President Donald Trump

[revo]

you think the 2018 midterms, which were about an average result for a presidents first term, was like Pearl Harbor?

Does that mean Republicans will be kicking some serious Democrat ass in 2-3 years?

Actually, I didn't say that at all.

There's no question the GOP was soundly defeated. Soundly defeated. Yet the stable genius still manages to convince his flock that it was a victory.

Do YOU think this was an "Epic Victory" for the GOP? Or do you think he is delusional?

[cardboardbox]

Actually, I didn't say that at all.

There's no question the GOP was soundly defeated. Soundly defeated. Yet the stable genius still manages to convince his flock that it was a victory.

Do YOU think this was an "Epic Victory" for the GOP? Or do you think he is delusional?

I'm not sure how republicans were +2 in the senate yet soundly defeated. I think the answer to your question is somewhere between typical results and minor defeat.

[revo]

I'm not sure how republicans were +2 in the senate yet soundly defeated. I think the answer to your question is somewhere between typical results and minor defeat.

Wow, ok. You really do see through GOP colored glasses.

-37-40 House seats flipped. Some former GOP strongholds lost nearly all traces of red (NJ, Orange County CA).
- 7 Governorships flipped, including Kansas and Wisconsin
- 7 state legislatures flipped or went fully Democrat
- the GOP lost 14% of white female voters in House races from just 2016
- suburbs of large cities nationwide, another former GOP stronghold, abanonded the GOP at an alarming rate

But keep pinning your answer on what the Dems did to the Whigs in the 1872 election, lol. Shit, even baseball discounts stats from that century.

And FYI, the average of the last 50 years that Oakland posted was 21.7, which is not close to the 35 you’re holding on strong to.

[cardboardbox]

Wow, ok. You really do see through GOP colored glasses.

I guess I'm seeing through Washington Post colored glasses.

And FYI, the average of the last 50 years that Oakland posted was 21.7, which is not close to the 35 you’re holding on strong to.

read the article. It doesnt cut off at 50 years to get the results you prefer.

[Judge Jude]

can I disagree with both of you?


the House flip is pretty big, as are the other examples cited.

but I think the Senate boost is big for the Rs - and sad to say, especially given RBG's health. that's a big win for that team.

Trump's rhetoric is always ridiculous, obviously. but only a few months ago, we had D Senators asking about "boofing" and "Devil's Triangle" comments in a HS yearbook in a SCOTUS nomination, and Sen. Collins kind of turning the tide on a contentious hearing. that's going to seem weirder and weirder as years go by. I imagine the Rs can live with the results overall - as can the Ds. they both landed vital gains.

also, per the flipping of the suburbs, I live in a now-purple district where the D woman who was elected to an open seat made it a point to say during the campaign that she wouldn't vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker (not a unique situation). talk about a no-win scenario - she's up for re-election in less than two years.

[cardboardbox]

can I disagree with both of you?

I dont think you're disagreeing with me.

[Sour Masher]

I think it is fair to say that the elections were a mixed bag. Dems did as well as hoped/expected in the House, but disappointed by not making it closer in the Senate and not taking a couple of the governor races people thought they might. On a personal level, I was particularly disappointed in the Florida and Georgia results. The fact that Rick Scott managed to move from crappy governor to senator in the state was depressing. The fact that Gillum got edged out by a Trump clone is depressing, and the fact that Georgia played out like it did in light of what I do think were voter repression tactics is depressing.

One thing worth acknowledging though, for those who want to see this as a clear Dem victory and an indictment of Trump is that I do not think the Dems would have taken back as many seats as they did if Trump were not the vile creature he is, running on hate and fear, but some other generic R. that pushed a positive economic message.

While I agree with Revo that a lot of what we have seen in the last couple of years was grounded in a recovery that started under Obama, and a lot of what we are seeing in terms of debt expansion with the tax cut, as well as the poorly thought out tariff war with China, will lead to negative results from these things down the road, right now, the economy is doing well. I think a more generic R would have ran the midterms hard on that message, and it would have been more of a winner than the fear mongering Trump ran on. I think he made a tactical error that cost Rs some seats, and I hope his hubris continues and we see the tide continue to turn, washing him right out of office in 2020.

