DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus WHAT IF...Trump was president?

t

I disagree.

Your analytics thread is better.

RUN FOREST, RUN..!

I didn't know you were a Russian/Putin LOVER..!

Trump isn't President. I think the basis for this thread can't lead to a positive or constructive conversation... Even as someone that thinks Trump is a treacherous, opportunistic wannabe King who flouts the law ... there is no good reason to create this thread. We have enough gray areas with real things that happen - let alone hypotheticals. Pass.

[WHAT IF...think about it..!





Poll: 74% of Americans call Russia's Ukraine invasion unjustified

Yahoo News
ANDREW ROMANO

February 28, 2022, 9:21 AM

https://www.aol.com/news/poll-74-percent-americans-call-142128877.html

In the opening days of the war in Ukraine, the fractious American public is remarkably united in opposition to Russia’s invasion, with 74 percent saying the breach is not justified and 76 percent expressing an unfavorable opinion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.

Yet in a striking sign of how deep partisanship continues to run in the U.S., just 3 percent of 2020 Donald Trump voters are willing to say President Biden is “doing a better job leading his country” than Putin. Nearly half (47 percent) of Trump voters say Putin is doing a better job than Biden, even as Russia’s economy threatens to collapse under the weight of crippling global sanctions. A slightly smaller share of Trump voters (45 percent) say “neither” man is doing a better job than the other.


More Trump voters also express an unfavorable opinion of Biden (95 percent) than of Putin (78 percent) — with a full 87 percent saying they have a “very” unfavorable opinion of the U.S. president versus just 60 percent who say the same about his Russian counterpart.

The poll of 1,532 U.S. adults, which was conducted online from Feb. 24 to 27, sheds light on how sharply domestic opinion has shifted toward Ukraine since Putin launched his onslaught — especially among Republicans. At the same time, it reveals how reluctant many of those same Americans are to credit Biden for his response.

Three weeks ago, Americans were more likely to say the U.S. should remain neutral (49 percent) than side with Ukraine (46 percent); today, they’re more than twice as likely to want the U.S. to side with Ukraine (57 percent) as to stay out of it (25 percent). Republican opinion has shifted the most, from 8 points in favor of neutrality earlier this month to 34 points in favor of siding with Ukraine.

Likewise, a plurality of Republicans now say “it’s in America’s best interests to stop Russia and help Ukraine” (44 percent), while fewer insist “the conflict is none of America’s business” (30 percent). Three weeks ago, Republicans were more likely to say the latter (41 percent) than the former (39 percent). A substantial majority of Democrats continue to say that stopping Russia and helping Ukraine is in America’s best interests (63 percent, up from 55 percent).

As a result, just a quarter of Americans (26 percent) now say the U.S. has no stake in the conflict — an argument that top Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson was pushinguntil late last week.

Americans also tend to agree on how the administration should be responding, with 56 percent saying they favor last week’s “major sanctions” designed to “cut off Russia’s government from Western banks and financial markets” — despite an explicit description that the sanctions were “imposed” by Biden. Unsurprisingly, 72 percent of Democrats favor Biden’s sanctions; just 6 percent oppose them. But the same sanctions also win the support of most Republicans (53 percent), with very little outright opposition (11 percent). Three weeks ago, just 40 percent of Republicans said they wanted the U.S. to “implement severe economic sanctions to counter an invasion.”

A clear majority of Americans (56 percent) agree, too, with Biden’s vow “not to send U.S. troops into Ukraine”; only 15 percent disagree. Even more (62 percent) want to see the U.S. continue to take action in response to the Russian invasion, either in the form of “more economic sanctions” (33 percent), “military force” (3 percent) or both (26 percent). Just 13 percent, meanwhile, prefer neither sanctions nor military force.


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Poll: 74% of Americans call Russia's Ukraine invasion unjustified
Yahoo News
ANDREW ROMANO
February 28, 2022, 9:21 AM
Scroll back up to restore default view.
In the opening days of the war in Ukraine, the fractious American public is remarkably united in opposition to Russia’s invasion, with 74 percent saying the breach is not justified and 76 percent expressing an unfavorable opinion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.

