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Dogs That Do Not Bark
In November 2012, I learned that times had changed and that I no longer knew my country. I could not believe that, after what he had done to the US, my compatriots would re-elect Barack Obama — and I was wrong.
This year, I could not believe that Donald Trump would get the Republican Presidential nomination. He was not, to begin with, a Republican at all. He did not embrace the agenda Republicans at least pretend to support. And, let’s face it, he has not lived his life in a manner that anyone with a moral sense and aesthetic taste could approve. Anyone who is surprised at the remarks he made to Billy Bush has been wearing blinders. No one of his stripe, thought I, could get nominated. But, once again I was wrong.
Nor, earlier this year, could I believe that the Democratic Party would nominate Hillary Clinton for President. She was, I knew even then, a corpse. She had no pulse. Had you told me that Bernie Sanders — who is one of the few Democrats who more nearly resembles the living dead than Hillary — would be her only serious opponent, I would have guffawed. Tell me another, I would have said. Yes, I was wrong.
I expected Scott Walker to be a serious contender. I figured that Martin O’Malley — the only Democrat of any consequence who has not already in effect passed on — would emerge. I was wrong again. Neither of them got anywhere.
So there is one thing that I know. I know that I do not know what is going to happen — and when I look at the polls, count bumper stickers, and keep a record of the yard signs that I stumble across, my certainty grows that I do not know.
The polls suggest that Hillary will win — but not Rasmussen and not the LA Times.
I have yet to see a Hillary bumper sticker, but I have seen only one such Trump sticker. I have seen three Hillary yard signs and more than fifty Trump yard signs. And look: I have been all over. Texas, upstate New York, Silicon Valley, and Michigan north of Lansing. And get this: I saw more Bernie Sanders signs than Hillary signs, and I am talking about the last month.
It is positively eerie. It is as if no national election is going on. Let me be clear. I have seen lots of yard signs pertinent to local elections, next to none regarding any Congressional race, and just a few pertaining to the Presidential election. It leaves me wondering whether on the second Tuesday in November anyone will show up.
Let me add this. The Trump tapes are the talk of the news. But this talk has had no effect on the polls. It is as if no one really cares about the old codger’s trash talk.
There is this that may favor Hillary on 8 November. She has a get-out-the-vote operation that ought to be worth a point or two. There is this that may favor Trump on 8 November. Ronald Reagan used to outdo the polls by ca. 5 percent. There were lots of people who voted for him in every election he ran who would not admit it. Could the same be true for Trump?
Add this. There are people who love Trump. Never mind the fact that I think them mildly unhinged. They do exist, and they are numerous. Is there anyone who loves Hillary … apart from embittered feminists (but I repeat myself) of a certain age. It may be hard to get people to turn out for a person as malicious and unpleasant as she is.
If I were a betting man, I would bet on her — which suggests that she might lose.
Published in Politics
From your pen to…
I can’t imagine a worse outcome than Hillary as president, except maybe Trump as president, except maybe Hillary as president…
Down-ticket signs have begun popping up. Curiously, none for either Duckworth or Kirk. That one is pretty much a foregone conclusion: Kirk has managed to annoy almost everybody. He’s pro-choice, anti-fossil fuel #NeverTrumper, so basically he’s running as Arlen Specter without the animal magnetism.
Things may yet pick up. As of right now though, it’s a little spooky.
You’re being too harsh with Hillary. After all, her running mate is Jesuit educated.
I’ve seen plenty of Trump signs in eastern Washington, but very few for Hillary. Not that it matters, because all the crazy liberals west of the Cascades will deliver the state to the Hilldebeast.
The only solace I can find, is that there is a sovereign God and that we have His promise.
I haven’t seen any in Kitsap county. It’s pretty odd. Only a couple of bumper stickers.
My wife HATES Trump, his mocking of a handicapped reporter really repulsed her, but I countered with, at least he didn’t rape him, like Bill Clinton might have!
