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The intangibles, optics and power . . .

torbee

HB King
Gold Member
Some very interesting and astute observations from conservative pundit and former Weekly Standard editor Jonathan Last:

Donald Trump Just Shat Himself
Kamala Harris put on a display of the kind of strength he understands.

Jonathan V. Last
Oct 30, 2024

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1. The Law of the Jungle

In the Netflix docuseries Mr. McMahon, Vince McMahon says precisely one true thing. It’s the end of the second episode and McMahon tells the filmmakers, “I believe in the law of the jungle.”

That’s the purest possible distillation of McMahon’s worldview which is, not coincidentally, Donald Trump’s worldview.

The law of the jungle: The strong prey on the weak. You take whatever you can get away with. “Honor” and “morals” are meaningless constructs designed for suckers. There are no rules except survival.

On Sunday, Trump staged what he believed would be a show of force at Madison Square Garden. He thought that, by packing 20,000 of his people into the media capital of the world, he would demonstrate his power.

Last night, Kamala Harris brought 75,000 people onto the same spot where Trump launched his insurrection.

This is the kind of power Trump understands. And I suspect that when he saw her crowd he lost his shit.



(Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)




This is the kind of power Trump respects. It’s also the kind of power that he fears.

As he should.


Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally brought 20,000 mostly middle-class white guys together. The diversity of this group ran the gamut from white dudes who wear Polo to white dudes who wear Salt Life.

And that’s fine. There’s a lot of white dudes in America.

But when you look at shots of the 75,000 who came out for Harris, you see a very different demographic mix. Lots of women. Lots of black people. A pretty wide range of ages.

Trump does not care about this diversity as a moral matter. But you can be sure he cares about it as a practical matter.


When we talk about Harris having an advantage with women voters, what we mean is this: In 2020, 82.2 million women voted—against just 72.5 million men. This was not a one-off. Women have voted at a meaningfully higher rate than men in every presidential election since 1980.


https://cawp.rutgers.edu/facts/voters/gender-differences-voter-turnout#GGN
 
Look at the Biden coalition breakdowns from 2020 and you see that Trump is hostage to rural white men without college degrees. Those are his bread-and-butter.

And his theory of victory is that there are still a lot of those people sitting on the sidelines for him to turn out.


That’s who the Madison Square Garden rally was for. It was an attempt to reach the kind of infrequent voters who only show up for presidential elections—or don’t vote at all.

But while that pool is big, it may not be as big as you think. In 2020, voter turnout hit almost 70 percent. That’s the highest percentage since 1900.

The biggest turnout ever for a presidential election was just over 80 percent.


So yes, most of the remaining non-voting population will fit Trump’s educational profile. But in reality, we’re probably near the cap on the rate at which you can turn these people out. Sure, we could increase our turnout rate from 2020 to 2024. But it’s hard to imagine voters turning out out at more than an additional 10 percent under any circumstances.

There are limits to this stuff.




Trump is holding what should be a losing hand. The demographics aren’t on his side. He’s hoping to get just enough non-college white men in just the right geographic distribution to prevent the Harris plurality—or outright majority—from taking power.


One last thing: Harris displayed a second kind of power that Trump respects: The power of the image.

Trump is obsessed with optics and look.1 Last night Harris looked like a Hollywood president. She was straight out of Central Casting—like the president in a Michael Bay movie come to life.

Everything about her—from the black suit with the cream blouse, to her hair—had the look.


(Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
And the optics of the setting? Jump back to the image at the top. It oozes power and strength, from the vice presidential seal all the way down to the shade of the carpet.

Trump understands this language. He understands that, whatever his surrogates say, Harris really could get to 85 million votes.



So why did all of this make Trump afraid? Because he believes in the law of the jungle. He is afraid because he knows what he would do to Harris if he had her kind of support. And he assumes that, if she wins, she’ll do it to him.

He cannot understand why anyone but a sucker would adhere to the rule of law instead of the rule of the jungle.

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/donald-trump-just-shat-himself/comments
 
Essentially.....I want Trump to get blown out.....I don't want post-election day claims
It should be the biggest blowout in presidential history based on the fact one of the candidates is literally an ADJUDICATED RAPIST CONVICTED FELON who fomented an attack on the U.S. Capital.

But hey, here we are.
 
You might be right. I'd sleep a lot better if Penn is won.

You might be right. I'd sleep a lot better if Penn is won.

The GOP made early voting in PA a pain in the ass, so only 22% of the 2020 voter count has voted early there as of this afternoon. PA will have a huge Election Day turnout. Considering the Trump implosion happening this week, I believe PA will go for Harris in the end. The blue wall holds, and she wins.
 
I've watched little bit of both candidates today. Harris gave an uplifting speech. Positive messaging with humor and grace. Trump stood with his shoulders slumped, eyes lowered, and slurring his words. The words were fearful.
It's an amazing contrast. Trump can only win through fear.
 
I literally would take Goldwater, Humphrey, Mondale or Romney over Trump.

Is that bipartisan enough?
Shit man, I'd take NIXON over Trump. At least he had the dignity to quit when he got busted breaking the law.

