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Republicans Are Ready to Party Like It's 1972
Townhall.com ^ | Feruary 27, 2020 | Larry Elder

Posted on 02/27/2020 5:16:25 AM PST by Kaslin

After Richard Nixon's landslide 1972 victory over Democratic opponent George McGovern, New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael gave a speech in which she said: "I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don't know. They're outside my ken. But sometimes when I'm in a theater I can feel them."

2020 Democrats, at least the sensible ones, find themselves in a full-blown panic over the prospect of a nominee who is outside their ken. How scared are they? About the prospect of Sen. Bernie Sanders leading the Democratic ticket, top Democratic strategist James Carville said: "I'm 75 years old. Why am I here doing this? Because I am scared to death, that's why. Let's get relevant here ... All the Sanders people are taking pictures wishing (British Labour Party leader) Jeremy Corbyn the best. I don't want to go down that path!"

He added: "We've got to decide what we want to be. Do we want to be an ideological cult? Or do we want to have a majoritarian instinct to be a majority party? What we need is power, you understand? That's what this is about. Without power, you have nothing. You just have talking points."

Rational Democratic strategists like Carville find themselves in a full-blown panic over polls showing that a growing number of Democrats prefer Sanders to lead the 2020 Democratic ticket. Even worse for Democrats, Sanders' supporters are either passionate true believers or do not believe that Sanders faces electoral disaster -- or do not care as long as his policies are promoted.

Trump enjoys a 94% approval rating among Republicans, but Democrats split their support between the Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren hard-left wing of the party and the so-called moderates. The percentage of the Iowa vote captured by Sanders and Warren came to 44%. But the percentage of the votes received by Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden comes to 54%. Similarly, New Hampshire saw Buttigieg/Klobuchar/Biden getting 53%, with the Sanders/Warren vote fetching 35%. In the Nevada caucus, Sanders did even better, capturing almost 47% of the vote, but the combined percentage of the Biden/Buttigieg/Klobuchar vote came to just under 39%. Good luck converting those voters to Sanders voters after Biden/Buttigieg/Klobuchar characterized Sanders as a wacky socialist who does not know or does not care about the price tag for his many programs.

Still worse for Democrats is that Trump is enjoying the highest approval ratings of his presidency. Gallup recently said: "President Donald Trump's job approval rating has risen to 49%, his highest in Gallup polling since he took office in 2017...Trump's approval rating has risen because of higher ratings among both Republicans and independents. His 94% approval rating among Republicans is up six percentage points from early January and is three points higher than his previous best among his fellow partisans. The 42% approval rating among independents is up five points, and ties three other polls as his best among that group. Democratic approval is 7%, down slightly from 10%."

Former vice president and former front-runner Joe Biden is betting his flailing candidacy on doing well in the upcoming South Carolina primary. But Biden, whose front-runner status has been built on black support, is watching a severe erosion among those voters. FiveThirtyEight wrote: "In an average of national polls, Biden's support among black voters has dropped about 12 percentage points from before the Iowa caucuses to the post-New Hampshire period. Conversely, during the same period, Bloomberg and Sanders ... each gained 10 points among black voters. And recent polls show Biden dropping fast among all voters while Sanders and Bloomberg are gaining ground."

So, Biden is a dead man walking. He looks confused and disoriented. At a recent South Carolina breakfast speech, Biden said: "My name's Joe Biden. I'm a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Look me over. If you like what you see, help out. If not, vote for the other Biden. Give me a look, though, OK?" Senate? The other Biden? And The Washington Post awarded him four Pinocchios, as bad a rating as it gives, for Biden's recent claim that, when in the Senate, he got arrested for attempting to visit an imprisoned Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Biden also said that, when freed, Mandela thanked Biden for the attempted visit. There is not evidence for either claim.

His argument has always been "electability," yet he cannot win a caucus or primary in his own party. A third of Americans disapprove of gay marriage, making the prospects of a Buttigieg nomination unlikely, quite apart from his thin resume as a mayor of a small town. Mike Bloomberg cannot win the nomination of a party where so many despise billionaires and would not, under any circumstances, vote for a multibillionaire late entrant who "bought his way in."

This leaves Amy Klobuchar as last Democratic moderate standing. But the passion is with the surging Bernie Sanders. All signs, at this juncture, suggest that Republicans in November will party like it's 1972.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: bidencampaign; election2020; larryelder; trump2020; trumplandslide
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1 posted on 02/27/2020 5:16:25 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Remember not to become complacent. Make it your business to vote.


2 posted on 02/27/2020 5:20:03 AM PST by duckman ( Not tired of winning!)
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To: Kaslin

I turned 18 a few days before the 72 election and couldn’t wait to vote for Nixon. I knew then what a commie McGovern was. I hope there are enough young people that aren’t fooled by the old commie Burny to turn the tide this time.


3 posted on 02/27/2020 5:21:08 AM PST by HighSierra5
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To: Kaslin

1972?

Unless it’s 1918


4 posted on 02/27/2020 5:23:38 AM PST by CharleysPride (Peace, Freedom and Prosperity. Thank you, President Trump.)
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To: Kaslin

Hmmm.... Fauxcahantus not even worth a mention.


