Mr. Trump I will never ever vote for you or any Republican again. Did it once but that was enough. You need to stop your nonsense giveaway to the rich. Let's see how many of despicable Republicans will get re-elected next time. Not with my vote. Seniors wake up. They will be coming for you.
22
We can only hope. Maybe that disgust will spill over to the Senate as well.
5
Possibly Trump's McDonald proclivities will bring him down.
6
Until we see a real rebellion by rank and file Republicans and Independents and a swing toward electing Democrats who offer at least a bit more hope for the middle class and working poor, then this nation will continue to sink in the swamp not of government morass but government dismantling. By putting people in Congress whose goal is to shrink government, make it more dysfunctional, then the people are cutting off their nose to spite their face. This self-fulfilling prophecy of the Republicans, that the enemy is government, will come to pass if the electorate allows people who want to destroy government to keep doing it. Why not vote for people who want to make government work for the General Welfare and not the one percent?
DD
Manhattan
16
Citizens: confirm and reconfirm your registered voter status, especially if you are in a demographic that has historically voted for democrats. I’m concerned that voter suppression efforts might derail these positive developments.
18
I know the writers are trying to make a case for Trump Hate nationwide, but if you are, don't point to the gubernatorial results in New Jersey as evidence of any change. After 8 years of Chris Christie, even the most diehard GOPer had had enough. That's not to say that the same Republicans voted for the Dem choice, who rivals Karl Marx in leftism. Two terms of Christie was enough for many Republicans to just stay home. The results of the governor's race in the Garden State has absolutely nothing to do with Donald Trump.
2
Somehow hearing this tripe from a Newspaper that got 2016 totally wrong I don't think Trump has much to worry about. The polls were all wrong and are still wrong. Yes "districts filled with (rich) college-educated, affluent" people that don't give a damn about what the rest of us live with. Even the New York Times admitted the Democrats are an alliance of the affluent, college educated and low achieving blacks/Hispanics (whom they do nothing for) against the rest of us. Sorry, your hopes with the Russia collusion myth has failed, you will keep trying. The Republican Party establishment are simply Democrat lite good riddance.
3
We will see what happens when the next election comes, a lot can happen between then and now. I do not think it's a given that the republican party will loose big.
4
It's not only Trump who's pushing Republican voters into Democratic arms. Republican congress people who've rammed through this tax heist are pushing them too; they're right behind the Predator-in-Chief.
8
In my part of the state, republicans might not like the manner in which Trump leads, but most abhor the 24/7 anti-trump liberal rants by the MSM and democrats. This is a solidly Republican district that rejects the extreme leftist views of the democrats. The majority in this district are educated snd many attribute their wealth to hard work, perserverance, and ambition. They see right through the hypocracy of Pelosi, schumer, warren, sanders, and the new opportunist wannabes like Harris and Booker. Republicans are here to stay.
1
It took an absurd tax bill to change Republicans’ minds about Trump? Not the decades of bad business judgment - “good” business people don’t have multiple bankruptcies and a queue of angry suppliers and associates. Or immoral behaviour - hello sickening sex tape, cheating on his various wives, just listen to what he says about wanting to “date” his daughter if only she weren’t related to him ... Or subterfuge about Russia. Or nastiness to all his opponents. Or racist insistence that Obama isn’t “really” American or Christian. Or his complete flip flop with the evangelicals - this is a man who had no issues being pro choice until he realised that evangelicals were a large minority to be exploited for their backward views and insistence on applying their fundamental Christian beliefs on public policy.
I find it utterly revolting that none of the millions of Republicans who voted for Trump cared one iota about his actions or character until there was a hit on their pocketbooks. As people, you lack common decency. Absurdly, some Republicans who voted for this vituperative man are NOW saying they are surprised by his amateurish and infantile antics and can’t believe how he debased the office of the president? Really you didn’t suspect this might happen when he was running for the office?
25
We are not only repulsed by Trump, but are repulsed by his policies. He has destroyed the Republican brand, perhaps for a generation. Though I am a Democrat, I have been known to cross party lines in the voting booth. No more. If you've got an "R" after your name, you're toast!
9
Oh, and if Republicans think they can pass this tax bill scam without serious repercussions, better think again.
7
Who's sorry now? I'm not a Clinton Fan, but people, this is a terrible lesson to put the US through. Our country, indeed our world, may not survive.
6
I could not be more delighted to see WA-3's current congressional paper-weight, Jaime Herrera-Beutler, identified by name in this piece.
Herrera-Beutler has been an appalling fraud for three terms; repeatedly returned by our rural conservative, party-line voters in Southwestern Washington.
Herrera-Beutler used her gold-plated congressional health insurance policy to care for her birth-defective daughter at Johns Hopkins, while placing herself among the congressional representatives with the historically highest number of missed votes, in modern history. She was AWOL for most of her second term! But she still collected her paycheck which is higher than the median income of her constituents.
Meanwhile she voted against the ACA and CHIP and TANF. Despite having Joint Base Lewis-McChord in her District, she voted against continuing "food-stamp" assistance that many junior enlisted families depend on to feed their families on meager junior enlisted pay at the end of the month. What kind of black-hearted, "pro-life" woman does this...is it voting with Trump & Co. 90% of the time that motivates her?
She, and her equally hypocritical former employer and mentor Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA-5) belong on the trash heap.
17
Another possible angle on the changes around traditional GOP districts: Gentrification is changing the suburbs.
As liberal-leaning working class people are squeezed out of major American cities by rapidly rising housing costs, cheaper suburbs on the outskirts offer some respite. They are bringing their blue voting patterns with them to these places.
Case in point: The cited House district held by Washington State's Jamie Herrera Beutler is across the river from left-leaning Portland, a city that is wrestling with skyrocketing rents, a housing crisis, and subsequent exodus of liberal residents to the very suburbs she represents. Coupled with Republicans who feel betrayed by her voting record, it is not surprising that her seat is in a volatile position going into 2018.
I still believe that heavily gerrymandered districts will give the GOP some edge to survive in 2018, but the shift in demographics and the rising cost of city living--alongside the disgruntled moderate Republicans cited in this article--will put many House seats at play in November.
8
Every election going forward from House seat to Senate to Governor down to game warden ought to be a referendum on Trump.
Throw Republicans like Trump out on the street and a sane adult Democrat in their place.
9
2018 will be a Republican bust, but 2020 may be worse. Pundits assume a decent economy will reelect even unpopular Presidents. Don't expect the economy to be a straight shot until then. The tax bill will inflate markets, since wealthy people have to put their extra money somewhere. Instead of a regular recession, we'll get a bubble popping one. And the administration's bumbling diplomacy may well lead to a nuclear showdown in Korea. That won't be quick or neat, and forget the economy.
1
Don't get too hopeful, the Democrats will eventually shoot themselves in the foot. They let Trump win and Nixon, George W twice, etc so really it's just a matter of time before they decide their candidate isn't perfect and therefore won't vote or will vote for some weird 3rd party.
4
In a bleak holiday season filled with bad news, this is a relief:
Light at the end of the tunnel.
I am so proud of all of you who have stepped up and are running for office. I look forward to having many more women, young people, and people with varied backgrounds executing the very best public service they can. I hope we all can abandon our idea that this is not hard work and that all we have to do is hold the right ideals. Gotta hand it to those doing the work!
25
I sit in Culberson's district, surrounded by suburbanites clamoring to oust him. I plan to volunteer to register voters, drive people to the poll, and take the following day off work to celebrate his demise. This sorry excuse for a Houstonian is the antithesis of a "representative." Indeed he is clueless, deaf to his constituents, in bed with his fat cat donors, and on the verge of hearing us sing "you're fired" while dancing in elation. I. Can. Hardly. Wait.
21
The Republicans have proven that they are little more than a bunch of white, misogynist old men who are war mongers ready to send young men to their deaths in foreign lands in order to enrich corporate parasites. More importantly, they cannot govern. They have majorities in Congress, the Presidency and the Courts and they are a do-nothing Congress that can only steal more tax dollars for their donors.
If a few college educated women cannot see through the GOP criminality and vote themselves into office, perhaps the US deserves the disrespect that Trump engenders in his trips abroad.
24
The tax bill is massive theft of wealth in the hands of the middle class and poor, by trump, his cabinet, the gop in congress, and their donors It is the classic definition of corruption. They are coming after your medicare, social security and education benefits next. The only way the middle class and poor can save themselves before we are all paupers, other than the thieves, is to sweep the gop out of congress
17
How is it a "theft" if it's their money? This is a very entitled viewpoint.
People who read and think may vote, even run for office. Good news to me.
8
The key to Democrats building a solid majority--actually either party's key--is taking on the problem of loss of jobs, and the dangerously rapid loss of decently paying, spiritually satisfying jobs.
7
Most of Trump's critics have been consistently wrong about him. There are opportunities, yes, but people vote for him even when they don't like his rhetoric because they care more about results, which he's been delivering. He may get people out as well.
7
White women ought to stop voting for sexual predators and congress members who support them.
Further, the entire GOP is corrupt, from this hot mess of a tax bill to its theft of a Supreme Court seat and nominating unqualified people to the federal judiciary for lifetime appointments.
We get the government we deserve.
8
Since my, and my friends, taxes will be going up significantly under the proposed new tax plan, then my congressman must necessarily go down. So long, Chris Collins. (Next year is going to be especially cruel for all of Trump's rabid supporters, so Chris, you're going to have a lot of company during cocktail hours at the Capitol Hill Club during the summer and autumn of 2018.)
14
Most of these races are swing districts, not solid GOP areas. Mia Love lost her first House race to a Democratic incumbent in that seat a few years ago. Moore would’ve won but for the scandal which derailed his campaign. Historically, the incumbent party takes a beating in midterms. The Democrats lost 50-60 seats in Congress in the 2010 & 2014 races. Those results were not an accurate bellweather for the Presidential races two years later. Given the current makeup, the GOP will probably focus on trying to hold the Senate, at the expense of the House races, as the Democrats did in 2010.
1
This tax bill essentially guarantees the Democrats will win the House. It's so bone-headed it's hard to believe.
6
“Have you ever heard of a stupider and trashier man than the president of the United States?” Honestly no. There are certainly more evil people in the entire history of the world, Hitler comes to mind. But is there actually anyone in all of history more dishonest and :trashier" than Donald? Not that I can think of. There are his supporters, but even they are probably not quite as dishonest or trashy.
11
I was thinking which rascal was in my neighborhood that deserved to be undone next November. Thanks for pointing out Peter Roskom (97% aligned with Donald). It is time to get to work now.
