2024 GOP Presidential Race (1 Viewer)

[SteveSBrickNJ]

Many of Trump's endorsed candidates did not do well on Nov. 8th.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis DID do well.
He won convincingly.
Yet in this OP's opinion, Donald Trump is an egomaniac who is seemingly incapable of putting "Party over Self"
Trump has ZERO chance of being elected our next president.
In my opinion, if Trump would just shut up and go away (fat chance of that)...but "if" Trump did that, Gov. Ron DeSantis would have a CHANCE to be a formidable candidate for President in 2024.
Here is an interesting article on this topic...

Donald Trump warns Ron DeSantis against 2024 presidential bid as Republican rising star wins big

Donald Trump has warned Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis against running for president in 2024, saying doing so would harm the Republican Party.

www.scotsman.com

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What do any of you think re. Trump vs DeSantis?

 

[MT15]

Not only SHOULD a pastor/reverend/minister be non political....He should be doubly mindful to avoid promoting someone who had many women accusing him of sinful stuff. I'm holding back here. The list I COULD post of reasons to avoid appearing to back Trump would be very lengthy list indeed.

How do you explain the embrace of Trump by so many evangelical churches? Is it just a failing in their faith, or the ends justify the means? Or something deeper?

I can tell you I am seeing a serious backlash against women among evangelicals on Twitter. I started following some of those folks a couple years ago so I could get some insight. Recently, the jargon about controlling their wives has really come to the forefront. The women evangelicals are somewhat alarmed. (at least the ones I am seeing). Young male evangelicals are saying it is right and proper to tell their wives what books they can read, how to dress, who they can be friends with. Not all, but a substantial number.

This seems like an extremist movement taking hold. It worries me.

 

[Optimus Prime]

I’ve wondered before often here why the evangelicals embraced Trump so

Huge mystery that makes no sense to me

 

[SteveSBrickNJ]

How do you explain the embrace of Trump by so many evangelical churches? Is it just a failing in their faith, or the ends justify the means? Or something deeper?

I can tell you I am seeing a serious backlash against women among evangelicals on Twitter. I started following some of those folks a couple years ago so I could get some insight. Recently, the jargon about controlling their wives has really come to the forefront. The women evangelicals are somewhat alarmed. (at least the ones I am seeing). Young male evangelicals are saying it is right and proper to tell their wives what books they can read, how to dress, who they can be friends with. Not all, but a substantial number.

This seems like an extremist movement taking hold. It worries me.

I will give MY thoughts that are only typical of what people who attend my church would say. Two topics.The one about women...There are none that I know of in my Medium sized Independent Baptist Church who would alarm any women. Bible scripture preaching focuses on this... Hubands : Love your wives...Wives: Love your husbands. Children: Obey your parents. Everyone: Put Christ first....Put others second....Put yourself last. This is what is taught.
On the other subject...the political subject, I think we have some people who would vote for Trump. My GUESS based on being in this church since 2007...my opinion is that they choose to focus on Trump putting in 3 Supreme Court justices that vote the way these quiet Trump supporters approve of. I attend a very Bible and Christ focused church that is possibly not like the image you think of when you think of Evangelical Churches. I am hoping there are many in my church who are anti Trump. Maybe they are like me and still have not settled on a candidate. Regarding the churches that have Praise Bands and fit more of the stereotype Evangelical image....I can only speculate that they choose to stick their heads in the sand and ignore Trump's immorality...possibly instead they choose to simply stick their MAGA bumper stickers on their car. Pro life focused and turn a blind eye to everything else???...I DON'T actually know but I am very very frustrated by people like that. I haven't noticed any MAGA bumper stickers in our church parking lot. The few people who have bumper stickers...they fall into two categories: #1 Identifying with a school or University..
#2 A Bible verse or Christian message. Was any of this helpful?
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@MT15 ....Say Something I'm giving up on you

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You asked me questions. (I spent much longer than usual in composing an answer for you)

 

[Optimus Prime]

Wasn’t sure what thread to put this in
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Political ads have never been known for accurately portraying the candidate’s opponent — and now artificial intelligence threatens to make misrepresentation more realistic than ever.

Rather than waiting for AI to cause chaos in the 2024 election, regulators, lawmakers and political parties should act now.


The past few months have shown us just how convincing AI-generated images can be. Sometimes the examples have had little to do with politics — see, for instance, the mock-up of the pope clad in a ludicrously puffy white coat that fooled swaths of the internet this spring.

