Tag Archives: 2024 election

media news, national news, political news

How does POTUS battle back?

For the ever-lovin’ life of me, I don’t understand a lot of things, such as public opinion polling that seems to fly directly against the winds of success of a particular politician.

The pol I have in mind is the president of the United States of America, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. By an overwhelming measure, Joe Biden has enjoyed a successful presidency.

Jobs are up; inflation is in check; the economy is the strongest on Earth; infrastructure is being improved; we are battling climate change; our international alliances are stronger than ever; we have gotten past the COVID pandemic.

Is the world a perfect place? Of course not! We cannot possibly produce a perfect world. Immigration is in crisis; war has erupted in Ukraine and in Israel and Gaza.

Biden is taking plenty of heat for all that has gone wrong on his watch and virtually none of the credit for all that has gone right. The RealClearPolitics poll average places Biden at a 39.7% approval rating.

What the hell is going on?

I know the polling is a static measure. It gauges the public mood in the moment. It is the proverbial snapshot of our feelings right now.

Still, it annoys me to no end in sight that President Biden continues to fight this perception — fed by the right-wing mainstream media — of a public that is uncertain about our future. The MAGA media are clinging to the coattails of Biden’s presidential predecessor, the former Idiot in Chief who wants his old job back.

They are swallowing the swill he peddles, believing the nation is going straight to hell. It damn sure isn’t!

I have no advice to offer the president and his re-election campaign team on how to revive the president’s standing. I guess perhaps the president ought to just keep hammering at his predecessor — the GOP nominee-in-waiting — by reminding everyone about the chaos that accompanied him throughout his sole term in office.

Only the idiotic former POTUS actually pledges to make matters worse if the worst happens and he is elected this November.

Polling takes a lot of hits. I am not going to concede that the polls we see today will hold up until Election Day. Still, they are enough to drive me out of my mind!

national news, political news

Hey, it wasn’t a blowout!

Time for an admission from yours truly. I have been misrepresenting the nature of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

So, today I am going to offer a mea culpa and set the record straight. It’s important to set the table for the probable rematch between President Biden and the fool he defeated four years ago.

Biden captured 306 electoral votes in 2020; he needed 270 of them to win. I took a quick look at the results from four key states that will be contested heavily this time around.

Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania all voted for Joe Biden in 2020. Biden’s margin of victory in all four states was around 123,000 votes … total!

Had his opponent flipped 64,000 or so votes in those four states in 2020, he would have captured the 65 electoral votes that went to President Biden, who would have finished with 241 electoral votes, with 297 of them going to the former Idiot in Chief.

Imagine, too, that even with Biden’s 7 million popular vote cushion, he still would have lost to The Former Guy.

This is worth mentioning because the stakes in 2024 are even more grim than they were in 2020. The one-time Moron in Chief has vowed to be his supporters’ “retribution.” He has actually pledged to sic the Department of Justice on his foes … and to think he and his MAGA cult followers have accused President Biden of “weaponizing” the DOJ.

This idiot has yet to concede that he actually lost the 2020 election and vows to assume dictatorial powers “if only for a day” if he darkens the Oval Office door yet again.

Americans must not let this guy anywhere near the center of power ever again. Not … ever!

Joe Biden, national news, political news

How can they debate?

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If the sky falls in and President Joe Biden is going to face the guy he defeated in the 2020 election once again this fall, then I am compelled to ask this question out loud.

How in the world will President Biden be able to stand on a debate stage with an individual who has done all he can to destroy the government he once swore to protect and defend? 

How will he greet him when a moderator introduces them to the nation awaiting this joint appearance? Does he shake The Former Guy’s hand? Does he just ignore him? For that matter, how does TFG respond if the president extends his hand?

Actually, I expect the president to act like the gentleman he is and expect his opponent to, oh, hell … I don’t know what he’s going to do when the moment arrives.

It’s likely to be a desultory affair … to say the very least.

About the only memorable line from the series of joint appearances in 2020 came from Biden when he told his foe to “just shut up, man.” 

This is one of the many potential disasters awaiting those of us who are at least moderately interested in what remains of our American political process.

crime news, military news, national news, political news

Former Guy swims against tide

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As I examine the political history of The Former Guy, I am left with trying to parse through a serious quandary.

Consider these known facts about TFG’s limited foray into public service.

He declared his POTUS candidacy in 2015 and immediately launched into an attack on immigrants … the type of people on which this nation was founded.