19
'Recoil' is definitely the right word.
7
An excellent word, used much too infrequently.
Definitely the right word here.
The sad thing is, Clinton would have been. . . a president. Johnson would have been. . . a president. But the Republicans chose to throw their weight behind a guy who can't even speak coherently during debates!
16
Don't think this abomination of a tax bill is going to help the GOP with these higher income suburban voters. Even in relatively low tax states they pay high property and significant sales taxes and many will pay more Federal income tax in 2018 than in 2017. Being economic conservatives, especially with their own finances, they will have figured this out before voting next Fall.
7
It's hardly an abomination for families with 2 kids making $130K. That $2K Child Tax Credit is going to make up for a lot of lost real estate tax deductions. Remember, outside the high tax areas, real estate taxes are significantly lower. A $4K credit (for 2 kids) is worth $16K in deductions at the 25% bracket. (Before a coupling earning $130K would have phased out of that deduction.)
Democrats have made this out to be much worse than it is. People will eventually see the results and how they differ from what democrats have been claiming. This is the opposite of what happened with Obamacare, when many middle class Americans saw much worse results. No one is getting killed like the unsubsidized were under Obamacare.
3
Trump is turning out to be the best gift the Democrats could have hoped for. I'll see you all at the polls next November!
20
Ironically, Trump’s inadvertent gift to women, the very model of unintended consequences!
The country is now talking about our experiences of sexual harassment in the workplace and things will finally change.
Striped down in a line up ....none of these men would be mistaken for a great prize. All across the country in every workplace, they need to be identified, brought out into the open and exposed before they infect the next generation. This wasn’t done to combat America’s all pervasive incidious racism, and that is the reason that we are still struggling with it in 2017.
I was alarmed to see so many young adults in the background standing behind Roy
Moore as he was declining to concede the election. So young,
and so already stuck in the past, infected by their parents and grandparents. Shame!
3
If, as Rep. Cole says. "there's no illusion about the storm that's coming," why are the Republicans so eager to protect Trump? One would expect them to throw him under the bus ("Trump loyalty") in favor of the more pliable Pence, who after all is one of the Koch brothers' favorite politicians.
In the end, the Republicans in Congress have enough problems of their own making. Their tax "reform" that redistributes wealth to the already-wealthiest will come back to haunt them if there is any justice, regardless of who sits in the White House.
What Americans in the suburbs, and everywhere else, need to do is vote out EVERY Republican candidate next year, from governors and senators to county clerks. Their corrupt party needs to get a message it can't spin away.
14
This is interesting. It seems to be conventional wisdom that these districts stay Republican because they are heavily gerrymandered. If I understand correctly how gerrymandering works, however, the building of small majorities in more districts rather than a few large majorities is super effective until it's not. If you start loosing the whole thing collapses and lots of districts come into play. Yes?
7
Just a short time ago the citizens of Georgia elected a Republican in a special election for the 6th Congressional District. I doubt much is going to change.
5
Democrats could certainly stand to make significant gains, but hopefully they have also learned from the past losses. In particular Democrats must shake the notion that they are the party of immigrants and open borders. Without forcefully securing the borders and focusing on American citizens, democrats jeopardize the much more important fights against big business, and income inequality. Don't give Trump and the other Republicans such an easy target - get tough on immigration.
13
''I don't care for the extremes of either party,''
You're right, the Social Democrats like Sanders, Warren and the UK's Corbyn are so extreme left they make Stalin look sweet. Both Sanders and Corbyn have been called 'Trotskyites' by truly great politicians like Tony Blair who only lied to start wars or support dictators
Fortunately the Elitists like the NYT understand the dangers of too much popular input ('is there too much democracy in the Democrat Party') and we also have this line from their sister paper in the UK, the Guardian ('Brexit is putting me off this whole ‘will of the people’ idea'), who like the NYT backed the Iraq war, believed in the WMDs and who believed that Sweden's Hans Blix was not trustworthy even if he turned out to be right.
Who cares if Julian Assange was NOT found guilty of rape or that all Swedish legal procedures were violated or that both the UN and the EU found for Assange and stated the case against him was a 'miscarriage of justice'. Rightly for the English Government his actual innocence or guilt are irrelevant.
What matters is he and his Wikileaks helped Trump with 'weaponized truths' that embarrassed Hillary and made her look bad (Like our Hacking of ally Merkel or the info that led the DNC to fire Debbie Wasserman Schultz).
Sanders had no right to interfere in the decision the DNC made that THEY not the people decide who the next candidate is. Nothing is more natural than a one candidate race in a Democracy. China proves this!!
5
Why can’t the American people have what citizens of every other first world nation have?: Free health care and higher education. Why can’t Americans have family leave and living wages? Why can’t Americans have clean air and clean water?
15
The recent election in Alabama offers us all some good lessons. Local organizations worked hard to increase voter registration, they canvassed tirelessly, and they delivered people to the polls. These efforts unfolded over months and were a great example of what Obama asked us to do in his farewell address, " If something needs fixing, lace up your shoes, and do some organizing."
That's what they did in Alabama and they filled the Senate seat of that prejudiced pixie Jeff Sessions with a man that prosecuted some Klansman.
How about that?
Citizen is the most important office in a democracy--let's stay engaged, keep our shoes laced up, and prove it everywhere in 2018.
14
We have lost our democracy. stolen by conservatives like the Koch Brothers, Big Pharma and insurance companies.
The 1% have ruined this society.
Look at rural America and our inner cities.
Conservatives MUST pay in 2018
20
The Republicans had their chance to stop this obvious Frankenstein monster well before the election and instead they irresponsibly helped to unleash it on the country. It is now up to the voters to stop it. Help return the country to sanity by helping the talented candidates mentioned in the article win in 2018.
As if putting the country through the Trump disaster was not bad enough, now we're cutting taxes for millionaires and billionaires again. They have lost any shred of credibility they may have had.
19
Let the GOP reap what it has sown.
12
Dear fellow Dems: while this is a bit of happy in a world of grim, let us remember the basics.
Do not gloat
Pay attention to details
Be publicly and frequently grateful
Focus on the policy differences
Put your head down and do the work
21
Someone posted:
My questions are: Why did it have to come to this, and Why did intelligent, reasonable people not only vote for Trump but Republicans as well for Congress?
Debbie Wasserman Schultz rigged the Dem primary for Hillary. She was sooo experienced, sooo capable, sooo brillant that she did not even campaign in Mich, Penn. and Wisc. I hope she run again.
9
Obviously if Joe Biden had been run instead of Hillary none of us would be discussing this right now because there would be no Trump presidency. Progressive comes at a cost. Fortunately the universe has been found to be collapsing back in on itself.
1
Hillary should run again. But she needs to brush some of that hairspray out of her helmet head & let some of her guard down & speak from her heart about what she really thinks & feels. She doesn't need to be quite as calibrated or calculated. Hillary we love you. It's OK to be a human being.
1
Color me a pessimist (despite by user name!) on this one.
The Republicans are probably more than willing to sacrifice a couple of representatives and senators to achieve their long term goals of "starving the beast". They know that even if they are out of power, the Democrats cannot reverse these tax changes easily, as the "marketing" of a tax increase will not be palatable to the electorate.
5
the only "accomplishment" of Trump has been to fire up and unite Democrats in opposition to him and Republicans, especially any who run under his banner.
Virginia, New Jersey and Alabama are just the beginning.
The hits just keep on coming: "tax cuts" for billionaires only, no more net neutrality, cuts in programs that benefit middle class.
America is waking up, regardless of the FOG of disinformation coming from alt_right and Republican controlled FOX "news".
9
People who voted for Trump, regardless of where the live, have shown such an astonishing absence of critical thinking and an ignorance so profound about the obvious character flaws of a narcissistic liar such as Trump, that there is very little hope that a critical mass can be formed with such low grade voters to change the situation. Those people are either too naive and ignorant, in which case their infatuation with Trump will continue, or, more likely, closeted racists who see in Trump an advocate for their own bigotry.
17
Those darned deplorabless. If only there wasn't the electoral college, we wouldn't have to worry about them.
4
It’s the complicity that has angered the educated voters. We don’t like the self dealing, nor do we appreciate an executive office that has monetized the presidency at our expense
We have had enough and we are looking forward to voting the predators out
16
As an educated suburban voter I have agreed with much of what would be considered "conservative doctrine" in regards to keeping government as small as possible, fair taxes, reducing debt, civility and respect in politics, respect for all Americans, and American values that our relatives fought for.
This current raiding of the National Treasury by the current tax bill, and the shameless disregard by GOP politicians for their responsibility to uphold the constitution and hold Trump accountable are inexcusable.
I cannot believe that a conservative republican would fall for this nonsense that you get something for nothing by growing the economy. Most of the benefits will go to wealthy shareholders of corporations and a large portion of those are from china and Saudi Arabia. Foreign investment in American companies is huge. Why are we putting our children in debt to line the pockets of the Saudi's and Chinese?
I am absolutely disgusted by the Republicans in office and will never vote Republican again.
42
What caught my eye and attention - really - were the graceful curves of the district's outline...
Till this moment - had no idea that Houston was not just home to NASA, but the National Gerrymander Museum, as well...
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/TX#map
From the International Space Station, it'd look like a big pinwheel...
Except - next year - one man's Gerrymander may just be another women's Gerrymoose...
9
The problem with Trump is not just his reactionary agenda. It is his ignorance, boorishness, arrogance, and absence decency that make people recoil in disgust. He is an embarrassment.
23
Sometimes people need to learn the hard way. The evangelicals are in that state right now closely followed by the country club set. Trump, his acceptance of any political view that benefits him and his abhorrent and non presidential behavior will help seal the deal. Obama was Obama’s and made his share of mistakes but at least the dude has class and intelligence.
10
Trump just might be the best thing that has happened to the Democratic Party in many years. The worst thing in many years is Hillary Clinton.
Now if the Dems could just establish some new party leadership and get those dinosaurs Pelosi and Schumer to step aside, there might be some actual hope here.
5
Welcome back to the fight! Now there's a chance that Our Side will win.
2
The Dems will have to field moderate candidates who are something more than not Trump. The question will be what these candidates and the party in general will do for the middle class. So far there has been nothing but lip service followed by globalist policies which send jobs abroad and invite in immigrants to compete for jobs. How does that help the middle class? But we can expect from Nancy Pelosi and company the usual sleight-of-hand. It will not work So we ask the Democrats "What have you got?"