Yet in a striking sign of how deep partisanship continues to run in the U.S., just 3 percent of 2020 Donald Trump voters are willing to say President Biden is “doing a better job leading his country” than Putin. Nearly half (47 percent) of Trump voters say Putin is doing a better job than Biden, even as Russia’s economy threatens to collapse under the weight of crippling global sanctions. A slightly smaller share of Trump voters (45 percent) say “neither” man is doing a better job than the other.


More Trump voters also express an unfavorable opinion of Biden (95 percent) than of Putin (78 percent) — with a full 87 percent saying they have a “very” unfavorable opinion of the U.S. president versus just 60 percent who say the same about his Russian counterpart.

The poll of 1,532 U.S. adults, which was conducted online from Feb. 24 to 27, sheds light on how sharply domestic opinion has shifted toward Ukraine since Putin launched his onslaught — especially among Republicans. At the same time, it reveals how reluctant many of those same Americans are to credit Biden for his response.

Three weeks ago, Americans were more likely to say the U.S. should remain neutral (49 percent) than side with Ukraine (46 percent); today, they’re more than twice as likely to want the U.S. to side with Ukraine (57 percent) as to stay out of it (25 percent). Republican opinion has shifted the most, from 8 points in favor of neutrality earlier this month to 34 points in favor of siding with Ukraine.

A woman and a child in front of a damaged residential building in Ukraine.
A woman and child in front of a damaged residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday. (Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images)
Likewise, a plurality of Republicans now say “it’s in America’s best interests to stop Russia and help Ukraine” (44 percent), while fewer insist “the conflict is none of America’s business” (30 percent). Three weeks ago, Republicans were more likely to say the latter (41 percent) than the former (39 percent). A substantial majority of Democrats continue to say that stopping Russia and helping Ukraine is in America’s best interests (63 percent, up from 55 percent).

As a result, just a quarter of Americans (26 percent) now say the U.S. has no stake in the conflict — an argument that top Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson was pushinguntil late last week.

Americans also tend to agree on how the administration should be responding, with 56 percent saying they favor last week’s “major sanctions” designed to “cut off Russia’s government from Western banks and financial markets” — despite an explicit description that the sanctions were “imposed” by Biden. Unsurprisingly, 72 percent of Democrats favor Biden’s sanctions; just 6 percent oppose them. But the same sanctions also win the support of most Republicans (53 percent), with very little outright opposition (11 percent). Three weeks ago, just 40 percent of Republicans said they wanted the U.S. to “implement severe economic sanctions to counter an invasion.”

Servicemen of pro-Russian militia hoist flags of Russia and the separatist self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic outside a bank.
Servicemen of pro-Russian militia hoist flags of Russia and the separatist self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic outside a bank in the Luhansk region on Sunday. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)
A clear majority of Americans (56 percent) agree, too, with Biden’s vow “not to send U.S. troops into Ukraine”; only 15 percent disagree. Even more (62 percent) want to see the U.S. continue to take action in response to the Russian invasion, either in the form of “more economic sanctions” (33 percent), “military force” (3 percent) or both (26 percent). Just 13 percent, meanwhile, prefer neither sanctions nor military force.


Yet in spite of this consensus, just a third of Americans (34 percent) say they approve of how Biden is handling “the situation with Russia and Ukraine.” Nearly half (48 percent) disapprove, and 17 percent are not sure. That’s roughly in line with Biden’s overall job-approval rating (41 percent approve, 53 percent disapprove) as well as the rating for his “foreign policy” more broadly (36 percent approve, 49 percent disapprove) — neither of which has fluctuated much in recent polls.


By the same token, just 28 percent of Americans say Biden’s response to the situation with Russia and Ukraine has been “about right” — while more say his response has been “not tough enough” (39 percent).

Partisanship largely explains the gap between agreement with Biden’s actions and approval of his leadership. Nearly 9 in 10 Trump voters (89 percent) say they disapprove of how Biden is handling the Russia-Ukraine situation. More than two-thirds (67 percent) say his response has not been tough enough. About the same number (68 percent) agree with Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz that “Europe is on the verge of war because of the weakness, the fecklessness of Joe Biden.” And on the question of who is a “stronger leader,” Republicans and independents who lean Republican continue to choose Putin (66 percent) over Biden (4 percent).

