The Bad News is that Barack Obama’s poll numbers (which are abruptly no longer underwater) are reflecting the fact that the Republican party is busy having an unexpected civil war in its primary, not to mention an existential crisis that might end up with people like me leaving politics for good. The Good News is that President Obama isn’t actually doing anything. Yes, he’s waving around Merrick Garland around, more or less perfunctorily; and yeah, he went to Cuba and allowed himself to be used as a mobile prop.
But generally all of this is telling the man that being King Log is a good working strategy for him. I don’t mind him being King Log. Him being King Log works for me. At least it’s predictable. And, indeed, not particularly productive, which is nice because, you know, we’re in the middle of a civil war in the Republican party and so forth…
His approval has always seemed inversely proportional to his attempts to accomplish things.
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I think the current arrangement satisfies both involved parties.
We had a choice between King Log and King Stork in 2008. King Stork was chosen.
I think the Dems are having a bit of a civil war themselves .. continuation of the 2008 battle between Hillary and Everyone Else.
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Seems like Hillary pretty much has this in the bag, but .. the enthusiasm gap may have some long-term ramifications.
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Mew
I’m not so sure this civil war is all that unexpected, tbh. And no matter the outcome, one thing’s certain. The party will settle at a different equilibrium point than it had before.
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I mean, for me personally, I’m a Cruz guy. But if Trump comes to the convention with 1237+ and they work the rules to deny him the nomination, I’m done with the Republican party for good. I won’t vote for them for dogcatcher. If nobody has 1237, but between them Trump and Cruz have the vast majority of the delegates, and they work it to deny either of them the nomination and give it to Romney, Ryan, Kasich, etc., same thing.
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Why? It’s pretty simple. Since 2005 with the start of the porkbusters movement, the voters on the right have been delivering larger and larger whacks to the head, which have been either just briefly noticed and then shrugged off, or ignored completely. Donald Trump is a 200 megaton nuke going off in their yard. If they prove capable of ignoring this, then quite simply they will have proved themselves beyond redemption and need to be replaced. And yeah, the turnover’s going to do enormous damage to the country. I know that you don’t want to be part of politics when Donald Trump is the standard-bearer, and I get that. But I don’t want any part of it when the party repeatedly ignores the will of its members.
Glenn Reynolds stated – and I think it makes perfect sense – the Tea Party was the polite reaction, Donald Trump is the rude reaction, and you do not want to see what can follow him.
Thank goodness President Ash Carter is on the job.
He is dong a fine job.