4
There are perhaps 25 Republican House seats at risk. Fund raising by the Republican party is at record levels and far exceeds money raised by the Democrats. It is highly unlikely that the Dems will sweep these vulnerable seats given the money advantage held by the Republicans. But the NYT's biased journalists can continue to publish gibberish like this article to please the paper's far left liberal readers.
5
OMG, would some of these commentators stop with the guilt tripping of these former GOP voters? They are on our side now, OK? What's past is past. Let's welcome these suburban voters into our fold and move forward. Chastising them for "what they should have known" will get us nowhere and only alienate many other potential voters who would join with the Democrats but may not appreciate a preachy scolding for finally seeing the light. So, let ME say it again: Thank you for helping us and welcome to the Democratic Party!
32
Republicans have only one option to save themselves. Impeach and remove trump ASAP.
14
If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. Or possibly—fingers crossed—never get up again.
Perhaps what’s left if the GOP will finally retreat from their culture wars and get back to acting as responsible citizens.
Perhaps.
3
What an odd lead, quoting a woman at a Democratic fund raiser who once supported Bush and suggesting she’s the face of the rebellious Republican suburbs of Salt Lake in a state that gave Hillary 27 percent and Trump 47 percent. Apparently even some of those “highly educated” Mormons must have voted for Trump. This article seems like a mixture of fact, speculation, and frankly, wishful thinking.
7
It's time to make Republicans pay for what they've done to this country!
15
Oh, they will. Have you read the tax bill?
I like seeing more women involved, regardless of their previous partisan affiliation. I'm disgusted by Trumps repulsive behavior, and IF women come together and start running for office, upping their presence across the elected office spectrum, I feel we're better off as a nation. Time to break up the boys clubs on both sides of the ailse and get back to work on engaged and responsive governance. Time to neuter the millionaire boys club our current crop of congressmen, lobbyists and CEOs so brazenly and shamelessly represent.
15
Rebellion? No, just rumspringa. Authoritarianism is not that easy to shake.
We know the Apprentice is a devastatingly poor arbiter of good taste and good sense in addition to being alarmingly incompetent for his new position. Eventually the deplorables that voted for him will recognize these shortcomings and seek change.
1
Trumps Fire and Fury comments mean nothing to the N Koreans. When you have 15,000 artillery pieces aimed at Seoul, Kim can easily ignore Trumps threats of military action. The bottom line: North Korea will have a full nuclear capability and trump and the US will learn to live with it.
2
With Trump in the White House the GOP has shown exactly how low it is willing to go to get what it wants. So have their rich donors. It's about time Americans were disgusted and repelled by their agenda especially since this tax overhaul makes it quite clear what their priorities are: not families, not the average American, not even America first. The priorities are number one, money, number two, money, number three, more money. People have no place in their agenda unless they are rich enough to donate money to them and whine and dine them (and I do mean whine).
16
Don't forget the Austin-San Antonio, Texas area seat that's been vacated by a Republican and is now wide open for challengers like the centrist Democrat Joe Kopser.
12
“The overwhelming challenge we have is with college-educated, suburban women,” said Liesl Hickey, a Republican strategist who previously ran her party’s House campaign arm. “And their resistance mostly has to do with their feelings about President Trump.”
This paragraph really gives you the scoop. The conservatives I’ve talked to said Roy Moore did himself in when he said women shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Now, I have no idea how all the other awful things coming from the right get ignored but they seem to be drawing a line at sexually assaulting women. At women voting. Maybe it’s a percentages game?
6
What is baffling to me, in reading this, is that the current Republican representatives and senators are clearly aware that they are infuriating the country and putting their own jobs at risk, yet they refuse to listen to the will of the people. Are they so blinded by their own self-serving greed - and so nihilistic - that they're willing to sacrifice their own jobs rather than listen to the overwhelming majority of the population? Are they so arrogant and ignorant they think that what they're doing now won't be undone?
Yes. As Tom Cole noted, a storm is coming. And if all goes well, it'll permanently wash out the stain that is disastrous congress that we are burdened with, and will restoring balance and order to the country.
38
The electorate will decide whether they want to sabotage an economic recovery of the likes we haven't seen since the 1980's and replace it with economic stagnation and political correctness. I hope they vote their pocketbook.
5
The weaker Trump gets, the more I'm afraid he'll start a war.
28
The Democrat Party has been consumed with left wing causes and divisive politics over the interests of the American worker. I heard a recording of JFK making a pitch for his tax cuts and tax reform. It sounded just like Trump and the GOP with the current tax bill. The Democrats have gone so far Left they have become destructive to the economy and the American worker.
7
All I'm hearing is, "gol dang I hate them democrats!" I don't see anything here that points to anything Democrats are actually doing which is harmful in any way. And all year, on a federal level, Democrats have been out of power so they haven't been doing anything.
In short, your comment exemplifies that Trump supporters support him because they have no idea what's going on.
17
So... are you implying the Republicans have become the new Democrats?
8
Your comment flies in the face of overwhelming objective evidence to the contrary. Last I checked, we've had a majority republican('t) congress for the past 7 years. And the financial crisis/disaster in 2007 occurred on the watch of a republican president. And it is the republicans who have been disassembling unions for the past 25 years. And while your snippet of a JFK speech from 50 years ago may be accurate, it might be helpful if you focused your eyes on the past 10-15 years to see overwhelming damage the republican party has done to the American worker and the American economy.
(PS: Your use of the phrase "Democrat party" is a tell that you watch Fox news or listen to AM talk radio).
37
I was at a neighborhood Christmas party yesterday. I live in a traditionally Republican area of the Philadelphia suburbs known as the Main Line. There was a group of women huddled in one corner. They invited me to join them. They were strategizing about political action for Democrats running next year for local, state and federal seats. These are college-educated white women. They said the Trump presidency has galvanized them into action for the Democrats. I will be joining them.
124
Awesome. I'm doing the same here
28
I'm not an American, nor am I a woman, but in my hopes and dreams I'll be joining you too.
5
I’ve concluded that Trump should tweet less—or tweet more strategically—because although actions speak louder than words, it’s easier in a 24-hour news cycle to report brash words that vanish than to chronicle measured actions that endure. He is a much more effective President than he lets on.
Trump is no longer the scrappy contender of the primary and general elections; he is the champion defending the title.
1
Which title might that be?
That's where the real debate starts.
5
He's the Ali who fought Berbick. Hear his words: Your champ is deteriorating rapidly, and there's no Ferdie Pacheco to sound the alarm.
4
Trump is a champion defending his title? If you are referring to his 'Heavyweight Lying Champion of the World" title do not fear. No one could ever wrest that prize from The Champ.
5
It is time we lazy voters recognize that many of our incumbent representatives - on both sides of the aisle - are part of the problem. I will happily give Feinstein & Pelosi the heave-ho. As long as we keep voting for the same people year-in and year-out, we are creating those "safe seats." Let's be clear, NO seat should ever be "safe." These people should be working for our votes 24/7/365.
13
The only way to get that is with non-partisan redistricting, as now exists in a few states. And the only ways to get there are by referendum or by electing Democrat state legislatures, as it was done in those few states.
15
AS we know from 2016, anything is possible. Even the dream of a Democratic majority in the Congress and the Senate. Perhaps all of the Democrats who are running could hire the Campaign manager that Doug Jones hired. Whoever it was, surely knew how to get out the vote.
19
Joe Trippi.
2
Well, I guess it is true after all - Trump is uniting the country (just not in the way he wanted).
27
President Trump's tweet about Sen. Gillibrand was wicked, humorous and, unfortunately, had perhaps more than kernel of truth to it. Instead of playing the victim card with the transparently fake outrage, why not hire a first-class Twitter team, and post copies of each of his donation checks with lurid descriptions what she "did" for each one? Anyone who aspires to run against The Donald in 2020 should have both thick skin and an equally wicked sense of humor.
6
Aren't these the voters who voted for reagan and both bushes and maybe even trump, not to mention lots of republican governors and congress people? Now they're coming to their senses? Kind of like trying to close the barn door after the cows have destroyed the meadow.
12
Maybe you mean after the farmer accidentally burned down the barn?
2
They Won ONE; Now They See "A Path Forward"? It's A Mirage.
The Democrat Party Is Toast. On Every Level, And For All Time.
3
Ok, "Justin".
17
What's With All The Capitalization? And all polls, and all elections in 2017, prove you wrong.
16
The Democratic party is toast with no real message yet.
Unfortunately, the Republican party is too, and it's already been eaten, and is now coming out the other side.
4
Democrats couldn't hope for a better poster boy than Trump. Maybe the Republicans should start thinking about impeachment.
13
They won't do it, of course, because it would enrage The Base. No, Republicans would have to remove lightning-rod Trump from office by other means. I estimate he has an 80% chance of being President in October 2018, and a 50% chance or less by August 2020.
Old man Bush voted for H. Clinton.
Anything is posible, even in Texas.
23
It's not about left or right anymore. It's not about centrism or culture wars. It's about class warfare and basic human dignity. Even most voters in the top 10% are losing ground to the all-consuming maw of the donor class.
This is how Trump must fall. Not in the Congress, but in voting booths nationwide.
44
I very much doubt that the rise of Donald Trump will result in “a path to a House majority” for Democrats, any more than it means that the GOP will be able to advance its agenda even though it holds majorities both chambers in Congress.
President Trump is a usurper, and owes loyalty to no political party. This is why his base loves him, and why those in the establishment of both parties, especially Republicans, fear him. I’m no more surprised to see the sauvignon blanc-sipping suburban former Bush supporters featured in the article at a Democratic fundraiser than I would be surprised to see former Obama supporters at a GOP fundraiser. People like this are part of the elite, selfish club who have run local political patronage machines in this country for at least three generations. The rules have changed, and the lines, at least for now, must be drawn differently. Both parties are facing popular rebellion, the Republicans from the Trump populists and the Democrats from the Bernie socialists, and both parties need, and deserve, a change of leadership.
3
Or a third party?
1
The thought of a 2018 Democratic Senate applying the ‘McConnell Rule’ to Trump’s last 2 years in office is pleasing. Unless, of course, Trump nominates Garland.
11
Now River Oaks is considered the "suburbs" of Houston??? I don't think so! It's the richest and most liberal area of the City of Houston, less than five miles from the center of downtown.
Where do they find these reporters?
I live in the actual suburbs, outside of the liberal Houston city limits, and I don't know one single person that is not a Trump supporter and very conservative.
