Republican Clown Car 2024

Sasse, who split from Trump in the general & has offered congratulations to Biden, is easily the class of this group. Meaning he’s toast for the Trump Party’s ‘24 nomination.

Yuck! All of them are dreadful. You can't even pick a "best of the worst" from that rogues' gallery.

OP, before I decide if I'm going to ignore this thread or ignore you entirely, please tell me -- do you post images of naked men on the assorted male form appreciation threads?

[quote] Republican Clown Car 2024

I'm assuming this refers to Rachel Campos-Duffy's vagina.

Huckabeast/Pigeon-Headed Whore 2024

America's had a dusky exotic Veep, now it's time for a Snow Princess President!

[quote]I'm assuming this refers to Rachel Campos-Duffy's vagina.

Haven't heard that bitch's name in years and I sure don't want to. Fuck her and her fug husband.

What a dumb annoying ReThuglicunt. To think she auditioned for The View.

I think it is impossible to tell right now because we have no way of knowing what is going to be unearthed in the next year or two. While many, many other people want all associated with the current administration jailed, I think it might just behove Biden/Harris to call out the traitors and let them stew in their own juices. *

Especially if there is evidence of malfeasance that ousts Graham and Cruz and a few of the others.

*exception for outright traitors like Ron Johnson and McConnell, etc...

I want to see DJT, DJT Jr. and Princess Ivanka on the same Republican debate stage.

When that happens, SNL can take a week off, and just replay the above that Saturday.

I hope it's someone like Sassy. Remember a batshit crazy con artist just won about 50% of the vote.

Sassy will be the DILFy DL Fave , fer sure.

Cotton will be the DL Hatefuck Fave.

[quote] I hope it's someone like Sassy.

I hope not. He's just as grotesque and complicit as all of those other Republican monsters -- only in a slightly more palatable form. I, for one, hope the GOP continues its slide off the rails and that it continues to alienate middle-of-the-road and independent voters.

They all sound terrible to us (because they are). But to half the voting population they're all acceptable choices and a couple are rock stars (Jr. and Tucker Carlson, who wasn't listed but who is being floated).

I'm not going to pollute my beautiful mind by thinking about that.

Baio!

Brendad Ickson!

I think this is why DeSantis is creating a law that Florida citizens can shoot looters. He's trying to out-Trump Trump.

I hope some dirt or scandal comes up for Tom Cotton. He's a moron and a total stiff, but Republican worship all idiots like him.

If Tucker Carlson wanted it, and if Trump didn’t run and endorsed him, he’d easily get the nom. That guy is a god to deplorables.

[quote]I hope some dirt or scandal comes up for Tom Cotton. He's a moron and a total stiff, but Republican worship all idiots like him.

Six years ago, Anonymous took credit for outing him at JR's, a gay bar in DC, although the photo was immediately suspected of being doctored and he of course denied it was him.

What about Miss Lindsey?

The dems should be screaming about this from every corner in the country

Otherwise when it takes effect, the dems will be blamed for it

If Trump Sr. runs, no one else will dare to challenge him for the nomination.

If Trump runs again, there's a very good chance he will be the nominee!

I'm not putting it past the imbeciles in the GOP to try to elect him again!

Who are we going to be running against? Kamala? She should be relatively easy to defeat IMO.

DeSantis is my preferred candidate.

With any luck, he'll still be behind bars or he will have ODed .

Another vote for Baio!

TV star is perfect preparation for GOP nomination.

I am worried he might not be a big enough asshole, though.

That’s also crucial.

Regardless of any excellent leadership, I see our dimwitted, racist electorate voting for any white male who runs against Kamala. We already know AOC and the Squad will say awful things about her. I mean, they're saying them already.

Even at 81, soon to be 82, a still-living (& healthy) Joe Biden will be our best bet in ‘24. As the results of this election showed, it’s very hard to beat an incumbent president. And, for what it’s worth, Biden’s sister & very close adviser, Valerie Biden Owens, has said he’ll be running for a 2nd term.

Lil Marco

Rand Paul, & then his neighbor whoops his ass.

Don't forget Marsha Blackburn who is supporting the Trump hissy-fit.

Kentucky is bad? Try Tennessee.

Graham-Collins

"Time for the ladies".

Can we at least take 2 year year break from this campaign nonsense? Besides it's Tucker Carlson

r11, unless Dan Crenshaw runs (...drool...), but I think Dan will just lie low for a few years (possibly shooting for the Senate). Dan's in an awkward place at the moment... too conservative to be a 2020 Democrat, but increasingly disturbed, distressed, and probably more than a little bit disillusioned by the Trumpian Republican Party.

As a Texan from Houston, switching parties would be political suicide for him right now... but the Democrats really ought to be nice to him, because I think he'd be one of the first to switch if he thought he could survive the backlash. He'll never be "progressive", but he's definitely more of a "South Park Republican" than a Trumpian. And smoking hot ;-)

We haven't even sworn in the president for 2020. Can we please shut up about the 2024 election?

After four years of being scolded, badgered, hectored, hounded and harassed by dictatorial Dems, 2024 voters will view Repubs as liberators from the oppressive Dem re-education camp.

Dan Crenshaw, the snowflake who made SNL force Pete Davidson into an on-air apology and then demanded a slot on Weekend Update because they joked about his eye patch?

How dare you. King Donald will have you put in the Tower!

Horsey Hawley for VP.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger (sp?) has just had to go into quarantine because his wife has tested positive for Covid

Hahahahah!

Dan Crenshaw, the Cyclops?

Seriously, R35, try using your brain instead of your cock for a change, and things will pick up for you.

I love this pastor's crying on Biden winning. I wish I could drink his tears.

I don't follow Dan Crenshaw because he's a douche, but it's heartening to hear that he's a moderate. I had him pegged for a full-retard Trump true believer.

Ann, Rafalca, and I am ready to saddle up for 2024!

r45, Dan actually took quite a bit of shit and criticism for fighting to get the Texas Log Cabin Republicans officially recognized by the Texas Republican Party.

Don't get me wrong... we're never going to see him looking like a leather-clad pirate on a float in the Houston Pride Parade showing off his 6-pack, but he's pretty mellow and tolerant when it comes to gay issues. He also illustrates perfectly that a politician doesn't have to loudly and proudly fart rainbows to quietly vote in favor of laws that help gay Americans. There's a huge "live and let live" middle ground.

Off topic, R47, but what the fuck is the deal with Will Hurd? I assume glass closeted?

I think if the GOP wants to wrest the party from Trump, they need to run someone with some personality against Ronna Romney McDaniel. Trump is backing her because she's such a suck-up.

Crenshaw isn't pro-gay or a moderate.

I'm tanned, rested, ready ... and SINGLE!

Is Sarah still a force in MAGAland? She wasn’t much in evidence during Trump's reign of terror. They need to find someone who can maintain the base. This will have to be someone with a big personality and strong brand recognition like him. I can’t think of anyone right now.

Trump may threaten to run in 2024, but he never will. Trump will never allow himself to be put in a position of losing on such a grand scale ever again.

r50, Crenshaw isn't "pro-gay", but he's definitely not anti-gay, either. He's not an ally, but he's not an enemy. He's an example of the big ambivalent middle (which, by Republican standards, IS almost semi/kind-of/sort-of pro-gay).

All Republicans are anti-gay.....when they support their anti-gay colleagues and support anti-gay justices being appointed to the Supreme Court

dan crenshaw is an enemy. I don't give a shit if he appears to side with gays once in a while, or he doesn't outright hate us, but don't ever forget that he's an overall piece of shit

They're all disgusting.

Fuck off OP we don't need any more threads on politics especially shit four years from now just fuck off already.

The Republicans are fortunate that they have a deep bench to draw from.

