I have the same concerns. Unfortunately, the same things that motivate people to enter politics in the first place sometimes prevent them from leaving when they should. I wouldn't be as worried if Harris wasn't Biden's running mate. I don't dislike her, and it was great to see a woman of color become VP, but I don't think she's a strong candidate. There are others - men and women - who people could more readily see assuming the presidency if something happened to Biden. Unfortunately, he's not going to drop Harris - she'd have to bow out on her own, and she won't do that.
The Republican Agenda 2021 and Forward
- Thread starter Huntn
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I agree about Harris. I think she's a fine person and intelligent, just not ready for the top job. There are better choices.
In a perfect world I'd like to see Biden step down from running in 2024 and perhaps name a short list of people he'd support. And should one of those people win, I'd hope Biden would agree to be his/her foreign policy advisor. He has a deep well of experience in that area.
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I am keeping my eye on Hakeem Jeffries, AOC (She has owned the cons in committee hearings) and Cory Booker could probably still have a breakout moment at some point. I’m not too worried because democrats are competent and if Biden suffered an incident, they would reassess and put forward a decent message.
They’re far from perfect, but the other side is too busy just trying to keep their cult leader out of prison and banning books to really compare.
I agree with you on Harris - I think she’s wholly qualified to lead the country if Biden faces a crisis, but for a political campaign, she’s not the strongest and I can’t put my finger on it. I’d vote for her because I don’t need or require “personality” from a candidate, but a lot of people do.
The right hates her, there’s a lot of Hillary-esque hatred towards Kamala from them. She’s a woman and black, that’s two strikes off the bat for many people in this country.
Nevertheless, I think (and hope) there’s a margin of people in this country who want sanity and decency over Trumpism. Trump has lost the popular vote twice, and I don’t see Biden or a risk of Harris presidency making anyone flip to Trump.
This is all assuming Trump is the nominee. If he drops out or enough of the GOP leave the cult, and they nominate someone like Christie or Nikki Haley, then I see Biden being in trouble even if he’s still at 100% for his age. Both would probably yank a ton of independents away from Biden, and the small amount of moderate republicans who won’t vote Trump would probably gladly back either of those candidates.
AOC would be too polarizing, IMO, even though she's smart and I agree with much of what she says. Agree about Jeffries and Booker. Gavin Newsom's name is often brought up, but his opponents will say he's one of the people responsible for San Francisco's current situation.
Yes, the calculus revolves around Trump being the nominee. That's still the likeliest outcome, but if he implodes, someone like Haley could be nominated. I tend to discount DeSantis because he keeps shooting himself in the foot because of his policies and rhetoric, not to mention his lack of personality, though he being the candidate isn't beyond the realm of possibility if Trump goes away. My wish if Trump isn't the nominee is that he runs as an independent or exhorts his followers to not vote for anyone and write-in his name.
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AOC is polarizing, but she’s also young and very smart. A lot can change. I’m thinking two decades down the road, when she’ll be middle aged, still young and far more experienced. I doubt she’s going away, so who knows.
Jeffries I can see being a more immediate contender. Every candidate will have a weakness, and Newsom as a candidate would and should take heat and face questions for the issues in the city of SF. But any other candidate will probably have a similar hurdle of sorts, and I think Newsom is liked enough within the party and has the brains and charisma to be a good campaigner.
Or it could be someone none of us expect. I’m obviously biased, but I think the pickings are better on the left.
TBH, I wish the pickings on the right weren't as crazy. I still want Democrats to win because of policy, but I'd like to see them run against people who aren't willing to support someone like Trump.
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There’s plenty of decent folk on the right, but none of them have a backbone. They want to stay under the radar and tow the party line. That’s why, although I think Chris Christie and Nikki Haley represent folks on the right you speak of, I can’t take them seriously because they paved the path to Trumpism. They both worked for him, Haley in his cabinet, and Haley also said she’d vote for him again, even if he’s convicted. Tim Scott is as weak and pro-Trump as they come. Otherwise, they may not get my vote, but I’d be ok with them as president, in other times. But we aren’t in those times, so I dunno.
Herdfan
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No need. The Governor must appoint someone from the same party as the departing Senator choosing from 3 nominees selected by the state party.
Interesting. Any idea who might be next up for Republican Senate Leader?
Yoused
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According to this site, the top R names in the Senate are
- Mitch McConnell – minority leader
- John Thune – asst. minority leader
- (Mike Crapo – deputy minority whip)
- John Barrasso – R conference chair
- (Joni Ernst – R conference vice chair)
- Roy Blunt – R policy committee chair
- Rick Scott – R senatorial committee chair
(names in parens are lower status than the number next to them)
It reads like a character list from some kind of Stephen King novel.
