That’s because they don’t stand for anything. They stand against.
Trump can’t even manage to act consistently in his own self-interest. He lashes out at things a lot, which produces a lot of damage—including to himself. MAGA is just angry at the status quo, and building something better is too much like hard work.
They stand for hatred and fascism.
I don’t think they really do, in the sense that they are not actively setting out to promote hatred as a value. It’s just a by-product of their hateful rhetoric and actions.
Maybe this is semantics, though; it depends on what you mean by “stand for.”
They weaponize fear and hatred in order to gain votes, and therefore power.
The MAGA leaders and “brain trusts” (Miller, Bannon) do so. The MAGA cannon fodder are just mad as hell, don’t want to take it any more, and just know that Trump, the Freedumb Caucus, et al, are telling them they know who to punch in the face for them, to make it all better.
So yes, the MAGA footsoldiers don’t really know what their standard bearers are really seeking. They just buy into that they want the changes they don’t like in their reality reversed and the Establishment brought down hard just as much.
I’m sorry but what? I don’t need to know the candidates, that has absolutely zero effect in my decision. Blue all the way down for the rest of my life, absolutely nothing besides the parties switching bases again would change this.
Everyone seems to think that the asylum seekers are an intangible thing, but I’ll offer a personal story that helps explain why Trumps polling numbers are high.
I stay in a lower tier hotel near Boston for work, along with other working-class people like truckers, power line maintenance workers. ect. My company pays for the room, and a 20-dollar stipend for a meal, which is nothing now.
The hotel is getting reimbursed by the state to host the asylum seekers so now there are whole families living there when it used to be quiet. We work at night a lot and sleep during the day, getting to the hotel early in the morning when most people are sleeping.
So the hotel has free breakfast for everyone, but the asylum seekers also get free takeout lunch and dinners from local restaurants brought to the hotel. I get reimbursed $20 from my company for food, the rest is out of my pocket, truckers probably get nothing. We see them, and they generally act like they are entitled to this. I’m not saying the asylum seekers should starve, but the optics are bad.
Trump is the only one saying that he will shut this down. I will never vote for him, but I can see why some people I’m around would.
Younger American black people are also moving away from Biden due to this. I’m a 52 year old black man so I won’t include myself in this, but I kind of get what they are saying.
They want reparations for slavery and are seeing that the Democrats seem to be willing to do anything for the asylum seekers, who tend to be anti-black racists, and nothing for them. Caribbean African people don’t see themselves as “black” in the way American black people do, and we know “latinos” don’t either, just look at that council in California. It’s now showing in polls that Biden is losing young black people.
I’m not saying they will vote for Trump, but his message resonates with them. The polls are real, Trump has a path to win.
It doesn’t matter to me I’m old. I’ve already said the country was over when he was elected in '16. Really it ended in '01, it just took time for the body to get the message.
Good posts giving perspectives missing here.
Democratic politicians fear they need to roll back the current unsustainable asylum situation, but feel guilty about it. They would gladly trade remain in Mexico for Dreamer citizenship, but the GOP won’t budge there. It comes down to the now-old David Frum quote “If Liberals Won’t Enforce Borders, Fascists Will.”
For those who panicked when Trump inched ahead in the polls, here’s some news.
42-41 Economist/YouGov (Biden’s gained 2 points since mid-November)
43-43 Morning Consult (Biden’s gained 3 points since late November)
39-37 YouGov
37-35 Leger/The Canadian Press
44-42 Economist/You Gov (last week)
43-42 Morning Consult (last week)
These polls are just as meaningless as the polls that showed Trump ahead, and all the leads are within margin of error. But, as the article author said: “Polls which assert he is behind should no longer be used in analysis.”
If you want hope for 2024, a site named Hopium Chronicles should be on your wish list.
This is almost too honest to post, but I don’t want hope, because then if DJT wins in November, it will be too overwhelmingly disappointing.
Your site is linked in this recent New York Times compendium of polling-focused, never-Trump, hope and despair – mostly, and properly, despair – opinion.
Strongest hope evidence not in last link:
I was ungenerous in my last post in not directedly linking to Hopium Chronicles:
While I’m not on the hope side of things, this guy makes the best case for it that I have seen.
That column was written on Sept. 11. Almost three months have passed since. Although strategic moves indicated by those polls may still be valid, the numbers should be considered superseded.
The election will be decided on turnout, which is never well indicated in polls, especially not polls a year ahead of time. Only the strategic and tactical moves to get the greatest turnout are important. And if you don’t see evidence of those in action, kick somebody’s behind to get them moving on it.
Taylor Swift for the win! I’m only half joking. And probably why she is so hated in conservatives circles. Not joking at all about that.
Swift turns 35 after the election but before the inauguration. So she’s eligible!
Best move is for Biden to kick out Harris and replace her with Swift. Let the world burn!
As an update, my company, which is a major class 1 railroad in the northeast, has been given the 45-day notice by the hotel that they will need to find other lodging for us. Yes, we are being kicked out to make room for more asylum seekers.
The reason is that my company books the rooms through another company that has power to negotiate room rates. The means less than what the hotel normally charges for a night., since the third company has many clients and books rooms for many companies.
The state is paying full room rate per night to the hotel to house the asylum seekers. Their meals are being prepared and delivered by a US military base. All of this paid for by tax dollars, state and federal. I’m not a resident of this state, but my state is doing the same thing.
So yes, the optics look really bad. The same hotels were kissing the railroads ass during the pandemic, and now we are being “replaced” by the asylum seekers as some see it. Other people are of course calling them illegals or migrants.
You can see how these fits into Trumps narrative.
Are the optics of a bunch of dead migrants in a ditch better? I get really concerned how easy it is for so many to forget that these are human beings we are talking about. Scary stuff if America votes on the basis of cruelty to immigrants, when these immigrants are being trafficked around by those that are using these human beings as props specifically to get people to vote for them. It is 100% manipulation by evil people, and so many are diving right into being manipulated like this.
So the government is treating the asylum seekers better than your company is treating you. Is that a problem with how the government is treating them or is it a problem with how your company is treating you?
If you want to be a lucky ducky just like them all you have to do is to spend a few years fearing for your life amid domestic turmoil then take nice relaxing hike from Venezuela to Texas.
Stop attacking me, of course my multi billion dollar company is treating me and my co-workers bad, we were going to go on strike until Biden made a deal with the railroads, shutting down our strike. That hurt Biden, but he kind of made up for it when he marched with the UAW workers. In fact it was probably the reason why he marched with the UAW. The perception is that the asylum seekers are getting better treatment then working-class American citizens. This is the reality on the ground, and it’s truckers and other blue collar workers as well. They see them as illegal, but I try to point out that asylum seekers are going through the legal process.
I’m answering the question on the polling, it’s not broken. Trump is saying he will end it and that resonates with many of my co-workers.
I hope someone will educate them about why they should not be mad at Biden for being decent, but rather at the company for not being decent.