Trump. Love or Hate him, you gotta love the guy.
1
Trump claims this are so, so, so much better under him than when Obama was in office. For myself, personally, things are pretty much the same. Not grand (like he claims it is), but not bad. More or less, in the middle. His so-called tremendous tax cut barely has made a difference in my economic status. The only kudos I'll give him, is that he hasn't messed it up...….yet.
2
The really critical insight into the big picture was actually found in the recent Harvard study (aimed at helping Democrats find a majority, no less). That is, that "Progressive Activists", who are the most active and engaged Democrats driving the party, are only 8% of the population, and are radically to the left of the other 92%. And they are also richer, whiter, more highly educated, and much more atheistic than the rest of the population. They are the only group in which a majority thinks "political correctness" is a good thing. That's who Hillary was speaking for when she called everyone else "deplorable". The reality that the authors and enforcers of identity politics and political correctness are rich white people is breaking out into the open as the Democrats become more extreme in those areas.
Given their reliance on donors who want open borders and outsourcing, the Democrats are truly, truly going to disintegrate once their extremist social issue facade collapses. And it is happening.
4
Some who blame Democrats for environmental regulations should consider the following:
1. Green thinking (alternative energy) creates more jobs than dirty coal could ever conceive of. Witness solar panel & wind energy in so many Euro-nations, let alone R&D to develop new clean energy resources (algae)
2. Dirty coal pollutes air, water tributaries, causing costly human disease (I.e., W. Va.)
3. EPA was created under Richard Nixon, a Republican!
5
“In many neighborhoods with key House races, daily life is pretty good. Unemployment is at a five-decade low. Confidence is spilling over among consumers and businesses. The economy is on track to grow at its fastest pace in years.”
Now is working out, tomorrow is someone else’s issue
2
There could be a blue tsunami here in California and it wouldn’t mean a thing nationally. We are a predictable Democratic stronghold, sending a couple of senators and a few representatives to Congress. But on the national scene, our votes don’t count at all. This election, as well as the 2020 election, will be won by a solid minority in the so-called flyover states, which are disproportionately represented in Congress.
Unless and until we eliminate the unfair and obsolete Electoral College we will not have a democratically elected government ruled by a majority of the voters. The failure of past Democratic majorities to take on the challenge of eliminating this barrier to Democracy is contrary to all reason.
33
@Margaret Jay you would have to repeal the 12th amendment. I doubt that will ever happen, so quit thinking it will change, and turn your party platform into something people will vote for.
9
@peta. Gee, I wish I had a dollar for every time I have been informed about this. A constitutional amendment is not impossible. But there is a faster practical solution. Eleven states so far, including California, have joined the National Popular Vote Compact which could potentially have enough members to swing the electoral vote to the candidate with the majority of popular votes.
2
@Margaret Jay The problem with that tactic is that all of the Republican voters in California, whose votes REALLY don't count, will suddenly count, AND they'll have more incentive to actually go out and vote.
3
Please stop letting Trump and his plan to lie himself to victory suck all of the oxygen away. Cover what this lying has done to the country. Focus on what is at stake here. Don’t parrot the newsworthy nonsense. Share how everything is not as it’s being portrayed. Keep facts foremost.
4
Listening to Trump saying "they had a very bad original concept" and that the cover up did not go well, made me wonder what exactly is he communicating. Is he saying that if it was he who had conspired the murder and the cover up, he would have done a much better job? It sounds murky.
1
What makes you think that Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers didn’t round up a bunch of poor desperate people from Honduras and Guatemala. Hand out $$ to willing people with instructions to organize a mob with the perfect media sound bite marching with the intent to storm the southern border just before critical elections. This gift to the news media is cheaper than paying for adds in swing states like Florida, Wisconsin and Ohio.
It takes media attention away from the hurricane disasters in the South. It’s not like these people are back in their homes after two destructive hurricanes aggravated by climate change.
Conspiracy theories work both ways. After all they still have to travel 1000 miles across Mexico. How many miles can these people walk in a day. 20 miles a day is still 50 days away.
Get real people!
3
I’m Voting republican
I don’t like mob rule, or being told by Dems that I’m now guilty before innocent
& what have Dems accomplished in the last 10 years
High health insurance premiums for me?
10
You're kidding, right?
I am guessing your student debt is pretty crippling. Do some fact checking on who stopped legislation that would have remediated student loan debt. (Republicans.)
And read a little about the concept of insurance pools, and why healthy people are part of the pool because that is how "insurance" works. Insurance companies loved to cherry pick the healthy and then refuse to offer insurance to people with preexisting conditions or who were sick. Easy money for them.
Ask yourself if you want to live in a country that denies people health insurance.
9
So, Republican policies work, Americans aren't socialists, Americans think people should be considered innocent until proven guilty, and you're surprised by Republican votes???
11
@BB What’s with this “proven guilty” nonsense? You really don’t understand our legal system. Why am I not surprised?
2
I've seen Mr. Fritzpatick's campaign adds they are awful. He has falsely called his opponent a Nazi, Anti Semitic, and a terrorist sympathizer. He is anything but middle of the road, Ms. Donnelly is being fooled.
3
Something fishy I going here, I reckon. The NYT comment section has usually a minority, at best, or a dearth, at worst, of conservative-minded comments. That makes me think 1) The right-wing commentariat is out in full force pushing narrative that we Dems have already lost the battle because they won’t be switching after all to vote blue, and everyone else they know agrees with that with the intention of suppressing votes because, Hey, why vote at all if it’s a lost cause? And 2) the internal polling must be looking really bad (maybe they have the proof of where the missed representation is lying in the polls and it’s not looking good for them) for them to be pushing this narrative.
I could be on to something or completely out of my mind, but either way: Don’t listen to it! Get out and vote and make your voice heard—NO MATTER WHAT!
11
Trump's claim that Kavanaugh was badly treated in his hearings is outrageous. Kavanaugh rolled out a performance—snarling, weeping, insulting questioners—that was so far from demonstrating a temperament that would be suitable for a seat on Supreme Court it was embarrassing.
Either the people who are buying the Trump version didn't watch the hearing regarding Christine Blasey-Ford's accusation or they didn't understand what they were seeing: a man who was incapable of behaving with maturity, restraint or dignity.
13
@dutchiris let's see how you would react with those disgusting and obviously false accusations thrown at you, and be presumed guilty.
7
@peta The accusations were disgusting but not obviously false. Judge Kavanaugh was a heavy drinker in high school and known to be a mean drunk at Yale. There is ample evidence of this in testimony from people who knew him well, including a college roommate. In any case, he behaved very badly in the hearing.
And in reply to your question, the obvious point is that I am not being considered for a seat on the Supreme Court.
4
Is there an official Democratic Party position (or a Schumer position) on what should be done when the caravan reaches the U.S. border? Since the system cannot possibly process 14,000 people in the short time the law requires, should we just release them into the country? And if so, should we do the same thing for follow-on caravans with hundreds of thousands (or millions) of people?
What does DNC Chair Tom Perez think? What do Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer think? Or would they prefer not to answer this question, at least until after the mid terms?
10
They would probably say that the policy was reasonable before Trump changed it to be deliberately abusive.
3
@Bruce Thomson - see where that gets them on Nov. 6!
Sadly, there will not be 'blue wave.' Not even close.
The 'sheeple' of this nation are under or in some type of spell.
I don't understand the attraction of this rancorous, lying, conniving and self-serving 'wolf' -- a/k/a, Trump -- but apparently, as a 'sheep dog,' warily watching and hyper aware of the harm the wolf represents .. I am in a minority.
Some blue dots here and there, but a full-on wave. Nope. Too bad. The wolf, fully untethered, will be worse than we have seen yet.
2
@jazz one The "spell" is called "results". After a lost decade, the economy is finally moving back towards 3% growth. Finally recovering. After 8 yers under Obama waiting, waiting, waiting. for a "recovery" that was always right around the corner.
4
McConnell said that these Midterm elections is a "knife fight" for the Republicans.
This is the reason that Trump has admitted that he is a nationalist, a white nationalist, which Trump has a history about with his father being a member of the KKK and who was arrested on a rally.
The GOP has regressed back to their racist past, in the way that they are using voter suppression as a evil tactic in their key seats, and especially where there are black and brown Democrats who are seeking election in the Midterm elections.
Trump has been shouting racist bigotry every time that he opens his mouth, and only appeals to a very small group of racists and sexists who like to use racist hate as a way to get political power.
The GOP will get a total rejection from the voters as racism has no place in America.
#Vote to defeat this type of evil racism in America.
10
"Mr. Trump’s ominous warnings and baseless charges about a migrant caravan threatening the border..."
First, doesn't a sentence like this belong in an opinion piece rather than a news story - even an interpretive news story? The word "baseless" clearly demonstrates lack of objectivity on the part of the writer.
Second, media focus on whether there are Middle Easterners in the caravan distracts from the main issue, which is - do we have borders and enforceable laws, or not?
How is it fair to simply admit tens (or hundreds) of thousands of people in caravans, both current and those to quickly follow, while maintaining a system which requires people entering legally to wait patiently for years? Or should we just abolish the system and let anyone in?
14
Scott Wallace isn't going to win.
The DNC really fudged this one up when they endorsed Wallace, a blue blood, multimillionaire, philanthropist. I'm sure Wallace thought he had an easy anti-Trump win. But, he dropped $2 million on attack ads against Rachel Reddick who he painted as a Republican infiltrator. Republican turned Democrat is progressive. A wealthy progressive, who as far as I can tell, has worked full-time running his non-profit should be able to better answer the causes he has funded. And refusing to release your tax returns while you're demanding Trump releases his doesn't look too good. Congrats, Dems you handed Republicans a gift on this one. You're going to lose the Philly suburbs. Millionaires trading green stocks are hardly Mother Teresa. And Democrats would do well to remember their base.
4
It is very difficult to see how Kristin Donnelly's will see her policy issues addressed in any satisfactory mannet by her vote.
Her intended vote makes some sense if Kristin believes that her candidate will act as an independent person, and that somehow that person will not act as part of a Republican party voting bloc in support of Trump.
This only makes sense if Kristin has not followed current events in the mrdia, or if she does not believe the media.
2
How long will it take for the Democrats to realize that they are in a crisis, of leadership (i.e., Warren's stumbles, DNC co-chair Ellison is now well behind in the polls for Minnesota A.G.) and direction (party elites like Sanders embracing socialism). Many must be thinking right now, will the Democrats' apparent unthinking tolerance for border crossings encourage more "caravans" to the U.S.? Do they want people to believe their top issue is health care and not anti-Trump? I'm one of the former longtime Democrats who recently became an independent. The feeling is gone. The party is hot-headed, shrill, confused, tribal, quick to prejudge, and unrecognizable.
20
"I'm one of the former longtime Democrats who recently became an independent. The feeling is gone. The party is hot-headed, shrill, confused, tribal, quick to prejudge, and unrecognizable."
I can't for the life of me figure how you would attribute all of the above to the Dem party? You sir, are trolling.
All this egregious rhetoric you listed above is the stump Trump and his syncophant GOP are running their campaigns on! We are not stupid or stuporous, we are looking right at all these shenanigans - coast to coast. The GOP ads across the country provoke racist, tribal, xenophobic polarizing fear and hate mongering.
IT IS about healthcare, social security, medicare, and medicaid, Dems and Repubs working together with bi-partisan legislation which Trump has sabotaged with tweets and insults time and time again..
IT IS about DACA, humane solutions for oppressed people, and not threatening to cut off aid to those countries. IT IS about out of control deregulations that are poisoning our country's air, water, land, and people.
IT IS about not going down the drain to live in the swamp sewer...History's lessons aught to be a clue for Trump - but he has no strategy & doesn't read. His stealing from America and giving the rich 1.5 trillion dollars was a tip - He said out loud he'll do it again.WTH.
And let's not forget what Mueller and the Press are bringing to light - all the bad corrupt guys in Trumps orbit have a common denominator-Trump.
Voting in 14 days
7
@Sa Ha Trump offered a very generous Daca plan Democrats rejected it, because the Democrats don't want to secure the border.
1
The world is turning into a hot-house, yet that doesn't seem as important as jobs that turn it into a hot-house. Consumerism, fear, and selfish stupidity rule the day. Obviously, people are lying when they say they care about their grandchildren. They care only about themselves and today. Television news rules and it is filled with propaganda that viewers choose to ignore as such. They 'don't have time to read' an essay much less a paragraph. Republicans feed into this mind-set because it works. Science and truth become lies, the bible and myth become believable 'truth'. Modern leadership from Democrats needs to treat people more like the 'intelligent design' lemmings they are, and just wink at those with a bit of wisdom. You can't govern unless, first, you win the election.
1
"What could hold back a democratic wave?"
The despicable behavior of the Democratic Party during the Kavanaugh hearings.
18
Kerby: Does the vastly larger amount of despicable behavior of the GOP register w you at all? Or are you just watching Fox “news” —blind to the lies and anti-democratic, anti-American, lawless behavior of trump and company?
9
Sure blame the voters not the fact that the DNC doesn't have a platform that will energize voters even when the economy is doing relatively well. After all their biggest worry is that Trump might deport some illegal immigrants.
15
trolls are indeed out in force
how about tax cuts for the rich deceptively claimed to be for the middle class, how about trashing environmental protection, how about trying to bully the free press
Dems have plenty to stand for: equitable tax system, democraric voting system, environmental protection
4
If policy was on the ballot and politicians had to vote with that policy then republicans would never get elected to any office
5
Really? To which policies are you referring? Record low unemployment? Rising wages? Low inflation? No major world conflicts? No terrorism? A healthy skepticism of agenda driven "science"? Acceptance of biological science? If those were on the ballot, the Democratic Party would not exist in its current form.
5
@D,
Absolutely nothing you noted counts as an actual policy lol
4
The Democratic Party is not the party of instant gratification. Any legislation regarding Climate Change is going to come from the Dems with the goal of mitigating the damage we've done for years to come . Rising temperatures are going to affect every single aspect of society. Perhaps they should take a page from the GOP rule book of fear-mongering campaign strategies and highlight the latest IPCC report's findings to hammer home just how serious this is.
3
If "life is good" then
why is Trump beating the anti-immigrant drum so hard?
why are Republicans beating the anti-immigrant drum so hard?
why are Republicans promising they'll do something about health care?
why are Republicans not running on tax cuts?
why is Trump promising a tax cut that can't possibly happen?
Seems that the GOP doesn't believe life that good and is afraid people have already found out.
10
The problem is the liberal/progressive mind. Conservatives look at elections as war, gloves would come off. That's why conservatives keep on winning despite their dwindling numbers.
3
People like these, who are basically still out for themselves and not for the good of the country, will continue to vote Republican until the GOP takes away grandma’s Social Security, Medicare and her Medicaid-paid nursing home. Then, they’ll suddenly get religion and support Democrats. By then, it will be too late.
Anyone who thinks times are good is thinking only of themselves. They have no clue as to how hard life is for average Americans and their families. But this is what Republican voters are all about: zero empathy.
10
Logic, rationality, and effectiveness of Republicans to deliver might end the idea of a blue wave. Dems almost always vote as a block with their progressive leadership. Republicans somehow are allowed freedom to disagree. If they did not several major issues would already been decided.
6
From the Midwest- my take is there are going to be many disappointed democrats in a few weeks. Republicans may not like Trump personally- but they love his results. Many of my UAW friends voted for Trump and intend on supporting republicans this election.
14
Oh I never underestimate the power of the midwest to massively disappoint. And between Sinclair and Fox, it will only get worse.
8
I was a Republican for 35 years; no longer. I'm now an Independent and plan to vote straight DEMOCRAT. I believe that the government needs checks and balances because and that the three branches can't all be one flavor.
19
Re: "I was leaning Democratic until the Kavanaugh hearings."
I am not replying to any particular comment but to all comments that had the same theme: but for Kavanaugh I would have voted for Democrats.
Sorry, I don't believe it.
Either they were fooling yourselves and in the end they were always gong to vote Republican but just needed an excuse or its just a story in attempt to teach those Democrats a lesson.
Because if believing the testimony of a credible woman, of a man who openly displayed all the characteristics he was accused of, and more, is all it took than they were never committed in the first place. Meanwhile Trump & Republicans can create outrage after outrage but in their minds all of it can hold a candle to how a single man is treated.
"How dare you!"
13
@Marie
Dr. Ford’s testimony was convincing until all, supposed, witnesses had no recollection of the event, the explanation for the second front door was discredited and her fear of flying was discredited. She refused to submit the therapist’s notes that she referred to in her testimony and she refused to provide the supporting documentation of the polygraph. At some point, the facts matter.
12
Most every Republican elected to Congress, no matter how reasonable they might seem during their campaign, falls under the spell of Trumpism as soon as they arrive in the nations capital. There is currently a thin veneer of good times covering a dangerously imbalanced economy and a more restive world partly due to Trump's bungling foreign policy. Trump has laid the seeds for a coming economic and Geo political disaster that may not now be apparent to the casual observer but it's surely coming. By voting Republicans out of control of the Senate and House now it may still be possible to head off the worst effects of trumps policy. 2020 will probably be too late.
12
Ms Donnelly surely understands that a vote for the Republican candidate is a vote for Trump.
We lost the only Republican who had guts and a spine - McCain - may he rest in peace.
11
Kristen Donnelly wants pay-equity for women and cares about immigrants and yet she will vote for Fitzpatrick who shows no sign of caring about woman and immigrants. He is a Republican and has not broke with TRUMP as some other have done.
VOTE THEM OUT.
10
If a blue wave fails to materialize, how is that anyone but the Democratic Party's fault?
13
Guess the New York Times still doesn't get it.
It's not confidence; it's not independence. It may be a tad of the economy.
But it's
gerrymandering,
voter restriction,
poor voter turnout,
ignorance,
the media to an extent,
and unfair election laws, ie Utah getting the same representation as California.
The elections are fixed before one even gets to the ballot box, if one chooses to go.
I will vote, but it's like banging my head against the wall and I know who will win in my district. No surprises.
163
It's a delicate balance to report on all the different ways votes are being suppressed in various states while at the same time taking great care not to discourage people from voting.
Hard not to get cynical.
@esp-Thank you. In the past few years, 24 states have legalized restrictive voter laws and 7 states rely on insecure voting systems. The federal government under Trump's has done next to nothing to secure our election systems and voter data rolls. All of us should be concerned and keeping the spotlight on elections, verifying our voter registration, bringing multiple IDs, and knowing our polling sites. We also need to keep this front-and-center in the news.