Yet even now, Republicans remain less likely than Democrats to support strong measures in response to Putin’s actions, such as implementing “severe economic sanctions to counter the invasion” (62 percent of Democrats vs. 49 percent of Republicans); sending “arms to Ukraine to use in its own defense” (46 percent vs. 35 percent); sending “troops to the region to bolster defenses, but not Ukraine” (31 percent vs. 19 percent); or “sending troops to the region to bolster defenses, including to Ukraine” (24 percent vs. 17 percent).

This contradiction is unlikely to resolve itself anytime soon. Consider the fact that even among the Republicans and Republican leaners who choose Putin as a stronger leader than Biden, 76 percent rate Putin unfavorably, 69 percent disapprove of the job he is doing as president of Russia and 75 percent consider his invasion unjustified. It’s not that Republicans like Putin. They’ve just made up their minds about Biden.



Yet even now, Republicans remain less likely than Democrats to support strong measures in response to Putin’s actions, such as implementing “severe economic sanctions to counter the invasion” (62 percent of Democrats vs. 49 percent of Republicans); sending “arms to Ukraine to use in its own defense” (46 percent vs. 35 percent); sending “troops to the region to bolster defenses, but not Ukraine” (31 percent vs. 19 percent); or “sending troops to the region to bolster defenses, including to Ukraine” (24 percent vs. 17 percent).

This contradiction is unlikely to resolve itself anytime soon. Consider the fact that even among the Republicans and Republican leaners who choose Putin as a stronger leader than Biden, 76 percent rate Putin unfavorably, 69 percent disapprove of the job he is doing as president of Russia and 75 percent consider his invasion unjustified. It’s not that Republicans like Putin. They’ve just made up their minds about Biden.


Overall, however, the vast majority of Americans (72 percent) say Putin is “most responsible” for the situation in Ukraine. Just 11 percent say Biden, followed by the Ukrainian government at 8 percent, NATO at 4 percent and Trump at 4 percent.

It remains to be seen what happens next — and how Americans respond. The public is certainly paying attention, with more than two-thirds (70 percent) saying they’re following the news from Ukraine at least “somewhat closely” — including 30 percent who say they’re following “very closely.” Consistent with those numbers, nearly all Americans (86 percent) say the situation with Russia and Ukraine is “very” (54 percent) or “somewhat” important (32 percent); most now say the clash “threatens a much larger European war” (57 percent) rather than being “just a conflict between Russia and Ukraine” (20 percent). Similarly, 69 percent are at least somewhat worried (and 38 percent are very worried) that the invasion “might cause gasoline prices to rise in the U.S.”

Going forward, the war is likely to remain top of mind. When given a list of nine issues to choose from, the same number of Americans now say Russia and Ukraine should be Biden’s top priority (23 percent) as say “inflation” (23 percent). Immigration ranks third at 12 percent, with COVID-19 and health care tied for a distant fourth at 7 percent each.

____________________

The Yahoo News survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,532 U.S. adults interviewed online from Feb. 24 to 27, 2022. This sample was weighted according to gender, age, race and education based on the American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, as well as 2020 presidential vote (or nonvote) and voter registration status. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of all U.S. adults. The margin of error is approximately 2.7 percent.

I'm pretty sure Americans DID answer this question already. On election day and then again as his lawsuits crapped out one by one. So I don't know why you're getting all bent out of shape over a what-if that nobody else is discussing.

Putin invades and takes Ukraine due to the previous four years of NATO/EU dysfunction.

we have to remember that undermining Ukraine has been part of Trump's platform since he won the GOP candidacy in 2016. since then, he weakened our relationship with european allies, broken up treaties that we were previously signed to, publicly undermined NATO, and last but certainly not least, embarrassed the US in helsinki standing right next to Putin, and publicly defended and ADVOCATED for Russia. let's not forget that he kept trying to get Russia back in the G7. lets not forget that he has helped undermine Ukraine's sovereignty by trying to withhold aid to the country unless the country gave dirt about Biden. all of these things help create organized chaos that Putin needed in order to make progress in his own plans.

lets remember this isn't happening in a vacuum. the constant chaos that Trump brought to politics allowed so much crap to be ignored on the back end. Russia was actively hacking european countries left and right. barely covered in the media, and most people didn't even consider it that big of a deal. but that's because we are still struggling with the fact that digital attacks on infrastructure are still ATTACKS on infrastructure.

it doesn't matter if russia physically damages our economy or hacks the stock market, its still an act of war. but Putin was allowed for 4 years to get away with all that because half the country wanted to chalk up to trolls or think it was all a hoax.

