I posted a thread the other day about a Democrat who happens to be a lesbian winning a reliably Republican seat in deep red Oklahoma - a district Trump won with over 60% of the vote. That is a warning sign. Also, in some of these state races such as in Virginia and elsewhere, Democrats have been able to pick up some reliably Republican seats.
FReeper Jim Noble shared this comment in the thread:
In New Hampshire, three legislative seats that have never been Democrat, from towns won bigly by Trump, have flipped in the past six months (we have a very large House of Representatives, so these races are all small voter pools).
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3605230/posts
These are warning signs. We know what happened with Obama. He went in flying high, and look what happened. He lost over 1,000 seats and left the Democrats decimated. The Democrats have momentum right now, as the party of power often gets as they have enthusiasm (it's easier to be against something than do something), and they are utilizing it.
As I said in the other thread:
Republicans are killing themselves in 2 areas:
1. They are a circular firing squad. They are so busy running to the MSM to virtue signal and throw fellow Republicans/Trump under the bus and not busy returning fire. They should all be on offense. The Dems would be when it comes to investigations. Republicans should be looking into the emails, Comey, the dossier, uranium one, the election rigging, etc. Instead, we have them propping up the Russia probe, embarrassing Trump by not letting him make recess appointments, passing sanctions he had no choice but to sign, and fools like Corker attacking him publicly and working on a plan to take the nuclear decision that every President gets away from Trump.
2. They are getting nothing done. Seven years, and they are in chaos. Bills should have been drafted and ready to go when Trump came into office. Instead, they were too busy tossing Trump under the bus during the campaign and preparing to object to Hillary that they got nothing prepared. Now they are too busy REFUSING to implement Trump's agenda - one that was a winning agenda.
In point one I spoke about offense, and in point two I said they should have had legislation ready and should be putting through Trump's agenda. This part of the article illustrates something that bothers me:
Much of the Democratic enthusiasm has been organized around opposition to Trump, as well as concerted efforts to oppose the two Republican legislative priorities - a repeal of ObamaCare and the GOP tax reform plan.
Democrats have used both GOP legislative pushes to accuse Republicans of taking the side of big business and the wealthy over the little guy.
"The enthusiasm, surge in participation, and increased activism, a lot of it is its a real rejection of the Trump and Paul Ryan policies that are really toxic," Kelly said.
Why does this always happen? Why do the Republicans sit there and allow the Democrats to spew out the same narrative without retort that they don't care about the little guy? Trump was able to appeal to the little guy this past election, but the margin was thin, and the Democrats are going to try to take back those working class voters by saying that Trump/GOP plans will be bad for them.
Why aren't the GOP on offense? They should be fighting that narrative. The tax proposal has a dismally low rating, and you know why? Because the average person doesn't know what's in it. The Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media have the talking points without rebuttal.
Trump is great with connecting with the voters. Trump should be going around the country, going to the key swing states and swing districts in particular, and giving rallies for the tax package. Go to areas you need in the upcoming election in 2018. Bring the Republican representative/Senator from the area with you (particularly if they are up for reelection). Go to areas that you want to flip from D to R (like in a Senate race). Promote it. It will be the same talking points at every rally, but that will drive them home. Rebuff the media lies too because the DNC will be putting out their usual talking points via their friends at the New York Times, The Washington Post, and NBC.
If not campaigning with Trump, the GOP congressmen and senators should be out there promoting it on Twitter, Facebook, interviews, etc.
The GOP and/or conservative groups should kick in money for ads to run online and on TV (particularly in swing states).
The bottom line is that there should be a full fledged promotional effort for this to show the American people what it is and how it will help them, countering the DNC/media narrative. Trump and the GOP should speak of little else until it's done.
The disturbing prospect I keep pondering, though, is perhaps they don't want to get anything done. Perhaps they don't want to get anything passed (not all of them as there are many good people up there). Perhaps the establishment types don't want to get anything passed. Then they will blame Trump for their failings and cede the majority. As we saw in the election, for some it wasn't about being the party in power - it was about being in the establishment in power. Anyone who doesn't think McCain, Flake, Corker, and others wouldn't be more at home in a Clinton Presidency, is crazy. They would be. So they lose the majority. The Democrats come in. They try to impeach Trump. The establishment GOP will feel vindicated. They will try again in a few years with another Romney or McCain, failing to realize it's over. We won't even bother.
Donald Trump said during a rally in Scranton, PA on the eve of the election:
"We will massively cut taxes for the middle class, the forgotten people, the forgotten men and women of this country, who built our country."
"We will save and protect Social Security and Medicare."
"Tax relief will be concentrated on the working and middle class taxpayer. They will receive the biggest benefit and it won't even be close."
The current GOP Tax Bill (both House and Senate versions) will do the OPPOSITE of what Trump promised.
If Trump and the GOPe do not change those bills dramatically, the Democrats are going to clean up in the next election.
Mark my words.