Republican Voter Suppression Efforts Are Targeting
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/23/659784277/republican-voter-suppression-ef...
1
I don't see how you can call yourself an independent and not support Trump. He is the first independent President this country has ever had.
Also,
"Mr. Trump’s ominous warnings and baseless charges about a migrant caravan threatening the border."
What is this? There is a migrant caravan, it is headed towards our border, those in the caravan openly claim their end goal is to enter the United States, and by the mainstream media'a own reporting it contains people who have been previously been deported.
What exactly is baseless about that?
24
For the well-off, voting against Trumpism must necessarily be based on abstractions such as honesty, integrity, tolerance, compassion for others. But if you are simply concerned about your own personal well-being, a strong economy likely trumps all other concerns. There is always a way for the human mind to rationalize its own greed.
22
Despite Democratic fear mongering, it appears the Republicans are meeting the needs of the people far better than the Democrats did. Maybe the there is some truth the "elistist Left" talk.
16
By trying to take away healthcare and driving up the national debt? And Democratic fear-mongering?? Have you watched a Trump rally???? Does anything but fear-mongering happen at them?
6
Have you seen Obama's recent speech?? "Failure to vote in the coming election is a threat to our democracy." Seriously? Fear mongering much?
6
I'm sure many educated, successful, hard-working and philanthropic German, Austrian, Polish, Hungarian and Dutch Jews thought life was pretty good in the years leading up to the 1930's.
24
Kip,
Spare us. Enough with this 1930s similes. NO! History does not repeat itself, and the US of 2018 is NOT Germany of 1930.
10
I long nostalgically for bygone days when it was "It's the economy, stupid." But now it's more like "it's the economy, you racist homophobic traitor." Things have gotten so less civil. But some things never change. It's the economy.
16
The next thing that the Republican party plans to do is cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to pay for their tax cut for corporations and the very wealthy (Mitch McConnell recently announced this.)
Also on the chopping block is the Affordable Care Act, and anyone with pre-existing conditions will be left out in the cold.
The Democrats have got to get this message out. If Trump and the GOP win in November, these folks will find out soon enough that they voted against their own self interests.
25
@L.. The ACA is why Dems lost the power they had. No, pushing it will not get that power back..
6
@L, Despite Trump and the GOP attempts x's 5 to destroy the Affordable Care Act they are not giving up. Millions of people kicked off health care, will result in innumerable deaths and widespread despair and will have dovetail effecting not just the babies, weak, sick, and elderly - but caretakers, health service providers, industry, small business employers, ultimately our local and the national economy.
The sociopath in the White House could care less, because sociopaths cannot have no impetus grasp or understand. His white nationalist rhetoric of America first is smoke and mirrors and egregious. He is dividing and conquering to polarize Our America into a lassitudes of fear. His definitions of power is to instill fear. His word, "fear."
He had his chance to be for all Americans, but has revealed on every front to America and the world his agenda. Hate. Check out the link below.
Mitch McConnell is keen eyed and focused along with rest of the GOP.
If his mouth is moving the pathological liar can't help himself..its who he is
Newsweek
'After instituting a $1.5 trillion tax cut and signing off on a $675 billion budget for the Department of Defense, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that the only way to lower the record-high federal deficit would be to cut entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.'
https://www.newsweek.com/deficit-budget-tax-plan-social-security-medicai...
Voting in 14 days
6
The Democrats has to convince them that if the views of the local candidates are similar, then vote for the democratic candidate. Party matters in the house where laws are passed along the party lines.
4
If the Dems don't give us a reason to vote for them, other than they are not trump, they may very well lose. And deservedly.
I await their making themselves heard, and a platform of some sort, but not holding my breath.
Good luck to us all.
20
@caljn So RTE hasn’t been pushing the Democratic platform there in Moscow. That’s understandable.
1
Short memories. Selective hearing. Blind party loyalty. The list can go on and on to explain why we're here. Get out your history books (not the biased ones, please) and look back at the real sources of our problems.
Trump is but a symptom of a disease contracted in the past and fed by misinformation and short memories. Remember:
A Republican president, Nixon, gave China Preferred Trading Partner status. Since then, China has become our leading provider of everything from rubber bands and Bandaids (an American company that now has the label "Made in China" on all its products), to steel, to clothing, to - the list goes on and on. China is also the leading polluter in the world.
Although Trump's tarriffs have annoyed the Chinese, sales of all Chinese products will not decline. Americans will pay tax. No choice - we no longer have the infrastructure to replace those capabilities. Regaining those capabilities would result in much higher prices than any tarriffs could.
Thank you, Nixon.
Dems are not off the hook. Clinton's cheap credit and "everyone should be able to buy a home even if they have no money" policies fueled the Great Recession more than any policy G. W. implemented. Of course, everyone blamed the Republicans.
Trump merely inherited a booming economy built by the Obama administration but Trump takes the credit AND PEOPLE BELIEVE HIM.
I have to ask, where has everyone been for the last half-century. Did aliens shoot y'all with a forgetful mind ray?
9
How again did Obama build this economy with a Republican controlled house and senate for the last 6 years of his presidency? Wow that executive order ability must truly be spectacular!
5
Probably it was TARP (actually begun by Bush), the GM bailout and other stimulus measures.
1
I was leaning Democratic until the Kavanaugh hearings. Their attempt to sink his nomination was disgusting. The guy has been nothing but a stellar jurist, community member, and family man his entire adult life, but the Democrats thought none of that mattered as they smeared his name.
24
If you were hiring a candidate for a private sector executive position, and had multiple equally brilliant candidates, but one had some question about a possible (not fully proven because you didn't check those early years) sexual assault, would you go ahead and pick the one with the problem for a lifetime appointment?
What was mind boggling was the fact that further investigation could have cleared the guy, if he was indeed innocent. He is now the Justice with the asterisk. Kavanaugh*?
I expected him to put his foot down and demand a full investigation to clear his name. Sadly he will remain an asterisk to me and millions of women across the country.
9
SB,
I totally agree with you. I registered as a Republican after the Kavanaugh incident. I still cannot believe that Ms. Feinstein has not resigned.
11
Both parties are an utter embarrassing, corrupt failure - have been for 40 years, other than some sane centrist governance by Clinton in the 1990s. And look how quickly Bush/Republicans squandered that, followed by naif spendthrift Obama/Democrats who can't be bothered to even read their own bills that overhaul one of the core issues and funding problems in America: healthcare.
6
This is nothing new. As long as I've got mine, who cares? Lettuce not kid ourselves, voting for any Republican is to enable Trump.
7
Life isn't so good when Dad and/or Mom is making nice money but disappears because they make an intemperate remark about the government. Suddenly your money isn't worth spit. I've met younger people who say they don't need political freedom as long as they have economic freedom. Wrong. Don't think it can happen here? With a wildly rightwing judiciary and a conscience less maniac whose avatars are dictators, watch out.
11
Both parties are an utter embarrassing, corrupt failure - have been for 40 years, other than some sane centrist governance by Clinton in the 1990s. And look how quickly Bush/Republicans squandered that, followed by naif spendthrift Obama.
2
@Margot Clinton's disastrous financial deregulation is a huge part of why we are in the economic climate we are in right now. Bush and Obama just kept the status quo
2
When my family always - & I mean ALWAYS - supported Democrats, they were always talking up jobs, protecting the country from socialism, and none of them promote hatred of Christians or Jews. they were solidly pro-Israel, too.
Today the only consistent Dem themes are hating non-Democrats and letting non-citizens run around ignoring the laws. Who promotes life for the workers? The Republicans!
The name is the Democratic Party is the same as when our gandparents were alive, but nothing else survives. This Dem Party didn't exist thirty years ago, and it scares or infuriates most citizens.
22
The current Trump- Tea Party Republican Party didn’t exist 30 years ago either. The old time Republicans had a soul. The current batch couldn’t spell that word, but they can spell “corporate tax cut” and “ entitlement” when referring to Social Security and Medicare which we have paid into for our entire working life and even in retirement.
5
Republicans promote life for the workers?! Yes, it’s called Right to Work: The right to work for low pay; the right to work with minimal benefits and no vacation; and the right to be fired for any reason AT WILL! Sounds good to me!
3
Explain to me how a corporate tax cut is "soulless"? Who pays for corporate taxes? Customers that's who. Who are Walmart's customers? Who buys most of the products from American companies? Low and middle class. So who pays for corporate taxes? Low and middle class. What we need is a mandatory economics class before anyone can vote.
2
Otherwise intelligent voters like Ms Donnelly in PA miss the point of not voting blue straight down the line. She cannot be so stupid as to believe her GOPER representative isn't going to go to the House and continue to vote against her interests in line with his party. She says she would never vote for Trump but that's exactly what she's doing.
22
@Horatio-calling people “stupid “ is what got trump elected. Well, that and “Deplorables”.
5
It's so pathetic to hear these old mining dudes basically weeping for their pollution-inducing jobs. Learn computers, bro, how about finishing high school? I have very little if any sympathy.
Independents remind me of that scene in Curb Your Enthusiasm when Larry is getting iced cream. "They both taste so good, I can't just pick one!" *strong eye roll*
12
@Josh
Yes. And when there are no jobs for the poor in impoverished inner city areas, these same dudes will say “they need to move to where the jobs are!”
6
Voters like Ms. Donnelly make my head explode. She claims that her top political concerns are "pay equity for women, gun control and anti-immigrant sentiment", yet she is willing to allow the House to remain in the hands of Republicans, which will ensure that none of the issues so important to her will ever be addressed to her satisfaction. Indeed, continued Republican control of the House will only guarantee that living in this country will become dramatically more difficult for those who support women's rights, reasonable gun control, and dignity and respect for immigrants.
It's great that Ms. Donnelly's candidate, Rep. Fitzpatrick, is a moderate and has an "independent streak", but if his re-election allows the Republicans keep the House, there is no chance that any moderate legislation will make it to the House floor. Republicans with "independent streaks" held some sway in the 1980s, but those days are long gone.
I'm left believing that Ms. Donnelly does not care a whit about women's rights, gun control and immigration - or does not understand how the House of Representatives actually works. Either way, it leaves me thoroughly depressed as voters like Ms. Donnelly head to the polls in this critical election.
54
@Rob S.
Ms. Donnelly is independent enough to make each decision separately. I DK anything about the Dem in that race, but intact adults refuse to reflexively follow Party when that candidate doesn't measure up.
Both the D & R candidates probably live in Ms. Donnelly's district, unlike some Democrats like Maxine Waters, who wouldn't pass through her district going anywhere else, and hasn't lived there in years.
6
@Rob S.,
I agree with your comment. I want to challenge the idea in the article, though, that Fitzpatrick is moderate. I live in Pennsylvania's 1st, so I know from experience that he both backs Trump and votes the GOP line, including the Republicsn tax scam that has hurt Bucks County, an area of high property and school taxes. The tax scam has benefited Fitzpatrick's wealthy donors, and they have rewarded him with a war chest 10 times that of his opponent. NYT, you might have mentioned that to bring some balance and truthfulness to your article. By ignoring the actual facts about Fitzpatrick's record, you are in effect promoting him! Dems, we are the majority in the 1st. We have been gerrymandered, suppressed, and under-representented in the Senate. Time to wake up and vote. Fitzpatrick does not represent our interests.
5
If you're concerned about all the Ms. Donnelly's and Mr. Cuffes out there, then volunteer to canvass, phone bank, or text bank for one of the many Democratic candidates out there running in this election. Go talk to these people. Who knows, you might be able to change their mind. Or if you can't, you might reach people who are willing. Either way, it's a whole lot more productive than sitting around and bemoaning the Democratic Party's "lack of a message." Go help shape that message.
23
@Liberty In,
I’m always so confused with line of rhetoric that all Obama did was push handouts and welfare. I still have never heard a specific policy but just some personal “feeling” that that was going on. As far as I know, benefits (which are part of appropriations) go through the congress. The Congress was only controlled by Dems wholly the first two years, meaning any benefits pushed through had to go through with some Republican support. Sorry if I’m getting to wonkish, but where, really, does this come from???
3
@37-year-old guy what is Obamacare but a give away to some at the expense of many others.
The Democratic Party needs to largely embrace a moderate platform if it’s going to truly gain on the Republicans. The issue is that the Dems are pushing things that are hard (environmental protection, funding education, easing people’s minds on immigration, etc) while the Republicans push tax cuts and walls that most people either support or can be apathetic about. We have to tackle these hard issues but have to be careful in how we go about it...
7
How can anyone vote for a candidate who vows to do away with healthcare Medicare and social security. The pols love doing stuff like this while they never sacrifice themselves. Funny how that works out. I will not be voting for anyone who has an R next to their party affiliation. While I am not so happy with the Dems either and their lack of position on immigration or adhering to our laws concerning it. I will hold my nose as I did when I voted for Hillary and hope for the best.
22
Kids In Cages.
What more do you need to know about the GOP?
36
That their president uses fascist rhetoric straight out of the Third Reich.
23
@Sean
Well, Obama did it first, so ask that same question to Democrats who started that program.
12
ok. So let's look at the reasons some are voting Republican.
Jobs are up as well as the economy.
- Repeal of regulations. This may help the rich, but the rest of us? I lost a 30-40% of my retirement in the crash of 2008. The regulation introduced to protect against a repeat - repealed by Trump.
-1929 crash. Lack of protective regulations.
- Trump has created an economy set to crash like a house of cards.
Trade - Well, we are losing our allies. This will add to a crash of our economy.
Trump embraces Putin and other dictatorial type rulers. He is setting up to become one himself. Just listen to his comments that support this.
Individual protections? He has stacked the Supreme Court. He has attacked protections for LGBTQ. He demeans women and all minorities.
His Cabinet has since the beginning been troubled by their actions.
I could go on, but...
If you are ok with a failed financial future, loss of individual freedoms, and living in an authoritarian country, then by all means vote Republican. Don't allow a Democratic majority that could help control Trump's bad actions and force McConnell and other Trump Congressman to allow voting on necessary bills and also vote to protect their citizens.
I was born in a Democracy and want to die in a Democracy, not what Trump is bringing us to.
35
We are embroiled in a civil war of words, pitting liberal values against conservative value. Put in another way, it's about the American values we grew up with vs values that resemble those of Russia. It's about equality vs privilege. It's about the voice of people vs that of the corporate rich. It's about decency and compromise vs lies and deceit as a means to get what you want.
8
@DSS
From Paul Volcker, elsewhere in this edition of the Times:
“The central issue is we’re developing into a plutocracy ... We’ve got an enormous number of enormously rich people that have convinced themselves that they’re rich because they’re smart and constructive. And they don’t like government, and they don’t like to pay taxes.”
7
Life is good because Barack Obama steered us back from the brink, with constant resistance from the Republicans. For Republicans to get a single vote for that now would be obscene.
31
@Robert
Obama groveled to Wall Street and Big Banking - handing them $trillions instead of breaking them up, drove up the national debt to $20 trillion, divided the nation even further on healthcare and race, while doing next to nothing with domestic and international policy.
12
@Margot
Wrong on all counts. Obama put in place strong regulatory controls on banks and Wall Street that Trump is trying to weaken. The budget deficit went down while Obama rescued the economy from the brink, while Trump's tax cut for the rich is blowing up the deficit, which should never happen in a growing economy. He introduced a healthcare plan that covered 30 million people that Trump is in the process of blowing up. Get the facts, Margot. Your comments are nothing but Fox News talk points.
2
Please explain, @Margot, how Obama divided us by race? I’ve never actually heard that one explained well. Is is because that’s how you, yourself, viewed things objectively, or just that a black man leading us must, by virtue, be racially dividing us?
3
Economy check
Confidence check
Independence check
Tax cut check
Immigration check
Republicans have consistently outperformed the democrats in each of these critical areas. Republicans win!
16
Economy- Trillion dollar deficit and more via billionaire tax relief. Check.
Confidence - Narcissistic egomaniac jeopardizing our national security by aliening our allies. Check.
Independence - Beholding to the Saudis and the Russians. Check.
Environment - Deregulate into ruin. Check.
Banks. Deregulate to allow another crash.
Cabinet - Hire the incompetent, the greedy, the thieving and the self-interested. Check.
17
So Republicans don’t mind losing health care and don’t mind if their children breathe dirty air. And don’t mind higher prices and job layoffs due to the trade wars. The stock market doesn’t seem to be doing so well.
4
@Brewster Millions
You conveniently forgot to mention the ballooning debt/deficit which the GOP used to actually care about.
That said, most of these items were "checked" under Obama, you just didn't want to believe it (and still don't)
3
The woman who's voting for the Republican congressman in Pennsylvania? He may be a nice guy, but look again: I'll bet behind polite manners, he's not really a nice guy.
Amazing . . . her husband has a green card. Does she know people with green cards are getting deported if they have traffic tickets?
Pay equity for woman? Have the Republicans EVER supported pay equity for women?
She says she has a uterus, really? The Republicans want to take charge of that uterus.
She says she would never vote for Trump. As Trump himself has said many, many time, this election is about him and if you vote Republican, you're voting for Trump.
This is the uniformed and naive voter that can bring down countries. Put despots in power, promote minority one-party rule. Erode human rights and the hard fought institutions of our extraordinary country.
At the very least, our government would be better if power was not concentrated in one party and one leader. The founding fathers spoke often about the perils of concentrating power in one place.
Ms Donnelly should vote for the democratic candidate so the house can challenge Trumps worse instincts; divided government is more open to compromise.
Ms Donnelly, please do what the values you have espoused in this article tell you to do: vote for the Democrat.
Be true to yourself.
29
These voters, like everyone, would do well to think further out into the future than just this year’s income. Which party is honestly facing and trying to deal with the urgent emergency of global warming? Thirty years from now, you’d better not say, “we didn’t know it would be like this”—- because we do know. Your retirement, and your grandchidren’s lives, won’t be too pleasant with the road Trump and the Republican Party are taking us.
12
Blaming the Democrats for everything going sideways including bread going stale when they've been legislatively toothless since ca. 2010, brilliant.
14
There is no question in my mind that we are one of the dumbest nations on the planet.
37
Initial reports on early voting here in Texas do not bode well for Beto. I bet-o Cruz wins easily and Cruz is more than a bit of a jerk.
7
@TW Smith If only Beto had not been such a poser (or poseur if you prefer).
6
I refuse to be respectful of these so called independepnts who are only fooling themselves. They are furthering Trump's extreme agenda by voting for a Republican. Shame on them - they are contributing to bringing this country down. Despite their denial, by their vote for any Republican anywhere they are fueling a racist homophophobic agenda of hate. Shame on them!
