President Obama released a list of 81 candidates he’s endorsing ahead of the 2018 midterm election.
Why it matters: Obama is the left’s answer to President Trump’s continued presence in the primaries. Not only will Obama announce another round of endorsements before Nov. 6, but he also plans to campaign in several of these states throughout the fall.
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All 81 of these candidates are in states that have already held primaries and selected nominees. So, as a Democrat, he is backing the people that are already Democrat nominees. This isn’t exactly “news.” Why not just issue a blanket endorsement for all Democrats? If anything, a whole lot of already nominated Democrat candidates should wonder why they are off the list. Perhaps Republicans in competitive areas might say, “not even Barack Obama endorses my opponent.”
Yeah I agree. Obama is a Democrat and is expected to endorse all Democratic nominees. Just as Trump the Republican can be expected to endorse all GOP nominees.
And George Will can be expected to urge voters to elect Democrats. Especially the 81 Obama just endorsed as the only way to stop Trump.
Incorrect of course, as Obama is endorsing the Democrat nominee for Governor of Illinois (and redundantly his running-mate, which counts as part of the 81) while George Will has pushed for the reelection of the Republican Governor. This has been mentioned many times already. If one wants to obsess over George Will, he has made it clear that some Republicans should be elected this year. I assume he wants Democrats to take over the U.S. House. Then again, according to the piece in Roll Call, so does Donald Trump.
Four years ago, while living in the White House, the Obamas were very present in backing the Democrat for Governor in their state and lost. Maybe this time, they will fare better.
That was nothing more than an opinion piece from a columnist.
How one could interpret that Trump wanting the Democrats to win so he can blame his problems on them shows he is some kind of “secret Democrat” is actually rather odd.
Anyway, you have expressed the view that Democrats winning the House wouldn’t be good for them.Perhaps Trump agrees with your assessment?
Huh?
Saying “odd” is polite. Even if Trump wants the Democrats to win in 2018, it is only because it would make it easier for him to win in 2020. In other words, even if we accept the hypothesis that he wants Democrats to win in 2018, it has nothing to do with him being a secret Democrat
If he is secretly anti-Republican and the political plane is simply Democrat vs. Republican (as some people here claim it is), then by virtue of that he is pro-Democrat.
Perhaps, unwittingly, just like his being under control of the Kremlin.
He’s NOT secretly interested about anybody except…. DONALD J. TRUMP these days….
PERIOD……
Easier to win in 2020?
If the Dem’s have the House and almost assuredly will get the Senate for 2021?
WTF would he he be happy?
That is if he’s still employed by the government in 2020?
because he can blame them for everything.
And it’s pointless to speculate about how Senate races in 2020 are going to shake out when 2018 hasn’t even happened yet.
Republicans will have TONS of seats in the Senate to defend come 2020….
And I was referring specifically to the House and Senate. George Will was specific in his wish that the only way to stop Trump is for the Democrats to take control of Congress.
The Governor’s race in Illinois will take care of itself. Rauner is already a “dead man” walking and will most likely drag most, if not all, of the statewide Republicans down with him.
I agree with Jack that the Will column was only an opinion piece, but what an opinion piece. A major figure in the conservative Republican movement, and a man who helped to elect Reagan calling for Americans to elect a Democratic Congress.
Pretty telling as to the state of the GOP these days.
you should make yourself clearer in your George Will obsession, that you are only speaking of the U.S. House, as Will has called for Menendez to be defeated in NJ. Now, we know however.
Hardly unprecedented though. Lots of former liberal columnists became Republicans later on. Someone like Pat Caddell who was once one of the top strategists in the party called for Republicans to be elected.
Will is acting out of principle against Trump though. When Trump departs, I imagine Will will want Republicans to become emergent again.
According to what the Republicans look like in the post Trump era.
I’m sure Mike Pence and likely some other will seek to coopt the Trump crowd which is a major factor ,if not The major factor ,in the party right now.
Will recently referred to Pence as the most repulsive figure in American politics.
ok, “Trumpism”
For all we know, Pence will one day deny he ever “knew the real Donald Trump.”
I have no doubt that Will will remain a staunch admirer of Ben Sasse and others in the party.
I don’t disagree.
However, unlike you I presume, Will believes that the Republicans need a figurative big kick in the butt and the best way to do that is to cost them a seat of power ,like the House.
Will,of course, actually left the Republican Party and reregistered as “unaffiliated.”Will he still vote Republican in most races?Sure, I would imagine so.
However ,his reasoning in wanting the Republicans to suffer a major loss ,is consistent with his recently expressed feelings toward the party leader and as a protest against those who call themselves “conservatives” yet have strayed from what he regards as the definition of that term by their way too lavish support of Trump or,at least, their failure to sufficiently combat his malevolent influence on his former party.
