I Want My Party Back

[Gunnar]

He wouldn’t even lock up the one person he explicitly promised to- Clinton.

That's only because Jeff Sessions wouldn't go along with it.

You can bet he'll get a more compliant AG this time.

I'm sure you're right about that. I would not be surprised if he soon started calling for (if not outright insisting on) prosecuting and jailing his political opponents, including Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and others, even merely for being democrats in some cases. In fact, I would be surprised if he didn't! I agree with The American Political Science Association's assessment that Trump was the very worst President in U.S. History. Even the Republican members of that organization placed Donald Trump in the bottom five! In the next 4 years, it will become more glaringly apparent how right they were!

[Gadianton]

In 2020, Biden garnered 81 million votes. In 2024, Kamala received 68 million. One of the primary reasons Kamala performed significantly worse than Biden

Your evidence for that, aside from your say-so?

My say-so is that Biden wasn't that popular of a candidate, his record-breaking votes came from a shocked public over Trump's Nazism and his Nazi-like supporters.

My initial fears with Kamala were that the country wasn't ready to vote for a woman, let alone a black woman. But, :shrug: I know nothing about polling, and seemed like people were rallying behind her okay, so I figured she had a decent chance. One possibility is that Kamala outperformed prejudices, precisely because people were duly concerned about a Hitler scenario. It's possible Drumdude was right, that this is a failure of Democrat leaders behind the scenes to get the right candidate in terms of capturing votes.

If the Republican party continues down the path of fascism, it should continue to be called out. If they back off, that should be acknowledged. Credit should be given where it's due. But those who expect respect without earning it will need to look somewhere outside this forum (most likely) to get that.

If we wish to move strictly into the realm of psychology, what is the best psychology to win? Is there a slick salesman approach that could work, one that ignores the truth in order to make the sale? It's possible. I've toyed with the thought that at this point, given Trump is the only game in town and has no scruples, that Democrat leaders should start kissing his ass. Do what Putin and King Jong do, butter him up. There's a man-sphere saying that there's no p* like new p*, translate that into the world of an unprincipled narcissist like Trump, and new and unexpected admirers may capture his imagination and heart, and lure him into new directions.

[canpakes]

Thanks, Schmo. I like your passion. Can you explain why the Harris’s campaign doubled down on the Hitler rhetoric, including the vice president, especially after early voting began.

I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. I followed Harris's entire campaign and I don't ever remember her comparing Trump to Hitler.

Yes. You don’t remember it because Harris never called Trump ‘Hitler’.

And it’s hard to double down on something that hasn’t even happened once, so that didn’t happen, either.

Perhaps Yellowstone is mistaking J. D. Vance’s comparison of Trump to Hitler as someone else’s comment.

Up to this point in time, Trump has mentioned Hitler in relationship to himself more than Harris has (“I'm not Hitler”, he said at one of the last rallies). Maybe Republicans need to be nudged about their habit of mentioning Hitler more than their Democratic Party counterparts. : D

[Res Ipsa]

I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. I followed Harris's entire campaign and I don't ever remember her comparing Trump to Hitler.

Yes. You don’t remember it because Harris never called Trump ‘Hitler’.

And it’s hard to double down on something that hasn’t even happened once, so that didn’t happen, either.

Up to this point in time, Trump has mentioned Hitler in relationship to himself more than Harris has (“I'm not Hitler”, he said at one of the last rallies). Maybe Republicans need to be nudged about their habit of mentioning Hitler more than their Democratic Party counterparts. : D

JD Vance has called Trump Hitler more than Kamala Harris has.

[canpakes]

Yes. You don’t remember it because Harris never called Trump ‘Hitler’.

And it’s hard to double down on something that hasn’t even happened once, so that didn’t happen, either.

Up to this point in time, Trump has mentioned Hitler in relationship to himself more than Harris has (“I'm not Hitler”, he said at one of the last rallies). Maybe Republicans need to be nudged about their habit of mentioning Hitler more than their Democratic Party counterparts. : D

JD Vance has called Trump Hitler more than Kamala Harris has.

Lol. It looks like I was editing my post to add that at the exact same time that you were writing your post. : D

[Res Ipsa]

JD Vance has called Trump Hitler more than Kamala Harris has.

Lol. It looks like I was editing my post to add that at the exact same time that you were writing your post. : D

It’s either “Great minds think alike” or “fools seldom disagree.” Your pick.

