Trying to stay ballpark relevant to the thread, it is hard for me to see many American Enterprise Institute (AEI) scholar-types voting for Trump. However, I think that, because of often being emotionally in touch with GOP concerns, while also having distance from them, some AEI scholars can provide superior insight into why Trump is still viable.
I think the entire issue about what constitutes a “liberal” or a “progressive” v. someone who subscribes to views espoused by AEI is germane to the discussion about how Trump remains a viable candidate for president in 2023.
I think there are a lot of conservative organizations that, while they may have been reasonable foils to liberal/progressive-leaning thinking in the past, have lurched much further toward authoritarianism. They are now masquerading as “reasonable” opposition, when they are anything but.
You’ll note from your own quotation from Brookings that there is not one collaboration more recent that 2015. When did Trump begin his efforts to gain the presidency, again?
You can of course characterize yourself in any way you choose. Just be aware that it imposes no obligation on anyone else to view your self-characterizations in the same way.
The traditional CEO & country club Republican fit the AEI definition of “liberal”. Which has nothing to do with how “liberal” is usually defined in 20th or 21st century USA and more closely resembles the UK 19th century use of “liberal”.
In that parlance, “liberal” means private property rights above all, and especially above the government which was still a bit royalist / confiscationist back in 18th - 19th century UK.
Those CEO/country club folks now in 2023 are still in love with private property and small non-interfering government. So R ought to be their party. Their dilemma is that Trump is planning to deliver a Putin-like permanent criminal oligarchy. A handful of the uber wealthy will win, and the rest of the top 10% will lose. Which statistically will include most of those CEO / country club Rs voting for (R) like always when this time it’s Trump.
In terms of the viability issue, I sort of wonder if donald hasn’t decided that his best path to a successful candidacy is to be a martyr, and so it’s actually in his best interest to get locked up. It might explain why he is posting so aggressively with slights aimed at the judge and prosecutor in his most recent indictment- if he can end up behind bars (even if it’s just for a violation of the terms of pretrial release) he might figure that his mob will finally turn out.
I have wondered the same. I think he genuinely believes he’s untouchable. But if you’re right and he is looking to test the martyr defense, I think it’s overdue. It’s not going to pose less of a threat the longer he’s allowed to play his martyr role.
We simply have to go through this at some point. It’s a lot like grief. It can be extremely hard to force yourself to go through out of fear of how bad it’s going to get, but there’s no shortcut. At some point, you have to face it – and hopefully conquer it.
All of trump’s history is pushing back and taking whatever ground the other side cedes. Often it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. But it substantially always gains him some ground, at least in his eyes.
I don’t think traitor donald is playing 3D chess here. I think his toddler brain simply knows no other way to behave. So behave that way he does.
It crossed my mind, but then based on Trump’s past behavior I don’t believe he has it in him to play this game. Subjecting himself to jail where someone else is in control of when he goes to bed, when he wakes up, when he eats, what he eats, who he can visit with, etc., etc. isn’t something I think he’s capable of putting up with in order to achieve a strategic goal. At best, I think he’s playing chicken and expects the federal government to swerve out of the way. He’s betting that they won’t dare put him in jail because his followers will do some damage.
Donny still has his supporters, but I don’t know how many of them are willing to come risk jail time for him. Dude doesn’t even appear to have the support of his family members these days let alone people showing up to protest his indictments. Donny didn’t do a damn thing for the people who turned out for him on January 6 and I think that still resonates.
So what are the few states that are going to determine this? Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, maybe North Carolina?
Kinda pointless to even discuss any states other than thes and perhaps another couple. What is th eearly line on how those states are going to go? Will the blue wall hold? Up here in MI this week, hard to ignore the MAGAs. Hoping the sane folk are just keeping a lower profile…
This may be the best hope for a good outcome. Trump has a lot of power here, merely by being the presumptive nominee. That is a huge shield for him. But if he can’t rouse his people to violence, he may eventually be forced to plea to save himself. He’s not there yet and things will get very ugly before that happens but it is a glimmer of hope.
I wonder if Smith would even be interested in a plea at this point. Maybe he’d be interested in a plea deal that included prison time, but I don’t think Trump would ever go for that as he’d end up spending the last few years of his life behind bars. T rump might as well swing for the fences at this point.
Both those are quite plausible ideas in trump’s mindless head. Both are factually wrong, but he doesn’t know that.
Mostly unrelated to that comment …
IMO nobody in government or on the prosecution gives two shits about what his followers might or might not do. The idea that some rioting rabble would cause DoJ or whoever to go easy is just stupid.
Will a few cars get torched or a few cops get injured here or there? Sure. Does that affect the DOJ’s trajectory. Nope. Pinpricks. Mere pinpricks compared to the actual damage caused by going easy or by trump getting elected.
Bring it on if they wish. The law is the law. Thinking people in this country are really, really tired of these idiots. We can find a place or build a place to put you.
Do that J-6 crap again, and I suspect that law enforcement is not going to be quite as gentle.
Well, I think the more realistic problem may become that you won’t find one Republican vote (ok, Romney, fine, but beside him) to fund the Bureau of Prisons or the DOJ in general.
Just saw in the news today that a
CNN poll shows 69% of Repub and Repub-leaning indy voters believe Biden’s election was not legitimate. OMG! So if Rs are roughly 50% of voters, does that mean 35% of ALL voters are freaking irrational? Just so sobering - and disheartening - to realize that 1 out of 3 people you encounter are liable to be so resistant to facts. Of course, some 70% of us believe in freaking ANGELS!.
Just getting harder and harder to like and respect my fellow humans…
Indeed. If they REALLY believed that, they would turn out in droves for every one of his public appearances, and would march in hordes on DC all day every day carrying signs and shouting shrill cries.
