David French had an article in the NRO talking about this. I think the takeaway from the Trump phenomenon is that they don’t. Whatever the base wants, it’s not the Club For Growth dogma that they’ve been repeating for decades now. And it’s not necessarily the religious conservatism that’s become so prevalent in the party.
Re: Kasich
Well, for all Rand’s high school know-it-all-ness he can’t hold a candle to Cruz so he’s been well shielded there. Also, what my main takeaway from the content of the R’s debates and media coverage has been, is how even knowing how little I actually agree with Kasich and Rand, the entire spectacle leaves me feeling that they are the only ones who actually make some sense and don’t completely sell out pandering to the islamophobic, bible-thumping, Obama-hating base. Jeb! too a little bit for that matter. Ugh. Just typing it out makes me want to take a shower.
I dislike making personal judgements about people I’ve never met, but Cruz is off putting. I can understand why voters find his stands appealing, but I’m not sure what they see in his persona.
Do they actually like him? Or is it the issues that matter?
Cruz seems like people I’ve met before. People gifted with intelligence, but without much natural grace. That anecdote about asking a college aquaintence about their IQ - that seems somewhat telling. Proud, insecure, and aggressively akward.
As to the issues. Well, we live in a diverse country. Large segments of the population embrace values that might seem primitive to you, or worse.
You can try and change them, and that can work. But you will create a backlash. Something like Trump for example. Perhaps it’s worth it, perhaps it isn’t.
You can also leave them to govern themselves. Perhaps they’ll get around to your way of thinking. Mass media and interstate immigration is certainly changing the country.
Of course, they may stay just the same. Culture is a stubborn thing.
Over the weekend I took a trip down a dark and vile rabbit hole.
I went back to read various comments sections over at Hillaryis44. When last we left that particularly awful segment of the internet population back in 2008, I’d wrongly assumed that these folks were bonkers Ellen Jamesians (that’s a Garp reference), angered beyond angry that their chosen female candidate had come up short.
Boy was I wrong.
Spend some time there, and you can almost see the Tea Party forming up in those comments from regulars. You realize that:
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They don’t like CNN or FOX or MSNBC. Or any network. On Election Night, 2008, there were many outraged commenters attacking the networks for daring to call Pennsylvania with so little of its vote counted, representing a fundamental misunderstanding of how statistics works.
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They don’t like Democrats
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They don’t like Republicans, either.
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Unless someone in either party is taking on Obama. Then they LOVE that person.
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If Obama cured cancer, put an end to poverty, and created an everlasting peace, he would still be, to these commenters, a disgrace and his wife Michelle would be disgusting.
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They hate Hillary now too. Benghazi. Obama. Etc.
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They’re all in on Trump. He’s the leader we need.
The conclusion is inescapable as you read the comments in aggregate. “What,” you may ask, “Did Obama do to these folks in November and October that causes them to react to him with such virulent disgust (for disgust it is, really; not even anger fits well)?”
The sadly inescapable conclusion is “It’s the color of his skin. No more, no less. Period.”
What is also of great interest is that these are all folks who were, at least ostensibly throughout the 2008 primary campaign, Democrats. Independents too, I’m sure, but many Democrats. And the conclusions are so easy to draw. There is a segment of the American voting population, perhaps not big, but statistically significant, who are appalled by the idea of anyone not of European-American upbringing running the country. And their nativist sentiment is all in on Donald Trump.
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who are appalled by the idea of anyone not of European-American upbringing running the country.
What’s so funny is that Obama is clearly of European-American upbringing. His ethnicity is seemingly non-existent.
LMN8R
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This American Life interviews a conservative evangelical radio show host who’s appalled and torn over the fact that his listener base loves Trump:
Interesting to listen to, but just cannot empathize with it at all. It’s sad hearing someone talk who’s so utterly oblivious to the fact that he and his peers are directly responsible for seeding the blatant lies about Obama, Obama’s policies, and Democrats in general that created the Trump monster in the first place.
OK, here’s a hypothetical that friends and I were discussing and coming up empty on over the weekend.
Let’s do a hypothetical here, with no offense intended towards Bernie Sanders supporters. Let’s say that Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination for president.
Who’s her running mate? The obvious answers to me seemed like either Mark Warner or Tim Kaine…but I’m not sure the Democrats want to risk either seat in the Virginia senate delegation just yet. I’m thinking there will be some ticket balancing going on, so the running mate will probably be younger, white, and a male. And now I’ve got nada (which kind of speaks to just how short the Democratic bench is with certain demographics). O’Malley seems pretty limp.
Don’t see it for many reasons. Both are old. I think there will be an urge to balance either Hillary’s or Bernie’s ticket with a younger running mate. Also, I think Bernie likes being in the senate and would hate being a VP. Just doesn’t seem like his kind of job.
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Clinton-Warner?
I agree though, the VP will be a male.
I am just amazed that the Democrats haven’t come up with some younger male candidate, someone who would have perhaps run just for the exposure even if they knew Hillary was already the “parties” choice.
Cory Booker
Julian Castro
Deval Patrick
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A young, charismatic, progressive hispanic from PA, OH or Florida. It’s partly about balance, but mostly about demographically targeted enthusiasm and turnout.
I’m not sure that person actually exists, at least not with credible qualifications for the office. They need to be well north of the Palin Line (with apologies to Mario Mendoza). But she needs someone to energize Bernie’s supporters. She could also increase democratic party affiliation among young hispanics, which would pay dividends for decades.
If she picks another old white person, I think she’ll have missed a tremendous opportunity.
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Castro has been talked about.
I like Booker but he needs to level up more. Also not from Florida or Ohio. The electoral system sucks. Pretty sure the founders didn’t intend for 1-2 states to decide a national election.
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What do GOP voters want: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/iowa-new-hampshire-gop-voters-poll.html
We tried to discern not just their candidate preferences but their worldviews. National security and the economy ranked among their top concerns, and health care, immigration, and gun control were important. But issues didn’t really seem to be the point. It was common to hear voters say they could choose any of the candidates across the ideological spectrum. “I like Christie because of his executive experience,” said Greg Mason, a 59-year-old IT engineer from Manchester, New Hampshire. “Carly Fiorina impresses the living death of me. I like Marco Rubio. Cruz. And Trump, I don’t agree with his positions, but he’s got the testicular fortitude to come out and say people are desperate.”
The phrase seemed telling. If there was anything almost all of the respondents sought in a candidate, it was that testicular fortitude — or, in less colorful terms, strength. It’s why Trump has steamrolled his rivals despite his ideological inconsistencies as a Republican. And it’s why Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio have failed to connect: Being labeled a nerd in this GOP primary is the kiss of death; being cast as a sissy is even worse. Machismo even seems to be Carly Fiorina’s best selling point.
Sometimes I think I type in invisible pixels. ;) I doubt it will be Warner. He likes the Senate, and I don’t think the DNC will be thrilled about risking his safe seat.
I am just amazed that the Democrats haven’t come up with some younger male candidate, someone who would have perhaps run just for the exposure even if they knew Hillary was already the “parties” choice.
Castro makes a ton of sense, although the resume is still a bit thin. Makes a ton of sense for her though.
Did he run into scandal trouble?
Apparently he’s had quite a few of them. I withdraw his name from consideration!