20
Really great analysis by Patricia Cohen and Sydney Ember. It sheds a definitive light on the "typical" voter, who is not so typical.
All in all, the buffoon in the room is Donald Trump; voters may like their local, neighborhood Republican, but how loyal to trump is their candidate? Some voters in this article profess independence, but the notion of an independent candidate has diminished in meaning as trump has tweeted his various critics into corners with his childish insults. Republican congress is afraid of trump, making the Republican Party the trump party.
Most voters vote by feeling, as this revealing article shows. Trump has a grip on the emotional underpinnings of the electorate; trump's lies are designed to manipulate them, and, indeed, drive his followers into trances.
The reality is that if one is to vote the trump party in (candidates stating that they are Republican), he or she cannot be sure that his or her candidate will confront trump if trump executes policy that is counter to the well-being of his or her district.
Trump creates not only a political split, but an educational divide in this nation. Because of this divide, our nation is on the rapid slide to trump fascism, that his followers see as a naive cure-all for the world's problems.
Even if Dems predominate on Nov. 6, we'll still have the poorly educated trump supporter that unthinkingly believes what trump and his propaganda organ, Fox Noise, tell them. Democracy requires education.
14
Thanks Obama.
5
I want to vote for Trump but I can't, but I want to!
Democrats beware, you have so far done absolutely nothing!!
7
@Brains Do you reckon that gerrymandering might have a hand in this? It is hard to do anything at all when you are not represented in the government. Drawing fully representative and un-biased voting districts might be start. As to your comment Dems have done nothing, the ACA, though unpopular at the outset, is very popular now among the majority of the voters. The consumer protection bureau after the recession was at least a step in the right direction. Promotion of renewables, though not going far enough was from the dems with little support from the GOP. Of course, clean air and water initiatives have been thrown out the window. (Started under a republican president with bipartisan support) What have the Republicans done? Gutted every protection for the people in favor of corporate interests, passed a massive tax cut for the uber wealthy and are currently suppressing minority votes.
5
What galls me is that the economy doesn't turn on a dime, despite what politicians assert and voters believe.
The supercharged economy is largely a result of Obama's tenure and ability to a depression into a recession. If he had been allowed more free-rein from Republican's we might be enjoying an even greater "bump".
When the poor policies and tax-cuts come back around in another decade, it won't be blamed on Trump, it will be set at the feet of whatever party is in power at the time.
American's have a tragic disregard for collective memory and are rather selective about it as well - dangerous so.
11
Sadly, we are seeing a repeat of the 2016 election. We believed Democrats would take back the Senate and keep the Presidency. How wrong we were.
Fast forward to 2018, for months it looked like a Blue Wave was coming, now we've seen that wave crest and fall.
For Democrats to win we would have to overcome gerrymandering, voter suppression, apathy and the hate of the right. Those are powerful obstacles in our path. I hope I'm wrong but fear I'm not.
5
@Lee--Perhaps creating a meaningful, salient and positive American platform for the Dems, is a good starting point for getting a better result at the polls. That may help.
15
Whoever fails to vote gets exactly what they deserve.
10
The simple answer to the headline is...Rep voters.
The left has demonstrated in the last two years that they are NOT the best party for this country. They had 8 years under O'Bummer and failed to win hearts and minds. After POTUS was elected, they have demonstrated a void in ideas that will help this country. It's not complicated. It is the essence of what has always made America special from the rest of the world, and POTUS reminded every sane voter just how we can push back against the "blue wave" of socialism, sexual deviancy, political abuse, poorer economies, weaker militaries and simple malaise. The left is so messed up, they may become so irrelevant, that they may be out of power for a generation or more.
9
Which is astonishing given the ruling party only occupies the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court because they can get elected without majority support, and with majority disapproval. Hitler was elected with minority support as well.
2
@Ken R. You say sexual deviancy, I say equal rights. You say political abuse? Geez, that sounds more like the GOP. You say poorer economies? I hear the economy is humming along for those in power. Weaker military? Hmm.. what was the final budget amount for our military?
1
The system is broken, voters are tuning out what they believe they cannot control. That goes for both major parties, neither of which sets a high standard of excellence and statesmanship. The primaries fail us even more because they are not the will of the people.
I continue to advocate there should be another voting line at the bottom of the ballot for voters to express their displeasure with all the candidates. The line should read "None of the Above". This quantifies the dissatisfaction with our "choices". No more voting for the lesser of two evils. No more throwing votes away on candidates that have no chance. No more pointing at one party or the other as the problem. The problem is our system and voters not being clearly heard.
Imagine what might happen if "None of the Above" received 10% of the vote? The parties would have no choice but to pay attention to this voting block. Why? The publicity alone would send them into a tailspin. I know it sounds crazy but stop and think about it. Democracy and representative government at work.
Our Founding Fathers may have been brilliant but they did not anticipate the downfall of our representative government to this extent.
Uninformed voters, yes.
Checks and balances to keep the government steady, yes. Individual ineffective, immoral, corrupt politicians who can be voted out, yes.
The downfall of the party system and corruption of citizens ability to vote for the candidate of OUR choice, no.
8
@ArtM, in effect, "none of the above" repeatedly receives far more than 10% of the vote if you look at the number of people eligible to vote who choose not to vote at all.
2
@GRH
By your definition (which i agree with), "None of the Above" was in fact the winner for the top of the ticket in 2016.
@GRH
I disagree. You are confusing two different things. There will always be people who do not vote for various reasons.
"None of the above" specifically allows voters to say NO in a quantifiable manner.
Mining is not the big issue. Global warming is. The difference is that mining will affect you whereas global warming will affect your kids. Who do you care more for?
8
Except the environmental lobby has been predicting the end of the world for 40 years and every 10 years they just push out the "expiration date" another 10 years. Just once, if one of the "scientific models" would prove to be accurate then we could all believe it.
2
"In battleground districts across the nation, a “life is good” ethos may make swing voters harder to persuade than some Democrats anticipate."
Wrong. There are no "life is good" swing voters. That's a myth. What will stop "The Blue Wave" is the fact that a majority of people in this country believe whatever Trump, the GOP, Rush Limbaugh, and Rupert Murdoch tell them to believe.
Civilized voters are now in the minority. That's more than enough to stop a "Blue Wave," without having to invoke an imaginary population to explain the loss.
3
This year's election has become a moratorium on Trump. Since ALL Republicans fall in line when it comes to providing cover for Trump, it does not make sense to give a Republican claiming to be "independent" at election time the benefit of doubt. Too much is at stake.
The Republican party has gone astray with its unabashed support of a professional liar as president. Over and over again it has put party above country and needs to be served some major losses to save our democracy.
6
@Konrad Gelbke I don't know about Montana's rules, but here in Texas you can be registered as an Independent. I am. I've never been registered to any political party.
5
@Konrad Gelbke I am in NYC. I wish someone democrat would run on something. Instead they are all anti-Trump. Some of his ideas are correct. He is a very bad messenger. However, the dems have nothing to say but they are anti Trump and anti white male. I care about issues but not a single dem has mentioned any and their plans/ideas on what to do- only that they are anti Trump and pro # metoo at any costs
1
This election is more than about a bunch of issues people feel deeply about. It's about a change in our system of government and a way of life that cannot be reversed. It's represents a battle as old as the constitution itself and is something our founding fathers warned us about. Of all the checks and balances put in place to prevent such a take over, Trump has managed to bypass and ignore them and Trump voters have said, he is what we want. The 2020 election will mean nothing if the House and Senate are not taken out of the hands of a subversive Republican party. It is this election that counts. and if Trump gets his way, and he might, 2020 will be an inconvenient formality (like elections in most autocratic countries), but more importantly, it will mean the end of the American Republic as we know it.
5
Trump supporters appear to be blissfully unaware of it, but world stock markets will be collapsing and their retirement accounts and house values along with them as a direct result of their choosing a crazy, incompetent President.
Long will the chaos continue.
4
@A. Stanton
Is that right, Nostradamus? Because many of us see that the market is up 40% since Trump took office.
1
I'm not sure what an article like this is supposed to prove. It seems that whenever it sounds like things are going well for Democrats, the NYT calls several dozen people (likely not a representative sample) and then spoke to THREE people at length (absolutely not a representative sample) and then extrapolates a conclusion that is at odds with news that things seem to be generally going well for Democrats in House races around the country.
Is this article meant to counter-balance the generally optimistic tone of the Times' coverage where Democrats are concerned? Is it meant to provide an alternate narrative? Is this meant to alarm Democrats into asking their friends, family, and acquaintances to show up at the polls? I don't know the answer, but speaking to non-representative samples of Americans can't tell anyone anything that is meaningful. You can and must do better, NYT!
10
There are far more Moderate and Conservative Democrats(e.g. Alabama's Doug Jones and West Virginia's Joe Manchin),than the token Liberals in the Republican Party. Also,the number of Veterans running for Office are equally represented by both Parties. What the Democrats really need to do is to mobilize the Hispanic vote in key battleground States,as these Voters are scared off by Trump's Anti-Immigrant rhetoric on Illegal immigrants and ICE Enforcement!
1
“ Sitting at her pumpkin-decorated dining room table, Kristen Donnelly ticked off her top political concerns: pay equity for women, gun control and anti-immigrant sentiment. (Her husband of five years has a green card.)
As for the president? “I would never vote for Trump,” Ms. Donnelly declared.”
Why is she voting for a Republican? Willfully blind, lacking in understanding of how Congress impacts the things she supposedly cares about and just plain stupid doesn’t begin to describe her reasons. Unfortunately there are many like her, judging from some of the comments here.
10
" This election will be decided by a massive turnout of young people, women and minorities. "
That sounds awfully a lot like the Hilary Clinton strategy. Do the Democrats not realize by now that the most dependable group of voters are those over the age of 55. The young voter turn out is all hot air. If you want to increase your chances of winning, don't you want to build a platform that's a little more inclusive? That was the Obama strategy which captured voters across income, education levels, age group and race. What's the definition of insanity again?
5
@Michael N. It seems the dems are beating the drums for two programs that overwhelmingly concern the over 55 group. Medicare and Social Security that McConnel and him minions have been aiming at for years. I don't know anyone 55 or older who is not concerned about the environment and the need for renewable energy. I hear those concerns being campaigned on. The 55 and older group I know are concerned about the "Me first" rhetoric coming from the administration (Make no mistake: it is NOT America first, just me first from the grifter in chief and his family) No 55 and older that I know is saying "build that wall" nor are they saying throw out anyone who is not white. Am I living in a bubble? Perhaps, but I am hearing all these issues coming from the Democrats running for office.
1
You need to let the government know you don't like how things are going by voting Blue this election. It is that simple. Get up, vote blue and send Washington a message, that you want Social Security, and Medicare to stay safe. That you don't want a new nuclear race to start or tariffs to block trade and close US factories.
8
@Joe Barnett
I also don't want welfare for life and empty promises made by the Dems. They seem to think that if you give enough people welfare you will have a voter for life, people are tired of that scenario. Three and four generation on welfare is enough, and as for their non existent stance on immigration that will not fly with voters either. They have lost their message and don't have a candidate worth voting for. I listened to the debate for gov in Florida, the dem who wanted the job praised his grandmother and mentioned something about olive oil, great now how about something on jobs and climate change?
19
The decision is easy.
We have seen what a zero sum game this is.
If you do not vote for Democrats you are SUPPORTING
- The systematic rook back of environmental laws
-The destruction of Medicaid, Medicare and social security
-The descent of the US to a third world power
- Dictatorships world wide in North Korea, Russia and Saudi Arabia
-A dead dream that big coal will generate millions of “new” jobs
- Jared Kushner as the US leader to resolve conflict in the Middle East
- The destruction of any affordable universal healthcare system similar to the programs already in place in over 90% of the largest global economies
If you do not want to live through the list above, vote Blue!
Vote democrat down the line.
If not, you will be counting on a guy named “Jared” with no security clearance to save the world!
See... it’s easy!
13
The reason these people cannot be swayed is because they do not believe the mentally disturbed leaders of the Democratic party nor the liars of the media. Good for them. They will never be known as one of the brainwashed zombies the lying MOB Democrats love so much. I guess the disgusting Democrats won't be exploiting these people.
7
Maybe what we’re seeing here is a kind of “intellectual obesity”, where fat and lazy people look for excuses to justify their inaction.
The world is facing vast problems, such as global warming, pollution and overpopulation, from which the United States is not immune. There are vast problems in the organization of American society, which appear more sharply in the news every day. Could the Founders ever have envisioned having regular practice drills in elementary schools on how to survive invasions by mass murderers, who were themselves students or former students of the school itself?
It will take real work to address these problems, let alone solve them. Pretending that they don’t exist is to hand the solutions to others, who will likely turn out to be the political and moral equivalents of health insurance claims adjusters, whose cold rationality protects the salaries of those who employ them, and no one else.
3
Anecdotal reporting like is useless. You could just as easily have found individuals with completely opposite views and written about them.
8
When it comes to Democrats, there is nothing to vote for, seriously... zero, even lifelong Democrat voters I know are saying the same thing. You should prepare yourselves now, the 'blue wave' the NYT talks about, does not, and will not, exist, not even close. In a couple of weeks time, it is going to be Melt-Down #2. And, you have nobody to blame but yourselves.
It needs to be asked (now)... will you accept the result of the election, this time?
13
Great article explaining why some obviously intelligent and thoughtful voters are making decisions that they see as right for them and their Congressional Districts in areas scattered across the country.
Not so pleasant are the disrespectful and intolerant reactions of commenters unwilling to accept that people can disagree with them. Some are even angry that others refuse to see it their way. They're dumb, short-sighted bigots, voting against their own interests. Obviously gerrymandered and votes will be suppressed to allow them to win.
There can't be any other reason to explain this stupidity.
Maybe this intolerance is what's wrong in America, huh?
10
I won’t try and point out that while Trump’s economy is a strong point for him, he hasn’t so far really done much more than follow trends established before we were stupid enough to elect him. If you’re a committed Trumpist, it’s like trying to point out that no, Ebola-ridden black people were not oouring through the airports a few years back, or that current sad convoy of poor people is 1100 walking miles away and was never going to come crashing into the country, or that deportation numbers were way up under Obama.
I’ll just ask you to look at some actual numbers.
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2018/jul/27/fact-checki...
And I will point out that our kids and grandkids are gonna pay through the nose for some of these choices (like copper mines on the edge of nature preserves), assuming we get through the next however many years without some gigantic disaster.
Oh, well. Please vote. It’s regrettable that some are flunking the ol’ “one cookie now or two cookies later?” test and have got it into their heads that hyper-wealthy guys like Trump give a rat’s about them, but please vote anyway.
4
There are many voters who feel the same way as Ms. Donnelly.
My wife is a bluest of the blue democrat. However, when I brought up the subject about Kamala Harris being considered one of the front runners for the democrat Presidential ticket in 2020 she disappointingly said "Kamala Harris] is a younger Maxine Waters".
In Southern CA Maxine Waters is considered a shyster and a joke by the average voter.
9
I expect by most Americans’ standards my life is good: I own my own home, I have a decently paying job that I don’t hate, my car is paid for, I am fairly healthy, and I have a large circle of mutually loving and supporting family and friends. I’m also white and straight, and if you don’t think those are two giant unearned helping hands in America, you’re delusional.
And NONE OF IT will matter long-term if the GOP retains control of Congress. I am sick to my stomach and terrified nearly every day at what that future will bring.
21
I am amazed at the number of commenters here who claim Democrats want open borders and are responsible for the supposed hordes of criminals and terrors pouring into our country.
By all accounts Barack Obama deported far more than illegal immigrants than Donald Trump and enforced a vetting system for entry as stringent as the one in place now. For the last two years, Republicans have had full control of the House, the Senate AND the presidency and could have passed even more draconian border restraints if they wanted to. Democrats even agreed to an immigration reform bill that included funding for Trump's ridiculous wall. But that bill that was defeated by other Republicans, and since then the GOP has not even tried to do anything else.
So how, pray tell, is it that criminals and terrorists are supposedly now pouring in over our supposedly now "open" borders and it is all the Democrats' fault?
12
The Democrats need to be reminded that they are serving at the pleasure of the citizens of the USA.
10
Doesn't this apply to the Republicans too?
5
@Ziegfeld Follies: The Democrats also need to be reminded that this is not yet an autocracy, but certainly will be if they don't vote.
3
It's no secret that the Republicans have set their sights on cutting Medicare and Social Security. With the ballooning deficit caused by their reckless and irresponsible tax giveaway to the wealthy, all of a sudden, watch, the Republicans will reinvent themselves as deficit hawks and "responsible" stewards of the federal budget. They are disgraceful.
13
All this goes to show is how sick and twisted it is that our bipolar political party system forces binary choices and emphasizes a 'Deeply Divided America'.
2
Unlike the phony Republican issues that always come around at election time (immigrants are stealing our jobs, Democrats will raise your taxes, socialist medicine!!), Dems should be on the moral high ground about gross inequality and what feeds it. It is the true moral question of our day. Everything else is secondary, including the economy "humming along." Oh, and thank you President Obama for that one.
15
I just don’t get it. Healthcare? Infrastructure? Environment? The GOP has done nothing positive at all in these areas. And the economy is chugging along as it has the last 9 years, but the new 17TRILLION deficit in tax cuts to corporations will kill that shortly. The American people who vote Repub or don’t vote are allowing our country to fail. I just don’t get it.
14
Unemployment low? How about the salaries? Low too.
6
@Tom G
salaries?
From 0 to something, I bet they thank their lucky stars for that something.
2
@Tom G: Trump has demonstrated to Trumpites that it is possible in this day and age to return to slavery. A poverty wage job is slave labor.
@Autum
I’m sure they do. But what about everyone else who has seen their purchasing power decline — or at best stagnate — while the cost of everything else keeps on rising? Many are living on credit. Many others are hanging on by a thread, one illness or car repair or downsizing away from ruin.
2
Kind of a phony article. They interviewed three people "in depth". Most of us do that in life. Fact is we've seen all these tropes before. As the election nears, a lot of partisans put on independent costumes, and claim they were Democrats once. So what.
6
There was never going to be a blue wave to begin with.
And the reason is simple: this is a midterm election.
Democrats don't care about midterm elections because it's not "cool" to vote in midterm elections. There's not that one shiny new token candidate to make fly-by-night democrats get to the voting booths where they can take selfies and post them on Facebook and get likes from their fellow fly-by-night democrats.
