I'd think many are positioning themselves for the VP slot (unless they get lucky) and/or positioning for 2028. My guess is Christie is also thinking a rehabilitation tour.

Ideally there is a strong and viable candidate to Trump but, right now, the more splintered the GOP the better. A dark horse may arise.

...better for whom? Trump, presumably. He's already got around 35% of the party base on firm lockdown. In a 1:1 battle he might have some trouble, but if it's him against a clown car of aspirants each pulling a few votes here and there, that's great for him.

See 2015-16.

I think there is a guy that stands on a street corner and yells about being from planet Zebob that has a better chance of winning the nomination than Christie.

If you were going to create a non-MAGA candidate to beat Trump, what would they look like? I just can't picture one at all.

A moderate evangelical that's willing to go toe to toe, highlight Trump's flaws, and call him out on his religious pandering. Like I said, it's threading the needle but doable.

Nearly anyone else needs to pull part of the MAGA base away from Trump and none of those candidates seem to understand not showing weakness is the top thing MAGA looks for. Own the libs is 2nd because if you're weak you're not going to own the libs hard enough. DeSantis doesn't get that and it's why Trump has been able to bury him.

Maybe a young military guy? That seems to be the go-to Republican candidate in TV shows when they want to portray him as widely popular.

It is not "nearly anyone else", it is anyone. You cannot win the nomination without somehow pulling some MAGA support, period. It is too big a percentage of the party now. I would say a moderate has to somehow appeal to at least 10-15% of that base more than Trump or a Trump-lite. And to hope to win the general, they have then keep 70-80% of them on board and voting while pulling a majority of moderate independents. (All numbers pulled from my butt, yet I don't think far off)

What's his positions? How is going to thread the needle of getting at least some of the extremist support without losing more moderate support? I have a hard time imaging the platform. Pro-choice but banning late term abortions? How does he back off on the Anti-CRT, Anti-woke garbage, yet still sell him self to evangelicals? I think the financial part is easy. The classic GOP "I'm going to cut your taxes, reduce the deficit, and spend more money on defense than can possibily exist in the world" lie people will always buy.It is all the social issues that will be the mine-field.
I mean, really big charisma would make a huge difference. An ability to destroy Trump verbally while not breaking a sweat is a must as well.

Sounds like it's almost time for the 2024 Republican Nomination Thread

My brother and I were just talking about this. His exact quote was, the GOP needs another Eisenhower.

Done.

Straight Pete Buttigieg

The first vote dealing with the debt limit law. Typical political games.

The Democratic strategy is to force as many GOP lawmakers as possible to vote for the rule - before swooping in with enough votes to make it pass. pic.twitter.com/QFDTfmiIPm

— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) May 31, 2023

What's going on there?

Dems trying to force the GOP to have the majority of the vote. It is in protest of the whole process.

Is there an actual point to this protest? It looks like silly nonsense from my perspective.

It means something to them. It is the same performative stuff that goes on pretty regularly in the House. I predict as much earlier.

To be fair, there is a reason that does make some sense. Minoroty Leader Jefferies told McCarthy that the bill must pass with at least a majority of the Republicans voting for it. If a huge number of Dems vote for it, it will allow the Republicans political cover to vote against it. That would protect them from primary attacks that they "caved to the WH".

Trump could always die too. Or have a massive stroke or something. Or be charged with a lot more stuff. Or murder and eat a baby. Who knows.

The latter few would increase his support. The first, when it happens, will result in him being treated even more as a religious figure than he is already. Not to mention, the conspiracy theories will be OFF THE HOOK!

If Trump died while campaigning he'd be the GOP Tupac. There'd be so many conspiracies about him being alive and sightings, ect.

The more votes from the GOP the better for McCarthy.

In the end, there were only 29 "nay" votes from the GOP. Only 52 Dems voted "yay."

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

29 is a terrible number. He is so weak.

Tje vote on the actual bill is getting overwhelming support. 268-90 right now.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

71 no's, now.

The Dems actually outvoted the GOP by 20 in the final count.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

Bronconick, that was for the rule vote.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

Now off to the Senate.

Good luck and more power to her. If one isn't happy in the US, take the initiative and remake your life somewhere else. Plenty of other immigrants willing to take her place.

But somehow I doubt she's thought through this well, and suspect she won't be happy in the long run. Assume she'll be able to return if she so chooses (dual citizenship and all that).

