Posted on 12/09/2023 10:41:52 AM PST by lasereye
I lightly skimmed through your thesis, but for some reason this stuck out:
grownup taking the high road
Republicans have been “taking the high road” for decades. One of the biggest reasons the country is in the shape it’s in.
Fact remains that in 2016 he was up against ALL of them and won.
In 2020, ALL of them took it to a new level and made sure he didn’t win.
Bush2 had never said one negative thing about Obama. But he has had no problem running his mouth about Pres Trump.
Trump won in 2020? What?
Are you saying he didn’t?
It feels like Groundhog Day. I spent the time spelling out exactly what my stance is & the only thing far too many of you believe you are hearing is: (a) you are criticizing Trump, and (b) you favor the establishment 🫣🙄 You couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m not saying ‘take the high road’ in the same sense that establishment Republicans were known for. They weren’t taking the high road- they were being weak and indecisiveness. They were afraid of the media- which is stupid because they were never going to get good coverage anyways. I’m not criticizing him for taking the low road or going after Democrats. He absolutely needs to do that! I want him to take the low road with Democrats! That is precisely why he got elected in 2016! I’m questioning the wisdom, during an election season, of going after Republican candidates for other offices. I don’t think he should take the high road with the media either. I just think he should have stuck with his winning media strategy in 2016. In 2020 he focused way to much on arguing with the media, ceding them the narrative and losing control of setting the agenda. I love President Trump!! But he’s a human being and makes mistakes just like everyone else. That’s what we are talking about- things that, in retrospect, could have been done better- smarter! He needs to control the narrative. His enemies know that he succeeds when he’s laser focused on getting his voters enthusiastic and eager to vote. They know that if they can bate him into a name-calling argument & get him angry, that they can divert his attention, frustrate his voters and make that days narrative about a dumb argument. Jeez, yall have got to stop equating post election critiquing and post mortem with supporting the establishment. When I’m critiquing the campaign of somebody I voted for twice, I’m doing it because I want to make sure he wins. I’m also sick of this pathological belief that President Trump is above criticism & should mindlessly agree with everything he does. Stop! That doesn’t make him or us stronger! In actuality it makes us weaker. Yall need to separate out criticism from Never Trumpers from the campaign critiques from those of us that voted for President Trump. We are bringing up strategy to help him and us win the next election. He and we could always improve and run an even better campaign. We need as to run a darn good campaign and ensure he gets a vote big enough that they can’t cheat. You don’t make him unbeatable by having a mindset that he can do no wrong! You make him unbeatable by keeping him from getting bated into dumb argument with the press, making sure he stays on message, warning him to expect traps and work to improve his standing with groups that are up for grabs. If we continue thinking that he does no wrong and doesn’t need to improve and thinking otherwise is disloyal, will end up causing his defeat. Be smarter about this. I’m not Bill Kristol or Liz Cheney. I’ll be voting for him again next year. I’ve just had a lot of experience running political campaigns & am pretty dang good at it. The one thing that always ensures success in an election is staying disciplined & having people in your camp that arent afraid to tell you what to change & how to improve. If we are all yes men, it’s going to breed laziness & waste opportunities that would benefit the campaign in big ways. Being a yes man & pretending he doesn’t need improvement isn’t loyalty, it’s being a sycophant 😉
“I don’t remember him previously trash-talking opponents (’Desanctimonious’ -’Birdbrain’)”
You must’ve been in a coma in 2016. It seems he had a nickname for most of ‘em.
There are things called paragraphs
Well said.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.