I just realized this when I was looking at some poll cross tabs the other day. The GOP is in a whole lot worse trouble than I thought they were, which means that they’re in a shit load more trouble than even they think they are.
Since Trump’s pathetic ass kicking, one of my most frequent complaints about the GOP as what is alleged to be a functional political party is that they have lost control of their messaging. They have become sidetracked into a series of Trump related pissing contests. But here’s the thing about messaging, it is correctable. You can always straighten your ass out, get your shit together, and get back on message.
But here’s where the cross tabs showed me just how badly the GOP was screwed, because even if they remained linearly on point, their fundamental, defining message no longer resonates, not even to their own voters. Which means that they may just as well keep babbling, since even their saving grace has lost all of its grace.
Here’s what I mean. When you look at Biden’s upcoming big ticket items, the America’s Jobs Plan, and the American Families Plan, both poll as wildly popular, far above Biden’s personal approval rating, and with healthy independent and Republican voter support. But when you throw in the fact that Biden plans to pay for this by raising taxes on the richest Americans, closing corporate loopholes to force companies like Walmart and Amazon to actually pay corporate income taxes, and reforming the capitol gains tax, the popularity goes even higher!
This is pure, unadulterated sunlight on the GOP’s vampire. Since the days of Reagan, the GOP has monolithically preached the necessity of a smaller government, one more in line with the Founding Fathers original intention. Protect the Republic, provide for the common defense, and fix an occasional pothole. Any kind of social services was the responsibility of the states and local communities. The Tea Party came into power by promising to basically turn the federal government into basically an empty shell capable only of paying off defense contractors. Otherwise, give the money to the American Oligarchs, and they’ll fly overhead in helicopters, dumping out bushel baskets of crisp, clean $100 bills.
And so, for 40 years, the American people watched their roads crumble, their bridges fall into the river, their public schools become third rate educational learning centers, their transportation systems become disused and inefficient, and their air and drinking water poisoned. All while the richest 100 families in America amassed more money than everybody else combined.
And so yes, the people of this country are so. fucking ready to see the rich get soaked for a change, and some of that benefit falling in their pockets, Biden and the Democrats have been brilliant in the execution. With the passage of the first Covid relief bill, they showed the government actually doing something for the people, and they did it in the best way possible, by putting something that the people could see, feel, and spend in their pockets. Trump may have ceremoniously signed the checks, but people knew who had opened the checkbook, and her name starts with a P.
With the second Covid stimulus round, the GOP cut their own throats. The Democrats got that bill rammed through against unified GOP opposition, reaping all of the glory, while sniveling GOP cowards now scurry around looking for crumbs to show their constituents. And with the SBA recovery program in that bill, along with the expansion of unemployment benefits, everyday people are actually able to see the government working for them for a change. And Biden’s infrastructure jobs, and American Family plan are full o things that they’ll see almost immediately.
Since the Reagan era, the public has come to see the federal as this giant, stumbling Goliath that can’t even stay out of its own way. Oh sure, politicians may bullshit, bullshit, bullshit about the wonderful things that they’re doing for their constituents, but how often do any of those constituents actually see any of the milk and honey they keep bragging about?
Being an Irish Catholic, I have a little church ditty I like to drag out every now and then. In order to keep your faith intact, make sure it remains unsullied by fact. For 40 years, the GOP monolithically kept a single fact from intruding on their agenda. But now there’s a new Sheriff in town. And he’s showing the American people that not only can the federal government work, it can actually work for the people. And it can do so by finally holding the feet of the richest shitpokes to the fire for a change.
And the GOP response? Trump is still Emperor President! stop the Steal! Biden is coming after your hamburgers! AOC sucks! It doesn’t even seem like a fair fight, but this is what happens when the entire fucking country finally sees that The Emperor Has No Clothes! Don’t touch that dial.
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That’s why I’m more worried about Manchin than I am about the GOP.
I agree 100%. Nothing good will happen as long as he’s around to stop it!
Manchin seems more concerned with holding on to his well-paid job. He almost certainly believes that if he keeps sucking up to McConnell he’ll be re-elected.
Represent the people? That’s not what he’s there for – he’s there for Manchin
Do I need to remind you, Daithi, that he is in blood-red West Virginia, one of the few Democratic officeholders in that state to do so? He has a difficult balancing act he has to play every day because of that. As the currently popular saying goes, watch what he does, not what he says. You’ll find the former far more enlightening.
He is like you say, provides examples of his tilted stance on most everything being tried in Congress, hardly anything processed through meetings or announcements from the floors of Congress can clear without someone saying Manchin said this or did that, like an Albatross around one’s neck it does not bode well for Manchin in the long run …
The folks in the GOP stress that winning seats in Congress is their most important task at the moment, and yet they cannot provide any reason WHY THAT WOULD MATTER … no plans, no future good news, just attack Biden’s plans, even though a majority of the Citizens are now very pleased with Biden.
The big mouth GOP members like, “GYM” Jordon, and everyone’s hero Cruz in Texas … have nothing to give, “To The People”, …
I wouldn’t worry. He’s a man serving two masters, true, but he knows what it would cost him to be the spoiler for his chosen political party. Think of him as you would Murkowski or Collins: a big talker who toes the party line when the voters aren’t looking. As he’s in West Virginia, voters not looking is a frequent occurrence.
Minchin has no core principles other than his re-election. He’s not as stupid or mislead as the boys from bumphuck holler who once fought the coal companies & tied red bandanas around their necks,(origin of redneck),as a show of unity. Of course they were shot by machine guns from trains while in their tents. Seems they’ve been duped into believing the rich will take care of them, as we keep hearing about the great Reagan and his trickle down economy. What a crock. A brainless hypocritical moron responsible for much much evil & death. Yet the rubes continue to believe. Manchin knows the deal. He’s just corrupt.
To all the folks who are worried/upset/concerned about Manchin, bear in mind that come 2024, he won’t be around any longer. Unfortunately, he’ll be replaced with some blood-red GOPer who will wind up blindly voting the GOP line. And the voters of West Virginia will happily cut their own throats in the process because they’ve turned into Republican zombies.
His electoral history bodes very ill for him. When he won the 2010 special election (to finish out Robert Byrd’s term), he won with a 10-point advantage (53.5-43.4) and in 2012, he won bigger, by more than 24 points (60.7-36.5). But, in 2018, he barely eked out a victory, winning by just 3.3 points (49.6-46.3), having the WORST performance of any Democrat in the Senate races–not just in failing to attain an outright majority of the vote but also taking such a plunge in the vote. In 2012, a total of 660,000 votes were cast with Manchin taking nearly 400,000 of them and in 2018, there were 586,000 votes cast (a decline of more than 11%) and Manchin only got 290,000; by contrast, the 2012 GOP candidate got less than 241,000 votes while in 2018, the GOP candidate increased his vote count to 271,000 votes.
And don’t expect much chance of a “primary from the left” candidate succeeding against Manchin. Even if such a candidate were to upset Manchin, that would simply clear the way for that as-yet-unknown GOP candidate.
You forget to include the solution to this dilemma: find one or more winnable Senate seats.
Another possibility? How about if Manchin votes for things that would benefit his constituents? I can’t imagine that WV folks couldn’t use some of the benefits that the Dems are trying to provide the rest of the nation: jobs, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. Just do the right thing. You catch more flies (votes) with honey than with labored political strategies.
That’s why the GOP pushes culture wars and conspiracy theories.
That’s all they’ve got. Nobody likes what passes for their policies.
They would be gone except for the shit-for-brains voters that would vote for a dog turd as long as it had an (R) next to it.