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Using history which some of you think doesn’t apply. But I’ll go ahead. 75-80% of all those who vote, vote the party, not the candidates unless the party in power peeved them off for some reason or another. A good economy always benefits the party in power, a bad economy the out of power party. The 20-25% of those who don’t vote party, usually has the economy at their number one issue in deciding who to vote for in some form or another.

The economy, Trump’s inaction on the economy has placed him underwater, 44% approval, 51% disapproval. Immigration, a majority of Americans approve of what Trump has done regarding this issue and what he is doing, 52% approve, 44% disapprove. The Ukraine is a minor issue that didn’t make the top 20 issues being kept track of. Most Americans don’t care what happens there. The last poll I saw involving the Ukraine was about providing military aid, 24% increasing, 35% decreasing taken on 4 March. Isolationism doesn’t register.

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/donald-trump/issues/economy

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/donald-trump/issues/immigration

https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/econTabReport_uHE5Cxl.pdf

Which leaves government efficiency or DOGE. You have this: Asked whether creating DOGE was a good idea or a bad idea, 46% say the idea was good, 40% say it was bad, and another 13% do not have an opinion. Most voters have a strong opinion: 40% say DOGE is “strongly a good idea,” while 37% say it’s “strongly a bad idea.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/do...early-results-raise-red-flags-rcna196541

However, there are red flags being raised which the article covers. In the end, Trump support comes from MAGA republicans and some independents. 93% of republicans approve of Trump’s actions so far with only 5% disapproving. Among democrats it’s 4% approval, 92% disapproval. Independents stand at 35% approval, 41% disapproval with a huge 19% unsure or undecided.

Which doesn’t surprise me in today’s modern political era of polarization, the great divided along with the super, mega, ultra-high partisanship.

perotista, your experience with your elected officials mirrors my own. The only exceptions have been Jack Metcalf and Rick Larsen the previous and current WA-2 Congressperson. Don’t get me wrong, they both asked for money and replied with form letters but they were form letters that addressed the questions/concerns I raised. Metcalf was an old fashion Republican like the late great Dan Evans. Larsen is a moderate Democrat.

I guess I was lucky there. Many other WA friends in other districts (and me when I didn’t live in the 2nd) have had the same experiences as you have described.

The thing about the public messaging that, amongst other things, revealed National Secrets did a really great job of displaying just how far Mr. Trump has gone in assigning folks to run our government and and his efforts to destroy the United States of America. There were a number of persons, high in our government, and not a single one of them, when this was revealed had the good sense to simply say something like; "We really screwed up, sorry, we will really try to do better". Not a single one. Even after the entire thing was revealed to the public they were still at it. Making excuses, denying that it happened, you know, virtually everything they could think of to just make it go away. After all, that is, exactly, what Mr. Trump does. If he wants something to go away he simply says that it never happened or he knew absolutely nothing about it. His minions, on the other hand, has not denied there was the thing just lied about it.

So, Mr. Trump is sticking to his efforts to fail, yet again. He has now installed a bunch of incompetent liars to get together together and help with the destruction of the nation. What really bothers me is the number of people who support this man. It would seem that a big portion of the American Voting Public lack common sense and are determined to adore one of the great public liars, and convicted criminal, in the history of the nation. I keep remembering when a newspaper started keeping track of, and counting the lies in his first presidency. They simply stopped when it got over something like 600 lies and counting. Nobody is doing this now its a kindofa "Who Cares?" thing.

I was going to rumble on but - well, you know..........

OK ... I don't get it.

What has Trump done which would warrant improved approval from any group?

The economy ... a whirlwind of uncertainty with continued high consumer prices, tariffs just now hitting importers, stock market in a tailspin

Immigration ... the numbers are down but there are highly visible media reports or MAGA loves the show

Ukraine ... not in one day as advertised but a group chat in progress ... I have to wonder what Trump gets out of this ... does he award his billionaire cronies with lucrative mineral rights contracts?

Isolationism ... disassociation from allies ... maybe MAGA thinks this is a good thing ... certainly Rand Paul does

Government efficiency ... Ive been an advocate for a long time but not for the reasons most people think. An efficient bureaucracy delivers protection and services in the most timely manner. Slashing the workforce and eliminating agencies meant to deliver those services is an abrogation of my contractual agreement. If the government on it's own fails to make good, it is tantamount to a dissolution of that contractual agreement. .... How is that good?

Help me comprehend what I think is incomprehensible?

No doom and gloom from me. But here’s something interesting. The reasons why Trump is doing a bit better this term than in his first term.

