The Republican Presidential Candidate Democrats Should Fear

I don't think he's been a RINO the whole time, but as of lately (the last year or so at least) he's smelled rather RINO-ish to me...

• On Mar-a-Lago raid: "We need to let this play out".
• If you listen to him closely when he speaks, you'll notice that he speaks in soundbites.
• On Alaska senate race: "We need strong leaders like Lisa Murkowski - someone who has worked tirelessly for the people of Alaska her entire career".
• He will not say that the 2020 (s)election was stolen from Trump.
• He's going to enter the 2024 Presidential race against Trump, and he will later endorse DeSantis after dropping out after the South Carolina primary. I know I know, it hasn't happened yet, but "once you see the strings".......

I want people who are willing to unapologetically fight against globalism, and Tim Scott isn't that fighter. Most RINOs are actually quite good on social issues, but where they can't hide their RINO is when it comes to national economic policy and foreign policy (e.g. whenever protectionist tariffs, homeland manufacturing, and wars get brought up)...

 

Can't run with Haley. President and Vice President can't be from the same state.

 

None of those people can win, as none of them have the "MAGA working class vote"... They don't have the "Trump vote". They don't have MY vote. Without that vote, they can't win, and that's before even getting into the issue of election fraud where Democrats, because of it, already effectively have a "built in 270 votes" from the outset.

[1] There's a large (and slowly growing) group of conservative voters who are "Trump only".
[2] There's an even larger (but slowly shrinking) group of conservative voters who are "R no matter who".
[3] There's a small sect of "cocktail Republican" (Paul Ryan, Jeb!) conservative voters who are "anybody but Trump".

RINO "establishment Republican" backed candidates such as DeSantis, Haley, and Scott can only access groups 2 and 3, which is only a small majority of conservatives, maybe 66%. Trump, meanwhile, has access to groups 1 and 2, which is the vast majority of conservatives... maybe approaching 90%. This is because Trump draws in people who don't typically vote, and also draws in the more-common-than-you'd-think "Obama/Trump" voter who would never vote for an establishment Republican.

Like I said, the voter doesn't really matter as much anymore due to election fraud issues (ballots are what matter now), but speaking purely about voters, the GOP is doomed without Trump. More and more people can "see the strings" everyday... more and more people are sick and tired of the Uniparty advancing "eat the bugs" Wall Street globalism while bending the Main Street working class person over furniture... More and more people are people like me who will only vote for Trump for 2024 President because there's nobody who is more Trump than Trump, and there is no such thing as "Trump without the baggage"... and any "baggage" of Trump's is "baggage" for any other Republican too because liberals use the same labels for anyone who they think is their enemy.

 

Really! I didn't know that!

 

The claim of "election fraud" is itself a fraud.

 

You say the GOP is doomed without Trump. You may be right because, as you point out, there is a segment of "Trump only" Republicans. And there is no way the Republicans can win if they're not unified behind a candidate. Frankly, my belief is that the GOP is doomed in 2024 with or without Trump. Because there is a segment of Republicans who will not support Trump, and I don't agree that they are all "cocktail Republicans". There are Republicans who simply don't like his personality - his childish behavior, his name-calling, etc.

Nationally, Democrats outnumber Republicans, and their hatred of Trump will draw them all out to vote against him, no matter who their candidate is. But even more important in determining an election is the Independent/Unaffiliated vote. Almost one third of the electorate identifies as Independent. The Republicans cannot win without the majority of Independents. For example, in 2016, Trump won the Independents by a narrow margin and won the EC vote by winning some swing states by very narrow margins. But in 2020, he lost the Independents by a large margin. In my opinion, it is extremely unlikely that he can win them back, and that is why he has no pathway to a win in the general election.

So if the "Trump only" crowd manages to get him nominated, the Democrats will win the general. We'll end up with 4 years of Biden or Harris or Gavin Newsom, or whoever they nominate.

If the Republicans nominate DeSantis, Haley, or Scott, and the "Trump only" crowd refuses to vote, again, we end up with Biden, Harris, Newsom, etc.

So either way, the "Trump only" crowd will be helping the Democrats win.

And as we get 4 more years of "woke" policies, another foreign war, unbridled spending and inflation, activist liberal Supreme Court justices, and an unmitigated invasion of people and killer drugs crossing the border, I intend to look at "Trump only" voters and say, "You did this."

The only way out is the one thing that will not happen. Trump needs to drop out now and throw his support behind whoever the Republican candidate will be. But he won't.

I voted for Trump twice. I supported his policies. But I am a realist. And I do think there is a difference between Ron DeSantis (or Haley or Scott) and Joe Biden or Kamala Harris or Gavin Newsom, and it is a difference worth voting for. In sports, you don't sabotage your team because the coach doesn't make you a starter. That's childish, and that's for losers.