I’m not a fan of Crenshaw. I don’t dislike him but he is definitely not prez material.

r56, ok, fine... YOU go find a magical unicorn of a pro-gay Democrat with a snowball's chance in hell of winning in Crenshaw's district. The fact is, we're damn lucky Crenshaw is as gay-ambivalent as he is, because you know DAMN WELL just about anyone who could beat Crenshaw would probably be orders of magnitude worse. Sometimes, you just have to settle for partial non-loss & consider yourself lucky. He's as officially non-anti-gay as Texas voters will allow him to be, and substantially more tolerant in his personal life.

The harsh reality is, Texas isn't a liberal state, has NEVER been one (even when Democrats ran the show there), and won't become one EVEN IF the Republican party implodes and nominal Democrats start winning there.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doesn't rule out 2024 presidential bid.

No one can say or do anything until Trump says he won’t run again. Anyone who pushes back against Trump will have no future in the Republican Party so someone who is a complete asskisser will probably get the nomination. Maybe Pompeo?

I think Trump will announce he's running again as a grift, so he can still keep taking donations to pay for his legal expenses. That's something the party is going to have to find a way to work around.

R62, Gov. Abbott would be like FDR redux.

How would Gov. Abbott be like FDR?

It’s fun to look at history. FDR waited until the bitter end to announce he was running for a controversial third term. Meanwhile, he encouraged likely candidates to run including his VP. The front runners destroyed each other and then he announced and got the nomination easily. Trump could do something similar but he’ll need the 2024 race as a way to raise millions for himself.

I think the GOP needs to enact a rule that the party will not nominate anyone who has not served a full term in office. That won't eliminate their Trump problem, but it will eliminate the problem of other populist business men who have no experience actually running a government.

LOL at Trump dominating the GOP all the way to 2024, and all these douchebags (Abbott, Cruz, Cotton, et al.) having to cool their heels for another 4 years, until 2028. Pleasure-filled bonus: them having to kiss Trump's fat ass the whole time to stay on the good side of his 72 million cult members.

Downside: Media breathlessly reports it all.

[quote]I think the GOP needs to enact a rule that the party will not nominate anyone who has not served a full term in office.

Just need to require to show taxes for the last 10 years before running for office. That will eliminate Trump and his family members.

I think they pocketed most of his campaign donations.

I'm starting to see puff pieces about Trump running for office in 2024 - the kind of junk pieces we saw for Pence before the election. It seems like the Trump folks are putting their feelers out - but why put out feelers if they were confident? I wonder if they are getting pushback behind the scenes.

Chris Christie is co-chairing the George Battleground Fund in order to get the two GOP Senators re-elected to Congress.

[quote] Chris Christie is co-chairing the George Battleground Fund in order to get the two GOP Senators re-elected to Congress.

Loeffler, an appointed senator, has never been elected to anything. As she is the weaker candidate, I just wish Ossoff, our stronger candidate, was matched up against her so we could have a better chance at taking at least one of those seats.

So, Karl Rove is heading up the Georgia fundraising effort, assisted by Dan Quayle, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley as honorary co-chairs, and also by Nick Ayers, Haley Barbour, and a few other Republican fundraisers.

Two interesting points: 1) Nick Ayers is famous for running the heck away from the Trump Administration, when they were looking to move him into the Chief of Staff position; 2) Christie has announced that he's considering a 2024 run, but Politico only mentioned Nikki Haley as a likely 2024 contender.

What the fuck experience does motherfucking blowhard asshole Junior bring to the office of the president?

Go run for city council and gain some political experience you douchebag.

Larry Hogan teases presidential run. It sounds like he's trying to position himself as a new Reagan. I don't think it will work because he was too anti-Trump for the Republican party, but it's an interesting angle to play.

Sasse will still be viable. No idea about the rest.

Don't fucking bother us with this again for the next two years, OP. CUNT.

You type fat, R77

I am the Fat Whore OP of both the 24 hour chocolate chip cookie thread and the Bacon questions thread that have been around recently.

Fat whores of the Datalounge, unite! But not too close because.. fat.

Politico speculated about Pence's future. Some feel if Trump announces a 2024 run, Pence will squash his own presidential ambitions. There was also another piece out today, about how Pence could do something like run Liberty university. If I didn't know better, I would think that Pence is fishing for a job offer, LOL.

Please do not underestimate the stupidity of 70+million voters who voted for Trump. The Democrats lost seats in the House and didn't flip the Senate as expected. They are in a an extremely vulnerable position in '24.

Pence could be successful as the anti-Trump Trump. There were many people in the 2020 election who said they agreed with Trump’s policies but didn’t like Trump and so they ended up voting against him. If Pence could retain the Trump voters and add on the anti-Trump voters who agreed with his policies, it could be a winning combination for him in 2024.

[quote]how Pence could do something like run Liberty university

He'd be perfect for that job.

I don't see Pence retaining Trump voters, because Trump voters prefer authoritarians. I think a Trump voter once referred to Pence as acting like Trump's supportive wife.

Whoever they run in 2024 is going to have to be a FREAK. They’re all freaks, of course, but after Trump they’re going to have to keep it ramped up. People won’t be flying massive Pence or Romney flags from the backs their pickup trucks like the hillbilly Taliban caravans we were treated to this year.

[quote] They are in a an extremely vulnerable position in '24.

Not to mention '22.

Pence is too "beta" for most Trump-lovers. Also, no novelty value. They'll migrate to someone else, like Cotton or Pompeo.

We'll see how "vulnerable" the Democratic candidates are after two years of regular order and democratic government. Living in the maelstrom of Donald made it seem normal after a while but it's not.

See how people feel after the fog clears.

Trump won't be running in 2024. He'll be dead before then.

He'll declare that he's running in 2024 so that he can continue to milk the faithful of their money.

His kids will set up PACs so that they can continue to milk the faithful of their money.

This is a new revenue stream for Trump Org and they will use it until they die or are prohibited from participating by a court order (a la their "charitable foundation")

Pence solves the imperfect vessel problem that Trump had. Pence will be the religious, and more soft-spoken, version of Trump. His competition will all try to out-Trump him though, as GOP candidates used to fight to be seen as most like Reagan.

A NJ columnist thinks that Trump will endorse Pence for president. If he doesn't endorse, then most likely Tom Cotton will take the Trump lane in the primaries. In the center-right bracket, he thinks it will come down to Haley and Christie.

Christie is wishful thinking. He’s toast. Anyone who crossed Trump is dead in the water.

It's going to be Paul Ryan. He's the only one who can legitimately say "I was so disgusted by Trump that I left Congress and politics completely".

R94 No, it really isn't. Anyone who runs in 2024 has to be demonstrably anti-amnesty. Anyone who has flirted with being pro-amnesty in the past is dead in the water.

R76 Definitely DOA

R81 They're vulnerable in 2024 because Kamala sucks.

[quote] It's going to be Paul Ryan. He's the only one who can legitimately say "I was so disgusted by Trump that I left Congress and politics completely".

Is this a game of who Democrats would pick as the GOP nominee if they had the power to do so? These are pretty off-the-wall predictions.

For some reason, I can't link to the story, but CNN says that Pompeo is seen as "auditioning" for the Presidency while on his Israel trip. And apparently he's aggressively courting contacts behind-the-scenes.

R96, she only sucks according to idiots like you.

Ryan/Schock ‘24. They’re tanned, ripped and rested.

But seriously Pompeo, Cotton and DeSantis are terrifying choices. They’re as corrupt and malignant as Trump, but they’re smart. Well, maybe DeSantis isn’t.

DeSantis is as dumb as Trump

I think DeSantis is too controversial and Pompeo is too dull. Cotton's problem is going to be name-recognition - outside of his home state and Fox viewers, folks have probably never heard of him unless they follow politics.