Sometimes they’ve involved candidates but not come from competing campaigns, as with deep-faked photos of Donald Trump being violently arrested.

Yet they’ve also been directly deployed as electoral tools.


Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s 2024 team posted manufactured depictions of Mr. Trump during his time as president hugging Anthony S. Fauci……

The bad news is that there’s no guarantee disclosure will be the norm. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.) has introduced a bill that would require disclosures identifying AI-generated content in political ads. That’s a solid start — and a necessary one.

But, better yet, the RNC, the Democratic National Committee and their counterparts coordinating state and local races should go further than disclosure alone, telling candidates to identify such material in all their messaging, including fundraising and outreach.

The party committees should also consider taking some uses off the table entirely. Large-language models can be instrumental for small campaigns that can’t afford to hire staff to draft fundraising emails. Even deeper-pocketed operations could stand to benefit from personalizing donor entreaties or identifying likely supporters.

But those legitimate uses are different from simulating a gaffe by your opponent and blasting it out across the internet or paying to put it on television.


Ideally, campaigns would refrain altogether from using AI to depict false realities — including, say, to render a city exaggeratedly crime-infested to criticize an incumbent mayor or to fabricate a diverse group of eager supporters.

Similar effects could admittedly be achieved with more traditional photo-editing tools. But the possibility that AI will evolve into an ever more adept illusionist, as well as the likelihood that bad actors will deploy it to huge audiences, means it’s crucial to preserve a world in which voters can (mostly) believe what they see……

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/07/12/ai-campaign-ads-rnc-trump/

 

[DaveXA]

How do you explain the embrace of Trump by so many evangelical churches? Is it just a failing in their faith, or the ends justify the means? Or something deeper?

I can tell you I am seeing a serious backlash against women among evangelicals on Twitter. I started following some of those folks a couple years ago so I could get some insight. Recently, the jargon about controlling their wives has really come to the forefront. The women evangelicals are somewhat alarmed. (at least the ones I am seeing). Young male evangelicals are saying it is right and proper to tell their wives what books they can read, how to dress, who they can be friends with. Not all, but a substantial number.

This seems like an extremist movement taking hold. It worries me.

Reasons are two-fold. One, Christians, particularly the evangelical variety and many Catholics are Republicans. Most lifelong Republicans who typically vote R across the board.

Two, many Christians do listen to what their pastors say, and will vote accordingly. People don't often like to say it out loud, but pastors have a huge amount of influence over their congregations. Which is a big part of why I don't like politics from the pulpit. People need to research the issues and come to their own conclusions imo.

For as much as we like to bag on Trump, he's actually been a pretty savvy politician, at least in 2016. He had switched parties, and understood the Christian conservatives would give him a huge slice of the vote. It's precisely why he waved the Bible around and pretended to be all that. And for what I can only describe as cognitive dissonance, people at it up.

 

[Optimus Prime]

LESS THAN TWO months into Ron DeSantis’ declared run for president, his most important backers in conservative media are already starting to lose faith.

Since the beginning of the Biden presidency, the powerful Murdoch family has favored the Florida governor in the 2024 presidential primary, largely due to a conviction that DeSantis would be a more electable, and less chaotic, evolution from Donald Trump.

But in recent weeks, the Murdochs have grown increasingly displeased with the DeSantis campaign’s perceived stumbles, lackluster polling, and inability to swiftly dethrone Trump, multiple sources tell Rolling Stone. They have also seriously questioned whether the governor is capable of defeating Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.

Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch in particular has been voicing his doubts and frustrations in private discussions and calls, at times wondering if a DeSantis “comeback” is possible at this point.

Murdoch is the longtime patriarch of the family that controls Fox News, the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal,and other media properties that are highly influential among conservatives…..

According to two of the sources, Murdoch has privately winced at DeSantis’ nonstop cultural-grievance strategy, arguing that it is being executed sloppily.

In his repeated attempts to outflank the already hard-right Trump on the right, DeSantis and his team have waged an aggressive messaging operation to paint the Florida governor as a much more extreme culture warrior as compared with the former president — most recently via a bizarre, bigoted video lauding the governor for his anti-LGBTQ attacks.

This strategy has for months attracted criticism from fellow Republicans for being unsavvy and “too online” to connect with the median voter.

“They are transactional and can smell a loser a mile away,” one Fox insider bluntly assesses, referring to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, and top Fox News executives.…….

