What a sad state of affairs we’re in when voter turnout of less than 25% of those eligible is celebrated and reflects an almost 40-year high. Then again, it’s precisely this apathy (combined with many other influences) that resulted in the “election“ of the Tangerine Idi Amin.
Resist. Fight back. Vote like it matters.
1
A pyrrhic victory. Mark my words.
To the complex web of occurrences, add the fact that 45 won the electoral college with a minority of the popular vote.
1
They? They told us? As long as the left starts the conversation with they, they will be no better than then they. Following is not leading!
Trump Derangement Syndrome is one of those obnoxious phrases used as a way of ignoring legitimate criticisms of him and chalking it up to sour grapes. It's funny how many of those criticisms or concerns raised are proven with each passing day.
If there was ever a period of derangement, it was over the 8 years of Obama: I'm still waiting for the proof of his Kenyan birth, the government ban of guns, and the imposition of Sharia law that the right shrieked about from Day 1. And let's not forget McConnell's infamous promise to "make Obama a one-term president".
That sounds like a group obsessed with spurious claims and removing an overwhelmingly elected president. I shall call it, "Obama Derangement Syndrome".
1
Anybody who supported Hillary and downplayed Bernie has zero credibility. Especially since the Resistance has rejected Hillary's policies and her Wall Street backers and adopted Bernie's policies. If Blow and Hillary supporters had the good judgment to support Bernie in 2016, we wouldn't have President Trump now. But by continuing to label Trump voters as deplorable (even though many Trump supporters voted for Obama), the Resistance shows it has not learned anything from the Hillary loss.
Blow, your analysis of why Trump won is blinded by your own racism and identity politics. Your analysis ignores the fact that many Trump voters voted for Obama. Your analysis ignores the fact that Obama was well aware of what the Russians were doing and Obama chose to do nothing to stop it. Your analysis ignores the pathetic nature of Hillary's campaign, ignoring voters in Michigan, Wisconsin and other states won by Obama. Your analysis ignores why so many voters rejected Hillary and her connection to big money bankers, her corruption, her lies, her rejection of progressive solutions to problems and her easy willingness to label so many voters, including Obama voters, as deplorable.
1
Sorry it is derangement. And perhaps the democrats are determined to make fools of themselves. Time will tell.
2
The thing about Democrats, Mr. Blow (and I was one for decades), is that they've been ineffective for too long. Less screaming and more quiet voting is what they need but good luck with that.
On a totally different subject, if Governor Cuomo is eyeing the White House in 2020, his latest on "progressivism" is most irritating. What a gasbag! And I loved Mario except for his attempt to grab pension money.
Stay away from the Clintons. Make nice with Cynthia Nixon (who, btw, did a superb job at a fraction of the cost) and you're welcome! I'll take my pay in Krugerrands.
2
Only 22.7% turnout to elect members of Congress and governors? That means our democracy has already failed. It means that 77.3% of citizens don't think their vote makes any difference in their standard of living, the justice they get, their health and safety, or their children's futures. It means they have been disappointed too many times, lied to too many times, ignored too many times and now believe they are all on their own, dog eat dog, sink or swim, make it, fake it, or take it. It doesn't help that Republicans since at least Ronald Reagan have told them that their government is not a solution, but a problem, an incompetent bureaucracy, a financial burden, and an obstacle to their success. To prove their anti-government propaganda, Republicans have made sure any helpful government program fails instead of succeeds, except the military, of course. Republicans don't deserve to lead our government any longer. They just want it to fail.
2
I just need to remind everyone that many states have electronic voting and there has been little action to ensure that our vote can't be hacked. Would Republicans stand for something that might profit them by keeping them in power even if it violated every fiber of our democratic ideals? They would run over their grandmothers for that opportunity.
1
Full agreement.
Now we need Dem voters and the anti-Trumpers, Independents, and disgusted Repubs to come out and vote for the antithesis of Trump. Period. Especially you disgusted Repubs....you can do it...you can vote for a Dem. You can do it!
And remember no one has to know...you can keep the secret, I'll keep the secret, and then you can crack a knowing smile that you helped when the much overdo push-back on Trump occurs...
1
Yes, the Democrats are coming, fairly elected by voters turning out.
Brief history of Trump Derangement:
--Dismayed when he rode down his golden elevator to announce his candidacy to hired actors.
--Disgusted when GOP allowed him the nomination.
--Discombobulated when electoral college permitted him to be named POTUS.
--Deranged* first slightly, then increasingly, as his and GOP's lows accumulated like bacteria multiplying in hogs' overflowing waste ponds.
*marked by repetitive checking of news sources in anticipation of a last straw forcing his exit.
2
The person who has Trump Derangement Syndrome.....is Trump!
It is one thing to be upset by a loss we didn't see coming and another entirely to be embarrassed, chagrined and frightened by having a man in the presidency who is ill-behaved and self-centered, to say nothing of self-serving.
I really don't see how anyone with any sense at all could fail to be concerned at Trump's derangement, as he demonstrates pretty much daily.
Then there's his deranged silence when he should say something, as with the past week's hurricane, which has devastated parts of North Carolina and will flood much of downstream South Carolina in the coming weeks. Anyone who thinks that the category of a hurricane is all that matters has not experienced these floods.
I invite Mr. Trump to come see New Bern, NC and my own town, Conway, SC. Perhaps then he will try to understand.
2
Obviously, Mr. Blow-like the rest of the main stream media- decided to keep repeating the same accusations, half-baked truths and blatant lies regarding the Trump presidency especially in regards what the voters want and why they chose Trump in the first place.
Simply put: voters wanted something different from the status quo ( identity politics, PC terror) and that's what they got with President Trump.
1
The DEMS elected a known liar to NY State Congress. While knowing all along she is a delusional liar who believed her own made up stories, she still won on a land slide.
A Christian Republican middle class immigrant from Florida who dropped out of college, was elected because she told the following lies:
She’s an immigrant from Colombia who remembers her childhood there before moving to the USA. Yet she was born and raised in Florida, to US citizens.
She’s a socialist Democrat. Yet she was a registered Republic not too long ago.
She’s Jewish. She was raised Catholic as is her family. So now she ‘identifies Jewish’, whatever that means
She was poor. She was raised middle class.
She graduated Columbia University. She never graduated
Additionally she was sued for adultery, spent time in jail for identity theft and is best friends with Ocasio-Cortez.
She got elected to NY State Congress by the DEMS last week.
Yes sir, the DEMS have lost it as well.
1
The Left is so unhinged since their evil goddess Hillary lost. There will be no Blue Wave because the Lefties are too lazy to vote. They'd rather walk around with signs, screaming and disrupting traffic.
2
Charles, you are too kind. Trump a divisive lightening rod? Let's call a spade a shovel: He's a disgusting pig. #Vote2018!
Dear Charles Blow:. For over two years you've done nothing but play the race card over and over again. Comparing Donald Trump to every villain in history has also gotten tiresome. Get a new act because this one is old and stale.
2
On election night 2008 I couldn't have be more proud of my country. Eight years later on election night 2016 I couldn't have been more ashamed. Whether or not we are able to end Trump's "Queen of Hearts" reign before 2020 the damage has been done. The rest of the world now knows how truly unstable we are and worse that that we are the custodians of the largest nuclear arsenal on the planet. Our place in this world has been changed for at least a generation or two, not by Trump but by his petulant and juvenile followers who thought "shaking things up" would be cool.
1
Allow me to offer an "obsessive deranged" comment; donald trump will resign from the presidency in due time. The Mueller investigation will receive enough overwhelming testimony and evidence from both Manafort and Cohen that even donald's lawyers will think resignation to be his best option; rather then the possibility of impeachment. Especially if the testimony includes possible charges against members of his family. Resignation allows donald to declare to his loyal cheering base that the "witch hunt" he's tweeted on constantly has forced his departure. Did he not claim "violence" would occur if he were deposed.
Again just an obsessive deranged comment.
1
I agree with Charles Blow across the board. I also suggest that the Times appropriately raise my subscription rate to cover revenue lost to ads, because I'm not turning off my add blocker.
2
Mr. Blow, listing the odd circumstances that led to Trump's election, fails to note then-FBI Director James Comey's bizarre announcements attacking Hillary for her email policy while he stayed mum on Russian interference in behalf of Trump that may have been part of a conspiracy that included the candidate. I've seen Comey try to explain this more than once. His explanations never make sense. He defied existing policy to put his thumb on the scales and now poses as a hero.
1
Thanks for the pep talk, I guess? Anyway shouldn't it be "chomping at the bit?" Isn't using the word "champ" roughly equivalent to using "quockerwodger" or "resistentialism" in a sentence. Grammarists will hate me but "champ," while arguably correct, is more than a little bit old fashion.
The best path Democrats should take but they won’t is to run on anti-corruption. Nothing will truly be accomplished: climate change, gun control, healthcare, education- none of this will matter until money corruption is effectively dealt with. It’s the elephant in the room - both parties are culpable. Scream it from the roof top. If you go to any Congresspersons website and click their dropdown menu of issues that concern them, corruption in government is not there. Go check. The corrupt system is lucrative to one and all.
3
Well done Charles! I would only add that "Trump Derangement Syndrome" actually defines his supporters.
Indeed, they believe that Trump is truly the second coming of Messrs. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Lincoln combinmed into one when the evidence demonstrates just the opposite: an individual, who is so unqualified for elected public office, he is unfit to serve on a school board, let alone as president.
2
I think that Trump does have some kind of strange effect on people that allows him to get away with stuff that no one else could. I find it amazing that some people are OK with a president that lies multiple times a day and tries to destroy the life of anyone’s who disagrees with him. Trump seems to think he’s above the law so he’s enriching himself in ways no other president has even considered.
I care about the future and I hope as a country we are able to recover when sooner or later Trump is out of office.
2
"We know that Trump is volatile, uncontrollable and unpredictable. So, we live a life with nerves frayed and bodies pushed to the edge of our seats. We know that he remains defiant because there are people who support him without hesitation and without question. They are the deranged, not us."
They and almost the entire GOP leadership are also the crooked ones. If they can ignore the Constitution by not holding hearings for one president's SCOTUS appointee while ramrodding another president's selection through without benefit of appropriate documents, they will stop at nothing.
Be forever vigilant. VOTE and then double check to make sure it's recorded correctly before leaving the booth.
3
I sincerely hope this column is predicting the outcome sensible people want and won’t turn out to be merely wishful thinking...
1
We the People need to do this. We can't leave it up to the Democratic Party to put out the perfect candidates that line up with our ideal.
It is time to get the vote out and vote D.
When the sewer that is the t rump deranged administration gets unclogged and drained we can start to reinvent our democracy.
Vote like your life and the lives of your children depend on it. They do!
6
Pushing back and resisting Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin's tweeting and speaking dummy pet puppet aka Donald John Trump, Sr. is a futile distraction.
Trump's primary objective is to have himself and his family profit from their temporary occupation of the Oval Office of our White House. Which is why Trump is hiding his personal and family income tax returns and business records from the American people. Focusing on Trump is deranged, dumb and doomed.
Trump can fire Sessions, Rosenstein , Mueller and Wray after the midterm election. Then pardon his family and friends. Trump's work day is watching Fox News in the morning and evening while tweeting and speaking. Trump's weekend work is playing golf.
Last time determined Hillary lost to deranged Donald.
2
Come on, CB. You've been deranged since he won. You even quit writing your race baiting attacks on cops to focus on Trump. You wrote an anti-Trump column in nov 2016 after the election and have resurrected and published it with a few variations twice a week since. Man, what a gig.
So let's go to the facts:
1) No evidence that white racial anxiety helped Trump won. How many white's have racial anxiety? Any news on that? Isn't HRC White?
2) Reaction to the 1st Black prez? Where's your evidence. Yes it was a reaction to Obama -- but it wasn't personal, it was about his policies. And Obama was only half black, right? And he was raised by Whites?
3) Unease about the first woman president? NO. It was anxiety about Hillary Clinton.
That was personal. She was a scandal ridden political hack who rode her husbands coattails to a political career. And no one wanted a Clinton dynasty. And she a terrible campaigner.
4) Evidence for voter suppression? Offer some. I bet there were many more who voted illegally for dems than were suppressed in some way and couldn't vote for HRC.
5) Voter apathy? She couldn't get the vote out in the states that counted because she has no charisma and ran a poor campaign.
6) Russia attacked our elections? Drivel. Russia didn't attack our elections, they didn't change votes. They hacked the DNC and leaked some embarrassing e-mails and ran ineffective ads on social media. Not a vote changed due to Russia.
4
Thanks Ralphie. Best comment of the day.
1
@Ralphie - Could you please enlighten us deranged folks as to all of the wonderful things republicans have done for you personally, and the Americans in general. Then apply those same two questions to trump. I look forward to your answers.
As to your facts:
1. There is anecdotal evidence for this based on numerous documented interviews with trump supporters
2. The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks and has documentation that supports a sharp rise in racial as well as anti-semitic hate groups following Obama's election, with a correlating rise in violence from same.
3. HRC is a very accomplished woman in her own right. She has been vilified, maligned, slandered and viciously attacked for over 25 yrs., and has never been charged with a thing. Nothing. Zero.
4. The SCOTUS ruling by a right wing majority that voided the Civil Rights Voting Act, resulting in laws requiring onerous forms of ID targeted primarily toward people of color. The removal of polling stations and DMV stations in predominantly black communities - the list is long. There has been no proof of one illegal vote cast except by a republican who voted twice.
5. HRC received 3 million more votes than trump.
6. Putin himself confirmed his support for trump in Helsinki. So did trump jr. with re/to the trump tower meeting.
I look forward to your reply.
1
Reading through this article and the comments confirms how out of touch with reality most of you are. Trump got elected on racism and sexism? Oh how you believe the lies you feed yourselves. The most bigoted people I know are liberals. Most of the Trump supporters I know are highly educated, highly skilled and NOT WHITE. I see so many liberals praying that the market will crash or some cataclysmic event will happen just so they can feel justified for opposing Trump. It is disgusting. You people call yourselves "honest" and claim to have "integrity". Only two more years until four more years!
2
Determined? Even with a massive blue wave in November followed by a daming Mueller report, the Democrats will still only be on the defensive from 2018-2020. It will take determination and years of hard work to clean up this mess. And someone needs to figure out how to get Trump supporters out of the alternate reality bubble. We need at least two healthy political parties in order to have an honest and effective government. Are "we" really that determined?
1
I have a feeling that Trump supporters may not be deranged,
they just don't care. Trump is everything you say he is, but his supporters love the show. If a lunatic is in the White House,
so what. He's fun to watch. Those around him will protect the country. At least they think so.
4
There are four pillars to Mr. Trump's electoral college victory:
1) Tampering by Russian intelligence...Tough to quantify how many voters were actually swayed by it to either vote for Trump or to skip voting altogether. Certainly more than zero but how many?
2) Trump's illegal campaign payments of hush money to former sex partners to stay out of the election. How many voters would have been turned off if this had been known rather than hidden? Enough to erase his collective 6 voters per 1,000 votes cast in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania? I think 'yes' but really no one can say.
3) The GOP dirty trick of revealing FBI Director Comey's private letter to the oversight chairmen about the re-opening of the investigation. This caused a four-point drop in Clinton's polling and gave the race to Mr. Trump.
4) Too many eligible voters not casting a ballot.
Of the four, the most damaging to a free and fair election was the GOP dirty trick. We need to extend the Hatch Act to the judiciary and legislative branches so that tampering of this sort is never repeated. More Americans voting is a good thing, too, the more guesses as to how many jelly beans are in the jar, the closer the average is to the 'right' answer.
5
Well, more Americans voted for Democrats for the House, the Senate and the President. And yet the Dems control none of these. Such is American "democracy". Perhaps the frustration is understandable.
11
If the Democratic Party moves to extreme left, then they can not win House or senate or any state houses. The party is leaving the moderates which is just stupid. In America , most of the voters are at center. Recently President Carter warned the Democrats not to abandon the moderates. The infighting among the Democrats have to stopped NOW. Unity is strength. There should be NO LITMUS TEST for the candidates. The Party should have wide tent where pro-choice and pro-life can tolerate each other. They should not go wild against pro-guns. The Democratic Party should not labeled as anti-religion party. Knock every door and touch people which is the best prescription to win.
2
The Republican Party is both the architect and the designer of their fate through persistently creating excuses for their patent absence of confronting the chief executive's chronic irrationality and unsurprising incompetence. The lame 'he's new to this' and 'he doesn't have the experience' are convenient outs for the GOP leadership and dutiful disciples to avoid finding themselves on the receiving end of a caustically derisive twitter tirade (and loss of GOP privileges and benefits by being summarily primaried). The Democratic Party is fully energized, cohesively organized, and completely committed to serve the interests of America. The ever diminishing 'base' the GOP fiercely clings to is steadily shrinking, like an island eroding gradually from sand excavation. The significantly positive imagery of the party of FDR is destined to achieve even further greatness based upon the strength of the multi diversity of the Democratic coalition. Racial, ethnic, gender, religious, and immigrant constituencies comprise the ever growing Democratic Party, the party of inclusion. The GOP confirms it is the party of exclusion, of the 'us' versus 'them' warped mentality. The Republican Party refuses to accept the hard cold truth that multiculturalism, multi diversity, and multi racially constituencies are the future of America. Like it or not, we are the future of America, and the GOP must come to grips with that reality if the once proud party of Lincoln wants to avoid political demise.!
4
We were deranged in 2010...by not voting. As a result, we lost a lot of governorships and state legislatures in that election and let loose the gerrymandering, and voter suppression, and the state court appointments of the past eight years. This was our opportunity to fight back against the Tea Party, and we blew it by our lack of determination.
Charles, every op-ed you write needs to eat away at that laissez-faire derangement and increase the determination to vote. Every election matter, and by every, I mean every!
5
In light of the recent Manafort plea deal, we are left more assuredly than ever with the notion that the best thing you can say about the current President* - the absolute best case scenario - is that Trump is a man so inept at judging character and competence that he somehow managed to surround himself with criminals and foreign agents. This "best case scenario" presents at minimum a potential crisis of national security - it's not a partisan matter, but those who try to label it as such are absolutely doing so out of partisan motivation.
4
@JR
To begin with, it is "partisan motivation" that put Trump in the White House to begin with.
How else do explain the fact that he's there without the MAJORITY of Americans even voting for him?
2
@JR I agree with you that we are on the cusp of a crisis. However, when there are still many republican party stalwarts who remain silent, I am frustrated and concerned that they are not coming forth and trying to educate trump on how our government works. Even in the face of the most inappropriate behaviour--and for different reasons--they remain as inactive as they did during the 8 years we had President Obama.
Only John McCain had the courage to stand up and be counted.
2
MR BLOW,
You started talking about TRUMP in a corner and then let it go.
I'll speculate that he will PARDON everyone he needs to including himself and if he is cornered further will fly AIRFORCE ONE to RUSSIA where is money and allegiance lies. What if that happens? DO we shoot the plane out of the sky OR let the RUSSIANS have the launch codes?
1
Preach it, Charles!
5
Did you hear that America? Charles Blow declares himself not deranged. But he declares you racist, sexist and treasonous for cooperating with a hostile power. So when he wants a certain political result he's determined. But if you want a certain political result that he disagrees with, you're deranged. Don't you forget that America.
@Neva A.
Need I remind you that it is Donald Trump and not Charles Blow who was openly endorsed by none other than the Ku Klux Klan during his presidential campaign, and who has been supporting neo-Nazis and white supremacists ever since?
There. You're welcome.
8
@Neva A. ....Trump is a vulgar bigoted narcissist who has no comprehension of the fundamentals on which our country was founded. He is unfit for office. Those are facts which have nothing to do with the any desire for a "political" result.
5
Is anyone else discouraged that in Minnesota a 22% turnout is considered "amazing"? That means 78% didn't think the primary was important enough to bother to vote. How can things improve if most of the population isn't even paying attention?
9
It is so true. I talked to a guy on Friday who had no idea who Paul Manafort is. Never heard the name. There are millions of people in our country who are completely tuned out. They either don't vote or do so on a completely uninformed basis. That's why Trump's disinformation campaign works so well.
I am torn between wanting mandatory voting, or being fearful that ignorance will multiply. Regardless, i just hope enough informed people vote in November to break this cycle by cleaning house.
6
It's a travesty that we had two lousy candidates in '16.
Worse; the wrong candidate won for all the wrong reasons. Say what you will, but there is no way of knowing fir certain how HRC,or even Bernie Sanders would have done.
Recently, I had a discussion with my best friend in the universe, who like myself, had fallen through the cracks before, during, and after the Recession
He has become so bitterly angry with the country's ills, he refuses to vote.
I don't know if my talking to him about voting made any difference, but I told him in no uncertain terms, not voting is like voting for the opponent; and not voting forfeits the right to complain afterwards.