Tara Reade: Woman who accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993 defects to Russia | CNN

Does sort of beg the question, why didn't the Republicans call her to testify in congress?

I guess it isn't fully over yet, but the House's part of it is.

McCarthy took Biden from "we won't negotiate" to an intensely-negotiated deal. And he got his conference to pass it. And there does not appear that there will be a formal challenge to his Speakership--just a lot of hot air blown his way.

He deserves credit--this could have blown up in the GOPs face several times as they stepped on rakes (which is clearly what the White House was expecting/hoping for). And it didn't. He did pretty much what he said he was going to do the whole time.

‘Manipulative, deceitful, user’: Tara Reade left a trail of aggrieved acquaintances - POLITICO

Because even by republican standards she isn't remotely believable.

You know how easy that is to pass off as character assignation, though? "The Dems are just attacking the victim..." "Believe women!" etc. etc.
I can't help but wonder if there isn't a bigger smoking gun out there. One other than she doesn't come off as credible, because that has never stopped Republicans before.

Not a great look.

Today President Biden unfortunately took a fall at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation.

If you are mocking him for falling, grow up.

If you are calling for the 25th Amendment, you should probably read about what the 25th Amendment is intended for.

Just because someone trips… pic.twitter.com/YdphBEBOK7

— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) June 1, 2023

One fall for a guy his age can have a lot of bad consequences. He really needs to consider not running (no pun intended) in 2024.

He tripped over a poorly placed sandbag, so of course the ghouls are pivoting to claiming he's blind.

Our country is irredeemable at this point.

Dude is 80 and he bounced up like he was 25. That's the bigger story. I'm 54, and I fall probably once a week. I don't bounce up like that.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

This should be a thing at presidential debates. Every candidate gets shoved to the ground, and we can see how quickly they get back up. The shover could be a celebrity, like maybe the Rock.

How is this not a thing yet?

I would buy that on PPV even.
Meanwhile, Senate has the debt ceiling bill up fir vote. They expect it won't officially pass until midnight because they have to slap down 11 amendments first.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

Presidential combine

"I voted for Wilbur, his policies are garbage now, but his short-shuttle was off the charts!"

Presidential burpee contests!

Presidential Olympic Games ... running, cycling, swimming, and definitely boxing & Greco Roman wrestling.

I've no doubt Biden is in better physical shape than Trump. He should actually challenge him to some series of physical events. A triathlon or something. Trump says no he looks like a coward. Says yes and he gets embarrassed.

Karaoke contest. Not singing, but the warmup exercise.

Trump would get a bone spurs waiver.

Good luck trying to shove Christie to the ground.

Let Herschel Walker run.

This is rather shocking

https://twitter.com/ArmandDoma/statu...564147200?s=20

And people laughed at Shia Lebouf in Eagle Eye.

Biden should veto the debt ceiling bill and launch into the Roddy Piper "Just when you think you have the answers, I start changing the questions!" promo.

I would for real not even joking just cancel the debates. They're nearly irrelevant and have been for a whiole.

Oh, we're still over-reacting to Biden tripping? Ok.

I think the secret is that you have to hit him in the stomach.

Pretty sure that's the next step towards President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho.

I want to see the Democratic & GOP series of debates (after it's been weaned down some). I want to hear from the "others".

I do agree that if it comes down to Biden & Trump, the Presidential debates are close to meaningless as everyone clearly understands both candidate's positions and pros/cons.

But if it came down to a Biden & DeSantis, sure I want to hear them debate. If it was a Dimon & DeSantis, absolutely I want to hear them debate etc.

Debates are pointless. If you're basing your vote on a debate just stay home.

All they are is candidates giving an answer to a completely different question because they want to wedge in their agenda. Now with trump they have become WWE level.

Wrong.

Move around and get him to the ground. The Hackney method from the glory days of no weight limit MMA.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=355436859605558

Serious question: why? What does a debate tell you about their ability to do the job of being President that you don't learn from how they handle the eleventy bazillion other public appearances they make, their public statements, how they run their campaign, how they conduct themselves at their convention, etc.

I think many here think debates are meaningless because they (1) believe they are well informed and (2) made up their minds already. That may be the case, but there are still many first-time voters & independents.