Republicans, Men Push Trump Approval Higher in Second Term
Black, Hispanic adults more approving of Trump in second term, but still disapprove of him overall

https://news.gallup.com/poll/658661...nt=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

I’m one of those who basically just votes. But I do follow politics closely. I used to write letters and call my congressman and senators about this or that issue. But all I got back is a form letter telling me how good a job my congressman or senator is doing on this or that issue. Not a mention as to what I wrote them about with the required please send money at the end. I also donated to some candidates, but stopped that also.

While the numbers you cite are historically valid, I don't think they tell the real story. In previous posts I have suggested the actual number of people for which politics is very important is very small. I unscientifically guess less than 10M, and probably closer to 3M - 5M. When I use the word politics, I do not mean people who simply vote, dedicated voters , knowledgeable voters, or pass by voters. I mean those who have made their voice heard and so have a visible profile, which has attracted attention. So for everyone else the only real meaningful politics any are interested is the economy, otherwise does it really matter who is in charge, be they benevolent kings or evil dictators? I don't judge them for this, as I think it true across the board, be it here or in some foreign land. For some however, there is a higher calling. For me I am one of Irked's group #3's. I prefer having a more forward looking party in power, but can easily tolerate a more regressive party. Like I have said, we can survive bad policy, no matter from where it emanates. What I am not sure about is whether we can survive the destruction of the Foundations of Democracy. Based on what Trumpists say and have said, I don't think so. They don't use the language of Democracy, rather the words from dictatorships. Certainly within the group of people who are not intimately involved in politics, there are large groups which have beliefs which run contrary to Democratic principles, so in the short term I don't see a vocabulary of unification. However, on the bright side for our future generations, as I have typed numerous times, the inexorable inertia of progressivism will win.

I see Perotista is still holding on to the belief there will be a free and fair midterm election.

The SC has given Trump a taste of the addictive elixir, unconditional power. Trump is only now taking that power out for a test drive. Once he figures out the courts can not enforce any ruling on him, what do you think he will do? You believe he will abide by the Constitution? He hasn't shown any inclination to do so as yet. Once he is in complete control, he will not take a chance he will lose Congress. He needs it to support him, as they have so eloquently done. Spkr Will never investigate the administration no matter how egregious the offense. Trump will become firmly ensconced in the WH. No dictator ever willingly wants to relinquish power to the opposition. Thus he will make every effort to extort from the several states laws to disenfranchise voting blocks which may be heavily Democratic. Predicated on that he will use whatever executive power necessary to ensure a Trumpist win. This may be everything from sequestering voting machines/ballots to outright not having an election under the guise of national security threats from migrants or Democrats. Already Spkr Johnson has indicated he wants to eliminate the District Court system (impediments to Trump's power). What else will Spkr Johnson do to lubricate Trump's ascension?

I suspect by the end of the year, if not sooner, Trump will have consolidated power. So no, I don't see a free and fair election in our future.

Perhaps that’s not needed. I’ve always said that a presidential election is a referendum on the sitting president, how the public views the job he had done over the last 4 years. Midterms are the same, a referendum on the sitting president over the first two years of his presidential term. Trump over the last two weeks has slid from a plurality of Americans approving the job he’s doing to a plurality disapproving. These things take time.

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/donald-trump/approval-rating

But under the radar, you have this happening.

Democrat wins special state Senate election in Pennsylvania in major upset

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5214236-democrat-james-malone-wins-pennsylvania-senate/

The democrats have also taken the lead in the generic congressional ballot for the 2026 midterms.

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/state-of-the-union/generic-congressional-vote

Come the midterms, most voters won’t be paying attention whether the democrats are in disarray or not. They’ll be focus on the Trump administration as that is what the midterms will be all about. A referendum on Trump’s first two years. All the democrats have to do is be there as an alternative.

A thought or two. Reference group 1. On average 45% of all eligible voters don’t bother to vote in presidential elections, 60% don’t vote in the midterms. These folks pay little to no attention to politics. They go about living their daily lives regardless of what is going on in government. Did you know only 37% of all Americans know who their representative is. That 57% can’t name a senator from their state. There’s an apathy out there among the masses when it comes to politics.

I just keep hoping that the Democrats will get themselves together, gather everybody who is concerned, and start up doing something besides thinking good thoughts and asking for more money. Hopefully the huge crowds of folks put together by some Democrats can get everybody on board and stand up. When you have literally thousands yelling it will be pretty hard to take them all down (right now) I tremble at what may/will happen in the future if things don't change.

I find it discouraging that people seemed more up in arms about the Bush II administration than they are about Trump 2.0. But I suppose it was inevitable.

Americans seem to fall into one of three big buckets:

1) People who do not care enough to get involved in politics or anything to do with a wider community than their own family and small group of friends. If they engage in political discussions at all, they are in the vein of "It doesn't matter, they are all the same." If they vote at all, they will inevitably vote for the most well-known candidate that provides the simplest answers to the questions that register in their consciousness, i.e. their personal economy - invariably manifested in the price of gas.

