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Who says we don’t break news on this show? The whole gang is back this week, and they’re joined by National Review’s senior political correspondent, Jim Geraghty for a long chat on Republicans leaving the party, fealty to you-know-who, and an update on Wuhan lab theories. Then, Elliot Abrams, who’s most recently served as President Trump’s Special Representative to Venezuela and Iran; joins to discuss They Israel’s ongoing fight with Hamas and speculate on how it might conclude, while marveling at the strength of the Abraham Accords (negotiated at the direction of you-know-who). Ricochet member @MarkAlexander gets the coveted Lileks Post of The Week® badge for his post My Shakespeare Confession and Rob and James mull the wisdom of a million dollar vaccine lottery.
Song from this week’s episode: Bad Blood by Taylor Swift.
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Like Trump, and Reagan?
Rush Limbaugh consistently expressed that the American people will always respond in the positive to moral clarity based on first principles, and that there is no compromising with those who don’t possess them. They (the Longs and Cheneys) are a cancer on conservativism. You simply have to defeat them.
Why do people vote populist and socialist?
Click into it and watch the short video.
It wasn’t worth it. It is not going to net out. Are you familiar with O’Sullivan’s law? It’s real.
Please start talking about public policy.
I would be very happy to not use the GOPt moniker if other folks stopped labeling me as a GOPe, or a RINO.
Don’t take it so personal. It’s not a big deal. You have a set of beliefs, that I have tried to explain to you are wrong and you fit in that category. The GOP from 1988 to the present at least is not what you think it is.
Actually this is no longer true. This month the statistics flipped. In the past, when asked if they were more aligned with Trump or the Republican Party, Trump won. This month, 50% of Republicans identified more with the Republican Party and 44% identified more with Trump. I suspect that allegiance to Trump will continue to leach away. Of course if Trump is indicted, this will accelerate the decline in his popularity.
MAGA policy is what matters.
Rob’s so called tirade was in only a twelve minute segment that ended at 19:01. And Peter and James both pushed back hard.
It’s true because Rachel Maddow says it’s true. Dontchaknow?
Even if the indictment is BS? That would just re-emphasize the corruption of the “deep state,” and others who may support it for their own reasons.
That attempt at indictment is intended to scare any politician who supports the MAGA agenda. And in many eyes it will make a martyr of Trump.
Are you satisfied with the amount of resources the government has used to go after him? If so why? If not why?
God help anybody that can’t afford lawyers and lobbyists in this supposed Republic.
Too many people believe in the impartiality of the “justice” system, despite the growing evidence, probably the same believe who believe in the integrity of the “election” system, despite the growing evidence.
Gary,
One of the problems with being swept up by emotion, consumed by disgust and contempt, is that it clouds our thinking.
The poll does not say what you think it says. It doesn’t ask about pro-Trump vs. anti-Trump, which was what I referenced in my comment (I bolded that part for you). As described in the podcast, it asked a different question having to do with which people put first: Trump, or the Republican party.
Frankly, I think that’s a pointless question to ask, as it’s so ambiguous. What do you do with someone like me, who wants the Republican party to flourish but who saw voting for Trump as good for the nation, who voted for him twice, and who thinks he did a good job as President? If I had to answer such a silly question, I’d have to say that I put the party first, but I’d say that whether we were talking about Trump or Reagan, because that’s what I think is best for the country.
If Republicans were asked if they were pro-Trump or anti-Trump, and if those were the only two choices (again, it would be a stupid poll), I suspect most would pick pro-Trump. Most of those would probably be people who, like me, don’t want to call ourselves either; we recognize Trump as a mix of good and bad, thought he did a pretty good job, thought he was vastly better than what we have now, think the Republican party needs to learn from this experience and actually take some of what Trump brought to the party to heart, and want us to move on in a more or less united way toward success in 2022 and 2024 in our battle with the progressives.
Shoot, even Rob was sensible enough to vote for Trump in 2020. Stop trying to fan the flames of internecine strife. Let it go, and let’s work on building the party on the foundational issues about which we agree.
H.
Fife Symington was an Arizona Republican Governor. He had also been a developer. He was convicted of bank fraud in 1997 due to having widely different valuations of property. After his conviction he was automatically removed as Governor. Trump has some significant exposure.
I pay very close attention to this topic. They never get him on anything that is old or complex. The IRS has been giving him a continual colonoscopy ever since he took that $1 billion deduction.
I actually know about what some of what they are going after him right now. The part I know about has nothing to do with his asset structure.
I think you are making a general comment about real estate developers.
Well said.
Anything that comes up now, after he’s already out of office, that wasn’t found and used earlier to stop him from TAKING office – and when Hillary et al were digging full-speed to try and find – I will be highly suspicious of. And anyone else should be too.
Stuff like this is partly because people like Biden – and maybe Rob Long too – don’t think anyone would give up working for the mere pittance of only $32,000/year in unemployment. Maybe they can’t imagine anyone having a job that doesn’t pay at least double or triple that. So why settle for only $32,000 when all you have to do is write scripts or sign legislation (written by someone else) and give speeches (written by someone else) or whatever, and POOF! you’re getting $100,000 or more?
I am often guilty of that, despite my best efforts.
You are right. I overspoke. On the other hand, here is the article that I cited. https://www.businessinsider.com/republicans-support-gop-more-than-trump-poll-2021-4
The money quote:
“For the first time since 2019, NBC polling found supporters of the GOP outnumbered those who said they back Trump more than the party. The poll found 50% of Republicans said they support the GOP more than they support Trump, while 44% said they support the former commander-in-chief more than the Republican party.”
