We keep losing with Trump

 

Yesterday, we lost a governor’s race in Kentucky, and both houses the Virginia legislature. For the first time since 1993, the Democrats control the Virginia Governorship and both houses of their legislature. In both races, we were slaughtered in the suburbs. One commentator has written, for the GOP, the suburbs are the new Florida. https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/06/opinions/kentucky-virginia-trump-stewart/index.html

George Will has written that the only way to teach a donkey something is with a two by four over the head. We got our first smack in November, 2017, when we went from a 2/3 margin in the Virginia House of Delegates to only a bare one vote margin. We got our second smack when a Democrat won a Senate Seat in Alabama in December 2017. We got our third smack in 2018 when Connor Lamb won in Pennsylvania. We got our fourth smack in November 2018 when the Democrats won back the House with 40 flips. (Virginia used to be 7-4 GOP in the House; it now is 7-4 Dem.) We have now gotten our fifth smack on the head with losing in Kentucky and Virginia.  [Edit.:  We also lost a bunch of local elections in Pennsylvania’s collar counties.)

Nathan Gonzales of Roll Call says that the most likely scenarios in order are:

  1. Eviction at 1600, with Trump losing, but us holding the Senate, and the Dems holding the House.
  2. Blue Washington, with Dems taking the Presidency, Senate and House.
  3. Status Quo, with Trump winning, and us holding the Senate and the Dems holding the House.
  4. Red Revival, with us taking the Presidency, Senate and House.

https://www.rollcall.com/news/a-year-out-heres-four-ways-2020-elections-could-go

But we can stick with Trump. There is a prescient article at The Bulwark, about the feeling when the GOP gets crushed at the polls and talk radio guys tell us to “Hug Trump Harder.” https://thebulwark.com/tfw-republicans-get-crushed-at-the-polls-and-talk-radio-guys-say-hug-trump-tighter/

The Emperor has no clothes. You can keep backing him, but he is a losing bet for the party.

Published in General
Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 234 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    It is time for me to leave this post, as I am traveling to see my sainted mother for Veteran’s Day Weekend.  

    Thank you to all Veterans for protecting our freedom.

    • #211
  2. DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    MichaelKennedy (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    First question: Would Ms. Steele have voted for an Impeachment Inquiry of Trump?

    Boy, what a giveaway !

    Justin Amash voted for the inquiry.

    It is a pity that no other Republican voted for the inquiry in the House. We will see what stuff the Senate is made of.

    You know that Amash is not a Republican, right?

    • #212
  3. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    I haven’t read all of this yet but Bevins was ridiculously bad and the state went well otherwise. 

    Virginia has three big problems according to Matt Boyle of Breitbart News: tons of immigrants which always vote 75% Democrat. Washington DC continues to grow and everyone is going to vote Democrat parasite. The the state GOP party infrastructure is supposedly pathetic and the National GOP never does anything about it. 

    I cannot understand why I should listen to any analysis of the electorate by anyone that doesn’t do it full-time. I do not get why people have confidence in this stuff, or put effort into writing about it unless they are a full-time professional. I am seriously asking the question. 

    I’ll give you an example: everyone blames Trump for the changes in the GOP last election in California. It was devastating. This is completely false. It was more about staggering Democrat money and vote harvesting. I posted a video about it recently from Devon Nunes. 

    Speaking of Devon Nunes, listen to his interviews of Lee Smith on his podcast. It’s short. Don’t be ignorant about what is happening to this country. It is absolutely disgusting that there are GOP operatives going after Nunes. 

    • #213
  4. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    DonG (View Comment):

    jeffversion1.0 (View Comment):

    danok1 (View Comment):

    Maybe Bevins was a terrible candidate in Kentucky.I think he was down by double-digits a few weeks ago, and closed 5K votes down. It’s worth noting that down-ballot Republicans did very well in KY. For example, the candidate for KY AG won by double-digits.

