You mention in your video today that you believe the only way to beat Trump is at the ballot box. We already tried that in 2020, and look what happened. Even if Biden were to win all 50 states (and I know that will never happen), do you foresee any way that Trump would ever admit defeat? I think we are headed for another Jan. 6 unless Trump wins, which would be even worse.
Here is my question: I've long been of the opinion that elections in this country come down to three states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and now you can add Arizona and Georgia to the list, I guess, making it five total states that "matter". For the "rest of us". who live in states that are either reliably blue or red (and my state is totally blue at the national level), the Presidential election is largely a spectator sport. I'd be curious as to your thoughts on that view.
P.S. Please don't misunderstand my question. I still will vote!
Disfunction in Washington is most often laid at the feet of the President, however, it has long been my feeling and confirmed this past year, that it is the Legislative Branch that is broken. They are not doing their job. Legislation just withers and dies on the vine before it is even debated. Budgets are never developed and sent to the President, and funding of the government is by continuing resolution. Compromise is a four letter word. Given the current political divide - which I don't see changing anytime soon, is there anyway this can be fixed?
Chris, do you think that there will be any salience for voters to punish Republican incumbents and candidates for Congress for the dysfunction, disarray and abdication to govern by Republicans in Congress? House GOPers firing their Speaker; failing to approve appropriations; demanding border security, then negotiating a deal with most GOP priorities without "amnesty" pathways to citizenship, then killing it so Trump has it as a campaign issue. Does policy have any salience with GOP-leaners and Independent voters? Has the cancel culture attacks by Trump, TX Gov. Abbot, DeSantis v. Disney, Bud Light, Target, Taylor Swift-NBA flogging
etc...finally hurt businesses' bottom lines enough for the Chamber of Commerce, Koch and other business organizations to break from supporting Trump and Trumpy Republicans as a better alternative than Biden and Democrats?
The pendulum swings over time and we are currently at the extreme end politically, especially with MAGA but the left is not immune either. How long historically does it take for the pendulum to swing back to the center?
Chris: Your item on press coverage of Trump this week ("What the media missed on Trump") struck a note with me as a former reporter and editor. Along those lines: I'm annoyed that the press has done little to look into the background and experience-- especially as it affects the actions--of Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida. It seems to me that the Miami Herald of old (20 years ago) would have done extensive reporting on her, including what the hell she is up to. But the Herald of today is not that of yore. Is this indicative of the erosion of the press's effectiveness?
Chris, is there any indication that the Republican's killing of the Border deal after indicating that they wanted a border deal is having any impact on the 2024 voting preferences for independents and moderate republicans (do these people even exist anymore)? Do you think this clearly partisan behavior might push any of these voters towards Biden and the Democrats for the fall election or is this just more noise that ultimately has no effect.
Hi Chris! You recently had a nice discussion of how you believe the media has been covering Donald Trump improperly. Along those lines, my question is, do you think the media is actually under-reporting the serious totality of the Donald Trump's issues? The civil litigation will be catastrophic to his personal wealth, especially since he deals mostly in 'smoke and mirrors'. There is most likely no way he stays remotely near his current 'status' and he is already using campaign funds for personally. You can see the strain in his face and demeanor, and he has become more angry and aggressive. Also, it is now almost a given that there will be a trial on his election actions. This would be a long trial in which he will be mandated to attend, unable to give attention to either his 'business' or campaigning. And, despite the frequency of his media, it will go on steroids at that point. It appears he is on a course to either implode and/or be 'too much' for more and more voters. The media reports his 'stories', but I don't think they are accurately putting it all 'together' to show how dire his situation really is. What says you? Thanks!
With the demise of old-style websites like The Messenger and layoffs at numerous news organizations, it looks to me that the model of journalism that you've adopted here may well be the future of the art. Are you beginning to sense that, moving on from pulling together the pieces after an unwanted job loss, you are actually on the cutting edge of a new and increasingly successful paradigm?
I teach Pol Sci at the university level. I am really depressed by the apathy of many of my students in regards to the election. Do you see that reflected in general among young people and how critical will that demographic be in the election?
It is remarkable how many parallels there are between this upcoming election and the 1948 election. An unpopular incumbent, polling errors, fundraising issues, and a dysfunctional Congress. Of course, there were no criminal charges, nor 14th amendment fireworks. Democrats and Independents came home for Truman. Do you see that as likely for POTUS?
Chris, can you give us a sense of how you get all this work done? How many hours does this newsletter (for want of a better word) take and how do you manage your time? Is it fair to say that to research the subject matter, you have the “baseball hitter’s problem” - 70% of what you read turns out not to be useful?
Let's assume for a moment that SCOTUS finds Trump to be ineligible for the ballot. Do you think it's more likely that this catapults a more electable candidate to the top of the Republican field who eventually wins the White House? Or, does it cause total chaos within the GOP for the rest of the year resulting in a Dem walkover in November?
I was listening to a podcast this week and the person being interviewed cited Les Moonves said about Donald Trump, "It may not be good for democracy, but it's damn good for CBS." (2016) The other point the podcast made regarding Donald Trump was that he is not doing anything new, he is spouting the same things as he has when he first ran, when he ran for reelection and is running now. So covering him is not "news" but just same old, same old. This is bad for journalism because there is no Trump bump? I know that journalism or the business is not the same as it was in 2016, so what does all of this mean? So What? Is Donald Trump still good for business? Thoughts?
You mention in your video today that you believe the only way to beat Trump is at the ballot box. We already tried that in 2020, and look what happened. Even if Biden were to win all 50 states (and I know that will never happen), do you foresee any way that Trump would ever admit defeat? I think we are headed for another Jan. 6 unless Trump wins, which would be even worse.