It feels like there are two Republican parties - the GOP party of Trump and the GOP party of Karl Rove. Karl Rove's party is throwing an early convention down in Georgia, while the party of Trump feasts its agonized eyes on the cult leader in the bunker. The party of Karl Rove doesn't appear to need Trump anymore.

Sassy is probably the least vile, but that’s not saying much.

[quote] Cotton's problem is going to be name-recognition

I can't wait for the inevitable, "will black people pick Cotton?" jokes.

Calling it now: Cotton/Noem.

Noem is like an even dumber Sarah Palin. And she probably killed thousands of people with the Sturgis motorcycle rally

But 'freedumb' trumps (as it were) everything, r107. Buffalo Barbie is clearly positioning herself as Donald Trump with a vagina.

[quote]Buffalo Barbie is clearly positioning herself as Donald Trump with a vagina.

So she'll be grabbing her own pussy?

Who gives a flying shit about ANY of this. Seriously. Biden and Harris aren't in the WH. Yet there's some speculative absurd thread on DL about which ReThug creeps will be running for president in 2024?!

Dump will be dead by then or will have slipped even deeper into his dementia. Pompous Payola is another disgusting fat fuck who might stroke out by then, ditto for Chris Crusty.

Dump's children will have fled to Lord knows where. Dump's rabid gun-toting hillbilly part of his base, will have forgotten about why they loved him in the first place, while the other half will have died from Covid.

Why do we care about 2024? First of all, the Republicans themselves are looking ahead. It's fascinating to see them jockeying for position, trying to make a place for themselves in the line-up. Sure, Trump could come back at the last minute and try to blow them up again in the primaries, but that's something they are all aware of - so it will be interesting if they can correct some of their mistakes from 2016. If they want to avoid another 16-candidate slate, there needs to be a couple of front-runners by 2022.

Secondly, the Republicans are at an inflection point - a lot of the old establishment became never-Trumpers and left. It feels like Karl Rove is using the Georgia election as a call-to-arms for the new establishment to coalesce and get everybody back into line. But even if Trump stroked out tomorrow, there's always going to be some conservative commentator willing to stoke the flames. So the new establishment has to figure out how to deal with the crazies - the old crazies were mostly Evangelicals, but the new crazies worship Trump, so throwing them the abortion bone won't work with this group. Over the next four years we're going to see how the Republicans re-form themselves.

Third - the obvious takeaway from the election is that while Trump lost, the Republicans did pretty well for themselves. With Trump out of office, how many of the voters who split their ticket and voted for Biden will go back to the GOP? A lot will depend on how the Biden administration copes with Trump's continued chaos out of office, and a lot will depend on who the Republicans choose to carry their banner in 2024. So we're using this thread to discuss how things are playing out.

I feel he will be killed because he owes money to the mafia and probably with interest and he is broke. Everything this racist,rapist,lying mentally ill man touches dies and it looks like his hands are on Americans and America. All his businesses have failed, from football to steaks.

It's going to be Ivanka, surely?

R99 did u not see how far she got in the *Dem* primary?

R113 I wouldn’t vote for her.

Ivanka melts whenever she's asked hard questions. The cult wants an authoritarian, and she doesn't project that.

I foresee another battle for the soul of the party. The GOP leadership, who are currently celebrating their freshman class of 13 women, still clearly don’t get it and haven’t learned the lesson of Trump. It also looks like they’re ready to make a deal with Biden on immigration. They don’t understand the base and don’t even attempt to try. Whoever comes along like Trump in 2016 and gives the GOP leadership what’s coming to them, that is the person who will be the nominee.

The Dems look very divided and it would be nice if the GOP could seize the day by being united, but I’m seeing troubling things from the GOP leadership that will need to be corrected.

I thought you flounced away from DL, DeFecto.

I agree that we're going to see a struggle for control of the party, between the pragmatists who want to get something done and the incendiaries who just want to throw grenades without regards to the party. I think a lot is going to depend on who becomes the next GOP chair - if they keep McDaniel, she's such a Trump ass-kisser they're going to be under Trump's thumb for the next four years.

A poll released today found that 66% of Republicans want Trump to run again in 2024.

Which means no one else will be able to.

I say: bring it on. Along with the indictments against his entire family and everyone Trump-adjacent in the past 4 years.

Donald Trump running as an obese 78-year-old four years from now? Fat chance. He'll be yesterday's news by then.

I think the only thing I want to ever read about Trump or any of the horrible people mentioned is their obituaries if they even rate them after being lined up against a wall and shot. Resist!

I was surprised that poll didn't include Chris Christie. I saw that Mike Pence only got 12%, and I think that was the same percentage he got in a poll last year.

I have more charisma in my pinky toe than Tom Cotton.. he just comes across as evil

The whole usurping of the American democratic process, tossing out votes , destroying mail processing machines and mailboxes is their legacy. That and the unchecked infection, undermining the CDC and Dr. Fauci.

That stink will follow.

[quote]The whole usurping of the American democratic process, tossing out votes , destroying mail processing machines and mailboxes is their legacy. That and the unchecked infection, undermining the CDC and Dr. Fauci.

70 million Trump voters loved it and want more.

The link is to more speculation about who Trump might support... the author specifies Pence, Haley or Christie. He thinks Rubio and Cruz are out because of their contentious relationship with Trump. Rubio I agree with, but Ted Cruz did a lot of sucking up over the past four years - I could see Trump supporting him.

Trump will be in prison so don’t worry about him sucking all the air out of the room. The senators have zero mojo. Pompeo or Christie. They’re both really fat though. We haven’t elected a fatso since Taft.

It'll be some completely blithering idiot from QAnon.

I can't see Trump actually supporting anyone but himself, or his kids, although even there he'd be all weird and stupid and tangled up in jealous feelings. He's driven almost entirely by hatred, and there he can help some of them by directing his hatred more intensely at some candidates than others.

Yep. If he himself doesn’t run, Trump will support whichever candidate expresses the most virulent hatred against Biden, Democrats in general, and “turncoat” Republicans.

Kamala laughed at the idea of Trump running in 2024, LOL.

The linked article cites to the Politico poll, which is the poll that omitted Pompeo and Christie, two of the most well-known potential candidates.

In the linked article, the author argues against Nikki Haley's chances of getting a nomination because of the GOP's xenophobia.

R52, that was actually smart. Dealing with Trump was a headache for a lot of Republicans but they were afraid of what he could do to them. She's come out relatively unscathed. She stirred a lot of shit talking about death panels with regard to ACA, so she could definitely fool the foolish. Unless she gets to the top of the ticket, though, it is not clear other Republicans want much to do with her after 2008.

R134, maybe she was thinking of him behind bars, like I am.

R126, I think Cotton just wants to stay in the Senate. It's a great gig, a fair amount of power and he can likely do it for a long time. I agree, he is pretty creepy. I live in the state and did not learn until sometime the end of last year or early this year that he was now married with 2 children. I wonder if he just bought them.

He had a quickie marriage

I'm glad Haley isn't likely to become their nominee as I'd hate to see the first woman president be a scumbag like her. Now that it looks like there is no way Ivanka would work out for them, given the early ending of the Trump administration, I'm not sure what woman they'd be able to run.

Kristi Noem, r140.

Yeah she is crazy enough

Kristi Noem is a mass murderer

Just like Trump, r143.

She's basically Trump with a vagina. I expect she'll be airing ads in which she grabs her own pussy.

A gay Republican and a one-eyed Congressman go for a walk(away)...

(Interestingly, the MAGAs are not pleased with this--they think "RINO" Dan is interchangeable for Pete)

R145 yep, we are not wild about Dan.

It will be the hound-faced big-dicked closet-case neo-fascist Cotton. Don't pretend otherwise.

r146 exemplifies the hard-left's fundamental problem: it's as intolerant, authoritarian, and populist as the Trumpian MAGA right... you either support 100% of their agenda & agree with them about everything, or you're a vile enemy.