Oh yeah, and all this comes from a democrat, who will be voting in November...
6
If Kristen Donnelly doesn't like Trump, she really ought not to be helping him out by voting for someone who will, like all other Republicans in Congress, support Trump and look the other way, silent, while he lies up a world where Republicans must never, ever work with Democrats--who are "evil", intent on opening our borders to "murderers and rapists", while perpetrating voter fraud on the order of millions, and scheming to hand America over to people with brown skin--and women! Yardley's important, sure, but so is the world that Yardley's a part of.
The others reported on here, who are well off and therefore support Trump, are also supporting his unending assault on American civic discourse. They should ask themselves if their tax breaks are really worth the ruination of an America where people of opposing views knew how to find ways to work together. By constantly saying and doing things to divide us, Trump is making sure that we get that way and remain that way--while he and his rich chums rewrite our nation's laws to their advantage.
12
I understand her dilemma but by voting for Bryan Fitzpatrick, Ms Donnelly is effectively voting for Trump and his policies
The only way to being regaining sanity in Washington is to for the democrats to control at least one branch of the government.
The problem is no matter how moderate Fitzpatrick claims to be he’ll end up voting along party lines 90% of the time
3
If Republicans hold their majority in the House it will be because a majority of Americans really do believe we need to maintain control of our borders, and because the far left wing of the Democratic party has taken things -- like the Kavanaugh confirmation -- too far.
4
A vote for any Republican is a vote to support Trump, and a vote for unregulated business practices, environmental looting, emotion-driven foreign "policy," lies, and attacks on anyone in opposition.
There is a moral issue here: whether America supports an administration that runs counter to almost every aspect of what has until now been American. Greed and emotion, or morals and a vision of a brighter future for all?
2
@Nathaniel Brown
'A vote for any Republican is a vote to support Trump'
You got it.
This is why the Reds are ahead. The people are voting for him by proxy. They feel they are voting for their guy when they cast any Red vote.
Meantime a vote for blue is ... well ... a vote for (insert social cause d'jour here).
You cannot tell people the world is ending when they just got a job, or their 401k is finally worth something. Soon enough they will start ignoring you.
2
Unfortunately, your sickness is my sickness and our sickness. It isn't entirely possible to isolate the bad actors. A lot of the problems stem from beliefs that are not well founded and have been successfully promoted by wealthy special interests. I don't see the Republicans as being alone in this. But you really should vote for someone. What most people seem to agree is that Mr Trump is far from an honourable man and far from being well respected either at home or abroad. Abroad he has taken the value of America's word to near the level of being meaningless as he walks away from long standing commitments as casually as he insults people and declares close allies to be security risks. . Further, he has an apparent interest in shutting down investigations into his finances which may be subject to Russian control. And he has successfully put in place a new supreme court judge who may well believe the President is above the law. It would seem prudent to me to vote for anyone who could better rein in Mr. Trump before he completely escapes beyond any possible control or inhibition.
3
It's a sad state of our country that money is more important than so many things: as long as more money flows "into their account" they will ignore the detriment to our constitutional norms (and our constitution itself: like voting rights), morality, decency, and respect. The economy is important, but it's not the most important thing. You may have a little more money.....but that will probably be a temporary thing when the economy crashes, there are few consumer protections, the water your children/grandchildren need is undrinkable, etc. Sometimes, money shouldn't be the deciding factor.
7
Maybe the crash of the stock market owing to Trump's tariff wars (on steel, specifically) will deflate some of that feel-good attitude.
6
Lack of a civic commitment or ties to
others in an already fragmented society are the best hope for Trump et al. Most Trump voters already think, “I’m doing ok, that’s all that matters” when they go into the voting booth. Selfishness is already pulling us down not much further to go.
2
Yeah, count me among those who think the so-called "blue wave" isn't happening. Unlike Republicans, Democrats aren't in a position to make tactical errors and overreach, which is exactly what has been happening. Also, it seems that people are returning to the base issue that drives much of their lives: the general state of the economy.
5
Just as in 2016, complacency and apathy are the real existential threats to our democracy. If Democrats and moderates stay home and let energized Republicans vote for them, we will end up with single-party rule, the end to affordable health care and the destruction of many more of our civil and environmental protections.
It is really up to who cares more.
2
"As for the president? “I would never vote for Trump,” Ms. Kristen Donnelly declared." Donnelly is an independent voter.
But the next paragraph in this story says it all: "Except that Ms. Donnelly plans to vote for Brian Fitzpatrick, the Republican congressman who represents Pennsylvania’s closely contested first district, north of Philadelphia."
And there you have it folks. People voting against their self-interests. The ONLY check on Donald Trump is to have a Democratic majority in the House at the very least. Gaining majority seats in the Senate is perhaps too much to ask for.
So Ms. Donnelly believes the Democratic candidates do not support the police, do not believe the nation is "good," and do not support the nuclear family. Somehow, the Dems need to ramp up their message.
5
If swing voters actually swing the vote, the dream (yes, dream, sad to even say that) of holding 45 accountable is already dead. If young people, minorities, and women do not turn out, Trump’s behavior will be accepted and approved by the American people.
Ronald Reagan once said that the future does not belong to the faint hearted. It belongs to the brave. I didn’t come to this country just to watch it wither and die. I voted early and donated $25 each to Bredesen, Beto, and Rosen. I will do my part.
3
Republican voter from Boston here. I plan on voting for Democrats until the Republicans start catching up on social views and behaving honestly. What good is the booming economy if the government's morality is entirely gone? This Republican hopes the Republican's lose their majority and take the time until the next election to work on themselves. Once the party realizes the importance of equality and truthfulness as opposed to antiquated views and outright lies then I'll be back to vote for them.
16
Thank you, Abby, for voting for our country over party.
2
Thank you. We need more voters who can see behind all the rhetoric and vote for their values
1
The Times seems to be shocked at voters' expressing self interest on behalf of themselves, their families and communities. That, after all, is the meaning of the House of Representatives -- to represent local interests. The excellent Pittsburgh-based political essayist Salena Zito has captured the problem eloquently: "Trump supporters take him seriously, but not literally. (The Media) takes him literally, but not seriously."
4
@Scott Miller: Wrong! The media takes Trump literally and seriously as we all should.
2
There is a lot of pent up rage at what has happened since Trump was installed in the White House by the Russians, and this is the first opportunity for people to doing something about it. There will be a Blue Wave, but as the article notes, will it crest only in the usual Democratic strongholds, or will it flood across other districts too? Because of gerrymandering, and the built in dynamics of having only two senators per state, Republicans have a built in edge and it will take a tsunami to overcome it.
To get that tsunami, the Democrats running for election can't make this all about the guy who ISN'T running. They're going to need the votes of people who voted for Trump and who might have "voter remorse", but the fact is that they voted for him for a reason. That reason probably still exists and needs to be addressed by the Dems. Ironically, they were once the party of the working class but have become the opposite of that by pushing trade deals that crippled the working/middle class, and did a horrible job of convincing these people how taking care of the environment is not incompatible with providing good jobs. Pushing to shut down mining, drilling, logging, coal production while not pushing to create new industries and jobs for these workers was shortsighted and contemptuous, and these workers have reacted as expected when their lives and livelihoods are threatened. The Dems need an answer for this to win back their former base. If they don't find it, they won't win.
1
“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
Although Churchill didn't in fact say it, he should have.
2
It looks like Trump is losing supporters as his rallies are getting smaller and Fox news made the business decision not to broadcast them anymore. But the most terrifying aspect of the upcoming election is that it is NOT a presidential election, but a congressional election. And that means people will vote for their beloved Republicans candidates regardless of the fact that they will essentially be feeding the Trump-beast, which devours all. All Republicans in congress MUST kowtow to Trump in order to survive. Ms. Donnelly can send Mr. Fitzpatrick to congress, but she is throwing him to the wolves, who will make him one of "theirs". Fitzpatrick will no longer care about women's issues or Donnelly's husband's green-card. If you truly care about your moderate Republican candidates, do them a HUGE favor and DON'T vote for them. Keep them out of congress and keep them safe. They will rise again another day and they will thank you for saving them from self-destruction.
4
If those who are complacent truly don’t understand the situation we are in with the current leadership in this country...they deserve no better. Lacking in and all ability to read the Tea leaves they’ll ultimately have to be awakened by the form of stark reality - and then it’ll be too late.
1
It's difficult to impart to Republicans the damage being done to our system of checks and balances. It is essential for a functioning democracy. Trump and his crew are battering it every day. One party rule is not the American system! If one's only concern is their own bottom line and a misguided belief that "It Can't Happen Here" well....pray for the nation.
4
If democrats knew how to play politics, they would have already raised the suspicion that the “caravan “ was “possibly” orchestrated by the Republican government. The timing could not be better for them. No need for proof, just sayin..., the best way to defeat the lies of your opponent is to take them away.
As a liberal, I don’t like what I see coming.
1
According to the latest nonpartisan estimate from Yale and MIT, there are 16.9 to 22 million illegal aliens in the United States.
President Trump and the GOP adopted & offered legislation in 2017 & 2018 based on all of the recommendations from President Clinton's own Bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform, including chain migration reform; reduction of total legal immigration; and strong enforcement vs illegal immigration. Moving to a Canadian style "skills-based" immigration system. The Cotton-Perdue RAISE Act. And not a single Democrat signed on to support this, when every Democrat knows 66 votes are still required in the US Senate to pass immigration legislation (not a bare majority, since filibuster rules still apply here).
And yet, according to this article, Trump's charges about yet another 7,000 people planning to illegally cross the border and the Democrats refusal to support changes to immigration laws that would discourage such illegal activity are "baseless?"
3
As I recall, Lindsay Graham was against RAISE. As was John McCain, Jeff Flake, and Marco Rubio.
1
The Republicans are the party of huge deficits and environmental degradation. They are the party of wedge issues. They are the party of automobiles over mass transit. Of jamming city's highways with zillions of cars. Keeping taxes down claiming everybody benefits but looking at the long list of things that need to be kept up but just don't get done screams Republican rule.
8
@c harris, although adding an additional 16.9 million to 22 million people to the country does not help much with environmental degradation or the issue of traffic, jamming highways with zillions of cars. The latest nonpartisan estimate from Yale and MIT as to the illegal alien population in USA is conservatively at the low end 16.9 million to 22 million (and possibly more). North Carolina's population growth has coincidentally exploded during this same time period of the last 2 decades.
Birth control; not bombs.
2
Democrats seem to think immigrant citizens are so pro all types of immigration. They are resentful of those trying to cut the line and not especially thrilled to compete with those that are working in an underground cash economy.
77
@allright The same thing is true with women. I am a feminist, a mother of sons and a daughter, a wife, a small business owner, and a Democrat. I, and many women my age (50s), don't recognize the feminism we grew up and we dislike the binary nature of the discussions around men and women. We are not all angry. We are concerned. There's a huge difference.
3
@the passionate reader. Well said. No one, regardless of sex, should have to feel pressured to engage in sexual activity by any other sex (I put it that way because there are now almost an infinite number of sexes. When I was a kid there were just two). However, so of the things being said about men today would leave you to believe they are some exotic species that cannot be tamed.
1
So you’re able to speak on behalf of all permanent residents and naturalized citizens???
2
What I'd like to see is a careful examination how media--specifically social media--consumption is shaping the political attitudes and enthusiasm of unaffiliated/independent voters. To function optimally, a democracy needs not just voters, but voters who have accurate information. The dissemination of cherry picked facts, demonstrably false information, and half-baked ideas, seem to have exerted more influence than anticipated in the most recent presidential election and the more recent primaries.
37
Dear HL
I just read this article.
Hope it helps. It answered similar questions. Pretty interesting.
https://www.vox.com/2018/10/23/18004478/hack-gap-explained
Good idea...
It's best to give them only the information We think is good for them.
The public needs to be protected.
A Ministry of Information should be established to weed out inappropriate news that the public should not see....
I suppose the Ministry would staffed by presidential appointees ....I'm sure they'll be fair.
@H.L. Please consider getting your news from more than one source. In that way, you can defend yourself from cherry picked facts, false information, and half-baked ideas.
I seem to remember some past candidate saying, "It's the economy, stupid!" Economy good = current party stays in power. Economy bad = opposition party gains power. The economy, right now, is pretty good. Figure it out.
51
@Dave
The economy was rolling when Trump won the presidency....so there goes that all-too-simple argument.
1
@Dave You are right that the economy can have a big influence on elections, but historically that impact shrinks in midterm elections. In addition, evaluations of the economy have become more linked than ever to one's party, so that an increasing proportion of Democrats think the economy is bad when a Republican is in control, and an increasing proportion of Republicans think it's bad when a Democrat is in the White House. This story by Ben Casselman and Jim Tankersley goes into that phenomenon in more depth: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/business/economy/economy-survey-elect...
3
@Patricia Cohen
The latest polls say 70%
Percent of Americans have said Economy is roaring
That is good portion of Dems & independents
Don’t sugar coat it
1
Let me be upfront - I am a Republican. And I hope my brothers and sisters get off the couches watching useless pundits on Fox and go and vote.
For time immemorial - we have been told elections - if they turn on a dime - it is the one in pocketbook.
If pocketbook always wins, given roaring economy - we have nothing to fear but our own complaisance.
Yesterday, in Houston - the POTUS used a brilliant line "Democrats give us the mobs and Republicans give us the jobs."
A great line at an election rally - for sure, but a true one - for a change - for many of Democrats that is - since they believe this POTUS is 99% untruthful.
The heckling of the Majority Leader at a restaurant in Louisville - is the latest of this mob tactic. And it is beginning to get a pushback as the Speaker in waiting - or so Democrats believe - got it in Florida.
I hope this mob mood vanishes on Wednesday after that Tuesday in November.
But I am not counting in it - especially as it appears we will hold our majorities in both houses.
55
@Neil One person voicing their displeasure with their elected representative represents a mob in your mind, while crowds screaming "LOCK HER UP" as a constant mantra represent what, exactly? The Republicans want nothing more than unilateral power to force their repressive policies on all of us. I don't know what the Democrats want, they really stink at developing a cohesive message. Plus, Democrats are not as moved by sloganeering as Republicans are. Democrats sure are good at one thing, though...snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. My greatest fear is that you are right, the GOP retains both houses and this emboldens Trump and McConnell to push on full authoritarian.
43
Except for more jobs were created under Obama.
36
What about the "mob" that heckled Nancy Pelosi the other day? Guess they didn't show that on Fox News. Latest GOP talking points are full of bluster and nonsense, surprising nobody.
4
The swing voters are not going to decide this election. This election will be decided by a massive turnout of young people, women and minorities. Interviewing a few small town independents is not a valid survey that can be projected onto the entire nation. Most independents lean to the right anyway, they just don't want to claim party affiliation.
What we can learn from this article is that Trump supporters fall back on "sectionalized thinking". They only consider what they want to consider and ignore everything else. They are making more money and attribute that to Trump, when in fact the economy has been growing for 10 years at a fairly steady pace. The tax cuts probably added about .2% to GDP this year, according to most economists. The economy did the rest on its own. Human rights, the health of the planet, equality, educational opportunities, fixing healthcare are not considered by them. Many of them would change their tune if they got cancer and had to come up with $250K to stay alive.
I specifically remember back in 2008, economists were predicting that it would take until 2016 before the economy healed. That is exactly what happened. It healed and then took off just as Trump walked through the door. These folks give him the credit for a cake that baked itself.
The damage Trump is doing will play out over many years. Much of it cannot be undone. They are oblivious to it. John Gotti was very popular in his old neighborhood.
399
Bruce, I take you comments at face value and agree of the dangers of being in the echo chamber (I.e., only hearing what we want and refusing to consider contrary positions). To that end I respectfully ask you to watch CEA Chairman Kevin Hasset’s WH press briefing from about a month ago where contrasts economic indicators under both Obama and Trump. Would like to get your reaction to his remarks. Thank you for considering.
1
@Bruce Rozenblit
I’m not optimistic about turnout. People are just too clueless, lazy and focused on the minutia of their everyday lives.
Bracing for a really bad November 7.
@Bruce Rozenblit Good luck. Young people and minorities don't vote in mid-term elections. Sad but true.
I was going to vote Democrat across the board, until I witnessed the anti-Kavanaugh Lynch mob. I am not saying the sort of behavior he was charged with is OK: but I am saying I know a lynch mob when I see one. I did not see what Kavanaugh did or did not do with Chrissy Ford. But I saw with my own eyes what the Democrats did with their lynch mob.
76
@Tim McFadden First - I have to wonder at the "lynch mob" terminology. Second - I wasn't pleased with the grandstanding either, but I was equally displeased with Kavanaugh's treatment of Senator Klobuchar. So - I call that even.
5
@Tim McFadden There was zero violence. How was that a lunch mob?
What about Republicans repealing the ACA, and cutting Medicare and Social Security, as they have promised to do?
3
@Tim McFadden And the rest of us saw what the Republican majority on that committee did: refuse to seriously look into the accusations against Kavanaugh, in effect putting her off as "confused". You saw it too. We also saw Kavanaugh misleading his questioners on questions regarding his time in the Bush administration, and being given a pass on them by the Republicans. Then there was his most injudicious right-wing conspiracy rant against the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. I didn't see any of them shouting such divisive rhetoric at him. The demonstrators you're presumably referring to were justifiably provoked by Kavanaugh and his Republican backers on this committee, and exercising their First Amendment right to protest. They were no lynch mob.
8
As long as the media continues to give over-sized coverage and headlines to what's trending on Twitter, what Trump says at rallies, and what Fox is screaming about, liberal issues and candidates will continue to be a footnote and voters will be making decisions based upon non-issues.
I was a newspaper reporter for many years and we always bristled at PR types who demanded coverage of their issues. Now I am sad to say they've found another way in - just like the Russian trolls did - by over-hyping stories like Hillary's emails on social media and Fox to make them "important". In this election, the over-hyping is on Trump himself. What did he say, who did he insult, what did he lie about, how are people reacting? That may generate rage, but it's not substantive news.
And it displaces and takes eyes away from stories about issues such as GOP dismantling consumer protections, including on student loans, the GOP's disabling of the Clean Water Act (which is hurting Floridians right now), the GOP's many efforts to benefit the 1% and corporations at the expense of the 99%. For instance, stories about the giant GOP deficit are buried, along with stories about GOP plans to cut entitlement programs to pay down the deficit, while Trump's latest lies at his rallies take front and center. The media has become an unwitting extension of the giant PR machine for the right.
