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Trump’s biggest problem was, is and always has been his mouth. It has gotten him into every bad situation over the entirety of his whole career, and it cost him reelection. And I say this as someone who is not a supporter of his, but as someone who lived around a lot of Trump supporters in my life and have many in my family.
Trump came into office as a minority president, similar to W. But rather than see that as an opportunity to build up and grab that extra 4% he needed to build a majority, he decided that he would double down and hope that the straight flush he played in 2016 would work out again in 2020. Problem is, this time it blew up in his face.
Trumps advisors should have looked at the polling data on his approval ratings; if they had a clear picture would have emerged. When Trump stayed out of the news and kept quiet, his approval went up.
I get that the COVID outbreak clearly hit his approval ratings hard, but a smart pol and a leader would have seen this as an opportunity to build up his approval by doing something big and bold. Instead he farted around for 4 months, then bought in to conspiracy theories (at least publicly) on what caused the COViD outbreak and why it spread (ie China). Major fail.
Finally, early in his administration, Trump chose to go for tax reform instead of infrastructure. That was a huge mistake and even Steve Bannon and many of his earliest supporters told him so. I never understood why someone who got the GOP nom by running again establishment GOPers would come in and basically do their bidding. All he did was **** off a major constituency of his from 2016 - suburbanites, who lost their SALT deductions for federal tax purposes.
If he were smart, he should have just cut the corporate rate and left the rest as is, then focused on infrastructure. Work with Dems to get it through if Mitch refused. Hell support a primary challenger if McConnell tried to block it. I mean how does supporting Mitch look to Trump now? Seems like Mitch is doing what Mitch has always done, and that is look after Mitch, which is why he has been a senator for 36 years.
I will play devil’s advocate on the tax reform issue and say that there is one possible explanation as to why Trump did push tax reform before infrastructure: Trump was hoping to get a big thank you from the big cats who benefited from the corporate tax reform after he left office. Clearly the guy needs cash to repay or refinance debt. But look at what has happened: those fat cats have abandoned him.
As usual, and as most New Yorkers would tell you, Trump overplayed his hand and now is left holding the bag. Unfortunately for him, there is no one else to lend him money. Reminds me of that monologue from the movie Goodfellas.
I really think the failure of passing the $2k stimulus plan helped sink his re-election.
But he could have catered to the Bernie Sanders crowd, who reluctantly voted for Biden, by slashing or eliminating Student debt (providing a big boost to the economy) which he could have done without the consent of Congress or the Senate. Cancelling of student debt, along with free college, is big on the agenda of the Sanders followers. How many votes would that have translated to? 5 million?
Before the Bernie crowd storms the Capital, they're going to wait and see what gifts Biden is going to give them in return for their votes. I hear the $10k figure of slashing student debt, with restrictions. I don't think this is going to sail with the Bernie crowd, which are going to be even powerful in the next election as they're not going away anytime soon.
So what do you think? Canceling/Slashing Student Debt would have helped save him?
And please, let's leave conspiracy theories and voter fraud out of this thread!
IMO all he had to do was: 1) Have more empathy for the COVID pandemic and the people who have gotten it. This includes wearing a mask and not downplaying it.
2) Have more empathy for blacks and other minorities during the start of the George Floyd death and subsequent protests. I'm not saying bow down to ANTIFA. But a reach out to the African American community would of been good.
You notice a coming theme here? Empathy is lacking with this man.
1. If the virus never happened. I think he handled it as well as he could have (if a Democrat was in office, we would have California type policies and now California is doing far worse than any other state when it comes to virus cases.) But this allowed the media to attack Trump. The media has always been about defeating Trump at all costs so they can push their liberal agenda.
2. If fewer liberal transplants had moved to Georgia, Virginia, Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada in the past 20 years and brought their liberal voting patterns with them even tough its liberalism that destroyed their former states like New York, New Jersey and California. Remember that all 5 of these states used to be solidly Republican. If not for these transplants, Trump would clearly be re-elected and Republicans would clearly not just have a majority but dominate the Senate.
3. If mail-in voting was now allowed. Mail voting opens the door to voter fraud. I don't even trust my own mail person to handle my ballot. Federal employees, which include the USPS, are disproportionately Democrat.
4. IF the left's racial identity politics wasn't so successful, particularly with the black population. Its proven less successful with Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans, and in fact many LEGAL Asians and Hispanics oppose illegal immigration quite strongly and support border security and putting American citizens first.