6
Excellent question on the reporters! You don’t know whether to laugh or cry, but you do know it keeps getting worse!
1
Thanks Sherrb.
I was feeling anxious.
Now I'm feeling comforted (not).
1
Liberals in Houston ? You can’t be serious
1
Music to my ears.
3
Sittenfeld should definitely take on Chabot. Chabot is a shameful embarrassment to Cincinnati. He sickens me every time he speaks.
3
If the GOP is scared now, wait until they start trying to cut Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid in order to pay for their tax cuts....Ryan as much admitted that was the plan.
Wait even further when DJT proposes to privatize all of his infrastructure initiatives....another boon to the wealthy.
225
The tax cut and the infrastructure scam were the reasons Cohn and Mnuchin signed on to the raiding party. Imagine the profits as Goldman Sachs skims its management fee off the top of the private financing! There won't be enough money left to pave a piece of toast.
17
Growth over 2.2% GDP will start paying for the tax cuts which appears to be easily achievable.
1
MB - I understood that DJT has been in discussion with Chinese and other x-US contractors on infrastructure initiatives. No New Deal scenario putting Americans back to work from the Don - but, then how would they fund it once they increase the deficit by Trillions with the new Republican tax bill?
4
For every proposal the Rs put forward in the next year, the Ds should put out a counter-proposal of their own that spells out very clearly who it will benefit and how. Why they have not been doing this shadow government stuff so far is a mystery to me, but they have a way of showing up to a knife fight with a sleeping bag.
260
I'm of the mind that Ds should start now, with a "repeal and replace" of the bill. Maybe move the 21% back to 35, eliminate the cap on payroll taxes (since there doesn't seem to be a connection to SS and Medicare), and fund a big infrastructure plan that is ongoing and robust.
3
Correction: they bring Kale.
2
Absolutely right on spot! The main reason the Democrats have been losing is the lack of a coherent, organized national response to the Republican agenda. It requires more than rhetoric. Specific proposals are whats needed.
2
It might be that history will someday show that this is the edge of the swamp where Mr. Trump and his cohorts can be seen slithering toward the drain.
11
Commenting here DOES NOTHING.
Where do we contribute and show up to help with the anti-Trump, anti-Ryan effort?
I want to send my political contribution dollars to a REALLY FOCUSED set of PACs who will get out the vote at a local level even better than for Jones in Alabama.
NYT - we need ACTION MEMOs here. Who is doing it right?
21
Then get off the comments page and do something. The solution is not going to knocking at your door. Join the League of Women Voters. We are non-partisan and we welcome everyone, even men. We are a dynamic group not willing to sit idly by. I spend my lunch breaks at local high school cafeterias talking to the next generation of voters. After all, this is their future we should be fighting to preserve. They want to participate!
6
Indivisible.com
6
Gasp!!!... You welcome even men?...
Seriously though, I'm of the opinion that the more women we have in office the better off we'll all be.
Go for it!
2
“ 'I cannot bear what is going on right now in government,' said Norri Leder, saying of Mr. Trump: 'I find him completely offensive and unethical and slimy.'
And, Ms. Leder said, her Republican husband feels the same way." OK, so the Fox pollsters put them down as "Undecided, Leaning Democratic".
6
Observing Peter Roksam, he seems articulate and a good speaker. But, in this case, obviously a wolf in sheep’s clothing! Where’s the beef?
2
Peter Roskam is the worst Trump apologist. And he's an author of this horrible tax bill. 7 Dems are running against him. Chaney, Casten and Howland stand out as strong opponents. Over 800 people showed up at a local high school last Tuesday night to hear them. http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20171208/forum-to-stage-all-democrats-se...
3
Maybe the wolf in sheep's clothing ate the beef?
I don't see the sense in voting against my Congressman (who happens to be the very Culberson discussed in this piece) merely because he's in the same party as the detested Donald. I'll make my decision based on the merits of the candidates.
1
How often does he exercise his independent judgment?
2
A little optimism is good, but we need to keep our eye on the ball--and not rest until Trumpism is again swallowed by the swamp that excreted it. He needs a jumpsuit to match his hair.
I'm a died in the wool liberal but having my liberal idealism tempered by a bit of conservative practicality is a good thing. Fascism has no place in our country, however, and Mr. Trump's proclivities are clearly fascistic.
13
In MI-08, we are looking to send Mike Bishop (R) packing. He is on the Ways and Means committee and said that "Nancy Pelosi" Democrats (dog whistles Mike?) are spreading misinformation about the tax bill that he helped author. Mike is mostly funded by sources outside the district and will gladly reduce Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid if Paul Ryan tells him to. He will also not have town meetings because he know that many constituents are disgusted with him. Bye bye Mike!
25
It must be nice to live in a place where your vote truly matters. Here in the Big Apple, thanks to the Electoral College and the monolithically Democratic electorate, most elections are a snooze. Good luck to you and yours in ridding yourself of Rep. Bishop!
Very hopeful stuff, and this is the one good thing, in my opinion, to come out of the Trump victory. Sometimes I depart from my cynical callousness for a pep talk, and here goes one.
If Hillary Clinton had one, as everyone figured would happen, then today we'd be in much worse condition as a nation. Congress still would have gotten nothing done, because it'd be Republican and dead set against doing anything to help the new president. Republicans would be up in arms over losing to a mere female, it would have been possibly even worse for them than having a black president, and this would have led to Roy Moore's victory and more. There likely wouldn't have been this #metoo movement, because it would have been stifled by angry white men who felt disempowered. And everything would have been blamed on President Clinton.
As it happened though, Russia made sure Trump would win (as did Comey and other purveyors of fake news), and not even Russia has gotten anything much out of it. Every failure by Trump, every idiotic tweet, loses support for all Republicans. He is dividing and destroying the GOP.
So the backlash in the coming years may force the GOP out of power and make them reimagine their policies. Maybe being bigoted, misogynistic, and homophobic won't be their modus operandi anymore.
Much good can come of this, and Trump has been too incompetent and unintelligent to turn the U.S. into a dictatorship. So hold strong folks, we'll recover from this yet.
8
Sorry, meant "if Hillary Clinton had won", not "one". Weird phoneme typo there.
Interesting comments. In my opinion, Trump has done an outstanding job. Agree with everything he has done. If you folks want unlimited immigration from goatherder countries, stiff gun control, higher taxes to feed and educate the goatherders then by all means vote for the candidates of the left. Dont get too excited though.
2
The Russians didn't influence my vote, but then I don't watch TV or read newspapers with a very one-sided slant.
The so-called "lame-stream" media probably have more opinions in a single issue than these one-sided media have in a month.
I would rather not have voted for Hilary Clinton, but given the alternative, I had no choice. Staying away is not an option in my book.
2
"......completely offensive and unethical and slimy". A very nice summation.
11
Pay attention. I voted for Doug Jones in Alabama, after voting Republican since 1980 (except I didn't vote for Trump either). It was because Roy Moore is a terrible person and not fit to represent our State in the US Senate. Minority groups and women voted in greater numbers and supported Jones by huge margins.
The point is that a decent Republican candidate would have won by the same 60+% as in the past. Instead of playing games and spewing hyperbole about future elections, focus on IDENTIFYING and RECRUITING great leaders. The DNC could have easily won the White House with a decent candidate.
21
I vote Democrat and could not agree more with what you said. What makes the difference is how good is the candidate, not how bad the other guy is. Thank you.
6
Agree with David above.
If the Dems pick only feminists or panderers like Warren or Gillibrand, then Trump will win in 2020.
The Dems need to get smarter and tougher, including with their own too-left base.
4
While canvassing for Hilary in 2016 I had several voters tell me they were not voting because they could not stand either candidate. In hindsight, Biden beats Trump.
2
If Democrats
1) find candidates that fit their districts, as in NJ, VA and AL; and
2) focus on people's concerns as workers -- whether they be working class or middle class,
then they will win the suburbs.
It's not about center vs. left, or white vs. minority. It's about addressing the same economic anxiety that Trump tapped into, except with solutions and unity instead of empty promises and divisiveness.
38
please add 3) Dems don't collapse as they usually do
3
Or for that matter panic and run from their shadow as soon as some minor controversy erupts, as they are also prone to do.
Wow...like Sanders was doing?
What a concept.
"Heartening Republicans is that the anti-Trump activism is also setting off internecine Democratic fights, creating messy primaries and leftward pressure on candidates to back measures like single-payer health care and impeaching the president."
One of the biggest lies the MSM continues to spin, that the Democratic Party is at war with itself.
Bernie Sanders supported a $15 minimum wage, Hillary a $12 one. That is a policy difference gradient, not a war. But the MSM during the primaries made it sound like the party was tearing itself up over the issue.
Take the issue of impeachment. Regardless if some Dems say to impeach and others say not to, there is no way they are going to get a dozen or so Republicans in the Senate to convict. So, even that monumental issue is really a distinction without a difference for Democrats.
But the MSM has been referring to the GOP civil war consistently since the Tea Party came around in 2009 so, to be fair and balanced, they must maintain the false equivalency that there is also a Democratic civil war.
7
Hmmm. I wonder if Richard Nixon would agree that Republicans won't impeach a Republican? As far as Democrats and primary fights are concerned, we have messy Democrat primary fights in California and the state is almost 100% Democratic. What Paul and other Republicans should be aware of is that the Democrats have got the message, "Listen to your constituents. Take care of their business when you represent them." Republicans are just about their donors. Talk about draining the swamp by filling it up with Alligators!
5
BOTH parties are struggling because of a leadership vacuum. I admire Obama very much as a person and intellectual, but he was a lousy leader. Trump is an embarrassment on every level. A great leader inspires confidence you can follow a person and trust them, even if you don't agree with all their positions. The really sad part is that Obama had a real opportunity but focused the garbage surrounding DC, and his "legacy", instead of providing leadership on important issues that could have been addressed. I just want to survive the next three years and hope it will be a HUGE wake-up call for both parties.
3
Trump’s approval rating is still 77% among Republicans. Unless it drops below 50%, 20 Republican Senators will not vote to remove him.
2
I have to ask. Really, I do. What is different about Donald Trump today from before the election? I mean, I'm happy that suburbia is waking up. But the man is no different than he was during the entire campaign period. Indeed, he is working to fulfill every one of his campaign promises. So what were these people voting for during the last election if it wasn't for the man standing before them today?
404
What is different is that there is no Hillary Clinton for him to stand against and offer "lesser of two evils" solace for people who could not abide her.
