitely get if he’s re-elected. Who the hell cares about gas prices and inflation when our democracy will possibly be on the brink.
I understand all the analysis, but I want to hear people making solid plans of what we can do to stop it. If we don't, we'll have no one to blame except ourselves if he wins and it's the last free and fair election ever held in our country. I think people hesitate to put it in those terms, because it sounds melodramatic, but it's the plain truth.
I think we at least have to try and the DNC should be leading the effort. If he becomes the nominee, they need to be laser focused on getting out the vote and not tiptoe around calling him out. Until then, ordinary people need to do everything they can to overcome apathy and indifference.
A lot to do about stopping Trump from winning the General Election in 2024. Check out Joe Messina's writing in the Politico Playbook. Everything that was done to deny him a second term in 2020 would be done to stop him in 2024. It worked in 2020 and it will work even more in 2024. Laura pls don't buy that notion of nothing we can do to stop Trump from winning the General Election in 2024
Volunteer, donate, phone bank, knock on doors, register new voters, and persuade others around you. That's all any of us have available to affect the election.
Voters might rethink DT if enough political and especially non-political leaders would speak up and say what they really think. Influencers, it’s time to influence. Take a risk.
He may be the Republican nominee but he will NEVER BE PRESIDENT AGAIN. He will go down in flames in the actual election. Not sure his ego will survive such a humiliation!
I hope and pray you're right but I I fear his candidacy. Not because he's a good candidate, but because I fear a continuation of the slow-motion coup he and his dark acolytes put into motion in 2017. Across this nation, state governments have been enacting measures to disenfranchise likely Blue voters and make it easier for election results to be set aside.
Trump doesn't have to win at the ballot box.
Trump doesn't have to win in the Electoral College.
Do Republicans think Trump gets a prize for being the GOP nominee, even if he gets trounced in the general election because independents are so turned off by him?
They should also look at their polls in 2020 that said he was going to win but lost in the end. This is not 2016 and Biden is not Hilary Clinton. President Biden is the incumbent President who has had a very successful and drama and corruption free Presidency. He is going to win again in 2024.
Spot on a usual, Chris. Certainly no one who has declared as a candidate for the GQP nomination has a snowball's chance in Miami and I don't see any viable unannounced candidates lurking under the ridge line. The nomination is Trump's to lose and I think a catastrophic medical event might be the only thing that will derail him.
I've toyed with the idea that someone may challenge him being on the GOP primary ballot, but as we saw in 2016 when legal challenges were filed against "Canadian Ted" Cruz the courts declined to get involved citing lack of standing or lack of "a particularized and personalized concrete injury".
I'm reminded of Edwin Edwards who, during his campaign for governor of Louisiana in 1983, boasted, "The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy".
I'm pretty sure Trump could survive the "dead girl" unscathed should such an incident occur.
Agreed -- generally. I think -- and have written -- that Trump is the weakest nominee Republicans could put up, mainly because he fares so poorly with independents.
I do think Biden would have a slight edge in the general election for that reason. But a slight edge.
Democrats did themselves a huge disfavour by skipping the primary phase. Let us say there are some other candidates but then Biden wins them. This makes him look strong. But skipping the whole thing looks like Democrats are scared that Biden is so weak that he should not be challenged. Primaries would have also given the Democrat rank-and-file a chance to discuss, debate and air out grievances. Because there are in fact legitimate reasons to not vote Biden. Just as any candidate, really. The fact that Trump goes into the primaries and just crushers the challengers makes him look even stronger among the rank-and-file Republicans. It gives Trump political legitimacy, which is not a good sign.
Of course! But even it was just for show, it would have given Biden a boost anyway in this particular instance. Because now he is so unpopular with the base.
Not the first person to suggest this but; Biden pardons Trump in advance with stipulation that he is not eligible to run for anything above dog catcher (future offenses excluded) AND Biden promises NOT to run so his pardon can’t be used as fodder by Trump as election interference et al. Far fetched? Yes, but opens up for a real race on both sides.
Fortunately, there is still a significant number of Republicans who say they wouldn’t vote for him in a general election if he is convicted of a crime. He can bluster about supposedly politicized prosecutions, but there’s still a significant batch of Republican voters who respect jury trials.