He's a showman for sure, and all his insults, hard jabs, and rolling out from the Walter Reed hospital made for great entertainment for us to sit back and watch, but the job is regal and professional. He would've won for voters if he lessened the insults.
And his refusal to wear a mask tanked re-election. The question wasn't whether masks work or not, but how it LOOKED. Many people were truly concerned about the Coronavirus and he would've won more voters if he just wore a mask.
IMO all he had to do was: 1) Have more empathy for the COVID pandemic and the people who have gotten it. This includes wearing a mask and not downplaying it.
2) Have more empathy for blacks and other minorities during the start of the George Floyd death and subsequent protests. I'm not saying bow down to ANTIFA. But a reach out to the African American community would of been good.
You notice a coming theme here? Empathy is lacking with this man.
No amount of empathy would have appeased the facists and burn loot murder. They had an excuse to riot and throw a multi month temper tantrum with 0 consequences. That's all they care about is getting free stuff.
Finally, early in his administration, Trump chose to go for tax reform instead of infrastructure. That was a huge mistake and even Steve Bannon and many of his earliest supporters told him so. I never understood why someone who got the GOP nom by running again establishment GOPers would come in and basically do their bidding. All he did was **** off a major constituency of his from 2016 - suburbanites, who lost their SALT deductions for federal tax purposes.
I remember thinking that was fire- basically because it was a big swipe at the NY to Boston professionals, NOVA and LA/SanFran crowds but also hit a lot of people in Philly, San Diego, and the high end areas of Atlanta, Detroit, and the like. I really think it was turned the voters in those 2018 suburban house races that were decided by less than 1%.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CoogHawk
I will play devil’s advocate on the tax reform issue and say that there is one possible explanation as to why Trump did push tax reform before infrastructure: Trump was hoping to get a big thank you from the big cats who benefited from the corporate tax reform after he left office. Clearly the guy needs cash to repay or refinance debt. But look at what has happened: those fat cats have abandoned him.
My take is the opposite side of that same coin. The true business elite never had any respect for Trump. They saw through him. As much as he blabbered on- he was not on the board of one major business school or receive any big industry awards, etc. This was his ploy to ingratiate himself to that crowd for ego. The US financial institutions and equity folks have been done with him for 20 years. That's why all his loans came from Deutsche bank, the Chinese, and the Russians. I actually think cozying up to the Saudi's was his big political movement for personal financial gain.
I remember thinking that was fire- basically because it was a big swipe at the NY to Boston professionals, NOVA and LA/SanFran crowds but also hit a lot of people in Philly, San Diego, and the high end areas of Atlanta, Detroit, and the like. I really think it was turned the voters in those 2018 suburban house races that were decided by less than 1%.
My take is the opposite side of that same coin. The true business elite never had any respect for Trump. They saw through him. As much as he blabbered on- he was not on the board of one major business school or receive any big industry awards, etc. This was his ploy to ingratiate himself to that crowd for ego. The US financial institutions and equity folks have been done with him for 20 years. That's why all his loans came from Deutsche bank, the Chinese, and the Russians. I actually think cozying up to the Saudi's was his big political movement for personal financial gain.
I don't think it hurt him in Georgia. Tax simplification and lower rates reduced the impact of losing SALT.
It didn't hurt him in NYC or LA because he was already going to lose those areas.
I really think the failure of passing the $2k stimulus plan helped sink his re-election.
But he could have catered to the Bernie Sanders crowd, who reluctantly voted for Biden, by slashing or eliminating Student debt (providing a big boost to the economy) which he could have done without the consent of Congress or the Senate. Cancelling of student debt, along with free college, is big on the agenda of the Sanders followers. How many votes would that have translated to? 5 million?
Before the Bernie crowd storms the Capital, they're going to wait and see what gifts Biden is going to give them in return for their votes. I hear the $10k figure of slashing student debt, with restrictions. I don't think this is going to sail with the Bernie crowd, which are going to be even powerful in the next election as they're not going away anytime soon.
So what do you think? Canceling/Slashing Student Debt would have helped save him?
And please, let's leave conspiracy theories and voter fraud out of this thread!
Like 2016, foreign intervention is the only way Donald Trump could have win in 2020. One problem, US intelligence was prepared for Putin in 2020.
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