2) People who are all-in on the path of the country. They want authoritarianism. They want discrimination against those who do not look or think like they do. They want chaos. They despise others, whether for gender, race, political leaning, religious beliefs, national origin, or education - any and all are sufficient reason.

3) People who believe in the principles laid out in the founding documents of the US and in the rhetoric of both major parties from the 1940s until the 1970s. This group is not as homogenous as some would have one believe: there are both traditional conservatives and traditional progressives in this group.

Group #3 is rapidly shrinking while group #1 is gaining. Group #2 doesn't care about demographics beyond what is necessary to gain control of the federal government. They have accomplished this with almost always less than 50% of the national vote.

Now that group #2 has gained complete control of the federal government and the party that represents group #3 has devolved into an incoherent and increasingly irrelevant entity, the complete takeover of state and local government is not far off. They are already silencing academia, the "free" press, law firms, technology firms, and state and local governments through intimidation and the cutting-off of funds.

Some think it is impossible that the government will outlaw the opposition. I am not so sanguine. This administration has followed the authoritarian handbook to a T so far. Why would they stop before they reach the finish line? Disqualifying candidates and declaring a party as anathema to a country's core beliefs has a long history; not only in other parts of the world, but in the US as well.

There is nothing to be done about the people in group #2. Group #1 can be activated, but it would take either a major economic collapse and/or a disastrous war. Even then, someone would need to step forward as a uniting force. If something doesn't happen soon, it won't matter - since that person would never reach the people once the regime has taken complete control of all media including the internet.

you've seeing the darkness smothering the life from a once proud Democracy ... this is how it happened in Germany

They are routinely detaining innocent people at the border, indiscriminately rounding up people and deporting them to prisons in other countries and getting little or no push back that has caused them to slow down, much less cease and desist.

They are already labelling the itsy-bitsy protests around the country as acts of terrorism with no meaningful pushback - even when they deport legal residents for the crime of exercising their 1st Amendment rights.

People are getting fired for having spoken or written mean things about the Orange God. Universities and research institutes are defunded unless they toe the party line - and nary a one has had the courage to say: "Keep your filthy money, we'll keep our integrity."

If (when) they decide to announce very regressive voting rules for the entire country and declare that any state that refuses to follow the new guidance will have their elections considered null and void and their representatives refused certification what would happen then? Push back from anyone or thing that matters? Hardly. Mass protests in the street? This administration would not hesitate to follow the lead of Xi, Putin, Erdogan, and the ayatollas - rapid deployment of riot police and (given the slightest extra "provocation") a declaration of martial law leading to the use of mass arrests and disappearings.

Don't think it could happen in the good ol' US of A? It already is happening in a test phase and nothing is stopping them.

I was watching the TV last night. Seems that the Democrats are starting to gather in large groups, ie. starting to wake up. This may be a serious effort to begin to get going. It also seems that there are new folks joining up with new thoughts, etc. This is, hopefully, a possible beginning of the Democrats taking a good look at themselves and working to fix themselves.

I hope this is a beginning to reset!

Trump seems to be moving rather quickly in all of this. Voting assumes that there is a way to do that. That is going to take a bit of time. I am not sure just how long but I do know that Trump is working, hard, to stop voting. I have no idea how but I believe that to be the case. I used to worry about voting being stopped before the next voting takes place (one year, I think) He just doesn't seem to give a damn and that bothers me. I wonder if he has plans to somehow, just get rid of voting.

I know, that is crazy - still, there is something happening, I think............. He is, incidentally, just ignoring judges and laws. Its like they are no longer there for him. If he can just keep on doing that then, I suspect, he can do, pretty much, whatever he wants and get away with it. One would think that somebody would do something but, so far, nothing. He has terrorized, as far as I can see, all Republican politicians and they are silent. Apparently they too are thinking that there will be no more voting which is why they are doing absolutely nothing. They are not thinking that Trump will get somebody to run against them so much as there will be no voting at all and for them to keep their jobs they gotta do what they are told by their Lord and Master.

We will see, eventually what is going on but I do not feel real good as to what might be happening.

I also think that the only thing that might work is for the Democrats to surprise everybody, wake up, put themselves together, have a message and a plan and either somebody, or a group, takes charge and they can actually get on with it.

It shouldn't be too hard for the dems to grab more votes the way Trump is destroying those things that are affecting his voters now.

Happy birthday jgw. I am glad you are here to share your thoughts with us. I hope you still have a long time to continue .