I don’t disagree with Will’s sentiment, but I cannot pretend like there are not issues with Democrats that would lead to fundamental problems with the well-being of the country if they were in power. As stated, I also believe that Democrats taking over Congress would be a boon to the reelection efforts of Trump and regardless of what I think about Democrats and the Presidency, I also do not want Trump to be reelected.
People should vote regardless of party label, in every race for the candidate who has the best mixture of character, ideology, and competence. From my perspective many will be Republicans, some will be Democrats, others will be Independents.
I cant think of anything that more negatively impacts this country than having Donald Trump as President.
You have expressed the view that,despite your intense dislike of Trump, he was doing some things you agreed with ,thus ,I think you used the term you “ would take what you can get” or something similar.
Ok ,for you maybe, but lots of people(and apparently Will is of this mind) believe that Trump is ,not only perhaps permanently crippling the Republican Party , but ,due to his actions and rhetoric ,is having such a negative effect upon the country that they are willing to do anything ,even accept Democratic control of Congress ,or at least part of ,as not only a symbolic but an actual protest to the harm he is causing.
The assumption has to be that Trump will be President until 1/20/21 whether Democrats control Congress or not.
Since I believe that Democrats controlling Congress would make it easier for him to stay as President even longer, I should oppose the proposition that they take over Congress for that reason alone. Have to think bigger picture.
Frankly, I am fairly agnostic as to who will control the House and who will control the Senate. I might have a personal interest in having a high prediction accuracy record again. My main focus is hoping the Cubs win another World Series. I know that there will be disappointed partisans on either side online and elsewhere the day after the election and I might take some joy from that too.
Maybe 1/20/21
But 1/21/21?
I’m hopping if the guy doesn’t get shoved by his own actions up then?
That the party sends him packing…
Next year should be even tougher then this year for him….
If he gets politically wounded?
I would think that his party members would turn on him a nanosecond….
and if Democrats take over Congress, Trump is still going to be Trump. He is incapable of changing.
Two things would probably happen; he would even ramp up his rhetoric against his opponents even more causing further divide (which perhaps is inevitable anyway) or he will also move substantially to the left in order to “cut deals.”
The moral danger our country may be in is not going to be remedied in any event until we see who is elected President in 2020.
Another reason to like Will Jack, he’s right about Pence.
But, that comes down to his general disgust for Republicans who regularly kiss Trump’s ass.
I agree, the moral danger facing our Nation will not be completely remedied until Trump is out of office, but it can be significantly mitigated by electing a Democratic Congress.
We can cut the speculation crap. Trump will run for re-election against the Democrats whether they are in the majority or not.
That’s a given.
The objective of all those who oppose his immoral and corrupt Administration should be to empower a co-equal branch of Government to check his gross excesses.
Does anyone here believe the current Republican majority has or will do that?
So, could we please cut the ridiculous speculative bullshit. The only way to put the stopper on this orange asshole is to vote for Democrats.
If you can’t bring yourself to do that, then you support Trump and are part of the problem.
“If you can’t bring yourself to do that, then you support Trump and are part of the problem.”
Me and jack both then. We are in that together. And there are some other people here who either definitely won’t be voting for or might not vote for a Democrat on their ballot.
Keith, will you vote for Feinstein to keep her job in opposing Trump?
But again, I must stress, Democrats taking over Congress will make it easier for Trump to be reelected, so be careful what you wish for.
Did the GOP controlling both the House and Senate in 2016 make it more difficult for Trump to win?
No….
Trump adopted the voters
The party followed suit
Oh, and the Federal Judie’s ARE stepping in to throttle some of Trump’s efforts…
People have to go them…
The GOP lead Congress is scared
See Frank Bruni’s column about Mike Pence in Sunday’s Review section of The New York Times:
Opinion
Mike Pence, Holy Terror
Are you sure you want to get rid of Donald Trump?
By Frank Bruni
Opinion Columnist
July 28, 2018
There are problems with impeaching Donald Trump. A big one is the holy terror waiting in the wings.
That would be Mike Pence, who mirrors the boss more than you realize. He’s also self-infatuated. Also a bigot. Also a liar. Also cruel.
To that brimming potpourri he adds two ingredients that Trump doesn’t genuinely possess: the conviction that he’s on a mission from God and a determination to mold the entire nation in the shape of his own faith, a regressive, repressive version of Christianity. Trade Trump for Pence and you go from kleptocracy to theocracy.
That’s the takeaway from a forthcoming book by the journalists Michael D’Antonio, who previously wrote “The Truth About Trump,” and Peter Eisner. It’s titled “The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence,” it will be published on Aug. 28 and it’s the most thorough examination of the vice president’s background to date.