Putin was looking for maximum destabilization in order to take ukraine. even he knew he couldnt get this done just using military force. its why he wanted such a quick victory.

he would've got that W if Trump is president, because the ability for the US and EU, followed by the world to unite around ukraine is something that doesn't happen under Trump whatsoever.

I can make a very valid argument that Trump is the one of the main reasons Putin had enough belief to think the West was destabilized enough for him to Ukraine with relative ease.

To all who are SUDDENLY SILENT...

Quote

74 percent saying the breach is not justified and 76 percent expressing an unfavorable opinion of Russian President Vladimir Putin

[color:#FFFFCC]To those who are "SUDDENLY SILENT"...

...given the percentages that are unfavorable toward RUSSIA, PUTIN and his BEST BUDDY, "DONNIE TRUMP"...just try to be HONEST and answer the question...WHAT IF TRUMP WAS ALLOWED TO STEAL THE ELECTION..?

Would you continue to support Trump..?

...And would you continue your support of Putin, Russia and Trump...giving Putin, Russia and Trump "the green light" to kill those who want to live in a democracy..?

Would you support those who want the Ukrainian people to live under the rule of the ruthless RUSSIAN DICTATOR, Vladimir Putin.?

SPEAK UP AND VOICE YOUR OPINION FOR PUTIN, RUSSIA AND TRUMP..!!



[/color]

Without a doubt - and I have nearly written such in the other thread. But I just think it is counter productive.

We already have Trump (who praised and licked Putin's boots for 4 years as POTUS) - go on record specifically regarding the Ukraine War and compliment and praise Putin - and double down on those statements ... and when those comments were brought up the Trump faithful simply said "Trump Bad - Biden Good" ... and "I only ever hear Trump's name on DawgTalkers" .... so there is little point, even if accurate, talking about Trump's role in destabilizing EU and Nato and undermining Ukraine.

It can't because it will be hypothetical answers to hypothetical situations and people will pull clips and facts in as they can to support their hypotheticals...

I would like to think that Trump and his base in the GOP would, if anything, take an even harder line on Russia than Biden is.. but I can't say that with certainty. He/they have certainly done and said things that make me question whether that would be true.

I have my questions about Biden, but Biden will at least listen to his military leaders, listen to his state department leaders, listen to the world, and have a measured response... Trump might do who knows what. We all saw how quickly he turned on his cabinet and his leadership when they disagreed with him.

Your expressed fake reality is crazy.
Everybody knows, Trump already was president, and we didn't have any wars, for about the only time, since 1988.
But what we did have, was leverage over Russia,
and Leverage against China, and a southern Border that was about as effective as it has been in Deon Sanders' lifetime.
And the best jobs situation in ever
and the Cheapest gas prices
and America was a net exporter of energy for the first time in history.
And oil jobs, and Fracking jobs.

Everybody knows the entire loyal to some foreign groups from around the world, along with their infiltration of the political left, totally anihlilated the integrity of voter identity, one vote per one verified voter, and came up with innumerable, unverifiable, ballots, so that the 2020 election was totally destroyed, and America can never have free and fair elections again, unless the corruption is fixed.
and,

Everybody knows, those British crown folks, are sitting back, drinking tea, and having everyone else fight their wars, And have been for more than 700 years.

Trump a real piece of work, and a buffoon, and he - at least a few days ago - was making the current situation worse.

That being said, what is the point of this thread?

We're supposed to analyze 'what if's'.

He's calling out people that "are suddenly silent" when it comes to the irrelevant hypothetical he just came up with.

Yes. This is an exercise in advanced analytics to determine if hypothetical hitter, Donald Trump, would have a higher WAR than designated hitter, Joe Biden.

Oh.shucks.

You.caught.me.

People of differing opinions will come to different conclusions on preconceived notions without any real way to ever know the actual truth. It's an exercise in futility.

