That is exactly how to play the politics best. At least that’s how it seems to me.
His message is trying to sell a consensus approach. Especially to a bulk of Team R:
Most of us are great. Gaetz though. That guy was the idiot troublemaker. Wasn’t your fault. We was fine! And guys we can work with some of the Ds. Not these three demons but some.
To Team D: most of you are reasonable people. I’m not demonizing or trashtalking all of you, just these extremist few.
It even helps those three! For them being attacked like that elevates them as leadership. Raises their profile even more. Plays to their brands.
It wasn’t best politics when the people singled out were blacks or Asians or Jews (or purported homosexuals or communists) or some other minority that happened to be hated at the time. Never was and isn’t now. Those who defended it then are now subsumed into the scum remains of history. (Florida and Texas schoolbooks excepted.)
You can’t have it both ways. You cannot be a reasonable, moderate politician who knows how to play the game and shout out bigoted messages of hate to the lowest levels of your base at the same time. One takes precedent over the other. The behavior cannot be defended and should never be defended. Learn from history.
Sorry I haven’t read this entire thread, but I’m kinda thinking the republicans don’t want to fill the position so nothing can happen, then can try to blame Biden for nothing happening.
The 2 parties have certainly sorted on abortion. WAPO: “Fifty years ago, conservative Republicans often supported abortion rights, while many liberal Democrats did not.” There are many factors involved, but I’d point to Richard Viguerie stumbling over this fundraising goldmine when he was building his junk mail empire during the 1970s.
Fewer and fewer Democratic politicians oppose yanking away a woman’s ability to obtain an abortion. That said, the pressure isn’t coming from the top of the party. 2017 article in the Atlantic:
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer recently said the party is “strongly pro-choice,” but remains a “big-tent party,” while House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said “of course” it’s possible to be “pro-life” and a Democrat, and have the support of the Democratic Party. Tom Perez, the chair of the Democratic National committee, meanwhile is facing harsh criticism within the party for remarks widely interpreted as saying that Democrats who oppose abortion were not welcome in the party.
Has McCarthy ever called for a “Big Tent” on safe and legal abortion? I doubt whether Jim Jordan has. Joe Manchin identifies as Pro-Life and gets mixed ratings from various pressure groups. Another Anti-abortion Dem is Bob Casey Jr. Donnelly was an anti-abortion Dem who lost in the the general election: he wasn’t primaried.
The Republicans have 2 pro-choice Senators: Collins and Murkowski. Both opposed the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022, but offered a narrower bill in its place.
From the Biden-Harris-HQ account on Truth Social, here’s Rep Austin Scott on CNN saying with a straight face that the Dems created this problem because 96% of the votes to oust McCarthy were Democrats.
That’s pretty much all there is to it. Although not necessarily only about fundraising. It also creates enthusiasm both pro for them and con for the demonic Ds.
Any of the famous R pols could hold a rally and stand in front of the crowd at the microphone. Say “woke” and the crowd goes wild. Say “border crisis” and the crowd goes wild. Say “tax cut” and the crowd goes wild. Say “AOC” and the crowd goes wild. By the end the crowd will be panting for more and marveling at how much they got out of listening to the “speech” and what a great and wonderful Republic that speaker was.
Like the old joke about the prisoners who’d memorized and numbered all the jokes any of them knew, this is the level of discourse needed to reach these folks. It’s just keywords. Pavlovian conditioning at its most basic.
Also not unlike how an unscrupulous website operator could trick a Google search back around 2002 by just dumping lots of keywords into a hidden part of the page.
(And the punchline of that joke is the new prisoner who attempted to call out a number, and was confused when it was greeted with silence; one of the old-timers said to him, You just don’t know how to tell a joke. … Which is something to keep in mind as DeSantis flounders to diminishing effect in front of what should be sympathetic crowds.)
What might finally cause the GOP to split is if Trump somehow failed to win the Republican Primary. He would certainly run Independent, and then the MAGATs would follow him. I’m hoping for a miracle.
This comment was a complete hijack to the discussion at hand, and it has caused a lot of needless response in a thread where none of it belongs. Let’s drop discussions about abortion and the extent to which Democrats are “conservative”. This is not the thread for it.