The fact that Dan Crenshaw is simultaneously hated by both MAGAts *and* shrill queens shows he's probably doing something right.

The Republican Party as a whole isn't very friendly to gay causes, but not everyone within it is a bible-thumping fundie eager to turn America into Jesustan, any more than everyone in the Democratic Party is a Castro-worshiping socialist.

In the long marathon of politics, Dan has consistently worked to ensure gay groups have a seat at the Republican table... and regardless, his own door is always open for reasoned discussion.

He walks a delicate tightrope balancing the harsh realities of Texas politics. He wants to do good, but "doing good" requires actually winning elections. A sympathetic moderate ally in office is far more useful than a fawning admirer who's un-electable and irrelevant.

I don't see Crenshaw being EAGER to leave the RP, but if the RP continues swinging hard towards Trumpism, and the Democrats can either keep the hard left on a short leash OR slough them off & pivot to being a more kindly-conservative "American Majority" party (roughly spanning from Liz Warren at the progressive left, Pete & Beto in the middle, to Jeb Bush & Mitt Romney at the right), I think he'd eventually switch.

r146 is a self-proclaimed MAGAt.

Try again, r148.

Adam Kinzinger is planting a clear flag in the post-Trump GOP.

"“We have two different directions to go as Republicans,” Kinzinger said in an interview. “And I’m on the direction of, let’s get back to our roots and explain what conservatism is, so we can actually win the generation we’re gonna need to stay relevant.”

[quote] His high-profile rebukes of Trump have left some in Washington wondering about Kinzinger’s political future. Kinzinger, an Air Force veteran who has served in Congress for a decade, could have opportunities to run statewide in 2022. That’s when both Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Gov. J.B. Pritzker — both Democrats — are up for reelection. And Kinzinger’s public criticism of Trump certainly couldn’t hurt a general election bid in a blue state like Illinois."

[quote] “I think the long term impact of this could be devastating … It’s important to be outspoken,” said Kinzinger, who acknowledged he is “concerned” about the direction of his party. “That’s why I decided to put this on the line. We’ve lost our moral authority to be outraged.”

...

[quote] “When you end up where principles don’t matter, beliefs don’t matter, it’s just about who can be the loudest and kind of maintain power through raw anger and aggression, you’re no different than a lot of Latin American countries at that point,” he added.

sorry about the formatting @ R150.

Adam Kinzinger--is he a married fella?

[quote] Adam Kinzinger--is he a married fella?

[quote]The fact that Dan Crenshaw is simultaneously hated by both MAGAts *and* shrill queens shows he's probably doing something right.

Or that he's a complete fucking asshole. This little phrase always pops up and is generally stupid and wrong. The fact that somebody is hated by "both sides" doesn't actually mean they are some wonderful, wise centrist. It usually just means they're a cunt that has somehow fallen afoul of their own side, usually for some idiotic reason.

Ronna McDaniel is trying to play Kingmaker by inviting 2024 hopefuls to Amelia Island, FL in January. I think it will be interesting to see who is not invited this meeting.

Link to an opinion piece... the author thinks that Chris Christie can bridge both sides of the Republican party, although it's too early to know what his chances are.

I think Noem has the same problem as McSally... she's just really unlikeable. I know that we aren't supposed to use that word to describe female candidates, but I think likeability is a real issue, fair or not.

The Trump cult worships her, r157.

then he'll probably kill her r158

[quote] And Kinzinger’s public criticism of Trump certainly couldn’t hurt a general election bid in a blue state like Illinois.

And there it is. His concerns and views are just political posturing, trying to prepare for future campaigns. That makes him even more morally bankrupt than politicians who at least say what they believe come what may.

r154, the thing is, it seems like most people who genuinely hate Creashaw cleanly fall into one of two cohorts:

* MAGAts who hate anyone who doesn't drink enough Trump Kool-Aid

* people who hate him simply for being a member of the Republican Party, and don't actually *care* about the finer details of his own personal ideology, beliefs, and practice.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen had a similar group of professional haters. She broke ranks with the party to support gay rights, had a float in the Miami Pride parade, and had so many gay male staffers, heq office parties looked like a preppy gay bar... but there was still an angry, bitter cadre of SoBe queens who acted like she was the devil incarnate for no reason besides the "(R)" after her name. It hurt her feelings for years, because she really did try hard to reach out & build bridges, and they just kept lashing out at her anyway for no specific reasons.

Ditto, for Jeb Bush. From the way some bitter queens bitched and moaned about him, you'd have thought he was Satan's love child, even though at one point he asked the Legislature point blank to give him a bill legalizing gay civil unions so he could sign it (at a point where public support for gay marriage in Florida was INCONCEIVABLE, and he got roasted by the RPoF for even SAYING it.

Point is, Dan's a good guy. He might not be the best of all possible future presidents, but if a future president *has* to be Republican, I can't think of a specific Republican I'd rather see wining.

R150 NOPE NOPE NOPE @ almost everything Kinzinger said.

Gosh, this is so disheartening to me. Why are the pretty ones always so stupid? Kinzinger can still fuck me, but he has to promise not to talk during.

The Democrats are such a mess right now. It would be so great to be able to capitalize on that. But Kinzinger and others who want to bring back the pre-Trump GOP need to be dealt a decisive "No" before that happens. None of us MAGAts want to go back to a pre-Trump GOP.

The future of the party is pro-working class, immigration-skeptical, globalist-skeptical, establishment-skeptical. Those are winning issues. Not a return to tax cuts and austerity... nobody wants that. *Cultural* conservatism combined with the government giving people a leg up will win the day in these times. People like Kinzinger need to be primaried in 2022 if they can't understand that.

In some good news, in a focus group of Republican voters conducted by Mark Halperin, the response to the reptilian Josh Hawley was devastatingly negative.

That is good news...though he recently came out for stimulus payments direct to the people. Either way he is a scumbag

Mike Pence will be like the last VP from Indiana Dan Quayle, almost never heard from again.

As a reliable Democratic Party voter there was a time when I would have wanted Republicans to run someone like Trump every year. I couldn't conceive of him ever getting elected but since Republicans and too many independents have shown they will vote for the worse possible candidate having Republicans nominate the worst possible candidate is no longer a good thing.

DeFecto @r162, does this mean you support Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election?

If so: why do you hate America?

R167 I should have explained myself better.

Kinzinger is advocating for one vision of a post-Trump GOP and I’m advocating for another vision of a post-Trump GOP. I’m ready for Trump to leave, and congressional Republicans are also secretly thrilled to see him go, but they think it’s going to be business as usual and back to the pre-Trump GOP and it’s up to people like me to make sure that doesn’t happen.

We aren’t going to be the neoliberal party that lowers taxes on the rich and starts foreign wars anymore. The new GOP must be the anti-immigration, pro-worker, anti-free trade agreements party. And if Ppl like Kinzinger don’t get that, they’re in for a rude awakening.

I think most congressional republicans - & prospective presidential candidates - would be secretly happy to see Trump behind bars.

Tramp needs to have his thumbs cut off and his tongue cut out.

End the madness.

R170 he could walk around with a pen and a pad of paper. “My name is Donald. I’m an Ellen Jamesian. Do you know what an Ellen Jamesian is?”

I don't have a link, but I saw an ad that Hogan is running. He's doubling down on the comparison to Ronald Reagan, asking people who want to return to that way of life to join his organization. I guess that's how his organization is going to try to build up some grass-roots support.

I don't think it will break through. The Trump cultists are over Reagan, if they ever cared about Reagan to begin with. That leaves the Never-Trumpers, but I don't know if they would buy into the idea that the party can ever return to the pre-Trump party of Reagan.

You didn’t answer the question, r168.