It's painfully evident, that Trump's sheeple not only fail to realize this is my country, too; but that they weren't smart enough to take stock of the old saying, "if it sounds too good to be true...chances are, it is." Their collective naivete brought forth a born liar into the highest office in tbe land. Indiana residents were also lied to, by the man who would be Veep; their own reputedly unpopular Governor, Mike Pence.
Two years without checks and balances in our government is two years too many.
Enough is enough, already. Stop whining, carping and moaning, and vote. No matter the outcome, your "voice" will be heard.
75
Start every column with the word VOTE.....
and in one sentence, one reason, in each column, why
America needs to save itself from this Administration.................or let some of your readers
compose those sentences......
Start with the average paycheck....and the average bank account........
4
What are you talking about? The Trump presidency is a cataclysm: for truth, for justice, for the environment, for honor and integrity. Look at Trump's cabinet, the stacking of the courts, the EPA, etc., etc., etc. We have enacted horrific foreign policies. We have destroyed global alliances and institutions, and rewarded the rich for being the masters of the Republican agenda. We deny basic human rights and coddle despots. Worse is yet to come. Please define 'cataclysm' for me, Mr. Blow. The only reward for this illegitimate presidency is the fervent activism that has arisen on the left.
8
I hope you’re right, Charles Blow. The Trump regime blocked the release of funds that would have helped secure our election system. I fear that in the mid-terms the Russians will help to keep the Vichy Republicans in power. I’m seeing nothing in the news about steps that are being taken to prevent that.
4
One curious thing I've noticed the last two years is a tendency by Trump supporters to accuse others of everything they're guilty of. "Lock her up, she's a criminal." "Trump opponents are deranged." "They're fake news." All of these and more are things that conservatives are blatantly guilty of.
13
@Bryan The projection is strong in the GOP. Go back to the election and see how Trump projected his administration on the Dems (corruption, lies, immorality, etc) , and still does.
6
Thank you, Mr. Blow, for channeling the fear and shock many of us have felt since that awful day in November, 2016. My only disagreement with your eloquent statement is your reluctance to describe the Trump presidency as cataclysmic. I understand your caution- the economy has not yet crashed, we are not in a thermonuclear war, no militias are roaming the streets, and we still, thank God, have a free press. But I would still insist that this presidency has been cataclysmic. Never before did this septuagenarian feel that democracy was so fragile, never before did I so doubt the mantra of checks and balances, never before did I imagine that the awesome power of the United States could be entrusted to someone so devoid of simple decency. Yes- it could get worse and it will if we don't vote in November. But for many of us , it is already a world turned upside down.
169
As with most GOP'er accusations these days, it is projection for them to be calling Dems deranged, since what is truly deranged is for GOP'er gatekeepers to have tolerated any sort of garden variety mobbed-up real estate shyster available, involved in questionable deals all over the world that reeked of money-laundering as a candidate because: judges, tax cuts, savaging the bureaucracy.
In service of these goals, the resulting lawlessness of emoluments violations, flagrant nepotism, coddling of white supremacists, self-dealing, revealing of code-level secrets to our enemies, shredding of every possible valued national alliance, and epic documented lying/misleading 8-9 times per day has been accepted by GOP'ers.
Accepted to the extent that there is no longer a GOP - it's Trumpsters all the time, and GOP'ers can't deny their new identity.
The GOPers' obvious derangement to have made their bargain has resulted in textbook projection.
169
The ViewSonic party-cult will project and project until their lightbulb explodes into a feeble pile of rage, hate, and Fox News-Entertainment.
If only said lightbulb would shine when they *have* bright ideas instead of to *fight* them.
Well said!
What is so worrisome is the tolerance for bold and clear corruption by too many voters. It will be difficult for Democrats to take back the House, and very difficult to win a majority in the Senate. In Arizona, the length and frequency of pro-Republican ads, and the sophistication of the truly toxic attack ads against perfectly fine Democratic candidates suggest strong funding by the Kochs.
A search in Google for a connection between the Republican Governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, and the Kochs has numerous entries--he launched his campaign at a Koch owned facility. The attack ads are like mini-movies, with horror show special effects when showing excellent Democratic candidates running in this state.
We need to close the gaps on allowing the massive $$'s supporting far right candidates by billionaires like the Kochs.
168
Inasmuch as it's the primaries that first separate the sheep from the goats, if 22.7% turnout is "crushing it" (MN), I fear we have many more leagues to travel before we arrive at a good destination.
5
Very scary.
It seems that so many people don’t understand how serious the situation is.
I have hope.
But the chickens seem to keep voting for Colonel Sanders, who promises to make them great again.
Hopefully, people will stand with the America of our founding fathers.
3
Agree with the hurdles Ms. Clinton had to overcome but add the Comey factor. Despite all of these impediments, she pulled 3 million more votes than Trump. If Dem turnout is high and there are modest Trump defections, Nov returns will be exciting.
9
"Democrats are not only likely to win control of the House of Representatives; they also have a long-shot chance of taking control of the Senate, although the map is working against them."
They probably won't regain the Senate, but we can hope.
Democrats are being patient with Mueller. They are behaving rationally and are getting that right.
Democratic candidates are doing their part. Now we need to do our part and vote for them.
In the long run, we should heed Tolstoy: the two most powerful warriors are time and patience.
Democrats will get there. Besides, sooner or later people will figure out that there's nowhere else to go. And the odds are currently favoring sooner.
270
@Blue Moon
Enough people vote their pocketbook that the Republicans will keep the house.
I get nervous every time anyone, even Charles, cites the odds of taking the house. I wish these elections were over!
To think we have to listen (well, we can stop watching TV) to all the nonstop negativity coming from an already overly negative GOP who have promised that agenda be damned, they will campaign like their leader, and go all in on character assassinations.
I was taken aback also by Minnesota's crowing over 22.8% turnout for their primary. Best since 1994? Dear God, what is normal? 10%?
Wouldn't it be nice if we had voter participation like other developed countries who have the good sense to hold elections on weekends, and/or give voters the day off.
Of course, these other developed countries don't have one party suppressing the votes of those most likely to vote for their opponents.
No, that distinction goes to the country that loves to brag about how great we are, when we often have less than 50% eligible voter turnout in national elections. Low turnout is one of the reasons why the US democracy slipped from full to "flawed" in 2017, now in 21st place just above Italy.
I hate to think where we'll finish in 2020, after Trump gets done undermining our democratic institutions.
Of course, there's an easy alternative: 100% turnout on November 6.
528
@ChristineMcM
I had the same thought about the 23% turnout in Minnesota.
I have long advocated for some sort of tax on those that don't vote in elections (it could be small or even community service). One would still have the right to not vote, but if that were your choice you would have to find another way to support your community and our democracy.
12
@ChristineMcM If voting here was compulsory, as in Australia, we wouldn't have to talk about voter suppression. It's too bad we still do.
2
@JR
Given Democrats' customary views on enfranchisement, perhaps there should be a bonus for voting rather than a penalty for not voting.
The Democrats need to have a plan. They need to state in direct language, what Trump is doing to the country. They need to state what the GOP is doing to the country. They need to tell voters how Trump and the GOP are hurting the lives of working and retired Americans, the Americans who are not rich, who have worked hard or need to continue working. The Americans who are naturalized citizens being vacuumed up by Trump's anti migration policies. The Americans who are not recovering from the economic crises of the last 30 or 40 years because the programs and jobs that would have helped have disappeared and because, despite our hard work, our salaries have stagnated while the cost of everything has skyrocketed.
The Democrats need to emphasize the way the GOP and Trump are taking away the ACA (Obamacare) from Americans that need it most. How they are planning to destroy our environment, our land, our water, and the air we breathe. The way they are destroying our country's relationships with our allies for no reason except to say that it will make America great again. Tell that to the person who can't find a job or who is being let go because the tariffs led to a decrease in production.
If the Democrats want to win they must run the conversation. They cannot assume that Americans will simply decide to hold Trump and the GOP responsible because they did it. They need to be told who did what to whom and why.
340
@hen3ry
And never forget Trump's comment, early on in this debacle, "I love the poorly educated".
So too must the GOP.
8
@hen3ry the Democrats are indeed saying all of the things that you described, but mainstream media are not always publishing it. Instead we get to hear articles about the Dems going far left, or having a divided message. It's akin to constantly repeating emails emails emails, or Benghazi Benghazi Benghazi, when Hillary Clinton was running. Don't be fooled. It doesn't matter how many times the Democrats put up a good platform and say what their message is if corporately-owned media conglomerates don't pass on the word.
6
Hope is not a plan. Neither resistance (whatever that means) nor Determination (rah-rah!) are effective strategies toward accomplishment of anything.
Comments of hen3ry above need to be NAILED TO THE DOOR of Tom Perez and any others who claim leadership of the will-o-the-wisp Democratic Party.
With concrete and precise plans of action expected forthwith.
Else, my fellow Dems, y'got nothin', you're fighting fire with marshmallows.
1
Remember this: Hillary Clinton was such a shoo-in to win in 2016 that the majority of those who could didn't bother to vote. Even though all the signs and voter anger point to Democrats surging in this election, it will never happen if we all become complacent. Don't take anything for granted-we need to vote as if our lives depend on it.
What will we tell our children if it turns out we were the last generation of Americans who had a choice?
773
@KEM...what is especially depressing is that with vote by mail, voting is so much easier these days. Turnout should not be an issue, but it is. More's the pity.
@KEM Hillary was dead in the water. Bernie Sanders was the man the people recognized as someone working for them. She works for the oligarchy giving crumbs to the people. The DNC was terrified of the fairness that FDR style socialism brings. Greed is not good, never has been and never will be. Like Koch said, "I want it all." Well you can't have it all and you don't need it all so stop damaging peoples lives and sometimes killing them with your unrepentant greed.
4
@KEM
Vote.............or carry the burden of not voting
Understand this my friends. Little has changed for the better for the bottom 90%. Wages are up a bit but inflation has wiped out those meager gains. The big tax cut mostly went to the top 10%. We still don't have this beautiful healthcare system Trump promised. Employment is better, but mostly in the big cities and many of the jobs that are left open require high level skills.
For those that hold lots of stock, things are looking pretty good. Mr. Blow isn't talking about those people. He is talking about the rest of us.
We are mad! Trump is a threat to our way of life because our way of life is based in respect for the rule of law which is based in total respect for the truth. Trump has no respect for either. He only cares for himself and will do anything he can to get what he wants. Rules are for losers. The truth is for sissies. Trump is super strong because he is above the truth. He makes up his own.
Well, the rest of us like the truth. It comforts us and provides stability in society. It is the basis of freedom. That's what we are fighting for. We want our guarantees of freedom which only the truth can provide. That's why we oppose Trump. Those that blindly embrace Trump's lies are the ones that are deranged.
957
@Bruce Rozenblit
Beautifully stated, Mr. Rozenblit. Bravo.
44
@Bruce Rozenblit
Many people who own a lot of stocks are mad, too!
3
@JCam. Agreed. Trump/anti-Trump is not a class issue. It’s about who we are as Americans and who we are willing to have represent us.
Great piece and right on target. At the age of 60, I've become an activist who's texted thousands of voters for Doug Jones, Conor Lamb and Beto O'Rourke. I don't live in any of those states, but the corruption of this administration has galvanized me into action. I attend marches, rallies, voter registration events and am sending money weekly to Bill Nelson and Andrew Gillum (Florida Democrats running in the mid-terms). Sometimes the pendulum has to swing into scary places to get voters off their rear ends and I believe we will prevail in the upcoming elections.
18
If you shoot a congressperson, attempt to stab a candidate, or ban a spokesperson from your restaurant or business then you do have a mental problem regardless what you may call it. You are probably “deranged” or far worse in a reasonable person’s mind.
And if you march with neo-Nazis waving Trump flags and wearing red “Make America Great Again” hats, and support a president who threatens a free press, what does that make you?
5
Mr. Blow,
PLEASE keep the pressure on the Democrats to:
push policies and ideas
get voters to register AND
get voters to the polls
May I point out that Eliud Kipchoge picked up his pace at the half-way point in his world record run of the Berlin Marathon. We need to follow his example and push as hard as possible all the way to the finish line.
10
Please can all NYT reporters and columnists stop saying “the economy is humming” or some other indication that times are fat for Americans? You are among the few that create the narrative in this country. Americans are suffering from low wages, irregular hours, crushing healthcare costs, high housing costs — this economy hums for the top and no one else. Say so.
26
Whatifism aplenty; that's what [biased] Opinion pieces tend to be...
"...They saw our principled stand against corruption and criminality, against immorality and hatred, as born of hyper-partisanship and the bruises of defeat..."
Hillary Clinton: Corrupt? Check; Criminal? Check; Immoral? Check; Hated? Check.
Hyper-partisan? Check.
Russian collusion? Investigation ongoing; indictments and guilty pleas are on unrelated charges.
Glass ceiling cracked.
Well said, Mr Blow. Bravo! And I don't think that our
determination ends with this election.
8
Trump came to power as a result of what happens when the economy collapes.
First, Wall St. creates a meltdown of the markets (as they did in 2007). Then, millions lose their jobs, homes, savings, security, all the while watching the top 1% of wealth owners and criminal bankers get away with both murder AND the money.
Next, they lose faith in "government" to do anything on their behalf, and the long crawl back to survival begins, all the while watching the rich get richer. Along come a Pied Piper like Trump and "voila!" MAGA! and unhinged populism.
Sound familiar? Like maybe 1923-33 in Germany?
If any American cares about sanity and this democracy the framers gave us, they need to vote this November as never before.
9
"... reaction to the first black president, unease about the possibility of the first female president...". You are too kind. It was pure racism and misogyny.
8
Trump didn’t win in the last hacked elections...why do you realistically think that the GOP won’t continue to pursue its dirty tricks in this election? Liars and thieves...and spies.
10
The rise of white supremacy, racism, and fear got us here.
11
Mr. Blow, Trump became president because of the Electoral vote. Please look into the National Popular Vote movement.
http://www.national-popular-vote.com/Campaign/ThankYou
5
It is not just resistance to Trump. People are finally waking up to the diabolical overreach of the Republican party. Their refusal to entertain the notion of President Obama's final Supreme Court nominee was a crushing blow to democracy and the rule of law. The R's have their imprint on some of the worst public policies in our history. Deep down they may hate Trump for the wretch that he is, but they gladly use him to push their agenda: profit for the wealthy and crumbs for the working American.
13
Save the optimism for after the elections. The NYT’s recklessly inaccurate reporting of overwhelming odds of Hillary’s victory may have been a big factor in persuading people who would have voted for Hillary if they thought Trump might actually win that it was ok to vote 3rd party for Jill Stein or to stay home.
Jill Stein cost Hillary the election. Her candidacy should be investigated by Muller. There is that picture of her having dinner with Putin.b of overwhelming odds for Hillary’s victory may have
7
thanks Judy. I've been trying to get someone to investigate what Jill Stein was doing at that dinner. I am glad you said it in the New York Times. I hope some Congress person picks up on it.
5
Forgive me for taking the polls with a PILLAR of salt. I really feel we have to have something more than just 'I hate Trump' to get people out to vote. You can bet that the 30% of the population base who are pro-Trump will have their butts at the polls. I'm not convinced that we will have the same turnout. Time will tell. And if there is no blue wave as predicted-you make Trump bulletproof [even more than he already seems to be].
Meanwhile, we keep shooting ourselves in the foot--this lady who reported [confidentially and then regretted] something about Kavanaugh & who has been mercilessly and shamefully used in this white glove war by the Democrats leaves me with a really bad taste in my mouth for my own party. I have to believe I am not unique in this feeling. She could legit 'MeToo' the Democratic party at this point.
People see through this stuff, man--I think that's why people have turned against all the institutions that they historically respect. It's like we Dems have this irresistible urge to gild the lily with every single thing that happens--we can take a winning position and turn it into a loser in like 5.1 seconds. I have observed that people in prominent positions who are riding a wave of public outrage/support/resentment often tend to overplay their hand [see: Kirsten Gillebrand & Corey "Sparticus" Booker, for example]. If this is us playing good offense, I am not impressed.
1
@Sandy: Sorry to disappoint you but the Democratic Party has no use for circular firing squad shooters anymore. Please reserve your bullets for the Republicans who try to shove another unqualified and questionable party hack onto the SC. Where does it state that ms. Ford was shamelessly used by Democrats? She wrote the letter to Diana Feinstein herself, who respected her confidentiality, and she determined when to come forward. Kudos to her, but she was not used by Democrats.
4
Putin didn't go to all this trouble and expense to watch his plans be thwarted by a democratic election. Anyone who will be surprised by rolling blackouts and sudden shifts in vote tallies on November 6 isn't paying attention.
5
A little over 22% of voters voting in primary in Minnesota is amazing? Pathetic. I call that democratic abdication!
8
"This constant state of chaos and anxiety has been exhausting and nearly unbearable..." You got that right Mr. Blow. Vote Blue in November!
10
Is it deranged to oppose a president who calls a free press the “enemy of the people”?
Is it deranged to oppose a president who seeks to use the Justice Department as his own personal weapon to punish his enemies, his own personal shield to protect himself?
Is it deranged to oppose a president who is so outraged at the efforts of brown-skinned Central Americans to enter our country he rips their children from their arms as both punishment and deterrent?
Is it deranged to oppose a president who uses his office to enrich himself and his family, to further his own interests ahead of his country’s?
Is it deranged to oppose a president who has lied to the American public in whole or in part over 5000 times in his first nineteen months in office?
Is it deranged to oppose a president who brings the “understanding of a fifth grader” to issues as basic as our check-and balances government, as momentous as the prevention of World War III—and who resists any efforts to enlightenment?
Is it deranged to oppose a president whose own most senior officials privately admit is an “idiot” and a “moron”?
Is it deranged to oppose a president who sees the world as a zero-sum proposition, a ledger purely of profit and loss with no column for basic humanity?
If so, I will happily accept the label—and wear it proudly when I go to the polls in November.
17
Keep plugging, Charles. Remind readers that 22.7% is not incredible: it's pathetic. America has to wake up and vote.
16
Charles, from your lips to God's ears.
I can hardly fathom how we, as a country, have devolved so quickly.
I am not a religious or praying man - I am a 24 year active duty veteran - but the country I signed up to defend needs all the help it can get just to get back to where we were prior to this administration being put upon us.
In this day and age it is inconceivable how people can just shrug their shoulders and not utilize the privilege of the ballot. It makes my blood boil!
Many of us are doing what we can, where we are, with what we have, to make the changes needed to put us back on the path that we need to be on. But the mid-terms are just one part of it - the next big one is 2020 when we can deposit this entire administration onto the trash heap of history.
9
Our vote in November is our opportunity to REALLY drain that awful WASHINGTON swamp!
3
Let's hope so.
4
Well said.
7
How these GOP Senators handle this new Kavanaugh sex scandal should bring more women to the polls.
Ladies, If you want Government dictating control over your your bodies, vote Republican.
12
Let's not ignore gerrymandering and the overdose of dark money as major mechanisms of the Republican takeover. And yes, let's celebrate the enthusiasm of the Democratic party, its members and many independents as we approach the election. But no, nothing about November 6th is a slam dunk, and if someone thinks it is, remember all the optimistic polling before the 2016 presidential debacle.
Citizens of good will must keep the pressure on approaching, during, and after the coming election to make sure that Trump and Trumpism are constrained and contained to the greatest possible degree, as well as to begin to reverse their deleterious effects on our country and the world. I will withhold my celebrations until I start to see the changes, such as a Democratic-controlled congress in 2019, but I will work like crazy to be sure that they can happen.
6
Polls showed Hillary winning too. Don't believe the polls. VOTE
5
A vote for Democrats is not a vote for taxes, it's a vote for a healthy society.
Democrats believe in affordable healthcare.
Democrats believe in a livable wage.
Democrats believe in social safety nets like medicare, medicaid and social security.
Democrats believe in protecting our natural resources.
Democrats believe in the right to vote and proper representation.
Democrats believe that those in office should represent their constituents, not the corporations.
Democrats believe higher education is a right and a necessity.
Democrats believe in equal rights and a path to citizenship.
Democrats believe in the rule of law.
We now know what the Trump Republicans stand for. If the DNC doesn't spread this message loud and clear - and find candidates who will encourage voter turnout - then we only have ourselves to blame as we sit complacent watching our democracy crumble.
Democrats need to stop being characterized as the party of higher taxes and gun control and re-brand themselves as the party of prosperity (and sanity).
29
In 2016, I took the odds with a grain of salt and voted anyway. You have no legitimate right to complain if you don’t participate. What’s at stake is too valuable to risk betting on the odds. The GOP certainly doesn’t risk it which is why they run all sorts of voter suppression operations to discourage turnout.
Be an adult, and just go out and vote like your life depends on it - because it really does.
22
I don't think it is "all coming to a head in November" which suggests some positive change or move towards resolution. Trump will come to see the GOP establishment as the real threat, and November will mark the beginning of the Civil War within the GOP. The loss of The House will be the GOP's Fort Sumter. It will not end well for any of us.
