Iowa Caucus Update - I was at the Republican Caucus tonight - my first time as i usually caucus Democrat. The AP called the race based on polling - WTF???? - not facts - before the caucus started. Here were the results
VR - 16; Trump - 51; DeSantis - 64; Haley - 109. My vote for Liz Cheney was not counted.
Mike, I am a long time listener of Hacks on Tap and your recent Substack articles. I have a question that no one has answered. Why doesn’t the Haley campaign start pounding on the fact that Trump, if he wins, is a lame duck from day one because he can only serve one term. I wonder if his legions of MAGA morons have any inkling of that. At least the college educated suburban folks might think again about him. It isn’t as well known as one would think. A friend of mine worked for Mac Collins on the Hill and has a graduate degree from Emory University, he thought the 22nd amendment meant two consecutive terms. Clearly that isn’t what the law says. I would be screaming that every day.
Maybe his supporters believe/hope that once he's elected, all that bureaucratic nonsense about 2 terms goes out the window anyway. They don't seem to be supporters of the Constitution. Fascists rarely are.
But I'd like to point out that Trump loves dictators and calls them geniuses and praised Xi and Kim for being "presidents for life." Considering what he did to stay in office after losing in 2020 (Jan. 6, Fake Electors Scheme, etc) I don't doubt that he'd stay on until he died - who would get him out of the White House even if he lost in 2028? He'd have pardoned all the Insurrectionists and they'd be there to keep him in power - election-schmection. Trump is a wannabe Dictator; if he wins in 2024, he ain't leavin'
DeSantis's candidacy never made sense; only if Trump dropped dead could DeSantis have a chance to step into his shoes, but even then, his high-heeled phoney-boots feet would be a tight squeeze into Trump's teeny bone-spurred feet.
I mean, the whole Trumpism thing is such a joke, if it weren't so dangerously real.
Anyway, DeSantis just proves once again that no matter how many time a slick, rehearsed, focus-group-dependent politician is all about being in it for "You the People" it's all a sham. He's in for himself, a slave to the lust for power that drives these slithering creatures.
And the best line from a Nikki Haley town hall (from a question about her putting down Iowa) was (after saying it was just a joke) that she "didn't eat sleep and breathe politics." Really?
Rick, it's a sad commentary on our times when a Presidential candidate gets points "even crossed an impressive line by saying, “Trump lost that election. Biden won it.”
By simply speaking an obvious truth - 3 years after the 2020 election - she is worthy of a muted and back-handed compliment, because she "crossed an impressive line."
Oh how Trump's Republican party is saturated in lies, built on lies.
JFK couldn't write "Profiles in Courage" in these times, while "Profiles in Cowardice" could fill volumes.
After WW1 destroyed the world, WB Yeats wrote in 1919
"the best lack all conviction, and the worst of full of passionate intensity."
So here we are: even a muted hurray for Nikki, for having the courage to what? state an obvious factual truth. I wonder if admitting such a truth will lose her more votes in this absurd delusion Republican primary.
Am I wrong in thinking NOBODY will ever check out the desantislies website that Haley kept referring to over and over again? I actually think DeSantis understood something that Haley didn't: it doesn't matter if it's later proven to be a lie - it's already in people's heads and your website isn't going to change that. Haley struck me as a Democrat debater: thinks that policies will change peoples' minds.
Christie is a strategic politician, first, last, and always. He knows his endorsement holds value and he wants something in exchange for it. It won’t happen now because he knows it would get lost in the noise of the “JV” campaign and give them yet ANOTHER excuse to not take on trump. But I predict he’ll get there. Just not until the general election.
I liked your summary of Chris Christie. Especially on courage late is better than courage never (which few but me extend to M. Pence as well) The wine and snacks got me laughing, and the venom ending was a strong and apt tribute to Christie.
So, Rick, help me out here. I don’t think Ronnie One-Note has changed his tune (i.e., a software update) since winning reëlection in FL. What gives? Are the good folks in Florida that blinkered, or has something changed? I’m thinking there’s two categories here; all the thoughtful folks who voted for him, and then the donor class, who’ve clearly turned south (um, Haiti?) on him, as you point out. Interested in your perspective. Great piece; thank you.