    I shouldn’t bother with this, but . . . to reinforce your comment, Bevin wasn’t popular. He’s routinely mentioned as being among least popular governors in the US. There was a huge dust-up with teacher pensions a couple years ago that he really got slammed for, and things haven’t gotten any better for him since then.

    There were 6 statewide elections, Republicans won 5 of them and came within .4% in the governor’s race. They may or may not recount–I don’t expect it to change anything. Still, .4% seems to me to be surprisingly close considering where Bevin has been in terms of job approval.

    I’d rather have an R as governor, I’m not really losing any sleep over this.

    Bevins ranked 50th in Governor approval ratings. That is dead last.

    Trump should make him the new Sec. of Education ;)

    The top two Governors are Massachusetts Republican Charlie Baker and Maryland’s Larry Hogan. They are both two term governors. They also did not vote for Trump in 2016.

    I have no idea why this is some broad lesson. Those are not typical areas. 

    • #214
  5. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    Back in 2016 I wrote: “Conservatism survives and thrives if it spends 4 years in opposition to Hillary Clinton; conservatism dies if it spends 4 years in compliance with Donald Trump.”

     

     

    Ep. 843 The Roots of Political Correctness, with Angelo Codevilla https://tomwoods.com/ep-843-the-roots-of-political-correctness-with-angelo-codevilla/

    This one’s a must-listen, both for the topic and also for the guest: the brilliant Angelo Codevilla. What are the true origins of political correctness? Codevilla traces them to sources you’ll find chilling — but when you hear his explanation, everything starts to make sense.

     

    Read the original article at TomWoods.com. http://tomwoods.com/ep-843-the-roots-of-political-correctness-with-angelo-codevilla/

    • #215
  6. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

     

     

     

    • #216
  7. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Annefy (View Comment):
    So … you’re saying that “any Republican” would have won in 2016. Unfortunately, that candidate would have had to win sufficient primaries to garner the nomination. Which all the R’s – save Trump – in the field failed to do.

    Gary doesn’t want to accept that the RNC didn’t know how to handle 17 candidates and that the electorate shouldn’t be pro populism even though they are. Gee, how did this happen? How did it come to this? 

    • #217
  8. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):
    Annefy, put aside your differences with Gary and me on Trump – do you think the primary system in 2016 really “worked?” I mean, selected the best candidate for our party? Had we had leaders that rejected Trump on principle, do you think Hillary would have been more appealing to the voters that rejected her?

    Jonah Goldberg has talked about this. McCain-Feingold or whatever has weakened the parties. This is a real problem. Neither party has dealt with it. 

    If they have more than six candidates after some point they should do a two-step national primary. Ted Cruz would have killed Trump in that situation.

    • #218
  9. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    danok1 (View Comment):
    Annefy, put aside your differences with Gary and me on Trump – do you think the primary system in 2016 really “worked?” I mean, selected the best candidate for our party? Had we had leaders that rejected Trump on principle, do you think Hillary would have been more appealing to the voters that rejected her?

    I hope the GOP is learning. 

    • #219
  10. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):
    I think our party did not do it’s job

    See #215

    • #220
  11. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    i reject both the “Big Government” siren call of the Left

    The GOP is effectively just as bad as the Democrats. We are way past the point of no return. See #215

    • #221
  12. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Rodin (View Comment):
    Whoever is still on the Romney train is on the crazy train. I will never ever believe anything Romney says again. And his family seemed so nice. (Sigh) I was one of those suckers who actually contributed to his primary and general campaigns back in 2012. Do I feel taken. This guy is a snake. If that is what passes for principled among NeverTrumpers, check your Locke.

    I can be talked out of it, but this is my current view.