I supported Clinton. But why do you think T#ump and the Rs refuse to let go of her ghost--because he, in particular, still needs to give people permission to support him by calling out someone who many people, for reasons I fervently disagreed with, who could not vote for her.
Now, he stands alone in his awfulness and folks who confabulated all sorts of "he'll change when he's president" can no long look down that rabbit hole.
11
They didn't believe he was really this bad, or that he would be reined by his (as it turns out, non-existent) handlers as was Bush the Lesser, or that it was safe to vote for him in protest because Clinton was certain to win. Some of them voted for Jill Stein, or stayed home thinking that Democrats and Republicans are all alike. Learning opportunities and teachable moments abound.
10
A lot of these voters did not vote for Trump. IL-06 went for Hillary by 7 points, but Roskam has been the incumbent Rep since 2006 because there has not been a viable D challenger (if there was a challenger at all).
5
If you think people are mad now, just wait when they go after Medicare. Just wait when they slash Medicaid and people can't pay for nursing homes. Consider this, most physician residencies are paid for with dollars from Medicaid and Medicare. Let's see how suburban America likes it when their kids can't further their training after medical school.
103
"“Have you ever heard of a stupider and trashier man than the president of the United States?” asked Ms. Sharp..."
Nope.
144
Andrew Jackson. Old Indian Killer. Sharp Knife. No coincidence at all that his portrait is in Trump's Oval Office.
Other than him, nope.
9
Under present "Obama" rules, the IRS accepts the SSNs of the offspring born here of illegal aliens rather than demanding the SSNs of their illegal alien parents, as required in the House version. This was the real demand and cost of Senators Marco Rubio's and Mike Lee's intervention. This is nothing more than your typical RINO trap for Pres. Trump, designed to weaken his support from his power base.
1
Because everyone in the US has to pay income taxes, but not everyone gets a deduction for a child; so demanding an SSN in order to "allow "someone to pay taxes would be revenue-losing.
3
I'm a suburban mom in a Minnesota district that is exactly like those described in this article. As much as I'm motivated against Trump, I'm even more motivated against my own representative, Jason Lewis. So it's not all about association with Trump. Jason Lewis has been defiantly unavailable to his constituents, refuses to even engage with thoughtful critiques, and is deeply out-of-step with his district (where he doesn't even live). Given that this district is already purple, I find his behavior really surprising. And I can't wait to vote against him in less than a year.
351
Eric Paulsen is exactly the same in my district in Minnesota. Won't meet with people or have public meetings other than conference calls with prearranged questions. I have always voted, but have never gone to political meetings or given money to political groups. I've done both those things now and plan on continuing to be involved. If you are representing me, you need to meet with me instead of hiding.
4
Good to see this trend, but my advice to Trump voters who are now having second thoughts, please pay more attention next time, because everything you don't like now about Trump was on display and part of the public record for many many years. I knew his presidency would be a disaster from day one, based on what I knew about Trump going back to the 1980's! None of what he does surprises me at all.
109
It's an observed fact that, for many voters, Trump's Twitter abuse and obsession is a big concern.
People, especially lower educated voters, have grabbed on to this as a complaint.
But, clearly, it's a common dislike of Trump's habits.
A nice phrase to ask rhetorically would be "Do Trump's Twitters give you the jitters?"
Or
"Do you suffer from Trump Twitter Jitters?"
Little phrases can become part of the common jargon with effectiveness.
Ask Gary Hart of Mondale's "Where's the beef" had an effect.
5
The rightwing just has to dig up the sexual harassments of the left, like the left did to roy moore, karma is a good thing sometimes. However, the left will protect their sexual harassers in order to keep seats, the right needs to step up.
1
That already happened. Sen Al Franken resigned after pressure from his Democratic colleagues. Very different from the Republican endorsement of Moore.
20
Like the left forced Al Franken and John Conyers to resign? The left was certainly not protecting these accused abusers. Unless you mean Bill Clinton? Uh, Senator Gillibrand has called him to account. Please name the sexual abusers you think are being protected by the left. Just one.
15
The left will protect their harassers? I don't think so ... exhibit A: Al Franken.
14
Republicans have overplayed their hand by ramming through a tax bill that hits the wallets of the affluent moderate conservatives this article depicts. Many are starting to worry about Medicare and Soc Security too, while it is in the hands of Trump and company. The only saving financial grace is a bubbling stock market, which can't go on forever. If stocks dive or even stall -- fuhgetttaboutit GOP.
46
I thought the bill was a handout to affluent Americans according to Democrats? Secondly if it does hit the wallet of the affluent as you claim, shouldn’t you be celebrating and prasing Donald Trump for taxing the rich and making things fair?
Affluent Americans are not the mega-wealthy 1% and corporations who are the recipients of the tax bill giveaways. The upper middle class and very poor are going to get hit hardest, especially in blue states with districts of previous GOP supporters . This tax bill is all about the wealthy 1% GOP donors and corporations, not the merely affluent.
6
Thanks, you saved me the trouble of explaining what I meant! It's people with high incomes who work for a living and pay high property and local taxes to send their kids to decent schools who are gonna pay, not the ownership class that send their students to private schools. (Though notice the private school crowd got a break since they'll be able to funnel tuition through 529s.)
1
Republicans, and especially Republican men, still don't get the absolute rage that so many women are experiencing. In a Litchfield County CT. meeting some months ago, sponsored by the local Democratic party to address the opioid crisis, person after person stood up and said: I used to be a moderate Republican... until the party left me.
Multiply that exponentially by the numbers of women running for public office. Then factor in the anger that women who aren't running, but will contribute and organize, feel. Women are tired of seeing short-sighted, corrupt, destructive tax, climate, and ant-female social policies enacted by sleazy male mediocrities. Women get the need for infrastructure. They have kids. They'd rather not have them die on collapsing bridges or poorly maintained trains or in extreme weather events.
370
Sorry, Jessica, but the Republican party left moderate Republicans years ago. This should not be a surprise to them.
1
Oddly, I think it is. They are trapped in denial and in amber. I think they see bits of a wave, but have no clue just how angry people, and especially women, are. Since the election, to look at just one local upstate CT. couple I know, both in finance, the moderate Republican man just switched parties, after decades of loyalty, and his wife, a long-time Democrat, just ran for local office. We're talking middle-aged Episcopalians, not Bernie or bust types...
Every one else I know, myself included, has ramped up their political involvement by 500%.
10
More power to you, Jessica!
Keep up the good fight!
"Democrats have dreamed for years of peeling away the rings around major cities, separating suburban voters who favor conservative tax and economic policies from a Republican Party that also champions harder-right positions on abortion, guns and gay rights. So far, that effort has gained Democrats few seats."
It would be a shame if conservative reptile republicans were replaced with corporate / wall street democrats.
Thats how we got Trump in the first place. People were so disgusted with BOTH parties pro-elite economic positions and the elite big money interests they serve, that many just voted for an arsonist to burn the place down.
As John Edwards once said "If we are just going to replace their insiders with our insiders, why bother to have an election at all?".
IF the only difference between the parties is how friendly they are to gay people and minorities, the 70% white electorate justifiably has to ask, why should I even vote, or if 'identity politics' is the way I should frame my vote, since there are no differences or merely cosmetic ones, between parties on economic issues, why not vote for the guy who is dog whistling for whites?
5
As a former Republican voter in my youth what surprises me is that it took Trump to get these suburban (female) voters to wake up and leave the Republicans. Trump is simply a mainstream republican beginning with Reagan without the dog whistle. Reagan and the Bush's had enough since to keep the worst instants of the republican party in the closet, Trump not so much.
26
Welcome to America for the rich middle class voters.
Please get out of the way and let the rich folks in.
They're the ones I'm here to serve and my tax plan proves it.
Sorry but no room at the table for you just scraps and promises.
Move aside darn it! The rich are more important because they rich---
just like me. Besides I feel more comfortable with them.
I can't wait until the tax cuts go into effect! I'll make billions
and can quit this job in the White House and go work for Putin!
22
This is great news and I hope it is accurate. Trump is an excellent salesman and con artist - that's it. I can understand Republicans who were for him because they felt it would help the economy - and their own bottom line.
Now, a year into Trumpism, it is crystal clear he lied about almost everything he promised. Better, cheaper, health care has become zero healthcare. The wall isn't even talked about anymore. The list is endless, and sickening. Then you factor in the disgusting crudeness Trump employs, and the constant attacks on the courts and press, and you have a veritable sewer in front of you - named Trump. It is obvious he longs for a police state type government without having to answer to anyone. People who aren't seeing this are blind.
42
Some people won't learn.
This was exactly the strategy pursued by HRC in 2016. The not-so-covert message is that the Democratic Party needs to move even further away from its old constituencies in order to lure (white) Republican suburban women voters into the fold: the old pursuit of the elusive swing voter, given a new a la mode pseudo-feminist cast: "Women are ready and demanding a seat that the table."
Sheesh.
I've got a novel suggestion. Why not recapture the genuine populist impulse, speaking to the needs of working men and women--even to the needs of the people who cook and clean for suburban Republican women? This isn't simply turning the Democratic Party into the "party of minorities." It's rediscovering its roots in the world of wage workers everywhere. It aims to unite all race and classes of people, not all manner of consultants and pollsters parsing the message to capture a single constituency--or dumbing the message down ("A Better Deal"! Really?) in order not to offend anyone.
The Democratic Party has a lot more important work to do before 2020: better organizing minority communities (look to Alabama) and re-justifying itself to disenchanted members of the white working classes.
17
Funny you made fun of President Trump and attacked populism as an evil force when he used it to get elected. Now you praise populism and call for Democrats to embrace the Trump model! You call for Democrats returning to party roots, which you seem to ignore historically means the KKK and slavery.
Its roots in wage workers you talk about are also based in pure racism. The minimum wage itself was mainly created to keep blacks out of the good jobs. The labor unions themselves in America were Democrat dominated organizations that were created to maintain high paying jobs for whites only and were bastions of racism and sexism until quite recently.
If you think winning Alabama by a few points over a child molster who’s own party cut off funding and called to resign you are strange. Furtermore if you lokk at the turnout Democrats beat Republicans by double digits yet won by a few points. This is nothing to celebrate!!!!
As emperical evidence remeber when Ted Kennedy passed away? A Republican actually won his seat in the special election, yet you forgot this and niter of us remeber his name. He was destroyed by his Democrat challenger in the first normal cycle election. If that dosen’t illustrate my point nothing will.
1
This post misses a lot of the complexity that goes into some of these suburban districts, especially in a place like Northern Illinois.
