The 2024 Presidential Election- The LONG General Election

[BigRedBuster]

7 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

I say let them fight it out and disgrace each other  (Ok, disgrace each other more than they already are, but I digress) so that the GOP ends up supporting someone more sane.  

But remember...the GOP MUST remain loyal to Trump.

 

 

[TGHusker]

1 hour ago, BigRedBuster said:

But remember...the GOP MUST remain loyal to Trump.

 

 

You are right. The cult cannot accept anyone else but the old has-been leader.   At one time, Lou Dobbs was a respectable reporter.  Now, like all of the rest, he wallows in the slim of Trump. 

[TGHusker]

NH Gov Sununu may be jumping in soon. An alternative to trump and trump light. I don’t know what to think about him as I really haven’t followed him much. Anyone have any insight?
 

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/gov-chris-sununu-takes-major-step-running-president-rcna69751

[BigRedBuster]

9 hours ago, TGHusker said:

NH Gov Sununu may be jumping in soon. An alternative to trump and trump light. I don’t know what to think about him as I really haven’t followed him much. Anyone have any insight?
 

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/gov-chris-sununu-takes-major-step-running-president-rcna69751

Well….this tells me a lot. 
 

 

ok, why would you support him then?

 

 

[TGHusker]

3 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

Well….this tells me a lot. 
 

 

ok, why would you support him then?

 

 

Good Grief.  Another floppy fish with no backbone.    No thank-you.    So, he and Niki now see  weaknesses in Trump's political position and they want to now be a part of the pack of dogs going in for the kill. 

 

[commando]

i give trump 1 thing over desantis.   trump didn't ban books if i recall correctly.

[TGHusker]

Trump's fist official challenger for the GOP nomination is........... Steve Laffey  

Kind of like when Mike Riley was hired as HC..  

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-s-first-2024-challenger-targets-his-greatest-asset/ar-AA17lby8?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=0172f7cbdf444ab9b8d4bb375f6bfa97

Quote

Laffey, a former mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island, announced his presidential bid on February 3, becoming the first Republican to challenge Trump for the nomination since the former president made his announcement in November.

Laffey is a long shot to win the nomination, potentially going up against Republican powerhouses such as former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence, but he's confident he's the best person for the job.

"I have a skill set that Donald Trump doesn't have," Laffey told Newsweek in a Thursday interview. "I know how to hire people and I know how to put people in the right jobs. I'm not just a businessman, I'm a financial expert."

 

Quote

Citing his background as a former business leader and chief operating officer at a Tennessee-based financial firm and as a former finance lecturer at the University of Rhode Island, Laffey said he's more than just the businessman that Trump is.

Quote

 

Laffey's platform is largely centered around Social Security reform—a topic so politically incendiary that many Republicans, including Trump, have avoided touching it. Just this week, GOP lawmakers were cornered into renewing their commitment to Social Security after President Joe Biden publicly called them out in his State of the Union address.

Laffey knows that Social Security is a controversial foundation to build his campaign on, but he believes at least a quarter of Republican voters are looking for someone to give them a solution to what he sees as the nation's "financial disaster."

"I know it's a third rail thing," he told Newsweek. "I know George Bush lasted six days on Social Security in 2005. I know [Alan] Greenspan said he fixed it. But the truth is it's a $61 trillion unfunded liability."

In many ways, Laffey mirrors the candidate Trump was in 2016. Aside from also having dabbled in national politics in the past (Laffey unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2006 and the House in 2014), much of Laffey's rhetoric echoes the reason why voters liked Trump in the first place. Laffey plans to "tell people the truth" about controversial topics, and Americans repeatedly told pollsters that they liked that Trump "tells it like it is."

However, Laffey doesn't see the former president as being a candidate who exhibits that transparency, especially when it comes to the economy.

"We, as Republicans, went after former President Obama for $8 trillion of debt in eight years. And you said nothing about a trillion dollars of debt in four years [under Trump]?" he said. "You said everything about corruption that you could have when Obama was president. You didn't say the [Paycheck Protection Program] was a disaster? All Republican senators voted for it. Donald Trump signed off on it."

Laffey said he thinks that most of the Republicans holding office are just waiting around and "doing the least worst thing" in hopes that someone else will step forward and be the "adult" for the GOP. Laffey thinks that's him.

Since November's midterms, the GOP has descended into what many political observers have described as a civil war. After several megadonors and conservative news outlets abandoned Trump in the wake of his 2024 announcement, the former president has gone all out against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whose name has emerged as a 2024 frontrunner even though he hasn't made an official bid.

Laffey criticized politicians who have not only attacked those on the other end of the political spectrum but have begun targeting members of their own party, telling Newsweek that attacking other Republicans is "just not in me."

"I really don't care. I don't have time to keep attacking people," he said.

"I don't have any problems with these people, except that they either don't know how to fix the country or are unwilling to," he added. "I think all of them fall into both categories."

At the same time, the former mayor also said he doesn't think going after Democrats is a successful strategy either. Instead, he wants to take a page out of Biden's handbook and call for unity.

"They all start off by vilifying Democrats. Is there really a point to that anymore?" Laffey said. "Listen, I am a Republican, don't get me wrong, but we need to find some way to unite people...and I think we're going to unite people over fixing Social Security."

Despite Laffey's ambitions to be the breakout GOP candidate for 2024, Republican strategist Matt Klink told Newsweek that unless Laffey sees a huge fundraising effort, his campaign would likely be short-lived.

 

 

[BigRedBuster]

Sorry Nikki, you have no chance.  MAGAts are only going to vote for Trump or DeSantis.  Anyone who isn't MAGAT  knows you have too much Trump stink on you.