But at this point in the Republican primary, the Murdochs aren’t ready to throw DeSantis overboard just yet, the sources say — in part because they likely would have nowhere else to turn except to crawl back to Trump.

In the meantime, the media mogul and his lieutenants can keep pressuring Team DeSantis for a course correction that Murdoch is starting to suspect may never materialize.…..

Murdochs Start to Sour on DeSantis: 'They Can Smell a Loser'

The Murdochs, the kingmakers of conservative media, are starting to lose confidence in Ron DeSantis, unimpressed by his campaign and its weak numbers.

www.rollingstone.com

 

[MT15]

I will give MY thoughts that are only typical of what people who attend my church would say. Two topics.The one about women...There are none that I know of in my Medium sized Independent Baptist Church who would alarm any women. Bible scripture preaching focuses on this... Hubands : Love your wives...Wives: Love your husbands. Children: Obey your parents. Everyone: Put Christ first....Put others second....Put yourself last. This is what is taught.
On the other subject...the political subject, I think we have some people who would vote for Trump. My GUESS based on being in this church since 2007...my opinion is that they choose to focus on Trump putting in 3 Supreme Court justices that vote the way these quiet Trump supporters approve of. I attend a very Bible and Christ focused church that is possibly not like the image you think of when you think of Evangelical Churches. I am hoping there are many in my church who are anti Trump. Maybe they are like me and still have not settled on a candidate. Regarding the churches that have Praise Bands and fit more of the stereotype Evangelical image....I can only speculate that they choose to stick their heads in the sand and ignore Trump's immorality...possibly instead they choose to simply stick their MAGA bumper stickers on their car. Pro life focused and turn a blind eye to everything else???...I DON'T actually know but I am very very frustrated by people like that. I haven't noticed any MAGA bumper stickers in our church parking lot. The few people who have bumper stickers...they fall into two categories: #1 Identifying with a school or University..
#2 A Bible verse or Christian message. Was any of this helpful?
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@MT15 ....Say Something I'm giving up on you

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You asked me questions. (I spent much longer than usual in composing an answer for you)

Steve, I didn’t mean to ignore this post, I am just now seeing it. I’ve been a bit under the weather and just started looking at stuff this morning.

Thank you for the response. No, your church doesn’t seem like it would alarm anyone. I will try to find examples of what I saw on Twitter. I think it’s good to be aware of what some really large evangelical churches are up to, though.

If I can’t find them - the gist I saw recently was that a married woman can only experience Christ through her husband’s guidance. He is her spiritual leader, he decides what books she reads, etc.

 

[SteveSBrickNJ]

Steve, I didn’t mean to ignore this post, I am just now seeing it. I’ve been a bit under the weather and just started looking at stuff this morning.

Thank you for the response. No, your church doesn’t seem like it would alarm anyone. I will try to find examples of what I saw on Twitter. I think it’s good to be aware of what some really large evangelical churches are up to, though.

If I can’t find them - the gist I saw recently was that a married woman can only experience Christ through her husband’s guidance. He is her spiritual leader, he decides what books she reads, etc.

Sorry to hear that this is going on.
Not in my church.
Feel better and have a healthy weekend.

 

[SteveSBrickNJ]

Ladies and Gentleman, Chris Christie is talking tough.
It would make for an entertaining debate IF Trump and Christie were on the same stage in a debate.
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The campaign of Chris Christie's dreams

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Chris Christie has a dream. Not a fantasy, though some might call it that, but rather a waking ambition that he is pursuing with open eyes. "I am going to be the alternative to Donald Trump," he says. "And when I am, I'm going to beat him." The former New Jersey governor made...

www.yahoo.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Recent flyers painting Donald Trump as a pro-LGBTQ+ rights candidate, a “transgender trailblazer”, sent to some Iowa households were backed by an obscure non-profit that registered as a business two weeks ago.

“Donald Trump stood up for MARRIAGE EQUALITY and TRANS RIGHTS” reads one section of the double-sided one-page mailer, according to images reported by the progressive Iowa politics blog Bleeding Heartland over the weekend.

“It takes courage to change the culture, and we thank Donald Trump for standing with LGBTQ+ Americans to fight against the close minded Republicans who won’t accept change,” reads another section of the mailer, paid for by a group called Advancing Our Values…….

Following the blogpost, there was some online speculation, largely by rightwing voices, that the mailers were funded by a progressive group. One such group, Progress Iowa, runs out of the same office building as the non-profit’s registered agent, Cogency Global, Inc.