@R
That's a fair point. But how does the complexity of "college-educated, affluent Rebelling Republican Suburbs" (the description they are given in the article) affect what the core message of the Democratic Party ought to be?
Does it mean, "We Can Meet You Part Way, Wherever That Is"? Or does it mean, "Here's What A Real Populist Program Looks Like. Try it."
The article shows that RRSs are disgusted by the faux populism of DJT. So, show them what real populism is by offering a contrast--not least of all by promising to undo the damage that Trump has already inflicted.
1
I live in Rep Culberson's district. He does not have many negative comments because his staff won't answer the phone and the voice mail is full, not allowing any other messages to be left. We send letters and postcards to him but i'm sure he is not counting those.
53
Wait until the conservative suburbs find out what the tax bill will do to their taxes. Salt deductions either gone or severely curtailed, and no deduction for home equity line of credit. Republicans in those districts, even if they vote against the bill, are tethered to this awful piece of legislation which explodes the budget, and passes all that money to the very rich.
17
I can only hope for a change in the coming election, these last 11 months have been frightening for me.
27
I feel the same way. I was horrified that Trump won and have not been surprised at anything he has done. I am praying for a president who actually cares about our country, children, the poor, sick, elderly, and the environment. Until then, activism and prayer!
Simply put, if taxes go up on specific people, and their withholding is changed or HRBlock or TurboTax recommend less deductions ...
people are going to blame it justly on Republicans in Congress and the Senate
so the blue state hustle, removing the ability to deduct SALT taxes, both real estate and income tax .. will have consequences ..
Suburban voters are not as likely to be watching Fox News or to hate women, minorities or immigrants since they live and work besides them. Women in wealthy enclaves often do work in real professional jobs, and the $10K for two-income as well as single taxpayers is really going to annoy people who are already paying higher taxes, getting less social security benefits due to being dual income families. Two sets of eyes to see the tax increase.
I think Republicans think that loss of the SALT deduction will put pressure on states and local governments to reduce taxes, but honestly, state programs are more the goodies you enjoy everyday, good schools for your kids, highways, medicaid for your sick relatives and elderly in nursing homes, state parks,town fireworks, you name it.
207
A good comment. However, I prefer another word instead of "goodies".....state and local governments provide "services", "services" we need. Poor education, lack of health care, terrible infrastructure, lack of water and air quality....these things are not frivolous and certainly are not goodies, although I definitely got your meaning. The current GOP must think moving towards an authoritarian state where the rich are the only ones who have a say and the only ones who enjoy a safe and sound life is a good model to aspire to. Well, the majority of Americans (the +65% of us Democrats, moderate Republicans, Independents, etc.) will have a lot to say about this at the voting box next year. Maybe it's good these horrors and horrible people are now out in the open. Now we can defeat them.
8
Then you should be proud to pay them and not force me to subsidize your overspending!
1
Seems to be when Democracy works best! If you cannot stand for your constituents then at minimum stand for your grandchildren.
12
We're looking for EVERYBODY to oppose Trump.
The survival of our democracy demands it.
43
It is not only Trump, but also the Republicans in congress that have created a nightmarish, monster-driven government, totally corrupt and plutocratic. All their focus and legislation is to reward the super wealthy and corporations. They continue to attack social programs that the middle class, working class and poor depend on - while the vote for $700 billion dollar packages for the defense industry that even the Pentagon says is too high. It has gotten to the point where I hate reading what the congress is doing because of their assault on the other 98% of this country.
46
Taxpayers are sick and tired of supporting the lazy and irresponsible.
1
“I cannot bear what is going on right now in government,” said Norri Leder, saying of [the president]: “I find him completely offensive and unethical and slimy.”
These negative characteristics were on full display when he campaigned for the White House in 2016. It's a shame that millions of Americans treated their votes like chips at a roulette wheel and gambled foolishly on a deeply flawed public figure whose word was not his bond. After nearly a year of futility, incompetence and governmental malfeasance, Americans are acknowledging their mistaken trust in this man. As Virginia and Alabama voters just proved, it's never too late to do the right thing.
54
Maybe we'll see in 2018 much higher rates of voting in America. Yes, Susie, voting matters! If you sit out now, you deserve what you get. Unfortunately, if you sit out now, we all may be forced to suffer. VOTE in 2018!
2
Republicans have shown their hand. They don't give a hoot about anyone but the donor class. Punishing them at the ballot box is the only thing they'll understand.
42
The single best thing that could happen to this country in 2018 is for Democrats to gain majority in the House. Democratic majority in the Senate would be second. Progressives should spare not one molecule of effort to make this happen. The criminal Trump administration and its venal GOP lackeys in Congress would have the door slammed on their vengeful agenda. I crave the chance to Merrick Garland a Trump nominee
25
You can always count on Americans to do the right thing after they've tried everything else—Winston Churchill.
40
Looks like the democrats better get with it if they wish to fill both the senate and house seats. They better get the plan together that makes sense for everyone in both parties. I know that's a BIG wish because the republicans just want to go on their rotten ideology. They hit us with a "small" give away only to strike us down by paying back what they gave us now in 2025. All those GOPER's who voted for this "so called" president hit us with more debt after all he is the king of his own bankruptcies now he has our country with 1.5 trillion dollars in additional debt and for what! To get a few more votes?
Everybody better wake up and vote all these people OUT who said yes to this ridiculous tax give away. NOW they will go after the entitlements the Trumpster promised not to do and Ryan promised to do in 2018' they took away our healthcare and peoples insurances now they will take away or decrease Medicare, Social Security, Medical (CA)' Medicaid, and the children's Health Care law that they supported but promised to make cuts in 2018. Hey folks that's where they will fill in the 1.5 trillion debt right from your hard earned dollar. The GOP republicans took away everyone's safety net only to make sure they fulfilled their crooked ideology. SO VOTE THEM OUT in 2018 and the next elections to come. REMEMBER this they decreased taxes so when the democrats come into power they will have to increase taxes that the republicans caused in the first place including the Trumpster!
15
A blue wave will extend down ballot as voters vent their anger on the party of Trump, Moore, Bannon, and Conway. Vote GOP? Not even for assistant dog catcher.
28
Well, Well, Well! The women of America are finally realizing the power they wield! Even the Republican women are finally realizing that, all along, the GOP wanted to stuff them back in the kitchen: quiet and pregnant, and the females are finally aware of what they can do. Go Get 'Em, Ladies!
23
Instead of those silly "I voted" stickers, how about vigilantes going about town and tattooing "I didn't vote" on the foreheads of the offenders!
3
Women, it's all up to you. And NOT just Black Women. It's time for ALL Women to save OUR Country. If we can't do this, no one can, or will.
513
"Women, it's all up to you", you say. And yes indeed, most white women voted for Trump, and it's up to them to change. But isn't it up to EVERY voter who voted for Trump to change, regardless of race or gender?
3
Yes , peel away the centralist Republicans who can at least think past Faux News and of curse gather the Independents as well but the big treasure trove is to get the 1/3 of citizens who are eligible to vote but do not. Activating a significant piece of this group will overcome much of the gerrymandering that the Republicans have put in place.
If any of the 14 Republican House members in California survive the 2018 election I will be disappointed.
22
Trump and his fellow Republicans are the greatest campaigners for the Democratic party that we have. Trump's every crazier and guiltier behavior, this outrageous slap-in-the-face-to-the-voters of a tax plan and now the repealing of internet neutrality is playing against the Republicans as people become aware of them.
I am delighted to see that other Republicans are also turning against Trump. It is a really bad idea to infuriate the ordinary people because if they rise up they are very powerful. They not only get what they want but they aren't very careful about the others they attack. Consider the French Revolution.
If the Republicans keep up their insults to the voters, they can be whisked away in a minute. And that would be a good thing.
212
The tax plan and net neutrality play against the Republicans, yes.
But add to that Trumps' history of sexual perdition, his bombastic stupidity, peevishness, zero diplomatic skills. Then add in the threat Republican lawmakers are starting to pose to the social safety net (Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, CHIP, etc) that comprise the thin thread keeps a large percent of the population from collapsing and the GOP looks headed for a fall.
6
#MeToo has changed the electoral calculus. There are incumbents shaking in their boots and would-be candidates who are having second thoughts about running. Victims can come forward at any time. I think this means there’s no such thing as a locked seat; even in the reddest districts, politicians are vulnerable. Before Alabama—before #MeToo—I thought Democrats needed to focus resources on toss-ups. However, it’s now clear that the dynamics of any race can change at any time, and Democrats should instead consider every seat up for grabs.
13
That' what the elder Bush thought.. "every seat up for grabs"
1
If R's lead a good campaign, focus on conservative issues, stay away from social issues like abortion, point out all the good of the past year in terms of the economy, jobs, foreign policy etc., the dems will not take over congress. Icing on the cake for the R's is more revelations about dem corruption. I don't see voters influenced in local elections by their feelings about Trump.
2
Sounds like a strategy for 2004, not 2018.
There is nothing the GOP can do to avoid the shadow of the elephant in the room - D.J. Trump. It will overcome anything anyone with an "R" next to their name says.
6
Dem corruption? I don't think you want to go there. Trump's corruption is trickeling down to all the Congressmen who do not condemn him.
5
1) "focus on conservative issues, stay away from social issues like abortion"
— It's virtually impossible for the R party to avoid this—the platform is built on it
2) "point out all the good of the past year in terms of the economy, jobs, foreign policy etc"
Translation: Thanks, Obama
7
Look, I would like to believe that this is true, but after this paper's (and others) misread of the direction of 2016 election I take every analysis with a great deal of skepticism. For the sake of our country, I hope you folks are right.
19
6th paragraph: "If you had any doubts, they were wiped away after New Jersey, Virginia and Alabama."
New Jersey and Virginia are blue states. Alabama is an anomaly; it will be comfortably back in republican hands in 2020.
7th paragraph: From Texas to Illinois, Kansas to Kentucky, there are Republican-held seats filled with college-educated, affluent voters who appear to be abandoning their usually conservative leanings...
On the basis of what? Newspaper polls? The same polls that said Hillary would win in a walk? No real elections yet in those states to prove those statements. Consider that democrats controlled everything in 2008 and in only 8 years managed to lose everything, even at the state level. Democrats haven't been this out-of-power in two generations and yet you want me to believe the trend is in their direction? I don't foresee republicans losing control of either the House or Senate unless the economy tanks.
