Hanaguma

Actually the polling confirmed that those issues were important, but people didn't vote on them. On that I was wrong. Seems that the difference this time around was independent voters. Traditionally they lean towards the party OUT of power- the Democrats in 2018, the GOP in 2014, etc by a substantial margin. This time around their vote was basically split 50/50. As to why that anomaly happened, I can only think of the ever looming Bad Orange Man and his shadow.

I can't disagree with that. Too many distractions were happening and a bit of overconfidence. When Trump was media silent, the polls went up. When he started musing about running in 2024, things went back down. The GOP are also bad at message discipline. On abortion, they just had to say, "it is up to the individual states and I will respect their decisions". But that was a bridge too far for some.

Oh, I agree, hence my "Kiss the Ring" comment. Of the major Trump choices, only perhaps Kari Lake will win. And only because she has serious chops in communication and media (in spite of what you may think of her political positions) and her opponent has the personality of a potato.

Just answering a question... but you are right. From what I have learned about the election, the economy WAS on many peoples' minds but they held their noses and voted Democratic- especially independent voters. They generally vote against the ruling party, but this time didn't. In spite of Biden's low approval rating and the vast majority of Americans seeing the country on "the wrong track". I can only conclude it is the result of a combination of poor candidate selection by the GOP and the looming Orange Shadow (the two are actually closely related).

Yet another stupid candidate choice by the GOP. Doug Ducey probably could have been persuaded to run but he refused to Kiss the Ring. He won the gubernatorial election by nearly 15%. Would he have beaten the current senator? Kelly has a good personal story and no baggage. But he does have a nasty habit of voting with the President nearly 100% of the time. I think Ducey could have won.

The question was "a great country to live in with closed borders". And it is. I make a good living, have long holidays and enjoy access to a bewildering variety of consumer goods and international food. I don't think that opening the borders would help with the national debt very much. Nice try on the deflection though.

Nah, Trump had "bone spurs". Probably about as legit as Joe Biden's "asthma" which prevented HIM from serving in the military. Or Clinton, who promised to join the ROTC to avoid the draft, then reneged on the promise once he was able to.

Dammit, you got me there...

Too late, I am here already! Have been for more than 20 years. And it is by any standard "a great country to live in". Negligible crime, clean streets, Costco, great location for exploring Asia, low taxes...

Japan?

Joe dodged a bullet on this one. Hopefully one of the takeaways for the GOP is that getting a better brand reputation for the party is crucial. People agreed largely on issues that the GOP championed- economy, inflation, crime, yet they just couldn't pull the lever for GOP candidates in many areas. And I think we all know why. The looming presence of the Bad Orange Man. His presence as a disruptor worked in 2016 but does not work in 2022. Now he is just another former president who lost. I am sincerely hoping that GOP leadership can recognize this and do what is necessary before 2024. DeSantis, Kemp, and Abbot showed how it is done. Strong campaigns, stayed on message, delivered concrete results for their respective states. Easier for governors to do than senate/house candidates for sure. But hell, Pennsylvania voted for a radical socialist zombie over a world renowned heart surgeon with actually very moderate political positions. Only reason I can think of is branding.

As for vocabulary, I have two that reallly grind my gears; "....denier". Smacks of the original biggie, the "holocaust denier". To me, it sounds like you are calling someone a neo-Nazi just for disagreeing. "climate denier", "election denier", etc. ".... phobe". Just cause I disagree doesn't make me afraid. Actual phobias are one thing (germophobe, agoraphobe), but the woke use of homophobe, transphobe, is nails on the chalkboard.

That was Matt Walsh on an AMerican tv show called The Dr. Phil Show. He has an amazing documentary film out called "What Is A Woman?" that everyone should see...

With the way the mid terms went, perhaps a "Trump annointment" is not exactly a great thing to get. Big Ron might be better off to appear as the rebel or pirate and earn the support that way.

I disagree. DeSantis just proved his bona fides last night. A huge margin of victory, great support amongst Latino voters, and sensible policies. By the next primary, Trump will have little to show for the past 3 years, if he even gets that far. The last straw might be if Trump announces his intention to run next week. There is a very good chance that might just torpedo Herschel Walker in the Senate runoff and throw the senate back to the Dems. If that happens, even the most hardcore Mega Maga might mosey.

Except for the bit about the Dems having a strong bench, this is a reasonable analysis. I think the MAGA people will gradually distance themselves over time and once Trump can be safely sidelined. They will morph back into simple conservative Republicans.

Considering the host of the DeSantis victory party was a dude married to another dude with two kids, I would say the whole "DeSatan is anti-2SLGBTQQIA+" line of attack can be safely dismissed.

Please, PLEASE run Newsom! See how many votes he gets off the coastline. DeSantis would gut him like a fish. If you only think of one thing, consider this- which state is hemorrhaging population, and which one is growing?

At t At the risk of derailing the topic, you are comparing apples to viruses. Trump's first 3 years (pre covid) were quite good economically- unemployment went from 4% to 3.5% before the lockdowns. Inflation in the 2% range. Gas two bucks a gallon. I would LOVE the Democrats to do a victory dance about the mid terms and then get complacent. Biden runs again in 2024 would be a dream for the GOP.

It is clear that Trump tainted all the normally important points that dictate a mid term election. An intensely unpopular sitting President, poor economy, large majority of the country thinking they are on the wrong track. All paled due to a large orange shadow. Trump gives the Democrats some easy cards to play. Look at Kemp, DeSantis, and Abbot to see the path forward. At least the GOP has a strong bench looking forward to 2024, the Democrats have nothing.

Now that it looks like control of the Senate (again) is down to Georgia, I would implore Trump to NOT announce anything on November 15. Other than his graceful retirement from active politics to being an emeritus type. He messed it up in 2020 in Georgia, no need for a repeat. Sorry to say, but any politician that loses 2-3 times in a row needs to step aside. Beto Orourke, Stacy Abrams, Donald Trump. The scene is better without any of them.

Great. If they are merely watching the proceedings they could easily do that from their homes on live cameras placed at the venue. Again, no need to attend in person and burn fossil fuel. Something tells me that the actual discussions wont be over 1000 people each. Zoomable

Zoom can handle up to 1000 people. How big are the gatherings at COP?

Yes, it is called Zoom. Or possibly TED. There is no need for the champagne socialists to schmooze like this, especially if they are truly worried about the climate. But I am sure they are all using paper straws, so all is forgiven.

Just being a truth teller.