Anyway, we don’t pray evil on anyone, but if whatever might happen in a year happening during the last debate would be great. I think Hillary’s about to have a stroke, my wife thinks Trump is ready for an MI. So…
Well, just thinking out loud
During the general election campaign, when the media focus was on Trump, his poll numbers went down. When the focus was on Clinton, her numbers fell. When Mrs. Clinton is elected and Bill Clinton begins roving the halls of the White House once again, Donald Trump will be eclipsed and replaced by Clinton, Clinton, Clinton. This may be the best thing to happen to the Republican Party in decades.
KP, on my way home from Seattle the other day I saw tons of Trump supporters on the over passes…and that was south of Everett. I was truly surprised. I haven’t seen much in the way of Hillary support. I think all that tells me is that the Hillary campaign is not at all worried about Washington.
I live in Texas but have only seen one Trump sign. Granted, I live in a pretty blue city, but I spend plenty of time in the suburbs. I also see a paucity of Hillary signs. I live in a pretty red state, but I spend plenty of time in the city. It IS weird. There’s not much enthusiasm for either one of them.
Before the Bush tapes, I knew, deep down, Trump was going to win a 40 state landslide. Polls were lining up that way too. I am absolutely stunned that THIS is what gave people pause. As if we didn’t know he spoke that way. But what I think is REALLY hurting him now was seeing the GOP run from him during this. That was, simply put, a gift to the democrats. So the Stupid Party rides again. And now I no longer think Trump will win, barring something drastic. Its the (correct) perception that his own party is fighting him that has caused swing voters to go “If he can’t lead his own party, he cant lead the country”. I hope to God Im wrong, but don’t think I am. We were headed for real change… For the better. Now were headed to Amnestyville and more of the same. So the Bushes and the RedState.com folks win.
My thoughts exactly.
Mentioned this to Mr. Mendoza this morning. We live in Northern San Diego County. I’ve seen one Hillary bumper sticker. None for Trump. Three Trump yard signs. None for Hillary. What a freaky election.
We spent today meandering in rural Maine and New Hampshire. “Deplorables for Trump” is a common road sign in what we saw of Maine. Many more Trump and Johnson signs along our path than any other. More Johnson in NH than I would have expected. Tomorrow we will see what Vermont and New York have on display.
In the northern suburbs of Chicago, I’ve seen some Clinton signs. There are a lot less than was the case for Obama four years ago (perhaps 1/4th as many). I’ve seen no Trump signs. It’s unclear whether his supporters are reluctant Trumpers or are afraid of having their houses vandalized.
This is true of the places I’ve been too. It is eerie.
I live in blue Santa Clara County in CA. Very few Hillary bumper stickers. Every now and then a Trump bumper sticker. Mainly decaying Sanders bumper stickers.
Live in a suburban CT town that is 50/50 politically and which usually has plenty of political signs as elections draw near. Driving around town today I noticed only one sign each for Trump and Clinton, though there were plenty of signs for candidates for state and local elections from both parties.
It’s logical in retrospect. Hillary was the most likely Democratic nominee – the weakest candidate the Republicans could hope for. As a result, everyone who had a remote chance of winning the GOP primaries through his or her hat into the ring – along with a few people who wanted nothing more than to sell a few books. Trump had more name recognition than all of them combined, and got more press than all the candidates from both parties combined. Republicans refused to take him seriously, and few of the GOP’s candidates would bow out even after it was clear they had no chance. As a result, Trump won the primary by gathering the votes of angry Republicans and more than a few Democrats who crossed over. Ironically, it was Hillary’s weakness as much as anything that won for her the only Republican candidate she could beat.
Just this morning, in the wake of our Archbishop’s letter about Democrat attempts of subversion of the Church, I noticed some new Clinton signs had popped up on the lawns of houses very near to my church, and across the street from a Greek Orthodox church nearby. Good, I thought, this makes me even more determined.