Do you support Trump’s coup attempt?

r173, Reagan’s 11th commandment was not to speak ill of another Republican. Hogan is no Reagan and will receive a fraction of 1% for sabotaging other Republicans.

I mean r172.

Didn’t Hogan write in Ronald Reagan or something? What an ass...Reagan is the precursor to Trump

Set the car on fire... with the clowns inside.

r174, woulld Reagan be saying that today about Trump? I think he'd be a never-Trumper.

Well, being that Nancy was pulling the strings behind that presidency I think you're correct r178. Just imagine what she would have thought about Trump, Melania, the Magats and that whole sorry bunch.

[quote] Just imagine what she would have thought about Trump, Melania, the Magats and that whole sorry bunch.

Well she and Mel had a lot in common. Both got ahead by giving head.

[quote] [R173], Reagan’s 11th commandment was not to speak ill of another Republican. Hogan is no Reagan and will receive a fraction of 1% for sabotaging other Republicans.

And yet he primaried a sitting Republican president.

[quote] Point is, Dan's a good guy.

R161 Your "good guy" Dan Crenshaw signed on as one of the 106 congressional Republicans who support Ken Paxton's lawsuit to throw out all absentee votes in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan giving the win to Trump and destroying our democracy. I would hate to see what you think a bad guy is.

Next time, I dont want to be just First Mistress, I want to be First Lady.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw Linked to Smear Campaign of Female Vet Led by VA Secretary, Watchdog Says

An investigation from the independent government watchdog that oversees the Department of Veterans Affairs concluded Thursday that a Republican member of Congress was involved in an orchestrated campaign by V.A. Secretary Robert Wilkie to disparage the reputation of a female veteran who alleged she was sexually assaulted at a V.A. facility.

The 68-page report from the V.A. Office of Inspector General (OIG) stated that three witnesses said Wilkie informed them that Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) gave him information about the female veteran that could erode her credibility. Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL, served in the same unit as the female veteran, Andrea Goldstein.

In addition to suggesting a sitting member of Congress funneled potentially harmful and false information to the V.A. secretary amid an endeavor to discredit a sexual assault survivor's allegation, the report detailed the V.A.'s improper handling of the incident.

V.A. Inspector General Michael Missal characterized the handling of Goldstein's allegations by Wilkie, an appointee of President Donald Trump, and other senior agency officials as "troubling."

"Scrutinizing the veteran's background is contrary to V.A.'s stated goal to serve veterans with respect," Missal said in a statement. "Every V.A. employee should commit to making V.A. facilities safe and welcoming places where such complaints are met with the highest standards of professionalism and responsiveness."

Crenshaw's office did not respond to Newsweek's request for comment or questions about why the lawmaker and his communications director refused to cooperate with the OIG, as the report stated.

Mark Zaid, Goldstein's attorney, told Newsweek in a statement that Crenshaw's "silence says it all."

[quote] The report also says Deputy VA Secretary Jim Byrne told investigators that Wilkie had “verified with Congressman Dan Crenshaw that the veteran had previously filed frivolous complaints when the two were serving in the same command in the Navy.”

Crenshaw verifying the accuser had in the past filed frivolous complaints, which Crenshaw denies even doing, is not a smear campaign. The news articles and the IG seem to be suggesting that looking at the credibility of an accuser is off-limits.

r182, I'm not happy he signed it... and frankly, I don't think *he's* happy about it, either. But he's a Congressman in a solidly-Republican district in Texas. Saying 'yes' and signing was politically neutral and expected. Saying 'no' and refusing to sign would have hurt him politically.

In politics, you have to pick your battles wisely. The lawsuit will go nowhere, and he knew it, so refusing to sign would have cost him political capital & gotten him nothing. First and foremost, he has to make HIS CONSTITUENTS happy, not a bunch of triggered, fragile queens from elsewhere in the US.

He's not a saint. Nobody claims he is. However, he IS probably the best we can hope for out of someone actually capable of winning in his district. In politics, you can't make perfection the enemy of good. He's a Texas Republican representing a conservative district who's nevertheless open-minded enough to support gay Republicans, which is more than most of his peers will do.

Gabriel Sherman has a fun little article in Vanity Fair. Regarding Trump, a quote from the article is: "According to a Republican operative, members of the Trump campaign have told GOP operatives that Trump is “100% all in” on a 2024 run. “This fucks Mike Pompeo. This fucks Mike Pence. How do you raise money if Trump is running?” the operative told me. “It’s also causing chaos with all the operatives. If you’re a part of Trumpworld, do you still work for him? We all know he could drop out at any moment and he’d be fine. No one knows what to do.”" I find that kind of funny.

I keep seeing the same four names in regards to 2024: Pence, Pompeo, Christie and Haley. Those four seem to be garnering the most attention.

Christie and Pompeo are way too fat to president. Pence too boring. Haley is a lightweight.

Pence will never lose the stench of Trump, which will only get more potent as time goes by. Pence has zero chance in 2024.

With Karl Rove calling Trump a sore loser, and Chris Christie telling Trump to accept the election loss, I wonder if McDaniel will un-invite Trump from Amelia Island. After all, Trump is actively trying to sabotage two sitting Republican governors.

Apparently Trump sent out a fund-raising email this week, asking his supporters if they would back a 2024 bid.

The media is looking at the Never-Trumpers to field a candidate to take down Trump, but I think the establishment is going to slowly start reasserting their dominance over the party. They can't control what Trump tweets, but they can poison the well internally for Trump. Trump's attacks on the GOP only help them in that regard.

[quote] but I think the establishment is going to slowly start reasserting their dominance over the party. They can't control what Trump tweets, but they can poison the well internally for Trump.

They will definitely try, but I don’t know if it will work. Roger Ailes of all people tried and failed in 2016.

I think that Trump will lose his sway once he leaves the WH. His only power is to threaten to primary Republicans. If his candidates fail to beat established Repubs, he'll be done. That opens the door for other Repubs to run in 2024.

Here is my prediction for 2024. It won't be Trump, why - because statistically he's more likely to either a) Die before then or be prosecuted and convicted before then. To that latter the Southern District of Manhattan is salivating over prosecuting the former President.

It certainly won't be Trump - he's made sure of that with his disgraceful exit.

They did their extremist candidate and got a few goodies, but his, er, "issues" make another candidacy with the GOP impossible. He's embarrassed them too much.

My guess is they'll try to retrieve some dignity and run an elder statesman with decent right of centre creds but who can also point to having kept his integrity intact against Trump. I.e., Mitt Romney.

Joe Biden will be in his early eighties in 2024. It's a safe bet the Dems will try to run Kamala Harris.

Conservative Democrats AND Trump's former "base" will crawl over broken glass to vote for Romney.

Romney could never win a primary, not since his vote to impeach.

R197 - Maybe before Trump's Clown Exit, but not now. Now, Romney can wear that vote the way Obama voted against the war in Iraq. By 2024, Trump will have made so much more of a jackass of himself, that impeachment vote will be part of Romney's campaign slogan:

"I told you but would you listen? Listen now: VOTE ROMNEY!"

R198, putting aside the fact that a Romney nomination would mean a backlash from the cult... and putting aside the fact that a Romney nomination would mean relitigating Trump's impeachment, which is the last thing they want... if Romney received the nomination, it would mean that he was *rewarded* for not marching in line with the others, for running away from the herd... which is an incentive for other GOPers to tell the party, Fuck You I'll vote the way I want, not the way the party wants... which is the death of the party. To quote Ned Stark, when the snow falls and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives. Ironically, the party can survive Trump, but it could not survive the collateral impact of a Romney nomination, because the herd mentality would disintegrate.