Yeah, good luck with that.

i think the problem is we're still in the thick of things. its not looking good for Russia, but its not over. so you're getting some pushback.

that being said, people acting like we dont speculate or do "what ifs" on this board all the time is hilarious. BTW, thats exactly how people develop strategy. you get together, speculate, coordinate, share information and develop a plan based on those factors.

the pushback i'm seeing in this thread...take it as a challenge: maybe some of you guys arent capable of that level of critical thinking?

change my mind. its a message board after all.

ill keep going based on my first post in this thread. i dont think Trump does crap when Putin invades because trump dragged his ass enacting sanctions on russia after a bipartisan report came out condemning Russia for interfering during our general election in 2016. BIPARTISAN. and trump through a hissy fit trying not to enact those sanctions.

so i know what the point of this thread is, and its a good one: figuring out why 74 million people who currently support and defend Trump think this invasion doesn't happen if he is president.

i haven't read anything to change my mind as of yet. maybe im wrong though, who knows.

If Trump was still President, we'd all need to learn Russian.

I'm pretty sure the rest of the world was kind of scared of Trump going loco on them.

Aside from that, none of it matters because Trump isn't the President and Biden.

Perhaps it’s just my perspective, but that’s not how I view it. It could be the career I live in, but my method of persuasion is almost never based on hypotheticals. It’s the build-up of facts and actual usage of things like concrete discrepancies that are found in thought process.

Take the whole classified material thing as an example. Trump supporters were railing about Clinton and then it’s revealed he did the same or worse. That’s a juxtaposition worth exploiting in my mind.

The problem even in that scenario is that you’re never or perhaps rarely going to change the mind of the target audience (amygdalas, amirite???) but the hope is to convince people contemplating the matter as a whole.

I think hypotheticals can be useful in terms of planning. I do that all the time. “Here is what I know now. WHAT IF this happens?” To me it works in the scenario of still having potential.

My problem with this scenario is that it’s completely not the case. You could try to make the most convincing case possible, but at the end of the day, there will never be any certainty, so no persuasion really takes place, at least in my mind.

I would posit that this is actually counterproductive because I think it feeds into the counter-narrative of the obsession with Trump that many on the right and far right accuse people on the left of doing. It dilutes legitimate blowback against him when he actually says and does stupid things like he did recently when the invasion began.

So, in my mind, there’s a whole lot of energy to be spent in advocacy and persuasion toward causes, and I don’t get that from this.

i understand your point.

here's why i disagree. in politics, damn near everything is based on hypotheticals, especially when it comes to persuasion. "well if i were in charge, this is what i would do"

i mean thats literally the basis of every campaign...ever. and we need to remember who we're talking about here. Trump is currently the overwhelming favorite to be the GOP candidate in 2024. i think its very fair to speculate what Trump would do if he won reelection, especially since he's most likely gonna run again, and especially since - let me remind the board - he is the former president.

so its just a bit odd for me how we literally use hypotheticals on this board all the time, yet for this specific topic, it doesn't fly?

i just cant fly with that.

btw, is that NOT what trump is currently doing?

"if i was still in charge..."

"if the election wasn't rigged against me..."

i mean, the guy we're talking about is literally doing the thing some of you guys have a problem with us doing, which is what all of us do.

come on.

Did you just use Trump doing something as justification for it being the right thing to do ?
My head is gonna explode.

MGH please read that again. dont do me like that bro come on....

I don't think this thread is irrelevant. There is a very real chance that trump will run for President again in 2024. Just because he lost in 2020 doesn't mean he will lose again in 2024. This is a real question and an important one.

I might question the timing of this thread. Right now we should focus on the Russian threat to the Ukraine. But this thread and discussion post resolution is definitely an important one. We need to consider the real consequences of putting trump back in teh Oval Office.

Swish - you didn't say it was the right thing to do ... but you did use what Trump has done as grounds for 'us' at dawgtalkers to also do it. My comment was mostly in jest.

Jester - you might have a point. I think what Trump actually has done, actually said, continues to say ... is all the grounds anyone needs to acknowledge he was unfit to be POTUS then, now and forever. But that's me. The problem with the premise of the thread - it's not going to win anyone's heart or mind. It'll get off track quickly and end in simple insults. Maybe I'd feel differently if the convo was had in the future, after the event is resolved and once Trump is running for office again.

Have you lost your mind? Putin might not be the only one unhinged.

