What did Trump tap into?

[Croatoan]

Who knew Trump supporters had such diverse and complex motives. For a second there, I almost thought their blind devotion to Trump was because he just constantly told them what they wanted to hear, no matter how grotesque or insane or illogical it was. Anything they saw/read/heard to the contrary just reinforced the devotion. Similar to how a Mormon mission reinforces dogmatic indoctrination through forcing young men to endure rejection after rejection after rejection in places they've never been before, far away from home and family (no offense to our LDS contingent).

You may be more well-read than most of your ilk, but I believe what my eyes see. And they don't see "illiberal hypocrisy on constant display, the devotion to and worship of the state, and the willingness to abandon all norms in pursuit of a political outsider". They see privileged people rooting for their team to win above all else, no matter the harm it does to the country. Seriously, what were you even talking about here?

Stop acting like there're some noble, well-reasoned excuse for supporting Donald Trump. At this point, if you do, you're either a bad person or a stupid one. Maybe both. If this makes you cling tighter to Trump's ding-a-ling, then so be it. You two deserve each other.

Neither your ignorance of the true motivations of many Trump voters nor your inability/unwillingness to perceive some of the obvious flaws of the current Democratic Party come as a surprise to me; I’ve read some of your previous poasts. If there were less like you, Trump would not be a threat to win a second term.

 

[finesse]

Don’t discount spite.

We're dealing with humans. Stupid/crazy is always a big factor.

 

[336Heel]

a Trump win doesn't scare me.

It should. He's already shown last election and said exactly what he's going to do and there's not going to be anyone around him that will stop him. He made that mistake in his first term.

 

[Patb78]

It's also probably worth considering what it means to be a "victim of the system." The way Trump and his ilk use that phrase is not how I would use that phrase.

Super, I’m sure that ain’t the only phrase they have given new meaning to.

 

[StrangePackage]

Neither your ignorance of the true motivations of many Trump voters nor your inability/unwillingness to perceive some of the obvious flaws of the current Democratic Party come as a surprise to me; I’ve read some of your previous poasts. If there were less like you, Trump would not be a threat to win a second term.

So, spite?

 

[UNCRx85]

Neither your ignorance of the true motivations of many Trump voters nor your inability/unwillingness to perceive some of the obvious flaws of the current Democratic Party come as a surprise to me; I’ve read some of your previous poasts. If there were less like you, Trump would not be a threat to win a second term.

LOL. The "true motivations".... Dude, you guys aren't some indecipherable enigma. You wear your thoughts on the front of your f*cking hats, for Christ's sake.

 

[UNCRx85]

So, spite?

Spite, it is.

 

[DougDaBroadcasta]

Oh man, 45 is giving a speech at MSG? Wow! I have to reserve my seat! You should too.

The only cost is constant texts from the campaign until the event. That's all.

https://event.donaldjtrump.com/events/president-donald-j-trump-to-hold-a-rally-in-new-york-new-york

 

[ZenMode]

It should. He's already shown last election and said exactly what he's going to do and there's not going to be anyone around him that will stop him. He made that mistake in his first term.

Trump says a lot of things….many of which are lies and dumb. Remember he was going to put Hillary behind bars?

Our institutions did, and will, contain Trump. In fact, on the topic of the Mueller report, his obstruction actions would have been far more numerous had the people he told to do things had ACTUALLY done things he requested. They didn’t because they knew those requests were wrong or illegal. Pence didn’t, either. Trump is a deranged fool. He’s very much the exception. The world around him is largely not.

 

[UNCRx85]

Our institutions did, and will, contain Trump. In fact, on the topic of the Mueller report, his obstruction actions would have been far more numerous had the people he told to do things had ACTUALLY done things he requested.

You mean like all the people who won't be serving in a potential 2nd Trump administration? He's only going to have Yes-men in there. There are no more patriotic Republicans with the potential to fill a Trump administration position. Any hint of putting Constitution above Trump would be a non-starter.

"They didn’t because they knew those requests were wrong or illegal. Pence didn’t, either." Why do you think Pence isn't on the ticket this time? JD Vance has said he'd have sent the election certification back to state Houses, i.e. given 2020 to Trump. It's very simple.

 

[BlooVooDoo]

Trump says a lot of things….many of which are lies and dumb. Remember he was going to put Hillary behind bars?

Our institutions did, and will, contain Trump.

Much of Project 2025 is a plan for circumventing or neutering those institutions.

 

[StrangePackage]

You mean like all the people who won't be serving in a potential 2nd Trump administration? He's only going to have Yes-men in there. There are no more patriotic Republicans with the potential to fill a Trump administration position. Any hint of putting Constitution above Trump would be a non-starter.

"They didn’t because they knew those requests were wrong or illegal. Pence didn’t, either." Why do you think Pence isn't on the ticket this time? JD Vance has said he'd have sent the election certification back to state Houses, i.e. given 2020 to Trump. It's very simple.

And all of that was before he was given carte blanche to crime to his heart's content by the Supreme Court

 

[DougDaBroadcasta]

To answer the OP's question...I don't know....