[¥akaSteelhead]

What I have learned from this week

Botch a pandemic response and get the largest unemployment in history coupled with 400k avoidable deaths, and Americans will forget in a week

Manage the subsequent economic impact to the tune of the lowest inflation of any developed nation and which is pretty much now controlled and Americans will cry about the worst 4 years of their existence.

Americans don't give a crap about anything but their perception, not even the reality, of their pocket books.

[Gunnar]

If we wish to move strictly into the realm of psychology, what is the best psychology to win? Is there a slick salesman approach that could work, one that ignores the truth in order to make the sale? It's possible. I've toyed with the thought that at this point, given Trump is the only gave in town and has no scruples, that Democrat leaders should start kissing his ass. Do what Putin and King Jong do, butter him up. There's a man-sphere saying that there's no p* like new p*, translate that into the world of an unprincipled narcissist like Trump, and new and unexpected admirers may capture his imagination and heart, and lure him into new directions.

Yes, it would be nice if someone, by flattering him, could convince Trump that treating all his fellow Americans fairly and compassionately and protecting everyone's constitutional rights and freedoms regardless of race or creed or gender orientation would, in the long run, benefit him more and gain him more admiration and respect than his vindictiveness and narcissistic self-promotion and pathological dishonesty at others' expense or peril. I doubt, though, that he is capable of seeing much beyond his own self-interest and craving for absolute power. I also expect that he enjoys hurting and even destroying any who fail to offer him undying loyalty and devotion. He can't bear to be contradicted or shown to be mistaken or at fault, even in the tiniest things.

[Gadianton]

Yes, it would be nice if someone, by flattering him, could convince Trump that treating all his fellow Americans fairly and compassionately and protecting everyone's constitutional rights and freedoms regardless of race or creed or gender orientation would,

I didn't say anything about convincing him to treat anyone in any particular way. I just mean infiltrate him the way you'd send spies to a foreign government; there's a chance of playing him to their advantage. If China can get spies into Mara Largo, I'm pretty sure Democrats could.

[Hound of Heaven]

Does my reluctance to discuss Trump and his supporters in a harsh manner, unlike some of the contributors on the board, indicate that my assessment is flawed?

Not in and of itself. But closing your eyes to it gives the lie to your claim that people are abandoning the D party because the R party is more compassionate. The fact that people didn’t flee the R party In response to the sheer nastiness of Trump makes your point closer to concern trolling than to a genuine attempt to improve the Party’s chances of winning elective office.

Biden pledged to serve as a transitional candidate, a temporary solution, someone who could stabilize the situation and then step aside for the younger generation. That didn't happen; he became greedy and sought a second term. Instead of denying him, the Democratic elites permitted him to take the stage during a debate and embarrass himself. Three weeks later, they proceed to install Harris, completely overlooking the 14 million individuals who cast their votes for Biden in the primary. I don't believe anyone truly knows how many Democratic elites played a role in persuading Biden to step aside, but let's estimate it was about a dozen. Are you suggesting it wasn't a deliberate oversight to overlook and completely dismiss the reality that Biden garnered 14 million votes in the primary? Both sides recognized that this election would be extremely close, characterized by narrow margins. Disregarding the reality that 14 million Democrats cast their votes for Biden in a primary just 100 days before a presidential election reflects a significant error made by a select group of elitist Democrats. Highlighting this doesn't imply I'm a troll; it indicates that I possess situational awareness. This is beneficial because, in order to confront a Republican party that holds a majority in Congress, the Senate, and the executive branch, we will need a coalition of Democrats who are not progressives to effectively challenge Trump. Trump saw a 15% increase in support among younger generations. He made progress with Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and I believe he also made strides with women, particularly young women. It seems that the only area in which he did not make progress was the older generation. What caused this to occur? I believe that the issue at hand is not one of Democrats or liberals, but rather a matter concerning progressives. Many progressives believe that their agenda represents the sole path to progress. They maintain a firm stance that eventually drives potential voters away from both the progressive movement and the Democratic Party. If you find it troubling that I am highlighting the progressive movement as the primary challenge facing the Democrats at this moment, even more so than any issues related to the Republicans, I encourage you to consider why numerous notable former Democrats chose to appear alongside Trump during his rallies. Elon Musk and Tulsi Gabbard are distancing themselves from progressives. 88% of Democrats like myself are open to compromise and engage civilly with our fellow Americans who identify as Republicans. Progressives seem to struggle with self-reflection. I started this thread to explore the strategies the Democrat party must adopt to effectively compete with Trump and the Republicans, aiming to regain the support of voters who either backed the Republicans or opted not to vote for democrats.