Is this how conservatives felt when Obama was president?

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11/15/2024 09:18

Subject: Is this how conservatives felt when Obama was president?

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Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t vote for Obama, but I woke up, went to work and got on with my life. Same with Biden. Being “sad, angry, and depressed” because your favored candidate didn’t win is a disproportionate reaction. Just move on. You’ll be fine

This +100. I didn't vote for Trump because of Trump, the person...couldn't stand him personally. However, I align more with the right-leaning political policies and social values.

People of DCUM tear me up for saying this but it's true nonetheless, despite the continued denial. Trump won because the left didn't see that they were going too far to the left to appeal to the majority of the nation's voters. Then they deny that it was a majority win...even though during the entire time leading up to the election they kept stating "a vote for third party is a vote for Trump" or "not voting is basically voting for Trump" -- meaning they really thought that anyone who voted third party or didn't vote were OK with Trump winning.

So do some introspection -- what does that mean? It means a majority of the country either voted for GOP political policies and social values or were perfectly ok living with GOP political policies and social values...despite Trump.

So I will continue to blame the far left Democrats for the mess we are in now.

After Romney lost in 2012 conservatives did a big "autopsy" of that election and concluded that their base was shrinking and aging and that they needed to shift left on immigration issues in particular in order to expand their "tent" and create more electoral possiblities. This was the reason Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz originally rose to prominence -- it was a concerted effort by the Republican party to capture the Latino vote and speak more directly to the immigrant community. Latinos were an obvious target because as a group they tend to be more socially conservative due to Catholicism and the large numbers of small business owners in the community make them persuadable on tax policy. Go find some interviews with Marco Rubio circa 2015 -- he used to speak passionately about these issues, talk about how he had undocumented family members and family friends, and argued in favor or a more liberalized immigration system that would create (gasp) pathways to citizenship. But otherwise towing a pretty standard conservative line on taxes and foreign policy. And the thing was, none of this was that dramatic for the GOP -- George W Bush *also* talked about pathways to citizenship and really did not take a hard line on immigration either as governor of Texas or as President. The feeling was that the party need to embrace that.

Then Trump came in and was like "No immigrants are the enemy. Build a wall. America First." It was the exact opposite of what the party had decided it needed to do post-Romney and the base LOVED IT. There were a ton of conversations within the party about what a problem this was because even if Trump won (and no one actually believed he was going to) his approach was alienating the very demographic they'd been trying to attract since the last presidential cycle and he was doing it by making promises to the conservative base that were not realistic or forward-thinking in this area.

Then Trump won and the whole party realigned itself behind him, including Rubio and others who had originally been viewed as the future of the party specifically for the way that they differed from Trump stylistically and politically. That post-2012 autopsy got thrown out the window and they went hard line on immigration and Trump's presidency was not only anti-immigrant but anti-Latino (or any person of color) with a disturbing embrace of far right white nationalist groups like the Proud Boys. This combined with Trump's massive mishandling of Covid led to his loss in 2020.

Notice I haven't talked about Democrats once here? Because none of this was really about Democrats. They are and have been adrift as a party since Obama. For a lot of reasons. Clinton's loss in 2016 was hugely destabilizing because there was no real plan for that possibility -- they'd cleared the field for her and then she lost and the party honestly still has not recovered and continues to struggle to find leaders as dynamic and inspiring as Obama. The exceptions are all on the progressive left (AOC, Bernie) and the moderates really do not have no strong or persuasive voices. It's a personnel issue and also has to do with how Democrats recruit candidates, though I do see that finally changing with the new House leadership who is more focused on recruiting and raising up future stars. But they are still early in that process.

The reason blaming Democrats for our current predicament is ridiculous is that Democrats have not driven politics AT ALL for the last 12 years. It's been the GOP and then specifically Trump. Dems have done their best to build an opposition to Trump but it's been especially hard because the party is just not built for it right now -- their most prominent voices are almost all retired and the ones who aren't are democratic socialists. And Trump defeated the candidate they thought was going to carry them out of the Obama years -- a moderate Dem with great name recognition and an incrementalist approach to social change and actually fairly conservative foreign policy. And the non-Trump Republicans helped bury her. So I guess sorry -- it's a rebuilding cycle.

Trump is a GOP creation and he needs a GOP solution. And look what happened this year -- the GOP got a big chunk of exactly those Latino voters they started going after back in 2012. But you got them with Trump. If you are a Republican and you are mad about Trump, stop looking to Dems to save you. This time belongs to the GOP and this is what you're doing with it. This ones on you.

You make a lot of sense. I hope the Dem party regroups, goes through a period of self-analysis, and allows a new generation of candidates to emerge. I hope the GOP will do the same in time and move away from the Trump stranglehold on the party towards normal politicians who are not part of the extreme right. We need two healthy parties.