But Progress Iowa’s executive director, Mike Sinovic, confirmed to the Guardian that Progress Iowa had “absolutely nothing to do with these mailers”.

“This is clearly intended to be anti-Trump,” said University of Iowa political science professor Timothy Hagle, who also received the mailer. But it’s unclear if the mailer was associated with a candidate or a “rogue outfit”, he said.

The non-profit behind the mailer is not a known LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group, writes Laura Belin in the Bleeding Heartland post. That makes it less likely that the ad was intended to draw more voters to Trump, said Hagle.

An ad portraying Trump as a supporter of LGBTQ+ rights could turn some Iowa caucus-goers away from him, said Hagle. Just under half of Republican voters say they support same-sex marriage, according to a Gallup poll released in June. Earlier this month, the DeSantis War Room Twitter account shared a now-deleted video attacking Trump for supporting gay and transgender people.

“For any other candidate, you’re going to have to peel off some of those Trump supporters if you expect to win the caucuses,” said Hagle, who is also the author of two books on the 2012 and 2020 Iowa caucuses. “Maybe a mailer like this was intended to do that.”…….

Obscure Iowa non-profit paid for flyers claiming Trump is pro-LGBTQ+ rights

Group called Advancing Our Values registered as non-profit two weeks earlier but mailers ‘intended to be anti-Trump’, says expert

www.theguardian.com

 

[MT15]

Recent flyers painting Donald Trump as a pro-LGBTQ+ rights candidate, a “transgender trailblazer”, sent to some Iowa households were backed by an obscure non-profit that registered as a business two weeks ago.

“Donald Trump stood up for MARRIAGE EQUALITY and TRANS RIGHTS” reads one section of the double-sided one-page mailer, according to images reported by the progressive Iowa politics blog Bleeding Heartland over the weekend.

“It takes courage to change the culture, and we thank Donald Trump for standing with LGBTQ+ Americans to fight against the close minded Republicans who won’t accept change,” reads another section of the mailer, paid for by a group called Advancing Our Values…….

Following the blogpost, there was some online speculation, largely by rightwing voices, that the mailers were funded by a progressive group. One such group, Progress Iowa, runs out of the same office building as the non-profit’s registered agent, Cogency Global, Inc.

But Progress Iowa’s executive director, Mike Sinovic, confirmed to the Guardian that Progress Iowa had “absolutely nothing to do with these mailers”.

“This is clearly intended to be anti-Trump,” said University of Iowa political science professor Timothy Hagle, who also received the mailer. But it’s unclear if the mailer was associated with a candidate or a “rogue outfit”, he said.

The non-profit behind the mailer is not a known LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group, writes Laura Belin in the Bleeding Heartland post. That makes it less likely that the ad was intended to draw more voters to Trump, said Hagle.

An ad portraying Trump as a supporter of LGBTQ+ rights could turn some Iowa caucus-goers away from him, said Hagle. Just under half of Republican voters say they support same-sex marriage, according to a Gallup poll released in June. Earlier this month, the DeSantis War Room Twitter account shared a now-deleted video attacking Trump for supporting gay and transgender people.

“For any other candidate, you’re going to have to peel off some of those Trump supporters if you expect to win the caucuses,” said Hagle, who is also the author of two books on the 2012 and 2020 Iowa caucuses. “Maybe a mailer like this was intended to do that.”…….

Obscure Iowa non-profit paid for flyers claiming Trump is pro-LGBTQ+ rights

Group called Advancing Our Values registered as non-profit two weeks earlier but mailers ‘intended to be anti-Trump’, says expert

www.theguardian.com

Pretty transparent ploy by DeSantis’ team, IMO.

 

[MT15]

 

[Optimus Prime]

NEW YORK (AP) — He’s been indictedtwice. Found liable for sexual abuse. And he’s viewed unfavorablyby about a third of his party. But six months before Republicans begin to choose their next presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump remains the race’s dominant front-runner.

Early leaders don’t always go on to win their party’s nomination, but a growing sense of Trump’s inevitability is raising alarms among some Republicans desperate for the party to move on. Some described a sense of panic — or “DEFCON 1,” as one put it — as they scramble to try to derail Trump and change the trajectory of the race. But there’s no clear plan or strategy on how to do that and Trump’s detractors aren’t rallying around a single alternative candidate yet.

