With the party he purportedly leads having a disappointing mid terms, Trump decides that this is a great time to do a Mexican hat dance on a defeated Republican candidate who had the temerity to criticize him. On policy Trump was a good President. As a man, Trump is always consumed by petty vengefulness, first, last and always.
Trump’s Reaction to the Midterms
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
There aren’t enough bad things that can happen to Trump. I wish him nothing but ill.
A terrible human being and a YUUUUUGE drag on GOP prospects. Given the election fundamentals at this moment, with a terribly unpopular President and a tanking economic outlook, yesterday should have been a BIG red wave. Instead, the GOP might break even. His name wasn’t on any ballot that was cast yesterday, but Trump was definitely on the ballot.
“As a man, Trump is always consumed by petty vengefulness , first, last and always.”
I think I’m now seeing why PF can’t stand him, too much alike.
What Julie Kelly said some months ago, “Stop making it all about you”. The country is suffering some grave cultural and institutional problems. It is hard to see a pathway out of them at this time.
That’s why I don’t care for Trump, nor do I trust him. He clearly makes it about himself, and if he burns the GOP and America, he’s happy to do so unless he gets his way. He’s already gone to the press with promises of wrecking DeSantis. We won’t even discuss some of his deplorable picks for candidates.
Yep, he was a big loser last night. And he is acting like one. Spent next to nothing on the folks he backed–loyalty runs only one way for The Son.
The big winner was the big winner: DeSantis. Want to win in 2024? Go with the guy who turned Florida bright red and fights smart.
The Don. Stupid autocorrect.
The big winner was the big winner: DeSantis. Want to win in 2024? Go with the guy who turned Florida bright red and fights smart.
AMEN!
Trump…that sinking ship ..will not support the weight needed to carry a victory.
DeSantis would be a strong candidate.
Glad to see I’m not the only one in an anti-Trump state of mind. I suspect a Democratic governor will be appointing the next PA senator as Fetterman steps aside, and that’s on Trump.
Trump’s petty vengefulness as a man may end up doing more harm than the good he did as president.
Trump had to be persuaded not to announce his run for Presidential office the day before and the day of the midterms.
He cannot fathom not being in the limelight 24/7. I thought Obama was the worst narcissist of all time, Trump continues to make his case for himself as the biggest narcissist to live on earth since Nero.
Trump is petty, vengeful, uncouth, barbaric, foul-mouthed, a gambler, a womanizer – all my worst defects of character as a submarine sailor.
Trump is still better than any liberal progressive feminist environmentalist Democrat.
Nevertheless, God save us from both Trump and the Democrats.
PS, I will still vote for Trump before I vote for any Democrat. Sadly, that doesn’t appear to say much for either the candidate or my vote. I just wished he could be statesman-like as Reagan was.
🙁
PS, Tito is right –> the biggest narcissist to live on earth since Nero.
Sorry for posting so much.
“I wish him nothing but ill.” You do realize how spiritually dangerous that is, I hope.
I can think of any number of people with personal flaws I cannot ignore and who should not be in public office — for my own list, I am at the top of that list. But if I can still wish well for myself, I should likewise wish blessings on the others, even though they still should be barred from positions of authority. Blessings are NOT “flowery beds of ease”; they are generally crosses meant to convert us and save our souls. I can think of certain people in authority — you can, too! — who are making a huge mess of things now, but who can perhaps become saints as great as St. Dismas IF they begin cooperating with God’s grace.
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” There was nothing in that about “if you want to” or “if you feel like it.” And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the Southern Poverty Law Center so?
It is written that for everything there is a season. Trump had his and as far as one term Presidents go, his was probably the most consequential since John Adams. Present circumstances would seem to indicate the proper course of action would be for him to assume the role of party maven but not seek further office. He is entitled to a graceful retirement without all of the vengeful legal actions that his adversaries seek to inflict on him and the country.
How about “I wish Trump nothing but character-building failure”?
LOL – Pinky.