Relentlessly dishonest egomaniac': Trump faces backlash after trying to take credit for NATO
Bob Brigham
February 28, 2022

'Relentlessly dishonest egomaniac': Trump faces backlash after trying to take credit for NATO
US President Donald Trump salutes as he arrives at Canadian Forces Base Bagotville for the G7 summit. (AFP / Lars Hagberg)
Efforts by Donald Trump to attempt to claim credit as NATO triumphs over Russia's invasion of Ukraine were panned by reporters on Monday.


"I hope everyone is able to remember that it was me, as President of the United States, that got delinquent NATO members to start paying their dues, which amounted to hundreds of billions of dollars. There would be no NATO if I didn't act strongly and swiftly. Also, it was me that got Ukraine the very effective anti-tank busters (Javelins) when the previous Administration was sending blankets. Let History so note!" Trump emailed to reporters.

Politico White house editor Sam Stein provided context for Trump's statement.


"Trump, who discussed pulling the US from NATO takes credit for NATO’s existence in a new statement. Trump, who threatened to withhold weapons funding from Ukraine to get dirt on Biden, takes credit for Ukrainian weapons in same statement," Stein noted.

Daniel Goldman, who served as lead counsel for House Democrats after Trump was impeached for his efforts to coerce Ukraine into helping his re-election, tweeted a transcript of Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.




Eli Stokols, White House reporter for the Los Angeles Times, tweeted, "Trump ordered 12K US forces to leave Germany — because it didn’t do what he wanted. Let History so note!"


"Trump also got impeached for delaying congressionally-approved aid to Ukraine," Maggie Haberman of The New York Times noted.

"A big problem with having a relentlessly dishonest egomaniac in office at a time like this is there’s no way other countries could possibly cooperate with American policy or even know what American policy was," said Vox News founder and Bloomberg columnist Matthew Yglesias.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-nato/

I think it is a very relevant thread. The story below is an Associated Press story from CPAC this last weekend that really is not getting any airplay because there are much bigger issues right now.

YOUR LOCAL ELECTION HEADQUARTERS
Trump announces third run for presidency during CPAC
by: The Associated Press via Nexstar Media Wire

Posted: Feb 27, 2022 / 10:10 AM EST

Updated: Feb 27, 2022 / 10:10 AM EST


ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Leading Republicans spent much of three days avoiding Donald Trump’s chief grievances or ignoring him altogether as they unified behind a midterm message designed to win back the voters the polarizing former president alienated while in office.

That changed Saturday night.

Facing thousands of cheering activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference’s annual meeting, Trump falsely blamed his 2020 election loss on widespread voter fraud, for which there is no evidence. As Russian troops advanced on the Ukrainian capital in an invasion widely condemned by Western leaders, Trump described Russian President Vladimir Putin as “smart.”



“Of course he’s smart,” Trump said, doubling down on praise of the Russian leader that many other Republicans have avoided in the wake of the invasion. “But the real problem is our leaders are dumb. Dumb. So dumb.”

While Trump expressed support for the Ukrainian people and called the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a “brave man,” he also noted his ties with other leading autocrats. He specifically pointed to his friendly relationships with Xi Jinping of China and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.


Trump then left no doubt he is the most powerful voice in Republican politics by indicating he will run for president a third time in 2024. “We did it twice, and we’ll do it again,” Trump said. “We’re going to be doing it again, a third time.”

Up until Trump’s appearance, lies about election fraud, the focus of last year’s conference, had been an afterthought among the top speakers. No one parroted Trump’s approving rhetoric toward Putin. And some leading Republicans didn’t even mention Trump’s name.

Instead, those most likely to seek the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination not named Trump united behind an agenda that includes more parental control of schools, opposition to pandemic-related mandates and a fierce rejection of “woke” culture. The message from more than a half-dozen elected officials, delivered to thousands of mostly white activists at an event that usually celebrates far-right rhetoric, does not mean the party has turned its back on Trumpism.

Far from it. The former president was a frequent topic among some of the conference’s lower-profile speakers. T-shirts proclaiming “Trump won” were being sold in the hallways. And Trump is expected to be announced the overwhelming winner of CPAC’s 2024 presidential preference straw poll on Sunday.