I’ve related elsewhere how on a recent drive to Easton I saw 1 Hillary sign and 39 Trump signs (plus 3 Hillary for Prison signs). Our Congressional race has Republican Brian Fitzpatrick running against Dem Katie McGinty, and I’ve also noted at least a dozen farmfields in my area sporting large signs nailed to 2x4s, reading “ANOTHER Farmer for Brian Fitzpatrick.”
I’ve noticed the exact same phenomenon here in Louisville. Usually there are tons of presidential signs. This year a few Trump and maybe one Clinton.
Me three.
My Orange County, CA community tends to lean right. It used to be more ardently right about 10 years ago. But, then the massive
ironOrange Curtain was left unattended and some Lefties got in. In the housing tracts around my neighborhood I may have seen perhaps one Trump lawn sign out of several hundred homes. No Hillary lawn signs. I actually see more Bernie bumper stickers on cars (Yay, socialism!) and a sprinkling of Hillary bumper stickers when I go into town and do errands. I think I’ve seen maybe two Trump bumper stickers in the last 3 or 4 months. One on a high-off-the-ground pickup with a large American flag mounted behind the cab.Other than that I think the majority of residents aren’t displaying their preference for president. My guess is that most everyone is embarrassed and/or angry or depressed and are in their homes kicking their dogs or quietly digging bomb shelters in their backyards in the dead of night.
Fascinating . . . So I am not hallucinating.
We’re in the middle (central Missouri) and unless I just can’t recall, I’ve yet to see a Hillary sign. There are numerous Trump/Pence though, so who knows. We’re generally considered the bell-weather state but there isn’t a lot of enthusiasm either way.
I’ll go with what I have thought all along this cycle – people don’t care who becomes President. The ultimate outcome is perceived to be the same: status quo. Republicans are Democrat-lite (regardless of what they say they’re for, we still end up with Continuing Resolutions for crying out loud). Congress is light years from changing course because the bureaucracy will never die. The Presidency is treated as a prize to win instead of a position of service and humility. The media, regardless of what they think of themselves, has no credibility – and we end up getting our “news” from pundits.
Do we as Conservatives need to tear ourselves apart as we do on Ricochet and elsewhere for these candidates? Will four years with basically the same Congress, no change in bureaucracy, and turnover in one office really matter? Ugh. I hope I haven’t finally succumbed to the futility of it all.
Same here. Such a weird election. There are almost no yard signs on the streets I travel—I’ve seen one for Trump. That’s it. Few bumper stickers, but most of those are for Hillary. In the primaries, the great majority of bumper stickers were for Bernie. In Alabama! (Those Sanderistas must have scraped them off, because I see few of them now.)
On FB, my friends left and right all express fatigue or disgust with the campaign. I don’t know if this augurs a low turnout, but that would be my guess.
I have commented on this phenomena several times with the wife – here in a suburb of Charleston, SC we are seeing a couple of scattered signs for highly local offices such as school board member, or coroner, but essentially nothing on a statewide or national level. After the massive clutter in the primaries it is eerie…
I don’t find it weird that there’s a relative lack of presidential campaign signs this year given the fact that both candidates suck. Really suck. Really, really suck. Really, really, really suck.
What’s weird is that apparently there’s enough sanity left in this nation that many people in both parties are unenthusiastic about their party’s awful candidate, but that there was not enough sanity among both parties during the primaries to prevent us from arriving at this nightmarish choice (though I think @richardfulmer has as good an explanation as any for how Trump ended up on the ticket).
That’s been my observation as well here in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley. I honestly can’t recall noticing a single Hillary sign or bumper sticker, and there are still a ton of Bernie signs proudly on display. Several months back I encountered a sign that read “(rude word) Trump and Clinton.”
This summer I did spot one guy wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat at the Marin County Fair, though it’s entirely possible he was wearing it ironically or as some sort of joke.