50
I’ve said many times that the only way Democrats can ensure their electoral success against President Trump and the Republicans is to challenge the narrative of a strong U.S. economy.
I suggested that this economy has given them ample evidence with which to make this argument to voters, including great wealth and income disparity between the rich and the rest of us, stagnant wages, social programs that have been threatened by the ballooning federal deficit caused by the huge Trump tax cut that has benefited the wealthy and corporations, and the corporate executives’ expenditure of the tax savings on stock buybacks rather than substantial worker wage increases and business improvements.
We have overwhelming evidence that this was the winning issue Democrats should have nationalized this election on. Key Democratic Senators, Booker, Harris, and Gillibrand, likely presidential nomination contenders, have either sponsored or signed onto living wage bills in the past year. Senator Bernie Sanders recently persuaded Amazon chief Jeff Bezos to raise his company’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. Despite their embrace of the immigration issue, Democrats have had a hard time igniting the enthusiasm of Latino voters.
I just hope the economic justice warriors have done enough to persuade voters in the middle and lower classes that the only way this unbalanced, low-wage, anti-family, socioeconomic problem-causing economy can become truly strong is with a Democratic Congress.
11
@Howard Gregory
Spot on. Dems’ messaging is poor. As usual, the Republicans are driving the narrative, putting the economic statistics in a context which favors themselves. Low unemployment? Sure, but how many people are UNDERemployed? There are lots of jobs, but few good ones. Low paying service industry jobs are the norm.
4
@Patriot
Please share my above comment with as many people as possible. I suspect that the economic justice message lost a battle inside the Democratic National Committee which is still dominated by establishment moderates.
All year, moderate and liberal Democrats have been waging a friendly ideological war. My fear is that these moderates have once again outsmarted themselves and failed to properly read the electorate, the factors that motivate the electorate, and the true state of the economy.
Please read the below opinion piece I wrote earlier this year comparing Trumponomics to Reaganomics.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/04/13/trumponomics-is-21st-century-rea...
1
At this pace the GOP is going to win
The liberal media is making the same mistake form 2 years ago :
1.- free advertisement of the president and his sufferings, that we know it will encourage his base
2.- constant pessimism and critique of their own liberal candidates.
What about presenting the good stuff the candidates have, full coverage and forget about Trump and friends?
Even CNN coverage is mostly about the president and the GOP instead of focusing more on the good stuff that other candidates are presenting.
This morning the coverage was about Trump going to Texas: who cares !!!
Let’s cover Beto and all his efforts, his visits to counties etcetc
I wish I can write this to editorials and editors and directors of papers and TV but at this pace things will be the same or worst on Nov 6 for the dems
Ugh!!!
27
J Lad, exactly.
Here’s an article with details.
Fox “news” acts as a propaganda machine while the media with journalistic standard is being used to help amplify the Republican platform and silence the Dem policies.
https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2018/10/23/18004478/hack-gap-explained
1
At the beginning of the article it mentions Trumps charges about the migrant caravan as being baseless. I find that hard to believe, as the caravan seems to be growing as it progress's towards the US border - surely it must be considered an looming intrinsic threat to the sovereign integrity of the US if the caravan is simply ignored. The US government has a lawful obligation (via immigration laws) to control immigration in a manner that respects those laws for the given circumstances. If you don't like how immigration is playing out...Change the laws!
27
The immigration law that did not get traction in congress this term was because the Republican were divided. Had nothing to do with Democrats, who are in the minority.
If the house went to the Democrats, I'll bet anything that an immigration law would pass. And, OMG, politicians would have to work together and compromise.
BTW, where did your ancestors come from? Bet they escaped poverty, war, disease, hunger etc in the bottom of a boat. If your family did not come on a slave ship or were already living on this continent (and weren't wiped out) that's why you're lucky enough to be American.
1
The article's premise, namely that the Democrats may
not take back the house because a handful of Republican voters plan to
vote for Republicans, can only be disproved by the actual results of the
election. In that sense, this piece is a waste of ink.
13
@Howard williams
It is self-delusion like this, and a determination to ignore reality, that will keep Trump in the White House, and allow the Republicans to win in the mid-terms. Again.
You wrote that the article's premise is that "Democrats may
not take back the house because a handful of Republican voters plan to vote for Republicans". But that isn't what the article says; it talks about Independents, like Kristen Donnelly, who will vote for Republicans.
One ignores reality at your peril; ask Hillary about that.
1
It's pretty simple, really. Trump is destroying our government and our country. Republican legislators support Trump. Vote for a Republican and you are supporting Trump. Don't like Trump but you vote for Republicans anyway? You're sticking to yourself and then continue to not like Trump. If any of this comment fails to make sense to you and you still want to vote for Trump-supporting legislators, you haven't been paying attention and never had a Civics class.
28
I am a professional class guy from Queens. For the first time in my life, I will be voting a straight Republican ticket. Democrats have jumped the shark in their lurch to the left. I am disgusted by their patent pandering to illegal immigrants, support for Affirmative Action, taxes that are bleeding the middle class dry. Democrats stopped being the party of merit and hardwork decades ago, and instead has become the party of managing failure. Enough is enough. BTW, I am an immigrant that came here legally. Democrats don't seem to know the difference.
41
@B "...taxes that are bleeding the middle class dry." I'm strictly middle class, and the recent bait and switch tax scam eliminated several of my middle class deductions: HELOC interest; cap on mortgage and property tax deductions; SALT deductions. The supposed measly 3% reduction in tax rate (and I say supposed because I certainly don't see the full 3% in my paycheck) certainly will not make up for the lost itemized deductions that most middle class people used to have.
1
@B - You seem to have missed the tax cut for the 1% that Republicans have put in place. Who do you think will end up paying for all of the services in this country? The middle class will end up paying and we'll also pay more for food, fuel, health care etc. You really need to pay attention.
4
@B. Not knowing the difference between legal and illegal immigration may well cost the Democrats the election. The “caravan” approaching our southern border ensure the issue will not go away. Virtually everyone I know agrees with me that we should liberalize our immigration laws and stop illegal immigration. Vote Republican.
4
The author continually asserts that we have a good economy, a supercharged economy, and a low unemployment rate, as if that's a fact. But that is an opinion and a very biased opinion and a false premise for political commentary. Here in Washington State 1/7 of the population is getting SNAP. People are paying more than half their income for rent. Two economic analysis sources in the state have written that all of the economic gains in the state are going to the top 1%. The workforce participation rate nationally is dismal. The older workers who lost their jobs in the 2000 recession and the 2009 recession never got their career back. There is massive, unchecked age discrimination and there is no age 50+ unemployment policy in the US. Bringing in H1-B workers in the tech industry lowers the unemployment rate, but the unemployed are excluded from the economy. This includes unemployed American workers, particularly women, minorities and older workers, with education and skills. Most older workers are not prepared for retirement because they were laid off at 50 or before they became vested in company benefits. There are 40,000 homeless children in WA State, with some families couch surfing in other people's homes. Young people cannot afford to purchase a single family home. This is not a good economy. It only works for a the few and not for all. The unemployment rate fails to include early retirees, part time workers and those whose UI benefits expired.
24
@Linda Seltzer You're right. The real story is that there are two economies. The roaring economy of corporations and the 1% and the crippled economy of the rest of us. Entry level white collar jobs are very difficult to get, most college graduates are under-employed and blue collar jobs in most parts of the country mean you're working for yourself. I also suspect that April 2019 will be a wake-up call for many people who find that they will owe more in individual federal taxes, and I'm not just talking about the blue states. There was a lot hidden in that bill that hurts poor and middle-income people. Of course, by then the mid-terms will be long past and the next election will be 18 months away. Plenty of time for Trump to lie his way out of it (to huge headlines).
16
@Linda Seltzer: Yours is an informative comment, and true in every respect, but personally I can't see things changing for the better, and despite the hollow words of all the social justice warriors out there, Dem. presidential candidates included, the rich will continue to get richer and the poor, well as the old song goes, have babies. Times newspaper ran an enlightening series on mass evictions taking place in the 5 boroughs of folks who have had their apartments for generations, as well as the sub standard housing that sometimes proved fatal:Witness the blaze in an apt. building in the Bronx that killed 12. Meanwhile, Gov. Cuomo and Mayor De Blasio have done little to ameliorate the situation, and both favor sanctuary cities which cannot be of much comfort to the citizenry which is already hard pressed to get by. Both politicos are indebted to the permanent government of real estate moguls who run the show and the city.The growing gap between rich and poor can be generalized to include the nation, and what is happening in New York occurs everywhere. Eviction of the "classes laborieuses" and "classes moyennes" took place generations ago in Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, Clermont Ferrand in France and victims were displaced by the rich and forced to live in gruesome h.l.m.'s "en banlieue!"
While many in the GOP call themselves moderates in more liberal districts, they simply fall in line with the extreme right on every vote. And they are not living up to their responsibility as the check on presidential power. They are just more of the GOP operation of lying, cheating and stealing.
9
This article talks about Brian Fitzpatrick. He came back to Pa. when his brother, Mike Fitzpatrick, left Congress. Mike Fitzpatrick WAS a moderate Republican. Brian is not. Ms. Donnelly is voting for Fitzpatrick because he was pleasant to her? Really? Republicans who dislike Trump need to realize that a vote for a Republicans in Congressional races IS a vote for Trump, for whom she says she would never vote. Has she noticed many members of Congress censuring Trump, or responding to his overt lies, or his flagrant sexism, his divisiveness, his outrageous ethics violations. This is short-sighted and naive. Senators and Representatives make decisions for the entire country - not just suburban Philadelphia.
35
@Judith Stern General Grant was an unlikable man, a man with many shortfalls but as General he was a man for the times. Lincoln stood behind Grant saying that after the war we can have a discussion about Grant's shortcomings but for now he stays.
Trump has a lot of shortcomings, yes he does but he is doing the job that we sent him to Washington to do. We in America like to vote for the personality and that is not always best. Bill Clinton could memorize the crowd but had his shortcomings. It is my belief that he did a fairly good job as President but the Monica issue was a blot. His wife? I would walk over fire to prevent her from being President!
1
I disagree! The economy has been strong for a few years now, most of us know that if were not for President Obama's policies the Great Recession would have been a Depression, instead!
I believe it will be close, but do not underestimate the women who are fired up and ready to go.....to the polls!
Vote Republican and the march towards chaos will continue. With the GOP in the House and Senate, Donald will continue to dismantle environmental protections and according to McConnell, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid WILL BE on the chopping block! Along with what remains of the Affordable Healthcare Act aka Obamacare !!!
Wake up, dear America!!! Please vote for the Democrats !
16
This reflects how little the average person understands about their government. The most important vote a congressman makes will be their first vote, which determines leadership. Leadership determines who chairs committees, which bills will make it to the floor and in what order. That means if Kristen Donnelly votes Republican she is likely voting to attack immigrants, women, and healthcare. If you want the direction to change every voter needs to bring two friends and put their oars in the water so we can row together toward blue water and away from the toxic red tide.
21
Not surprised,one of the problems with the US is that people are very, very shortsighted and see the things they want to see. For example, those people voting for congressmen who voted for the GOP tax plan haven't yet seen the tax bite that law is going to put on the middle and upper middle class in states with high local taxes. Old people, on SS and Medicare, have not yet felt the impact of the cuts the GOP if they maintain control will likely put on entitlement programs to try and cut down the red ink thanks to a trillion and a half dollar deficit hit from the tax cuts for the rich. People haven't started seeing things like Acid rain yet, thanks to rolling back coal regulation, and people are still riding on hope that a good paying job with benefits will show up. People haven't lost health insurance if the GOP gets rid of aca, which they likely will. More importantly, they still haven't seen the impact of the trade wars, Trump bribed farmers with 12 billion in subsidies for example, and it is likely we are going to see layoffs and rising prices thanks to this that hasn't had time to come home to roost. Eventually, too, people will look at the huge tax cuts to corporations, and wonder where the good paying jobs are, why their raises are still less than inflation, while corporations gave the windfall to shareholders through buybacks and dividends. By then, of course, it will be too late, the only good news is that by 2020 they will have felt it, good and hard.
17
As a volunteer for Democratic candidates in Chester County, PA, which is similar to the first district that Brian Fitzpatrick is running in, it is especially disappointing to hear the point of view expressed by Kristen Donnelly, who is clearly an educated woman. Ms. Donnelly states her three main concerns are pay equity for women, gun control, and anti-immigrant sentiment. On all these issues, she clearly sides with the position of the Democratic Party. She cites her only reason for voting for Brian Fitzpatrick is that he is a moderate and is respectful of her disagreement with him, and his consituent record.
I believe that Fitzpatrick may be a very nice guy, and respectful of constituents who disagree with him, but is that reason enough to vote for him?
For me the fallacy of Ms. Donnelly's position is that by voting for Mr. Fitzpatrick, she is enabling the Republican Party to remain fully in control of the House of Representatives, with no check and balance on the President. There will be no check on the anti-immigrant and fascist policies of the President, nor gun control, or equal treatment of women. Mr. Fitzpatrick, if elected, would enable the Republicans to control all three branches of government.
As for the rights of women to control their uterus, that has already been lost in the 2016 election. It is high time for all people of good will to come together, and stand up to a Party that has lost it's moral compass, no matter how nice they are individually.
28
The entire premise of the article is faulty. There is no giant mass of folks in the middle who are persuadable. This is well documented in political science research. Secondly, midterm elections unlike Presidential elections don't really hinge on the economy.
2
@Bill smith You may be correct on the issue of midterms not being significantly influenced by the economy. But you would be equally wrong to assume Republicans will not turn out on immigration. The “caravan” has driven out any real discussion of healthcare, and healthcare would be a winning issue for the Dems. That plus way to much “mob” for my taste.
2
I applaud the NYT for publishing this article. Among the interviewees, a legal immigrant form South Asia, and those who are unionists. Most said they were voting for Republicans because their own financial well being is of more importance than the issues the DNC is pushing. It matters not whether there are terrorists in that 7k strong caravan heading to the US demanding entry - it matters that Democrats are now calling for letting anyone who appears at the border to jump the line on legal immigrants waiting their turn in their home countries. The Democratic Party needs to wake up and pay attention to its traditional base.
28
The tone of the article is pretty hilarious and revealing: "Republicans deserve to lose Congress, if only we didn't have low unemployment, a booming economy, national security and international stability." Is there anything else? Please enlighten me, are there some other, more esoteric issues that I should take into account when casting my vote?
26
@Steve Bannon Let's see.
Rising inflation that has wiped out any income gains a few have experienced.
Stagnant wages for most, which are now worth less because of the aforementioned inflation.
Rapid increase in the debt, which will mean that taxes will need to be increased eventually. (this is why the economy is doing so well--this is a stimulus like the one Obama pushed for when he was elected, just this one benefits the already rich more than anyone else)
The increasing difficulty people are having acquiring meaningful health insurance.
Tariffs that are hurting businesses.
An aging infrastructure that is being ignored.
A warming planet that is resulting in bigger, more lethal storms.
The entire election system security, which is under threat not from illegal voting, but from hackers.
A re-escalation of the cold war.
I guess some people don't see these as problems, even though they are having a real effect of everyone.
17
@Steve Bannon, yes there are many issues at stake and many of them are as important as a booming economy. 1) The integrity of our democratic norms & institutions which are clearly in danger as our sitting president has declined to come forward against Russian interference in our election, undercut our judiciary, and attempted to stock his administration with sycophants who value favor with Trump over our nation's health. 2) The status and safety of women & minorities who are endangered by our president's hateful rhetoric & policies. 3) A healthy environment which should NOT be a partisan issue. 4) Economic equality for a middle class buckling under the weight of healthcare, housing costs, college tuition and neglected public schools. 5) Freedom of speech which has been under attack by a president and his cohort who attack journalists with counter points of view and- just for a single example- apparently value the sale of guns over the murder of a dissident journalist from Saudi Arabia. 6) The strength of democracy worldwide, which our president is undercutting in his behavior, blatant cronyism, by insulting our democratic allies and eroding vital historical partnerships such as NATO.
I'm an American. Economic prosperity is a hollow reward if our democratic institutions and norms of civility or equality are being eroded. There are wealthy people all over the world who aren't free to say as they please and live under the yoke of oppressive regimes. Money is NOT everything.
3
@Steve Bannon How do we have national security and international stability? The entire world is watching us and scratching their heads as we kiss the feet of a country that just brutally murdered an American and then lied about it. We have a President whose election was purchased, despite well-informed people gathering at State Capitols across the country saying "Don't do it!" Just wait, things around the world will continue to get worse and in our own country. America is more divided than ever before. We have a President that is supposed to represent everyone, yet he only represents his tiny base. How is that Making American Great again?
1
“but I refuse to be a one-party voter.”
You know - this is how I was brought up and taught to vote.
Review the qualifications of each candidate and vote for the best person. And I've done that numerous times my whole life. I would get upset with all those, typically conservatives, who would always vote a straight ticket.
Not this year.
I refuse to give any air whatsoever to the Republicans. I have friends and family who live in NH who feel the same. For the first time in our lives we will vote straight Democrat. Regardless of how good any of them are. We have seen what the GOP has done to the conscience of its people.
Now here in Mass we have a very popular Republican governor. Charlie Baker. He has done a good job and most of his beliefs square with mine. He is almost certain to win reelection and normally I would vote for him. But not now. Why? He is just a governor, right? Can't affect Congress, right? Because he has endorsed Geoff Diehl for Senate and Diehl will vote against everything Baker says he is for.
Either Charlie Baker is lying about his beliefs or is simply another opportunist will to sell them out for Republican power at the national level. He didn't have to endorse Elizabeth Warren, all he had to do to get my vote was not to endorse Geoff Diehl.
So, I will be voting for one party. And it won't be the party that has enabled the President to act with impunity to destroy not only the values of, but the actual physical country itself.
38
I live near the Twin Cities in Minnesota, just early voted for all Democrats, became an even stronger Democrat after Trump purchased the election (originally was leaning towards being in Independent until he became President) and the "folks" that are interviewed in this article are people from isolated communities for lack of a better word. Northern Minnesota- where life is grim and depressing- sorry but it is. And unfortunately their knowledge base is also very isolated. So that's where they are coming from, an isolated standpoint. And yes, Trump and the Republicans love that and capitalize on that- ignorance is bliss. Not one of them mentioned in your piece had any kind of thought-provoking statement or compelling argument. So maybe your headline should be-"Despite (or maybe because of!) all that technology, America is becoming more ignorant."