4
reply to Mary, The economy has tanked for former factory workers who have lost their jobs with no retraining programs, for college graduates with huge student loans, for suburban home owners whose property taxes will rise under Trump's
new tax plan, for women who believe they have a right to make their own decisions about family planning, for family's that need decent health care...
And for people who don't want a sexual preditor and a deeply flawed individual disgracing the White House while trampling on our laws and our values.
10
Virginia is purple, very recently red. The last election was momentous.
3
Dave Reichert (R-Auburn) was so intimidated by the outrage Trump has created in the Seattle suburbs that he hid in his office for months before deciding to retire.
Trump's trash brand might still work in rural areas but it is a loser in the 'burbs.
53
NOW is the time for WE THE PEOPLE to stop them in their tracks. Stop the horrendous tax heist they plan to vote on Tuesday and Wednesday. John McCain has announced he will not be there to vote. News over the weekend revealed a "secret" giveaway to The Con Don developer and his Robber Baron brethren. Bob Corker said he didn't know about it. He also said VERY publicly that he would never vote for a plan that adds to OUR national debt. This bill adds at least $1 TRILLION DOLLARS that will come out of OUR pockets/lives.
The Con Don and his International Mafia Top 1% Global Financial Elite Robber Baron/Radical religion Good Old Boys' Cabal want WW3. They will get even richer and get more control over OUR lives.
Stop them. Stop the money. OUR hard-earned taxpayer money. NO WW3.
Call, e-mail, tweet, write today and tell them NO. Do NOT pass the tax heist or budget bills. WE THE PEOPLE are the only ones who can stop them.
https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
https://www.house.gov/representatives
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“NOW is the time for WE THE PEOPLE to stop them in their tracks.” Wait a minute, WE THE PEOPLE elected Mr. Trump! You elites discount us, deplorables at your own risk.
Dude, you lost the popular vote. When we get back the Congress and the state houses, first thing we do is kill the Electoral College. We are the only "democracy" where the loser wins.
12
When you lose your health insurance, when they privatize Medicare and Social Security and cut benefits for you under those programs (like Paul Ryan has said is next) while give giving more tax benefits to multimillionaires, when your tax "breaks" are phased out over the next few years while corporations and millionaires retain theirs, think about how wise your support has been for you because all those rich guys are laughing all the way to the bank.
18
My questions are: Why did it have to come to this, and Why did intelligent, reasonable people not only vote for Trump but Republicans as well for Congress? Did they not see what they had wrought over the past eight years: climate change denial, disdain of education, facts, and science, gun-lust and a callous disinterest towards the grieving families who lost loved ones to gun violence, paranoia, divisiveness, and shills for the donor class?
We are growing ever more hopeful that not only will our fellow citizens vote Trump out of office, but the confederacy of dunces who occupy a majority seat in Congress.
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Because the democrats insisted on running the only human being who could possibly lose to Trump, and then rigged the primaries to ensure that match up.
The first step towards closure is owning your own piece of the "Blame Pie".
3
Hillary Clinton and Fox News with a little help from the Russians.
5
Their places of privilege isolated them from much of that. The world of the average middle-class white woman in this country is actually quite small, even many of the educated ones. White-collar work (if they work), their kids' school, church, grocery store, rinse and repeat ad nauseam, all with other white women exactly like them doing the exact same thing.
Plus many of them were too busy hating Hillary to care. At least in my family they were.
1
I loved this article - a ray of hope in a dismal year of Republican atrocious legislation.
Now, we just need to remember to get out and vote, no matter what.
No excuses, vote against any and all Republicans on the ballot!
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When was the last time you voted for ANY Republican?
1
Please do not kid yourselves. These are wine-sipping Republicans that are target of conservative backlash that beached Trump into White House. Large swaths of poverty-stricken whites who ate up the story of Mexican Wall, Islamic threat and the Great Dealmaker himself are still going to vote Trump.
24
The Dems do actually have a shot at ripping the Repub's out of their ivory tower, IF, and it's a very serious IF, they do not pander to the affluent, and run rich and/or corporate shill candidates. The days of a government run, by, and for, the affluent are about to be history. The boy clown prince in the White House, coupled with the self serving, pandering, affluent in congress (NO capital c until such time as they've earned and deserve such respect. It's actually abhorrent the NYT call's Trump "Mr"!) which passed the largest travesty in all American history under the guise of "reform", has very much created a ground swell of thinking along the French revolution lines. If anyone running for any office is rich, they will be untrusted IMMEDIATELY! If the Dems remember that, and run actual working class , middle class candidates that know what a stacked deck against all of us the present government has put forth, then the Democrats could conceivably obliterate the right. That would make Trump a lame duck in his first, and only term, and maybe, just maybe, save the U.S.A. from the hell the right has spawned!
36
No amount of push polling and propaganda is going to cure the Communist Democrats complete disconnect with the majority of the American people who reject their entire party plank of radical anti-American hate and bigotry.
2
The racism and hate seems to come Trump. Most Americans realize that Medicare for all would benefit them.
13
People are falling for fake news. Trump is freeing this country from the damage of Obama. Let Dems get power again, and country will fall unretrievably. Dems support killing of unborn babies and gay marriage, which are both an affront to God.
2
Ken M, I think that it is Trump, his minions and the GOP who are an affront to God (who doesn't exist, incidentally except in one's perverse and fantastical mind). What damage did President Obama wreck on the country? He did nothing of the kind, and if you weren't blinded by your hatred for decency and reason and by your gung ho capitalist ideology, you'd admit this. Whatever the shortcomings of Democrats as a party and as individuals, I believe you're in for a surprise next year when there's a good likelihood they'll control Congress. At least reason will prevail under them.
9
do you really believe a story that says we have only been around for 6000 years?
keep your fairy tales out of our politics.
6
Women don't like to be grabbed by the crotch? They think guys who multiple marry probably have some real problems? They find babyish name-calling and tantrums over next to nothing objectionable? They don't want to embrace or endorse slime? Gee, they used to know their place. Let's find whomever in the past was responsible for giving them the vote and really insult them repeatedly. That'll fix anything!
16
"As she sat with a glass of sauvignon blanc waiting for a women-focused Democratic fund-raiser to begin, Nancy Sharp let loose in a Texas-seasoned drawl why she and so many other onetime supporters of the Bush family were abandoning the Republicans."
Oh please stop. These people never supported the Republican party. If you don't like the President fine, but you can't claim to be a conservative or even a Republican and want the Democrats to take control of Congress. It's political idiocy.
And "college-educated" is the most overrated metric used in political analysis.
50 years ago you had to be intelligent to attend and graduate college. Now you just have to be willing to show up.
4
I agree. The Trump family is a perfect example. Look what money can buy!
6
Seattle suburbs won't matter as the state votes reliably "blue" in Presidential elections. Houston is another matter. Add Dallas to that mix with a high Latino and Black turnout and there's trouble in "Trumpland"."
21
Once, women wake-up to the truth of whom Donald is....the GOP will be doomed! However, there are still plenty of women willing to let "boys be boys."
If women across the country voted Democrat, our whole nation would turn Blue! Wake up ladies! Donald isn't on our side!
25
The vast majority of Canadians (and people all over the world) have wondered for well over a year now when Americans who bought the whole Trump garbage going to come to their senses and realize they are being lied to every single day. As for those unfortunates who still buy the Obama was a muslim/ not even a real American insanity; I can only offer pity over their mindless idiocy. Perhaps finally we are seeing a tipping point where even hard core Republicans are now beginning to understand the damage this man is dong to the reputation of the U.S. all over the planet. Here is hoping the reign of error comes to a well deserved ending in 2018; and Trump insanity will have seen the beginning of the end . God Save America.
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Thank you. You nailed it: "the reign of error." Even republicans have to agree on that, since trump is going to cost them dearly at upcoming state elections.
7
Thank you for your good wishes. Believe me, there are a lot of us who are really, really trying.
We are appalled that the Oaf in the Oval Office is smashing through the credibility and the trust the world has placed in us for so many years...we are better than we appear today...and we will struggle back to earn trust among equals in the union of liberal democracies.
We just sort of have this degenerate branch of the family that can't break free of their white "America First" Football Fantasy.
4
I sincerely hope many of these challengers are successful. I am old enough to accept the fact that my candidate will not always win, but I used to not worry too much about that until these last couple of years.
I've been seeing people getting elected who are just not good people. I see too many that are mean spirited, willfully contempt of anyone who is different from the members of their tribe, and more concerned about toeing some party line that representing the people of their district.
Mr. Trump did not cause the pendulum to swing like it has, but his election in my judgment signals that it is time to return to the middle. I don't care for the extremes of either party, and I think many agree with me. At a minimum, I hope we elect a bunch of folks who have the capacity to be embarrassed. That would be a good place to start.
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''I don't care for the extremes of either party,''
You're right, the Social Democrats like Sanders, Warren and the UK's Corbyn are so extreme left they make Stalin look sweet. Both Sanders and Corbyn have been called 'Trotskyites' by truly great politicians like Tony Blair who only lids to start wars or support dictators
Fortunately the Elitists like the NYT understand the dangers of too much popular input ('is there too much democracy in the Democrat Party') and we also have this line from their sister paper in the UK, the Guardian ('Brexit is putting me off this whole ‘will of the people’ idea'), who like the NYT backed the Iraq war, believed in the WMDs and who believed that Sweden's Hans Blix was not trustworthy even if he turned out to be right.
Who cares if Julian Assange was NOT found guilty of rape or that all Swedish legal procedures were violated or that both the UN and the EU found for Assange and stated the case against him was a 'miscarriage of justice'. Rightly for the English Government his actual innocence or guilt are irrelevant.
What matters is he and his Wikileaks helped Trump with 'weaponized truths' that embarrassed Hillary and made her look bad (Like our Hacking of ally Merkel or the info that led the DNC to fire Debbie Wasserman Schultz).
Sanders had no right to interfere in the decision the DNC made that THEY not the people decide who the next candidate is. Nothing is more natural than a one candidate race in a Democracy. China proves this!!
1
We have to have checks and balances. And people with a sense of shame.
2
The Republican Party has become a party an abomination to all that is good and decent about the United States. For the sake of our children and future generations, if we care at all about the nation's and the planet's future, the GOP should be swept away and never again allowed to have a presence in American politics.
50
The Republicans' Wars on Christmas have been going on for over 40 years. Republicans only want Christmas for the 1% and their last tax scam does just that, and worse.
http://dangerousintersection.org/2011/07/27/republican-war-on-christmas-...