 

I'm sure she would LOVE to be the running mate of one of the other two though.  

[TGHusker]

6 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

I'm sure she would LOVE to be the running mate of one of the other two though.  

I think that is her option B - but with a huge gap between option A (President) and option B (VP).  Based on her past words, I think she believes she has not only a legit shot at becoming president but that she considers herself to be the best qualified person for the job. She doesn't seem to be the person to take the back seat to anyone.  But I think her waffling wt the "I won't run against Trump" hurt her wt never trumpers and also with the cult. I also think Kristie Noem is looking for the vp nomiation also.  I can't see Noem running for president, but I see her positioning herself for the # 2 spot on the ticket. And we know Marge is actively prostituting herself for the VP slot - may that never happen.  

 

 

 I think Haley has as good of a chance as anyone else not named trump or Desantis to secure the nomination.  If Trump and Desantis devour one another and the never trumpers unite around one candidate who happens to be Haley - then I think she has a realistic chance.  BUT - the Trump Stink will probably cause never Trumpers to look for someone else.  Who that could be - I don't know.   NH Gov Sununu thinks it might be him.  Maybe Hogan runs.  I would think we would hear some rumors from the Cheney camp by now if something was in the works for her to run.  Pense is a man without a country/party and he still holds on to the trump stink in spite of his J6 actions.   So far there is nothing exciting on the GOP side and the same wt the Dems.  The Dems also need a new voice and face instead of an eighty-year-old man.  

 

 

[BigRedBuster]

4 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

And we know Marge is actively prostituting herself for the VP slot - may that never happen.  

Quite possibly literally.

 

4 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

I think that is her option B - but with a huge gap between option A (President) and option B (VP).  Based on her past words, I think she believes she has not only a legit shot at becoming president but that she considers herself to be the best qualified person for the job. She doesn't seem to be the person to take the back seat to anyone.  But I think her waffling wt the "I won't run against Trump" hurt her wt never trumpers and also with the cult. I also think Kristie Noem is looking for the vp nomiation also.  I can't see Noem running for president, but I see her positioning herself for the # 2 spot on the ticket.

I actually liked Haley prior to Trump and her falling in line with him.  If she would have stood up for what was right during all of that.....I would be a lot more on board with her.

 

Between all of them you mentioned, I would probably go with Haley over any of them.

But...dang...please find someone else.

[TGHusker]

5 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

Quite possibly literally.

 

I actually liked Haley prior to Trump and her falling in line with him.  If she would have stood up for what was right during all of that.....I would be a lot more on board with her.

 

Between all of them you mentioned, I would probably go with Haley over any of them.

But...dang...please find someone else.

I agree 100% - on both cases.   If I recall correctly, I believe Haley called out trump when J6 occurred but then waffled after Biden was inaugurated.   Seems like there were several at the time who said that if Trump ran, they would not run.  Now, I think they see blood in the water, and they/she now regret those words.  Perhaps at the time, they thought Trump would be unbeatable and they wanted to be next in line as VP.   Regardless, if no one better runs (a firm never Trumper- who also is well qualified), I'd probably go wt her as well. 

[BigRedBuster]

3 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

I agree 100% - on both cases.   If I recall correctly, I believe Haley called out trump when J6 occurred but then waffled after Biden was inaugurated.   Seems like there were several at the time who said that if Trump ran, they would not run.  Now, I think they see blood in the water, and they/she now regret those words.  Perhaps at the time, they thought Trump would be unbeatable and they wanted to be next in line as VP.   Regardless, if no one better runs (a firm never Trumper- who also is well qualified), I'd probably go wt her as well. 

But, here's what I don't get.  If she had an ounce of integrity, she would NOT want to be his running mate as VP.  She would NOT have said, "if he runs, I won't".  

 

If she had integrity, she would be out front WANTING to run against him to help beat him.

 

That's my biggest problem with her.  She's trying to play both sides and there isn't a valid "both sides" approach to take.

[BigRedBuster]

  And he’s one of the leaders in the race. 
 

 

[TGHusker]

31 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

But, here's what I don't get.  If she had an ounce of integrity, she would NOT want to be his running mate as VP.  She would NOT have said, "if he runs, I won't".  

 

If she had integrity, she would be out front WANTING to run against him to help beat him.

 

That's my biggest problem with her.  She's trying to play both sides and there isn't a valid "both sides" approach to take.

Again I agree with you.  That spoiled the pot -  The lack of integrity stands out in comparison to Liz and Adam K taking a stand in the House and Romney in the Senate. 

So, I say I'd vote for her if she is the only one available that isn't trump like or a 80 year old Biden - one of those hold your nose kind of things because of the trump stink.  But, in the end, I may have to just go 3rd party again and 'throw away my vote' as a protest vote once again.  Now if the Dems come up with a younger, qualified candidate I am all ears to listen and vote that way.  I don't have to agree with their full platform, I just have to agree with the big issues that matter.  Which brings up another topic - lets say the GOP comes up with a good candidate but their platform is still controlled by the cult, then I'd have to vote for the Dem if acceptable as noted before.  

If the cult writes the platform, I won't be voting for the GOP candidate - at this point I don't see much good coming from a cult inspired platform.  The Dems will always have enough good in their platform to make me consider them.  By good, I mean they will take care of the average citizen and their needs.   I'm determined to not be a one issue voter (pro-life) so I will be open to what they have to offer in both candidate and platform.  

[TGHusker]

5 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

  And he’s one of the leaders in the race. 
 

 

He wants to emulate his dictator friends in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey etc.