The fact a CONVICTED FELON and RAPIST might be elected to the Presidency of the United States ought to make anyone in this country with a shred of pride, patriotism or dignity sick to their stomachs.
 
Donald Trump as a Populist candidate has always based his
campaign on fear of the future and proclaiming doom and gloom.
He labels himself as a guy who can fix our problems. This time
in his 3rd campaign for President, the voters are not buying it.

Kamala Harris is a positive candidate who wants to see our future
as something we can all work together to make better. She gives
people hope that politics does not have to be an exercise in egotism.
She is a pleasant change from the toxic personality of her opponent.
 
Shit man, I'd take NIXON over Trump. At least he had the dignity to quit when he got busted breaking the law.

The fact a CONVICTED FELON and RAPIST might be elected to the Presidency of the United States ought to make anyone in this country with a shred of pride, patriotism or dignity sick to their stomachs.
I have been posting this for years. For all of Nixon's flaws, and for being as loathsome of a human, in the end he made a rational decision to put the country first. Trump will never, ever put anything or anyone ahead of himself. There is no norm or mutually shared value he puts ahead of protecting his ego.
 
It should be the biggest blowout in presidential history based on the fact one of the candidates is literally an ADJUDICATED RAPIST CONVICTED FELON who fomented an attack on the U.S. Capital.
Northern will tell you that's old news. The Dems need new stuff because the rapist felon stuff is getting old.


And the funniest thing about that is he doesn't realize that speaks volumes about him, and not the people that bring it up.
 
Northern will tell you that's old news. The Dems need new stuff because the rapist felon stuff is getting old.


And the funniest thing about that is he doesn't realize that speaks volumes about him, and not the people that bring it up.
That's what is mind-bogglingly insane to me.

We are just supposed to nod our heads and go "Oh, yeah, sure - convicted felon, rapist, racist - seems like leadership material!"

I mean, what in the actual phuck?
 
Mrs. spider is in her late 40s, and while she’s further left than spider is, she has yet to ever vote in a Presidential (or any) election (she’s always been worried she’d get called in for jury duty). She will be voting for the very first time in her life on Tuesday. spider Jr. is 21 and he’ll be voting in his first election on Tuesday as well. spider Jr. Jr. is only 17, or he’d be voting too, and that would be 3 instead of just 2 additional blue votes compared with 2020 to deliver Nebraska 2nd District EV to Kamala (and hopefully send that b!tch Deb Fischer home).
 
Mrs. spider is in her late 40s, and while she’s further left than spider is, she has yet to ever vote in a Presidential (or any) election (she’s always been worried she’d get called in for jury duty). She will be voting for the very first time in her life on Tuesday. spider Jr. is 21 and he’ll be voting in his first election on Tuesday as well. spider Jr. Jr. is only 17, or he’d be voting too, and that would be 3 instead of just 2 additional blue votes compared with 2020 to deliver Nebraska 2nd District EV to Kamala (and hopefully send that b!tch Deb Fischer home).
These are the voters not accounted for in polling.

I think there are a lot more of them than anyone thinks.
 
These are the voters not accounted for in polling.

I think there are a lot more of them than anyone thinks.
What worries me is the 23 year old male college dropout incels aren’t yet accounted for either. Trump has a special affinity for immature undersexed white males; look at our resident MAGAs!

I just hope their young protégés are not a large cohort.
 
Mrs. spider is in her late 40s, and while she’s further left than spider is, she has yet to ever vote in a Presidential (or any) election (she’s always been worried she’d get called in for jury duty). She will be voting for the very first time in her life on Tuesday. spider Jr. is 21 and he’ll be voting in his first election on Tuesday as well. spider Jr. Jr. is only 17, or he’d be voting too, and that would be 3 instead of just 2 additional blue votes compared with 2020 to deliver Nebraska 2nd District EV to Kamala (and hopefully send that b!tch Deb Fischer home).
Why no pics?
 
What worries me is the 23 year old male college dropout incels aren’t yet accounted for either. Trump has a special affinity for immature undersexed white males; look at our resident MAGAs!

I just hope their young protégés are not a large cohort.
I don't think they have enough energy to leave their basements to even vote.
 
Shit man, I'd take NIXON over Trump. At least he had the dignity to quit when he got busted breaking the law.

The fact a CONVICTED FELON and RAPIST might be elected to the Presidency of the United States ought to make anyone in this country with a shred of pride, patriotism or dignity sick to their stomachs.
Nixon was an intellectual. Crooked yes, unethical yes. Odd for a quaker but not an intellectual imbecile. Trump couldn't point out our allies on a map.
 
Mrs. spider is in her late 40s, and while she’s further left than spider is, she has yet to ever vote in a Presidential (or any) election (she’s always been worried she’d get called in for jury duty). She will be voting for the very first time in her life on Tuesday. spider Jr. is 21 and he’ll be voting in his first election on Tuesday as well. spider Jr. Jr. is only 17, or he’d be voting too, and that would be 3 instead of just 2 additional blue votes compared with 2020 to deliver Nebraska 2nd District EV to Kamala (and hopefully send that b!tch Deb Fischer home).
Woah, you’re here in Omaha? Me too!
 
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