For my part, I love the America First message and hate its messenger. Trump has ever been the biggest millstone around the message’s neck and that is never more so than now. I hear a giant sigh of relief in Washington from GOP Elite who are glad that they won’t have the power to accomplish anything. McConnell et al needn’t explain their incompetence, lack of vision, or listlessness because “garsh, if only we had a ‘real’ majority.” That masks the reality that the GOP (nationally) has a lack of vision and plan and that we on the ground (I’m involved at the county level) struggle to sell this empty box every two years. It is exhausting. Whatever his faults, and there are ever so many, Trump put forth a vision and touchstones for a plan. Without something to counter it, the GOP will gravitate towards it because rank-and-file WANT to be successful. He fills a vacuum and that is entirely on the GOP elite’s heads.
David Spaulding,
Nice avatar!
I wish all the other goofy robot avatars commenters would update their avatars!
https://en.gravatar.com/
@Pinky — Certainly. Let me put it this way: when we pray that God bless someone, we accept that God best knows what they need. We ourselves may be convinced that what is most needed is a good sharp kick in the rear. We should, therefore, be prepared to understand when we feel a strange sensation in the seat of our own pants. https://youtu.be/7LrBpEDrKDY
It has appeared for many years that this country is on a path for failure. After all that happened in 2020 — including the election, but that was the least important part — failure can probably no longer be avoided. Here’s hoping that the failure improves our national character!
Trump has come off as shallow, self serving and extremely petty.
I now prefer DeSantis and I don’t want Trump to run again. He is getting too old, anyway.
As for Pennsylvania…it would not matter who Trump endorsed or did not emdorse. Pennsylvania is a mess.
In 1994, a year before I moved home, PA elected Tom Ridge and Rick Santorum. The Legislature and the US House for PA were majority GOP. Ridge was disgusting on abortion but proved to be a competent governor, getting the Interstates rebuilt was a major feat. Western PA had its rising GOP stars…Santorum, Melissa Hart and Keith Rothfus.
Come 2002, it was all shot. Western PA produced David Lawrence, John Heinz, Dick Thornburg, Ridge and Santorum, but Clinton flipped the Philly suburbs and they have stayed Democrat. Bush lost PA twice, narrowly. The balance of power has shifted East, towards an East Coast mentality and the PA GOP has become pathetic no matter what Trump said or did. The former Congressman from my district, Tim Murphy, could have been re elected for life but he had an affair with his secretary.
The Democrats helped Mastriano in the primary seeing him as the most easily beatable. Mastriano annoyed the pathetic PA GOP and got stomped.
Fetterman is a half brain dead goof, a freeloader and has the work ethic of my 14 year old…but his campaign relentlessly attacked Oz. New Jersey, diet pills, experiments on puppies, nonstop.
It is the Pennsylvania Republican Party leadership that is to blame for the embarrassment. We haven’t had a good candidate for Governor, besides Tom Corbett in 2010, since Ridge. Toomey was a wimp. Bob Casey becomes aware of his own existence only once every six years…he is as exciting as a pair of bedroom slippers, but he wins every time.
Ohio and West Virginia are VERY close to my house…barely half an hour…cheaper gasoline, cheaper milk and no Joke Shapiro suing the Little Sisters of the Poor or Fettertattoo not knowing what year it is sounds tempting.
Trump’s purported mean comments about fellow Republicans is cringing and supplies fodder for the drive by media. “Hateful” comments take the media spotlight off the R winners and their message. Positivity and well thought out plans to save our republic is what the nation needs to hear. The Turtle wasn’t and won’t be of much help as noted by David Spaulding.
Perhaps you’re right, David, but I’m skeptical. It is true that McConnell, Ryan, Boehner &co. yapped about repealing Obamacare for seven years, then, when the time came, had no replacement on deck. That’s what happens when your floor leader is a bag man and parliamentary tactician but otherwise vacuous (and, in Boehner’s case, a lush).
