The American people have, according to these surveys, been more than happy to "throw the bums out." The problem is the politicians haven't figured out how not to be bums. You would think that with one change election after another, someone would figure out what stable leadership looks like. Someone would devise a plan to fix something - the debt, the border, poverty, crime. etc. - and stick to it.
We get populism when the people believe the government is too incompetent, corrupt, or indifferent to deal with their problems. In and of itself, it's a symptom of bad government. The problem is that populism is all too easily hijacked by demagoguery. Pandering to the extremes is breaking this country. The people know it. Our political leaders need to figure out a way to get elected without appealing to the most extreme elements of our society.
That's exactly it. We get populism when the people think the gov't is incompetent &/or corrupt. And yes, we need to quit pandering to the extremes. The problem is that the parties make more money with the extremist rhetoric and money wins elections. And... I know this is going to get pushback... and I think that Trump has actually tried to push the GOP to the middle on a lot of issues and that has elicited the violent, vitriolic reaction from the Democratic party. If Trump had been willing to go quietly into the dark like Doles, Romneys and McCains, the Dems wouldn't be doing this.
The reality is the Republican platform right before Trump was very unpopular which is why Trump was able to perform a hostile takeover of the GOP. As a very rare NeverBush Republican I was very happy when Trump won in 2016…and then very disappointed when he appointed Tillerson on Condi Rice’s recommendation and proceeded to govern like Jeb!
What’s funny is the two things I consider Trump’s biggest accomplishments are things the vast majority of his supporters hate—surrendering to the Taliban and Operation Warp Speed. Let’s see, what else did he do?? Huge deficits! Made Fauci emperor in 2020! Was tricked by McConnell into appointing Bush loyalists that overturned Roe v Wade! Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?? 😝
I think you nailed it. Politicians spend 1.5 of every 2 year cycle campaigning for themselves or their party doing nothing but demeaning the other side. They do so in the internet/smart phone age where the people consume this garbage 24/7.
Get back to leading and governing instead of being the high school “mean girls” and perhaps the people would regain some faith in you.
Disqualifying the opponent gets a campaign the most bang for their buck because you never know what events will arise. Both 2008 and 2020 featured global events that dominated people’s lives. Btw, did you hear Walz is a secret Muslim?? Apparently Kamala demanded he convert to Islam and renounce Christ in order to get the VP slot.
I agree although I characterize it as the fracturing of the media. And the current media excels at jacking up negatives of the opposing candidate. Why do they do that?? Because you never know what events will transpire and so it’s best to disqualify the opposing candidate than to build up your candidate. So think of 2008 and 2020 and both featured major global events.
The American people have, according to these surveys, been more than happy to "throw the bums out." The problem is the politicians haven't figured out how not to be bums. You would think that with one change election after another, someone would figure out what stable leadership looks like. Someone would devise a plan to fix something - the debt, the border, poverty, crime. etc. - and stick to it.
We get populism when the people believe the government is too incompetent, corrupt, or indifferent to deal with their problems. In and of itself, it's a symptom of bad government. The problem is that populism is all too easily hijacked by demagoguery. Pandering to the extremes is breaking this country. The people know it. Our political leaders need to figure out a way to get elected without appealing to the most extreme elements of our society.
That's exactly it. We get populism when the people think the gov't is incompetent &/or corrupt. And yes, we need to quit pandering to the extremes. The problem is that the parties make more money with the extremist rhetoric and money wins elections. And... I know this is going to get pushback... and I think that Trump has actually tried to push the GOP to the middle on a lot of issues and that has elicited the violent, vitriolic reaction from the Democratic party. If Trump had been willing to go quietly into the dark like Doles, Romneys and McCains, the Dems wouldn't be doing this.
The reality is the Republican platform right before Trump was very unpopular which is why Trump was able to perform a hostile takeover of the GOP. As a very rare NeverBush Republican I was very happy when Trump won in 2016…and then very disappointed when he appointed Tillerson on Condi Rice’s recommendation and proceeded to govern like Jeb!
What’s funny is the two things I consider Trump’s biggest accomplishments are things the vast majority of his supporters hate—surrendering to the Taliban and Operation Warp Speed. Let’s see, what else did he do?? Huge deficits! Made Fauci emperor in 2020! Was tricked by McConnell into appointing Bush loyalists that overturned Roe v Wade! Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?? 😝
I think you nailed it. Politicians spend 1.5 of every 2 year cycle campaigning for themselves or their party doing nothing but demeaning the other side. They do so in the internet/smart phone age where the people consume this garbage 24/7.
Get back to leading and governing instead of being the high school “mean girls” and perhaps the people would regain some faith in you.
Disqualifying the opponent gets a campaign the most bang for their buck because you never know what events will arise. Both 2008 and 2020 featured global events that dominated people’s lives. Btw, did you hear Walz is a secret Muslim?? Apparently Kamala demanded he convert to Islam and renounce Christ in order to get the VP slot.
The eyeball test of your charts #3 and #4 tell me confidence has declined in the internet age regardless of affiliation.
I agree although I characterize it as the fracturing of the media. And the current media excels at jacking up negatives of the opposing candidate. Why do they do that?? Because you never know what events will transpire and so it’s best to disqualify the opposing candidate than to build up your candidate. So think of 2008 and 2020 and both featured major global events.
Just the other day I thought it’s been forever since I’ve seen one of Bruce’s charts. It’s on me that I took so long to look on Substack.