And, granted, I’m a committed anti-Trump voter, so my opinion plus five bucks gets you a cup of coffee at Starbucks... but it seems somewhat likely there will be one or more guilty verdicts by next November.
Absolutely agreed and I'll go one step farther: Trump could be convicted in all four currently pending cases, and that would only make his popularity go up even more with Republicans. The primary race is indeed, as Chris noted, over. The only hope we have as a nation--if it is to survive as a democracy--is that enough people realize in November of 2024 that if they vote for the Orange Cretin, they are voting for the end of democracy. And, even that may not be enough.
This morning on CNN, Errol Louis opined that the televised state trials would winnow out some of the staunch Trump supporters. I suspect that the televised trials will have some effect, but I expect it to be minimal...perhaps barely register on the meter. I fear Errol may be whistling past the graveyard.
I'm glad you highlighted this, Chris. I'm getting annoyed at the Trump skeptics who go on the Sunday shows and demur when asked if they would support Trump, because he won't be the nominee. Sure about that, Chris Sununu?
The only thing that will change the race is the truth reaching more ears. I don't know how this would happen, but if Trump is exposed as a fraud (I can't believe I'm writing this), then perhaps it would change minds.
This is the most depressing thing I have read in a while. I am not disagreeing with you, it is just depressing to think that Trump is going to be elected as President again. I followed a car with pro-Trump stickers all over the back part of his car, and there are Pro-Trump flags all over my town. I am just sad.
you must live near me. which is pretty much everywhere outside of any city limits! i'm a road cyclist and it saddens me to see the confederate flags on my rides (not many, but it isn't zero). come next year the "vote for chump" signs will be EVERYWHERE. yuck.
It is tough to be a Democrat in my rural area of my red state. We are pretty beaten down by a GOP super majority in the state legislature who spent more time worrying about 5 trans-students who might participate in high school sports than approving the federal money to help poor children get food.
You support cheaters? You support child abuse?
No, do you?
Too good!
Yeah, I can see me wearing that into the local Dollar General. Not!
Sporry!
Please don't be depressed. No reason fir that at all. This is just GOP primary election and NOT the General Election. I can tell you with confidence that Donald Trump will not win the Presidency again. Bob Marley said "You can some people some time but you cannot fool all the people all of the time". I know some people are skeptical of my confidence that Biden will win in 2024. Believe some of the polls but people we are still more than a year before the general election!
I cautiously agree with your assessment. There are many more voters who will NEVER vote for Trump than voters who wave MAGA flags everywhere. Even though polls say Biden support is weak, in a general election between the two I believe Trump has no chance. I hope. I pray. Of course there is that dang electoral college that Chris has pointed out multiple times. I get it!
On my soap box a little more -- I would like for journalists, every time they are writing about the massive GOP primary support for Trump, to also point out the amazing accomplishments of the Biden administration to help readers understand there is a massive difference between Biden's first term and Trump's administration. The factual differences between 'trickle down' economics and 'bottom up / middle out' economics. So many differences in policy that are truly helping Americans every day.
Okay, I'm done now. Thank you, Chris, for your wonderful columns!
I completely agree with you ma Lisa. There are more writings and talks about Biden's age than there are about his numerous achievements.
Doctor, I sincerely hope that your confidence in this country's electorate is justified.
I live in one of the bluest counties in one of the bluest states in the country (Baltimore County MD) but that doesn't give me a lot of comfort with respect to the next presidential election. At least my bumper stickers don't result in my car being keyed as long as I stay relatively close to home (and I'm not giving up my ByeDon sticker for anyone). But I'm with you in just how depressing it is (and tbh scary if I let my mind go there). It's also - to me - so completely inexplicable.
Don't worry. As long as Biden tops the Democratic ticket, Trump won't be reelected.
That oversized rural influence from districts in my state to states like Montana, impacts the election so that getting the most votes doesn't necessarily mean that the candidate wins.
Wait until next June
Ugh - gut punch on a Wednesday morning....
The only thing I can think of which might derail his trajectory is for one of the trials to start sooner rather than later. My hope is once people hear both the testimony of his hand-picked officials/lawyers highlighting Trump's actions to steal an election, and hear Trump's constant public denials (he will not testify), which will sound more detached from reality - - -
Oh, who am I kidding...