Still, I cannot help but think that there has been a complete disconnect between the electorate’s choices and the actual economic and social conditions that they experience every day. As one wag put it, the Democratic Party is a ‘lifestyle brand’, and the branding impresses the young most of all. (I’ve seen a piece of polling which purports to show the Democrats losing voters over 45, splitting the 30-45 crew about evenly, and scoring a blowout among voters under 30); the 30-45 crew are those who voted for Obama by a margin of 2.3 to 1, per the same sort of polling).
I’m sure my brother and surviving sister cast ballots for Democratic candidates, even as their retirement funds are chewed up by inflation. (Unlike the young, they were here for the last round of that). My sister does so even as burgeoning criminal violence where she lives is injuring the resale value of her home. My sister chatters on about ‘real change’ and ‘voter suppression’, i.e. vaporous and fantastical things and of no true significance to her. More than twenty years ago, a mess of proto-okupiers descended on her city in order to protest a confab put on by an international agency, broke a lot of glass, and cost the police a lot of overtime. My sister at the but end of her young adult years had no time for these hooligans. What happened in 2020 was far more destructive to her interests and everyone else’s than what went on in 1999, but she couldn’t have been more unconcerned. This is my Irish twin, and I cannot make sense of her. Forget making sense of the young.
Fair points, Art Deco.
I made the mistake of watching interviews with Fetterman supporters this morning and every one talked about 1) how much Fetterman “cares” and 2) about all of the “free” stuff the government should be doing for people.
This DOES strike me as dangerous and new… At least as far as my consciousness of it goes.
I enlisted in the Navy at 17 because I was accepted into only one of the 5 colleges to which I applied. I hadn’t prepared for college, had no money, and suspected it would be a disaster if I went then. Even at 17, I understood that it was my fault. I didn’t expect someone else was going to make up for my lack of effort, not even my parents who were only marginally in a position to pay for some of my college. No, it was my fault and my problem.
That’s what’s missing – any sense of “it’s my fault and my problem.”
Got a useless degree? Your fault and your problem. Addiction? Your fault and your problem. No friends or family on which to rely? Your fault and your poblem. In debt up to your ears? Your fault, your problem.
It’s harsh but people become soft when they are regularly told “don’t worry, we’ll make everything OK for you.” Worse, it’s a lie because there IS no such thing as “free” anything. Everything we get comes from someone’s investment.
This squares with our faith because it relegates charity to relationships rather than the State. It is because you are MY child that I struggle through your addiction or bankruptcy with you. You are MY responsibility, not the State’s. It is because you are MY brother that I help you study for the SAT. It’s not the responsibility of others to do that, it’s mine.
By transferring charity to the State, now for what? Seventy years? We have developed three generations, beginning with mine (born in 1969), who expect complete strangers to take care of others, including ourselves. It is THEIR duty, not ours.
That sense of “charity is a global concern” melds with “a life of ease is a reasonable expectation” that has destroyed our national sense of industry and thrift. “Wait for what I want?!” No, not anymore. “Give me that, NOW!” is the expectation of the age.
My generation scoffs at the following two generations but, if we are honest, we can see the genesis of what we are decrying in ourselves.
I wish all the other goofy robot avatars commenters would update their avatars!
:debates finding a Rosie or Bender avatar and changing it to harass Tito:
^.^
I’m not all in on Trump: I think in particular his push of the vaxx and his refusal to pardon Jan 6 protestors were huge failures.
But I don’t understand how he can credibly be blamed for the poor showings last night. Voter fraud and complete leftist control of the media are more likely culprits.
Mr. Harrier, I have no objection to President Trump playing the role of kingmaker. He want to choose the nominees that carry our party forward and with that privilege comes responsibility. He doesn’t get to simultaneously declare himself the right person to dictate our party’s platforms and emissaries and not accept responsibility for those platforms and emissaries falling flat.
David, I don’t recognize the younger generation in our families in your description, bar two. With a couple of exceptions, their industry is adequate, often adequate and then some. Those which are vociferous about their politics vote Democratic. They were not raised that way, by and large. There is a definite, if not particularly contentious, antagonism to those in the three previous generations, less their parents and grandparents (though there is some of that), but the generic representations of them. They cannot be reasoned out of it because they were never reasoned into it.