23
You cant stop people from being willfully blind. No different than the person with a pre-existing condition who is shocked that the R's tried to reverse healthcare gains - even though they run on that platform. Now we have an independent voter with a husband with a green card that trusts an R congressman. Do they realize that the party with the most members chairs all of the committees - so even if you trust your representative (hehe) they are a drone to the national party agenda?
This type of willful blindness reinforces the fact that we get the government we deserve, not the one we want.
16
I get that folks are concerned about jobs. I don’t blame them a bit. Also, yep, you’ve been ignored: working folks often are. You should be ticked off.
But when I read some of these comments about mining on the edge of preserves, about trashing the trade agreements that any way you slice it have generally massively increased jobs in this country—well, sorry, but I think about those studies of kids asked to choose between one cooky now and two cookys later.
You’re trading off your future. You’re handing your kids giant bills on cleanups and health care and a more-damaged world that you’re refusing to even consider. And you’re handing power to guys in Washington who couldn’t care less about you and yours, because they’re busily lining their own pockets.
Good luck.
57
No cookies now or later for the many whose jobs do not pay a living wage now- $15 per hour is ridiculously low in this economy- nor give them health insurance coverage nor a decent pension plan. Let's see an analysis, NYT, of this segment of the population state by state, please.
And publicize Social Security and Medicare as GOVERNMENT programs and the need for the top 25% to pay more in taxes to keep them in line with real costs.
Life is a pre-existing condition! Economic and social equality are the best insurance for a sane society. Pity the haters and vote!
8
@Robert The environment in capitalist countries are cleaner than developing countries because it raises people's living standards. A case in point is India. The largest democratic country and capitalism has raised many people out of poverty and they demand services. India is not the cleanest country by any standard. Now consider the Philippines, a country mired in political corruption, with scant democratic institutions.
If you were to chose, chose India.
1
Immigration is the issue of our time.
Trump is right on it. The Democrats are wrong on it.
The open borders policies of the Democrats are going to destroy this country and ruin our collective future.
I do not support turning the United States into a third-world country.
32
@WillT26 There is no open borders policy. There has been no open borders policy ever.
What's more striking is that President Reagan, yes a Republican, granted widespread amnesty in the 1980s. And the biggest jump in undocumented migration to the US happened under President GW Bush, also a Republican. And Obama had more people deported than Bush or Reagan, or, for that matter, Trump.
For a cherry on the top, know that the majority of undocumented immigrants overstay visas, they don't cross the Mexican border.
23
Dems do not want open borders as I understand it. That is the way Fox “News” and similar try to frame it to create division. It’s not an all open/all closed choice.
24
@JP,
Amnesty, under Reagan, was based on the idea that it was a one-time event.
The Democratic Party supports legalizing the 22 million here now. The Democratic Party supports granting asylum to people based on crime, domestic abuse, and just being poor.
That is an open borders policy. They can say it isn't but it is.
It is incomprehensible to me that, in the face of the rhetoric about this 'wonderful' economy, the Times doesn't more strongly point out that the economy is being goosed by the suddenly huge deficit, that the euphoria is just like that of a kid on his first credit card and the bill will fall due.
It is similarly incomprehensible to be that, when the President makes claims about Democrats instigating the big refugee 'caravan', the Times is nearly mute about the turmoil in Honduras and Guatemala that is the credible cause of migration.
It is almost as if the Times is making more money with a successful Donald Trump mishandling the country.
23
The Democratic Party would win Congress if they forcefully denounced the caravan and publicly stated that those who enter our country illegally will NEVER get permanent residence or citizenship.
They cannot do that because they risk losing the 10% fringe vote that wants unrestricted immigration and amnesty , with citizenship, for 22 million here illegally.
So they say nothing- just harp about family separations- and the electorate is left wondering: will there ever be enough for the Democratic Party?
The answer is No. They will never turn down a single economic migrant. This country could have a billion illegal immigrants and the Democratic Party would beg for more. They have given up on getting citizens to vote for them- they are just going to import people with the hope that they can, someday, get them amnesty and citizenship.
35
@WillT26 - "will there ever be enough for the Democratic Party?"
The truthful question is will there ever be enough for the wealthy business owners who want cheap labor from people who are easily to exploit? Let's be honest in our self-serving fantasies that it is most often wealthy GOP farmers and factory owners who are using the illegal immigrants.
There are no Democratic office holders or candidates that I am aware of who advocate for unrestricted immigration or illegal immigration. Yes, if someone advocates for a position of humanity for a group of people I understand that the right wing translates that into ridiculous extremes to gin up fear and resentment.
21
@Marie,
Wealthy business interests do support unfettered immigration. That is why it is so disconcerting that the Democratic Party does as well.
They are just another big business party- they just wrap their support in moralistic terms 'helping' illegal immigrants.
But have no doubt- Democratic Party policies in regards to immigration hurt working class and poor citizens.
Keep those lies coming, it's the ON!Y strategy the party of hate, lies,fear and division has!
Save Democracy vote BLUE!
4
Trump supporters appear to be blissfully unaware of it, but world stock markets and their retirement accounts and house values will soon be collapsing as a direct result of their choosing a crazy, incompetent President.
Long will the chaos continue.
19
This political cycle is the worst I can remember. The GOP put winning above all else - integrity, honesty, concern for the public good, thought for the young which are the future of our planet. What they have become is just ugly. The cost to society is devastating.
157
@MidWest You mean Dems have done that, they tried to smear a good justice, they have ads here that are just idiotic. Not that Republicans don't have such, but dem ads are just idiotic.
All Democrats need to tell the Rust Belt they care about them.
You can talk about jobs, security to live in areas the elite took away their jobs, the cost of drugs and health care, housing for their children, discussing what is a modern American family (including respect for mothers), making sure women have jobs after raising a family, protecting women against aggressive men, churches being an important part of the safety net (as in hurricane aftermaths), making education affordable, ability to give the family home to children, using manufacturing to tie the coasts to the midlands, and so on.
When Democrats only worry about urban areas and globalization they forget they have a responsibility to all America and all the people.
8
@Richardthe Engineer
"All Democrats need to tell the Rust Belt they care about them."
The problem is, Democrats hate those people.
4
@Richardthe Engineer Good point. Too bad you didn’t tell her majesty Hillary that along with the idea of campaigning in these states. She would be president now and bliss would reign throughout the land. Or not.
3
I personally do not think there is going to be a "blue wave". The Democrats just don't seem to be able to convince rural voters, for example, that they have anything to offer them. These folks are mainly concerned with guns, religion, and in their views keeping Government out of their business -without acknowledging that rural areas are generally the beneficiaries of tax dollars paid by people in very liberal states. I expect the Democrats to lose 2-4 seats in the Senate, and come up short on taking the House. We are getting the same type of hype and expectations from big city news organization that we did prior to the 2016 election -and I think people are going to be as shocked as they were then after this election. I live in a very GOP dominated area, and it never ceases to amaze me that 1) people generally are pretty ill informed on almost any issue and 2) they have become convinced that Democrats will take their "rights" away without admitting this is the party protecting their Medicare and SS benefits. Turnout is also going to be a factor - the Democrats depend on minority voters in many places, yet these populations do not vote in large enough numbers to over take the built in advantages the GOP have given themselves. Until the Democratic Party offers more than being the party of LBGQT/Immigrant rights/"MeTOO" and other social hot button topics, they will not prevail in areas like the one I live in.
20
Fortunately, some folks even in your area are fed up with Donald. Especially since his tariffs will damage their farm income!
Democrats must make a political ad informing everyone of Mitch McConnell 's intent to cure Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid because the GOP Tax Scam has raised the deficit by 17% in one year!
This should be enough to make people vote Democrat .
6
@dairyfarmersdaughter It is extraordinarily frustrating that the Democrats who craft the message sent to America seem unable to create more centrist messages.
These articles always have the tone of a reporter being dropped from Mars to interview a curious race of aliens. Most citizens aren’t obsessed with Trump’s tweets of the day and, rightfully, vote based on a package of interests-including self.
36
The effort by women for women within the Democratic party is going to spike any chance the party had of making a comeback or of scoring big on the incidents and dopey inhumane behavior of GOP party members.
So enamored have Democratic women become of themselves and so willing to dump all blame and responsibility for ill behavior and criminal tendencies on men, that it would not be surpirsing to see a huge loss of blue seats to GOP candidates, as a result of the Democratic Women's arrogant exclusivity and insistance on "sexist" anti male tropes and allegatons. If the people-men and women-of a party cannot agree-won't get along, they have little chance to win big nationally. Putin and the other Right Wing Euro-fascists will love such an outcome!-It will degrade US power and influence, pushing chances of speeding the end of civilization as we know it-Much as women pushed prohibition in 1920, to the virtual exclusion of world political issues, women in the Democrats may doom us all , together through neo isolationism.
9
@meloop
And you don’t think men have been doing that for centuries? Maybe they haven’t been as transparent about it but it has always been there. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be such a backlash from women.
12
@meloop I just don't understand. It is so simple. Just treat women with respect. I don't understand how you can contrive a reason for not treating women with respect. It is so simple.
15
While Republicans remain solidly Republican, Democrats and independents are more thoughtful and less partisan. As a result, they are less reliable voters.
8
Tell that to the Republicans and their families being harassed in restaurants or in front of their homes. I don't know about more thoughtfullness or less partisan, but one thing Democrats have no shortage of is sanctimoniousness and pomposity.
And since you are supposedly soooooo thoughtful, please explain how Democrats will persuade people they despise and ridicule to vote for them.
18
@SCH
Yet more stereotyping, and with broad brushstrokes. As a life-long Republican, I say you are wrong.
I have NEVER voted a straight ticket in my 50+ years of attending elections and I have NEVER missed an election.
The reason is simple. I AM a thoughtful person - fiscally conservative and socially moderate as I maybe - who votes for the best representation based on research. I don't vote single issues as that ignores what lies beneath.
This woman didn't vote for either of the media anointed Presidential candidates because neither of them, in my opinion, were good for our Country. I chose a write-in candidate mainly because of that person's measured, commonsense answers.
I have a lot of concerns about my party, but frankly, where is there to go? I will remain a Thomas Jefferson Republican - thoughtful and independent. There are many of us out there. Those who have turned "conservative" into a pejorative are too busy pointing fingers to see us.
10
@JW-
"please explain how Democrats will persuade people they despise and ridicule to vote for them."
The answer to that one is challenge the people to think, and point out that in the end it is what people do, not what they say, that matters. The reality is that the GOP, while claiming to be 'with' rural voters and working people, despise them, and if the Democrats had half a brain they would hammer home that the GOP tax cut to the wealthy has gone into a windfall for the rich with very little growth in well paying jobs because of it; I would hammer home that the GOP is out to get rid of ACA or any government health care, and is now slashing budgets for programs they depend on.
The real problem with working class and rural voters is they don't know their own history, and really believe the myth that the Republicans represent freedom and jobs; they do, but it ain't for them, it is for the rich and corporations.
1
A lot of us in rural Michigan are fed up, just plain fed up. We aren't voting for anyone as yelling, in the literal wilderness, to stop the "Breaking Bad" mentality as much as try to get Congress to pass legislation or at least debate it. We know Democrats won't listen, but then, maybe they will.We can prove without a doubt the GOP doesn't. So here we are again.
5
Dear Northlander,
The politicians work for us. Let’s all listen to each other.
What are your biggest concerns?
For me it is affordable health care w/o penalty for pre-existing conditions, opportunity for my kids to do well, and not being lied to.
(I grew up in Michigan, lovely state).
6
Well, do the people of Michigan need healthcare? Do the Seniors in want their meager Social Security cut as Mitch McConnell says due to the GOP Tax Scam that gave the wealthiest of Americans and corporations the largest tax cut and....saddled Americans with a HUGE and growing deficit?!
Democrats are not prefect, but they have a RECORD of working FOR the Middle Class and Working Class!
There's also the environment, we need a House and Senate that will keep Donald from further stripping environmental protections.
Please consider all this before voting.
6
Is a "Blue Wave" the platform of the democrats because I cant figure out what they actually stand for. Loose on immigration and okay with globalist policies which eliminated so many good jobs.
Most people are pragmatic. They don't care as much as a panel on CNN cares what Trump is tweeting about.
They care about JOBS and the economy. This affects people's lives.
Tax reform has actually helped the middle class. I know it brings home 300 dollars more a month then I used to earn. Brought down my marginal tax rate from 28 to 24 percent. So while CNN and MSNBC keep saying it's for the wealthy the reality is it's not. This makes me question their honesty and motivation.
lastly immigration is owned by the Republicans. The democrats want to shut down ICE while most people quietly appreciate a tightening of the borders and a respect for the laws of this country.
29
@Ari - If you are married, and were formerly in the 28% bracket and are now in the 24% bracket, then your household income must be well over $165K. That puts you in the top 7% of US households.
In other words, the Democrats consider you 'rich', and are ready to tax you.
8
News flash. If you are in the 24 percent bracket you are wealthy. You may not feel wealthy and you are certainly not stinking rich playing with the big dogs, but you are wealthy.
6
We are in the 34% tax rate, we DID NOT earn enough to get a tax break from the GOP Tax Scam.
We are happy to pay our fair share of taxes, to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, fund our public schools, National Parks, etc.
Jesus said, "to whom much is given, much is asked." Greed is one of the seven deadly sins.
The Republicans and Donald are anti-environment, I want a planet my grandchildren can live on!
3
The GOP is leading with fear and the good luck of having a strong economy. The economy really has very little to do with them. It has much more to do with the hard working people. And the fear is laced with a extremely high doses of hubris.
I simply cannot see how this much fear, lies and corruption can lead to anything good. Therefore, it must come to an end. If there is no pushback on these policies, then we will have a disaster of epic proportions. Does it really have to come to that? Are we really going to fall into corporate rule by oligarchs? Do we really have let it get so bad that we realize that American Exceptionalism doesn’t mean immunity from disaster?
I hope the answer to those questions is “no”. But there is a strong contingent that seems bound and determined to go down that road.
9
I am beginning to believe that Trump is a political genius.He has neglected Global Warming & Open markets & has concentrated on American priorities, which like every where else on this Planet is putting bread on the table.If regulations hinder American economic growth, he has done away with them.Behind every position he has taken is the economy, and along with a thriving economy goes the Votes. Trump will disprove the Pundits once again as the Republicans will not only retain their majorities in Congress but add to them in the Midterm elections.I say this with much regret, & alarm. If this was the 1800s we would be in a Hot Civil War, as the hatred between the Parties are deepening Thanks to Trump's plan of divide & conquer.
10
@Joe Blow - You really need to pay more attention and read some economic news.
Those regulations keep our air, food, water and workplaces safe. Take a look at how expensive environmental disasters are.
1
For all of these people (for everyone!), if we don’t vote for the people who will protect the environment the most, we won’t have a livable planet to stay on and argue about the rest of these issues. It’s issue 1-1000.
11
Why does the article assume that "life is good" favors Republicans? I personally feel that my life is good, but I know that it's partly because I'm able to get medical treatment for a pre-existing condition. I know perfectly well that my good situation is threatened by Republicans, so that motivates me to support Democrats this year.
Other than the health issue, why can't Democrats explain coherently the good life is largely due to their policies, and could go away if Republicans stay in power?
23
@Charlesbalpha
You could add that if "life is good" then
why is Trump beating the anti-immigrant drum so hard?
why are Republicans beating the anti-immigrant drum so hard?
why are Republicans promising they'll do something about health care?
why are Republicans not running on tax cuts?
why is Trump promising a tax cut that can't possibly happen?
Seems that the GOP doesn't believe life that good.
What stood out to me from those three people was what they didn't say; there was no mention of the eye-watering corruption engulfing the Republicans, especially those in the administration. There was no mention of Trump's undermining the basis of our democracy and who we are as a nation, with the eager assistance of the Republicans in Congress. Nor was there any mention of the fact the US is now a laughingstock amongst the nation's of the world, and what effect that has on our ability to influence events.
So these 3 people looked only at their own narrow and short-term self-interest. Let us hope the remainder of the voters take a more nuanced and broader view than these 3.
26
"Although blacks, Latinos, Asians and other minorities have long been a cornerstone of the Democratic base....."
Unfortunately for the Democrats, they are about to discover that blacks, Latinos, Asians also like making money and getting ahead, and may be willing to consider voting for the GOP.
29
@Jonathan Wage stagnation isn't make-believe. People are not making money and getting ahead. I can tell you that huge corporations are making extra money by not paying fair wages. So i can see corporations going to support Republican policies, but everyday workers? No... No. I do not see that.
5
@Jonathan Many of the black and Hispanic voters I speak to are also more traditionally religious.
1
@JB - Well, workers are moving up. The man who was cleaning the men's room for $12 an hour is now driving a truck for $20. An unemployed fellow took the men's room job. Neither job has offered increased wages, but as more people become employed, there is more room for advancement.
Many of these posts suggests that a strong economy is what influences voters, whomever they give the credit to. Studies tell a different story that emotions and anger are the biggest drivers in elections. If that is true, we certainly have more than enough to go around.
6
Many voters are simply put "nearsighted." What they see and feel today is how they make their decisions at the ballot box. Soaring economic numbers are one day away from a market crash. Medicare and healthcare are one vote away from precarious futures. The negation of climate control is an imminent threat for generations to come. And one order for nuclear intervention under the thumb of an erratic and powerful authoritarian is a sobering reality.
This rosy world in which we live today can easily be a different place tomorrow. One need only follow history from the Great Depression in the 1930's to the financial crisis in 2007-2008. Voting only for the "feel good" economy of today is not always the reality of what is to be in the next few years or even months.
21
I live in Virginia’s 5th district and plan to vote for Denver Riggleman. This is despite the fact that I will likely vote for the Democrat Tim Kaine in the senate race. I know who Riggleman is and have faith in his commitment to our area and the businesses that he has built here. Decisions on local races don’t always come down to national party issues. It’s about the individual candidates and who they are.
13
Brian Fitzpatrick voted for the so-called "Tax Reform" bill that - over its life - will deliver 80% of the benefits to the top 1%, nearly 60% of the benefits to the top 0.1%, and increase taxes on households earning less than $75,000, according to the Tax Policy Center.
By eliminating the Individual Mandate, it is also estimated to make health insurance unaffordable for 3 million Americans in 2019, rising to 13 million by 2019, resulting in thousands of needless, preventable deaths.
Finally, it will raise the deficit by an estimated $1.7 trillion, which will also be used to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicare. Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and our own Little Marco have been saying that ever since the bill passed.
