Do you have thoughts on Melania putting out the video with her abortion rights stance - totally opposite of her husband's current one - in advance of her book release? Is this Melania being Melania and doing what she wants to do irregardless of the campaign because she wants women to buy her book? Maybe they asked her to do this to help salvage voters? Or, my favorite, that she doesn't want him to win and thinks male voters will think the previous president can't even get his wife's agreement on his stance of women's reproductive rights?
Melania is doing this to sell her book that is coming out, that isn't anything new, however; the 6 figure payday she received is a totally different story. I am interested who sign the check. I am also interested in how their youngest son is handling all of this fan fair surrounding his father. With so much internal stress on this family, how is Trump holding up? Regarding Melania, I honestly believe she has checked out and doesn't care for the life much in Washington and the spot light that she will be under. Just my opinion for what it's worth.
I believe debates give the American people a chance to see which candidate looks more Presidential. It doesn't move the needle regarding who people will vote for, but it may give others a moment of pause (why I have no idea). JD did have a better showing, and in no way does that mean I am a homer or a Maga fan. Try looking at the next few weeks not through the lens of Blue or Red, but with the eyes of a child who's life hasn't been colored with the negativity of others. View it with the eyes of Jesus.
So, one of the things you’ve mentioned repeatedly is that you do *not* think a 2nd Trump term would be a “threat to democracy”, because you felt that there are “guardrails” in place. I have ALWAYS felt that you were looking at this with rose-colored glasses, and I believe that Jack Smith’s recent filing makes it clear just how far those around Trump were willing to go to appease his desire to stay in power. No “guardrails” among *that* motley crew.
Well, today, Jonathan V. Last’s column at The Bulwark, called “The Trump Hustle and the ‘Guardrail’ Fallacy”, gives better voice to my concerns than I could express myself. So my question is: does any of this change your opinion even a *little* bit?
If you haven’t read JVL’s column yet, here’s the relevant quote:
“Guardrails are just people. People who need jobs. Who have kids and mortgages, friend groups and professional networks. One of the things we never really considered before Trump was the extent to which being a guardrail would require sacrifice. We would say, “Oh, there are checks and balances and the guardrails will keep him from doing anything too terrible.”
But we didn’t really play that scenario all the way through, did we?
If we had, we would have understood that the people we assumed would act as guardrails would have to be willing to sacrifice a great deal in order to fulfill that function. They’d have to be willing to lose a job; lose future job prospects; lose friends; lose their entire professional networks.
And these people—even if they were happy to sacrifice themselves—would be putting their kids and families in jeopardy, too.
In practice, we’ve seen that the percentage of people willing to make guardrail sacrifices has been fairly low. More the exception than the rule.”
Two questions. First, if Trump loses, who do you see as the top possibilities for the GOP nomination in 2028? Second, if Harris loses, who do you see is the top Democratic possibilities for president in 2028? Yes I know, last thing you wanna be thinking about right now. But you said any questions!
Thanks for all you do, Chris! I’m somewhat frustrated that I am not hearing democrats messaging the Supreme Court at all. Like - if Trump wins he will almost surely have a Republican senate and Alito and/or Thomas is sure to retire. If that happens, Trump would have at least 1-2 more SC picks. That would mean he would have chosen over half of the court’s justices!! That scares me to death and I would think it would scare a lot of voters too. I’m just afraid voters aren’t even thinking about this so we really need to message it! What do you think? The SC’s ratings are in the tank right now so I would think this would be an effective strategy!
It will be impossible to count the votes in North Carolina owing to the devastation. What options are there to hold the federal election on time? I can see Trump’s lawyers salivating
Will the mainstream media grab onto the Smith filing and keep it in front of the public for the next four weeks or will it try to memory hole, whitewash or otherwise invalidate the indictment? By the way the indictment is not an October surprise. The timing of it was in fact created by the delay tactics and the immunity ruling of the Supreme Court, and there is no Department of Justice internal regulation, which forbids it coming out at this time. The wheels of Justice may turn slowly, but when they turn, they turn.
Oops, sorry Chris, the Dockworkers' strike has been suspended. Sorry, nothing for anyone to gloat over...haha. And guess what too, the Middle East crisis is not going to affect the election. Just so know. If I have questions at all, it will be about Trump's criminal indictments that were published by Jack Smith this week, yea.
At the Post and CNN you had editors and others helping and directing you. What’s it like to do most or all of this own your own? What kind of scaled down team do you have now? I’m always interested in how the sausage is made. Keep doing what you’re doing!
Chris, did you name your Substack "So What" because that was Trump's response on Jan. 6 when told that Pence had been taken to a secure location? That was a brilliant move on your part. You might get a lot of new subscribers....but they'll be disappointed when you dissect Trump's next speech with your favorite lines.
Setting aside the lies, do you think that Donald Trump watched the VP debate and relized that he could learn a thing or two from JD Vance who was fairly impressive? In other words, does Trump have any ability to be introspective or self critical?
With Liz Cheney campaigning with Kamala Harris, could Liz Cheney end up in Harris’s Cabinet as a voice of political diversity? Perhaps give her homeland security and the border, so she has cover to take a hard line stance there, while Cheney might have a little more rapport with Republicans in Congress. What do you think?
Do you have thoughts on Melania putting out the video with her abortion rights stance - totally opposite of her husband's current one - in advance of her book release? Is this Melania being Melania and doing what she wants to do irregardless of the campaign because she wants women to buy her book? Maybe they asked her to do this to help salvage voters? Or, my favorite, that she doesn't want him to win and thinks male voters will think the previous president can't even get his wife's agreement on his stance of women's reproductive rights?