Rudolph, the media are the same and the election processes aren’t that much different from pre-covid. Trump’s candidates lost badly and Republicans held up ok elsewhere. Look at Florida: it’s a case study in turning a purple state red, and those weren’t Trump candidates. Look at Georgia, where Trump adversary Brian Kemp outperformed Herschel Walker. Look at Pennsylvania – wait, don’t, it’s just too gross to look at directly.
:debates finding a Rosie or Bender avatar and changing it to harass Tito:
^.^
Do it!
Change can sometimes be good.
😀
Rudolph, partly because some of the candidates he personally endorsed were dumpster fires. Here in the Buckeye State, JD Vance only won by a half dozen points after 30 million dollars was dumped on his campaign in a state where most Republicans won by double digits. And that’s largely because the DNC torpedoed Tim Ryan for daring to buck the Democrats and even saying he sometimes agreed with Trump. We won’t even discuss candidates like Dr. Oz.
Dr. Oz was installed as the Republican nominee by Trump due, in part, from the constant pushing of Sean Hannity. Hannity’s constant harping on personal defects of Fetterman, including the effects of his stroke, probably secured him more sympathy votes. Fetterman’s horrible record on issues was what mattered. I hope Trump bows out of seeking the nomination for President. DeSantis could win the general election , but not with Trump actively opposing him.
Rudolph, partly because some of the candidates he personally endorsed were dumpster fires.
Passable description of Herschel Walker, not the others.
Trump’s PA senate candidate was a Turkish citizen who lived in New Jersey and endorsed gender transitions.
One of our biggest concerns in Pennsylvania was that the Oz – Fetterman race continued to be the top story. The Governor’s race never got the billing that it needed and our concern was that distaste for Oz would turn voters off, both GOP failing to show and Independents voting Democrat. Since voters tend to vote for a party, not individuals, having Oz as the GOP standard-bearer meant that anyone voting against him would choose Democrat and we would lose across a wide board in the down-ballot. I’ve been looking at the county data today and the data shapes up to support that analysis. So, it DOES seem fair to say that Trump’s weight behind Oz decided numerous US House, governor, and state legislature results as well. Had he kept his nose out of it, the GOP nominee would have been McCormick or Barnette and we wouldn’t be in this mess. So, it’s NOT unfair to ask what Trump was thinking or to hold him responsible for HIS choice.
Had he kept his nose out of it, the GOP nominee would have been McCormick or Barnette and we wouldn’t be in this mess. So, it’s NOT unfair to ask what Trump was thinking or to hold him responsible for HIS choice.
Oz principal opponent was the sort of Republican you’d call ‘part of the problem’. Maybe your donor crew could also get behind someone better.
We haven’t had a good candidate for Governor, besides Tom Corbett in 2010, since Ridge.
Ridge is the man who gave you the Kermit Gosnell horror and the seminal institutional culture of the Department of Homeland Security. I gather a great campaigner.
Toomey may be a wimp, but he’s a mainstream Republican who managed to win two statewide elections. So did Rick Santorum, although he lost 3d time up. They managed this after Bill Clinton supposedly ‘flipped’ the Philly suburbs. Note that every Republican elected Governor or U.S. Senator over the period running from 1954 to 1992 was either a temporizer or a liberal. Santorum broke the mold.
“”Rudolph, partly because some of the candidates he personally endorsed were dumpster fires.”
Passable description of Herschel Walker, not the others.”
Oz, Mastriano, Majewski, Kent, Palin among others.
Oz, Mastriano, Majewski, Kent, Palin among others.
You’re welcome to Lisa Murkowski.
Art, I pointed out that Ridge was disgusting about abortion. He was in other respects a decent governor.
You apparently mock me when I point out how Clinton flipped the Philly suburbs. It started with Presidential elections and in 2002 moved to the gubernatorial elections. Now it’s for every statewide election.