I got an advance look at it, along with a first interview about it with D’Antonio, and while it has a mostly measured tone, it presents an entirely damning portrait of Pence. You’ve seen his colors before, but not so vividly and in this detail.
The book persuasively illustrates what an ineffectual congressman he was, apart from cozying up to the Koch brothers, Betsy DeVos and other rich Republican donors; the clumsiness and vanity of his one term as governor of Indiana, for which he did something that predecessors hadn’t and “ordered up a collection of custom-embroidered clothes — dress shirts, polo shirts, and vests and jackets — decorated with his name and the words Governor of Indiana”; the strong possibility that he wouldn’t have won re-election; his luck in being spared that humiliation by the summons from Trump, who needed an outwardly bland, intensely religious character witness to muffle his madness and launder his sins; and the alacrity with which he says whatever Trump needs him to regardless of the truth….
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/28/opinion/sunday/mike-pence-holy-terror.html
For all of Mike Pence’s faults, he is not a sociopath or a psychopath. He is almost certainly not someone who is co-opted by a hostile foreign government. (This NY Times piece sounds hysterically ridiculous)
Any American who fears the ramifications of a Trump Presidency, regardless of their own personal ideology, should hope for Trump to resign every day and for Pence to immediately become President. There’s always an election around the corner.
Pat Caddell was living ,and might still be ,near Charleston.
I used to see him at a little hold in the wall where I ate a few years ago.
I haven’t seen him lately so I don’t know if he’s still around or not.
I knew Caddell from the Carter campaign. I helped him on a project during the primary season. He has a big ego and an explosive temper.
That reminds me.
We went into SF last night to meet friends for an early dinner and escape the smoke from the fires up in Lake County (if only for an evening) and James Carville walked in the restaurant with Jerry Brown.
They stopped by our table for just a second to say hello since I have known Jerry for over 40 years. They both looked great. Particularly Jerry at over 80. Brown proves that you can have a second act in politics, and I have always admired Carville’s loyalty.
I suspect Carville was talking to Brown about our gas tax initiative this November.
Jerry Brown….
Remember back in 1976 when after Carter had essentially clinched the nomination he jumped into some primaries and embarrassed Carter by beating him?
Damn that was over 40 years ago.
Getting old!
I wasn’t around in 1976, but I actually do remember watching a 1992 primary debate in which Jerry Brown basically was the first to ever go public with the “Crooked Hillary” label, without using those exact words.
I met Jerey Brown around 1999 or 2000 at an educational conference in Kansas City. He was mayor of Oakland then I believe.
Carville Still has his hands in, eh?
To each his own, but has James Carville ever really “looked great” a day in his life?
Probably the day he married Mary Matlin
I saw photos of that wedding. He looked just as weird.
Not sure James, since I don’t know what they were talking about. But since the Governor still has a sizable campaign account I can only speculate that he wants to spend it protecting his gas tax and the State’s infrastructure.
Jerry isn’t the type to spend his campaign money on frivolous items.
But, both gentlemen, especially for their ages, look great. Healthy and in shape. No extra body fat for them, and that has to come from running.
And, on that note, I will head to the gym myself.
Bless’m
Brown has done a terrific job for the state and what about the budget surplus????
I think Governor Brown needs to put more focus on the devastating wildfires hurting Californians. He had been completely silent on the issue until today. Maybe he had an epiphany at the swanky restaurant last night that he still has a job to do until January.
Pat Caddell? Really?
You are comparing George Will to Caddell? Caddell went around the bend years ago, while Will has been making money off of his books, columns, and television appearances consistently now since he helped elect Saint Ronnie. And Will hasn’t change party allegiances, he simply said that the Democrats should control Congress.
Not the same at all, but that contract Rauner gave to Will’s wife might explain the good press he has been giving to Rauner lately.
But, all of this is a deflection isn’t it Corey0.
It is plan to see that responsible Republicans see that the only way for them to save their party is for it to lose power. They understand that these GOP mopes have done nothing, absolutely nothing, to control Trump. In fact, they are enabling him even as I type this.
I chose to highlight Will’s column because it lays out the facts rather nicely.
Personally I cannot understand someone who claims a moral upbringing supporting people who enable corruption and treason.
It makes no sense.
Hillary’s former top guys Penn and Schoen have pretty much become Republicans and Fox News fixtures as well.
And Will remains a Republican.
What’s your point?
Penn needs to work somewhere.
So?
It is not clear to me what the GOP will look like when Trump leaves, but I give odds it will look more like Trump than Romney. Reagan permanently changed the GOP; so can Trump.
Actually my comment was directed at the Shapiro opinion piece that CG highlighted @11:50 on the Open Thread.
I placed my rejoinder mistakenly on this thread.
Sorry for the confusion.
No red state ones
He helps them add his name to their campaigns
Get out the vote help