To Trump, or not to Trump. That is the question.
I am having “first world” problems this morning. The wi-fi system is “down” at the Nashua Extended stay place, and the hotel is is a shadow of cell phone reception. Amid the grave problems of the world, this is a small one, but it is mine.
This weekend Republicans aspirants will demonstrate the problem of common spaces, discussed by Aristotle and by philosophers, economists, and game theorists ever since. It is in the interest of each candidate to grab all the non-Trump votes available, so each attempt a long-shot, hail-Mary campaign. If they all dropped out and supported Nikki Haley, she would defeat Trump, I think, and she would defeat Biden. That race would pit yesterday-Biden against the today-post-Trump-GOP, a bad matchup for Democrats. I am here in New Hampshire to see if it happens.
Meanwhile, the GOP-majority House is doing a version of the same thing. The bomb-throwers on the nihilist right insist on policies that will bury the 25-40 GOP House members who represent purple and blue districts — including one of Oregon’s. Republicans are considering advancing Steve Scalise. He voted against recognizing electoral votes cast for Biden. He still refuses to say aloud in public that Biden won and Trump came short. That is a deal-killer for some Republicans, and it is toxic for about 60-65% of Americans.
Republicans are superb at appealing to disaffected working class Americans who feel the institutions of government aren’t working in their interest. Democrats need to recognize that this group carves out a huge segment of the traditional Democratic coalition, and it could cause Republicans to win national elections. Republicans are doing self-defeating things, but may win anyway.
I cannot recommend Extended Stay America hotels. Quite the opposite. Avoid them.
I am writing this on an I-pad with a weak phone connection.
10 comments:
The bookies aren’t giving Nikki Haley very good odds of winning the nomination. If she did, all those people who love Trump for his criminality and lies would probably lose interest, and there goes the Republican base. They want a dictator.
The suggestion of Haley consolidating the anti-Trump challenge is probably her exact strategy...and everyone else's also. This makes the whole event rather pointless, aside from all the empty rhetoric one will endure, which suggests a somewhat masochistic bent to attendees. The end game here is that they all cancel each other out.
Minor point: Ryan Binkley is double booked. According to his website he's in Iowa on Saturday. Someone should clear that up.
You seem to have former college classmates here, there and everywhere.
Are there any former college classmates, or their families, that would let you use their spare bedroom? Hotels are expensive and not always a pleasant experience.
Thanks for covering the campaign in New Hampshire. Fall foliage photos please, if you have time.
Current events are hogging the headlines and airtime to the exclusion of all but the House Speakership. Even DJTs legal attempts are not penetrating the 24/7 news cycle. The candidates in New Hampshire will have some wiggle room if they focus on current events and not tend the ego of the orange one.
I have been thinking about the possibility of VP Kamala Harris and former SC Governor Nikki Haley appearing together, one on one, on the debate stage.
This would be incredibly historic and I am sure very interesting to watch. Both are American-born (California and South Carolina), educated and highly experienced women with parents born in India (Harris' father is from Jamaica).
Harris an attack lawyer (remember when she attacked Joe Biden in the debates?), a former US Senator and a former California Attorney General. Haley also is the former US Ambassador to the United Nations, who was appointed by the former Occupant.
“He (Scalise) voted against recognizing electoral votes cast for Biden. He still refuses to say aloud in public that Biden won and Trump came short.”
One has to wonder-did his mass shooting injuries damage his brain, or is he simply a victim of The Republican Virus?
I noticed that. My question; What is a Ryan Binkley ?
Malcolm; he got shot in the ass, and in MAGA world, he's considered a hero, because he survived. I've always wondered how that bullet missed his brain, since the wound was apparently right where his head is normally parked.
Malcolm,
What’s with the ski mask?
I have ZERO respect for Scaleaze. He is a victim of firearm violence and he works to improve security for his colleagues, but opposes efforts to reduce gun violence for us peons.
If congress was held to the same standards as we are in our jobs, and had the same paltry benefits we do, this could be a good country.
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