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[FLASHBACK] A Simple Way to Think About the Election
The Atlantic ^ | October 3, 2016 | James Fallows

Posted on 06/18/2017 10:06:01 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

I think this is simple, rather than simplistic: 1.The people who are for Donald Trump, are for him. And almost nothing he can say or do, or that can be said or revealed about him, will undercut that support. The things that ordinarily would be considered “shocking” or “disqualifying” haven’t eroded belief among his base, and probably won’t.

2.But there are not enough of these people to get 270 electoral votes for Trump. There were enough to give him an initial plurality in a huge GOP field, and to keep him coming out ahead as his GOP rivals foolishly attacked one another rather than concentrating on him. But in the general election his core support has remained below winning levels in virtually all honest polls. He has so far seemed to hit a ceiling at around 40% support—sobering in itself, but not enough.

3.Therefore he needs new supporters—more women, more blacks and Latinos and Asians, more Muslims, more educated people, more of the young.

4.Therefore2, the test of everything Trump does now—the debates, the “Miss Piggy” controversy, the taxes, everything—is whether it brings him anyone new. The question is not the one we mainly hear after debates or Trump flaps: how this affects his supporters. They already support him. The question is whether what he does and says brings in anyone undecided, or new.

My guess is that is has not.

The main point is: since Trump starts with not enough votes to win, the logical test to apply, in the 36 days that remain, is whether what he does with each speech, each answer in a debate, each tweet, each flux of the news cycle, expands his base. If it doesn’t, he has lost.


TOPICS: Campaign News; Polls; State and Local
KEYWORDS: hillary; trump; voters

1 posted on 06/18/2017 10:06:01 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Trump is going to win no matter what.

Every time.

On every fight.

No matter what the media says.


2 posted on 06/18/2017 10:09:42 PM PDT by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I love the stench of Libtard despair.....


3 posted on 06/18/2017 10:10:15 PM PDT by Enchante (Searching throughout the country for one honest Democrat....)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I love the stench of Libtard despair.....


4 posted on 06/18/2017 10:10:15 PM PDT by Enchante (Searching throughout the country for one honest Democrat....)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The most simple way to think about the election is, “TRUMP WON, HILLARY LOST! “


5 posted on 06/18/2017 10:14:18 PM PDT by FrankR (FULL REPEAL, OR NO DEAL)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
They believed their own press with erroneously shallow predictions with no basis in facts!

This is prcisely why they are still going nuts each and every day and devise ways to remove Trump from power!

6 posted on 06/18/2017 10:21:10 PM PDT by zerosix ( Native Sunflower)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The experts and know-it-alls!

Another flashback to put a smile on your face:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ46I3kMOr0

And this is why they’re so mad and filled with hate. They were utterly embarrassed.


7 posted on 06/18/2017 10:21:16 PM PDT by snarkytart
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To: zerosix

Democrats never give winning advice to Republican candidates.


8 posted on 06/18/2017 10:26:26 PM PDT by a fool in paradise ( Mr. Comey, did you engage in or know of ANY OTHER leaks?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Trump was no secret to anyone. He was in the public eye for decades. Everyone knew who he was before he entered the race. He was the billionaire who was everybody’s friend and everyone his friend—so long as he knew his place and handed out the dough to both parties.

Then he jumped in for real and, suddenly, you’d think it was the second coming of Hilter. Jack-booted rubes with pitchforks and gunracks were going to destroy the _planet_ and make overly sensitive people verrry uncommmfortable.

The opposite happened. The snowflakes melted. SJWs became unhinged. Pundits and celebrities cam unglued. And DC held its breath after declaring they’d turn blue before they ever worked with President Trump.

The the fun really began: student riots and not-so-subtle prods by the media to engage in violence. A Congressman is in the hospital because of it.

Meanwhile, Trump, who has dealt with foot-dragging from bureaucrats his entire life, works to pull his administration together and undo the damage of past executive orders by day. And tells people what’s happening in his world with direct tweets nightly and the occasional MAGA rally.

