There is no Republican party

It's awfully early but the polls suggest that Trump and Biden are in essentially the same places they were in 2020. That's depressing.

 

Agreed, it looks to me like the only reasonable way Trump doesn't get the nomination is if he falls over dead. Even if he's convicted in the federal Washington DC court case before the Iowa primary, he probably still wins the Republican nomination.

 

That's the second time you've said that, Bill. You must think about that quite a bit.
If I weren't an Atheist, I might say "from your lips to G*d's ear." But I am, so I won't. I'm trying to be a good Atheist. It's not easy.

 

Yes, that's something most people agree on.

But why is it?

Because a huge slice of America isn't judging him by traditional means and never have. They want two things from him--White supremacy and "owning the libs." That's the list. And they're willing to forego all else and overlook everything else he is in order to get it.

In the long run, this is a losing fight. The country is becoming more blended all the time and more liberal, too. But in the short run....

I consider this Trump-led phenomenon to be comparable to the Battle of the Bulge. One last, desperate lunge at the enemy in hopes of making some small, permanent gains. It won't last, but it will do some damage for awhile.

 

Mike Pence: When he was vice president, "my son was flying an F-35 for the Marine Corps."

Pence attended his son, Michael Pence Jr's, graduation from naval aviator training in 2018. Then-Vice President Pence also spoke of his son during his eulogy for President George H.W. Bush, pointing out that his son made his first tailhook landing on an aircraft carrier named after the 41st president.

Pence has tried to balance his steadfast belief with his actions on January 6, 2021, with the kind of red-meat campaigning necessary to secure the GOP presidential nomination.
Pence has qualified for the first GOP presidential debate that is less than two weeks away.

 

https://www.politico.com/2024-election/presidential-debate-gop-candidates-schedule-moderators-polls-tracker/

The first GOP debate is Aug. 23 in Milwaukee. Who's in so far?

The first debate in late August will likely have the largest invite list, with low barriers to entry. Candidates qualify by getting 40,000 donors (with 200 unique donors in 20 different states) and by hitting a polling threshold that sees them clear 1 percent in a handful of polls.

 

Lerner, I think you're basically right about Pence but as I say, it's not so much his VERY conservative Christian ideas that would turn me off the man as what I perceive as moral weakness.

To his eternal credit he did the right thing on January 6 but had he shown real courage in the face of a lying fraud of a President he would have separated from Trump much earlier. In short he did the barest minimum in serving the country and defending the Constitution. Better, much better, than doing nothing but not...inspiring.

 

The Vice President is not the President's employee. He has powers that the President does not have and which he swears to exercise in the service of the people. Pence failed to do all that he reasonably could have done.

 

Having said all that, if Pence were the GOP nominee I'd be afraid for Joe Biden's reelection chances.

 

I definitely agree that Mike Pence's chances in the general election are probably much better than Donald Trump's chances. But I'd probably grant that to the whole Republican field or at least to anyone that can make the first debate.

 

Not sure about that. DeSantis' careful and detailed emulation of fascism in governing Florida is really starting to hurt him.

BTW, I think little Ronnie-boy is term limited. His time on the throne will end in a very few years. Maybe he can get a job playing a chipmunk at Disney World.

 

A transvestite chipmunk!

 

My thought more directly stated is that the court cases against Trump in the general election will likely make him the least electable in the general election when compared to all the other nominees on the first debate stage.

 

... and it can open path for a younger, more careful, more capable fascist. Like DeSantis. Not much of an upgrade.

 

While I believe this to be true, especially in the current election cycle, I also believe it to be true on the Democrat side of things. For example, back in the 2016 election cycle I considered Hillary Clinton to be somewhat damaged goods based on the many years that the GOP had spent smearing her.

 

Well...Democrats have picked a few unelectable Presidential candidates in my lifetime...

 

Heck, in 1972 even I voted for Nixon. The best word I can use to describe George McGovern is "creepy". That's saying something since Tricky Dick set a pretty high bar in that department.

 

The whole show and smearing between the candidates and parties is out of control. It has to change.
How surprised were voters when President Biden choose Harris as VP, only a little bit earlier during the debates she "criticized" him. But once the show is over (debates) the deals are made, what strategically candidates bring in terms voters, etc. Harris is more liberal than Biden but not Sanders/Warren-left, and she is an Asian and Black woman in a party that always wants to show it cares about.
But the most important figures in Washington in 2021, 2022, and this year etc are president Biden, Harris, ex house speaker Peloci and Charles Shumer, all of whom have kept some distance from the party’s left wing.
Same for GOP debates, smear each other then possible become running mates.

 

That's politics.