It would be interesting to compare the 2018 results with other midterms during an economic boom. I suspect that skews the numbers in favor of the incumbent party keeping more seats. I suspect that the Rs did worse than they could have, given where the economy is at right now. I also suspect (I don't hope for this, to be clear, but suspect it) that the economy will start to come off of the sugar high it is on right now by the time 2020 roles around, and that does NOT bode well for Trump or his followers.

[cardboardbox]

I think a more generic R would have ran the midterms hard on that message, and it would have been more of a winner than the fear mongering Trump ran on. I think he made a tactical error that cost Rs some seats

I said something very similar on the day of the mid term election, before we had any results in. I would have talked nonstop about the economy, virtually nothing else. Huge, huge mistake on Trump's part to focus so much on what he did.

Did anyone get closer than my prediction of -40 house, +1 senate?

Trump has to end the trade war with China. I think the intentions are fantastic, but he's shooting himself in the foot.

[onejayhawk]

Then Acosta should pull an Arnold Horshack:

What do you mean "should"? He has been for two years.

@sourmasher
This was a clear win for the Democrats. The Senate kept it from being a wave, but the shift in state-level positions was as clear as the one in the House. Over the last decade, over 1000 state House, Senate, a Governorships flipped from Democrat to Republican. This year the Democrats got more than a few back.

J

[swampdragon]

The mind of president* Trump

He met with several family members of those killed along with first responders to the massacre in southern California.

"We just hugged them and we kissed them — and everybody. And it was very warm," the president said after meeting privately with those affected by the attack that killed 12. "It was tragic, and yet in one way it was a very beautiful moment," the president said.

[revo]

The mind of president* Trump

He met with several family members of those killed along with first responders to the massacre in southern California.

"We just hugged them and we kissed them — and everybody. And it was very warm," the president said after meeting privately with those affected by the attack that killed 12. "It was tragic, and yet in one way it was a very beautiful moment," the president said.

And then today, he says the way to prevent forest fires is to do what Finland does (they don't) and "rake the forest floor of leaves."

[frae]

A very Presidential Tweet...

So funny to see little Adam Schitt (D-CA) talking about the fact that Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker was not approved by the Senate, but not mentioning the fact that Bob Mueller (who is highly conflicted) was not approved by the Senate!

But we must have decorum at the White House.

[Teenwolf]

As a landscaper, I find Trump's comments about how California failed to "rake the leaves from the forest floor" particularly offensive. Absolute fucking idiocy. I charge $150 for a normal leaf cleanup... how much would it cost to clean up all of the leaves in all of the forests in California? Not to mention fucking with natural ecosystems, and where do you compile the debris? The sheer level of stupid is deafening.

His supporters embrace of anti-intellectualism is ceaselessly stunning.

[Ken]

Absolute fucking idiocy. I charge $150 for a normal leaf cleanup... how much would it cost to clean up all of the leaves in all of the forests in California? Not to mention fucking with natural ecosystems, and where do you compile the debris?

Agree completely. Just another for the list of dumb statements from him, but somehow he's never held accountable for them.

As far as the leaves, I can think of a few hotels with a particular name on them that need to be filled up with leaves

[revo]

Agree completely. He hears something somewhere and without doing any checking, repeats it as fact. And then throws the supposed originator of it (in this case the President of Finland) under the bus. The President of Finland, BTW, came out and said, uhhhh no, I never said that.


Also today:
- he claimed to have “no idea” Matt Whitaker also holds similar views to him on the Mueller probe;
- he called the incoming head of the House Intelligence Committee “Adam Schitt”
- he needled Admiral McRaven, the widely-respected achitect of the raid that killed Bin Laden, saying he should have “found him sooner.” He also interrupted Chris Wallace twice to insist the former Navy SEAL leader was a “Hillary backer.”
- in an on-site press conference with Gov. Jerry Brown and incoming Gov. Gavin Newsom, calls the now-destroyed town of Paradise, CA "Pleasure" multiple times, and flippantly says "what a name" before being corrected by the eye-rolling officials. Yep, an entire town is decimated (an estimated 13,000 structures have burned down) and at least 76 residents were killed, but our glorious president can't take it seriously and decides to get in a little snicker at their expense.