He was elected in 2016 basically on a technicality. He lost the popular vote by roughly 3 million ballots but won because he garnered more Electoral College votes than Hillary Clinton.

TFG served a single term as POTUS, embarrassing himself and the people he represented.

Joe Biden ran against him in 2020 and defeated him, winning 7 million more votes than TFG and defeating him in the electoral vote by the same margin TFG garnered in 2016.

TFG had squandered the nation’s response to the COVID crisis; he went through senior White House staffers and Cabinet secretaries like Happy Meals.

The voters said “hell no!” to his request for a second term, but then he didn’t accept the voters’ decree. TFG fomented The Big Lie about alleged 2020 election theft. He provoked the 1/6 attack on the government, he took classified documents from the White House and pressured state election officials to “find” 2020 votes that didn’t exist.

Oh, and he was impeached twice by the U.S. House of Representatives during his term in office.

Now, dude wants his old job back.

What simply doesn’t compute with me is how The Former Guy continues to scarf up the loyalists among American voters. The economy is No. 1 in the world. Do we have problems? Sure. Name me a president who has been problem-free in his first term in office.

Is TFG the man to “fix” what he alleges is wrong with the nation? Hah! Don’t force me to upchuck.

national news, political news

Ex-POTUS = TFG

You know already that I have offered a bit of a mea culpa for some harsh terms I applied to the MAGA cultists who follow the preachings of the former POTUS who’s running to get his office back.

I also have declared my intention to never mention the MAGA Daddy’s name in this blog.

I have settled on an alternate name for the ex-POTUS. It’s pretty tame, but it does have a nice ring off the old tongue. Thus, I simply will refer to him as The Former Guy, or TFG.

So, those who cheer, whoop, holler and snort at the idiocy that comes from TFG’s pie hole, will thenceforth be called TFG’s followers.

I have received some negative response to my decision to take a relatively high road regarding the TFG cult. Michelle Obama once said, “When they go low, we go high.” I get it, Mme. Former First Lady.

It doesn’t really matter whether this little ol’ North Texas blogger takes the high road or goes into the gutter. I am just going to offer my comments without denigrating the intelligence of those who endorse and embrace the rants of TFG.

I offer all of this understanding what we all know to be true. It is that TFG never has — and likely never will — apologize for the defamatory epithets he has hurled at his foes since the moment he became a politician.

Therefore, I believe I am entitled to say I am a better man than TFG.

business news, national news, political news

GDP up, inflation in check! Who knew?

President Biden keeps getting these political gifts from the bean-counters who work for the federal government. And yet … he continues to languish in the minds of Americans who seemingly are struggling with trying to process this good news.

The salty Democratic political genius, James Carville, once coined the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid!” in setting the tone for the 1992 presidential election. He was right then. Carville would be right today were he in the game working actively to re-elect Joe Biden.

GDP rose at an annual rate of 3.3% while inflation continues to flatten out, remaining somewhat stable, said the Commerce Department today.

Good news, yes? Of course it is. Ahh, but the doomsayers on the right and on the MAGA right say it’s nothing of the sort. They choose to ignore the findings and focus instead — and it’s good political strategy — on the issues that continue to plague the Biden administration.

Immigration and the southern border crisis? Yep! That’s a big one. The money we’re spending to help Ukraine fight the Russian invaders? That’s important, too. But not as critical as the border. I mean, the Russians must be defeated and Ukraine needs help from its allies to accomplish that task. The ongoing Israeli pummeling of Hamas terrorist compounds in Gaza? That’s big, too, given the immense civilian casualty toll among Palestinians.

The economy, though, well might have cleared the hurdle that the naysayers said would bring it crashing down. Wages are up. Jobs are up. Production is up. Joblessness is down. Inflation is slowing dramatically.

These are economic issues that President Biden should be proud to herald as he seeks re-election.

Yet I hear conservative commentators tell their audiences that Joe Biden is “the worst president in history.” Good grief! The numbers simply say something quite different.

It truly still is the economy … stupid!

national news, political news

This is it, Nikki Haley!

If I were a betting man — and I am not — I would suggest that Nikki Haley is facing the breaking point in her attempt to win the Republican presidential nomination.

She once served as governor of South Carolina. She was popular, too. It’s different these days. She is running for POTUS against a fellow Republican who once held the office. He’s favored to win the upcoming GOP primary contest.

Therefore, Haley is facing her Waterloo, her Little Big Horn, her Alamo. She’s got to win on Feb. 24 … or else.