5
Say what you will about former presidents and their failures, but I would just prefer one who isn't in such dire need of psychotherapy. It would also be reassuring if we as the people, stopped turning a blind eye to the indicators of the need, as is often done in mass shootings. You know the drill , when the media reports that there were signs and so forth.Trump most probably will not be doing that, but something damaging just the same as he has already begun. Having a crazy man tweeting out his presidency as opposed to legislating through proper channels is just wacky. It doesn't even matter if there is no collusion, because there is the "there there". In his case, it's just his unfitness mentally and educationally. That coincidentally some good may come of his time is just statistical chance and maybe a very partisan and self proclaimed resistance. I too am exhausted , Mr. Blow, from the repeated attempts to reframe the madness by making the truly childish argument, "I know you are but what am I" from the likes of Sanders, Conway, and many in the republican senate. I hope along with you that common sense will ultimately prevail, but I'm not going to go as far as saying it's a probable outcome because too many voters ignored all evidence to the contrary the first time around, and the elected officials could not extricate themselves from their self interest.
15
I’m not as optimistic as Mr. Charles Blow about a blue wave. What is the Dems coherent message that will ‘trump’ Trump’s simplistic demagogy and expose his lies?
5
@CitizenTM: Affordable health care and a liveable minimum wage!
1
"They are the deranged, not us."
That is beneath you, Charles. Your voice is too powerful to diminish it with overly generalized name calling and labeling.
Horrific behavior should be called out, loudly and repeatedly, and you do that so well. You generally speak about democracy, rule of law, and equal human rights with such simple, factual clarity that the logic of your position cannot be denied.
But comments such as that above, even if relatively minor and offhand, risk allowing the conversation to degrade into "I'm no puppet, you're the puppet" infantilism.
3
@ImagineMoments, I disagree. The comment is not beneath Charles or any of a huge number of us who feel the same. It is sad that it is true, and it is sadder still that approximately one-third of Americans don't think it is. Assuming we can retake at least one chamber of congress in November, we will have a lot of reeducating to do in our near and distant future. (And if we don't succeed in November, it is the majority of Americans who will have to reorient themselves to unthinking allegiance to Emperor Donald the First.)
4
@CP
I am an active "Resister" and liberal/progressive. And my comment is not motivated by being PC nor being afraid of giving the Right attack sound bites.
I am motivated by the alertness that we on the Left do not become what we claim to most abhor. I will always object to any statement along the lines of "if you do not agree with my political views, you are a horrible human being".
Look at your own language. "Reeducate"??????????? What, do you propose to open camps where we can send people until they learn to think correctly?
Not all laws are acceptable or to be tolerated. Not all actions are acceptable or to be tolerated. All points of view are. Moral tyranny from the Left is as dangerous to democracy as moral tyranny from the Right.
Commenter Rozenblit sums it up:
"Well, the rest of us like the truth."
I hope so. But the people who love to tell us how close our DNA is to the DNA of fruit flies have me worried. Do wolves in packs like the truth? Or do they like meat? "Get rid of the wolves!" you cry. Perhaps the fruit flies will behave better.
Dang! This bottle's almost empty.
4
Thank you Charles. Let this be an election that sweeps away the insanity of the last two years and replaces ignorance of facts and history with informed decision making that benefits the majority of citizens rather than a select group of gazillionaire cronies. At the same time, let the Mueller investigation reveal the extent of Trump's Russian money-laundering and other illegal activities. Anybody who says nice things about Putin and neo-nazis need to be replaced. Let this election be the starting point for sending Trump, Mnuchin, Lighthizer, Conway, De Vos, etc. to the scrap-heap of history.
13
Yes, Mr. Blow. It is deranged to aid and abet, against one's self-interest (!), the fascist incompetent monster in the White House. It is with total heart, mind and soul that we get up every day to fight for the future of our country. We are not wacky lefties. We are believers in a fair and just democracy. That it is perceived to be such a left-wing movement shows how perverse the scales of balance are. We are trauma survivors each and every day, and we are fighting for our lives and the future. No time for fun and games.
16
"Something's happening here, but you just don't know what it is, do you Mr. Blow!"
Hillary lost because she was? :
1. Unlikeable
2. Dishonest
3. Deceitful
4. Duplicitous
5. Not trustworthy
6. All of the above.
Well, the answer is #6, Mr.Blow.
It was not because Hillary is a woman, or any of those other stupid excuses you gave.
And it was not Mr. Trump's fault that the Democratic Party gave us Mrs. Clinton and not Bernie. Trump's election was a self-inflicted DNC injury.
As usual, your column doesn't say anything worthwhile.
2
If not Bernie, then Trump. This still astounds me. The reason being there are vastly different policy implications. Bernie's policies were more aligned with Hilary, not Trump's. As for other comparison's how is Trump less numbers 1-6, or maybe 1-4 because #2, #3 and #4 are all the same thing.
8
The problem with that logic is that Trump had all those qualities in much greater share. And he was both racist and misogynistic to boot. Wake up.
5
@Michael, you know perfectly well that Hillary Clinton on her worst day would have been infinitely better than Donald Trump on his best, no matter how much we may have wanted Bernie Sanders to be the Democratic nominee.
5
Trump lies and knows nothing. He is a clear and
present danger to our democracy The Rs refuse to do
their jobs, so get rid of them.
21
"Trump’s approval rating is at 40 percent, and unlike his predecessors, he is not a normal president."
Here are some more poll numbers from Gallup.
"In politics, as of today, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat or an independent?" (Aug 1-12 2018):
Republicans: 28%
Independents: 43%
Democrats: 27%
"(Asked of independents) As of today, do you lean more to the Democratic Party or the Republican Party?" (Aug 1-12 2018):
Republicans + Republican leaners: 44%
Democrats + Democratic leaners: 45%
"Donald Trump's Presidential Job Approval Rating" (Sep 3-9 2018): 40%
Barack Obama (Sept 2010 = also Sept of second year): 45%
[Democrats lost the 2010 midterms]
"Donald Trump Job Approval by Party Identification" (Sep 3-9 2018):
Republicans: 85%
Independents: 36%
Democrats: 8%
So how does Trump's current 40% approval rating break down by party affiliation among all voters? (By the way, that's 40% approve, 54% disapprove, 5% no opinion):
Republicans: 85% of 28% = 24% (of all voters)
Independents: 36% of 43% = 14%
Democrats: 8% of 27% = 2%
(Total = 24% + 14% + 2% = 40%)
While 8% of Democrats support Trump, 15% of Republicans do not. And even though Independents are split roughly 50-50 Republican-Democrat, only 36% support Trump.
Trump is not flipping Democratic voters, but most importantly he has a huge problem with Independents.
If nothing happens between now and November 6 to reverse this trend, it does not look good for the GOP in the midterms.
7
"Minnesota you crushed it last night...with 22.7% turnout! SERIOUSLY? We need mandatory voting like Australia does. No wonder the US Politics is such a mess. I hope some smart techies out there keep an eye on Diebold voting machines. I fear the worst!
10
Trump and Trumpism are destructive not because of the inherent vulgarity, corruption and idiocy of the people in power but rather because of the policies we must now live with. These include wildly irresponsible new debt and deregulation. Every new law and line in the tax code quickly develops a constituency and these new realities will be no exception. It may take years to undo this damage.
10
Despite the fact that Hillary Clinton won 3 million popular votes over Trump, I believe that he energized his supporters far more than she did. I attended one of his rallies and was amazed at the lines of folks waiting to hear their candidate. The sun was blazing and they still stood for hours to hear his drivel. In talking with many, I learned that they were voting for the first time.
For Democrats the push for voter turnout is crucial and urgent. New voter registration closes 29 days before the election. Are those possible new voters coupled with 'no show' 2016 voters, Bernie voters, independents, low minority and millennial turnout and purple to blue changeovers enough to guarantee a blue majority in Congress?
I am hopeful that we can. I am personally working in the hot sun like the Trump fans did to turn the tide to Floridian Democrats. In the little time remaining, it is a matter of urgency to find every single voter for the resistance. Even one can make the difference.
14
It seems that mid-term votes count more than votes for the electoral college. Perhaps this message would have legs?
5
Time to Make America Sane Again. Please vote in November.
8
" Overall turnout was approximately 22.7%; the highest turnout percentage in a primary since 1994. Amazing!” Not "Amazing" Pathetic. What is amazing to me is that we consider a 22.7% turnout at a primary election to be amazing. It is no wonder that our Democracy is spinning out of control. All eligible voters should vote and take this country back..
16
Trump has become the president by a complex web of occurrences besides the ones listed by Charles : lower voter turnout by young people from 18-30 and black people. Bernie voters who stayed home who thought they could not lower themselves to vote for Clinton and the Clinton team itself not spending one minute in states like Wisconsin after July and making other mistakes. Yeah, Trump had lots of help from those who should have known better.
5
Call me paranoid but I'm concerned about 45's initiative to have the ability to text every person in the United States with a mobile phone, ostensibly as a FEMA/emergency preparedness measure. To provide someone who has demonstrated their willingness to incite a crowd with falsehoods for their own benefit, I worry that this tool may permit him to set the house on fire once he hears the approaching sirens.
12
My friends, vote like you’ve never voted before. And if the Minnesota registered voter count of those who actually voted is any indication, most of you don’t bother to vote. I know you bother to launder stinky clothes, regularly clean the cat box, and change the oil in your car at least once every two years, so for pity sake vote in the Midterms.
“Midterm” does not mean “middle of the road,” half-baked”, or a mid-semester note home telling how you’ve been goofing off. Midterm is the mid-life crisis of our country, of its checks and balances, of its rule of law, of our U.S. Constitution, of peace and social justice.
9
I just spent the weekend with a family member who voted for trump and continues to support him. This family member was born into a family of solid financial means, is a practicing physician, lives in a historical house in a picturesque and highly desirable coastal town and has two children in college. He voted for trump because he thinks the system needs to be shaken up and torn down. He agrees that trump is a pathological liar and narcissist, is rude and crude and he “loves it.” If that’s not trump derangement syndrome, I don’t know what is.
29
Steve Simon, Minnesota Secretary of State, reported that ”Overall turnout [for his State's primary election] was approximately 22.7%," calling it "amazing." No, it's not. It's shameful that, in the world's cradle of democracy almost 80% of the eligible electorate stayed home.
It doesn't matter that this performance bested even more shameful turn-outs of previous years. Voter apathy lies at the core of our national disintegration. If 22.7% is considered extraordinary, then the nation's political health is anything but.
3
"This presidency has been haunted by the specter of illegitimacy from its inception."
With all of the Trumpian affronts day in and day out (the constant onslaught of corruption, assaults on our constitution and the rule of law) we are not paying enough attention to the largest sin of all, the illegitimacy of this election.
Not only did his opponent get nearly 3 million more votes (That' over 2%, folks) but the narrow victory in the states that gave him the electoral college (the slave-era construction that needs to be dismantled) was easily swayed by the Russian attacks (yes attacks not meddling) on our elections. The roots of this assault goes way back. The Russian smear campaign on Hillary was in full swing when she was secretary of state. This fact was described in the Manafort indictments, lost in the 18-page list of his crimes.
And if Trump is illegitimate, so is Pence. By the way, there was this jaw-dropping tweet by Laurence Tribe: That Manafort hand-picked Pence, who led the "squirrely" transition.
An impeachment of Trump alone would not cleanse this stain on our country. Only if both Trump and Pence are impeached and the Democrats win the house will some semblance of legitimacy in our democracy be restored.
5
It is interesting that Republicans, who are not known for their psychological mindedness, have invented a term, Trump Derangement Syndrome, that perfectly illustrates their own psychopathy. In psychotherapeutic parlance we of course recognize their lack of understanding of this term as a consequence of both the disavowal and subsequent projection of their own instability. As you point out Mr. Blow they are indeed the deranged ones.
6
What’s really surprising is the fact that the individuals suffering from the worst cases of what congressional Republicans call “Trump Derangement Syndrome” are all former Republicans: George Will, Jennifer Rubin, Steve Schmidt, Joe Scarborough, Nicole Wallace, David French, David Frum, Peter Wehner, David Jolly, Richard Painter, to name a few.
How do Republicans who suffer from the worst cases of “Partisan Derangement Syndrome” account for this anomaly? They don’t. They can’t. They don’t even try.
2
I’m hopeful, but still afraid. Over the past several years, Republican politicians and strategists, backed by rich donors, have shown that they will stop at nothing to retain power, including subverting the rule of law and permitting a foreign government to interfere in our electoral process. As the opposition to them grows stronger, we can expect them to redouble their efforts to use an array of creative dirty tricks to suppress voting, smear opposition candidates, and call into doubt the legitimacy of our democratic process. We have to be on guard all the time and call them out whenever we see what they’re up to.
7
Hmmmm. "FiveThirtyEight" gives Democrats a 5/6 chance of taking control of the House. Hm. Do I recall correctly that "FiveThirtyEight" gave Mrs. Clinton >95% chance of winning the election? Unfortunately, pollsters and pundits have consistently underestimated the degree of support for Trump, for whatever reason.
Needless to say, I hope they are spot-on in their prediction this year!!
JimF from Sewell
6
You and your NYT cohorts are not principled. You are absolutely deragned in favor of totalitarianism over democracy as long as you get your way.
I'm betting strongly that either Trump will win the next presidential election, or the winner will be worse than him in many ways.
Your party is deranged and hopeless. You do not understand the people, the economy or the politics of real democracy.
There's no reason to address anything else. You can either help try to address the real problems in the system rather than the strange personality of a single person, or you can continue contributing to the problem you despise so much.
1
Yes, Trump cultists shown foaming at the mouth at his rallies are the deranged ones, not the resistance. Its time they are trumped at the ballot box in November, I can't wait. VOTE!
1
This country has been moving to the right for decades, and that includes the Democratic Party. Even if the Democrats are able to take over the House, I don't expect a whole lot from them. The Democrats are just as beholden to their big contributors as the Republicans, and people without money have no voice. I will trudge over to the polling place like I always do, but it has become just another errand, like going to the grocery store. Our democracy is hanging by a burning thread.
Charles Blow succinctly sums up how Trump became president:
"Trump had become the president by a complex web of occurrences: white racial anxiety, reaction to the first black president, unease about the possibility of the first female president, voter suppression and voter apathy, and an attack on our elections by the Russians."
Some people I've talked to would accept all of these except for the third reason. They say it wasn't the fact that Hillary was a woman but that she was the wrong woman. I don't agree. Perhaps the Russians' animus against Hillary made them work harder to defeat her than if she hadn't been willing to call Putin out repeatedly for his abuses.
5
I wish I could have your optimism; what if the resistance by vote doesn't fix this political nightmare? I don't think dump or the GOP dumpsters will pay the price for their crimes, dishonor, deviance, and betrayal. Crime pays in this country - and we as usual will foot that bill - with our $ and with our spirits. They'll get away with it; their deranged cult following will continue with its willful ignorance; and the rest of us who long for democracy will need to find a different solution. I just can't be that optimistic when I see how corrupt the system is and for how long it's gone on.
5
I thank Charles M. Blow for using his column with fierce dedication and sharp focus ever since the election, to uphold American values. The Trump administration despises democracy and its foundations, including freedom of the press and equality under the law. Mr. Blow has displayed unwavering diligence and persistence. I applaud the effort!
2
Of course, many among us, hopefully most, will vote to remove the GOP lackeys from Congress. But neither Trump nor these supine slaves of a few demented Oligarchs are the big problem. The big problem is the Oligarchs themselves, and their amazingly successful brainwashing apparatus. There is not much indication that the Dems have it in themselves to make bribery, disinformation, slander, fake news, and alternative facts less ubiquitous.
4
"FiveThirtyEight gives Democrats a five-in-six chance of taking control of Congress and Republicans a one-in-six chance of holding it. Their average estimate for the number of seats Democrats will pick up is 39; they only need to gain 23 to take control."
And, Hillary will win by 5 or more. If Democrats don't win the House, I fear there may be real violence in the streets. Maxine Waters is whipping some of the less stable citizens into a frenzy.
What ever gives you the idea that Trump voters are less likely to turn out in 2018? They voted for Trump for the promises he made and the one's he's kept. See ya' at the polls.
1
First 2018. Next, 2020. And, maybe, with 2022 we'll have purged the anti-constitutionalists.
3
While I am very wary of any polls since the total mis-read in the 2016 election (Hillary has a 95% chance of winning the presidency!), I am in complete agreement with Charles Blow in his Op-Ed assessment of what will in all likelihood occur on November 6th.
My prediction? A Blue Tsunami, with the Dems taking back BOTH the House and the Senate (albeit by a very slim margin for the Senate). Either way, this spells the end of the beginning of the Trump Regime.
Once the House Dems assume the chairs of the major committees (think Adam Schiff) and assume subpoena power, we can expect to see the re-opening of major investigations into Things Donald. Finally, there will be a check on his runaway and corrupt presidency.
3
And here’s an observation and prediction-
the Hillary haters,closet racists who hated Obama but would never admit the reasons for it, and even some Southern supporters of Jeff Sessions, they all know inside they were complicit in this disaster. They know Trump has to go. There will be a lot of sitting on the sidelines. For the Republicans, it’s not going to be pretty. Nor should it.
8
At 81, I look at a power-driven system that does not know enough to Care....or care to Know. We are “controlled” by
a “President” who is a bonafide, successful Sociopathic Personality Disorder....and Citizenry that has no obvious grasp of
what an actual Sociopathic Personality IS. This situation is Insane. Sometimes the sanest reaction to an insane situation...
is Insanity. Selfishly, I’m grateful to be Beyond it alll....but deeply Saddened by what I leave to those who actually Care.
1
Ask yourself objectively how your life has changed in past two years. I guarantee it hasn’t.
1
@Pilot, mine has definitely changed for the worse since the imposition of that dreadful tax giveaway to corporations and the 1%.
5
Ummmm, yes, it has. Worse. And don't even get me started on how this administration is affecting the lives of my grandkids - since they will be the ones who have to live with the decisions being made now. So look beyond the end of your nose.
5
@Pilot
My life has changed for the worse ever since this president practically endorsed those tiki-torch marching white supremacists by not calling them out for what they are.
1
The FDA has not weighed in yet on the existence and/or pervasiness of Trump Derangment Syndrome, but it’s nice to see that two, count ‘em, two NYT columnists today both claim a clean bill of health for the Democratic Party.
1
"...we live a life with nerves frayed and bodies pushed to the edge of our seats. "
Seems pretty deranged to me. I suggest psychiatric help.
3
Polls and numbers don't mean a thing where Trump is concerned. The only thing that matters pre-election is that every last person opposed to Trump votes in November. Short of that, we could still be groaning about the present repulsive occupant continuing to rant and rage in the Oval Office.
9
Well put!! @James Murphy
2
Like most of the media, you focus on the distractions that Trump inflicts rather than the real harm that the Republicans in Congress and the Administration are doing. The huge tax cut to benefit the wealthy and corporations, the undermining of the EPA and environmental protections, and the sabotaging of the ACA will have long-lasting harmful effects on millions of average Americans. If the Republicans push through a 2nd tax cut, say goodbye to Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare as we know them. Ugh!
3
Yes, the economy and stock market are roaring away, but what has that to do with the majority of the population? The 10% powers that be have their president and their way, and Congress has its rubber stamp, so all is well as far as they are concerned. The rule of law and honesty are out the window and the people who voted for Trump to shake up Washington have been conned into maintaining their status quo, losing ground, and eliminating their benefits. This con was sold under the slogan of Make America Great Again. What a joke!
3
Voters of both parties need to be alerted to the importance of primaries. Most voters want to ignore all the ugly mud slinging that goes on even between candidates of the same party. They want someone else to sort through the options and present the best candidate the party has to offer. That has not happened in this cycle. Anyone of the other Republican presidential candidates would have been better than Trump. Low turnout equates to turnout of the passionate extreme. What voters miss is that if they pass on the chance to put a rational moderate on the ballot, the far out wing of their party will dictate the choice for all.
4
Charles here is hoping you are correct but remember we all thought that Hillary was a sure bet. Who knows what Republicans have planned to suppress the vote, or trump and his Russian buddies.
9
Trump gained first the GOP presidential nomination and then the electoral votes needed to put him in the White House because he knew, by crafty instinct, what he needed to say in order to swing the vote his way in the crucial Midewestern states.
Unless we want six more years of this, Democrats had better learn to outdo him in that appeal. I am far from convinced that they have learned to do this.
8
"The Trump presidency was not the cataclysm that many had feared".
You think? I disagree...the regulation rollbacks and ridiculous, damaging tax bill are quite cataclysmic. Unless you're among the 1% of course.
4
Indivisible groups spend many Sundays writing to voters. Although not in our district, we spent hours yesterday filling out postcards for Ammar Campa-Najjar, a democrat who is running against recently indicted Duncan Hunter. There are ways to cause change and there are ways to have no regrets. That's our motto! No regrets!
Please find a way to help dems even if they are not in your district. Please find a way to help us flip districts! Register voters, fill out postcards, write, call, walk door-to-door with your candidate! Contact your local Indivisible group.