5 posted on 02/27/2020 5:35:58 AM PST by super7man (Madam Defarge, knitting, knitting, always knitting)
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To: Kaslin
"Republicans Are Ready to Party Like It's 1972"

No. 1776!

6 posted on 02/27/2020 5:36:36 AM PST by Savage Beast (The malevolents' great fear is Trump's commitment to truth. That's scary to the untruthful.)
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To: Kaslin

It won’t be like 1972.

Not by a long shot. In 1972 our population of True Believers in socialism was a tiny fraction of what it is now. Today I’d estimate it’s somewhere close to 40% of the population with another 7-8% who could be persuaded to go along.

The only reason Trump will win is that there are still enough of us voters left alive who remember 1972. That will inevitably change over time. This is a much tougher fight than anyone out there seems to think.


7 posted on 02/27/2020 5:42:36 AM PST by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer)
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To: Kaslin

South Carolina, Trump Rally Supporters...remember we need 100,000 Trump folks to show up tomorrow, Friday, February 28th, 2020 at the North Charleston Coliseum & Perfoming Arts Center Arena, capacity 14,000 people...for the massive Trump campaign rally.....the overflow crowds will have good weather & Outside Gigantic TV screens. Be there...period!!!

For further info, contact: www.donaldjtrump.com

SUPPORT POTUS, DONALD J.TRUMP...100%!!!


8 posted on 02/27/2020 5:47:05 AM PST by JLAGRAYFOX (Defeat both the Republican (e) & Democrat (e) political parties....Forev er!!!)
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To: Kaslin

Kim Jong-un would win California, New York, Vermont, Oregon, and Washington if he were the D nominee. Take nothing for granted...


9 posted on 02/27/2020 5:47:34 AM PST by mbird139
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To: Kaslin
Rather-be-an-american-than-a-dem
10 posted on 02/27/2020 5:56:28 AM PST by SkyDancer ( ~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
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To: mbird139

Kim Jong-un would win California, New York, Vermont, Oregon, and Washington if he were the D nominee.


Add Illinois, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island.


11 posted on 02/27/2020 5:56:43 AM PST by HombreSecreto (The life of a repo man is always intense)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Rasmussen has Trump beating Bernie by 8. What that really means is Trump beating Bernie by 12 - 15. It won’t be close.


12 posted on 02/27/2020 6:00:46 AM PST by tatown
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To: Kaslin
Convention '72--The Delegates
13 posted on 02/27/2020 6:02:11 AM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: duckman

Get complacent, and you’ll also lose the downstream races.


14 posted on 02/27/2020 6:06:35 AM PST by Socon-Econ (adical Islam,)
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To: Kaslin
This is no time for overconfidence.

The current slate of Dem candidates does not look so good.

But don't forget the elephant in the room: Hillary

She would be the darling of a brokered convention, if it comes down to that.

She has the support of the Dem establishment, the mainstream media, along with the liars, cheaters and stealers, who will be out in full force this year.

Sure, the Bernie-bots will be angry and may even cause a stir, but in the end, if the Dem establishment wants Hillary, despite the will of the primary voters, that's who they will put on the ticket.

15 posted on 02/27/2020 6:06:46 AM PST by Jess Kitting
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To: Jess Kitting
Sure, the Bernie-bots will be angry and may even cause a stir, but in the end, if the Dem establishment wants Hillary, despite the will of the primary voters, that's who they will put on the ticket.

So she selects him as VP, and embraces one of his prized initiatives, like free 2 yr college

16 posted on 02/27/2020 6:11:38 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: HombreSecreto

Add Mass, Maine 1 and New Mexico.


17 posted on 02/27/2020 6:22:28 AM PST by woodbutcher1963
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To: Kaslin
Trump won't have a 1972-style landslide even if the Democrats nominate Harvey Weinstein. At most I think he might pick up 6 or 7 states that he lost in 2016:

New Hampshire, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado. Maybe Virginia.

The Democrats will try to tank the economy if they can. The Never-Trumpers in the Republican Party might try running a hopeless third-party candidate in hopes of tipping a few states away from Trump.

18 posted on 02/27/2020 6:23:28 AM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: Kaslin

1972 was my first election, but I voted third party. I also voted third party in 1992 and 2012. I don’t know who’s running in 2032, but if this trend continues, I’ll be voting third party again.


19 posted on 02/27/2020 6:49:18 AM PST by AlaskaErik
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To: HighSierra5
1972 was the first year I voted. I came from a “yellow dog dem” family and was in the process of leaving the dem party. My family was so solidly dem that I had to not put on my Nixon sticker on the car but put it on the dash when I left for school and take it off when I got home. I felt so guilty over voting GOP (remember in yellow dog families voting for any republican was tantamount to voting for a demon!) that I voted for Nixon for President, Howard Baker for Senate, and voted for the Dem Ray Blanton for Governor. So, Nixon had to resign and Blanton ended up going to the Federal Pen! But my dem was out of me. Have never voted a dem vote anymore in my life! The Dem party left me. I didn't leave it!
20 posted on 02/27/2020 6:49:34 AM PST by gbscott
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