“They’re very concerned,” former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said of fellow Republican leaders who share his view that renominating Trump would be a disaster for the party next November. “People expected us to have made more progress than we have at this point. Polling finds Trump routinely besting his closest rival by 20 to 30 points or more.

To be sure, the six months that remain until the Iowa caucuses can be an eternity in politics, where races can turn in a matter of weeks or days. And Trump faces glaring vulnerabilities, including the ongoing state and federal investigations into his efforts of overturn the 2020 election and the possibility that he could end up in the unprecedented position of standing trial while simultaneously mounting a campaign.

But even critics acknowledge the outside events that many were counting on to dent Trump’s standing — namely his criminal indictments in New York and Florida — have not hurt him. In fact, the charges led some voters who were entertaining an alternative to return to Trump’s camp.

“The indictments have actually helped Donald Trump with the Republican primary voters,” said Art Pope, a North Carolina GOP donor who is supporting former Vice President Mike Pence, but nonetheless believes the charges, particularly in New York, were unfounded.……

The Iowa caucuses are six months away. Some Republicans worry Trump may be unstoppable

He’s been indicted twice. Found liable for sexual abuse. And is viewed unfavorably by more than a third of his party.

apnews.com

 

[MT15]

Well, look at this:

 

[DaveXA]

Well, look at this:

Yeah, I saw that. In spite of his own flaws, I'd take him in a heartbeat over the rest of the Republican field. The problem for Christie I don't think he'd be able to peel off the DeSantis supporters. Those will most likely go to Trump when DeSantis drops out, or to another Republican candidate. I'm just not sure how much he can pull away from the others being the anti-Trump.

And tbh, Christie vs Biden, I would probably go Christie because of Biden’s age. I just don't feel good about an American President in the high 70s. I do think max age should be set at 65. And I actually like Biden. I think history will ultimately view him favorably.

I really hope Christie can win the nomination, but I'm not so sure the RNC will be all that enthusiastic about him. I guess we'll have to wait and see if he can keep the momentum going and grow a base of support in the 25-30% range. Trump is going to have to go toe to toe with Christie at some point and that will definitely be made for TV material.

 

[CoolBrees]

Yeah, I saw that. In spite of his own flaws, I'd take him in a heartbeat over the rest of the Republican field. The problem for Christie I don't think he'd be able to peel off the DeSantis supporters. Those will most likely go to Trump when DeSantis drops out, or to another Republican candidate. I'm just not sure how much he can pull away from the others being the anti-Trump.

And tbh, Christie vs Biden, I would probably go Christie because of Biden’s age. I just don't feel good about an American President in the high 70s. I do think max age should be set at 65. And I actually like Biden. I think history will ultimately view him favorably.

I really hope Christie can win the nomination, but I'm not so sure the RNC will be all that enthusiastic about him. I guess we'll have to wait and see if he can keep the momentum going and grow a base of support in the 25-30% range. Trump is going to have to go toe to toe with Christie at some point and that will definitely be made for TV material.

I wouldn't pull the level for Christie, but I wouldn't seriously consider moving to Canada if he became POTUS in '24 either so that is a win.

After seeing his action at the NATO Summit, how well he takes care of himself, and after watching Harrison Ford at 80, I actually feel better about him that I did when he first ran during Covid.

I will honestly vote for a second term instead of against Trump like in '20

 

[DaveXA]

I wouldn't pull the level for Christie, but I wouldn't seriously consider moving to Canada if he became POTUS in '24 either so that is a win.

After seeing his action at the NATO Summit, how well he takes care of himself, and after watching Harrison Ford at 80, I actually feel better about him that I did when he first ran during Covid.

I will honestly vote for a second term instead of against Trump like in '20

I don't disagree too much there. I mean, if it's between Christie and Biden, we'll be a lot better off either way than if Biden vs anyone else in the field.

I think being President is an incredibly difficult job and it will be hard on Biden. I just hope he can stay healthy for 6 more years. That's a long time at that age.

 

[Optimus Prime]

I don't disagree too much there. I mean, if it's between Christie and Biden, we'll be a lot better off either way than if Biden vs anyone else in the field.

I think being President is an incredibly difficult job and it will be hard on Biden. I just hope he can stay healthy for 6 more years. That's a long time at that age.

I've been quite pleased with how Biden has done but this is kind of like a 40+ year old quarterback

Yes, he's playing great right now but his skill level can drop off a cliff at anytime. Could start next game, or 2 years from now