2
Although the Minnesota primary vote was up at 22.7% this number indicates apathy nevertheless. I see no sense of urgency in this number, much less determination.
Here in Canada, (the people in Trump's crosshairs over NAFTA)
we anxiously await some constraints on Trump,and November cannot come soon enough for us either. The uncertainty being placed on us and our economy is causing great stress, and an fair agreement needs to be reached. Trump is using us for a “win”, and doing so with his best intimidation skills and threats.
Voting in November will show us, (meaning the world) how engaged your country is in getting it's soul back. For me at least, a booming economy is great but only if it benefits the most vulnerable in society. From here it looks as if the only real change for the “forgotten man” may be the red hat he dons and if that is enough, then your country is in deep trouble.
2
Far be it from me to correct the great Charles Blow (who i consider nothing less than a real American hero), but the statement that no real damage has occurred during the Trump presidency rings false.
Having the US drop out of the Paris Accord is a most significant and damaging decision. The state of our climate crisis (Florence anyone?) is a clear and present danger, far surpassing any other threat, yet decisive action is absent from the conversation. Time will show that climate change is our generation's existential threat, yet our "leader" and his administration ignores this reality at our own expense.
25
"Overall turnout was approximately 22.7%"
Hmmm.
4
Charles Blow implies that no major damage has been done yet. I disagree. Some of our -- previously -- closest allies have moved to be more independent from us and from the dollar. They may not have figured out yet how to achieve this, but there is a good chance that we are at the beginning of the decline of American influence in the west. And that worries me because of the potential for global political instability.
15
"What if Congress used that report to begin impeachment proceedings?"
The GOP controlled Congress will never start impeachment procedure against trump. They are too beholden to him. And I am not in favor of impeachment because that would put Pence in the Oval Office. He is much smarter than trump and much more dangerous.
One more thing that caught my attention was that, in Minnesota, voter turnout was approximately 22.7%.
We must do better than that come November. If all Democrats don't get out and vote there is a good chance that the GOP will maintaIn control of Congress.
25
Those who voted for him knew what he was and what they were getting. My hope is that there is a "blue wave" rolling; but I'm not betting on it.
9
So, if those who voted for him knew what he was and what they were getting, what does that say about what kind of people they are. Just like him?
Comparisons with other Presidents fall short since Trump is in a low functioning class of his own. It is important to remember that while his predecessor outshines him in every possible category, we have had other disastrous presidencies that were far worse than what Trump has produced so far.
Take G.W. Bush for example; failure to heed the Security Briefing that warned of a terrorist attack on American soil; entering an endless war to dismantle Al Qaeda that morphed into regime change; the unnecessary, unjustified and illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq; the financial debacle that nearly became a world wide depression; the mishandling of hurricane Katrina's destruction of New Orleans and "legalizing" torture and kidnapping.
While Trump has taken back years of progress with his assault on affordable health care, the response to climate change, the importance of clean air and waters, fair taxation, immigration and America's moral standing in the world, none of his retrograde actions are irreversible.
With a Democratic landslide in November at least Congress can stop the damage and end Republican complicity. The arc of history may bend toward justice again in 2020.
37
Thank you, Mr. Blow.
But I'm always a bit nervous when I hear such optimistic statements of likely Democrat success. I think it causes people not to show up, thinking it's in the bag, so why bother. Please, don't join that chorus. The benefits of reporting these odds don't outweigh the downside.
6
It’s one election, but I do hope it represents a turning point. Not that I’m all that hopeful that such a thing exists anymore. The Criminal-in-Chief has gotten away with assault, fraud, obstruction and conspiracy for decades—not just the past few years he’s been on the world’s largest stage. Decades of crime and yet huge swaths of the country still support him.
It’s just one election, and democrats will probably come out on top. I’m afraid it won’t be enough. I’m afraid it will take much, much more to expel the toxin that’s coursing through our country. I’m afraid only some fresh tragedy will do. I’m afraid the criminal in the White House isn’t too scrupulous to engineer one if he gets further and further backed into a corner.
We need to win this election. We also need some brave, patriotic republicans to finally step forward and end this madness. Please. For all of us.
18
We are the majority; we all vote, and we win. Trump is in the White House because people stayed home.
I don’t care what they call is; it doesn’t matter, because they are preaching their choir. Only one thing matters, and it’s a matter of life or death for our nation: VOTE!
11
Whatever your ideological stand, the Trump administration’s criminality, immorality corruption and hatred is a vast and obvious attack on American values. My fear is that too many of us no longer care about truth, justice and the American Way.
15
Trump is an an anomaly. Eventually even many of his supporters will weary of the “all about me” rallies and tweets about himself. They will realize their lives are not better even though it was promised by this incompetent President.
There is no need to repeat the list of Trump hyperboles, poor polices, ignorance and lack of compassion. Go out and vote in November. Vote for people who support equality, for health care, for climate change, for your children’s future. Vote for someone who does not support a President who denies the death of three thousand people who died in Puerto Rico. These were real people who were forgotten by their government. Vote for competence, compassion and character.
Vote with knowledge and compassion in 2018. Our future depends on it.
15
Vote! Remember, the opposition lies and cheats as a matter of fair play.
7
'They are the deranged, not us.'
Thank you, Mr. Blow. That sentence should be put in ALL CAPS, UNDERLINED & ITALICIZED since it's simply another sleight of hand dirty trick designed to blame Democrats for all of the wrongs Republicans have done and continue to do. What's sadly ironic is that Dems still don't understand how to effectively weaponize their messages. Hopefully they will before it's too late.
And, as relates to the closing paragraphs in this article, the worst thing Democrats can do right now is assume that the upcoming election is theirs to lose. It's not. It's the exact opposite. Have we already forgotten 2016?
Vote!
6
Great article, Mr. Blow. I certainly agree. However, my biggest concern remains an "October surprise," possibly engineered by Mr. Putin (remember that notorious private meeting with Trump? I wonder what they discussed...), after which Trump hopes to rally Americans around him and the flag. We've seen it before, when Trump got a boost in the polls after striking Syrian airbases. What might they be planning?
I hope I'm wrong, but with such an untrustworthy, irresponsible, immoral and deranged President, I fear that such a scenario is entirely possible.
What's that charming old expression?: "Don't count your chickens until they hatch!"
8
**RESUBMISSION** Actually, it is Donald Trump who is "deranged" not the Democrats. After "Anonymous," after Bob Woodward's expose, "Fear," after Omarosa Manigaulth Newman's, "Unhinged,"and now after Donald Trump's own unmasking with his paranoid-delusional conspiracy that Democrats rigged the fatalities on Puerto Rico, we all know that Donald Trump is mentally unstable, and, in all likelihood, mentally ill. His anti-personality disorder of narcissism is apparent in his every action. He's a threat not only to himself but to the nation with his incessant attacks on the Constitution. Now with Paul Manafort pleading guilty and agreeing to tell all to Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, we have reached a moment of extreme crisis and danger. Rumors are flying that Trump will soon add Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis to the long list of those fired. The unmooring of the president and his inability to govern rationally is a "clear and present danger" to all Americans and the world as well. So far, other than Bob Woodward and former President Barack Obama, no one in Congress has stepped forward to rescue us from this psychodrama and the madness descending on Washington and enveloping us all.
15
Mr. Blow,
Your description of Trump's character includes corruption, criminality, hatred, and racism. He certainly has all these traits of immorality. And many other odious and offensive personality flaws.
However, the most crushing one of all is his comfort and delight in lying. Telling falsehoods and ridiculous exaggerations, with no shame or remorse, no push-back (from Republicans), and no internal self-control. He is attempting to systematically eliminate truth as a shared bonding element of our otherwise diverse society. While Republicans have been on this course to some degree since at least Reagan, or perhaps Nixon, Trump has shoved the descent into hyper-drive.
The Republicans currently in power have allowed Trump to get away with this. That, alone, is sufficient reason not to vote for ANY Republicans in 2018.
59
Exactly. The Republicans, Fox News, the Trump-adjacent chatterers and Trump himself are desperate to dismiss us, pretend we're all a bunch of lunatics and radicals and otherwise marginalize us. But we are 70+ percent of Americans, and we are outraged. And we vote.
35
Actually it was Obama, or black man derangement syndrome. That's what got us in this mess in the first place, and caused Republicans in Congress to go after all the good that President Obama did for Americans just because he was what he was. Sure, as a lifelong Democrat I want to see Trump get everything he has coming to him given his corruption and disdain for his own country, but deranged? I don't think so.
5
It's pathetic that 20% turnout in a primary is considered cause for celebration. People need to stop whining and vote.
51
The cataclysm for me has been that tr. doesn't know how to run a country, much less think reasonably, so he tweets, lies, golfs, lies, tweets, watches tv and lies again...wash, rinse, repeat...and this is ruining us. The Republican party now owns him, lock, stock, and NRA support, and history will not treat McConnell and his mob well, in my opinion. Trying to rush through Kavanaugh, yet stalling 14 months for Merrick Garland with the threat of stalling for 4 years if a Democrat won tells us that history will be told and written to describe the disgraceful Republican behavior during these weird times. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski - you, too. You own Trump.
13
Did this writer state excitement because 22% of the voters turned out to vote? We are a population of useless citizens indeed.
3
The awakening of the public mind is occurring as we speak; folks are beginning to think for themselves and paying attention. Although they knew that Trump was a professional liar and a crook, the hope was he would moderate his impulses once in the Oval Office; no such luck, of course, as this vulgar bully knows no scruples and has no feelings. Too bad we need to defeat the republicans' complicity in perpetuating this assault on decency and the truth, but somebody must tackle it, save the republic from the current mafia in government.
6
@manfred marcus The repubs in Congress have been complicit in assulting decency and truth ever since we twice elected President Obama.
trump is the head of their party now and they richly deserve him. Hopefully, their reward will be a resounding Democratic takeover.
2
I agree that Donald Trump is unqualified and unfit to be president. I agree that his election is tainted and perhaps even illegitimate. Charles Blow writes that, "Trump had become the president by a complex web of occurrences: white racial anxiety, reaction to the first black president, unease about the possibility of the first female president, voter suppression and voter apathy, and an attack on our elections by the Russians."
Apparently I have to point out the most important factor in Trump's election, one that Blow deliberately omits: the inept and unprincipled Democratic Party, which somehow could not beat him.
5
@Chris Rasmussen: And the Republican Party was so competent and principled? Hilarious! Hillary Clinton was the most competent and principled (yes: health care, infrastructure projects, green energy, SCOTUS, womens' rights, education, minimum wage, etc.,) candidate in decades, but noooo, she wasn't perfect, so let's welcome a criminal lying sociopath instead, that's sooo much better.
5
@Chris Rasmussen Wrong!
The main factor in trump getting the presidency is the outdated ELECTORAL COLLEGE!
Over three million more voters chose Hillary.
5
I always agree with Trump acolytes that preach about Trump Derangement Syndrome.
I just tell them they are the ones suffering from it and should seek counseling for their condition.
12
The Republicans in the house and senate have been aiding and abetting Trump and have been cynically obstructing every attempt to hold his administration accountable for anything. They have passed one destructive piece of legislation after another. They will never bring impeachment proceedings forward. Trump is the most dangerous, out of his depth, person in the world! Vote and organize!
8
Hoping and praying that Lawrence Tribe is correct that Mueller has VP Pence in his sights as well. Pence has been mighty quiet. He was Manafort's pick for VP instead of Christie, a former prosecutor. As head of the transition, Pence probably knows where the skeletons are.
28
And, complicit in selecting the most corrupt Cabinet in U.S. history!
2
CHARLES BLOW Has got it right: We MUST exercise our most precious freedom--the right to vote--in November, so that we can remove the cancer spreading that threatens to kill our democracy. The cancer that has grown during the current president's term so far is virulent, agressive and fast-growing. Fortunately, there is a good chance that our democratic system of voting and peaceful transitions when elections send some to govern and remove others. If nothing else, focus on the most important four letter words between now and 11/6/2018 VOTE VOTE VOTE! Get registered. Get your people in your community to vote. Help them get to the polling places. Remember our rallying cry: VOTE VOTE VOTE!
18
The article includes the statement that the organization “FiveThirtyEight” gives Democrats a 5 in 6 chance of taking control of Congress. In fact, the link takes the reader to a FiveThirtyEight page that indicates the 5 in 6 chance is for a takeover of the House of Representatives only.
5
@GeorgeKimball
Thank you! Our Civics-deprived citizens seem to have forgotten (if they ever knew) that Congress comprises the Senate and the House. I rather despair that if people don’t know the difference, as they don’t in the area in which we live, we cannot have an informed electorate.
4
"Trump had become the president by a complex web of occurrences: white racial anxiety, reaction to the first black president, unease about the possibility of the first female president, voter suppression and voter apathy, and an attack on our elections by the Russians."
You left out one main reason: Our flawed democratic system (the Electoral College) handed the Presidency to the loser of the election - but hey, that's our system, right?
17
@Bernie
You're perfectly right: the primordial reason of that pernicious result is the unacceptable obsolescence of the presidential electoral system.
And one more tiny thing:"the possibility of the first female president". Fair enough.
However, try with: "the possibility of that first female as president..."
1
Even if Trump derangement Syndrome is real,it’s
No different than the Obama derangement Syndrome that pervaded the Republican Party for eight years. (Still pervades some dark corners of the party). For a Republican focus on it is sheer hypocrisy. For a Democrat to do so only lends validity to it.
"They told us that we suffered from Trump Derangement Syndrome, an emotional and illogical obsession with opposing and unseating Donald Trump."
There was no logic in considering Trump would win that election... there still isn't. And there is no logic in continuing to support his agenda, except for a very few select sociopathic rich people... when they say we suffer from that, what they are really saying is "haters gonna hate..." which has always been an ignorant shrug of self examination.
1
Actually, Trump Derangement Syndrome is "an emotional and illegal obsession with" those supporting Trump and keeping him in office until 2025.
4
"They saw our principled stand against corruption and criminality, against immorality and hatred, as born of hyper-partisanship and the bruises of defeat." No, they didn't, and don't, *see it* that way; they just say so. It's a mistake to attribute any sincerity to the Republican leadership. Of course they don't say honestly that we are disgusted -- outraged -- by this administration and congress, and for good reason. Of course they say we're just hysterical. They lie; that's the Republican form of debate in this era.
10
Having spent eight years observing Republicans with Obama Derangement, I can identify one major difference between the two so-called "derangements."
The accusations against Obama were mostly nonsense: that he was born in Kenya and wasn't an American citizen, that his real father was a Black Panther, that he had converted to Islam while living in Indonesia as a child, that he was a Marxist, that Michelle Obama had been born a man and that the Obama daughters were adopted, that he had never attended Columbia University, and so on. The deranged rarely criticized Obama's policies. Calling him "a Kenyan Muslim" was a way of saying what even the worst bigots know that they're not supposed to say in polite society.
The accusations against the current Republican president are mostly factual. He has a history of failed business ventures, he has defrauded people, he has stiffed numerous contractors, he is a sexual predator, he doesn't know much of what presidents need to know and seems to have no interest in learning, he has alienated the country's long-term allies and buddied up to dictators, he is incoherent, and he is a figurehead for a gang of far right vandals who are trying to undo the social and political advances of the twentieth century.
Thinking about all this does make me a bit deranged, but at least I have evidence for my derangement.
36
"They told us that we suffered from Trump Derangement Syndrome, an emotional and illogical obsession with opposing and unseating Donald Trump." Just projection. 'They' actually suffered from Obama Derangement Syndrome, their only goal being to make him a one-term president and hijacking Garland's Supreme Court seat for the pretender Gorsuch.
Vote.
12
Dear Mr. Blow, Could we also remember one of the worst presidential campaigns ever run: arrogant, sloppy and uninformed. Sometimes when you do something really badly, things don't turn out as you would like. This was no exception.
5
Because of all the barriers to voting, gerrymandering, dirty tricks etc, Democrats must stop the in-fighting. We cannot optimize our votes if we go on attacking each other. United we stand; Divided...? Whither America?
6
Vote. Vote as if your future depends on it.
17
@John Murphy
...Because it does
3
A correction is required Mr. Blow. 538 gives the Democrats a 5 in 6 chance of taking not Congress, but the House. They give Democrats a 1 in 3 chance of taking the Senate. Which by the way, is a little bit more than the 3 in 10 chance 538 gave Donald Trump of taking the White House in 2016.
4
One significant point of disagreement on how we got here. Donald Trump didn't win the election. Hillary Clinton lost it. And she lost it, ironically, for the same reason that Trump is such a horrible President. Clinton campaigned to be the President of her base rather than President of all Americans.
The most successful Democrats running for office now are those, like Beto O'Rourke, who campaign as Americans who happen to be Democrats rather than as partisan Democrats.
6
Mr. Blow, I want to thank you for continuing to write about this odious group of thieves. Yes, thieves. They have been looting America. I know how radical this sounds. I've always been a moderate Democrat and have always felt a bit uncomfortable with the far left in our party. But its true.
Though I'm pretty much at the end of my life, I have to stick around to see how this ends. America's values and what they have meant to the rest of the world are too precious to lose. I know we've not been perfect by a long shot, but we keep trying. That is what keeps me going. I guess I should be grateful I still care so passionately.
I am a proud member of the resistance as is my husband who grew up in Nazi Germany.
12
But, really, isn't it shocking that the turn out praised so highly in the State where I live, was a miserly 22+%?
When will this country celebrate 100%? What will it take? A century of fascism?
6
a five in six chance of overturning the House sounds great
but so did the chances of defeating Trump in 2016
one in six is still scary
5
My fervent hope is that Trump remains in office through his term (we DO NOT need Pence) so he can complete his fine work of thoroughly destroying the Republican Party, while being contained by a new Democrat-controlled congress. Then we can elect a legitimate president in 2020, begin repairing the damage and once again move toward the future.
5
What do we do about a President who has proved himself manifestly unfit for office; who lies continuously; who day after day after day goes out-of-his-way to gratuitously injure and insult people, including persons supportive of him; who -- because of political cowardice by Republicans and the complexities of the U.S. Constitution -- has been impossible to remove from his office in an expeditious manner.
The answer, I believe, may lie in the bipartisan passage of a measure requiring that all serving U.S. Presidents exhibiting odd behavior as determined by a simple majority vote of Congress be
required to subject themselves to a simple brain CAT scan to determine the possible presence of illness, injury or disease, the results of which would immediately be released to the public upon completion.
The measure could be called The Charles J. Whitman Bill For The Protection Of American Presidents And The American People.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman
3
@A. Stanton Brain CT scan being normal does NOT eliminate the possibility of serious neurologic disease. Full evaluation- history, physical exam including detailed neurologic examination, ALL appropriate imaging studies, laboratory tests, are needed.
1
“The Trump presidency was not the cataclysm that many had feared, but the possibility of damage hovers over us.“
The gerational cataclysm will be seen in the damage done by every incompetent, regressive or reactionary federal judges that are nominated and appointed throughout this illegitimate presidency.
8
Your column gives me hope, Mr. Blow. It also gives me pause.
I recall the day--a Friday, I think it was--when the Hollywood Access tape was made public. I remember thinking, "he's finished." And "Hillary Clinton got the gift of a lifetime."
I knew--just knew--that women, especially women who claimed to be Republicans, would cut Donald Trump loose. Now he's ours; many Republican women ("talk dirty to me, Donald," read one glowing, ecstatic woman in a tee-shirt shortly thereafter) helped put him there. I'm hoping that, unlike a cat, this president doesn't have nine lives.
All you write here: Robert Mueller getting pleas from Michael Flynn and Michael Cohen and Rick Gates and Paul Manafort ("witch hunt," cries the president, while the witches stalk to the stake); the anonymous op-ed, deteriorating poll numbers; the one-on-one with BFF Vladimir Putin two months ago in Helsinki; the now credibly-damaged Brett Kavanaugh, thanks to the woman who fought him off some 30 years ago; the anger from his farmer supporters who are getting gashed by China in Trump's childish trade and tariff tantrum, is all there, a recipe for disaster. But...but.
Mitch McConnell and Charles Grassley and Paul Ryan and all the silent wardens of our democracy on The Hill are bound and determined to help Trump steer his leaking bark through the straits of severe voter disapproval. But how strong is the resistance? It looks good on paper. Iit needs validation on November 6th.
Will they show up? Will they?
15
You fail to mention the most important reason Trump became president: Hillary Clinton. Her sense of entitlement, her self-infatuation, obscured any attempt to connect to the American working class (of any ethnicity). People on the street hated her. The fact that she was a woman was a distant second. Forget about Russia and the rest of it. Hillary herself was to blame.
3
@free range
And yet she got more votes.
4
@free range
And yet, she won the popular vote by a large margin. In any other sane, democracy-type election, she would be president. Or, if the archaic ,finagled electoral college had been allowed to function the way it was intended, somebody other than the manifestly unfit current occupant would be in the WHite House.