And God forbid, what is the situation if anything happens to Biden....
I need a Xanax...
Yeah, Mike, I think the trial thought is a good one. But, honestly, I am very pessimistic that just because he is at rail (or even convicted) that he would not win the nomination.
He is going to win the nomination BUT only the Republicans will care about that. He is going to lose the General Election as he did in 2020.
Hence, the Xanax... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Is 11:30am too early to start drinking?
No. Lol
I guess I'll have to go to the liquor store because if I start now that bottle of vodka will be empty before I pass out.
11:30 is too late these days...
My not so secret hope for derailment is a hope that even the current Supreme Court would rule he can't be president if he's convicted.
Trump will be the next president because they broke the law so many times trying to stop him.
I hope one or most of the trials start before the General Election as his criminal activities will be brought to open again. Trump should also want the trials to start before the General Election as well if he really thinks he is innocent. He will be exonerated and he can then say that confirms what he has been saying that he is innocent.
Trump knows he is not innocent, therefore, cannot take the risk of multiple guilty verdicts.
Nevertheless, Trump is not going to testify, and will be screaming this is because there is no evidence he committed a crime, and any evidence which is presented will be fake, doctored or exonerates him. He will also point fingers at others who committed the crimes, if any were committed, and he was completely unaware of what they were doing...
I'm not totally convinced Trump knows he's not innocent. He is one of the most self-deluded creatures on Earth. He probably believes he weighs 215 pounds.
He absolutely knows. He has been trying to build the illusion that he truly believes he won. Everything is calculated.
He is not guilty of anything.
He predicts carnage? I fear that’s what we’ll definitely get if he’s re-elected. Who the hell cares about gas prices and inflation when our democracy will possibly be on the brink.
The left has been attacking democracy since 2016, not the right.
I understand all the analysis, but I want to hear people making solid plans of what we can do to stop it. If we don't, we'll have no one to blame except ourselves if he wins and it's the last free and fair election ever held in our country. I think people hesitate to put it in those terms, because it sounds melodramatic, but it's the plain truth.
Here's the thing, Laura. What if there is nothing you can do to stop it?
I think we at least have to try and the DNC should be leading the effort. If he becomes the nominee, they need to be laser focused on getting out the vote and not tiptoe around calling him out. Until then, ordinary people need to do everything they can to overcome apathy and indifference.
A lot to do about stopping Trump from winning the General Election in 2024. Check out Joe Messina's writing in the Politico Playbook. Everything that was done to deny him a second term in 2020 would be done to stop him in 2024. It worked in 2020 and it will work even more in 2024. Laura pls don't buy that notion of nothing we can do to stop Trump from winning the General Election in 2024
Volunteer, donate, phone bank, knock on doors, register new voters, and persuade others around you. That's all any of us have available to affect the election.
That is absurd
Voters might rethink DT if enough political and especially non-political leaders would speak up and say what they really think. Influencers, it’s time to influence. Take a risk.
He may be the Republican nominee but he will NEVER BE PRESIDENT AGAIN. He will go down in flames in the actual election. Not sure his ego will survive such a humiliation!
I hope and pray you're right but I I fear his candidacy. Not because he's a good candidate, but because I fear a continuation of the slow-motion coup he and his dark acolytes put into motion in 2017. Across this nation, state governments have been enacting measures to disenfranchise likely Blue voters and make it easier for election results to be set aside.
Trump doesn't have to win at the ballot box.
Trump doesn't have to win in the Electoral College.
Trump can win in the courts!
Do Republicans think Trump gets a prize for being the GOP nominee, even if he gets trounced in the general election because independents are so turned off by him?
I think, Dan, that they look at the 2016 polls and predictions that he couldn't win -- and believe that this is all repeating itself.
They should also look at their polls in 2020 that said he was going to win but lost in the end. This is not 2016 and Biden is not Hilary Clinton. President Biden is the incumbent President who has had a very successful and drama and corruption free Presidency. He is going to win again in 2024.