Still, conference organizer Matt Schlapp, the chair of the American Conservative Union, noted that Trump does not have an absolute lock on his party’s base.

He pointed to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in particular, who was a crowd favorite throughout the first three days of the four-day conference. Audience members applauded almost every time DeSantis’ name was referenced or his picture appeared on big screens.

“Trump looms large,” Schlapp said in an interview. “No. 1 is, Does he run again? And it’s overwhelming that people want him to. But there’s a diversity of opinion.”

And while Trump’s most controversial supporters were generally given lower-profile speaking slots over the four-day program, they were not excluded. Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., appeared on a Saturday morning panel hours after being featured at a conference of pro-Trump white nationalists.

Trump offered Taylor Greene a particularly warm shoutout during his speech as he ticked down the Republican officials in attendance.

“I refuse to shut up,” Taylor Greene said earlier in the day during a brief appearance as she railed against “Democrat communists.”

Despite Trump’s dominant place at the head of the Republican Party, other party leaders are increasingly optimistic they have found a forward-looking strategy to overcome pro-Trump extremism and expand the party’s appeal with control of Congress at stake in November.

It’s essentially the same playbook that Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin used last fall when he won in the swing state by avoiding Trump and his biggest grievances, including the false notion that the 2020 presidential election was plagued by mass voter fraud.


“There are people that perhaps have never voted the same way any of you have in a presidential race and they’re really angry,” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said Friday. “And that’s why I believe that for all the negative we’ve heard, the pendulum is swinging.”

Democrats are clinging to paper-thin majorities in the House and Senate, and voter sentiment has swung in an ominous direction for them since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. In an AP-NORC poll conducted Feb. 18-21, 70% of Americans said the country was headed in the wrong direction. As few as 44% said the same in April 2021.

Some leading Republicans seemed intent at CPAC on not helping Democrats by embracing Trump.

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who tried to block the certification of Biden’s electoral victory after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, sidestepped a question about whether he would challenge Trump in a 2024 prospective matchup.

“I’ve said I’m not planning to run for president,” Hawley said. He also declined to say whether he wants Trump to run again in 2024: “I never give him advice, including on this.”

Hawley also said it was a mistake for Republicans like Trump to offer soft praise for Putin. “Putin is our enemy. Let’s be clear about that,” Hawley said.

DeSantis, who has also refused to rule out a 2024 presidential bid should Trump run, did not mention the former president in his 20-minute address, focusing instead on his resistance to mask and vaccine mandates.

Trump’s former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, spoke about his work in the Trump administration, but he did not repeat his own recent flattering comments about Putin, in which he called the Russian leader “very capable” and said he has “enormous respect for him.”

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, considered a potential running mate for Trump in 2024, talked about the 2016 presidential election and the unsubstantiated allegations that Democrats in power “spied” on the Trump campaign. But she pivoted quickly to the future.

“We have some fantastic fighters, like President Donald Trump. But he’s not alone. The American people are on our side,” Noem said.

https://www.wkbn.com/news/elections/trump-announces-third-run-for-presidency-during-cpac/

Agreed... no need for this thread... was curious what people were saying but ultimately there's not much point in this thread...

Sadly I feel that most campaigns are built simply off of disparaging the other candidate while offering extremely vague hypotheticals at best.

While this is true on some level, for the last couple election cycles, the democrats have at least talked about plans for infrastructure, healthcare, wages, education... the republicans only message seems to be "we can stop the democrats"... that's not a plan. It's become very hard to even take republicans seriously, they literally don't talk about having any plans to improve the lives of average Americans at all.

They're not going to quit pandering until people quit voting for them. There is no low, that's too low, for them now.

This is it, in a nutshell, as far as I have seen.

The Republican party I've known since childhood has morphed from an ideals-based platform of core principles to this hollowed-out pack of legislative obstructionists and shameless headline-chasing con artists. The fact that it has mutated is undeniable. What is astounding is the speed of the slide from that to- this. Last weekend's CPAC- that place where America gets to see the GOP establish its campaign marching orders- gave us zero answers/solutions/hopes/theories about America's kitchen table issues. The lion's share of the agenda was geared towards "fighting 'woke' liberals." I'm not certain how much longer a political party can exist if it doesn't actually do real things that directly help the people who vote for it. This current state is extremely unhealthy.