 

[ZenMode]

Much of Project 2025 is a plan for circumventing or neutering those institutions.

Plans are plans. Lots of groups have plans. I bet the Dallas Cowboys had a plan going into their last game. Our system has institutions that create checks and balances and protections against bad actors. Are they perfect? No. Is every person involved in every institution perfect? No. Humans are flawed. I’ll tell you this, and I’m not the only one on this forum to say it, we will easily survive another Trump win.

If I were posting on a Conservative forum, I’d be telling them the same thing about a Harris win.

That’s why I have no issue NOT voting for shitty candidates and, believe me, if Dems nominated a quality candidate, they’d beat Trump easily. That’s why Harris is struggling, more so as time goes on, to stay ahead of Trump.

 

[StrangePackage]

Plans are plans. Lots of groups have plans. I bet the Dallas Cowboys had a plan going into their last game. Our system has institutions that create checks and balances and protections against bad actors. Are they perfect? No. Is every person involved in every institution perfect? No. Humans are flawed. I’ll tell you this, and I’m not the only one on this forum to say it, we will easily survive another Trump win.

If I were posting on a Conservative forum, I’d be telling them the same thing about a Harris win.

That’s why I have no issue NOT voting for shitty candidates and, believe me, if Dems nominated a quality candidate, they’d beat Trump easily. That’s why Harris is struggling, more so as time goes on, to stay ahead of Trump.

Your confidence to merit ratio is astronomical

 

[Zoo_View]

Much of Project 2025 is a plan for circumventing or neutering those institutions.

But, but, but Trump says he doesn't know what Project 2025 is……that he’s never read it.

He has nothing to do with Project 2025.

Right?

 

[LosPollosHermanos]

Plans are plans. Lots of groups have plans. I bet the Dallas Cowboys had a plan going into their last game. Our system has institutions that create checks and balances and protections against bad actors. Are they perfect? No. Is every person involved in every institution perfect? No. Humans are flawed. I’ll tell you this, and I’m not the only one on this forum to say it, we will easily survive another Trump win.

If I were posting on a Conservative forum, I’d be telling them the same thing about a Harris win.

That’s why I have no issue NOT voting for shitty candidates and, believe me, if Dems nominated a quality candidate, they’d beat Trump easily. That’s why Harris is struggling, more so as time goes on, to stay ahead of Trump.

Even if we survive his nonsense we're still going to have to go through another contested transfer of power where he pulls all manner of bullshit and goes to every length he possibly can to remain President. I'm talking crazy shit. I'm talking even crazier than filing 70+ meritless lawsuits and dog whispering thousands of rednecks into storming the Capitol. He has already tried to overturn democracy. You can say both candidates suck but only one has tried to overturn our entire system of government.

You can be sure I don't like Mike Pence either but if in some nightmare my only two choices were Pence and Trump I'd be standing in line to vote for Pence. And anyone who actually believes in democracy ought to be standing in line to vote for Harris. Period.

 

[Centerpiece]

Plans are plans. Lots of groups have plans. I bet the Dallas Cowboys had a plan going into their last game. Our system has institutions that create checks and balances and protections against bad actors. Are they perfect? No. Is every person involved in every institution perfect? No. Humans are flawed. I’ll tell you this, and I’m not the only one on this forum to say it, we will easily survive another Trump win.

If I were posting on a Conservative forum, I’d be telling them the same thing about a Harris win.

That’s why I have no issue NOT voting for shitty candidates and, believe me, if Dems nominated a quality candidate, they’d beat Trump easily. That’s why Harris is struggling, more so as time goes on, to stay ahead of Trump.

If Harris were a 60 year old white dude from any other State than Cali, they would be polling a bit better, no doubt, but that’s not her fault. You’re giving her too much crap for being a “shitty candidate”. (I would ask what makes her so shitty in your estimation, but I won’t). However, the way she was thrown in at the last minute, and hit the ground running, and turned a HUGE deficit on the Dem side to get to where she is TODAY… is not the stuff of a “shitty candidate”. But everyone’s entitled to their opinion. Some just happen to stink more than others. Yours is rather rank.

 

[BlueSmoke]

Many of the reasons discussed on this thread certainly help explain how Trump took over the Republican Party and nominations for three times running. Remarkable feat, because Americans tend to get tired of their politicians by this time. His "hate and division" message works for that.

However, explaining how this is even a close GENERAL election is another matter. It shouldn't be.

What I notice when I question Trump voters who normally would be middle of the road, is always the same common thread. That Democrats are too corrupt or bad or whatever to be considered as an alternative.

So just maybe Democrats need to figure out what they are doing wrong. In this century, would Obama have won if it wasn't for the Great Recession? Nope. Would Biden have won if it wasn't for Trump's Covid mismanagement? Nope. Just not a good track record for Dems in taking the WH without help.

 

[DantesHair]

I’ll tell you this, and I’m not the only one on this forum to say it, we will easily survive another Trump win.

Spoken like a person of privilege. I, as a middle class male WASP, will also not likely be hurt by Trumps policies. My daughters, neighbors, and the children that attend the schools I serve aren’t quite as fortunate.