Here's a post that's sure to infuriate many readers, but it rings true, to me.
/Those who are offended, don’t leave; we can still have a civilized discussion here, even when we disagree.
I hate to be the one to break this news to you, but as far as elections go, the Trump movement is over.
No one in a swing state who had Trump support, as of writing this, has won in the Senate or for governor.
Trump is toxic.
Last night's elections were a repeat of the 2020 elections. Trump was on the ballot again and, in purple states, he lost. Again.
I love Donald Trump. I supported Donald Trump. I supported ALL of Trump's MAGA candidates for Senate and gubernatorial races.
We wrote glowing stories about Kari Lake, who I think is very impressive and could still win governor in Arizona. We talked about Tudor Dixon, who looked like she would show real fight in Michigan. We thought Blake Masters was a good person to run in Arizona and that Lee Zeldin could win New York.
We pumped up Herschel Walker and slammed his "pro-choice pastor" opponent, Warnock, who does nothing to stop Joe Biden's agenda.
It didn't happen for these MAGA candidates, and it wasn't because Republicans and conservatives wouldn't get behind them.
Donald Trump was a kingmaker in the primary. But in the general election, he was the kiss of death.
Trump-supported candidates won in red states. JD Vance had a good showing and will be a great senator.
And proven commodity Republicans, incumbents, won because people in their states oppose the Democrat agenda.
However, in purple states, the independent voters (unlike Elon Musk) largely just voted AGAINST whoever The Donald supported.
However...
It wasn't ALL bad news last night.
Hope springs eternal in Florida.
While the rest of the country looked just like 2020 and independent voters clearly rejected all things MAGA and Trump, Ron DeSantis has turned Florida from a purple state to a DEEP red stronghold.
In 2018, as a MAGA candidate, Ron DeSantis won Florida by 30,000 votes against the DISASTROUS Andrew Gillum.
Last night, Ron DeSantis turned an extremely narrow win 4 years ago into a massive landslide, winning the state by nearly 1.5 million votes.
…. Ron DeSantis has become his own man, governed better than anyone else, campaigned better than anyone else, and shown that he's the leader that Republicans HAVE to get behind if they want to win in 2024.
Until last night, it looked like 2024 would be a cakewalk. Republicans would easily handle Biden or whoever the Democrats put up.
Reality has set in. Donald Trump cannot win.
I wish he could. But he can't.
2020 proved it and last night certified it.
I certainly wasn’t the only one to believe that voters had moved beyond the 2020 election fraud, but that turned out to be only half-right: Trump-inclined voters did focus on the current issues facing the country, but the undecided seem to have been riled up by the Democrats’ claim that there were “election deniers” out there, and Trump helped that perception grow by insisting he’d been cheated and, worse, by demanding that his endorsed candidates toe the line, and attacking Republicans who wouldn’t. Complaining about past election fraud hurt Republicans in the purple states (and, on the other side, it certainly didn’t help Stacey Abrams down in Georgia), yet Trump wouldn’t shut up on the issue, and he won’t next week, when he comes down the escalator at Mar-a-Lago.
Sad.
UPDATE: When I wrote that, I hadn’t seen this article:
Trump rips losing GOP candidate Don Bolduc after endorsing him
Former President Donald Trump tore into defeated New Hampshire GOP candidate Don Bolduc — whom he had endorsed for the Senate — for walking back his claim that the 2020 election was stolen.
“Don Bolduc was a very nice guy, but he lost tonight when he disavowed, after his big primary win, his long-standing stance on Election Fraud in the 2020 Presidential Primary,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday.
“Had he stayed strong and true, he would have won, easily,” added the former commander-in-chief, who endorsed Bolduc late last week. “Lesson Learned!!”
“General Don Bolduc has run a great campaign to be the U.S. Senator from the beautiful State of New Hampshire,” Trump wrote in the endorsement [given just two weeks ago]
“He was a strong and proud ‘Election Denier,’ a big reason that he won the Nomination, but he then disavowed,” he wrote.
“He has since come back, at least on busing, but that is only a small part of N.H. Election Fraud. Nevertheless, Don Bolduc has asked for my Endorsement, and he’s got it, Complete & Total,” Trump added.
Bolduc had endorsed Trump’s unfounded claims of mass fraud in the 2020 presidential election, only to reverse his position after his primary victory — though he continued to sow doubt in the last election during a debate against Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, who went on to win Tuesday.
Trump also slammed Colorado Republican Senate nominee Joe O’Dea, who lost to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet.
“Joe O’Dea lost BIG! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he wrote.
O’Dea also broke with Trump on the 2020 election, even recently saying he would campaign against the former president if he mounts another bid for the White House, as expected.
It’s no longer Trump’s Republican party, but he can certainly still rip it apart and ensure Democrat victory in 2024; with his ego, he’ll undoubtedly try.
Another thought: In Maine, former Governor LePage was crushed in his attempt to win a third term after being out of office for two years. A common complaint voiced in exit interviews with former supporters was that they were tired of the sturm and drang of his first administration, and didn’t welcome LePage 2.0. That’s a shame, and short-sighted, because the Democrats are already preparing to rush through their wildest, most far-left schemes in the next 100 days, but it’s what happened.