Just occurred to me: There’s a job waiting for DeSantis when he’s done campaigning (and wrecking Florida). There’s a museum here where I live in France, “Musée Des Automates” with a collection of, “...250 automatic puppets...”
Let's try to face reality here: No one in the Republican party matters at all except the ogre king, and that is why the party is cannibalizing itself. Trump was never qualified to run a country, and a sane nation would have had checks in place to prevent him from forming his cult of morons and hate-filled ragemonkeys. We're likely to face a reboot and it's unlikely that the operating system of civil life in these United States will need to be rewritten from scratch. I don't care at all what the debates have to offer, because they are completely irrelevant. The future just around the corner will not be based on ribald zingers.
Under Biden, the whole electoral process needs re-assessment: electoral college that overrides popular votes; gerrymandering carried to extremes; Citizens United; and the absurd 2-Senators-per-state system in which less than a million people in North Dakota get the same representation in the Senate as 40 million citizens of California. So there's lots of electoral re-booting required.
But under Trump, fogetaboutit. It will only get worse. Much worser. Trump loves dictators and envies their "President-for-Life" positions. The most haunting line I've read in years is Tim Snyder's line (in On Tyranny) that any election can be the last.
Hello America? Are you awake? Do you see the danger?
Iowa Caucus Update - I was at the Republican Caucus tonight - my first time as i usually caucus Democrat. The AP called the race based on polling - WTF???? - not facts - before the caucus started. Here were the results
VR - 16; Trump - 51; DeSantis - 64; Haley - 109. My vote for Liz Cheney was not counted.
Mike, I am a long time listener of Hacks on Tap and your recent Substack articles. I have a question that no one has answered. Why doesn’t the Haley campaign start pounding on the fact that Trump, if he wins, is a lame duck from day one because he can only serve one term. I wonder if his legions of MAGA morons have any inkling of that. At least the college educated suburban folks might think again about him. It isn’t as well known as one would think. A friend of mine worked for Mac Collins on the Hill and has a graduate degree from Emory University, he thought the 22nd amendment meant two consecutive terms. Clearly that isn’t what the law says. I would be screaming that every day.
Maybe his supporters believe/hope that once he's elected, all that bureaucratic nonsense about 2 terms goes out the window anyway. They don't seem to be supporters of the Constitution. Fascists rarely are.
Steve, you've got a good point.
But I'd like to point out that Trump loves dictators and calls them geniuses and praised Xi and Kim for being "presidents for life." Considering what he did to stay in office after losing in 2020 (Jan. 6, Fake Electors Scheme, etc) I don't doubt that he'd stay on until he died - who would get him out of the White House even if he lost in 2028? He'd have pardoned all the Insurrectionists and they'd be there to keep him in power - election-schmection. Trump is a wannabe Dictator; if he wins in 2024, he ain't leavin'
Trump just posted an attack on Ramaswamy, calling him a "deceitful liar."
I wonder if Trump knows the word "projection."
I mean, you can't make this stuff up.
DeSantis's candidacy never made sense; only if Trump dropped dead could DeSantis have a chance to step into his shoes, but even then, his high-heeled phoney-boots feet would be a tight squeeze into Trump's teeny bone-spurred feet.
I mean, the whole Trumpism thing is such a joke, if it weren't so dangerously real.
Anyway, DeSantis just proves once again that no matter how many time a slick, rehearsed, focus-group-dependent politician is all about being in it for "You the People" it's all a sham. He's in for himself, a slave to the lust for power that drives these slithering creatures.
And the best line from a Nikki Haley town hall (from a question about her putting down Iowa) was (after saying it was just a joke) that she "didn't eat sleep and breathe politics." Really?
Rick, it's a sad commentary on our times when a Presidential candidate gets points "even crossed an impressive line by saying, “Trump lost that election. Biden won it.”
By simply speaking an obvious truth - 3 years after the 2020 election - she is worthy of a muted and back-handed compliment, because she "crossed an impressive line."
