posted by Spock
They are way worse
I dunno. I think it's easy for Trump supporters to either forget or gloss over some of the pretty ridiculous things he's said.
But yes, the Louies are also really bad. Just as bad, I think.
posted by gut
Some people have been saying for years that win elections is not about appealing to moderates and independent swing voters...but turning out your base. That's what Trump did. That's what Dems try to do with their identity politics and gaslighting. Anger is a powerful motivator. And when the economy is doing well, you need to get your base that much angrier.
Truthfully, I do think a lot of Trump's success did come from appealing to moderates. If you'll recall, there appeared to be a bit of infighting among the RNC over Trump. There were even a few well-known GOP politicians who chalked themselves up as #nevertrump people. That seems like it would have appealed to people who didn't like the DNC or the RNC norms.
I honestly think that his ability to portray himself as the "unpolitician" (to borrow from the T-Mobile marketing campaign) helped him as much as anything. Granted, he certainly spent time rallying his base, of course. But his penchant for portraying himself as anti-status-quo-Washington I think did him more favors than anything else.
posted by gut
Couldn't believe an article that came across my news feed this morning. I read about halfway thru and it was just sickening. A lengthy article about the elitist prep schools around DC, and the culture of drinking, drugs and "taking advantage of women" (a.k.a high school). An absolute smear piece that was basically a dog whistle saying "it was the culture....so therefore the accusation against Kavanaugh is probably true".
You know, like those high profile group rape cases at Duke and Virginia...those boys had to be guilty because that's what college frat boys and athletes do.
Also in the same story - and this is the danger of an FBI investigation where they can't verify what people say but feel obligated to report it if the person sounds credible - some woman on Facebook claimed she remembered hearing the story about Kavanaugh. She later deleted it saying "I'm out of this circus". An obvious "look at me" moment to get attention, until she realized the implications of such a statement.
Not that I'm surprised, but who published that? That's almost on-the-nose too much to be a dog whistle.
posted by gut
It's been funny watching the near polar-opposite coverage on Fox and CNN. Most shows usually get around to alternative views and being relatively fair/respectful to both sides. But the tone generally comes down to "why would this woman make it up" vs. "how could Kavanaugh ever prove this wasn't him?".
But the new narrative is we need an FBI investigation. Cuomo was ranting last night about all the evidence and witnesses....Ummm, no. She identified one witness, who already formally stated in a letter, subject to perjury, he wasn't there. Nothing else has been made public or shared with Repubs, and she has made no official statements or complaints. According to her own words, there is basically nothing to investigate. And, yeah, the new standard is an innocent person "should welcome an FBI investigation" to clear their name every time an allegation is made.
I genuinely wish shows with political commentary had Q&A sessions. I would have liked to see him answer the question, "Which evidence and what witnesses are you talking about?"