When it comes to congress, it’s a numbers game. The democrats don’t have the numbers and no control. The only thing left to them is the filibuster. Which ironically, they tried to do away with it. Only Sinema and Manchin stopped them from doing so. As for all the Trump Executive Orders, it’s the courts. The question is, will Trump and company obey the courts decisions? Might be a bit of Andrew Jackson in him. The Indian Removal Act was declared unconstitutional. Jackson ignored the ruling stating, "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it". Jackson proceeded with the removal of the Cherokee.

The democrats aren’t in that bad of shape. True, they just lost presidency, but by just 1.5 points. However, they did gain 2 house seats. They lost 4 senate seats, but 3 of those losses were in deep red states which shouldn’t have had a democratic senator to begin with. West Virginia, Ohio and Montana. They lost Pennsylvania, a swing state senate seat. If they stop all this in-fighting, come out of their denial mind frame over losing the election, find a charismatic, articulate leader they’re back in business.

I just turned 90 years old. Its very, very strange. I have been checking deaths in port angeles newpaper. EVERYBODY is less old than I! that one makes no sense at all.

People ask me how old I am, I tell them, everybody says; "You're kidding", "you don't look that old", "How you doing", etc.

The VA is setting up my annual brain test. This test has shown that my brain is, every year, a bit less functional than the previous years. I find it very strange in that I keep thinking that its not changed at all. I can still remember my name, my wife's name and the names of my kids (youngest one is now 60 years old). Then there is the simple word, that, every year, I have forgotten about this brain test. I think the worst is when I cannot remember the problem = ie. "DEMENTIA". My problem with simple words that I understand, can explain, etc. yet I cannot say them outloud. This is frustrrating but, over time, I seem to have accepted, and when it happens I just explain the word I am trying to say and, usually, somebody will say it out loud and then I can too. Seems most of those I know also are aware of what is going on when I goto explaining a word I cannot say without me even saying that's the problem. This whole thing is very strange. I know, I keep saying it, but its true!

Just thought I would mention my state and capacity. Both, I suspect, are going a bit down hill but I don't know it unless I am giving it thought (doesn't happen all that often).

The problem is in raising the hand. I have been through it and, I suspect, thee too. There comes a time, however, when you just don't want to do all the thankless work and stop. I have no solutions for this one but the Democrats are in pathetic state and they gotta stop it and get on with it. I still think that the best thing they can do is to call the biggest meeting they can, boil down all the candidates and find folks ready and willing to take over get on with the necessary job.

I know, been a long time and folks, I suspect, are giving up. Pretty soon it will be the Republicans and all the rest.

LOL ... harsh language from the courts ... think that will force Trump to do something? He holds the courts in great contempt ... they hate him ...

Trump is a narcissist. He knows he is above the law. So should any federal court hold Trump either civilly or criminally in contempt, how exactly will the court enforce the charge? O you think Trump will say yes Ill follow the orders of a lunatic deranged Trump hater. O wait the Marshall's Service will enforce the order you type. They are directed by the DoJ, currently run by a Trump loyalist who will certainly say ... stand down ... she will not follow that order from a corrupt Soros bought judge. O stop you say ... the Supremes will certainly put a muzzle on Trump .... LOL .... they'll actually be throwing a party in celebration they have become complicit in destroying Democracy ... the drinks are actually on them.

This is Trump a person without conscience or a sense decency. It is a new world order. The Europeans understand it. The question is why are Americans still taking their time comprehending the gravity of the situation???

dKOS.com

Agree jgw. I got a ton of e-mails last year from act blue and the mail portion asking for money came from the democratic party with their questionnaire. Harris as VP was tied lock, stock and barrel to Biden and his policies along with his very low job performance approval rating. She couldn’t tell the public what she’d do differently. She was asked but replied she wouldn’t do a thing differently which made her a defacto Biden running for reelection. Whatever Harris had said she do differently or proposed some new ideas, she would have accused of being disloyal. VP’s are well known, name recognition is high, but as far as having their own policies, ideas and solutions, forget it.

Who could become the face, the spokesman for the democrats? I don’t know. It seems no one is interested.

As far as I can tell the Democrats have absolutely no idea what to do. Most of the mail I get have to do is winning 3 ( think) replacements of Republicans that are running again. I get stuff from two Dem places (I think, not sure): Vote for Democratic Women and Progressives. I do not get anything from the Democratic Party which doesn't amaze me because, as far as I can tell, they have no idea what they are doing, what they are going to do, or even if they care. Its really kinda sad. One would think they would get off the dime.

The previous problem, with Harris, is that she was simply doing what she was told and little else. I have always thought she had more t0 say but was a Vice President and Vice Presidents actually do not much (well, except for the jackass vice president that Trump has who not only does what he is told but just adds a little bit of nonsense as well)

If you put it all together our nation is in deep, deep, trouble. I also think that there are a lot of people ready and willing if somebody stands up big time.