307 Comments

Bill, you're right. Normie Republicans are no heroes until they put country over party. And, frankly, until they even put country over career.

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Our educational system is really under severe distress. How can any school or teacher compete with our social media. So few of us actually can effectively interact with each other, or communicate effectively, because of the addiction of the internet algorithms reinforcing our beliefs.

When I was in school- 60 yrs ago, my teachers all opened up my mind with different perspectives on everything that I didn’t always get at home. The television was shut off until homework was done and dinner was finished. Now kids are on their phones before school, during school, and late into the night. Also many of the most vocal parents don’t want their kids exposed to information that differs from their own beliefs. Closed minds will eventually lead to a dysfunctional society.

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Bill, you're right. Normie Republicans are no heroes until they put country over party. And, frankly, until they even put country over career.

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This is off topic but where is George W. Bush? He should really endorse Harris publicly. I can’t understand why he wouldn’t.

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Pretty simple. He's a coward. Just like Romney.

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I don't understand why Harris 's support for Ukraine would not be persuasive for Haley voters. A hallmark of Nikki Haley's campaign was that she was a strong supporter of NATO and Ukraine, and she was an enemy of Putin. These were the things that made me a Haley supporter. They're the primary distinguishing policies between Haley and Trump. If you don't agree with these positions, there wasn't much reason to support Haley, other than she's a Republican who isn't Trump.

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It's hard to get people to care beyond their own lives and communities. They probably care more about the nastiness and incompetence of Trump than anything about countries on the other side of the world.

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Excellent!

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Well...maybe the MAGAs were right. Russia, Russia, Russia wasn't what we thought it was. It was actually Russia, Russia, Russia + 4 more Russia's (to equal 7). Or perhaps it's Russia x 10 (3 +7) now.

I don't know but it's really getting hard for the MAGAs to ignore it at this point. I didn't say they would ignore it....it's just getting harder. I'm sure they're up to the task though...

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What The Bulwark does not cover, or maybe doesn’t understand about so many “normie” Republican voters and independents is that they harbor a rigid, blind, low information knee jerk HATRED of Democrats. They also appear to have a blind spot regarding this intense disdain or disgust. Democrats in my opinion did not harbor similar opinions about Republicans - until Trump.

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Thanks for this. But I have to tell you the story about Youngkin enraged me. He has sealed the deal that if/when a new Repub paqrty is reconstituted he won't be among its leaders.

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founding

"Not that these respectable “normie” types have had the nerve to actually oppose Trump. That would apparently be a bridge of courage and principle too far. Some may privately disdain him. But they are almost uniformly supporting him for a second term as president."

Bill, somehow, while I have no doubt about what you are seeing and reporting, I have to think that what matters is what those mis-named "normie" types do in the secrecy of the voting booth, or the desk-lamp lit corner of their studies when they mark their absentee ballots. Not that I expect a blue wave to come out of nominal "normies", but even some of them would/could make a difference....and they know it. The voting booth can be a democratic confessional booth. Call me an optimist, but if they can get into the booth without leaving a slime trail on the floor, there is hope. (OK, a big "if"....)

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Oct 11·edited Oct 11

Almost like things have come full circle. The 2016 crowd were under-polled, maybe reluctant to admit their choice? Or maybe just too much contempt for do-gooders doing polling? But today, the might be doing the opposite, hiding the fact they will not give him their vote. My, how times can change. Or so we hope!

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founding

Your words in their ears.

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Of all elections...you would think that this would be the one where this is going to happen.

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Hope will be our best hope on that. 🤞

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Again, it’s women with the backbone & courage to tell the truth about Orange Man

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founding

Be fair, Adam Kinzinger, Geoff Duncan, to name two non women. I agree it shows more female back-bone than male overall, but do not ignore them in your praise. They deserve recognition, too.

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That's two. Her point I think is quite valid. There are more women speaking out than men. Cassidy Hutchinsen who likely cannot afford personal security is speaking out but Romney and cowards like him who can, will not. I find it galling that some Bulwarkers preface their Romney comments with "I love Mitt but...". Romney is a weak, little man who's high regard for himself will prove to be misguided. At least he has his 15% tax rate. FH

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founding

And I did not challenge her basic premise, but her phrasing , "Again, it's women", can easily be taken as implying that no men come forth, hence my comment. Read the rest of my post. please.

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As it also turns out the sterling Liz C. & her brave cohorts have more balls between them than Mitt, Chris C. and the rest of the GOP anti-Trump invertebrates who meekly hide in the sleaze swamps hedging their bets, hoping that sitting this one out will insure a dance next time.

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Think of the difference between Liz Cheney and Kevin McCarthy. Liz stood for principle at a very heavy cost to her chosen profession. Kevin sold out in order to enhance his.

I think that most of the GOP is going to find out that the truth eventually wins out and many of them will end up like Kevin if not worse.

I think that Liz has some very good days coming ahead of her.

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The funny thing is that Kevin lost anyway. So much for his loyalty to Trump. Why haven't they figured out that the only one Trump is loyal to is himself?

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WRT the Ackerman article:

"In March 2020, he went on CNBC and delivered an emotional jeremiad about the danger COVID posed to the American economy, which became known as the “hell is coming” rant; markets tanked after—some took his warning to be the impetus for a massive sell-off—and thanks to a multi-million dollar bet he set up before he went on air, he ended up making billions of dollars."

That sounds like flat-out market manipulation for profit. Something that, if I was in charge of things, he would go to jail for. But that's me. What is F'd up about that is that it is some private citizen hedge-fund manager that did it and crewed up a lot of people's lives.

Shades of JP Morgan and the Gilded Age.

Oc course, Trump kind of did the same thing with his tweets. I wonder how much his friends and family made from the market volatility he created.

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" As John Pitney, a political scientist and Never Trump conservative, recently wrote:

Trump will almost certainly refuse to accept defeat. But if he loses big in the popular vote, as well as losing the electoral vote, it will be harder for him to claim that he is the people’s choice. The larger the margin, the weaker his claim.

Simply put, every vote matters, even outside the swing states."

Grrr, I have been saying the same thing since the summer of 2016. The usual response has been a patronizing, "You should read the Constitution. The popular vote doesn't matter, only the Electoral College." I respond, "Sure but the mandate comes form the popular vote. Every time one of Trump's press secretaries claimed that Trump's election demonstrated that the AMERICAN PEOPLE support his policies, they were talking about the popular vote and they were lying." Maybe two elections later, people finally understand.

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"Normie" Republican is at best an oxymoron; its really "undefined" as there is no Republican Party. There is a politcal party dedicated to the worship of one Donald J. Trump. That is about as far from "normal" as you can get.

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I'd like to hear The Bulwark's analysis of the failure of the WSJ editorial page to take a Liz-Cheney-like stance. Can you put us Bulwark readers inside the WSJ EB's heads on a second Trump term's being preferable to the alternative?

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