My two cents.

 

Trump is indeed a loser but he is a great salesman and a practiced opportunist. The MAGA base either does understand or does not care is that Trump is not a conservative. Trump is starting to lose the conservative right wing religiocrats. The right wing religiocrats are primarily a one issue bunch- antiabortion. Trump delivered the anti abortion Supremes. They are also anti gay or better stayed gay intolerant. The general American public is gay tolerant unless a family member or a close friend’s child was molested by a gay. It is unlikely that the gay or same sex “marriage” will be declared illegal. Trump is also not a fiscal conservative and most of us know that during his reign our national debt increased and government spending ever got under control. Trump has no concept of how important National defense is. Example he tried to wreck NATO and did not realize or not care that we need NATO.

In essence I see Trump as the real RINO in the room. Real Republicans are starting to realize that Trump is not and never was a conservation. The MAGA base may not know what a RINO is or care that their cult leader is a
authocratic RINO.

 

Interesting OP Ed. I did not know much about Tim Scott but it appears that he may be a classic Republican. I think that he is smart enough to avoid jumping on the reparations out of control train.

 

Judging by these examples you've posted, your problem with him is that he's not a Trump clone with his lips glued to Trump's ass?

 

I had never heard this before in 23 years of paying attention to politics. Thanks for the info. Learn something new every day.

 

This is the first I hear it.

They are authoritarians and authoritarian <> conservative

What makes him 'woke'? His skin color?

IMO they are going to expose the true colors in each other, - one as true narcist & lying idiot, and the other as textbook authoritarian who wants to be the "morality cop" of the US. IN the end someone like Tim Scott, Romney or Cheney will win the nomination.

 

As they say in court, facts, not in evidence. If I have you wrong here, it's because you communicated what you did. If you "suspect" you know the future, who can help you here? As mentioned, no one can know he future. As far as what you've written, it's clear that you have a stake and that you'd intend to shape opinion by sharing it. So, no, I do not think I have you wrong here.

 

I’m just reading the writing on the walls.

The right has been pushing farther and farther away from the center since at least the advent of the tea party movement. It would take something pretty drastic happening to change that course. I would have thought it would be Jan 6th, but it was not.

As far as my stake in the conversation, I have an opinion. I’m on a forum for sharing opinions. What other way would you have me engage with the thread? If you think there’s some motive beyond that, I’d say your looking for ghouls that aren’t present.

 

LOL.. nah brah... the left has been dashing farther and farther left. Even democrats understand this. It seems you cannot accept this. I suspect that you'd turn your back on someone like JFK these days, because "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" is a long forgotten call to responsible citizenship y'all forgot long ago...

 

You want a woke candidate running for president for the GOP. Boy, are you out of touch with the GOP base.

 

This is a whataboutism that fails to refute my claim. You didn’t even make an attempt.

I don’t mind being accused of pushing to the left. I’m a socialist. It comes with the territory. I’m not convinced Dems, Libs, or even progressives are following as close as you seem to think, but for the contexts of this conversation, I don’t care.

We’re talking about what the right is likely to do. Given their stampede further right, I don’t think Scott has a snowball’s chance in hell.

Are you offended by my assessment that the right is pushing further right? Do you think that would be a bad direction for the country?

 

Your observation is relative since the party you compare the GOP to is moving faster and faster into communism. Yes, compared to the far left authoritarian dem party, the GOP is far right (but not to the founders, for example)

 

I appreciate your willingness to say what some in this thread seem to be hell bent on denying (disingenuously, I suspect).

Fully intended as a compliment, by the way. I doubt I would agree with you on much, but I respect someone who is willing to be honest about their positions.

 

Would you disagree with the idea that both parties are moving away from the center? I don’t deny it.

 

The OP of the thread is a neocon and in my estimation neocons are about 10 percent of the GOP electorate, er, the voters not in Washington, DC.

 

Unless Trump voluntarily drops out of the race or he wins the nomination, he will do everything he can to sabotage the GOP nominee in the general election.

 

I'm literally centrist and I see parts of the GOP (the McConnells, the Romneys, the Bushes, the Chaneys and the Grahams, for examples) moving as far away from the center but the leader of the party, Trump, is not far from the center.

EDIT: One thing for sure, if you love capitalism (or tolerate capitalism as in my example) you can't be democrat.

2ND EDIT: Well, dems don't tolerate anything.

 

Boo Hoo neocon, er, Trump hater at least.

 

If you don't think that Trump is far from center, then you aren't a centrist.

 

I didn't realize you were so eager to see the Dems win. Weird.