There's also the reality that if the Republican Party keeps going full-bore Deplorable™, the Lincoln Republicans are going to have three choices:

1. Become politically-irrelevant... at least, in anything above a local or Texas election.

2. Try to start a new party, with almost no actual chance of success. The "Republican" brand will be toast, and conservative Democrats will be too happy about being a respectable majority party again.

3. Swallow their pride, and stage a quiet takeover of the Democratic Party (knowing that if they can effectively pull it even slightly rightward, AOC & pals will storm out & start their own party anyway, causing the DP to shift even further to the right.

3b. Scenario 2, followed by scenario 3 once it's obvious scenario 2 won't work.

Angry rhetoric aside, the fact is that the ideological distance between Pelosi, Feinstein, Buttigieg, or O'Rourke and Romney, Jeb Bush, or even Dan Crenshaw, is probably a LOT smaller than the ideological distance between them and their counterparts at the far left/right of their respective parties (eg, Sanders, AOC, Cotton, Mitch McConnell).

Rhetoric aside, Pelosi isn't a socialist, nor are Romney/Bush/Crenshaw neo-nazi Deplorables. The Reagan coalition is dead. The Reagan Democrats are going home, and it's going to simultaneously eviscerate the Republican Party AND drag the Democrats rightward (because all those former Republicans aren't going to suddenly become liberal Democrats.

40 years ago, Democrats OWNED Texas, Alabama, Georgia, etc... but they absolutely, positively, were not in any meaningful way "liberal". Reagan motivated them to change their label & brand name, but their fundamental ideology was mostly unchanged. People forget that the Vietnam War was STARTED by the Democrats, and the 1960s Democrats hated hippies even more than Republicans did. It wasn't until Boomers hijacked the Democrats, and Reagan & the religious right hijacked the Republicans, that our present view of the two parties really solidified. Historically, we're overdue for a new generational shakeup & realignment.

[quote] Historically, we're overdue for a new generational shakeup & realignment.

We’re seeing that now as the GOP has become the party of workers and fair trade and the Democratic party has become the party of Wall Street and billionaires.

We've already seen some Lincoln Project folks change their affiliation to become Democrats, so I think it will be interesting to see if they can really gain any foothold in the party. Normally I would say no, but the moderate Democrats might need that bulwark against the progressives. On the other hand, look at how Pelosi is icing out AOC... the Democrats might not need much help.

The Republican establishment is already retaking their party... delicately. Karl Rove is saying that Trump "might" be seen as a sore loser. Chris Christie is on Fox and CNN talking about how Biden "clearly" won the election. Bill Barr - who covered up heaven knows what for Trump at the DOJ - is giving interviews saying that the CIA stayed "in its lane" during the Russia investigation. The Karl Rove Republican party is not afraid of Donald Trump at all - but they're not stupid enough to throw away the cult members they can keep - hence the delicateness. Trump stole Christie's schtick about "Telling It Like It Is" - now the Republicans are gently framing Trump as not telling it like it is - pushing Trump slowly to the outer circle, without blatantly offending the new folks that Trump brought into the tent. I guess we'll see in 2022 how that works out for them.

[quote]Romney could never win a primary, not since his vote to impeach.

Romney is a Senator, and therefore did not, and could not, vote to impeach.

[quote]40 years ago, Democrats OWNED Texas, Alabama, Georgia, etc...

40? Try SIXTY. The Democrats haven't owned the south since 1964.

[quote] just found out Dan Crenshaw is Ben Shapiro sized and i'm losing my mind

name this pop duo

[quote] Blink 5’2”

[quote] Gunz n Bozos

[quote] Crooks & Dumm

[quote] Below Average White Band

[quote] All Hat No Cattle

[quote] The AltRighteous Brothers

[quote] Powder Puff Boyz

[quote] Silly Vanilli

[quote] The Self-Righteous Brothers

[quote] The Captain and Tenille

[quote] The Captain and Schlemiel

[quote] Southern Discomfort

[quote] Black Eyed Dweebs

[quote] Cootie and the Blowhard

[quote] Boyz Pretending II Be Men

[quote] The Great White Nope

[quote] 2 guys 3 eyes

[quote] IncelPop

[quote] Incel Clown Posse

[quote] Smashing Bumpkins

[quote] The WeePublicans

[quote] Tools of the Oligarchy

[quote] DNA gone wrong

[quote] Cosplay Cowboys

[quote] Shady Antebellum

[quote]

R199 - I don't say those aren't fair points, but the core of my post is the likelihood that Trump will continue to dig his own political grave.

It's early days, yet. As they say, in politics, a week is a lifetime, and a year is an eternity.

I believe the "cult" is going to shrink over the next four years.

By 2024, Romney's "lone wolf" tag re the impeachment may be lost in the scramble to cleanse the party of the taint of a man who had to be dragged out of the White House screaming, "I Won! I Won Big! I Won Easily!" and who continues to do everything he can to damage the electoral processes of the country.

The Republicans, by 2024, may very well need someone who, in hindsight, looks prophetic rather than a traitor to the club.

And remember, no one though Trump would come out of the primaries the winner, either. The party didn't really want him. Their primary voters did, just as the Democrats' primary voters wanted Biden.

We'll see.

r204, the Democrats might not have collectively owned "the South" since 1964, but they still owned most of it until Reagan's second term... Georgia in particular. Hell, even Newt Fucking Gingrich was a Democrat. Ditto for at least a third of Texas' early-90s Republicans circa 1980.

My point is, labels and nominal affiliations change, but actual ideologies are pretty stable over time. If Mitt Romney, Dan Crenshaw, or Jeb Bush someday become Democrats, they aren't suddenly going to become BFFs with Bernie Sanders or AOC and embrace world socialism & environmentalism, they just won't have to pretend anymore that they don't secretly agree with Beto & Buttigieg about 80-90% of the time, and most of the remainder consists of negotiable details.

And if the progressives split off from the Democrats, the Republicans will ultimately win most of their agenda, because if the new Democrats end up with merely the largest plurarality & need additional votes to pass laws, the far left will get all scorched-earth doctrinaire and refuse to compromise on anything, while the far right will snipe the victories it can one negotiated vote at a time.

Need proof? Watch the sad shit show coming next year between the progressives & moderates. Instead of focusing on things like safeguarding Obamacare & protecting consumers, Congress will come unglued over something stupid like accusations of sexual harassment that took place 17 years ago, and old halloween photos of elected Democrats in blackface or dressed as Indians back in high school. Republicans can get away with saying "fuck you, this is stupid" and brushing shit like that off. Democrats (or at least, the party's leaders) can't... they feel compelled to self-immolate instead, even when it's ultimately harmful to the Party's agenda.

Chris Christie said that he wouldn't rule out a 2024 bid, even if Trump decided to run again. So now that Christie has opened that door, it will be interesting to see who else follows.

NO! R209

Nikki Haley is campaigning her ass off down in Georgia.

It seems like her 2024 platform will be anti-China.

R211 Ewwww NO!

Per Axios, Trump is having second thoughts about declaring that he's running in 2024. Seems he doesn't want to deal with the FEC process, at least for now.

Moderates, progressive, never Trumpers, whoever, all I care is that everybody get on the same page about a couple of things: First, the rich are rich enough, and nobody needs to lie awake at night in terror and sadness that somewhere, somehow a rich ole bastard feels overtaxed. Second, that everyone swear on a stack of bibles and korans and book of the dead and every other sacred or unsacred scripture not to give Fuck One about the deficit.

Oh and it would be nice if we could all do shit about the planet before it becomes completely uninhabitable.

R214 I’m with you on all of that! If we could also add “we have had sufficient immigrants and need not admit any more” we’d be rolling!

With all of the Covid deaths, I think we have some room for legal immigrants. And it would be kind of nice if somebody, somewhere, came up with a realistic plan for tackling the deficit.