4
@Docpeebs
that's not the way this country's presidential election runs, as you know. the fact is, she ignored or misplayed states like ohio, michigan, wisconsin, states filled with working class people feeling up against it. she could have won the electoral count going away if she hadn't been so busy declaring her entitlement by knee-capping Bernie Sanders.
First there is no difference between Donald Trump and the republicans party. He is the Republican Party. When he speaks he speaks for them all. He is the culmination of three decades of corruption by all Republicans. He is what they have created, including the conspiracy with Russia. They all were in on it and they all benefited from it. They have done nothing to stop it. That tells you something. These are very, very dangerous men. As such, the greatest threat to American democracy and world security is the Republican Party.
6
Democrats have a 5-in-6 chance of winning the house, just like they had a 5-in-6 chance of winning the presidency. It's not a good time to get overconfident. Sure, there are black gubernatorial candidates... in states where black people aren't allowed to vote. Yes, Trump is down in the polls... just another temporary dip in a presidency that's already been through dozens of them. And of course the Mueller probe is plodding along, and Trump's inner circle have realized that not even Trump's pardon power can save them. But we still haven't seen a thing to suggest that the probe will ever touch Trump himself. Unless Trump makes the mistake of actually testifying and digging his own grave, he's on safe ground. And even with the house and senate, Democrats would never be able to impeach Trump or thwart his executive actions which will be upheld by the rubber-stamp courts in any and all possible circumstances. Even if Republicans do manage to lose, I doubt the ones who remain will get the memo. It's true that they don't listen to the American People, they disrespect us, they insult and belittle us and then they bill us for it. But in the end, all they're really after is attention. Outrage is their one and only goal. As far as they're concerned, the Trump strategy is what works.
1
At this point, I don't care what they call it. Because the only 'deranged' thing here is Donald Trump and all those who voted for him.
Of course, being from New York City we already had the advantage of knowing what a presidency under Trump would look like.
At least in that regard, he hasn't disappointed.
6
“FiveThirtyEight gives Democrats a five-in-six chance of taking control of Congress and Republicans a one-in-six chance of holding it. Their average estimate for the number of seats Democrats will pick up is 39; they only need to gain 23 to take control.”
And as we all know, 538’s predictions are wickedly accurate. That’s why Hillary Clinton is President today.
Hmmm ... wait a minute ...
2
@James Cowles Hillary may not be president, but she certainly had at least 3 million more votes than your electoral college president.
If you think about this, Democrats do in fact have a chance to take control of Congress.
2
Let's not count our chickens before they hatch. There needs to be a ground swell blitz for millennials, minorities and the elderly to get them out and vote. Sign hem up for absentee ballot if they are physically unable to go to the polls.
3
It is absolutely logical to want to unseat Trump, just on the numbers alone. Millions more without health insurance, job creation slower than Obama, and about a 50% increase in the 10-year debt trajectory.
Trump is basically borrowing from our kids to boost the stock market, which since real wage growth is near zero means the rich are getting the benefit. Half the country owns no stock and the top 10% own about 80% of stock market value, so this is making our #1 problem worse: Wealth and income inequality.
It's perfectly logical to want to get rid of Trump just on misguided economic policy, let alone all the amorality and racism. Trump isn't even credible, with an average of 8 lies per day. Shouldn't the U.S. President be a good source of information, at bare minimum? That alone is enough to remove him from office in a sane world.
10
I agree with Mr. Blow. This presidency has energized me and millions of others to restore democracy. I work on political campaigns making phone calls and sending texts every week in order to resist. The only way to change this horrible presidency is to vote Trump and his cronies out of office. I am delighted to see so many diverse and interesting candidates emerge in this election.
9
I find it depressing that Trump has even a 40% approval rating. What percentage of Americans have benefited by his policies?
10
I am so discouraged by the (apparent) fact that 22% turnout in a primary is "crushing it."
1
So 23% of Democrats turned out to vote in Minnesota. That's supposed to scare Republicans? In many gerrymandered districts 23% will be a joke. If the Democrats are half as fired up as we all hear, it should have been 90% or better. It's time to start taking President Trump at his word. What you see and what you read is not what's going on, may be the truth. He may have an October surprise Democrats never saw coming.
2
@Richard Mclaughlin
Oh please. How is it possible to take Donald Trump "at his word" when it changes on an hourly basis?
If the Republican tree falls in the American forest during the upcoming mid-term elections, you can be sure that it will be heard. It will not be imagined by "deranged" individuals. It will be very real. And it will be very, very loud.
4
“This man was wholly unacceptable, as a matter of character.”
Ironically, this seemingly apparent conclusion is the one over which I have battled most with friends with whom I disagree about the 2016 election.
For me it was not strictly Democrat vs Republican, nor Liberal vs Conservative. Historically, advocates operating under those labels have all staked out some rational and important positions.
But Trump is different. As we’ve found out, perhaps not as different as some of the other garden slugs in his party, in Congress and elsewhere. But individually, he is so obviously reprehensible, in tone, words, and actions, that I couldn’t see any way through the smoke to view his policy positions, assuming he had any.
Sadly, others deflected with irrelevant comments about Obama and Hillary and similarly non-specific arguments about how Trump represented “change.” I concede, they were right. We got change - of the most odious, malicious, and divisive kind - and the effects will last for generations unless Americans snap out of their political fatigue and ethical numbness.
14
Determination is not defined by demonizing your opponent. Demonizing the President and those who voted for him in 30 states isn't patriotism by any stretch of the imagination in any culture.
ps. i didn't vote for Trump either.
1
Talks of a Democratic mid-term victory are nice to imagine, but all the "Never Trump" Republicans I know are now walking lockstep with Dear Leader- and all it took was 30 pieces of silver in the form of a tax cut for the wealthy and a Kow-tow to the evangelicals. Don't expect a swell of GOP defections - there will be none.
The Democrat supporters are nowhere nearly as enraged by Trump as the GOP's supporters were enraged by Obama. Trump has made overt racism acceptable within the GOP - and there is a vast pool waiting to be tapped.
The GOP will hold onto control - Trumpism, sadly is the truth of America.
3
Democrats and resisters of all backgrounds better not get too cocky or lean too heavily on the history of midterm votes because the Republicans continue to have most of the states gerrymandered and voter suppressed up the wazoo. You better turn out in HUUUUGE numbers if you want to overcome the voter choosing of the Republican Party. And if Dems do change the Congress let the first order of business be the elimination of the Electoral College and the direct election of the President. A President who starts off without the majority of the voters behind him is seen as weaker and even illegitimate— even if he is perfectly sane!
4
22% turnout is cause for celebration? People have died and are dying for the right to vote. Taking it for granted is mind boggling.
1
The Democrats need to be running ads in every market detailing the horrible things this administration has done. It is not enough to just support Democrats, we must constantly remind Republicans of the things that have been done in their name. I see very little pushback from the Dems in power. Perhaps that is why so many long for new leadership. Fight back!
1
If deranged means supporting access to healthcare for everyone, good schools for every child, clean drinking water and air and hard working people making a living wage, sign me up.
5
I doubt that anyone born after 1950 has ever felt the pinch of politics the way we are feeling it now.
I never dreamed that our nation would fall into the hands of despots and criminals. But that is exactly what has happened. We have a criminal in the White House being protected by other criminals in Congress.
Thank you Charles for being a consistent voice of opposition.
13
Charles, it seems to me that you don't want this president to succeed. It will be interesting to see if you soften up a bit during his second term.
3
@Robert Howard What exactly do you want trump to succeed in?
Aiding and abetting Putin's agenda? Demeaning the presidency?
Making America a third world country in terms of governing?
Enriching himself and his family with our tax dollars?
Patriotic Americans want to know.
4
Another thing to be wary about poll numbers is that Trump supporters are prone to lie to pollsters. Whether it's consciously to throw off the poll are because they are embarrassed, is irrelevant.
Vote Blue in every election!
3
We are in a crisis. This election cycle is not about Dems vs. GOP, but about returning checks & balances crafted into our Constitution and have worked for 250+ years. We HAVE to get 'minority rules' out of our government. We have had TWO presidents that were Democrats denied the office. Congress has become complicit in with a President who can't see beyond his ego. The full cabinet are mostly unsuited for their positions and are determined to annihilate the very agencies they head.
Midterms face difficulty in inspiring voter turnout. Only by massive boots-on-the-ground volunteers and grassroots organizations will be be able to save our democracy. It IS in peril and the Mad-King-of-Trumpworld comes closer to being indicted on actual crimes.
Too all Independents, moderate Republicans, and apathetic voters, I implore you to vote Democrat this year. There is an attempt by the GOP to frame a Dem vote as a radical Socialist vote. Not true. Our educational system, Medicare, Fire and Police Departments, etc., are ALL "socialist" ideas. The goal is to provide services to ALL Americans that will benefit their lives and the the relative national government that has been successful most of the time since we first landed on the shores of this great land.
Obama bin Laden and Putin (and possibly others) wanted our government in chaos. Don't let them win!
So hold your nose and VOTE Dem...we can balance things out next time.
3
The Trump Derangement Syndrome is a Rational, logical and patriotic answer to the Trump Deification Syndrome. Perhaps We should wear hats labeled Make America, America again! With a picture of George Washington. We can quote his farewell address, “The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissention, which in different ages & countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders & miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security & repose in the absolute power of an Individual: and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty...”
5
I’m surprised Trump and the terrorists in suits known as Congressional Republicans haven’t tried to cancel the midterm elections altogether. It seems like a crazy idea but I wouldn’t put anything past them.
1
Stop with all the predictions and the chest pumping. As Yogi said: it ain't over until it's over. There is ONLY ONE WAY this nightmare ends and that is if people go out and vote. We need to stop looking at what it looks like will happen. Stop pointing out that the electorate appears energized. Just stay focused, mark your calendars for election day, don't get distracted by some late day antics to throw you off, and get out there and do what you need to do to make this happen. Let's stop all the talking and get down to the voting.
12
Trump is a stress test. He is challenging the notion that we are a democracy, can find those better angels and become the nation of folks we have pretended to be since our inception. Just look at how hard it was to admit that no one, not any single person, can be considered 3 fifths human. Going a bit further to ensure we behave as if we all equal is our Trump challenge. Treating the earth as if it is our only home is our Trump challenge. I know these and many more challenges Trump poses are very challenging, but that is why god gave us Trump - he provides us with such a starkly real outline of the problems we live, breath, and must deal with daily.
There is no derangement when we're simply attempting to unseat the today's GOP, the coalition of oligarchs, evangelicals, and nationalists. (An dangerous trinity of sorts.)
5
Voter apathy was perhaps the biggest reason for a buffoon in the White House. That may now be gone but two factors will also play a role in his removal. One being Robert Mueller and the other being Trump's tariffs, which are dismaying business leaders, farmers, consumers of products that suffer price increases and those who will lose their jobs because of Trump's trade wars.
5
A vote this November is not only a vote against this Presidency and administration, but a vote against all radical republicans, that have essentially been a rubber stamp vote. They have not been their Constitutionally obligated check on the Presidency.
Although, it is a referendum on the destruction over the last 2 years, it is so much more than that as Democrats (at least many of them) are offering a truly Progressive vision, that has nothing to do with republicans. The republican party is irrelevant at this point, considering over a 100,000,000 possible eligible voters sit on the sidelines any given election.
Having said that, I want to push back on a couple of things Mr. Blow. - you said: '' And yet, the markets didn’t crash. The economy kept humming. We entered no new major foreign conflicts, although we have cozied up to people who should be enemies ...''
First, a large part of the 2016 was over tax theft. The market is not going to crash if they are expecting (and getting) TWO TRILLION dollars of free taxpayer money. Furthermore the market is not an indicator of the overall economy, as it is not what is happening on the ground.
Secondly, the wars of the future (and today even - since an election was influenced/hijacked) are going to be fought online. We are in a continuous state of war. This President has declared war ON the American people by befriending (and more) the Russian Czar.
You mention these things almost in passing, so call it like it is mate. Please.
2
Let's get our facts straight. It is Donald Trump who's deranged. How do we know? We heard it from "Anonymous, a high-ranking Republican in The White House;" we heard it from Bob Woodward, an award-winning report and expert on the presidency, in his book, Fear;" we heard from Omarosa Manigault Newman, in her appropriately titled book, "Unhinged;" and, if you're still a skeptic or a Trumpite, we heard it from Donald Trump himself in his absolutely delusional attempt to create a Democratic conspiracy about the nearly 3,000 fatalities of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. The alarm has been sounded sending for the "men in white coats," but the Republicans refuse to listen and honor their oath to the Constitution to serve and protect the nation and not Donald Trump. Fortunately, a "moment of reckoning" is approaching with the November midterm elections. A new political hurricane is brewing and a blue wave may soon sweep the enablers out of Congress and restore the Constitution to once again provide a "check and balance" on an out-of-control and seemingly out-of-his mind (aka "deranged') president.
5
To paraphrase the great journalist, Bill Moyers, if you call me a liberal in the pejorative, I accept that charge in full. That I prefer a planet with clean and water, I accept that charge of a liberal; if my demands for superior public education for all Americans upset you, so be it; if my advocacy for equal rights for all American, including voting rights and a woman's right to choose go against your grain, that thrills me as a liberal; if I demand equal access to the best healthcare without the fear of bankruptcy for all Americans upsets you, good.
We liberals will continue to occupy the moral high ground the sycophantic Republicans have so shamefully abandoned; we will vote in November to take charge and provide leadership to a Congress that has taken paychecks while not showing up for work, it will be up to Democrats to contain the madman running amok in the Oval Office.
11
thanks Charles. we needed that opinion piece.
the country is poised to return to normalcy. to basic civility. first and foremost in the WH of course.
return to decency throughout our political system, return to no tribalism of any kind, return to a country with a president who can actually say a full, coherent sentence, and who's not displaying the obvious symptoms of a mental case -
and we need healthcare for all, and new need living wages, and we need to hAVE our individual vote COUNT, our environment protected, oh - so many things we need which trump stole.
5
When your opponent is reduced to calling you names because they know they have nothing else, it's a good sign. Furthermore, they're so conditioned to believing the opposite of reality, it can only mean that their insults are actually compliments!
Vote them out in November!
4
May you live in interesting times.
An old Chinese saying that certainly rings true as a curse today,
Donald J. Trump receives 2.9 million votes fewer than Hillary Clinton and is elected President.
He promises to appoint Supreme Court Justices who will be pro-life, a matter that does not appear to have concerned him greatly before he embarked on his political career.
His first two choices are Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.
Men who can be counted on to limit or entirely negate the extent to which Presidents can be held accountable for their criminal actions.
Trump has promised to sue women who have accused him of sexual assault, but hasn’t followed through. Why?
Trump is expecting Mueller to soon file criminal charges against him and members of his family, but hasn’t yet fired him. Why?
Because Trump has been busy packing the Supreme Court with Judges who will rule in his favor regardless of the merits of the cases against him and doesn’t need to.
9
"The Trump presidency was not the cataclysm that many had feared ..."
I beg to differ.
It's much worse than I feared.
10
I hope Mr. Blow is right and enough people vote in November to check the insane policies of Trump and his enablers in Congress. The Republicans have done little to unite the nation and instead rely on the politics of fear to remain a majority in both houses while doing nothing for the greater good.
I didn't get a tax cut. North Korea is still making nukes. And where's my big, beautiful healthcare package?
No, Trump and his supporters along with the Republicans have done nothing to make America great again and the fact that we are still great in spite of these people is telling.
I'll be voting on November 06, 2018.
14
Thank you, Charles Blow, for recapping where we are at the moment. Indeed, Democrats have momentum which I think will only get stronger before November. However, it's not a sure thing, and we all need to keep up the pressure to vote, not just this November, but increasingly in the years til 2020. I personally don't think Trump will make it to 2020, but then I didn't think he'd "win" in 2016 either. Of course, he got his job via a lot of fraudulent and criminal intent by other countries, Americans who figured out how to play to people's fears via social media, and ignorant people who thought (still think) Trump is their "savior". He's an abomination who got so lucky he won - even HE didn't expect victory. It was a fluke that should NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. We Americans need to be more studious and "woke" about candidates from the fringe who want to run the country. We're now faced with impending crisis with the few remaining leaders like Mattis being threatened with firing, or deciding to quit because they are being demolished. Trump ONLY WANTS LOYALISTS. This is dangerous stuff, folks. He won't entertain anyone who thwarts his inept judgment, crazy fiats via Twitter, and lamebrained self-serving egotism. I think the guy is over the edge, but Congress right now accepts and enables his worrisome behavior. I just hope that Congress gains some members with the integrity and honesty to stand up to this menace!
4
Mr. Blow cites the reasons why Trump won but omitted a critical reason.
Folks simply could not stand Hillary Clinton and believe it or not it was not because she is a woman.
Please stop perpetuating that fiction.
1
@Robert She had at least 3 million more votes than trump. I guess that means more folks could stand her than they could trump.
trump got the electoral college win because of the added weight votes are given in a hand full of states. Even then, some electoral college members were hesitant when casting their votes for trump, but eventually had to.
Stop perpetuating the fiction that trump was elected by the majority of voters.
1
Get out and vote! If you don't vote, or if you vote for a third party, you are voting Trump.
And remember, as Churchill said in 1942 after the battle of El Alamein: "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." The fight has just begun.
6
We may be deranged if we don't realize Russia and North Korea are working overtime to produce their kind of election results here in th US--made up! And Trump is certainly not trying to stop them.
2
FiveThirtyEight was completely wrong on the 2016 election. I have no trust in their numbers. You should quote a pollster who got it right in '16 or better yet, none at all.
1
Don't get bogged down in small details of policy -- if the candidate is blue, vote for them.
We'll work out the nitty-gritty after we take power. NOTHING is possible without power, however, so Vote, Vote, Vote!!
This is a fight for the soul of America, nothing less.
3
Morally decent and smart presidents can err. Incompetent presidents can create, ride or feign a success. With so many factors at play, controlled by no one, and irreconcilably different definitions of "success" and "improvement," doesn't it make sense to cleave to high character as a deeply significant value? Something that, even if not all people can see it or own it, we all ultimately need to endure as the United States? This president lacks a moral core and is motivated by entirely self-centered feelings and needs. We can never abide his low character. That is all the reason needed to eject him.
3
This President has broken campaign finance laws, he has done work with sanctioned businesses in Iran, he has taken children away from parents, and he demeans people on a regular basis. He has the resources to be accurate when he presents information, yet, he chooses to deliberately skew information (for example the Post Office and Amazon) or he simply prefers to lie most of the time. His good people, Manafort, Cohen and Flynn, to name a few have plead guilty in the Mueller probe. He has abused the power of the office to pursue and disgrace those he perceives as enemies, unchecked. He has taken this country out of a leadership role in the world to one of suspect. Aside from policy issues, there are many who simply do not feel this is not how a government should operate. He is not and never has been "the businessman" he claims to be, it is a myth. The term "Trump Derangement Syndrome" is most certainly being applied to the wrong faction.
9
Unless and until the gerrymandering of congressional districts is reversed, the Republicans will continue to win the House with minor setbacks now and again as when they elect a loose cannon like Trump. The Senate is stacked in the Republicans favor as well because of its lack of proportional representation. The Supreme Court will be tilted right for the next few decades. Media outlets are being bought up by conservative syndicates. When you dominate the three branches and the fourth estate, the tree of democracy dies.
10
Trump supporters "are the deranged, not us."
But "deranged" does not explain the Republicans in Congress. They are cunning and unprincipled. Dereliction of duty and exploitation are what explains them.
Republicans have shamefully failed to fulfill their oaths of office. Instead of supporting and defending the Constitution, Republicans have been undermining faith in the Constitution and confidence in the rule of law. They are not acting as a check on the Executive Branch's abuse of power. They are behaving as sycophants to an authoritarian child-man, a child-president.
And why are Republicans dodging their responsibility to support the Constitution? Because they are using the opportunity presented by the child-president to get what they want regardless of what the nation wants or needs. They have put their party ahead of the public welfare and national security. They intend to get their minority's ideological wish list completed and to do so they are willing to risk the child-president having a catastrophic tantrum.
We have a child-president. Like any child, he thinks the world revolves around him. But he is no ordinary child, he is a 72-year old child with psychopathic disorder. That would be bad enough, but we also have a Congress controlled not by patriots, but by jingoist nationalists and quislings.
The future of America is in dire straits. November marks our last opportunity to right the ship. Vote! It's not just your right, it's your responsibility to our nation.
3
A hopeful column. Trust the polls? No way. Anyone remember 2016? Polls are for suckers and the GOP still plays down and dirty.
Predictions of a Blue Wave are just that and nothing more. Voter turnout needs to overcome voter suppression before even making a difference. It's a very steep hill we have to climb.
Let's not just push back against Don the Con but against the party of No - the GOP.
The GOP is the party that stands for NO.
No you can't vote.
No you can't have affordable health care.
No you can't have a decent tax cut.
No you can't have a revitalized public school.
No you can't have clean air or water.