Oh how Trump's Republican party is saturated in lies, built on lies.
JFK couldn't write "Profiles in Courage" in these times, while "Profiles in Cowardice" could fill volumes.
After WW1 destroyed the world, WB Yeats wrote in 1919
"the best lack all conviction, and the worst of full of passionate intensity."
So here we are: even a muted hurray for Nikki, for having the courage to what? state an obvious factual truth. I wonder if admitting such a truth will lose her more votes in this absurd delusion Republican primary.
So, what happens to Kim Reynolds and Bob VanderPlatz after Monday?
Trump will have his revenge
Rick,
Great writing once again. I have sent this specific read to many of my friends and all of my 12 adult voting children for their enjoyment.
Thank You
I was pretty sure I had spent All My Political spare change in 2016, then again in 2020...And Now The Beast Has Grown Another Head!
BUT...SO HAVE I!
Am I wrong in thinking NOBODY will ever check out the desantislies website that Haley kept referring to over and over again? I actually think DeSantis understood something that Haley didn't: it doesn't matter if it's later proven to be a lie - it's already in people's heads and your website isn't going to change that. Haley struck me as a Democrat debater: thinks that policies will change peoples' minds.
Great article, Rick!!
Christie is a strategic politician, first, last, and always. He knows his endorsement holds value and he wants something in exchange for it. It won’t happen now because he knows it would get lost in the noise of the “JV” campaign and give them yet ANOTHER excuse to not take on trump. But I predict he’ll get there. Just not until the general election.
Thanks for adding “Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS” to my cultural literacy. Right up there with incelabteilung. You have a way with words, man!
I liked your summary of Chris Christie. Especially on courage late is better than courage never (which few but me extend to M. Pence as well) The wine and snacks got me laughing, and the venom ending was a strong and apt tribute to Christie.
So, Rick, help me out here. I don’t think Ronnie One-Note has changed his tune (i.e., a software update) since winning reëlection in FL. What gives? Are the good folks in Florida that blinkered, or has something changed? I’m thinking there’s two categories here; all the thoughtful folks who voted for him, and then the donor class, who’ve clearly turned south (um, Haiti?) on him, as you point out. Interested in your perspective. Great piece; thank you.
Just occurred to me: There’s a job waiting for DeSantis when he’s done campaigning (and wrecking Florida). There’s a museum here where I live in France, “Musée Des Automates” with a collection of, “...250 automatic puppets...”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_des_Automates
Make that 251.
Ha ha, along with Mickey Mouse and the Disney characters. There's poetic justice for you.
DeSantis "a black hole where charisma goes to die"
😂😂😂😂
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
... with silly shoes.
Let's try to face reality here: No one in the Republican party matters at all except the ogre king, and that is why the party is cannibalizing itself. Trump was never qualified to run a country, and a sane nation would have had checks in place to prevent him from forming his cult of morons and hate-filled ragemonkeys. We're likely to face a reboot and it's unlikely that the operating system of civil life in these United States will need to be rewritten from scratch. I don't care at all what the debates have to offer, because they are completely irrelevant. The future just around the corner will not be based on ribald zingers.
agreed, there's a reboot needed.
Under Biden, the whole electoral process needs re-assessment: electoral college that overrides popular votes; gerrymandering carried to extremes; Citizens United; and the absurd 2-Senators-per-state system in which less than a million people in North Dakota get the same representation in the Senate as 40 million citizens of California. So there's lots of electoral re-booting required.
But under Trump, fogetaboutit. It will only get worse. Much worser. Trump loves dictators and envies their "President-for-Life" positions. The most haunting line I've read in years is Tim Snyder's line (in On Tyranny) that any election can be the last.
Hello America? Are you awake? Do you see the danger?
50/50. Or thereabouts.
as long as it's 51-49 for Biden I'll take it.
Except for "electoral college" shenanigans.
Nikki? Gotta be her new campaign manager. https://x.com/bobbygvegas/status/1745519832391393573?s=61&t=2glrsxu75HaIThpgAUeP7g