The article quotes a poll from NBC. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/after-100-days-out-office-trump-s-support-softens-nbc-n1265457
The money quote there:
“It’s the first time since July 2019 when party supporters have outnumbered Trump supporters in our poll, and it’s also the first time that party supporters have reached 50 percent on this question.”
I am not trying to fan the flames of internecine strife. Then again, as the most persistent proponent of my NeverTrumpism, it might appear that way.
What I believe will happen in 2024 will be that we have a good chance of winning if we have a successful governor running.
I think that members of Congress, save Liz Cheney, have been tarnished by their fealty to Trump, and the six Senators who voted to disenfranchise me as an Arizona voter (such as Cruz and Hawley) are disqualified in my mind, as the Capitol riot can be hung around their necks. If the person running is Trump or one of his children or Cruz or Hawley, I believe that we will lose.
Gary
I believe you misunderstood Peter’s like of the comment. He recognizes, as does anyone who’s paid any attention, the majority of Ricochetti are pro-Trump as Gary’s comments said at the very beginning . That said, Peter (I assume) realizes we have work to do in order to bring the entire party together. If Rob’s comments are any indication, it will be an uphill battle with or without the influence of Trump. Rob constantly refers to the fact that we need more members. It would behoove him to take a long look at the 75,000,000 people who voted for Trump in the 2020 election and do his best to attract a few thousand of them rather than make them feel like they are deplorable. Insulting your customers is no way to run a business.
I have to assume that Peter likes this:
Which is disconnected from most of the member posts I read daily, from those who knew that the Jan 6th narrative was Bravo Sierra from the start, and who know that the way to fight the Comminust takeover of America isn’t to cast off Trumps legacy but rather to pick up the banner and carry on, and who know the establishment GOP has no interest in doing that.
If one of those is the nominee, and you don’t vote for them, that will be YOU putting anti-Trump, ahead of the Party, and indeed ahead of the country and perhaps even the world.
Very well put.
Understanding the anomaly of Trump adding 12 million votes in 2020 to his 2016 total, and that he earned a greater share of African American, Hispanic, and Jewish votes than any Republican in decades, and how to retain those voters and add more in the R column in future elections should be the focus moving forward to the 2022 election. I could care less what Rob and others here who had no part in looking forward and reaching out to these new Republican voters think. We also know it wasn’t Liz Cheney’s* “great” fundraising for the party that drove new minority voters to the R column in 2020. They voted for Trump and his policies. As someone who also voted for those same policies, I want to continue reaching out and adding more voters to this coalition – a coalition of ideas that supersedes skin color.
I’d like to hear interviews on the podcast that deal with looking forward, that talk about continued outreach to minority voters, and recruiting new candidates (and keeping talented ones who unfortunately lost in 2020, e.g. Kim Klacik, John James, etc.). What does a pollster who’s analyzed the demographics of Republican 2020 voters have to say? What were the issues that drove them to vote for Trump? What do Allen West, Jason Riley, Tim Scott, Candice Owens, Larry Elder (and his great Uncle Tom documentary), Kim Klacik, John James, and others have to say about continued outreach, the upcoming 2022 and 2024 elections, and the walk away/red pill movements? What does Maria Elvira Salazar (Florida) or a Texas Republican think about continued outreach to Hispanic voters and the issues that drove Hispanic voters to Trump in 2020? (I’m not as familiar with these districts and politicians.) What drove a greater number of Jewish voters to Trump in 2020 – was it the Abraham Accords? something else? Who can be interviewed that knows? These are all questions that interest me.
*Liz Cheney, the RINO’s, the NTs/NATs, etc. they’re all welcome to be backbenchers. Whether they get reelected is between them and the voters in their districts. Their percentage presence in the party (3% to 10%) is about the level of attention they should receive. They’re the past, not the future, and their animus toward Trump is old news, tiresome, and so so so boring. Seriously, get a life.
A great one to ask would be Utah Rep. Burgess Owens. He’s written books on racial politics and history, has a unique perspective having a father who lived through Jim Crow, played in the NFL, and is currently leading the charge against Biden’s policies across the board.
I have voted in every Presidential election since 1972, which is 13 elections. I voted Democrat in 1972 but was a college student, so that can be forgiven. In 1976, I voted Libertarian as I progressed from being a Democrat to a Republican. In 1980, 1984, 1988, I proudly and loudly voted Republican. In 1992, I was upset by H.W. increasing taxes, betraying the Reagan Revolution, and voted Libertarian. (That was a mistake, and I regret that vote. I should have voted for H.W.) In 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 I proudly and loudly voted Republican. In 2016, I could not bring myself to vote for Hillary and I voted for Evan McMullin. In 2020, I voted for Biden.
That is voting Republican 8 times, Third Party 3 times, and Democrat 2 times. I voted for Biden as a last resort. I suspected that Trump was going to act as he did after the 2020 election. With the 1/6 Capitol Riot and Trump withholding aid for 3 hours, I feel fully vindicated and justified for my 2020 vote. What is most important to me is not Pro-Life, Pro-Gun, Pro-National Defense, Pro-Growth. What is most important to me is the Rule of Law. Trump is the worst President as to Rule of Law. I literally had no choice but to vote for Biden. I see Trump as an existential danger to the Republic and the Republican Party.
I want to vote for a Republican in 2024. The Republican Party is my home. I believe in limited government, a strong national defense, low taxes, low regulations, free trade and the Rule of Law. If it is Trump, I will vote for the Democrat. If it is a Trump child, or Hawley or Cruz who voted to take my vote away, I don’t know how I will vote. If we have Tim Scott, Liz Cheney, Larry Hogan or Doug Ducey as our nominee I will loudly and proudly vote Republican.
Like I said. That is you putting yourself ahead of the Party, and even the Country, which is what you accuse “Trumpists” of.