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The names of the actual Trump crime ring defendants sound the same too, and they have the John Grisham story to go with it.
Yoused
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The Rs have, at last succeeded,
That last part, I find it troubling.
In 2021, 75.5 percent of high school students identified as heterosexual, the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) found. Among high school students, 12.2 percent identified as bisexual, 5.2 percent as questioning, 3.9 percent as other, 3.2 percent as gay or lesbian and 1.8 percent said they didn’t understand the question.
That last part, I find it troubling.
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It's being put out there by right-wing media and the MTGs of the party that the Secret Service snuck men into the White House for Obama to have sex with while he was President. OK, I'll bite and put myself in the headspace of whoever believes that. Now that I am there, WTF does that have to do with anything in 2023 and beyond? What demographic is this servicing?
And given the constant parade of accusation confessions by the right I wonder which Republican politician they are really talking about.
And given the constant parade of accusation confessions by the right I wonder which Republican politician they are really talking about.
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“Bathhouse Barry” is a common name I’ve heard the right call Obama for years online. Why, I don’t know.
Conservative humor is often not funny, but bless them for trying. They have Adam Corolla, Jim Breuer, Rob Schneider… Joe Rogan is the only guy they have I find legit funny. When you combine their unbelievable lies and their unfunny humor, you don’t know if it’s supposed to be a bad joke or something they actually believe.
Maybe it’s not a lie; perhaps MTG was one of the men the secret service snuck in.
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This is some brutal honesty - unsure if it was intentional or not - about the current House GOP situation...
“Once again, it’s going to be another major leadership challenge to be able to kind of thread the needle on some very important issues that are up against the clock,” veteran GOP Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas told CNN. “And I worry that the country is going to suffer as a result of our inability to, you know, get our act together and define consensus among ourselves. … It’s a mess right now.”
We will see how much of this is lip-flapping service to Donald Trump and how serious the nutcases in the GOP house are, and the article above states Trump will be going on a media blitz where he will push the House GOP to proceed with an impeachment inquiry.
We will see if Gaetz and co. can really back up their tough talk, or if they're just content making noise while McCarthy does whatever it is he's going to do. Remember, he already had an agreement with Biden - which even McConnell and the senate republicans were on board with - and is now going back on his word. What does McConnell think of this? The senate is doing some good bipartisan work right now - and some dummies in the House are going to screw it up for everyone. How many Americans do those combined Freedom Caucus members represent vs. all the others who are getting some actual work done?
“Once again, it’s going to be another major leadership challenge to be able to kind of thread the needle on some very important issues that are up against the clock,” veteran GOP Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas told CNN. “And I worry that the country is going to suffer as a result of our inability to, you know, get our act together and define consensus among ourselves. … It’s a mess right now.”
We will see how much of this is lip-flapping service to Donald Trump and how serious the nutcases in the GOP house are, and the article above states Trump will be going on a media blitz where he will push the House GOP to proceed with an impeachment inquiry.
We will see if Gaetz and co. can really back up their tough talk, or if they're just content making noise while McCarthy does whatever it is he's going to do. Remember, he already had an agreement with Biden - which even McConnell and the senate republicans were on board with - and is now going back on his word. What does McConnell think of this? The senate is doing some good bipartisan work right now - and some dummies in the House are going to screw it up for everyone. How many Americans do those combined Freedom Caucus members represent vs. all the others who are getting some actual work done?
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Most voters, even on the right, are wise to the fact that you can’t obstruct everything and constantly threaten a government shutdown while also complaining the government isn’t doing anything to help people. We all know who to blame.
rdrr
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You are giving way too much credit to "most voters" on the right. I say that number is in the low teens percentage wise.
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Kevin McCarthy is twisting in the wind, this impeachment inquiry is going to tank. Neither of the impeachments of Trump hurt democrats - for obvious reasons (including being legit) - this is so transparently revenge for Trump that it’s probably going to backfire badly.
I highly doubt we’ll see an actual vote to impeach, and if we do, there’s even less chance of a conviction than there was with Trump.
Kevin McCarthy is making a big mistake, and I have zero care that he’s making it. This is not going to hurt Biden, at all.
I highly doubt we’ll see an actual vote to impeach, and if we do, there’s even less chance of a conviction than there was with Trump.
Kevin McCarthy is making a big mistake, and I have zero care that he’s making it. This is not going to hurt Biden, at all.
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