Posts Made By: James Brown

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

"Will Gavin Newsom Seize the Helm of a Rudderless Democratic Party?"

"Newsom in particular appeared poised to take a leading role as one of the favored among even the small pool of potential candidates to replace Biden, though the party quickly coalesced around Harris as candidate, ending any plans for an open process."

https://www.newsweek.com/gavin-newsom-seize-helm-democratic-party-1981004


Well, if they want a candidate who will run on the highest gas prices in the country, the most illegal immigrants and homeless, they've found their man...

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Well, if they want a candidate who will run on the highest gas prices in the country...

Originally Posted by James Lacey

1. Mass Deportations
2. Tariffs
3. Abolish the Department of Education (won't happen for many reasons)
4. Office of Government Efficiency (whose real purpose seems to be dismantling the Washington establishment, swamp, lifelong bureaucrats, etc.)
5. Using DOJ to go after his political enemies (which, of course, is what he thinks his opponents did to him and others)
6. Purging the upper echelons of the military ranks (apparently for disloyalty?)
7. Roll back the clock on anti-discrimination policy (i.e., DEI, wokeness, whatever you want to call it).
8. Surrendering to Russia in Ukraine
9. Withdrawing from NATO (not likely since I believe Congress passed a law making it impossible for the President to do this unilaterally)
10. What else?

Originally Posted by James Brown

Good start, although your phrasing is a bit biased for a scorecard!  "Surrender to Russia!"    Some of this stuff I sincerely hope he accomplishes.  Others, not so much.

5b.  Clean up the DOJ itself, particularly those who went after him.
10.  Close the border
11.  Extend, enhance 2017 tax cuts
12.  Make tips not taxable
13.  Expand the child tax credit
14.  Abolish federal income tax on SS income
15.  Not touch abortion at the federal level (no ban, no codification of Roe, etc.)
16.  Increase domestic energy production with leases, drilling, LNG exports etc.
17.  End the violence in Gaza and Lebanon
18.  Pardon some J6 rioters
19.  "Enhance" or replace Obamacare 

I'm going to work up a spreadsheet/list with reasonably ambiguous unbiased language we can fine tune.  Richard might chime in with promises he would like to see Trump keep?  Dave and others, please add to the list.

Originally Posted by Russ Carroll

2020 was fair and open. Nobody pushed anyone out of Bidens way.

Originally Posted by James Brown

OK, fair point, but everyone else in the primary bailed at the same time and maybe too early?   It was definitely "Biden's turn" in the mind of the party.  Still, I'll give you that Biden was primaried - and he won.

Originally Posted by Russ Carroll

People wrote him off until the SC primary. Multiple people held front-runner status before that.

What I'd agree with is that the entire anti-Trump movement was looking to consolidate around ANYONE that could beat him as quickly as possible. The truth is, Biden was a compromise candidate because he held the most conservative views of the candidates (all relative) and I believe the consensus was that would bring in more disaffected R's and independents, which was true.

Originally Posted by Russ Carroll

I'm praying I won't, for the third time in a row, be compelled to vote for a Dem in the presidential race in '28.

Assuming Trump runs for a third term, I'm very conflicted about Newsome. He is the slickest politician I have ever heard. He can make any bad policy in CA sound like he tried to prevent it and is a centrist. He is extremely bright and gifted, and like Rod, I have never voted for him. It's really hard to say if he truly could distance himself from the worst impulses of the CA DNC, but you would be shocked how skilled he is at doing just that. He's almost like a Trump that somehow avoids the label of outright liar - even to me.

Originally Posted by James Brown

I know that Trump has not promised to become a dictator and abolish the Constitution, but a lot of extreme Rachal Maddow type lefties spend a lot of time talking about it.  So I would add:

20.  Respect the Constitution when governing
21.  Leave office and participate in an orderly transition of power in '28-'29

Originally Posted by Russ Carroll

That’s adorable! 😊 Of course I meant Trump, not Vance. It will not be long before you hear the “They stole my first term” drumbeat and a move to renominate Trump.