Hopefully folks will recognize the cry-bully nuttiness of the Left in 2018 and put more adults in DC to get after it and get it done!


9 posted on 06/18/2017 10:36:26 PM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Apparently he did

BWAHAHAHAHA


10 posted on 06/19/2017 12:02:47 AM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: BradyLS

Well said.

I never particularly like Donald Trump as a personality - and I enthusiastically jumped on the Trump Train on Day One with both political feet.

Leftists and RINOs don’t get it, don’t want to get it, and won’t ever get it.


11 posted on 06/19/2017 2:36:12 AM PDT by YogicCowboy ("I am not entirely on anyone's side, because no one is entirely on mine." - JRRT)
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To: YogicCowboy

Leftists and RINOs don’t get it, don’t want to get it, and won’t ever get it.


Exactly. They have lied to themselves for decades, building a false version of reality in their heads, based on false media narratives.

When those lies are illuminated, they have nothing to fall back on.


12 posted on 06/19/2017 6:40:02 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Here’s my simple political analysis:

Joe Public has no voice at all except on Election Day.

Those who DO have a voice - the MSM talking heads and pundits, Academia, Hollywood celebrities - they presume to speak on our behalf but have very little in common with the Joe Public they claim to serve.

Over 90% of these “voices of the public” strongly self-identify as supporting the Democrat party or candidate, a 90/10 split - a margin of over 80 points! A similar 90/10 split is found in the presentation of stories, opinions published or broadcast which are positive toward the Democrat and negative toward the Republican.

Yet, in actual public polling and voting, a presidential election is rarely decided with a margin beyond 10% - a 45/55 split, and more often than not, it is the Republican candidate that receives more votes!

This profound disconnect between Joe Public and the “vocal class” that has complete control over dissenmination of the broadcast and printed word shows a contempt, arrogance and condescension toward its audience that is stunning.

The fact that Republican presidential candidates can - as often as not - win a majority of public support - in spite of the fact that virtually EVERYTHING the public reads in print or views on TV is passionately advocating for the Democrat and against the Republican - begs a question:

What would the result have been of the same presidential elections without this stark monopoly of pro Democrat anti Republican propaganda?

The answer is simple: without the benifit of this single and powerful Democrat advantage, namely their complete and utter control of this propaganda machine we call the MSM, the Democrat party would be nothing.

The Democrat party (the progressive movement as they like to call themselves) has been devolving over the last 60 years during this period of dependancy on the MSM propaganda monopoly.

Without the need to connect with a real constituency or to develop an honest rationale for the policies and programs it advocates, the Democrat party has atrophied into an empty shell of self delusion.

This is the party of self-agrandizing and false idealism. This is a party adrift on its own opium dream - a dream in which a mediocre Democrat (JFK) was forever ordained King of Camolot and a decent and respectable Republican (RMN) was forever damned and banished from the kingdom.

The left still clings to this fantasy 50 years later and within its echo chamber, the “truth” of it is self-confirming, since its own voice is the only voice heard (the only voice spoken).

Until Trump that is.

Trump is the first POTUS since Reagan to challenge the left’s media monopoly.

Reagan did it by means of a sparkling wit and an underlying innocent brilliance that the MSM simply couldn’t filter out. But Reagan’s victories were temporary - the MSM was confused and outfoxed but did not sustain any permanent damage.

Trump is different - his brilliance is weaponized and he has specifically targeted the MSM for annihilation. Without the MSM fake news to shill for it, the Democrat party is nothing... without the Democrat party, the RINOs will have nowhere to hide and the swamp begins to drain.

When the swamp is drained, we can begin anew, and return to the business of self governance per the Constitution.

Never let it be said we did not live in interesting times.


13 posted on 06/19/2017 7:26:20 AM PDT by enumerated
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