Would I vote for Trump vs Biden? No ... but if Biden is clearly confused and performs poorly, that may change my decision (see Admiral Stockdale or somewhat relevant comparison Diane Feinstein).

See below for some reasons to continue debates.

Opinion: Why America needs presidential debates now more than ever | CNN
And ends with what I agree with. There are disastrous debates, but fix it vs eliminating them.

Debates definitely move polls. It is really the only time most people even pay attention to many politicians. It has also shown how some candidates deal with pressure, even as low pressure as they are set up. There have been stars that have come out of debates, and favorites who have completely tanked because of debates.
Debate formats can be improved for sure, but removing is a bad idea.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

Debate questions should be made public a week before the debate. Coming up with answers as quickly as possible isn't really a part of the job.

I guess the question that hasn't yet been answered is why the fuck was a sandbag on the stage next to the podium?

My assumption is perhaps it was windy, they were in Colorado I believe, and it was holding something down such as a wire of cord.

the whole thing is so stupid. Anyone who ha children has done something similar 100 times over.

You clearly haven't seen leftist conspiracy theory twitter speculating that a secret service agent secretly loyal to Trump put it there to make Biden trip.

to be clear, I find leftist conspiracy twitter as silly as MAGA conspiracy twitter

President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho, when presented evidence of his policies empirically not working, went and changed his policies, making him, which sets him apart from every GOP President since (and maybe including) Eisenhower.

Having done a lot of that kind of work it was either a union guy that was too lazy/didn't have time or it was someone from the Air Force Academy thinking they were helping but causing problems instead.

Large part of being a president is communication. Presidents constantly are not just giving speeches but answering questions from the press and the public. Many times those questions aren't given to them a week in advance, and how they answer them can have huge political, financial and diplomatic consequences. So, they absolutely should have to answer questions they aren't given ahead of time.

They have a lot more in common than not.

But Presidents flub those all the time and the staff "clarifies." I don't really care what's the first thing they say, I care about what they and their team are going to do. The gotcha debate format obscures rather than illuminates.

I disagree. If you can't handle the softballs in a debate format, you are a poor for the job.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

I guess I could see the parallels between talking to other world leaders, but otherwise I share the opinion that the debates are useless. The last thing I want is the President doing is making crucial decisions, absolutely alone, in real-time. I have always felt like the best debate answer would be repeating: "My job is president is to collect the best experts for each position and rely heavily on their experienced advice before making the most informed decision I can, and that is what I would do in this case." Rinse, repeat for every single question.

The debates should be a 15-minute infomercial for each side, describing exactly what particular policies will be the cornerstones of their campaign, and which particular people will be the cornerstones of their cabinet.

The whole thing is being blow out of proportion. With that being said, this one certainly didn't age very well.

Flashback to Biden mocking Trump at West Point: "Look at how he steps and look at how I step. Watch how I run up ramps and he stumbles down ramps. Come on."

pic.twitter.com/KQFO5qfaPB

— 1776 (@TheWakeninq) June 1, 2023

That's not why I think they are meaningless.


I would respectfully challenge this assertion. I can't think a of a single debate in the last several cycles that even moved polls enough to be close to the margin of error in impact.


This is a terrible argument. One, nothing connects SCOTUS appointments, which are always an important issue, to what Trump said in the debate. The only evidence we have that this was a result of the debate is that the authors says so. Secondly anything can change the result of a close election. Bad or good weather in key districts. Reactions to unrelated events in the news cycle. A minor slip by a candidate in the weeks leading up to it. If it's that close, you're practically flipping a coin.

The article claims that they have impact, but cites not a single verifiable fact which supports that claim.


Fix it how? The problem isn't with debates themselves as a thing, but with two other factors. One is the electorate. People determining their vote primarily by the letter in front of the candidates name, followed by a much greater interest in 'gotcha' soundbites, taking what people say out of context, and general distortion/sensationalism/demagoguery as compared to rational discussion of issues is the problem. That's not fixable by anything other than a societal change. I.e. the reason that the Trump-Biden debates were a disaster is primarily because a significant amount of people not only tolerated but desired Trump's behavior. Interrupting opponents in debates, softball questions, etc. have escalated over recent decades by candidates in general.

If voters punished candidates who act like complete asshats at a serious event, then yes debates could matter in that sense. They don't.

