This is one reason why. Not defending NATO would be great for Putin. It’s amazing how little blowback from Republicans there has been for Trump’s support of Putin. They are afraid of him and his cult.
Casually, Trump happens to mention that he would not necessarily have defended America's NATO allies https://t.co/rVG3K7cz9e
Douthat says: The Electoral College’s legitimacy can stand up if an occasional 49-47 percent popular vote result goes the other way. That’s not true. I think two of the last six elections are a lot more than occasional. Also, 2004 and 2020 could have easily resulted in elections won by the popular vote loser. The legitimacy of the Electoral College was also damaged by the way the Republican-dominated Supreme Court gave the 2000 election to George Bush. This also has hurt the credibility of the Supreme Court. Four of the justices were appointed by Republican presidents who didn’t win the popular vote.
Douthat says: Especially in the current climate, which looks dire for the Democrats, the Republicans have an opportunity to make the Electoral College complaint moot, for a time at least, by simply taking plausible positions, nominating plausible candidates and winning majorities outright. Republicans have shown no interest in this. They didn’t have a real platform in 2020 and McConnell says he won’t say what they would do if they win the majority in 2022. Many Republican positions are not popular:
They oppose abortion while the majority favors keeping Roe vs. Wade
They oppose all gun safety bills while the majority favors at least some changes such as universal background checks.
They wouldn’t give Merrick Garland even a hearing for his Supreme Court nomination while the majority supported giving him a hearing.
Douthat says: And Republican structural advantages, while real, did not then prevent Democrats from reclaiming the House of Representatives in 2018 and the presidency in 2020 and Senate in 2021. He is ignoring the fact that Republicans are using voter suppression laws to increase their advantage. They also have used gerrymandering and the Republican Supreme Court will help them. Sure, Democrats do it too but Republicans have done more. Also, look that the terrible racist gerrymandering DeSantis has proposed in Florida.
Douthat says that Republicans should nominate someone other than Trump. Are the alternatives much different? Potential candidates like DeSantis believe in the stolen election, massive voter fraud and racist policies. They’re not an improvement.
Douthat says: Second, to the extent that there’s a Democratic path back to greater parity in the Senate and Electoral College without structural reform, it probably requires the development of an explicit faction within the party dedicated to winning back two kinds of voters — culturally conservative Latinos and working-class whites — who were part of Barack Obama’s coalition but have drifted rightward since. He ignores the fact that the most liberal Democratic ideas have not been enacted. Going too far to the right will cause the Democrats to lose support on the left.
Where we are headed is an election in 2024 where whichever party loses will not trust the results. I fully expect to see things like some states with multiple sets of electors.
Chris Cillizza has a post on the 2024 election but the picture was of Trump instead of the incumbent, Joe Biden. All of this 2024 coverage is premature but the media does it because they had better ratings with Trump and are trying to get them back.
I agree that it will be close but Cillizza fails to note that Democrats have won the popular vote in 7 of the last 8 presidential elections. https://t.co/WwDM2QGbTi
NEWS: The RNC has told the Commission on Presidential Debates that it's preparing to require presidential candidates to refuse to take part in those debates, potentially leading to a significant change in how debates have been conducted for 35 years https://t.co/v08IlEsG3L
Why should they debate when they don't even have a platform? All they have is white nationalism and the big lie. This is terrible and shows that the GOP is not a functioning party.
Frank Fahrenkopf, chair of the commission, said the CPD plans to continue dealing directly with the candidates, and not the parties. He said the RNC wanted control of things they would not give the party control over. https://t.co/fDSAPqkak9
.@FrankLuntz, reacting to the RNC move to begin process of withdrawing from the CPD process: "This is the fairest election process we still have. and it's a role model for other democracies. The world looks at our debates and says this is how it should be done."
2/2 "The CPD’s plans for 2024 will be based on fairness, neutrality and a firm commitment to help the American public learn about the candidates and the issues."
This is the second poll I’ve seen showing the majority doesn’t want Trump to run yet the media keeps giving him lots of coverage. I have never seen coverage of a future presidential election begin this early.
Would you like to see Donald Trump run for president in 2024, or not?
The media could wait until 2023 to start 2024 election coverage. The majority of the public doesn’t want Trump to run. The media is giving Trump excessive coverage.
Direct the question to the media. They’re the ones giving Trump lots of coverage even though the majority of the public doesn’t want him to run for president again.
But the media is addicted to him and gives him excessive coverage. They have learned nothing from 2016 when their coverage helped him win the nomination and election.
The media should have less coverage of Trump’s probable 2024 campaign. https://t.co/3iNloVGKfM
What should Trump do next? There is 12% of the country, and a fifth of Trump's 2020 voters, that want Trump to fight to retake the presidency right now, before the next election. https://t.co/AtJ0UPvQbzpic.twitter.com/r3vARiENgo
I blame the media for all of the 2024 coverage. Once again, they are helping Trump.
Why we need to stop with the 2024 predictions… The general election polls for an election 3 years away tell us NADA about what will happen in 2024. Biden's approval rating now tells us nothing about what will happen in 3 years. TY. https://t.co/EzRQrzb0YR
Biden is president. The lead story on national politics should be how the House passed the Build Back Better bill and what could happen in the Senate. The media is addicted to Trump.
"From Mar-a-Lago, Trump is happily playing kingmaker, and it's working. New Republican candidates are afraid to challenge him; Republican incumbents cower, too. And it's only getting worse," writes @GloriaBorger | Analysis https://t.co/5FSFqpunRK
You're right. The media (including CNN) is guilty of excessive 2024 coverage. I am 68 and I never remember so much coverage of a presidential election that was 3 years away. The media helped Trump by giving him so much coverage in 2016/16 and are making the same mistake again.
Sad! 