I am damn well aware that PA does not elect hard conservative Republicans. We don’t have them. For the life of me I can’t understand why Mehmet Oz decided to run for the Senate in PA when he had NO base here. In retrospect, a bad idea.
Ed Rendell had a goal – to make Pennsylvania a Democrat controlled state, like New Jersey and New York, and screw the western half of Pennsylvania.
The northern panhandle of West Virginia and Southeastern Ohio are looking a lot better to me these days.
No. No clearly the lesson here is what @Dale Price pointed out long ago.
Joe Biden is just the most popular president we’ve had since… almost ever. I mean the only other president who had a better midterm showing was Bush and that was after 9/11.
Heck he had a better midterm showing than Obama so clearly that guy was just holding him back. Joe is just the most beloved man in America and it’s time we accept that fact. Everybody adores him and as proof just look at his endorsement record there. America <3 Biden.
The oligarchy will be itching to have Trump and DeSantis destroy each other in a primary.
DeSantis won’t take the bait.
Can’t say the other guy won’t and drag his followers away.
I appreciate things Trump has done (and, more, avoided doing), but he’ll be 78 years old in 2024 and he does have some baggage, net.
Penguin Fan, you hit it on the nose. If the party leadership hadn’t been so inept (or bought off), the PA Supreme Court would not have a dem majority, and the mail-in ballots in 2020 would have been banned. I still wonder whether the voting machines were fixed. This time ahead of an Oz lead.
“Passable description of Herschel Walker, not the others.”
Certainly Dr. Oz is in there. Remember, before he was candidate, many saw him as a medical doctor version of Dr. Phil. And JD Vance merely looked credible compared to Oz or Walker.
JD Vance has been a Marine and a celebrated author, among other things, including a Catholic convert. In debate he crushed his professional politician opponent. I expect much of him in the Senate. He was one of the best of Trump’s picks. Dr Oz did a pretty good job in fighting this campaign for a first time politician and came from behind to almost win. Too many yellow dog Democrats in Philadelphia who would vote for Satan if he had a D After his name. Even Walker demonstrated a surprising shrewdness in his debate with Warner.
Mr. McClarey, a voice of sanity in the wilderness. Oz did run a good campaign. He stuck to issues, mostly economic issues. The mud was flinging from the other side and there was a lot of it. The thing is, Oz had no base, no part of PA that was his home for any length of time and the Fetterfraud campaign put labels on him that stuck.
I keep saying that Philadelphia is a lawless and corrupt hole, an East Coast Chicago. The Philly burbs should know better but they don’t.
I see Republicans starting to sort themselves into four categories: Never Trumpers who won’t vote for Trump under any circumstances; Maybe Trumpers who will vote for him if someone better is not on the ballot; Always Trumpers who will always vote for him if he’s on the ballot (but will consider voting for another GOP candidate if he’s not); and finally, the Only Trumpers who will vote for no one else.
I am damn well aware that PA does not elect hard conservative Republicans. We don’t have them.
It elected Toomey and Santorum, twice each. Both were loyal Republicans in Congress.
Per the American Conservative Union, Arlen Specter’s voting record was about equidistant between the median of the Democratic caucus and the median of the Republican caucus. Tom Ridge was a tad closer to the Republican median, John Heinz to the Democratic median. The last of these specimens to prevail in a statewide contest was Arlen Specter in 2004 and the one previous was Barbara Hafer in 2000. Both later defected to the Democratic Party.
Well phrased, Elaine.
Never Trumpers who won’t vote for Trump under any circumstances; Maybe Trumpers who will vote for him if someone better is not on the ballot; Always Trumpers who will always vote for him if he’s on the ballot (but will consider voting for another GOP candidate if he’s not); and finally, the Only Trumpers who will vote for no one else.
There was no popular NeverTrump constituency as of 2019 and I don’t think one has developed in the intervening years. Capitol Hill, K Street, and Acela corridor newsrooms have influence but few votes.