I share the same fear(s).
Comments were turned off at first!
Here is my question: I've long been of the opinion that elections in this country come down to three states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and now you can add Arizona and Georgia to the list, I guess, making it five total states that "matter". For the "rest of us". who live in states that are either reliably blue or red (and my state is totally blue at the national level), the Presidential election is largely a spectator sport. I'd be curious as to your thoughts on that view.
P.S. Please don't misunderstand my question. I still will vote!
I agree Ian, I live in a state that used to matter, but it is so deep red that we don't matter. I too still vote, but am frustrated.
Disfunction in Washington is most often laid at the feet of the President, however, it has long been my feeling and confirmed this past year, that it is the Legislative Branch that is broken. They are not doing their job. Legislation just withers and dies on the vine before it is even debated. Budgets are never developed and sent to the President, and funding of the government is by continuing resolution. Compromise is a four letter word. Given the current political divide - which I don't see changing anytime soon, is there anyway this can be fixed?
Chris, do you think that there will be any salience for voters to punish Republican incumbents and candidates for Congress for the dysfunction, disarray and abdication to govern by Republicans in Congress? House GOPers firing their Speaker; failing to approve appropriations; demanding border security, then negotiating a deal with most GOP priorities without "amnesty" pathways to citizenship, then killing it so Trump has it as a campaign issue. Does policy have any salience with GOP-leaners and Independent voters? Has the cancel culture attacks by Trump, TX Gov. Abbot, DeSantis v. Disney, Bud Light, Target, Taylor Swift-NBA flogging
etc...finally hurt businesses' bottom lines enough for the Chamber of Commerce, Koch and other business organizations to break from supporting Trump and Trumpy Republicans as a better alternative than Biden and Democrats?
The pendulum swings over time and we are currently at the extreme end politically, especially with MAGA but the left is not immune either. How long historically does it take for the pendulum to swing back to the center?
Will try again with this one: several of the "Squad" are being primaried by more mainstream liberals. Are any of them vulnerable?
Chris: Your item on press coverage of Trump this week ("What the media missed on Trump") struck a note with me as a former reporter and editor. Along those lines: I'm annoyed that the press has done little to look into the background and experience-- especially as it affects the actions--of Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida. It seems to me that the Miami Herald of old (20 years ago) would have done extensive reporting on her, including what the hell she is up to. But the Herald of today is not that of yore. Is this indicative of the erosion of the press's effectiveness?
Chris, is there any indication that the Republican's killing of the Border deal after indicating that they wanted a border deal is having any impact on the 2024 voting preferences for independents and moderate republicans (do these people even exist anymore)? Do you think this clearly partisan behavior might push any of these voters towards Biden and the Democrats for the fall election or is this just more noise that ultimately has no effect.
Hi Chris! You recently had a nice discussion of how you believe the media has been covering Donald Trump improperly. Along those lines, my question is, do you think the media is actually under-reporting the serious totality of the Donald Trump's issues? The civil litigation will be catastrophic to his personal wealth, especially since he deals mostly in 'smoke and mirrors'. There is most likely no way he stays remotely near his current 'status' and he is already using campaign funds for personally. You can see the strain in his face and demeanor, and he has become more angry and aggressive. Also, it is now almost a given that there will be a trial on his election actions. This would be a long trial in which he will be mandated to attend, unable to give attention to either his 'business' or campaigning. And, despite the frequency of his media, it will go on steroids at that point. It appears he is on a course to either implode and/or be 'too much' for more and more voters. The media reports his 'stories', but I don't think they are accurately putting it all 'together' to show how dire his situation really is. What says you? Thanks!
With the demise of old-style websites like The Messenger and layoffs at numerous news organizations, it looks to me that the model of journalism that you've adopted here may well be the future of the art. Are you beginning to sense that, moving on from pulling together the pieces after an unwanted job loss, you are actually on the cutting edge of a new and increasingly successful paradigm?
Do you think Trump ever really thought he’d be this successful at taking over the GOP the way he has?
I teach Pol Sci at the university level. I am really depressed by the apathy of many of my students in regards to the election. Do you see that reflected in general among young people and how critical will that demographic be in the election?
It is remarkable how many parallels there are between this upcoming election and the 1948 election. An unpopular incumbent, polling errors, fundraising issues, and a dysfunctional Congress. Of course, there were no criminal charges, nor 14th amendment fireworks. Democrats and Independents came home for Truman. Do you see that as likely for POTUS?
Chris, can you give us a sense of how you get all this work done? How many hours does this newsletter (for want of a better word) take and how do you manage your time? Is it fair to say that to research the subject matter, you have the “baseball hitter’s problem” - 70% of what you read turns out not to be useful?
Let's assume for a moment that SCOTUS finds Trump to be ineligible for the ballot. Do you think it's more likely that this catapults a more electable candidate to the top of the Republican field who eventually wins the White House? Or, does it cause total chaos within the GOP for the rest of the year resulting in a Dem walkover in November?
I was listening to a podcast this week and the person being interviewed cited Les Moonves said about Donald Trump, "It may not be good for democracy, but it's damn good for CBS." (2016) The other point the podcast made regarding Donald Trump was that he is not doing anything new, he is spouting the same things as he has when he first ran, when he ran for reelection and is running now. So covering him is not "news" but just same old, same old. This is bad for journalism because there is no Trump bump? I know that journalism or the business is not the same as it was in 2016, so what does all of this mean? So What? Is Donald Trump still good for business? Thoughts?