Ms. Donnelly may be well educated, but these facts have either escaped her notice or she has a very odd definition of a "moderate."
87
@mkc - not to mention that outright tax increases on millions of Americans who can no longer receive personal exemptions or can no longer deduct the state and local taxes they could before where the rates and standard deductions don't offset the differences. The IRS tax calculator tells me my taxes go UP $4000 this year. That is a lot!!!
5
@mkc
I'm middle class and tax reform brought down my marginal tax rate from 28 to 24 percent. Saves me 300 a month.
When people do their 2018 taxes they will see that doubling of the personal exemption will help them as will the expanding child tax credit.
Quit regurgitating the corporate media lingo about tax reform only helping the wealthy. That and this great economy matter to most americans not what a panel is saying about trumps tweets on CNN.
8
@Ari
There is a big difference between your tax withholdings and what you actual tax liability will be in April. Even the IRS sent out a notice to that point and told everyone to calculate the difference soon so you could change your paycheck deductions to cover it.
There is are no personal and dependent exemptions under the new law. That will hurt some large families - in particular. Good God-fearing Christian families.
What was almost doubled was the standard deduction. But that wasn't enough to cover the elimination of those personal exemptions or all the itemized deductions many middle class families could previously take.
So, since several details you posted were incorrect we could say quit regurgitating the GOP ? FOX News lingo about tax reform.
1
"What Could Hold Back a Democratic Wave?..."
OR, you could live in Florida, where I do. I recently tried NUMEROUS times to re register, and was told, despite having had registered many times over 33 years (IE I have a registered voter history!), a DD214 (Military Discharge), a VA card (photo ID), my US birth certificate, I was denied registration due to being unable to acquire a Fla ID that does not say "Transient" on it. Since the housing bubble I've been forced to rent a room, and do not have a lease nor utility bills, so they will ONLY issue a state ID with "Transient" on it! For $30?!? Nope. So Gov Rick Scott the Medicare defrauder says I can't vote. I wonder if my previous "Dem", and then "Independent" status is a deal breaker. We have become third world.
54
@Mike OD I would think that what's being done to you is illegal.
12
Make sure they have something to vote for. Not just about Trump. If they aren't convinced that Trump is a disaster by now they never will.
7
What could hold back a Democratic wave? The Democratic Party leadership, that's what. Party leaders have done all they can to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. In the past two years, they have had no positive vision, and barely made a squeak about the massive tax-cut giveaway to corporations and the wealthy. Rather, Dems made themselves the Party of Illegal Immigration and Open Borders, with Nancy Pelosi shutting the government down (for a day or two, real show of strength there) to push her illegal immigration agenda. Dems have also become the Party of Aggrieved Feminists, alienating men by calling them "the patriarchy." Dems have alienated whites by implying that whites, especially white men, are generally racist, misogynist, and privileged (so no matter how they behave or how hard they work, their achievements are always tainted by "white privilege.") Rather than focus on Bernie Sanders-type issues like income inequality, education, and health care, the Dem leaders have doubled down on Hillary-style Identity Politics that embraces only women, LGBTQ, and People of Color, while saying "the patriarchy" has got to go. I'm extremely disappointed that my lifelong party affiliation is virtually broken by the sexism and racism emanating from Dems.
57
@Unconventional Liberal - Meanwhile, over here in the GOP, we're welcoming young guys, blacks, legal immigrants, and whoever else wants to join us and get ahead in a booming economy.
7
Booming - until it isn't. Like in the late '80s -early '90s after 12 years of GOP policies, and 2008 after another 8 years of GOP policies. Some people never learn - and force the rest of us to live with the consequences.
3
@Unconventional Liberal I just have to say to whoever reads this, that there are decent men in America. I honestly hope that women just look past guys like this who have a thing against women. No matter their views or our particular historical context, never give up because women are just as good as men and hopefully one day all these guys who are scared of treating women with respect will learn.
2
It's all about turnout....whose side is the most fired up, but the Kavanaugh hearings were a real turning point. We Democrats overplayed our hand. Combine that with a strong economy ( Thank you, Obama)....and the "Big Blue Wave" may turn out to be a "Little Blue Ripple"
10
@K.Walker
You mean Obama the globalist who's final year in office had a GDP of 1.6 percent. Keep your head in the sand and keep losing.
14
Actually, that’s not true at all.
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2018/jul/27/fact-checki...
This piece made its point in three paragraphs: there are a lot of intellectually lazy, and thus ignorant, or perhaps even stupid, adult voters in the United States who can't be bothered to think.
How Mrs. Donnelly, whose husband has a green card, can still be ignorant of what I.C.E. has done to people in her husband's situation, is appalling but not surprising. Many American voters will only take thoughtful action not because they "saw the light" but only because they "felt the heat".
Had the Republicans succeeded in their desperate 2008 bid to delay/conceal the economic collapse of 2008 until after the presidential election, for sure we'd have had President McCain and Vice President Palin.
Let's hope there aren't too many Kristen Donnellys out there.
32
@Vesuviano Mrs. Donnelly's husband is a permanent resident. Unless he commits a removable offense, ICE has no reason to do anything to him.
8
@Vesuviano, the people I know with green cards are not too happy about the thought of 16.9 million to 22 million illegal aliens getting to jump the line in front of them and receive automatic citizenship simply for smuggling themselves over the border, when the legal immigrants have jumped through every hoop and honored and respected this nation's laws from the get-go.
Voters behaving rationally. Who Knew? Hope the people profiled here are not vilified by their bluer neighbors.
29
“For many, daily life is good and the economy is working.” Gee, what a lame excuse to vote Republican. Everybody (here) knows that the End of the World remains imminent.
21
The only reason the Republicans have a chance of maintaining their House majority is extreme gerrymandering.
Democrats will win a majority of the votes, as they have consistently been doing in every recent national election, despite . But they may not win a majority of the seats, and in the Senate, the slave-era geographical tilt towards out-of-proportion representation for rural areas continues to benefit the GOP.
We are being ruled by a radical minority increasingly out of step with the modern world.
24
@David
"The only reason the Republicans have a chance of maintaining their House majority is extreme gerrymandering."
A good theory should fit the facts - yours does not. If the only thing holding the Dems back was gerrymandering, then in the Senate, where gerrymandering has no effect, the Dems would be cruising to victory. But NOBODY thinks the Dems will take the Senate.
It's time for a new, reality-based theory to explain the inevitable thrashing the Dems will suffer in the mid-terms.
3
@David That is a reason but not the only reason.
So far, the comments on this article amount to 3 points. 1. Trump is evil and you vote GOP, you are evil too. 2. Even if the economy is great today, it’ll crash tomorrow because I say so. 3. I’m leaving the US because nobody is listening to me. I have to say that as a strategy of persuasion, none of these strikes me as terribly successful.
51
@Mor Still waiting for Cher and Barbara Streisand to obtain Canadian Permanent Residency, except Cher is busy touring the U.S, because the economy is pretty good for her, too.
6
Americans more than any other nation suffer from cultural and political amnesia. This "trump economy" has nothing to do with Trump nor Republican policies other than the stock market bubble they're creating yet again with the corporate tax cuts. Once that goes pop next year, and it will, all these same spineless brainless wonders will squeal like stuck pigs and run to the Democrats to clean up the mess. Americans have short term perspective, zero forethought, and vote against their own interests...meanwhile the country falls further behind and our democracy is rotting from the inside out from the constant assault of lies from Trump and his Republican collaborators. Anyone who turns a blind eye to the continual lies and complete chaos of Trump administration and the Republican congress deserves what they are inevitably going to get.
17
The only way the Democrats can get their elites back in charge is, to offer some freebies to their prior loss constituents. Another Hope and Change from the pulpit. HRC was simply a poor choice to carry that banner.
10
Life won't be good for very much longer if we don't meaningfully confront global warming. This country is beset by an epidemic of short-term thinking.
23
Yeah maybe 100 years from now the ocean will rise 3 inches......not keeping me up at night.
9
I hate the term "blue wave", there is no certainty. After the 2016 election it turns out that pollsters and predictions amount to absolutely zero. Voters are complicated as illustrated in the article. We have a mail-in election system in WA, my wife and I received our ballots and voter's guide the other day. It felt like Christmas morning, actually. The only thing is I'm not very confident that we will receive anything different from what we did on election day 2016, 24 very long months ago: a big fat lump of coal.
1
The Democrats are the party of victims and grievances (not confident and independent) - which is seen by many as something weak versus strong. Which in turn, Republicans are seen by many as victors who have no fear and can outsmart. Hence, why more men are attracted to the right. Not many men (and many women) want to be seen as a weak victim.
I'm an Independent, African American and I'm not a victim and hate being treated like one.
29
The Dems I know are confident and independent, focused on a just and progressive world. The Rs on the other hand are insecure and fearful (of immigrants, progress, intelligence, technology, on and on). The guns they love enable them, generally small petty individuals, to feel empowered.
5
This article ends with Dr. Donnelly's bit of humblebragging that people (meaning herself as well) are more complicated than they're given credit for. (Newsflash, no we're not. Sorry.) This, of course, is to suggest that voters liker her are more nuanced in their thinking than they are reputed to be. Suffice it to say that the interviewees in this piece belie this idea.
For Donnelly, Rasheed, and their ilk, their thinking and motivations to not seems to extend much farther than their pocketbooks, front doors, or neighborhoods. It is a very insular mindset being rationalized as independence and is, quite frankly, kind of delusional. These people clearly stand for something but seem to be reluctant to commit to their positions. But we can see them for what they are: these folks are just plain old Republicans. Why we spend so much time treating them otherwise is beyond me.
19
@A. Jubatus
Insulting people who do not think exactly like yourself is not a good strategy for winning elections. This same strategy is playing out on the national stage and will not bode well for the Democrats.
8
@J
That comment just proves what the previous commenter wrote. It's all about conservative fear and greed. My conservative neighbor says she doesn't want to pay for women's birth control. (I don't think she is but she thinks so.) So I said, Fine, I don't want to pay for miners' health insurance. She was taken aback. It never occurred to her that other people have other priorities.
What about all the insults the Republicans hurl at Democrats, or is life merely a one-way street? -- thegamesmenplay.com
Life may be good now when these poor rural souls don't get any more daily mail from the post office or social security is cut and medicare. Trump already raised the postage stamp to 55 cents the rich will be only able to afford. When businesses have containers full of envelopes to mail monthly they will not be happy with the higher costs. You will reap with what you sow.
4
@D.j.j.k. The Postal Service has been independent of the executive branch since 1971.
4
The determine factor how to vote remains true- people look at their wallets. The economy is strong and at the end of the day that matters the most.
Voting for many is a “how am I doing” moment. The long term is not under their control. Society as a whole takes a back seat and again is viewed on how it affects me.
As is true in most elections, the incumbent has the advantage and is their election to lose rather than the challenger’s to win.
4
I can't help but think people have forgotten the "promote the general welfare" in the preamble to the constitution. If they are doing fine, they don't care about all those who are struggling despite having jobs.
Many jobs don't provide health care coverage and pre-existing condition coverage is being eliminated in the open market. The same low wage job does not provide enough for the employee to save for retirement - Mitch McConnell recently stated they are going to cut back Social Security and Medicare to reduce the deficit (and help offset the tax cuts for the wealthy passed last year).
We are going back to the nuclear arms race, so the defense budget will continue to take an inordinate amount of resources.
Climate change - can't be true - the oil executives need more money, along with the Koch's.
Greed and the inability to look beyond your own tight circle is what will destroy democracy.
When celebrities became more important than actual news and facts the downward spiral started - and gave us the current occupant of the White House.
I still can't believe how many people, many supposedly Christian, who support the Trump party.
5
Most people are just concerned with their families and close friends.....and that's ok.
We can't care for the entire world.
6
I keep reading about how great the economy is and how people are so happy about it, but my quality of life has not improved under this regime. I am employed and make what some would consider a decent wage, but my taxes have gone up significantly, as has the cost of gas, food, healthcare and pretty much everything else I need to purchase on a daily/weekly/monthly basis to take care of my family. I used to be what they called "middle class" - not sure where I fit on the socio-economic scale in this country anymore. All I know is that I have been working for 35 years (and saving/investing along the way) to retire five years from now (at age 63), but it doesn't look like that's going to happen now. Thanks, Republicans.
9
@Zelda. How about a bit of intellectual honesty? The price of gas is soaring in california due to Jerry Brown’s latest gas tax. Look how many jurisdictions are trying to have it repealed. Bottom line is, if you’re living in California, which is über expensive, and yet you can save and retire early at 63, you should be counting your blessings and wishing better things for people who are just getting by in our state.
1
How big of a raise did you get this past year in this so-called booming economy?
That is the question I'd like to ask every person who is voting for a Republican (and a "bonus" does not count).
12
Pretty big and most of my friends are doing as well, or better than I.
More money than I've ever made frankly.
Not everyone is crying poor.....
8
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
- Edmund Burke
13
the economy is going gangbusters in part because the Republicans just opened the flood gates on federal spending.
1
Ms. Donnelly says she'd never vote for Trump. But she's seriously considering voting for a Republican for Congress. What she needs to realize is that voting for a Republican IS voting for Trump. She needs to consider how often that ostensibly moderate Republican candidate would vote against his party. Would he support expanded healthcare coverage? Or having a fair system of taxation instead of one where the wealthy get all the breaks? Or a more civilized method of managing immigration? Or any of the other things that Republican congressmen absolutely will vote for? The pressure to vote with the party in immense in Congress.
I'd recommend that she put her local candidate aside and vote for a party instead. Her "I refuse to be a one-party voter" is nonsensical. Which is the better party for herself, her family, her community, or her country? It doesn't come down to her local Representative. It's all about party in this election. And if she votes for a Republican, she will be continuing the Trump disaster, not helping her home town.
25
This is reminiscent of the denial over Obamacare, except now it's a denial of Trump's and GOP's success in stimulating the economy.
The problem is always when Americans are told to deny what they can see with their own eyes. Optimism is at a record high. Good luck trying to make the claim that the tax cuts only benefit the rich. Democrats' tired old narratives are no longer working.
15
The difference between Democratic and Republican voters is that the former asks what will happen in five or ten years and how will we handle it while the latter just assumes that someone else will bear the risk or responsibility if something happens in five or 10 years. The $650 million mine is great now while people get jobs but in 2 years when they pollute the water and tourism drops, those voters will all ask for the government to fix their problems or wonder why the government didn't do something to protect them. Well maybe you should think of these things before you greenlight projects or vote for candidates who tell you only what you want to hear and blithely glide over all of the negatives because in the end does it even matter?
195
@Jennifer
Republicans count on Democrats being elected every so often to clean up their messes and take the heat for making tough choices. Then the GOP can ride back into power and plunder again. Rinse and repeat.
12
@Jennifer
Excellent points, and I agree that pollution is among the greatest threats. However, Republicans can frame themselves as forward thinking as well, they feel that immigration is the greatest threats to the country (I think that Trump won based solely on that single issue) and there is no disputing that, while setting standards for immigration by courting the brightest is what can keep the country ahead of the rest of the world. The endless flow of unskilled immigrants can be a burden on the country down the line. A humanitarian case can be made for helping desperate people showing up on the border looking for some future, but what is the future cost to this country? I don't see any objective assessment anywhere on this topic.
1
"Economy, Confidence, Independence..."
...Gerrymandering, Voter Suppression, Voting Machine Hacking, Complacency...
30
Also:
1) mob rule, no outrage from democrats or the media but instead verbally supported and actually encouraged by Waters, Booker, HRC.
2) Kavanaugh character assassination by media, Democrats, and progressives/leftists...
3) ...yet silence from the media on sexual assault allegationagainst senator Booker and assault by Ellison. why? Because they are democrats. Americans see a double standard.
4) no Democratic condemnation of Antifa actions, intimidation, or violence
5) false, inaccurate or hateful statements/stories in media on Trump, Kanye, Kavanaugh, etc (see New Yorker, NYT, Huffington Post, Vox, etc.) example: author of WAPO article on Kavanaugh’s HS hiring a public relation person knew it was false when it went to print. Media conduct and reporting simply confirms Trumps statements about biased, false, fake news.
6) Walk away movement - watch Brandon Straka’s video if you haven’t. It says it all about how the left foments division in our country.
7) Google, Facebook, Twitter censorship of right ward leaning commentary
8) irrational calls for eliminating ICE
9) and yes....Democratic silence on 7000 Hondurans/Guatemalans/God knows who else breaching our border invading our country reinforces perception by many Americans that democrats don’t care about real immigration reform, immigration law enforcement....and that Democrats support open borders.
50
@Haggisman
I'm thinking Kavanaugh's poor character was ingrained and nurtured from an early age...no assassination necessary.
1
Well with the NYT breathlessly reporting all of the GOP talking points, of course. Apparently being the propaganda arm of the Bush administration wasn’t enough.
20
"What Could Hold Back a Democratic Wave?"??
Voter suppression.
Wise up NYT. Perhaps more diversity on your reporting staff would prevent such obvious mistakes in future.
10
Julian Assange, Benjamin Netanyahu, Kim Jong Un. Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman hacking and meddling in the 2018 midterm elections could turn things in favor of their mutually favored dummy pawn pet puppet aka Donald John Trump,Sr.
Trump made a solemn sworn oath to preserve,protect and defend whatever he is hiding from the American people in his personal and family income tax returns and business records. Trump is hardly working at anything else. Trump spends his mornings and evenings watching Fox News while tweeting. Trump spends his weekends napping, vacationing and playing golf on his properties.
With the" hidden genius" of Jared Kushner and the" strong independence "of Ivanka Trump and the "thoughts" of Melania Trump what could go wrong?
8
The only thing that can (and in all likelihood will) hold back a blue wave is liberals. Just remember, in the past 18 years liberals have given us George W. Bush, Donald Trump, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. All because they just had to have their precious protest vote which absolutely nobody cares about ever. Never forget that Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein voters are 100% responsible for this presidency. If it weren’t for them there would not be a President Donald Trump.
I have full and complete confidence that they can and will screw this up, too.
58
Yet another dire prediction from the NYT. Why? Is it to achieve a so-called 'balance'. Nah. It's because the horse-race is the thing. That's where the money is, afterall.
14
The Democratic Party’s unrelenting favoring of US flag burning illegals over American vets and others in need means I will never vote Democratic - even though Trump is a complete jerk.