    • #222
  13. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    I Walton (View Comment):

    Two by four to the head is right. But the wrong head. Republicans who do not see what the Democrats have become, and do not grasp what it’s all about, need the whacks to the head. We don’t have a Reagan right now, i.e. an articulate, smooth, friendly, knowledgeable, politically couragess, insightful, old poll/actor. We have to go with what we got and if we try to change him, we lose to these crazy socialist Democrats. It doesn’t just go back and forth between parties. It goes in one direction and the guy we have now is trying to change that. Maybe some of our Republican leaders will learn from him. None of the other candidates were up to it. That’s why they lost to Trump.

    You can’t argue with this. 

    • #223
  14. DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey
    @DrewInWisconsin

    RufusRJones (View Comment):
    The LP is a menace to the country.

    One of the truest things ever said on Ricochet.

    • #224
  15. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    I know this thread is pretty much done, but it seemed like the place to post this: 

     

    • #225
  16. Roosevelt Guck Inactive
    Roosevelt Guck
    @RooseveltGuck

    The GOP threw away Virginia when it threw Bob McDonnell under the bus. McDonnell, a popular Governor who committed no crimes, was forced to resign in disgrace. The GOP lost VA a long time ago.

    There is a part of the GOP that will cut and run when the going gets rough. Gary is their Commander-in-Chief. LOL!

    • #226
  17. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Just checking in for a minute.  This post was Peter Robinson’s “Member Post of the Week” noting how it had generated some 168 civil comments taking issue with my premise of “We keep losing with Trump.”

    • #227
  18. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Just checking in for a minute. This post was Peter Robinson’s “Member Post of the Week” noting how it had generated some 168 civil comments taking issue with my premise of “We keep losing with Trump.”

    So: 226 – 168 = an excess of “uncivil” comments? 

    • #228
  19. DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Django (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Just checking in for a minute. This post was Peter Robinson’s “Member Post of the Week” noting how it had generated some 168 civil comments taking issue with my premise of “We keep losing with Trump.”

    So: 226 – 168 = an excess of “uncivil” comments?

    Those 58 are mine!

    • #229
  20. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Just checking in for a minute. This post was Peter Robinson’s “Member Post of the Week” noting how it had generated some 168 civil comments taking issue with my premise of “We keep losing with Trump.”

    So: 226 – 168 = an excess of “uncivil” comments?

    Those 58 are mine!

    I think that it was at 168 when James looked at it.  

    Drew is becoming more mellow with age.

    • #230
  21. CarolJoy, Above Top Secret Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret
    @CarolJoy

    @rightangles

    @rufusrjones

    Here is a must read regarding the vote in Virginia, and how there were some miraculous voters who turned out. I guess if Dems are so enthused that they manage to vote after they have died, why should anyone stop them!

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/he-fought-in-world-war-ii-he-died-in-2014-and-he-just-registered-to-vote-in-va/2016/09/29/5e0bffee-8670-11e6-ac72-a29979381495_story.html

    • #231
  22. Roderic Coolidge
    Roderic
    @rhfabian

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

     

    Conservatism in dying in compliance with Donald Trump who brooks no dissent.

    Well, no.  Trump has been consistently conservative in his polices.   He has furthered conservatism quite successfully, especially with regard to judges, taxes, and regulations.  

     

    • #232
  23. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Roderic (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

     

    Conservatism in dying in compliance with Donald Trump who brooks no dissent.

    Well, no. Trump has been consistently conservative in his polices. He has furthered conservatism quite successfully, especially with regard to judges, taxes, and regulations.

     

    It’s not that Trump won’t tolerate dissent so much as he is sick of criticism from a bunch of twits who couldn’t run a two-car funeral refusing to credit his work, i.e. the Bushes, and a lot of other Nevers like the whining fools at Bul**** and https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-dispatch-is-warmed-over-neoconservative-news/

     

    • #233
  24. Norm McDonald Inactive
    Norm McDonald
    @Pseudodionysius

    George Will has written that the only way to teach a donkey something is with a two by four over the head.

    Norm McDonald has written that the only way to teach George Will something is with a baseball bat over the head.

    • #234
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.