31
Only a fool focuses on what is said vs what is real. Is your life better today than yesterday? Is your family better off? Your neighbors? Your country?
I don't have to like my leaders; I simply need to experience a better life because of the decisions they make for me. For too long, politics have been run by smooth talking con men who did nothing for anyone but themselves (the speeches, the big words and catch phrases were great, but the reality was things got worse); both establishments failed the people. I'll agree Trump can be hard to like, but everyone around me is living better today than under O or B. As long as that continues, I'll take the good with the bad and not be a petty fool over words and tweets.
1
I assume then, that you voted for Obama in 2012.
6
Are you registered to vote? Be sure to show up on Election Day, both the primary and the general.
Are you not registered to vote? Register as soon as you can and then act on the first paragraph.
If you don't vote, please don't complain about the results.
27
Getting traction in CT will be tough considering how badly the Democrats have run the states control the state house for over 30 years and the governorship for 8. Democrats here are owned by the unions making the state rank at the bottom for business friendly. Will those affluent people realize this tax cut benefits them before they pull the lever.
2
The GOP has shown its true colors this year. It has acted to support the interests of the wealthy, to show disdain for the common person and those in need, to manipulate and conceal the truth when asked about decisions or plans, and to place party and self-interest over country.
This does not bode well for the GOP. They have both shocked and alienated the majority of Americans with their agenda fully revealed (to them at least) in the tax bill.
90
Regarding Pennsylvania's 7th, Brian Fitzpatrick, the Republican incumbent, is dreadful. This is a high SALT area, but he ignored the interests of his constituents and voted for the GOP tax scam anyway. We are one of the areas that Moody has predicted will see up to a 6% drop in real estate values because of the GOP tax scam. Our local taxes far exceed $10,000, even for modest homes. There are picketers outside Fitzpatrick's Newtown office every Friday, but he hides inside. Reddick, who was mentioned in the article as a contender for his seat, was formerly a Republican, and she has voted in very few of the past elections, so I don't think she is a suitable replacement. The Republican party was rotten long before Trump, so her affiliation with it in the past is a red flag. Would love to see the seat go to a woman, but we deserve better than Reddick.
34
As various polls have shown, I'm looking forward to midterm elections..
The best chance for Republicans is if their "donor class" sends more money to the lower/middle income classes than to Republican campaigns - and that won't happen. I expect midterm and 2020 contributions to be historically high after these tax cuts, but they're NOT going to be able to buy the election... the top 1% only cast 1% of the votes. Many more (of the current 34% who still approve of Trump) will see they were bilked by Trump and sold out to billionaires by 2020.
16
Can it be that can people are actually paying attention? If so, then there's still hope.
37
Yep, we like those people who are secretly slimy better. That way they can start wars while lying to us, have sex in the oval office and hope we don't find out, lie about thier heritage in order to get special consideration, grope people while they sleep, kick major problems like Iran and North Korea down the road. Yeah, those are the stupid slimy people we need to turn back to.
2
But they fund hot meals for elderly shut ins. And health insurance for children. And heating and housing subsidies for minimum wage workers. And they regulate pollutants so our children can breathe clean air and drink clean water. They invest in clean renewable energy. They fund health care for women. They don’t think Nazis are “fine people”. They don’t encourage racism and hate.
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I suppose you think that abusing women and watching half-naked teenage girls, and bragging about it on tape is a whole lot more acceptable. How Christian of you.
46
No, you like those who are openly slimy, who have serial marriages and fairs during , who borrow money and don't pay it back, who launder money for Russian oligarchs and live in gilded "palaces," who don't pay workers what they are owed, who talk about bringing jobs back while continuing to manufacture abroad, who talks about government waste while costing the Treasury millions upon millions to run to his resorts to play golf every weekend, who complains about immigrants while marrying a third wife who worked and got paid under the table in her first trip to the US. I could go on, but when we are at war with Iran and/or North Korea and millions more have died from Republican wars, will you still be meek and happy?
52
This poor excuse for a tax simplification and equalization law may be the last nail in the coffin for Mr. Trump. I know it has changed my mind about the real agenda of the Republican President and his donor bought and paid for Congress. I am just one voter who firmly supported Trump who has changed his mind on who he is really working for, and I'll bet there are will be lot more like me who will be reevaluating who he is really championing when they get their tax bill. There is a point at which the negative economics of policy overwhelms even long held political positions. If this bill passes, I will be voting for the Democrat in the next election even if he/she/it is a flaming illegal, gay, transgender, feminist Russian Communist. Thanks for crushing my long held beliefs, Republicans, and for making it easy to switch.
757
I applaud your sentiment, C. Ingram, but why do you associate Russians with the Democrats? There is only one party that has allied itself with Putin and his army of trolls, and that party is the Republican Party, which even as I write this, is scheming to cover up or discredit the links between Trump and his Russian allies.
31
C Ingram. Welcome! We Democrat's are far from perfect but I'm sure you will find many friends inside our tent.
9
This is beautiful. I think I can speak for many on this beautiful planet when I say that trump, his cronys and the republican congress scares the heck out of me. In Canada his new tax regime would have people taking to the street or at least talk radio....with the explanation that we cannot deduct our mortgage interest or property taxes or provincial taxes or student loan interest. But hey we have single payer medical...not perfect but at least everyone has something. But generally our tax system is progressive.
9
Thanks for an outstanding article. The well-deserved reaction by strong, creative women to a weak male mired in misogyny, bullying, and treason may start bringing the country back on track, but the issue will be seeing the real threat clearly.
As a world we are faced with a tangle of intertwined daemons - overpopulation, global warming, terrorism, pandemics, racism, theocracy . . . It’s hard to keep track of the threats to us, our children, our grandchildren.
Ironically, it may be my birth-state of Texas that takes the lead in saving us. I have not lived there in 70 years, not since my father and mother were stationed there training bomber pilots for WWII. But I have watched from a distance as a once far-red state has slowly come face to face with the lie that “global warming does not exist” as the state realizes that Houston, the heartbeat of everything from fossil fuels to the human exploration of space, will - is - going to drown in rapidly rising seas.
My parent’s folks were all machine builders. Folks who looked at a tool we had and put forward only one question - how can we make it better. I am going to hope that the meetings you describe in your article, strong women with a Texas drawl meeting at a posh locale in downtown Houston will continue to look at the tools we use - and come up with a better way.
Can we turn thousands of acres of desert into solar/wind farms? Can we implement fusion reactors on a world-wide scale? Can we bioengineer ... etc.?
Thanks again.
212
"Beyond the biggest blue states, perhaps two dozen red-hued districts with significant suburban populations could be winnable for Democrats"
Why "beyond the blue states"? California sends more Republicans to the House than Kansas, Alabama, Wyoming and Utah combined. Dems would do well to focus on big blue states like CA, NY, NJ too.
188
California GOP representatives are circling the tidy bowl as we speak. Don't bother betting on any horserace longshots- these guys are toast walking.
20
Chris Collins, one of Trump's biggest supporters, Congress from western N Y. Please send a good Democrat our way so we can get rid of him - please!!
8
David - And we even send Republican "lite" Dems to the House - such as our Congressman Scott Peters, who thinks universal healthcare is not a good idea, among many other highly suspect positions he has taken. A Christmas wish - that the DNC would not just be anti-Trump but would instead put forth a progressive economic plank akin to the one Sanders and Warren are touting - adding in such filips as reducing the out of control military budget. Why so silent, DNC?
6
The GOP tax bill will tip many districts from Republican to Democratic next year.
265
I think the best chance for dems is to embrace more moderate, centrist candidates. Both parties seem to be locked in the all or nothing approach to party membership. Dems should embrace independents and those with differing views, as it should be country over party.
69
AGREED! Excellent comment! The 80% in the middle have been tugged back and forth by the two extreme 10% wings, left and right.
1
on the contrary, its 'centrists' or 'republican-lite' policies that have turned off so many working people to the former people's party. The last thing we need is more Clintonism.
6
Today's "Centrist" is yesterday's Nixon Republican. Even Obama governed to the right of Nixon but morphed into Teddy Roosevelt every election cycle.
1
The democrats are all in a tizzy because of Donald Trumps rough style of governing? Trump is getting results despite the opposition from his own entrenched party and the antipathy of the the main stream media. Trump is different from his predecessors - all cut from the same cloth - and cuts through the rubbish. This country needs that at this time. These young democrats are perpetuating the same old marxist views but with fresher faces. It's a shame they aren't smart enough to know the history of the world.
2
So many of your sentences contradict one another it's hard to understand what you're trying to say, other than: "I love Trump, deal with it".
Thanks?
16
It's a shame the past seems to permeate your noggin. The future holds many terrors for you as apparently Americans are all Marxist dupes and out to make you unhappy. Somehhow Hitler, Mussolini Stalin and Mao slipped through the cracks of history - leaving only despicable democrats to be targeted in your historical ramble. But then the idea of democracy would never sit well with folks of your viewpoint either. Why would we ever let the "common" people make decisions? They were not born rich were they?
16
The only "results" that he has (almost) gotten will be to fatten the pockets of the 1%. If you are one of that select group -- congrats. If not -- yep, keep on shooting yourself in the foot and voting against your interests. Genius.
17
We in IL-06 are ready for change.
Peter Roskam has not properly explained this tax bill to his constituents. In fact, he never really faces his constituents. He retweets far-right mouthpieces, and gives interviews to way right safe-space editorial boards. He votes against the his district time and time again.
Meanwhile, home prices in our district are projected to fall up to 10%, through Republican governance.
That doesn't sound like a conservative idea to me.
Kelly Mazeski will get our vote.
237
Not mentioned in the article is that Mazeski is one of SEVEN democratic candidates who want to face Peter Roskam next November. She may have the most money at this moment, but other candidates have better track records to face 6-term Roskam, who already has $1M + in his war chest. Placement in a NYT article does not mean she is the strongest candidate. http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20171215/seven-democrats-want-shot-at-un...
4
Agreed, she has the best shot at the moment and is also our local candidate here in the farther NW reaches of the district. Cheers.
2
Let's not forget in the Hudson Valley of Westchester & Putnam County we have the self proclaimed "silent majority" State Senator Terrence Murphy. He's been silent on healthcare, taxes, words you now can't use, and has no comment on why he continues to support tRUMP. Along side of him is Republican Assembly Member Kevin Bryne who also has nothing to say about healthcare, and why both continue to be a supporter to the con man in the White House.
156
Go to it, by any means necessary, that’s what the opposition would do to you.
19