I think deficit is just not something to think about now, not at all, and maybe not for four years. We do this shit every time a Democrat gets in. Suddenly a huge and fraudulent concern for the deficit, which will of course be immediately blown right back up by the next Republican Administration with a massive tax cut for the rich.

Here's the only acceptable plan to fight deficit: massive tax increase on the rich combined with massive cuts to military spending (looking at you SPACE FORCE, but really looking at all you all). Other than that, fuck that noise.

A new article came out: The case for a Chris Christie comeback. The author argues: "Christie’s in-your-face approach to politics, once seen as an insurmountable impediment in Republican circles, now is an undeniable political asset."

I also read somewhere that Christie has cleaned up his twitter and is now just known as "Chris" on Facebook. So somebody on his PR team is earning their paycheck.

I assumed that Pence would get the Evangelical vote after Trump, but Pat Robertson has basically endorsed Nikki Haley for 2024. So either the Evangelical vote is splitting up, or Nikki Haley is cornering the market and Pence is out.

[quote]I assumed that Pence would get the Evangelical vote after Trump, but Pat Robertson has basically endorsed Nikki Haley for 2024.

I guess he's starting early because it's very unlikely Pat Robertson will be around for the 2024 election. He already looks like the Crypt Keeper.

Sasse is betting that the anti-Trump wing of the GOP will win out, that Trump will implode after he's out of office, what with all the lawsuits and revelations and good post-pandemic economy, and that whatever speaking out he is doing now (versus 2016-2019) will serve him well.

I can see him and Kinzinger as the nominees, running as more moderate Republicans.

This would result in a great deal of anguish on DL as posters imagine themselves as the filling in a Sasse-Kinzinger sandwich while others lash out at anyone who posts about how hot they are.

God stopped talking to Pat Robertson a long time ago, but Pat keeps pretending.

Politico put out its list of candidates to watch, both Dems and Republicans. There are no surprises on the Dem side. On the Republican side, they put them in lanes: Pence - has his own lane as VP. Haley / Tim Scott - Politico calls them barrier breakers. Hogan / Christie / Sasse - Politico calls them the "move on" Republicans. Rubio / Hawley / Cruz / Cotton / Rick Scott - The "Trump-ish" Senators. Noem / DeSantis / Abbott - The Red-State Governors. Tucker Carlson - TV Pundit Mike Lindell - yes, the My Pillow Guy in the Wild Card lane.

Chris Christie and Politico are in Cloud-Cuckooland if they think he has a chance. That GW Bridge scandal died down but a few people took the blame whilst Christie somehow slid away, and everyone, EVERYONE in the Port Authority and his staff knew he was at the top of that. Those skeletons, along with myriad others in this notoriously corrupt former governor's NJ closet will be rattling so loud they can hear them in Washington.

That's why he had no chance at the VP spot that he hungered for, or a Cabinet position. Like Bill Richardson in New Mexico, where I lived for awhile, there's just too much "backstory", as we in Britain say about certain women.

The Supreme Court decision made clear that Bridgegate was a political prosecution, so opening that door allows Christie to criticize the Obama/Biden DOJ, which the cult base would love. Bridgegate is now an asset, at least in the Republican primary.

In 2016, Christie's issues were that: 1) he had no funding; 2) Trump stole his schtick; 3) he was nationally known for hugging Obama; 4) he was targeted by a Super Pac funded in part by a Russian oligarch. He just spent the past four years establishing himself with the donors as a party-first guy, and with donor money, he can now defend himself against opponents. He is taking back his schtick, and to answer the Obama hug, he has Bridgegate to point to, making himself a victim of a politicized Obama/Biden DOJ.

I think what's really underrated is that he also just spent four years making himself familiar to ABC's audience via appearances on GMA and the View - so while white women suburban voters may or may not like him, he's not a scary unknown to them. And Trump just inadvertently did him a favor by pardoning Kushner, which allows Christie to tout his record as a prosecutor, which pretty much everyone has forgotten by now.

Can Christie use his SuperPAC money to pay for a lap-band, tummy-tuck, and personal trainer?

Funny you mention it... Christie used his Super Pac money to support Republican senate candidates in the last election. So now there are a bunch of sitting Senators who presumably will support him.

His weight would normally be an issue, but since he survived Covid, it doesn't seem as big an issue, no pun intended.

Actually, he'd probably need a lap band to take off 100lb, abdominoplasty to take off another 40-60 pounds of loose skin, some major lipo to fix his thighs, butt, and gut, and a facelift to remove sagging skin from his face.

The lipo is needed because if he tried to lose enough fat to restore normal body shape & proportion through dieting, his face would look hollowed out & unhealthy, like an AIDS patient saved at the last minute & pulled back from certain death. He'd probably need facial fillers, too.

That said, he WAS kind of good looking before he started to look like Grimace wearing a human suit. The fact is, looks matter. Chris will never be Dan Crenshaw or Paul Ryan, but a year or so out of the spotlight could make him look a lot less like Jabba the Hutt or Grimace.

Realistically, I don't think Christie can stay out of the spotlight for a year, not if he wants to be competitive in 2024.

So, Hawley is making his play for Trump's cult voters, by challenging Biden's electors. I think in the long-term, this is going to hurt him. More than 6.9 million people voted in Pennsylvania, and he's essentially telling every citizen in PA, Fuck You, Your vote shouldn't count. Then he expects to turn around and ask for their vote in 2024? I can't see that working out for him.

Pompeo tweeted out how much safer we are today, and in the coming days, he's going to "lay out the mission set, the huge wins, personal stories, and a lot more. Just me, Mike." Watching Pompeo leave Trump behind in his dust is going to be kind of funny. And this is Haley's lane, Foreign Affairs, so it will be interesting to see how she responds.

[quote] But Kinzinger said he is still uncertain about his party’s future in the aftermath of Trump’s departure, especially if a sizable chunk of his GOP colleagues continue to falsely fan the flames about a “stolen” election. While acknowledging the legal and political barriers are high, Kinzinger said: “Look, if this party continues down this path, then I think there’s going to be room for a new party.”

I think there's a real coordinated effort going on behind the scenes right now with the real conservatives in the Republican party. Look at how vocal Kinzinger has been. They are looking to build a party that doesn't include the Trumpers. That's going to mean either kicking them out the way they did the John Birch Society members or starting a whole new party.

The Bulwark posted a vey good article written by David Holt, the mayor of OKC. He's what the Republican party used to aspire to be. He could be the future of the conservatives. I know that the current GOP deserves to rot, but honestly - does anyone actually believe that they'll just evaporate and the Democrats will then win every single election from here on out? That's not going to happen. It's going to take a few years to get a new party going, however. Right now there is a war of the worst kind going on behind the scenes in the GOP and they deserve every bit of it.

Kinzinger is going through the standard motions that a politician does when they are in the process of leaving a political party. We’ve seen this same thing when a politician goes independent or moves from Democratic to Republican. They never just announce out of the blue that they are switching. They have to huff and puff for a while. There will be no third party, so the question is whether Kinzinger goes independent or goes Democratic.

I’ll add that I think Kinzinger is setting up his move to the Democratic party. He’s in a blue state and redistricting is coming up, so for his political future he’ll make a strategic move. He no doubtably wants to establish some bona fides before switching.

This just in: @SimonSchuster "has decided to cancel publication of Senator Josh Hawley’s forthcoming book, THE TYRANNY OF BIG TECH."

Major Josh Hawley donor calls for him to be censured by the U.S. Senate

...

In 2018, when Hawley used his office as a springboard for a Senate bid, the Humphreys provided an estimated $2 million to independent groups supporting Hawley.