Melania is doing this to sell her book that is coming out, that isn't anything new, however; the 6 figure payday she received is a totally different story. I am interested who sign the check. I am also interested in how their youngest son is handling all of this fan fair surrounding his father. With so much internal stress on this family, how is Trump holding up? Regarding Melania, I honestly believe she has checked out and doesn't care for the life much in Washington and the spot light that she will be under. Just my opinion for what it's worth.
I think it’s all about the book,but I could be wrong!
I'd bet you're right!
I am still confused why you feel Vance did so well during the debate when he told so many lies and made so many spins
I believe debates give the American people a chance to see which candidate looks more Presidential. It doesn't move the needle regarding who people will vote for, but it may give others a moment of pause (why I have no idea). JD did have a better showing, and in no way does that mean I am a homer or a Maga fan. Try looking at the next few weeks not through the lens of Blue or Red, but with the eyes of a child who's life hasn't been colored with the negativity of others. View it with the eyes of Jesus.
So, one of the things you’ve mentioned repeatedly is that you do *not* think a 2nd Trump term would be a “threat to democracy”, because you felt that there are “guardrails” in place. I have ALWAYS felt that you were looking at this with rose-colored glasses, and I believe that Jack Smith’s recent filing makes it clear just how far those around Trump were willing to go to appease his desire to stay in power. No “guardrails” among *that* motley crew.
Well, today, Jonathan V. Last’s column at The Bulwark, called “The Trump Hustle and the ‘Guardrail’ Fallacy”, gives better voice to my concerns than I could express myself. So my question is: does any of this change your opinion even a *little* bit?
If you haven’t read JVL’s column yet, here’s the relevant quote:
“Guardrails are just people. People who need jobs. Who have kids and mortgages, friend groups and professional networks. One of the things we never really considered before Trump was the extent to which being a guardrail would require sacrifice. We would say, “Oh, there are checks and balances and the guardrails will keep him from doing anything too terrible.”
But we didn’t really play that scenario all the way through, did we?
If we had, we would have understood that the people we assumed would act as guardrails would have to be willing to sacrifice a great deal in order to fulfill that function. They’d have to be willing to lose a job; lose future job prospects; lose friends; lose their entire professional networks.
And these people—even if they were happy to sacrifice themselves—would be putting their kids and families in jeopardy, too.
In practice, we’ve seen that the percentage of people willing to make guardrail sacrifices has been fairly low. More the exception than the rule.”
I have that same thought every time Chris shrugs off the "threat to democracy"...
Two questions. First, if Trump loses, who do you see as the top possibilities for the GOP nomination in 2028? Second, if Harris loses, who do you see is the top Democratic possibilities for president in 2028? Yes I know, last thing you wanna be thinking about right now. But you said any questions!
Thanks for all you do, Chris! I’m somewhat frustrated that I am not hearing democrats messaging the Supreme Court at all. Like - if Trump wins he will almost surely have a Republican senate and Alito and/or Thomas is sure to retire. If that happens, Trump would have at least 1-2 more SC picks. That would mean he would have chosen over half of the court’s justices!! That scares me to death and I would think it would scare a lot of voters too. I’m just afraid voters aren’t even thinking about this so we really need to message it! What do you think? The SC’s ratings are in the tank right now so I would think this would be an effective strategy!
It will be impossible to count the votes in North Carolina owing to the devastation. What options are there to hold the federal election on time? I can see Trump’s lawyers salivating
Will the mainstream media grab onto the Smith filing and keep it in front of the public for the next four weeks or will it try to memory hole, whitewash or otherwise invalidate the indictment? By the way the indictment is not an October surprise. The timing of it was in fact created by the delay tactics and the immunity ruling of the Supreme Court, and there is no Department of Justice internal regulation, which forbids it coming out at this time. The wheels of Justice may turn slowly, but when they turn, they turn.
Oops, sorry Chris, the Dockworkers' strike has been suspended. Sorry, nothing for anyone to gloat over...haha. And guess what too, the Middle East crisis is not going to affect the election. Just so know. If I have questions at all, it will be about Trump's criminal indictments that were published by Jack Smith this week, yea.
At the Post and CNN you had editors and others helping and directing you. What’s it like to do most or all of this own your own? What kind of scaled down team do you have now? I’m always interested in how the sausage is made. Keep doing what you’re doing!
Question: What do you make of Nebraska polls showing Osborn leading Fischer? If he wins, will he conference with Democrats?
What’s the October surprise going to be? :)
Any thoughts on the Nebraska senate race?
Are we prepared at the state and federal levels for delaying tactics trump and his minions may throw up to delay or invalidate the election?
Chris, did you name your Substack "So What" because that was Trump's response on Jan. 6 when told that Pence had been taken to a secure location? That was a brilliant move on your part. You might get a lot of new subscribers....but they'll be disappointed when you dissect Trump's next speech with your favorite lines.
Setting aside the lies, do you think that Donald Trump watched the VP debate and relized that he could learn a thing or two from JD Vance who was fairly impressive? In other words, does Trump have any ability to be introspective or self critical?
With Liz Cheney campaigning with Kamala Harris, could Liz Cheney end up in Harris’s Cabinet as a voice of political diversity? Perhaps give her homeland security and the border, so she has cover to take a hard line stance there, while Cheney might have a little more rapport with Republicans in Congress. What do you think?