The other reason is the point that JPhillips made. I agree with GrantDawg that communication is a key part of a President's job, but we have tons of info on what they do on that front prior to the debate. It's not like they don't make speeches, interact with the press, have a track record or lack thereof to examine, etc. We have very long campaigns and by the time the debates show up in the general we know plenty about the candidates.

Until (If?) this country becomes less partisan over everything, debates are a waste of time and money. Right now, elections are almost entirely about turnout.

I totally agree with BS

It’s simply car crash style of entertainment if you want to call it that

No one is held to account for the things they say and then double back on after getting into office so the words are less than meaningless. They’re just sales and marketing and worth less.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It looks like they don't exactly hire the "best" for secret service detail

Secret Service agents didn't see an intruder get into a Biden official's home because they were distracted on their cellphones

oh boy I hope they were removed from that detail.

Congrats Joe.

Kevin, you proved the naysayers wrong this time. Frak the Freedom caucus. All you need is to compromise enough with Democrats, and they will be enough to help you override the crazies (include the recall threat).

But for now, back to regularly scheduled programming on inflation & recession worries.

Tragic situation but good to know the Air Force/NORAD was on the ball.

Wonder what happened to the pilot, sounds like cabin depressurization/oxygen ala Payne Stewart.

Chinese Warship Cut Off U.S. Destroyer

I know very little about the norms of international relations.

Is this normal sabre rattling by China? Or is this a more pointed fuck you than normal?

I just heard an interview with former NATO commander James Stavritis. HE came across as it being a more pointed FU. Said it was an incredibly dangerous maneuver and had the ships collided both could have sunk. Said the order likely come from pretty high up.

I think both. I read stories of US & Soviet/Russian subs playing games with each other. There's been collisions.

I think it's inevitable these naval & air incidents continue for the foreseeable future as both are positioning in APAC. It's the bully asserting itself and the once-former/less of a bully helping out the nerds scenario.

Republicans Urge Immigrants to Stay in Florida, Fearing New Law's Impact

Other than the obvious panic because people aren't showing up to work and are moving out of the state, I dont understand the messaging here. Is "we were just trying to scare you a bit" supposed to make people feel more comfortable?

This reeks of the find out part of fuck around and find out.

It seems like a new system that significantly increases legal immigration while more strongly enforcing rules barring illegal immigration would be a win/win that a majority of people would support.

But I just don't see the pro-immigration and the anti-immigration sides trusting each other enough to actually get a deal through.

Since Bush2 there's been room for an immigration deal, but the far right has made it impossible to get it through Congress. The short time Obama had 60 Senate votes was taken up by the ACA. Most of the past twenty years there's been a majority in favor of this type of bill, but like so much, majority will doesn't matter.

I have seen the pro-immigration side willing to make a deal like that multiple times. In the end there is a segment of the anti-immigration that just wasn't zero POC entering the country.

As expected, the MAGA caucus members, having vented about McCarthy, are now taking the smart approach and backing down and saying it's time to look forward, etc. etc. etc.

At the end of the day, the Biden/McCarthy negotiation ended up being . . . pretty normal. The extremes of both sides weren't happy (at least not in public), but it pretty much met in the middle and let everyone come out claiming a win.

I think that it has just been so long since we've seen normal legislating that we all kind of forgot what it looked like.

McCarthy is holding back on agreeing with the Senate for more Ukraine money which I'm guessing is part of the internal negotiation.

It's definitely been a while.

I'm not sure what the answer is. Merck has a right to recoup their investments, and US certainly do not want to de-incentivize pharmas on new research.

Below reports that non-generic versions are being targeted. Patents are good for 20 years but there are ways that pharma's extend their patents.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/06/merc...otiations.html
I agree with below. The US is subsidizing pharma profits where they could instead charge more globally.


I break it down into (1) payer (2) provider and (3) pharma & other medical products. Good step in addressing pharma. Need to also work on payers & providers.

Not sure where to put this. Chris Licht out at cnn. What a disaster.

Next up at CNN, Kendall Roy.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

haha

We just started watching this show. About 6 episodes in so far.

We're thinking... uhh... it's like... uhh... Masterclass meets mid-80s MTV meets Max Headroom... it's gonna be...like... off the hook, right?

I'm so jealous. I would love to watch it again for the first time.

It’s really good. Usually I multi task while we watch shows. Play a text sim or poker. I find myself really engaged though. We have an outdoor tv and watch while the kids are swimming. Should probably be careful.