Spot on a usual, Chris. Certainly no one who has declared as a candidate for the GQP nomination has a snowball's chance in Miami and I don't see any viable unannounced candidates lurking under the ridge line. The nomination is Trump's to lose and I think a catastrophic medical event might be the only thing that will derail him.
I've toyed with the idea that someone may challenge him being on the GOP primary ballot, but as we saw in 2016 when legal challenges were filed against "Canadian Ted" Cruz the courts declined to get involved citing lack of standing or lack of "a particularized and personalized concrete injury".
I'm reminded of Edwin Edwards who, during his campaign for governor of Louisiana in 1983, boasted, "The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy".
I'm pretty sure Trump could survive the "dead girl" unscathed should such an incident occur.
Post-primary, what do you see at the general election? If independents vote Biden, which is almost inevitable, Trump loses again.
Agreed -- generally. I think -- and have written -- that Trump is the weakest nominee Republicans could put up, mainly because he fares so poorly with independents.
I do think Biden would have a slight edge in the general election for that reason. But a slight edge.
Agreed and all Biden needs to win is that slight edge
A slight edge, but don't forget the Electoral College leans Republican and the Courts have capsized to the right.
Democrats did themselves a huge disfavour by skipping the primary phase. Let us say there are some other candidates but then Biden wins them. This makes him look strong. But skipping the whole thing looks like Democrats are scared that Biden is so weak that he should not be challenged. Primaries would have also given the Democrat rank-and-file a chance to discuss, debate and air out grievances. Because there are in fact legitimate reasons to not vote Biden. Just as any candidate, really. The fact that Trump goes into the primaries and just crushers the challengers makes him look even stronger among the rank-and-file Republicans. It gives Trump political legitimacy, which is not a good sign.
Only a fool primaries a sitting President. Even Jimmy Carter who was widely mocked for all manner of things held off Ted Kennedy fairly easily.
There is also the example of McCarthy and then RFK challenging Johnson. When McCarthy came close in NH primary, it drove LBJ to pull out and retire.
Of course! But even it was just for show, it would have given Biden a boost anyway in this particular instance. Because now he is so unpopular with the base.
Not the first person to suggest this but; Biden pardons Trump in advance with stipulation that he is not eligible to run for anything above dog catcher (future offenses excluded) AND Biden promises NOT to run so his pardon can’t be used as fodder by Trump as election interference et al. Far fetched? Yes, but opens up for a real race on both sides.
I wouldn't count on Trump honoring that agreement.
Me either
Don’t know when I’ve been so depressed about a presidential election.
Maybe the voting reform we really need is to administer CT scans to all potential voters to check for functioning brain cells.
Fortunately, there is still a significant number of Republicans who say they wouldn’t vote for him in a general election if he is convicted of a crime. He can bluster about supposedly politicized prosecutions, but there’s still a significant batch of Republican voters who respect jury trials.
And, granted, I’m a committed anti-Trump voter, so my opinion plus five bucks gets you a cup of coffee at Starbucks... but it seems somewhat likely there will be one or more guilty verdicts by next November.
Absolutely agreed and I'll go one step farther: Trump could be convicted in all four currently pending cases, and that would only make his popularity go up even more with Republicans. The primary race is indeed, as Chris noted, over. The only hope we have as a nation--if it is to survive as a democracy--is that enough people realize in November of 2024 that if they vote for the Orange Cretin, they are voting for the end of democracy. And, even that may not be enough.
This morning on CNN, Errol Louis opined that the televised state trials would winnow out some of the staunch Trump supporters. I suspect that the televised trials will have some effect, but I expect it to be minimal...perhaps barely register on the meter. I fear Errol may be whistling past the graveyard.
Getting 2000 Democratic presidential primary vibes.
I'm glad you highlighted this, Chris. I'm getting annoyed at the Trump skeptics who go on the Sunday shows and demur when asked if they would support Trump, because he won't be the nominee. Sure about that, Chris Sununu?
Wishful thinking isn't a strategy.
The only thing that will change the race is the truth reaching more ears. I don't know how this would happen, but if Trump is exposed as a fraud (I can't believe I'm writing this), then perhaps it would change minds.
Anyone who cares has known Trump is a fraud and a criminal for years. His supporters applaud his misdeeds