27
According to Trump and the GOP those Tea Party quacks and assorted "white nationalists" are all some very fine people exercising their Constitutional rights to assembly and protest, but anyone demonstrating against their interests are an "angry mob." Got it.
17
The major accomplishments of Trump and Greed Over People have been:
1. A continuation of the Barack Obama economic recovery
2. An torpedo attack on the ACA and American healthcare
3. A massive tax giveaway to billionaires on a middle-class credit card
4. A trade tariff war
5. Accelerating global warming
6. An attack on the nation's and the world's utersuses
7. Stacking the federal courts with corporate supremacists, vote-riggers and Christian Shariah lawyers
8. Stoking white spite
9. Abandoned the idea of telling the truth
Mindless tax cuts for rich people and deregulation cause massive damage; they do not solve infrastructure, healthcare, education, energy and campaign corruption problems.
The Republican Kool-Aid is nearly always fatal; don't drink it, America.
199
@Socrates
"Obama economic recovery"
Thanks for the laugh!
14
Unemployment way down, with a tight labor market even opening up job opportunities for those coming out of prison. Wages starting to move up. Consumer confidence way up. The Fed raising interest rates after almost a decade because of a return to normalcy. Let's hope they don't do it too fast.
Oy, who can stand it!! Vote the rascals out.
27
Yes... it's amazing what you can do when you spend $1.5 trillion you have to borrow from China!
20
Here’s what’s really happening. GOP is going to cause a major financial collapse in 2020. The economy is really not that good.
@RM
As if on cue, Obama is back trying to tell everyone "he started it".
9
It's sad, that like in the old Rome with "panem et circenses" (bread and circuses) people can be mislead by dark figure as Trump obviously (out of question!) one is.
History too often repeats, but this time the consequences of destruction will be irreversible.
Nobody asks what happens after the economic bubble, after the earth destroyed and flooded, after the next nuclear war started by a gambler, who now wants nuclear war heads here in Europe.
Here from Europe we see clearly how America is steering towards the abyss like in the 1920ies, when Nazi-Germany started to grow and the worst economic crises followed.
And it will take the half world down with it, that's the reason why we are more than just concerned.
Humans that believe in pocketbooks will shortsighted destroy the world we live in.
And the only way to prevent it, is voting against the madness and spread the good messages, all the other names and better alternatives!, and not the propaganda slogans of "Mr.T".
There is even in NYT nearly no other name as the Mr.T featured so often. You need to reconsider. what's going wrong with communication in your country.
68
@Lany. Many of us here in the US see the same parallels but trying to show that to the opposition is like bashing your head against a wall. My friend with a Ph.D. is still dumb as dirt when it comes to understanding the pull of destructive thinking towards destructive actions.
1
@Lany
Nazi's grew because of huge reparations they had to pay, huge inflation,where wives stood with wheelbarrows to collect husbands wages during lunchtime, bad economy.
None of this is happening in the US today: strong economy. low inflation low unemployment, etc. Maybe Europeans should look at what really is going on instead of their normal anti US bias.
There is not going to be a blue wave.
It is laughable that the media pundits are so bad with their predictions. They banked their blue wave theory on a group that voted enmasse for this clown in 2016. 53% of the white women who voted in 2016 voted for Trump. This group does not really care for other people. Why do you think they are going to vote for someone sane this time around?
9
A rigged election, which is:
- Fear news - Fox news
- Gerrymandering
- voter intimidation
- foreign help & hacking
- foreign money
- fear
- GOP lies
- close minded voter
18
Answer's simple. Low voter turnout!!
8
@Manoj
Low turnout and over confidence... as in Hillary 2016.
6
No blue wave this year. I voted for Hillary, but frankly, am ok with Trump for the time being. He seems “containable” enough and nobody in the middle of the political spectrum believes he is as much of a danger as initially thought. Also, I am a traditionalist and a moderate, and my Democratic Party scares me a bit when I think of all the far-left weirdness and promised turmoil we are likely to see if it ever manages to gain real political power during Trump’s presidency. My analysis of this election is: Trump has the economy on his side to brag about, he appeals to moderate men like me with conservative judges and due process for men against “believe-my-story” me-tooers, and Trump has successfully defined the Democrats as an unhinged mob and for open borders. And the Democrats have confirmed this by staying quiet as church mice while a caravan “mob” of mostly job-seeking illegal immigrants heads our wage. No comment at all from the Democrats on that major immigrant issue of the day?? No statement from Pelosi and Schumer that such caravans are improper and should not happen because Democrats won’t stand for illegal immigration? Nope, and that silence says it all.
59
@Armas - I'm sorry but what is moderate about a man who brags about sexual assault who then appoints a proven liar with an unstable temperament to SCOTUS?
13
@Armas
Yep, just as long as you feel safe, it’s ok for Trump to attack the vulnerable and not pay his taxes.
It used to be that men in this country would be ashamed of admitting cowardice. What happened?
5
@Armas
So you're "ok" with Trump announcing that he's a nationalist at the Ted Cruz rally last night.
"You know what I am? I am a nationalist. Use that word." D. Trump, October 22, 2018
1930s Germany had another word for it.
He seems “containable” enough? But the Democratic Party "scares" you a bit?
For someone who claims to be a Democrat, you sure seem to have all the Republican talking points, xenophobic dog whistles, and gaslighting tactics down pat.
Smells like b.s. to me.
4
Moderate, eh? He will support trump*. We are a country that accepts a soulless narcissistic con-man running amok in the White House. American Experiment? Over...failed.
13
I will never understand any woman who votes for a Republican, the killers if the Equal Rights Amendment that was to make females in this country Constitutionally equal.
"Unemployment" may be at a five-decade low, but that's only because no one, least of all trump, is counting those who do not or never did qualify for unemployment benefits.
And was a "living wage" bill passed?
I must have missed that one.
Maybe I was too busy counting all the moola I got from that $1.5+ TRILLION DOLLAR TAX CUT....
Oh, yes... this country really needs a "reality check", because that's the only check the poor in this country will be getting, now that the 1%ers are getting THEIR "check"!
What about that trillion dollars needed for the deficit, huh?
The rich paying for that one, too?
Consider this a "reality check".
26
@rosa Thanks for sharing your views. I did want to clear up one common misconception that people have about the unemployment rate. It has nothing to do with qualifying or not for unemployment benefits. This excerpt is from an article I wrote previously about the process:
The jobs report is collected from 2 separate surveys. The first is based on the Current Population Survey, conducted each month among 60,000 households, or about 110,000 individuals from around the country. It is commonly called the household survey.
In general, anyone who reports working for pay — even just an hour — during the previous week is considered employed. Anyone who was laid off or actively looked for work (sending out résumés, responding to help-wanted ads) during the previous four weeks, regardless of any government benefits received, is considered unemployed. People who are not looking — this includes millions of students enrolled in college, plenty of parents who are happy to stay home with young children and millions more retirees — are not counted in the labor force.
The second, the Current Employment Statistics program, commonly called the establishment survey, is intended to measure changes over time. This survey, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, focuses solely on jobs, rather than on individuals. Thus, a single person working two jobs would be counted once by the household survey (one individual is employed) and twice by the payroll survey (two jobs exist).
2
@Patricia Cohen
The household survey is flawed. It's called the unemployment rate yet the people most likely to be unemployed are also people that would be off the radar of survey takers: the homeless and transient... The pool will always misrepresent the population because of how the data is collected. They are deliberately not counting the bottom 1/4 of the country.
I think that's actually worse than what the OP was insinuating about the rate only counting those involved in getting work assistance.
1
The Democrats are those who will hold back a "Blue Wave ".
The shrieking, hysterical mobs we see on TV attacking people, property and concepts is an anathema to me and I can only assume to all people who share a love of freedom and liberty.
Democratic leaders encouraging civil disobedience, Democratic leaders out right lies and deception's are disgraceful. Just look at Dianne Feinstein and what she did to the entire country using Dr Ford, betraying her trust, waiting until the very last second to spring her trap. She never mentioned it to Kavanaugh, she must have thought she was being so tricky.
How do you spell b-a-c-k-f-i-r-e.
The Democrats on that committee are a disgrace to the country, it will long be remembered as a turning point in our history. Their behavior was ludicrous, especially Spartacus and Camel Harris.
And what the heck is Elizabeth Warren trying to prove right before the elections, that she has lost her mind ?
Hillary was on TV the other evening trying to indicate that Monica was a grown woman at 22 years old, how would she like it if Chelsea were an intern at 22 for someone like her spouse ?
So now, you wonder about a Blue Wave, I believe we can wave goodbye to that thought. Trump just keeps winning, that's a hard act to follow.
39
@Tom
If you believe what you wrote then this must be your first times reading the NYT.
7
Best thing about Florida? 20 years from now when you are under water from more hurricanes! Oh that's right! Trump says they are not real....
10
@Tom ,Retired Florida Junkman
I see that while Fed Up and Kevin Blitz posted snarky little ad hominem attacks against Tom, neither is able to provide any substantive refutation of Tom's comment.
4
To paraphrase George Orwell:
People sleep peaceably in their beds at night (with a job to go to in the morning and a cushy portfolio to ponder happily) only because rough men in the WH stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
12
@ExpatSam The violence seems to be mainly against the American people, so perhaps in a way you are correct.
2
The two huge obstacles that the Democrats need to overcome are the booming economy and illegal immigration. My job is secure for the first time in years. My stock portfolio continues to climb and I am sick and tired of hearing about how we need to allow illegal immigrants who have zero regard for our laws to be made US Citizens. Enough said.
49
@Anita - Were you around during the last recession? Do you really think you're safe from another one?
btw how much good will that money do you if your air and water are polluted and you can't get affordable health care?
11
@Anita enjoy it while it lasts. Another two months or so!
3
@Anita. They have more regard for our laws than anyone who votes for Trump does.
7
I used to think that religion served no positive purpose, but it's obvious now that many people in this country need religion in order to know that self-interest is not a replacement for defending people from abuse.
"I'm getting paid, so white supremacy is fine." Sheesh.
35
"What Could Hold Back a Democratic Wave? Economy, Confidence, Independence."
Not necessarily, they will have an impact though. What will hold back a Democratic Wave is, not going to the polls this November and voting. That's all.
So please vote, everyone.
24
I wish the pundits & reporters would just say what everyone now knows: Democrats are panicking and looking for excuses. Their strategy & tactics to win the election is slowly coming apart. It's been one blunder after another. The messy judicial hearings, calls to impeach, the Heidi Heitkamp apology, Elizabeth Warren DNA tests, mobs harassing politicians, Hillary and now the Caravan fiasco. Last night CNN tipping their hand & obvious allegiance said they would limit video footage of the caravan because it was inflammatory. Yes it is. The unspoken issue raised but not answered by this decision was Democratic leaders are unable to react in real time to an event that has galvanized the American voter. Why are Democrats pretending this isn't happening? Why doesn't someone in the party leadership respond? Trump is responding. He's telling his people that Dems want open borders. Get out and vote or else. Vote for Republicans or you will be overrun. Democrats are angry but Trump voters are scared. Scared beats angry every time. The GOP base will turn out in huge numbers ...pretty much guaranteed with this caravan dominating the news every day until we vote. This ongoing drama will motivate not just the conservative base, but fair-minded Independents who are mad that Democrats don't have the guts to address our immigration problems head on. The DP had this election in the bag two months ago. Incredibly, against all odds they're going to blow it once again. How is this even possible?
92
@Bill Brown
CNN won't air something that gives Trump's claims any oxygen. That is not journalism. That's activism.
14
@Bill Brown. Gutlessness. Compromise with monied interests. Sheer exhaustion. Lack of belief. And sometimes a nation just has to run off the cliff because it is selfish AND stupid at the same time. Look at Brazil, Turkey, Egypt, Poland, the Eastern European nations just on the verge of democracy but incapable of voting to support those who don’t look like them. What we see everywhere is the rise and elevation of money into a godlike status and the disminishing of the ordinary person unless they are against their neighbor.
3
@Bill Brown. Yes. The deplorables are scared and don't want to lose what little they have.
The Democrats have nothing to offer "them".
They Dems are just going off on every dog whistle: Democrat platform:
1. yes to Caravan
2. abolish ICE
3. yes to race based quotas
4. no to merit based immigration
5. not sure how many genders there are.
6. guilty until proven innocent
7.down with the cis gendered white patriarchy
8. yes to identity tribalism
9. no to assimilation
10. no to plastic straws
That is not going to work from Spokane to Buffalo.
3
I dropped off my vote yesterday.
I took that action, not because I have great faith in American democracy, for the Presidencies of Trump and George W. showed me the true nature of America, but because I am a human being, and I need to have faith in something.
Without a sense of belonging to something, to mattering, human beings falter and fail, and we find a way to a dismal end. Little children sicken and die if not held and old men give up and sit at the end of a bar, if there is no way to hold onto a common thread of belonging and hope.
No, democracy has become a religion for me, though more and more, I see that there is no Zeus on Mt. Olympus, and that human beings just cannot grow and learn and stop being murderous animals. Combine the darker parts of human nature with the criminal parts of cutthroat capitalism, and we get American oligarch, led by drunken Nixons or arrogant Trumps.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
18
To the NYT. Please stop with the chicken little/Debbie downer articles cataloguing the myriad ways this could go wrong for the Dems. Or, at the very least, please demonstrate some balance. What could prevent the Repubs from holding the senate, pray tell? I recall lots of angst by the media, esp the NYT, about their outsize roll in tipping the scales toward Trump. Have you learned nothing from your history? And to millennials and other new/young/infrequent and other voters: ignore the media. They have a proven track record of not knowing of what they speak in terms of the political landscape. Don’t believe me? See 2016 election. Ditto on the polls. Ignore them. Given all of our propensities to ignore calls from unfamiliar numbers, they paint only a partial picture. One of what older people who still have landlines and answer them plan to do. That’s a fraction of who is eligible to vote. Please don’t let these polls discourage you. Do what you know you need to do. Vote. Irrespective of what the polls show. This election will likely determine the future of this nation. Vote as if your life depends on it. It probably does.
236
@Oscar Here's what's amazing....really beyond belief. Against all odds Trump is winning. How is this possible? He has the wind behind is back...the momentum has shifted dramatically in the past week. We're already starting to see blowback. The GOP is now favored to increase their margin in the senate. Stacey Abrams & Andrew Gillum two African American Progressive candidates running for Governor in Florida & Georgia were ahead in polls a month ago. Now both GOP opponents have caught up & are positioned to win their races. The establishment press is panicking . They were all in for the lets teach Trump a lesson in the midterms. Two months ago victory for the Democrats seemed assured. As as safe as a bet could be. A bet impossible to lose. Not now. Unbelievable. He had the entire establishment doing everything possible to bring him down. Yet against all odds he's winning. He's telling his people that Dems want open borders. Get out and vote or else. Vote for Republicans or you will be overrun. Democrats are angry but Trump voters are scared. Scared beats angry every time. The GOP base will turn out in huge numbers ...pretty much guaranteed with this caravan dominating the news every day until we vote. This ongoing drama will motivate not just the conservative base, but fair-minded Independents who are mad that Democrats don't have the guts to address our immigration problems head on. In 2016 Trump's victory broke the left's heart. The 2018 midterms will break their spirit.
11
@Oscar Thank you so much for saying all this! I have been really discouraged about all the negativity coming from the press about Democratic chances of winning. I can't think of anything more demoralizing to voters, especially first-time voters! to the NYT: please do some cheerleading these next two weeks! We need more articles on HOW to produce that Blue Wave, and no more speculation on how it could be collapsing. Use your power to encourage the vote, not to discourage it!
1
She would never vote Trump but she isn't voting democrat...
Objectively, by all measures, any vote not for a democrat is a vote for Trump.
The same can be said for not voting at all...
Not voting because it's just the lesser of two evils is the same as voting for the most evil.
131
You left out the part where the Democratic Party has no message other than to whine about Trump and is utterly incompetent. There will be no Blue Wave and Trump will be re-elected.
43
The answer is: Pelosi, Shummer, Perez. Our leadership is clawing to their seats and this is what keeps voters home. We need fresh voices and new ideas. This is why Obama won and Clinton lost. It seems they need to loose some more to get it. I am bracing myself for more Trumpism.
5
Here are some statistics compiled by CNBC to show changes since Trump took office.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/20/chart-shows-how-everything-has-changed-s...
The Democrats keep complaining how Trump is ruining America and Americans see the above.
Being completely out of touch may get you some voters, but you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel there.
14
Trade deals the Democrats championed closed a local plant and left a string of closed storefronts.
That's not someone voting Republican talking. That's the reporter describing a town.
That's it. That's the local economy, families, tax base, futures.
The Democrats have got to come to grips with this. And calling Trump voters racists isn't going to do it.
69
@Talbot. And none of this happened under Republicans? You forgetting the 2008 collapse of the economy? Guess you must be a banker or a WS executive who got bailed out. As to the last point: When the shoe fits, you gotta wear it even if you don’t like the look. Perhaps it is time to shop for a different and a better shoe.
3
Clearly, a vote for any Republican for Congress is a vote for Trump. They have aided and abetted his worst policies and positions, and that won't change.
188
Apparently most people, myself included, don’t like the way the President conducts himself. On the other hand, the economy is doing well and, for the most part, Americans are concerned about ILLEGAL immigration, a concern exacerbated by the current “caravan” of potential illegal immigrants approaching from the south. Further, my taxes are lower this year, something the Democrats most assuredly would not have delivered, Also, House elections are essentially local elections and are not easily influenced by “national” interests. My best guess is the Blue Wave is really a Blue Ripple and will not result in Democrat’s gaining either the Senate or House.
71
@TW Smith - So civil rights and the environment don't matter as long as you have some extra cash?
23
And yet congress, held by the GOP, has gone nothing on immigration. Before McConnell took over the senate, the senate passed a comprehensive immigration bill the house refused to consider. Yet Trump and you blame Democrats. Jeez.
7
@TW Smith I don't really like ILLEGAL immigration either....but I have yet to see one single employer arrested for hiring ILLEGALS....but I have seen many ILLEGAL, but long time law abiding people living in the Us deported....Plus -- there are all those kids now interned in your state...that all taxpayers are now paying for. As far as taxes are concerned.... I like decent roads, bridges that are not at risk of falling down, clean water and clean air...and I am willing to pay for that.
8
I am very familiar with her hometown, Yardley,Pennsylvania as I used to live there. Like many suburban households that were tilting towards Democrats it has changed due to Donald Trump and the strong economy. Yardley also a haven for individuals commuting to the NYC area. I think the Republicans will sweep the election here.
24