Humphreys’ full statement, as provided to The Independent:

“In October 2016 I publicly voiced my opposition to Donald Trump in the NY Times saying ‘At some point, you have to look in the mirror and recognize that you cannot possibly justify support for Trump to your children…’

“I need to say the same about Missouri’s U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, who has shown his true colors as an anti-democracy populist by supporting Trump’s false claim of a ‘stolen election.’ Hawley’s irresponsible, inflammatory, and dangerous tactics have incited violence and further discord across America. And he has now revealed himself as a political opportunist willing to subvert the Constitution and the ideals of the nation he swore to uphold.

“Hawley should be censured by his Senate colleagues for his actions which have undermined a peaceful transition of power and for provoking yesterday’s riots in our nation’s capital. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to protect our country and its Constitutional underpinnings.”

Hawley’s Senate office did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Hawley threatening to sue Simon & Schuster because, well... "First Amendment" and all...

Josh Hawley, fighting for his constitutional right to be published! Oh, wait . . .

Dude fucked around and found out!

Chris Christie would need so much cosmetic work he'd end up looking like one of those "human Ken dolls."

Does anyone seriously think this is going to have repercussions for anyone? Every single politician who was involved would be handily reelected if they were to run again today. Every. Single. One. Their voters don't care about any of this -- they only vote on guns, abortions, gays, immigration, etc.

I think the repercussions are going to be serious for Hawley, because everyone wants to make an example out of him. I think Ted Cruz's political aspirations for 2024 are also over, although it's more low-key.

Down at the GOP meeting in Florida, they are apparently in denial about Trump's role in things.

[quote]Down at the GOP meeting in Florida, they are apparently in denial about Trump's role in things.

Well, it is Florida, after all.

Back to the clown car. Pompeo posted a countdown to the 2024 election on his Twitter. With Trump's impeachment coming up, it's going to be interesting how the candidates tap dance around this.

[quote] I think the repercussions are going to be serious for Hawley, because everyone wants to make an example out of him. I think Ted Cruz's political aspirations for 2024 are also over, although it's more low-key.

True. Their chances of winning are now as low as Trump’s were in 2016. Oh wait...

[quote] With Trump's impeachment coming up

Trump's impeachment already happened. Twice.

It will be Kamala vs Nikki for First Indian-American AND First Female President.

Way old article, OP. January's events have eclipsed last November's exponentially.

Trump ain't running for nothing but his freedom by 2024.

Pat Robertson trolled very well for a octogenarian.

Hawley doesn't have Trump's personality or Trump's decades of weaving himself into the culture of America. He's not going to repeat 2016.

Cruz doesn't have Trump's personality either, but the wackos at the insurrection were saying that Ted Cruz would like what they were doing. So, it looks like Cruz inherits the white nationalist faction. Haley seems like she's going to win the Evangelicals who are ready to move on from Trump. That leaves the establishment lane - I'm going to go with Christie on this one. I don't think Hogan has the name recognition. And nobody appears to be paying attention to Sasse.

[quote] Pat Robertson trolled very well for a octogenarian.

Pat Robertson makes more money when he has a Democrat in the WH to criticize.

Ricketts would never clinch the nomination. He's got a mistress in the Legislature (she was appointed by him).

R251 you left out that fat fuck Pompeo

I don't know where Pompeo fits in. He doesn't fit in the establishment lane, because he was encouraging the fraud by pretending there would be a second Trump administration when there clearly wasn't going to be one. Ted Cruz seems to have the crazy white nationalist lane sewn up. That leaves evangelicals, which would pit him against Haley. So maybe once he starts seriously throwing his hat in the ring, we'll see some movement there. So far, I haven't seen any polls which mention him as an option.

BTW, he just joined a conservative think tank. Maybe he's planning on sitting out the impeachment and hoping that the Lincoln Project forgets about him while they go after bigger targets.

So, there are lots of articles about the battle for the soul of the Republican party. Lots of doom and gloom articles about the GOP being the party of Trump, but it actually feels kind of tied, with Liz Cheyney keeping her job and MTG also keeping her job but being stripped of her committees. Lou Dobbs being fired, Hawley under attack, corporations withdrawing $$ from legislators who tried to overturn the election.... it's like death by a thousand cuts, and the cuts are just beginning.

There's a gigantic profile of Nikki Haley on Politico, how she's trying to have things both ways, criticizing Trump and yet calling him a friend. I find it interesting that she's belatedly following Chris Christie down the same path.

A couple of interesting tidbits: Nick Ayers abandoned Pence for Haley. This supports the idea that she has the Evangelicals backing her. But it raises the question of what would happen if Pence supported someone else in 2024. There's another tidbit that her relationship with Jeb Bush has never recovered since she backed Rubio in 2016 - which raises the question of who Bush-world would support.

At the rate the Republican Party is going, Jeb Bush might very well be a nominal Democrat by 2024. Jeb really, REALLY hates Trump with a passion & views him as a disgraceful blot on the Republican Party. If it weren't for his family legacy, I think he'd be a Democrat already.

So, Trump escaped again. I don't think for a minute that he'll be arrested. He may face civil suits, but they will be settled quietly. So the question for the republican hopefuls is how to they prevent Trump from stealing all the oxygen in the room again?

[quote] So the question for the republican hopefuls is how to they prevent Trump from stealing all the oxygen in the room again?

By showing that they will be better and more successful fighters than Trump for party principles. You can see how Coulter loathes Trump for failing on the wall, work visas and illegal immigration issues. To win her and people like her, candidates will need to show they can get the job done. Namby-pamby, establishment and weakened candidates will be tossed aside like in 2016.

OP is a nasty skank. Currently, 55 of the posts in this thread are hers. No doubt she has a sockpuppet or two working this thread too.

What is the point of a thread where all you do is talk to yourself?

But what are the party's principles these days? Part of the reason they failed, putting aside Trump's entire personality, is that the party couldn't articulate what they stand for anymore.

Amend the Constitution/Ban All Opposition to Neoliberalism 2024

Neoliberalism isn't a word that has meaning to most people. What are the kitchen sink issues that the party believes in? I see the establishment saying that the GOP needs to be a party of ideas, not a party centered around one person - but I'm not seeing them articulate any new ideas.

[quote] GOP needs to be a party of ideas, not a party centered around one person - but I'm not seeing them articulate any new ideas.

With the GOP defining itself as supporting classic and timeless American values, how would “new” ideas fit in? I would think that until they accomplish fulfilling existing goals they would have trouble adding new ones. If they couldn’t accomplish something as easy as building a wall to protect the southern border, why would their base believe they would follow though on any new proposals?

I see CPAC being touted as Trump's party - and the golden calf, er statue, would support that - but from the clips I've been seeing, it's basically a bunch of wanna-bes like Cruz, Hawley and Pompeo pitching themselves to the Trump audience for their vote in 2024. That doesn't convey that Trump will be the candidate again - on the contrary, it sends the message that Trump won't be the candidate.

Hee Haw has voted against every one of Biden's cabinet picks...what an ass.

[quote] Hee Haw has voted against every one of Biden's cabinet picks...what an ass.

So he’s the Gillibrand of the GOP?

Dwayne Johnson, The Rock, is considering a Presidential run? Saw it on the news. 50% of Americans are in favor of it. Is he repub? He didn't vote for trump...but that doesn't mean anything. Many repubs voted against trump and down-voted for republicans.

Greyed out thread. Interesting.

I didn't want to start a new thread, so I'll just drop this here.... the Clown Car is rolling into Texas this week. Karl Rove is hosting a donor gathering, and the serious contenders for the nomination will all be there - Pence, Pompeo, DeSantis, Christie, Cruz, Tim Scott & Rick Scott and Rubio. Haley was apparently invited and couldn't make it.

Trump was not invited.

As long as Biden keeps sending checks to the hillbillies and ghettos- they'll vote for him. Because isn't that what most U. S. Americans really want: a monthly welfare stipend?

I don't think the hillbillies will vote for him. They'll cash the check and vote Republican, or they'll cash the check and stay home.