The “or else” means she’s in a futile fight. The GOP frontrunner can all but cinch the nomination if his poll numbers hold up in the Palmetto State.

It galls me to say such a thing, given how much I detest the moron who’s on track for a third straight presidential run.

However, Nikki Haley must be realistic. It’s now or never!

national news

Not understanding this … at all!

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I will go to my grave likely never coming to grips with the political phenomenon that continues to play out as the 2024 presidential campaign starts to ramp up.

We have an incumbent president, Joe Biden, sitting on one of the healthiest economies in nearly a generation. Yet he stands in danger of losing his re-election bid.

To whom? Possibly his immediate predecessor who was impeached twice by the House, who has been indicted four times by state and federal grand juries, who continues to defame his foes and who is preparing to stand trial for felony counts brought against him.

The confusion? I cannot fathom in my wildest dreams how this ex-POTUS continues to hold sway with Americans.

In an earlier era, Republican voters and political leaders never would have tolerated the behavior of an individual who they are poised to nominate for a second run as POTUS. He admits to cheating on his wives; he said he could date his daughter, who he described as being “hot.” He called John McCain a hero “only because he was captured (during the Vietnam War); I like people who aren’t captured.” He denigrated a physically challenged reporter and said he could grab women by their private parts because he’s a “celebrity.”

Nope. I’ll never understand what bounces around in the noggins of those who suggest that their guy can fix this nation.

Somewhere there must be a political sanity god who can guide this nation away from the madness that this guy represents.

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Way ahead of the curve …

Rarely can I boast about being ahead of the curve on political trends, as I mostly am wrong far more than I am correct.

As it involves the 45th president and his unfitness to hold — let alone run for — public office, well, I take a back seat to no one on that matter.

I made such a declaration long before he and his wife rode down the escalator in the office tower that bears his name. I noted that the future POTUS had zero public service experience, that his entire professional life was geared only toward self-enrichment. I argued vehemently on this blog that American voters must never let him near the Oval Office.

Well, as with most things, the voters didn’t heed my warning. He got elected in an Electoral College fluke, losing the popular vote by more than 3 million ballots, but being elected by pilfering key states and being awarded their electoral votes.

I truly wanted him to succeed. It couldn’t happen, though, because of that damn lack of public service background thing.

I said “I told you so” a time or three during his term in office. But again, the MAGA followers who happen to read High Plains Blogger were dismissive. I need to get over myself, some of ’em said.

Eight years later, the former POTUS is at it again. Only this time he has lost more than a step in speaking to the critical issues of the day.

He recently confused fellow GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley with Hillary Clinton, prompting Haley to declare — for the first time and way later than I ever did — that the GOP frontrunner is “unfit for public office.”

Well, no sh** Sherlock!

These missteps are going to chip away where his previous insults, gaffes and hideous pronouncements couldn’t.

Hold your applause if you’re so inclined to congratulate me. Hey, I was just stating the obvious. If only those MAGA followers would follow suit.

national news, political news

Haley gets her wish … hold on!

Nikki Haley has been saying lately that she wants to go head-to-head with the Republican Party’s leading presidential candidate.

Well, as of today she got her wish when Florida Gov. DeSantis — once hailed as the lone alternative to the former Liar in Chief — folded up his campaign tent and then endorsed the guy he refused to take on with stern rhetoric.

Haley’s first big effort lines up in just a couple of days when New Hampshire Republicans go to the polls and cast real votes for the candidate of their choice. Haley, the former South Carolina governor and one-time U.N. ambassador, or the guy who appointed her as our envoy to the U.N.

I have no particular preference, other than to somehow ensure that the former POTUS never darkens the door in the West Wing ever again.

My personal desire when all the votes are counted in November is to see President Biden on the job for the next four years. As if you didn’t already know that.

Haley has been regurgitating some rhetoric repeatedly, saying that “rightly or wrongly, he brings chaos.” Well, duh! Someone will have to explain what she means by “rightly or wrongly.” How is it “right” for a leading politician to foment “chaos” wherever he goes?

I guess Haley doesn’t want to piss off the cult followers of her foe too much.

Whatever. It is now Haley vs. the pol who confuses her with Nancy Pelosi, who says he ran against Barack Obama, and who says Joe Biden is going to lead us into World War II. Spoiler alert: He didn’t run against the 44th president and we already fought — and won! — World War II.

***

One more thing. Perhaps you are noticing I refuse to mention the GOP frontrunner by name. I won’t, at least for a while. I am sick of seeing his name in print and hearing it on the air.