No you can't have comprehensive health care - if you're a woman.
No you can't protest.
No you can't be treated fairly by the courts.
No you can't come to America.
The list goes on and on and on. The GOP is the party of denial, exclusion and limitations for various groupings of peoples they don't like, want or ignore.
As the "ruling" party of all 3 branches of government, they have failed any major legislation except the precious tax cuts for their owners. It's just been tearing down one protection after the next in the name of greed.
Trump serves Himself, not the nation, and in so doing is one of if not the most lazy therefore ignorant President's ever.
There is a lot to work with for the Democrats.
Only hard work will ensure future votes.
12
Bravo! Well said! Or, as I like to say: Never give up, never surrender!
3
As Crosby, Nash, Stills and Young sang decades ago, "We are not helpless. We are many. What lies between us can be set aside and ended."
Time to get to the polls. Take your ID with you and persist to vote if you need to. Make sure the elections commission in your state has plenty of ballots on hand. There will be no excuse for "running out" as they have so conveniently done in the recent past. All polling places need to be open, all ballots available, and everything on the up and up this time!
3
I'd like to encourage everyone to sign up to work the polls in your area. It's a long and hectic day, but a fantastic opportunity to perform one's civic duty.
You'll receive training that includes an overview of how the voting machines work, and whether or not those machines are connected to the internet. My county uses machines that are not connected to the internet. We also use a paper form that corresponds to the individual's registration at sign in. The paper forms are counted after the vote is tallied. If the vote count doesn't match the paper form count, investigation is undertaken.
3
@Beanie Totally agree. In addition, set up a free ride to vote project, especially for older folks. Worked on one election when volunteers drove elderly voters to the voting polls and back home. We also had a take a friend to vote campaign.
1
Succinct, accurate and spirited-great column! That much needs to be done to continue to invigorate, revamp and roar is obvious enough. Whining about what has not been done is the enemy within. Such are those who would negate, not stimulate.
9
The legitimacy of the elections worries me. I know how easy it would it be to make a small change to the vote counting machines and then erase it before you were caught.
My cautionary tale is this: if you wake up on November 7th and can't figure out what happened, don't look to the people. Look to the software.
10
@mjSome of which, by the way, are owned by Russians; yes, Russians. How did that happen?
The mid-term elections are critical, but some clarification is in order.
The Democratic party has offered very little in the form of Resistance to Trump or the GOP. Despite being a minority party in Congress nothing has kept the Democrats from offering their own Immigration Bill.
Nothing prevented them from offering an alternative to yet more military spending, an alternative to Trump's ecological disasters or a bailout bill for Puerto Rico.
Nothing except their own desire to cling to the worn out policies of neoliberalism and messages sent to corporations and banks that the Democrats are more reliable stewards of their interests.
Instead, the DNC fights behind the scenes to maintain the same old policies of the past while boldly proclaiming to represent a Resistance.
Meanwhile, the real Resistance is coming from below from young Social Democrats who offer not only an alternative to Trump but to the policies of the GOP as well.
Ralph Nader had it right when he said now is the time for Democrats to be bold, as the GOP was when they proclaimed a "New Contract With America."
Of course, the Republicans quickly reneged on everything they promised but they spoke to Americans discontent with the same old politics and more importantly their discontent with the state of their lives.
Yes, the midterms offer a real opportunity for the Democrats to present a new vision for the country. But it seems they are more interested in rhetoric than the reality that most Americans face.
7
@drspock...why should Dems be the screaming boy in back of the class?
Remember, an empty can makes more noise.
Being anti-trump is loud enough. We don't need rhetoric that you claim. He does that for us.
Hillary got more votes. Sorry.
2
The fact that we have to turn out in mass just to try to put a speed bump in front of an out-of-control President shows how bad our political system has become.
If we want to save our democracy we need to make drastic changes to our political system to give the power back to the people and take it away from the corrupt political parties and their self-interested donors.
25
The power of the people is in the vote. When only 47% vote, then it allows only 24% to choose our representatives. Then the representatives cater to that 24%. If you don't vote, you literally don't count, and neither do your concerns.
2
@Ronny First step should be getting rid of the electoral college.
1
Mr. Simon's joy over a paltry 22% voter turnout says it all. Until that number really increases there cannot be true representation.
Maybe the Aussies have it right. One is penalized for not voting.
Americans have the privilege and responsibility of selecting their own government and as such, are the envy of the world. Our military protects that privilege and many die for it.
Whereas the choice among candidates might leave much to be desired, there is always one who is better than the other. I hazard the guess that those that rant the loudest against a winner are those that did not vote.
15
I hope the polls are right, but I’m not going to hold my breath. We’ve been down this road before. Hillary was supposed to be in the White House. It didn’t happen. I, like many people, was astonished while watching the election results and depressed for days and weeks afterward. Most days I’m still a little depressed watching the slow death of our Democracy. I’m going to do my part and vote for Democrats in November, but I’ll believe the results when I see them. In the meantime, I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that this is the beginning of the end of our national nightmare.
8
@PCB Please do more than just cross your fingers. In the words of the late Francis Cardinal Spellman, "Pray as if everything depends on God. Work as if everything depends on you." Contribute. Organize. Write. Phone bank. There are a couple of close House races in Southern California. I'm sure they could use some help.
And, yes, I am doing so, too.
4
In my fair state of Michigan, where all the Democrats and Independents are good looking and their children are above average, Trump won in 2016 by about 10,000 votes. Of approximately 4 million Michigan voters that year, over 80,000 left their choices for president blank. Apathy or antipathy, it doesn't matter. America history was changed, dramatically damaged, by negative thinking and third-party fantasies. Get real in November, America, your future depends on it.
20
I am far more concerned about the conservative/radical libertarian entrenchment than the scandals of Trump.
I still see him as a distraction for the dismantling of the government, privatization, stacking the judiciary, and grotesque tax cutting, not to mention militarization. This battle is seemingly forgotten, or minimized.
Charles, thank for your sustained passion on these issues.
14
I can't stand Trump and what he stands for: self-absorption, greed, mendacity, bullying, anti-intellectualism (ignorance).
But our constant emphasis on polling is a blight: https://www.npr.org/2016/02/11/466405233/polling-is-ubiquitous-but-is-it... . Lepore was on to something, and her soon-to-be-released book ("These Truths") apparently furthers the argument.
From that linked interview with Terry Gross:
"Like, in the 1970s, people said you're actually creating news and your job is to report news. But it was tremendously profitable for those newspapers and those television stations and radio stations to pay for polls to be done in order to report those polls. I think the proliferation most recently, like in the last 10 years, the number of those kind of smaller organizations - small colleges, for instance, that get into this industry, smaller radio stations, smaller town newspapers - like, I think the Union Leader in New Hampshire has its own pollster. That is actually about the incredible shrink in sources of deep journalism. So it's about the crisis of newspapers and the crisis of news more generally with the rise of the Internet and kind of niche reporting. It's very cheap to conduct a poll relative to doing the kind of deep reporting that would be required to actually get some sense of an electorate and report in a - using something other than pure quantification."
3
Trump, our version of the cartoon character Fog Horn Leghorn, sees his past catching up with him. And since we've never had a facsimile of a cartoon character as President..we all breaking new ground. The midterms elections will be determined by the mature, sensible, and objective adults in the room. Trump's reality tv show shtick has worn thin. This us evidenced by his increasing downward slide in the polls, no matter what he says or does. People have had enough. Short of a resignation and or a lack of will to impeach, Trump needs to be neutered for the next two years...and a Democratic sweep will do the trick. It's enough already...really.
6
"The Trump presidency was not the cataclysm that many had feared"
I have to disagree with you on this point Charles, we have given up trying to be a moral nation. An amoral man who has lived a life of moral turpitude is president, and the controlling fraction of this country's voters and politicians don't have a problem with this. It will take a long time to recover from this (or until the next Democrat is elected president).
9
The antidote to all that Mr. Blow writes rests on a very thin reed, so thin it is wishful thinking. It entirely depends on the integrity of the Vote.
But the vote is easily rigged. And many who know about how it works say that the vote has been rigged for decades.
Yet no one talks about it.
The so-called leaders of the Democrats never mention this elephant in the room. They have not investigated the possibility and whenever another odd election result seats Republicans, they just say, "Oh well."
A rigged democracy is not a democracy.
8
I can accept almost everything in this article, with one exception. In part Mr. Blow attributes Hillary's defeat to "unease about the possibility of having a woman as president." I don't think that is the case at all. I think Hillary was a flawed candidate because she was perceived as dishonest--and when Trump called her "Crooked Hillary" he struck a raw nerve. (One of Trump's political strengths is his ability to find the most damaging labels for opponents, and to repeat them again and again.) Consider that she was "dead broke" (her own words) when she left the White House and then quickly she and Bill had more than 100 million. According to anti-Clinton writing (believed by many and probably true) , FOB (friend of Bill) was a password for all kinds of government contracts. The Clinton Foundation was regarded as a hybrid , an institution that did do some good things but at the same time helped enrich Clinton and friends. And most of all those speeches or lectures --the speaking engagements whose contents were kept as secret as Trump's tax returns. A speech could garner $600,000--one speech . If that was not an open bribe, it was certainly regarded as a bribe by people who don't earn $60,000 in a year of two-job labor. When asked (by Bernie) why she took so much for a speech, she cavalierly responded " well that's what they offered." A bribe. She was not seen as honest. Otherwise, women have a good chance to win elections , in 2020 as well as in 2016.
7
A man known to be corrupted by power and money, who can barely string together two coherent sentences, and with zero experience in public service won over a candidate that was called by many, on both sides of the aisle, the most qualified person to ever run for president. Tell me again how it had nothing to do with being a woman.
3
@shimr Why shouldn't she accept what they offered?
I don't understand why so many folks resent Hillary earning money while she was a private citizen and didn't hurt anyone.
If someone offered you a job, would you take less than they were offering? I don't think so.
2
Mr. Blow your column says the obvious: many people are disgusted with President Trump's behavior. But even as a registered Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton, I say there does tend to be an attitude against Trump (if not outright bias) among some members of the media. It goes beyond just aggressive and detailed reporting, which we all should expect for every president. But I rarely see Trump get any credit for anything. Further, the racial anxiety -- as it is now being called -- isn't just whites in fear, but this is the same among those whose sole focus is what they call identity politics. All of that -- the "white racial anxiety" and "identity politics" is about tribes, not the nation as a whole. Candidates who talk about economics and making this country more equitable for those of us here, now, for making sure the rule of law applies to everyone, rich or poor. That goes for high ranking politicians like Trump and congress as well as people who try to thwart our borders and immigration laws and who exploit loopholes for themselves.
FiveThirtyEight was flat out wrong in their call in the presidential race. Trump seemingly had no chance against Clinton. Wrong.This time however they may be correct. Apart from the wilfully blind in Trump’s base most Americans recognize that Trump has disgraced the office of President both domestically and globally. Americans can begin the cleansing process by voting out Republicans in November.
11
@Milton Lewis In its defense, Hillary had at least 3 million more votes than trump. It was a hand-full of states with added Electoral College weight that gave trump the win.
@Norma 538did their projections State by State.
The Trump presidency hasn’t been an immediate cataclysm but a slow moving train wreck. While his attacks on the environment, regulations, diplomacy, and trade can be turned around (as he did to Obama’s acts), his attacks on decency, faith in government, the free press, institutions and facts may never recover. People who believe in values must vote to support what makes us “great”.
8
Democrats have to shelve lofty platitudes and syrupy slogans such as "Hope and Change" in exchange for street smart toughness. In New York Governor Cuomo easily defeated Cynthia Nixon thanks to his reputation for being utterly ruthless. In his campaign ads Cuomo ignored Nixon and focused solely on his real opponent--Donald Trump. These ads were really a try out for Cuomo's 2020 presidential campaign. Andrew Cuomo is finally going to break the three term curse because he is going to be re-elected as New York's governor. It's going to take a New Yorker to slug it out against another New Yorker in 2020 for the keys to the White House. Andrew Cuomo is the best chance the Democrats have for defeating Donald Trump.
2
We'd have Trump Derangement Syndrome if we were just fighting GOP political dominance.
But we are not. We are fighting irrational tweets, foreign policy that favors dictators over allies; manufacturing tariffs that may cost more jobs, even as the President claims he is saving jobs; someone whose reaction to the death of thousands is not to publicly declare policy changes that will improve the systemic problems that lead to deaths, but instead whine about how unfair the method of counting was.
We are fighting corruption - open, outright corruption - among his staff and cabinet who make policy that personally benefits themselves - EPA regulations, education debt and policy pertaining to for profit schools, communications regulation of the internet, and of course complex, intricate and illegal ties to Russian money.
Democrats protested Bush's policies, but not his character or ability to represent the country. Compare what people are angry about. It isn't derangement, it is outrage.
10
Due to the overwhelming influence of electronic media, polls are inaccurate and should be viewed with caution. Facebook, Twitter and the like hold great emotional power over the electorate. Voters need to be concerned about impulsive voting. Impulsive voting, voting based on emotions rather than intellect and knowing, played a large part in the last Presidential election. Media is tied to the formation of subconscious emotions. Who looked more "presidential'? Who sounded powerful? Much of the Trump appeal comes from emotions that are associated with his time on the "Apprentice", the reality of his nature, or his experience (none at all). It remains puzzling that he was nominated at all. However, this election must be about an informed electorate and Twitter as well as Fox News are not places for that. Therefore, the resistant must continue to knock on doors, neighbor to neighbor to advise the electorate. When states enact voter suppression laws, Dems must work around them. Help voters get that photo ID. Then candidates must be inspiring with a clear agenda. The fourth estate must expose the corruption in the Republican Party. It's not just Trump. It is all those white men in the Senate, House, State offices and the like who are the problem for the middle class. Don't depend on polls to predict the future.
4
Election night 2016 will always be the night that the worst nightmare of hundreds of millions around the world simultaneously came true. And ever since that night, like victims of post traumatic syndrome, many have staggered from day to day, barely able to absorb the true meaning of current events; people who may have been lost forever to the fight for fairness and social progress had it not been for America's women. Those women who've organized, who've marched, who've overcome self doubt to go on and run for office. These past years, lest we ever forget, women have done much more than keep a light burning in the window - they've kept the flame in our hearts from being snuffed out, perhaps forever.
8
The term “Trump Derangement Syndrome” when used to describe and insult those who oppose Trump has always struck me as being in keeping with the same pathological defense mechanism that Trump and his spokespeople use almost every day, projecting his faults onto his enemies. Any accusation that Trump makes can be read as a confession, and derangement is the best term to describe the uncritical, fanatical support this lying, immoral billionaire continues to receive from “average Americans” .
6
Excuse me if I don't believe the projections, the same ones that almost guaranteed that Hillary Clinton would be our next President...
1
Yeah. Everything Mr. Blow, and a number of commenters, said.
But I'd like to add the need to make sure that the ground game is as strong as it can possibly be on Election Day. If you have any time, and/or money, to support the blue wave, you could do worse than to channel it into volunteering to remind people to vote and to get them to the polls, to buttress phone banks and social media reminders and carpools, to bring snacks and water and entertainment to those long lines--and they will be long, not only because of turnout, hopefully, but because of Republican efforts to reduce the number of polling places.
And speaking of Republican efforts to reduce turnout and suppress voting, put efforts into ensuring that all have the necessary ID's for voting, no matter how stupid those requirements may be. And be prepared to challenge poll workers who try to deny people their rights to vote, and to record those incidents and post them in all their embarrassing splendor on every media outlet available. Don't leave any room for false claims and anecdotal incidents.
And, then, just maybe, the blue wave can become a tsunami, and begin to wash out that swamp that was supposed to be drained.
6
Apathy keeps people from voting. Anger sends them running to the polls in droves. November will tell our American story.
5
"Overall turnout was approximately 22.7%; the highest turnout percentage in a primary since 1994. "
It's disgusting that so few people bothered to vote and unless participation in the midterms is doubled by Democrats, we will not win the House. In the last midterms, only 16% of 18 to 29 year olds voted.
It drives me crazy whenever I see a long line of young people waiting on line at a hipster sneaker store or at a high-end ice-cream parlor. It always makes me wonder how many of them bother to vote and how many don't vote because it's too inconvenient or "the lines are too long".
Hillary lost the election both because of Dems who didn't bother to vote (many because they couldn't get as excited for Hillary as they did for Obama) and those who voted 3rd party. If 14% of 3rd party voters in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania had voted for Hillary and/or more Dems showed up to vote, we wouldn't be going through this horror right now.
But if Trump being in the White House doesn't cause people to show up and vote (and especially Dems), nothing will. They're willing to sit back and let fascism take hold in the U.S.
7
The real enemy isn't Trump - it's the Republican Party that has spent decades paving the way for him and has lined up behind him with hardly a qualm.
If Trump disappeared tomorrow and Pence became president, does anyone think anything would change, other than swapping deranged tweets for theocracy? Trump policies are GOP policies - he just cranked up the volume and started saying things out loud.
The real derangement syndrome is believing there's a shred of decency or sanity left in the Republican Party. They must go. If Trump takes them down, that will be his one positive legacy.
10
Can we move voting day to a weekend instead of Tuesday? America is a workaholic country. Tuesdays are impossible for me as I work all day.
4
@kim
Does New York allow absentee ballot voting if your work day precludes voting in person? If so, apply now for an absentee ballot.
By the way, I approve of mail-in voting for everybody.
5
@kim
If my memory serves me well, in Canada the law on elections mandates that four consecutive hours be allowed to all voters during normal voting hours on election day. Meaning that if polls close at 8 PM, workers can leave work at 4 PM to vote in their respective ridings.
2
Excellent paragraph summarizing why Trump was elected, however, the term "white racial anxiety" should be replaced with "racism." Trump tapped a pervasive, hateful and vicious undercurrent of racism that is no longer an undercurrent. He and his supporters will only be defeated if rational, fair minded individuals vote in greater numbers.
10
Charles, I know that you try to make sense out of the senseless for all our sakes - to make us believe that everything is somehow ok in this world. But it's not. The midterms won't help. We're in "the world's gone crazy cotillion," and that's all there is to it. The wheels have come off completely, and you know it. We can pretend that's it's just a little out of the norm in order not to panic when we tuck our kids in at night, but down deep we know better. It's time to panic. See RevolutionOfReason.com
1
We must deliver a crushing, final blow against this insanity. An unequivocal repudiation of everything that he represents, a total rejection of him and those who have enabled him. Then we must get to work stanching the flow from the wounds he has opened. Let's clean out both chambers on Capitol Hill and get busy on our future.
8
Thank you for the clarification, Charles. I had always thought whenever hearing the diagnosis, “Trump Derangement Syndrome”, that this was a description actually referring to the Fake President’s particular psychological state, perhaps a variant of the “Narcissist Personality Disorder” which many citizens know has afflicted him from adulthood. Since becoming President, and to avoid any public confusion in the future, let’s call the madness emanating daily from the Oval Office “Trump Presidential Derangement Syndrome” while leaving usage of that other “Syndrome” to his beloved electoral base.
3
Amen, Mr. Blow. Thank you for your eloquent , insightful, and concise statements.
10
"Democrats are not only likely to win control of the House of Representatives; they also have a long-shot chance of taking control of the Senate, although the map is working against them."
Without a majority in the Senate, how can we hope Trump will be impeached? No, it's not a "deranged" question; many people understand that Trump is a threat to the security of our country.
And our first job: reunite detained children with their families and hope they forgive us. We may have created another hundred thousand world citizens who hate America just a little too much.
5
I agree that 23% voter turnout while Trump is president is nothing to celebrate. Determination, without voting motivation, is motionless.
2
Excellent article, and I would feel the same way about Trump if he was a Democrat.
1
A good column. Nevertheless, it is a sad day when a 22.7% voter turnout is a cause for celebration, but unfortunately that figure is a good explanation for the sorry state of our democracy. This figure cannot be explained by anything other than voter apathy (no, voter suppression measures could not explain this meager result). Such low turnout is the reason our “elected” officials no longer represent all of us but only the small share of the population that put them in power.
Here hoping that whatever it is that drove people to vote in the primaries will drive them to vote in November, and that they convince their friends and family members that voting is indeed the most powerful tool that we as citizens possess to effect the change we need. Only when we do our part will our government truly be that “of the people, by the people, for the people” that Abraham Lincoln so eloquently spoke of at Gettysburg.
5
What's to stop these Congressional Republicans for citing Fake Election and refusing to concede? Their indifference to the trainwreck that is Donald Con Man Trump speaks volumes. Why not simply become part of the disease as long as it suits their own interests?
3
We are "fired up and ready to go" to the polls! The day of reckoning is coming in more ways than one. Justice will be served. The light of truth will outshine the darkness. Our democracy will not cave to crooks and corruption. RESIST.
