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I Was Spectacularly Wrong, I Hope I Continue To Be
I have to admit I really didn’t see this one coming. A huge congratualtions is due to the Rabble Alliance and all the Reluctant Trump supporters here at Ricochet. I do sincerely hope that the things all of his supporters see in him are what we will get over the next 4 years – the country needs it. I also take no small amount of joy at the anguish the Trump victory is imposing on liberals across the board.
Now the real work begins. I hope I’m wrong about how Trump will govern – my track record on this is admittedly spotty. As someone who opposed Trump from the begning I will support our new President when I think he’s doing right and I will continue to oppose him when he isn’t. No President deserves a blank check. Its up to conservatives to keep our new President focused on a conservative agenda and help set our country on the right track.
Published in General
Amen and amen.
Hey, for a start maybe he can declare Larry Kudlow for his cabinet!
Super-Like.
Also, VDH.
Agreed. For me the fun right now is watching he meltdown on the left. Good riddance to the Clinton crime family. For all the talk in the media of a civil war in the Republican party, the one the Dems are fixing to have is gonna be awesome
Kudlow for Secretary of Treasury or some other economics-related post. Victor Davis Hanson for what position?
White House press secretary?
You’re not the only one, Jamie. I thought that he would get crushed just after he received the nomination, and only mitigated that to Romney-like defeat as time when on. Being humbled is a little easier when you get to watch the left do their freak-out dance.
Hey, anyone want to start a post nominating people for Trump’s cabinet?
There’s a slim chance it might even have a (small) influence, if it made it to the Main Feed and most of us made suggestions that were both good and plausible.
I believed the one-in-three odds of a Trump victory. Which, while obviously not spectacularly right, is also not spectacularly wrong. I couldn’t greet the escalation of Trump’s chances as the votes were being tallied with disbelief, as the previous one-in-three belief didn’t warrant it.
Good for you for being rational!
Me, I was irrational. I was shocked when they called PA. I still am–both shocked and irrational.
First congrats to @jamielockett for his classy post, hopefully setting the tone for the rest of the day.
second, I had an all day work meeting, did not watch returns, and woke up to find myself NOT entering the term of President Hillary. I am stunned.
Amd ready to watch the left freak out…
An incredible night.
I, too, hope and pray that the next 4 years are great ones for all of us, and for America! We can all worry about a Trump presidency, but we can (and should) take a moment to mark the end of the Clinton era.
WOOOHOOOO!!!!!
There. That felt good.
Classy post, Jamie.
Not the only thing you are spectacularly wrong about ?
John Bolton for Secretary of State.
New post on this
Well, the bomb’s gone off, the sun will be out soon, and here I am. Surprised, but not utterly gobsmacked.
I’m hearing that Trump’s percentage vote totals among Republicans were not that far off Mitt Romney’s, and if that’s right, I think the NeverTrumpers had about as much impact as I expected them to have–almost none. I’m sorry for all the harsh and ugly posturing on both sides before the election, and I trust that reconciliation proceeds apace, among this side, at least. I suspect very few people with an “R” after their name actually find their heads totally exploding right about now (as I think this post testifies), so I think that’s possible. As far as the Left, who knows? I hope Barack Obama has the sort of day he deserves. And Mrs Clinton (who couldn’t even be bothered (or who was face down on the floor somewhere) to show up for the people who’d given their all for her, last night), too, for that matter.
I was wrong about Trump flipping some blue states. I didn’t think he had either the ground game, or the campaign organization to have done so. I’m still not sure if he did, or if they flipped only because so many people are so fed up. Living as I do, here in the middle of coal and fracking country, having seen exactly one “Clinton/Kaine” lawn sign, and several hundred “Trump/Pence” lawn signs within about a ten-mile radius over the last couple of months, I’m suspecting the latter. I knew the SW PA counties were strong for Trump. But I didn’t expect his victories in the rural counties to outweigh the metropolitan Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg juggernaut (or for similar effects to occur in a few other blue states). But they did.
None of this is to take anything away from Trump. He read the signs and gauged the mood with an accuracy that many in the population, and certainly most in the media and the political establishment could not. Good for him. I hope he’s overwhelmed by his victory, and mindful of the trust his voters have placed in him. I thought his speech last night was excellent. I hope it’s a harbinger.
Most of all, though, I hope one of his first actions is to tell Sean Hannity to put a sock in it.
Now the fun begins!
All true of me too Jamie and I share your hope, even as I remain concerned.
I had planned to call it a night at midnight, come what will. My decidedly non-wonky wife made me stay up until the AP called PA. Now I get to hang out with engineers all day. A good day.
It was fun for a while now the “I can’t believe our country is so racist and misogynist”. Ugh.
As I said elsewhere,
Yes. They aren’t going to get very far with that: it is, and has always been, a cognition-stopper.
I hope so! For everyone’s sake, I really hope so.
Yes!
And I was so looking forward to Hillary’s victory speech last night, given in her usual hectoring screech, and including, near the beginning, the words, “And I want to be a PRESIDENT who represents ALL of you, even if you didn’t VOTE for me. I want to be the voice of EVERY American–the RACISTS, the SEXISTS, the HOMOPHOBES, the XENOPHOBES, the ISLAMOPHOBES, you name it . . . . “
Your title sums it up exactly. I sincerely hope I am proven spectacularly wrong in all of my assessments of the man’s character and ability.
As magnanimous as your post is, there will be no peace in the nation, the war is just beginning. These battles will overflow back into Ricochet and retest the good will that is presently shown. New divisive battles will immediately come. When Democrats contest the election, and they will, will NeverTrumpers be their advocates? Will Jay? Mona? Zubrin? Will ….? Will NeverTrump Republicans continue to fight against Trump at every opportunity?
Now is the time to invite new voices. The Ricochet leadership should immediately reach out to those who got it right like those on http://amgreatness.com/ This community and conservatives need their leadership, for ours have failed us miserably. Chose your leaders and you sides wisely, for you will be in that trench for years.
I completely join in Jamie’s post. I was wrong, wrong, wrong about the election results. Now I hope I am wrong, wrong, wrong about what Trump will do as President. My joy this morning is in imagining the look on Hillary’s face, which I suspect is the first truly human expression she has had on her face since at least 2006.
The democrats are not contesting the election. Hillary has conceded. Your claim there is inflammatory and baseless. We are headed for a peaceful transition of power just as we’ve had throughout our history.
As far as opposing Trump goes, it depends on what he does. He has no blank check in my book. But I want to support him and if he governs decently, I will. If he governs like he campaigned, my support will be limited to areas of agreement, and might be quite emphatic in areas of intense disagreement. We are under no obligation to support everything a new president says and does.
And so it begins….
I will support Trump when he’s right and fight him when he’s wrong – that is all anyone owes their fellow citizens: the truth as they see it.
As for Ricochet – we are just fine. If you don’t like it here go elsewhere. Ricochet owes you nothing more than center-right conversation. The owners, editors, contributors and members owe you nothing more than the truth as they see it.
Out of curiosity did you immediately jump in to help President Obama when he won?
Perhaps if you plan on instigating them, well, then, I suppose – up to a point.
But you don’t have to. Nobody has to.