1
Well said, Sir! Just the other day when I spoke to a friend optimistically about the November elections, she was reluctant to share my feelings, stating, "But the Democrats don't vote!" I told her these were not normal times. There was 'a rumblin' below the surface, a metaphorical earthquake ready to shake us out of our stupor and into action. These last horrible, horrible 20 or so months have forced us to witness corruption at its nadir, and in real time. I do not remember in my 73 years of life such a debauched, amoral, unhinged, and inept president as Mr. Trump. His cabinet - except for Mattis - are ominously destructive, whether it be in education, the environment, housing, HHS, labor, you name it. Their interests lie with too many greedy and equally unethical millionaires and billionaires. And let us not forget this Republican Congress which is the focus of Mr. Blow's column. The adjectives are relentless...spineless, power-hungry, devoid of a moral compass, cowardly, greedy, self-serving. Perhaps the most heinous characteristic, however, is its silence to the point of betrayal of our country relating to blatant Russian interference in 2016 and possible/probable collusion. Shameful..
I am singing to the choir when I urge Times' readers to vote. We will. But what we can do is get actively involved with our Democratic candidates...stomp the pavement, get on the phones, donate money. Justice is within our reach and so close...
12
Let me comment on the line "The economy kept running". My feeling is that the impact of this presidency on your image as a country will be real. Investors / tourists / scientists / artists / immigrants also make moral choices. I wonder if this can be measured one way or another ?
5
Mr. Blow, I don't agree when you say, "The Trump presidency was not the cataclysm that many had feared." He has ignored ethical norms, he has put his family into positions of power for which they are unqualified, he has ruined the lives of countless immigrants with his viciousness, he has made it acceptable again to be an open racist, he has explicitly called the press "the enemy of the people," and he has ruined the careers of people in the government who have dared to oppose him. I fear that it may require decades to overcome the damage to our nation and our Constitution. I consider the Trump Presidency to be the political equivalent of a destructive tsunami. To me, that's a cataclysm.
24
@Audrey Liebross, you are right on ! In addition to the points you make, there is the accelerated attack on providing healthcare for millions by this administration. The drive to decrease Medicaid also strikes at the most vulnerable and particularly the elderly. The lies are horrific ! The lack of human empathy shown to the people in Puerto Rico is beyond belief ... where is the cry of outrage from Republicans ! Yes, we finally get to vote !!
@Audrey Liebross I agree. US culture has suffered a blow from which it will not easily recover, if at all.
Parents of elementary school children: demand your child's teacher hold class elections every year. Mine is October 5th, right before fall break. Voting needs to happen period.
22.7% turnout and someone is celebrating?
Where are the cries for mandatory voting?
I have to buy car insurance and pay it every month, and I haven't had an accident in over 20 years. Insurance is mandatory right?
Why isn't voting mandatory?
11
In many ways the Trump presidency is far, far worse then I feared. Though I was anxious about potential international friction and general Republican malaise becoming U.S. policy, the grossness of the man is just astounding. Flabbergasting, as my Ma used to say.
Never having seen much of Trump---like in these "reality programs folk are so enamored with---I was immediately overwhelmed by this remarkably incurious slob. His gold plated pretentions of Royalty. His inability to either write or read or understand, his fake hair and fake talk that are all lies. He didn't even throw out the first pitch to start the baseball season. Being President, what kind of person would turn this down?
And when I read that the CIA had to prepare simplified graphics for the leader of the free world, who is too dumb or without the attention span to read, it was utterly disgusting.
Never has there been anyone so fake in high public office. It is repulsive. And given all this, in addition to the shenanigans of the election, I have no problem what-so-ever about trying to drive the man from office. It isn't a coup, it's our democracy at work.
While elections to defy him are important, much more valuable is to drive the man from office using the provisions in the Constitution. I fully expect Democrats to immediately act upon this. Not as the "only" thing they do, just to begin the first and most important thing.
Nothing will accrue and regain our international respect as much as this.
19
The problem for the Trump resistance is not antipathy for Trump; there's plenty. The problem for the Trump resistance is it must defeat the Republican Party, congressperson-by- congressperson, senator-by-senator. Trump is the visible pustule of a plague that has spread party-wide, and is far less evident and thus more dangerous in the smiling faces and outwardly benign presences of a congress dedicated to the same noxious purposes as its leader. The challenge remains.
9
The Right made this bed and now they will be forced to sleep in it. Will the Bullies be finally made to atone for the way they have divided and conquered our government. I may be old fashoined to still believe that good always win out over evil.If people don't vote in the Mid Term election they deserve what they get. Buyers remorse is at an all time high and maybe it is time to show the powers that be who is the real Boss.
6
Are you KIDDING me? 22% turnout - and that's considered HIGH? I know it was a primary - but still!
We just experienced an election in 2016 in which the cranks stole the election because we "citizens" had the blue flue on election day. And now we get 22% turnout. Where is all this Democratic enthusiasm I keep hearing about? What does it take to get people to demonstrate some civic responsibility?
With the fate of our democracy hanging on the outcome this Nov. 6th, if we don't have at least 90% turnout at the polls, this old grampa is gonna start bustin some chops!
No excuses - VOTE!
9
Two overlooked reasons for Trump’s victory: the electoral college and winner take-all elections in a majority of states.
7
Deranged? More like enraged. And maybe, in some, to the political equivalent of road rage.
And not (only) about the legislative “victory” of the tax cut, or the executive orders aimed at what the Congress won’t do but does approve of.
There is anger and sadness at the manipulation of what was American fairness, as outlined in our founding documents, that outweighs the damage to the specific targets this regime has aimed at.
The lasting impact of what the 30 or 40 percent that support this shift in what was our ethos, revealing as much self-centeredness in the “unheard” is just as strong as in the one percentages, and what the Congress is riding on, is what pushes thinking and caring people to the brink of “deranged”.
We may never be able to vote it away.
7
As an ardent member of the trump resistance movement, I am shocked by one comment in your essay: The Minnesota secretary of state was exuberant that 22.7% of voters in the state voted in the recent primary. It may be the highest number ever for a primary in Minnesota, but it is an abysmally low percentage!
Far more people need to take responsibility for our democracy and VOTE.
149
@AML I caught that and I, too, was shocked at his exuberance at that percentage. Oklahoma has horribly low voter participation due, largely I believe, to the evisceration of the Democratic Party and the absence of good candidates. This problem is exacerbated by the heavy political hand of the extraction industries, oil and gas, that run the state and direct their lackies to deregulate, allow earthquakes, foul the air and water, all for the almighty dollar. Add to that the red meat of intolerance, fear and greed and you have an electorate that feels powerless and acts that way by not voting, the old “it doesn’t matter what I do” mentality. The rest of us have got to work harder to GOTV!
Couple Comments:
22.7% the highest turnout in primary elections in Minnesota and the secretary of State of Minnesota thinks the result is exciting. And we wonder what is wrong with American Politics!!
I'm so happy that FiveThirtyEight gives Democrats a five in six change of taking over Congress.
Wasn't it FiveThirtyEight that gave Hillary a huge victory over trump. Look how that turned out.
I hope the Democrats take over, but I am aware of gerrymandering, voter rules that make it difficult for some to vote.
46
Democrats need a 55% majority just to break even. Remember that a three million vote margin wasn’t enough to get a Democratic president, and a Democratic president wasn’t enough to get a Supreme Court nominee. This mid-term will be about what happens if, once again, a Democratic majority can’t change anything. I’m not that excited about winning, because I’m afraid of what happens when it very likely doesn’t matter.
21
@Peter Well written.
Nothing is set in stone.
We will learn the fate of Congress after the polls close on November 6th.
So, it is up to each and every Democrat and Independent (and, yes, every Republican with a conscience) to get out there and vote for Democrats this midterm.
November 6th, 2018 - VOTE like your country depends on it.
87
We’ve seen polls before that proved fallible. The poll that means anything will be Election Day. If Democrats are blasé about this election, it could be a decade before they recover. Can a lot happen in ten years? Look at history. 1935-1945. 1962-1972.
18
I know what happened during the decades you cite but most younger people don’t. Hopefully they will remember how things have changed in the past two decades but sometimes it takes a while to gain perspective on an era.
3
The Democrats better not take it easy. The approval rating for Trump among Republicans have been consistently over 80%, the latest Gallup survey showing it at 85%.
Just think about that. Those who help put Trump in the office--Flynn, Manafort and even Cohen--have all pleaded guilty to various things and, in Cohen's case, directly implicated Trump in nefarious activities. Yet, Trump's approval rating is quite high among Republicans.
Democrats better work very hard and go to the polls in large numbers. Otherwise, the "resistance" may fizzle at the polls.
66
@RK YES. Sprint through the mid-term finish line. Then, begin the marathon of electing progressive, fair-minded people at every level of government from dog-catcher to senator!
1
@RK You do realize that "Republicans" make up a smaller and smaller percentage of the population, right? It seems not.
The number of people registering as Republicans went down after 2006, and has gone down since 2016. They have become a self-selected group of Trump loyalists, and are greatly out-numbered by the rest of us.
All this could have been avoided if the USA had a rational election system. The Electoral College decided for Trump. Members of the College have equal voting rights so those from poorly populated States have as much power as those who represent vastly more voters.
A sane electoral system would have ensured Trumps defeat as the people's votes against him greatly exceeded the votes for him.
102
@irdac...while I can appreciate your sentiment, without the electoral college, candidates probably would not campaign in any but the 10 or 11 largest states. and, I tend to doubt, notwithstanding the 2016 election, that the country really wants California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania to determine the winner every four years.
The issues are voter education. voter registration, and voter turnout.
11
@athenasowl - And now they don't bother to campaign in places like Massachusetts. Ideally, candidates would not campaign in states, but in the US, because every citizen's vote would be worth the same.
And unless you are from Idaho and New Hampshire, I don't think you are too keen on the influence these states have on the election, either.
2
@just visiting...and therein is the conundrum. One can come up with any number of pros and cons regarding the electoral college and the electoral system. I am comfortable with the electoral college and believe that resolving the issues I identified in my origial comment as well as some others would go a long ways towards fixing what a lot of people believe is wrong with the present system.
And, BTW, I have been living in this western diaspora since 1976, I was born, raised and went to school in Massachusetts.
Anxious. In 2016 many of US were convinced that middle America, our social, economic and, more or less, cultural neighbors would not vote for a gaudily ostentatious playboy turned TV celebrity whose moral compass always pointed toward himself. His normal behavior, normal for him, could not be explained to the children around the breakfast table--Dad, was he talking about stealing a kitty? Nate Silver's algorithms provided mathematical comfort in our uneasiness.
Each and every time a pundit provides a prediction that America will check an autocratic leaning regime led by a man who, most likely, is unfamiliar with the term and is not even a little curious as to its meaning, my anxiety increases. We heard this before and look around my friends.
38
22.7% is "crushing it" in Minnesota? We should be doing a lot better than this and adopt reforms that make registration and voting a lot easier.
58
@Tom Miller In other words, Democrats need to win big in state and local elections in addition to federal elections to undo the republican gerrymandering and "regulations" that make it difficult for citizens to vote (ie. people who tend to vote Democratic).
13
It partly depends on where the votes came from as to who crushed. Minnesota has been blue for a long time because of the liberal cities of Minneapolis and Duluth. Most of the rest of the state votes like Alabama. We will see which Minnesota shows up on November 6. I’m betting on a big night for the DFL (for the uninitiated, there is no ‘Democratic Party’ in Minnesota, rather they have the ‘Democrat Farmer Labor Party’.)
I am a one issue voter. I vote for the Supreme Court, which means I have spent a good number of elections holding my nose as I voted for the Democrat. What amazes me is that there are so many voters who DO NOT KNOW that a Supreme Court justice is nominated by the President and subject to Senate confirmation. Then all of a sudden they wake up when a Gorsuch or Kavanaugh is nominated. I wonder how many Trump voters at the margin now have buyer's remorse, but it's too late!
16
@athenasowl There are many (too many) uninformed voters that know very little about anything. They probably failed their civics classes (if their states even required such a class).
Mr. Blow is on target with this essay, except when he said, "The Trump administration was not the cataclysm we feared." Most important and truly cataclysmic, Mr. Trump is threatening our important democratic processes. Separation of powers, an independent judicial department, responsiveness to Congress, Mr. Trump's attacks on these are slowly dismantling the American democracy. He wants to be President for life. But there is also a long list of actions which directly hurt Americans and America, but also hurt the entire world. How long will it take to recover from a trade war? How can we correct the damage to the environment inflicted by the Trump administration and his fossil fuel executives? How can the thousands of families suffering without health care be ignored? How will we reconstruct and repair the immigration system that has served us so well for decades? While the "markets haven't crashed", the weakening of regulations put in place after the 2008 crash, certainly makes another crash more likely in the future. It is clear that Mr. Trump's attacks on the press have decreased the confidence in those vital organizations. The freedom to learn and educate on line is being attacked by Mr. Trump's appointees from industry. While I agree with most of Mr. Blow's statements, I disagree that Mr. Trump's presidency has not been cataclysmic. It has been much worse and I fear we won't recover.
100
Agree. Each and every day I think it can’t get any worse. But then it does.
5
I live just around the corner from a polling station and several of my neighbors count the paper ballots when there are municipal, legislative, regional and presidential elections. Election Day is always on a Sunday and in the 45 years my husband has voted in different parts of France he told me he can never remember waiting more than 15 minutes. I often see parents with their children in tow coming to vote and giving their kids a lesson in civic responsibility at the same time. Voting here is made as easy as possible and knowing your neighbors are studiously counting and recounting those votes inspires trust that the process is free and fair.
I try to be as optimistic as Charles for the coming mid-terms, and like many consider this (and 2020) will be a make or break election for our endangered democracy. However, even beyond the egregious gerrymandering and attempts at voter suppression, I am more and more concerned about the possibility of rigged voting machines and electronic malfeasance either domestic or foreign. I’d feel a lot better if, as here, paper ballots were dropped into ballot boxes and then counted by “real people” rather than by a “robot.”
81
22.7% in Minnesota. Crushing it! And this from a state that already had undergone the experiment of electing a "reality show" entertainer as governer--and what could be more real than professional wrestling? Arenas packed with crowds who know they are being bamboozled and thrill-screaming their pleasure. Compare their expressions to those on exhibit at the Trump rallies.
22.7%. What will the number be in November? Why does anyone who hears the lies and senses the danger need to be enticed to vote?
25
I don't gt this "resistance to Trump" narrative. Trump is not on the ballot. Everything Trump has done of significance has been by executive action, not legislative action, the tax cut being the major exception.
There is no way to "resist" his executive actions except to elect a Democrat who will undo them in 2020.
Let's focus on the down ballot races for state legislator, county supervisors, state AGs, and most importantly, state secretary of states, the chief elections officers.
19
@Paul
Yes, vote in down ballot races, but also vote in the Congressional races. The Congressional Republicans are not doing their job as a counterbalance to the executive.
The Democrats will.
61
@Paul If we flip the house of representatives, we will have a House that can provide push back. That is important.
35
@Paul Well, I think that is what we are all doing and if you don't get the fact that Trump is driving us to the polls then you need to return your channel.
Twenty-two point seven percent sounds about right for the number of eligible voters who are reasonably well-informed on the issues.
I am a proponent for reasonably well-informed people voting.
People need to inform themselves on the issues, before they vote, in order to vote responsibly. When you try to shame people into voting, you're going to have a lot of people voting who haven't bothered to keep up with the issues, don't know what their elected representatives are actually doing; and don't know what are their opponents' stands. You will have people voting for the name they recognize, the name they like best, a favorite reality TV star, etc. "Prices keep going up but my wages stay the same! I want change! I'll vote for the outsider."
Having an uninformed or misinformed electorate casting votes, is one way you get a person like Donald Trump sitting in the White House.
36
@Corinne Standish
If the Democratic Party does not identify the non-voters, register them, and get them to the polls, the forces of darkness will continue to render us useless.
1
@Corinne Standish
I believe this analysis is more accurate and perceptive than Charles Blow attributing Trump's election to racial issues and resistance to a woman being elected President.
@Corinne Standish A well-informed electorate is the ideal in a representative democracy, since all 250 million adults in the country can't have a meeting, hear all the facts and differing opinions and then draw conclusions all would agree were well-informed. How do you determine who is well-informed and who is not? We must make sure that we do not define "well-informed" as "agreeing with me because I am well-informed." Is there a committee that decides? "We [whoever we is] have determined that you are not sufficiently informed about the issues and the political process to vote. We suggest you stay home on Election Day." Those who assiduously watch Fox News, read The Washington Times and not the Post, and listen to talk radio into the night will tell you that they are much better informed than those who listen to and read the "fake news" in The New York Times, CNN and Bob Woodward's book. It may well be true that a fairly large minority of adult Americans could not correctly answer enough of the questions on a citizenship test to become citizens, but what are you going to do? Requiring a passing score on such a test every two years would clearly be unconstitutional. Voting is different from driving. We have never had a universal sense of national pride in exercising our right to vote, the pride coming from knowing you have made the best choices you possibly could and you and your neighbors made a difference. Can anyone suggest how we achieve that?
If those opposing Trump were determined, they would try to win back the votes of white blue-collar men.
Instead, they reject them as evil racists.
A political party that rejects an entire segment of potential voters is deranged.
QED.
15
@Jonathan
Quod erat demonstrandum .Which will be shown.
Don't be so sure.
@Jonathan
And your point is that Trump is trying to drain the swamp by pandering to those men? Why don’t those men use their brains and see that they are being conned? Oh, they don’t because the market is up? Well when they have to sell off 100% of their assets because they can’t get medical coverage because Trump has succeeded in bringing back the pre-existing condition exclusion, will they realize they were conned for short term gain and start voting in their own interests which are not aligned with the conman no matter how much they want to think so...
QED...
@Jonathan
While not all Trump voters may be racists, those who aren't should realize who their bedfellows are. As for electoral strategy, few Democratic strategists advocate "winning back" Trump voters for the upcoming midterm elections. There's little point trying to change the opinions of those voters, blue collar or not, if they haven't yet rejected Trump's rhetoric, policies, and actions by now. This election will be about getting Democrats, Independents, and sane Republicans to the polls.
1
This felt like a generally upbeat article, but it was down to earth with a thud when Charles quoted this tweet from
the Minnesota secretary of state:
“Minnesota, you crushed it last night! With 100% Reporting: 902,119 people voted in the primary; the highest number of primary voters since 1982. Overall turnout was approximately 22.7%; the highest turnout percentage in a primary since 1994. Amazing!”
Amazing is not the right word (especially when followed by !) to describe a turnout as low as 22.7%, even if it's the highest in 36 years - which roughly coincides with a long period of decline for the Democratic Party. Instead of congratulating themselves, party leaders should be asking themselves what they can do to attract the stay-at-homes. When the percent spread between the parties is usually in the low single digits, that would be a far better strategy than trying to convert the relatively small number of Republican voters that might change their minds.
33
@mancuroc: and they should be asking not just why it is so bad NOW but how did get into this mess!!! why on earth is it under 50% and apparently in previous years it was so low that a lousy 22% turnout has them doing cartwheels!
Outside of war, elections are all about the economy. There are millions of people in our country that don't like anything about Trump, except his economic policies. The economy is booming and he will be reelected. Granted without NY, CA and IL.
7
@Andrew- strange, I haven't seen any booming around here.
“Trump Derangement Syndrome” is quite real and Charles’s outraged defense of #TheResistance is merely a fig-leaf for an ideological commitment to stymying policy outcomes with which he disagrees – on taxes, regulation and other fracture-points of our pronounced divisions, by seeking to cut off the perceived font of such outcomes. But, of course, liberals tend to see only as far as the end of their noses, and even if they were successful at decapitating Trump, there would remain, in order of ascendance, Pence, Ryan (for now) and Orrin Hatch. None of these worthies would be less likely to push a policy framework that Charles despises.
Since they haven’t been able to do it at the ballot-box, #TheResistance is willing to consider all alternatives, regardless of how unlikely of success they are.
What if? What if? What if? Unable to question the good things that have happened to and in America since Trump’s inaugural, Charles is forced to speculate about all the bad things that MIGHT happen. Heck, the ghost of Orson Welles might re-broadcast his fake news “War of the Worlds” radio offering except this time for real, and a vastly diminished human population could be forced to subsist on Martian rocks and red cheese forever.
My concern for the deranged is acute: if they DON’T get their “wave” in a few weeks, and the whip-hand remains in Republican hands, then I DO hope that HHS has a deal up its sleeve to obtain massive amounts of anti-depressants at cost.
8
@Richard Luettgen, thanks for the laugh. Nothing is certain; I'm waiting to see who gets the last laugh.
27
@Thomas Zaslavsky
As I recall, you wrote the same thing to me in early November, 2016.
@Richard Luettgen
Of all your flights of fancy, the one that's least likely to come true is the idea of a Republican HHS even thinking of a deal to provide any pharmaceutical product at cost.
38
Now is not the time to be lazy, wishy washy, or indifferent. If there's a moment in history when the average citizen can make a difference, it's this November. I know the Republicans bank on discouraging the Democratic voters, and they are trying like Hades to suppress the vote, but their shenanigans can be defeated by mere numbers and energy. Vote, then if the Democrats take both houses of congress, hold them accountable that they will follow through on being the check on Donald Trump. It's our time to turn back Republican malfeasance, and really start making America work for ALL Americans.
72
@Marc Castle
I appreciate "hold them accountable." As one ship sinks, the rats will swim to the other.
Yes, those of us who are desperate for the Democrats to regain control of Congress in November to put the brakes on the damage to this country perpetrated by a Trump administration are a determined bunch. So I am heartened and enthused by the way things seem to be shaping up, if the primaries and voter attitudes are any indication.
But there is one line in Mr. Blow's piece that bothers me: "They are deranged, not us." The 'they' refers to those who support Trump no matter what. There is real danger in dismissing these people, many of whom are articulate and highly educated and intelligent, as 'deranged', for that dismisses them as inconsequential. But Trump is a manifestation of the deep and disquieting divide that these people support. In order for us to get rid of the horrors in this country that a Trump administration has exposed, we need to address the causes of and reasons for that support. It is only then that we can truly start moving in a better direction.
58
@John D Being articulate highly educated and intelligent does not make a person immune from lacking empathy or behavior that is not civilized. Trump has simply rekindled the darkest fears in people, the bassist feelings of insecurity that the class system we deny this country has fostered. He is a delusional person a narcissist who has had no reason for anything in his life other than his immediate impulsiveness and gratification.
Just look to the 1930s and the rise of authoritarian regimes and fascism. Exactly the same unusual convergence of the types of people who became Nazis and SS members are the people supporting Trump now. We need to be very watchful and determined to combat them if we are to save American democracy.
@John D
Is your proposed remedy less ominous than you are leaving us to imagine? "We have ways of making you silent..."
The pundits are wrapping themselves in all kinds of predictions. Many seem to agree that the Democrats will take the House, although it is not clear by how much. Now there is speculation that the Senate might slip into Democratic control.
Mr. Blow's column reminds us that perhaps the most important piece of all this is to get everyone out to vote, and not exhaust ourselves worrying about whatever the results might be.
As voters, we have the right, indeed, the obligation, to make our opinions and political support known---through the ballot box. There is a time for protests and letters to the editors, but now is the time to support candidates and go vote.
We will all feel better for having exercised our right to vote. Further, we will elect many officeholders who will bring our voices to state capitals and Washington, D.C.
I wish I could vote tomorrow!
68
@Aggie We must all remember that in spite of the outcome of the 2018 elections, unless Mr.Trump is impeached and convicted, I think he will be re-elected in 2020. His major donors will increase financial support, using part of the money they have made on the tax cuts. This financial support is likely to yield a # of votes which when added to the votes of his "base" will be sufficient to carry the electoral college. So winning the Senate in 2018 will be crucial and then, if Mr. Mueller produces the evidence, Congress must impeach and convict Mr. Trump.
8
@Peter T. Winning a simple majority in the Senate won’t be enough for impeachment. Mueller will need to have enough evidence of impeachable offenses to win over a sizable number of R’s in the Senate.
2
@Aggie
Remember to vote early and often.
The next step is going to be interesting. Are we really going to get stuck with Pence, when Trump no longer can hide behind palace guards and Fox News?
Pence is of course very bad news himself. The challenge will be to fight his ascendance and, if that fails, resist him if he holds office. We will need a lot of help for the former, and for the latter we had better get ourselves a strong Congressional Democratic majority. It will need to be willing to stand up to the frauds among the Republican Congressional delegations.
There is no turning back from this struggle now. Today's Republicans are nightmarish, and we must defeat them so that they won't trouble the world- and its natural systems- for a very long time.
167
@Mike Roddy Resist Pence ascendance? On what grounds? The constitution and the law is clear. If Trump resigns Pence is President.
6
@Bill Brown
Obvious observation, and I mean that as a compliment, since it's also an inexplicably rare observation. Based on sentiments expressed during the 2016 primary season, one would think the GOP would be delighted to lose the man and keep the office. What has the circus gotten for them that numbers alone would not have gotten for them?
@Bill Brown The only problem being: Trump won't resign! Just remember his deep admiration for all the strongmen in this world.
You can tell that His Fatness is sweating these days: he's already telling his supporters that if the Democrats take control of Congress and impeach their Great White Dope they'll only have themselves to blame. Which is to say that he's already looking for others to take the fall in the event that he ends up in an orange jumpsuit (albeit more likely in 2020 than in 2018). It's already been two whole days since Manafort got his plea deal in return for his agreement to start spilling the beans to Mueller. What's taken his former boss so long to begin referring to him as a flipper, a turncoat and a carbuncle on the anus of American society? I'm betting that he or Rudy is already reaching out to him with the promise of a pardon for sins already made public in return for a commission of perjury.
156
@stu freeman: Stu, you know that if Manafort perjures himself NOW, after reaching a deal with Mueller...they will throw him in prison, and throw away the key. If Manafort is willing to risk perjuring himself because he is promised a pardon...I don't know what happens to your pardon if the special counsel finds out that you have committed perjury. Can the president pardon someone who is found guilty of perjury after he has already made a deal with the special prosecutor????? THAT would really be the icing on the stinking cake!
1
"Trump Derangement Syndrome" means only one thing in reality: Republican voters.
130
My French husband made me laugh at dinner tonight. We were talking about politics and what's been happening in the states this past 10 days. He was on a business trip to another country so wasn't aware. When I was finished my husband said:
"You know, apparently Trump is keeping his campaign promises. It very much appears he is draining the swamp."
14
Trump is going to bring a lot of people to the polls in November but any hopes of a blue wave that will end the domination of 30% of our citizens over our government are ignoring who are interested in voting. There are center and center right voters who will vote for moderate representatives who will seek a broad based coalition to govern. There will be self styled progressives and social democrats who won’t seek coalitions and will try to control any Democratic majority to force it to adopt their agenda as the far right does to Republicans. These separate factions might join in investigating Trump but otherwise the gridlock will just become more complicated. We have become a country that no longer has any mutual sense of common interests, instead we are a nation of seriously mistrustful adversaries.
8
@Casual Observer - You can blame the right for that. They have taken straightforward, nonpartisan issues about which there ought to be a consensus, such as climate change and universal healthcare, and made them wedge issues.
35
Trump is a weak President who is not doing the things we'd hoped for. Even what Blow calls good are not, which is part of Blow's problem.
"They told us that we suffered from Trump Derangement Syndrome"
You do. As a one suffering from it, you misunderstand it.
"This man was wholly unacceptable, as a matter of character."
You didn't want him, and would not accept him. On Election Night you threw a fit. You disrespected the voters and the vote.
"an attack on our elections by the Russians"
You made excuses. Whatever the Russians did was not a decisive factor. That was in your choice of candidate, and how She ran a donor-controlled campaign out of the coasts, ignoring the places where then she lost.
"And yet, the markets didn’t crash. The economy kept humming. We entered no new major foreign conflicts"
While the world did not fall apart, neither did the recover reach out to the left out. While the wars did not get that much worse, they did get worse, and none ended. Those were exactly the things that were gotten wrong by those suffering from Trump Derangement, and you still get it wrong even to his benefit. No, the economy sucks. No, the wars are not okay. Democrats have to own some of that, but won't even see the problem, not even they must give Trump credit for things they think are good, that voters don't like.
"The Trump presidency was not the cataclysm that many had feared"
You just didn't like losing. You so disliked it, you did not get the messages.
13
@Mark Thomason, what has happened to you? You used to be closer to reality. Some recent facts: Trump lost the popular vote by a substantial margin; the one you call "your candidate" beat him soundly in the popular vote. Trump is incompetent and possibly worse; it doesn't require derangement to see that, only eyesight. Trump kept Obama's recovery going by not doing anything that undercut it in the short term. I think many Democrats (not enough, it's true) know that the wars and deportations were not initiated by Trump; but the media don't seem to be aware of it. Etc.
50
@Thomas Zaslavsky -- What has happened to me is that Trump has driven the Democrats insane. They've lost their minds. I can't ignore that and join in the lunacy.
That does not defend Trump. It just won't excuse this.
More important, before they went insane, the Democrats abandoned their voters, and now they have yet to come back to them.
You despise Trump? Sure. But this is the way to getting him re-elected.
1
@Mark Thomason There are 100 reasons to dislike and oppose this POTUS. That IS NOT deranged. As Charles says any sensible person can see that. Yes, we're angry, for good reason, and calling us deranged won't change it one bit.
5
Thank you, Mr. Blow, for your essay. Increased voter turnout is nice, as this is healthy for our democracy. However, what about voter registration? Please encourage people to register so they can vote. Thank you.
105
"Resistance up to this point has largely been a statement of principle, but when we vote in November it will be an expression of power. We’re not deranged; we’re determined!"
All that assumes people come out to vote in November.
Let nothing prevent you from coming out to vote!
176
If we make the next two election cycles about Trump then Democrats are going to lose. People are looking for someone who recognizes the local issues they care about and have a plan to fix it. We want someone who is going to make our lives better.
Democrats need to remember what FDR and his new deal policies were all about. He recognized that the 99% needed help and he created programs that gave the dignity of a decent paying job instead of handouts. In using the power of the government to build infrastructure, affordable housing, pensions and social security for the elderly, while stabilizing the banks, and helping the farmers FDR ensured that the US wasn't vulnerable to authoritarianism like other countries are after economic crisis.
A decade ago we bailed out the banks but not the working class people who were losing everything. Trump tapped into that anger and resentment. Democrats must do better going forward. Trump won because neither party addressed the needs of the 99%.
43
@Ami
"Trump won because neither party addressed the needs of the 99%."
And how has Trump been working out for the 99%? Feeling that great tax cut yet? He is--are you? Health care costs coming down? Didn't think so.
3
@Ami
"If we make the next two election cycles about Trump then Democrats are going to lose."
But it IS about Trump. That's what gets the turnout - the hate against the hate. No turnout, no win.
Policies are secondary. They put people to sleep. No one believes a politician anyway.
You need both, but it's turnout that wins elections and emotion is what drives turnout. We need to hate and fear Trump, as we should.
Better to win by whatever means necessary than be a self-righteous loser going on about the high road when evil is on the march.
You can always go back to nicey-nice after the win.
1
And Trump addressed it?
Although I had kinda wished back then the banks would be seriously shackled in 2008, or maybe not bailed out, the consequences could have been much worse.
Trump tells his base the inevitable changes are not coming or are being reversed (harping on beautiful coal, for example) his party does the opposite and kills the working class off, ushering in a new underclass of hand to mouth servants.
I'm heartened not only by the increased turnout but also the number of women and minorities running on the Democratic side. I'd like to believe that success will breed success, and more first-time voters will go to the polls than ever before and more women and minorities will continue to run.
Democratic policies are the policies of the majority, we just need people to see that their votes will make a difference.
49
I no longer believe any poll but the one on election day. The electorate will vote their pocketbook. The Senate and the House may well remain Republican unless there is at least as strong a turnout of Democrats as Republicans and then the third that is not registered to either party believe the economy and the country need to change directions. Unemployment is down to a near record low, those who gave up looking for work are now employed and GDP was higher than 4%. As a realist I think 2020 is our best hope. And I hope I am wrong.
10
Make no presumptions at all that Dems will make the gains in Congress currently forecast because it's not over until the elections are over.
23
Our principled apolitical resistance will become our principled apolitical votes. We will vote for truth, decency, our American democracy, and our traditional American aspirations.
25
I think it's premature to say who will win what. Let's not forget what we experienced with the presidential election of 2016. Rather than predicting, I think all energy is best spent getting the 40+% of the population that didn't vote in the last election, to the polls in November. whenweallvote.org is Michelle Obama's initiative. Support it.
354
@A
Thank you for this comment. I did not vote in 2016 because the morning of the election the NYT had a banner on its front page saying HRC was 82% favored to win. So why bother?
Won't make that mistake again!
Don't believe in polls - get out and vote!
With respect to the "resistance," it comes down to quality candidates and messages that resonate with local voters. I am unconcerned with the inability of the national Democratic Party to craft the perfect national message. There may not be one.
Democrats might love the tax cuts in Florida, but even middle class Republicans hate them in Southern California. We got clobbered by limits to the SALT deduction. Any candidate that reassures voters that that bill would never have gotten a floor vote with a Democratic House has wide appeal here. We are only too aware that Republicans are not through abusing us if they keep power.
The corruption message works here too. Not only do we have Trump's nearly daily venality forced on us, a mention of Duncan Hunter Jr. or Duke Cunningham convinces most reasonable people here that we need a change.
40
@David Johnson
Democrats need to hammer home the fact that the Republican tax scam bill will affect them if they don't make sure enough is being withheld from their pay. Some news outlets did a great job last week reminding readers and viewers and providing links to the IRS site where they can check their withholdings.
That isn't all, though. Republicans have reached an agreement to push votes on the Violence Against Women's Act and Trump's wall until after the election. They're negotiating the delay of other bills, including food stamps and a slew of other things that directly affect millions.
Democrats need to make hay of all of these things, plus what the Trump administration has rolled back. Asbestos is being allowed back in some products. Rules on pollutants from coal mines were rolled back by Congress last year. There is a lot more voters need to know.
---
Notes on .@Axios’ “1 big thing: Epic political malpractice — at scale
https://www.rimaregas.com/2018/09/16/blog42s-notes-on-axios-1-big-thing-...
29
Since 2016 I will never, ever, believe a poll again. I am completely skeptical of anyone answering poll questions - why would people be truthful in answering when they know they can lie and make the other side complacent in their belief that their side is gaining? I have lost all trust in predictive attempts. And I have lost a great deal of trust in the integrity of the electorate. Anyone who in the face of events these past two years still strongly supports the president is someone I feel utterly alien to. So while I live in hope that our nation will regain its mind and soul through restoring a check on the executive branch, I do not count on it.
124
@JWalker
"Since 2016 I will never, ever, believe a poll again."
What's worse is that the polls may all have been correct, and it was the voting machines that were wrong.
211
@JWalker, the polls were not far off. Hillary got many more votes than Donald. Donald won the Electoral College by a hair in a few states. None of this contradicts your resolute skepticism!
21
@JWalker
The polls are neither to be believed nor disbelieved - they are to analysed. There is no substitute for rigorous analysis of poll data - such as provided by Nate Silver and the 538 crew. Their final assessment had Trump as a 30% chance, and, as they had been resolutely pointing out, that meant very, very possible. They had also been pointing out exactly how. The six key states were line-ball, the data inadequate, and while marginally favouring Clinton, all were within the critical margin of error. Their key insight was that many people shared a fallacy about this situation: if 6 states were a toss of the coin and Clinton needed only 2 or 3 of them, it seemed to follow that she had an extremely strong hand. However, 538's point was that if there was a marginal error in the polling for one state, that same error was likely to apply to all six. And so it turned out.
As well, as pointed out above, the polls (as averaged by 538 and others) got the overall vote right, within a percentage point.
Don't like to spruik for an opposition outfit, but, for poll analysis, I recommend you follow 538, carefully.
9
As far as politics is concerned, two months is an eternity.
So as we wait to vote, the most pressing emergency is that a predatory, corrupt man just might make it to the Supreme Court despite the enormous public pressure being brought to bear by the #MeToo movement. Vulnerable congress-critters need to feel the fear right now. Since most them don't seem care about or fear ordinary people until election season, time is fleetingly on our side.
Meanwhile, I take issue with Mr. Blow's pat reasons why Trump won: racism, sexism, Russian "collusion." There is as yet no proof of the latter beyond the usual sleazy dealings between our oligarchs and their oligarchs. And not everyone who voted for Trump is a racist or sexist, not by a long shot. People are desperate and depressed because those jobs are never coming back, and neither are the working class sons and daughters killed in fighting rich men's wars. You didn't have to be racist or sexist to remember that Bill Clinton signed NAFTA, or "ended welfare as we know it," condemning millions to poverty, or that Democrats helped deregulate Wall Street, leading to a collapse. The pain still raw and fresh for tens of millions of people while the top 1% sucked up 94% of the last decade's gains.
Yes, the GOP is a loathsome crime cartel. But you have to do more than rail against Trump and his voters, and blame Russia. If "winning" is the only end, then victory will be pyrrhic at best.
https://kmgarcia2000.blogspot.com/
48
@Karen Garcia: who was it, who stood up before unemployed coal miners, steelworker and auto assembly workers and told them "THE JOBS ARE NEVER COMING BACK"?
Oh right. The Golden Anointed One, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
2
@Concerned Citizen: That's because HRC generally tells the truth, and Trump never does. First, there's automation, that has taken many of those jobs and will take many more.
Second, the coal jobs shouldn't come back; they are completely uneconomic (I thought you people were market-driven capitalists?). Sustainable energy (and natural gas) have just made coal a bad joke. And with climate change, coal jobs should not come back even if they weren't obsolete anyway. They take unfair advantage of what economists call "externalities of cost." The rest of us have subsidized profits for owners of coal companies.
HRC also said - also correctly - that there are plenty of good, American jobs in alternative energy sources. It's just that the corrupt Republicans, starting with Trump, who are in the pockets of the fossil fuel industries, won't let us get there. It is nuts, AND anti-capitalistic!
Now that Manafort is flipping
Light fantastic Trump ain’t tripping
Hurricanes are not his meat
Pretends he’s in the Driver’s seat.
To his golf course he will hie
Several mulligans he’ll try
But inside his blood is chilling
What is Manafort now spilling.
And that inside Rat’s still loose
Round his neck should be a noose
Torture, maybe boiling oil
For a snitching former foil.
Who is there that he can trust?
Once thought Kavanaugh a must,
If that girl won’t testify
They can’t touch his saintly guy.
Everyday that rope gets tighter
Mueller’s such a dirty blighter
Thought the Witch Hunt a flimflammer
Hopes he won’t end in the Slammer.
186
It is depressing that a 22.7% turnout in a primary is something to be gleeful about.
709
@HN, my thoughts exactly. Seriously, if getting under a quarter of one party's electorate to vote in times like these is something to celebrate, what on earth is it going to take to get the majority of the people to vote?
45
@Bobcat108 Maybe a fine for not voting, as in Australia. Maybe easy mail-in and weekend voting.
@HN Just goes to show we get the government we deserve. VOTE if you value your citizenship.
1
Democrats have a good shot at Congressional majorities so long as they give the voting public something to vote *for*. Sure, many of us will want a check on Trump. But that alone won't win over enough undecided, swing or apathetic voters nationwide. Democrats have to describe what they will do. What will a liberal legislative agenda look like? How will Democrats approach House and Senate committees if they win chairmanships? In the case of Senators, how will they treat Supreme Court nominees?
We learned the hard way, two years ago, that too much emphasis on Trump will backfire.
46
@NM -- if Democrats run on health care, the maintaining of Social Security and programs for the needy, the continuance of a robust economy that began under President Obama, they will campaign on a host of positive messages that the voting public will embrace with gratitude after the nightmare of the past 20 months. The president has already made an airtight case for his unfitness for office so the Democrats, like a smart lawyer, will refrain from overstating the obvious.
24
@NM -- if Democrats run on health care, the maintaining of Social Security, programs for the needy and the continuance of a robust economy that began under President Obama, they will campaign on a host of positive messages that the voting public will embrace with gratitude after the nightmare of the past 20 months.
The president has already made an airtight case for his unfitness for office so the Democrats, like a smart lawyer, will refrain from overstating the obvious.
2
@NM It is very straightforward. Do you want Republican leadership or Democrat leadership in House and Senate?
Do the right thing -- vote for Democrats at all levels of government and take back our country.
2
The Democratic leadership needs to spend the weeks ahead talking to millennials and older voters alike, listing for them all of the things Trump and his band of robbers and white supremacists have done in their names. Their future, the lack of one, is at stake. The administration has been busy doing Trump and the Kochs' evil bidding at dizzying speed.
Turnout must be overwhelming, and not average.
Democrats must win both houses with strong majorities. Then, they must obstruct until Trump and Pence are either removed or it's 2020 and a Democrat is in the White House.
---
Things Trump Did While You Weren’t Looking https://wp.me/p2KJ3H-2ZW
400
@Rima Regas and they need to say it and say it and keep on saying it. The integrity of our country is at stake here.
94
True. Only I would replace "they" with "we".
1
@Rima Regas
"Turnout must be overwhelming, and not average."
Have read that turnout must be 10% more than needed to win due to Republican anti-democratic tactics (that the oldster Democrat leadership just let happen).
Parents should call their kids incessantly (under-30s have about a 15% turnout rate) and offer to drive them to the voting machines, or offer $50 for a selfie at the voting booth.
But turnout will not matter if the voting machines are rigged, which is easy to do. They have no real security safeguards and no passwords on the operating system and no error checking and no ability to check totals and no paper trails.
There are simple but effective vote flipping programs that make every Democrat vote a Republican vote. Or one can start the Democrat off with a negative one-thousand vote handicap.
Hackers can dial in just the number of votes for a win in a critical precinct but not so many to raise suspicion.
1