Former Senator Harry Reid on President Trump
David Axelrod interviewing former Senator Harry Reid on the Axe Files
There is too much going on with Trump and I believe he is purposely doing much of this as a distraction and also to antagonize Democrats. Abandoning the Kurds certainly draws a response from Democrats and most of the Republicans remain silent on things they know to be wrong. For some reason I believe he is setting the stage for something else to occur. If we as Democrats are wrong, all of our actions will reflect poorly on us and for sure he will make fun of our failures.
Reid — a savvy political operator whose moves reshaped Senate procedures such as the elimination of filibusters for most nominations by president, were criticized by Republicans during his time in Congress. Reid in the Axelrod interview acknowledged, Trump’s strategy in discrediting Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry into his actions with Ukraine.
Reid: I don’t think he is an intellectual powerhouse; but, he is basically a very, very smart man. Any argument he involves himself in and no matter what the subject, it is on his terms. You’re always arguing against him. He never, never, is willing to debate an issue on terms that aren’t his.
When asked how he would advise a candidate running against Trump, Reid warned,
Reid: Anyone that thinks Trump’s going to be beaten easily will have another thing coming.
The “evidence is very clear” that Trump was withholding foreign aid as leverage to pressure Ukraine, on a July phone call, to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has claimed the foreign aid was withheld so European allies could contribute their fair share. Democrats have accused Trump of a quid pro quo and abusing his power of office.
Reid: All you have to do is have a basic understanding of what the law in America: You can not do what he did and go unpunished.
Trump’s modus operandi has been to deflect on the accusations and make light of them publicly to his followers uses he stumbles into the truth in his words. There is no heart in the Republican party to denounce his transgressions even though they know he is wrong.
I see this in Michigan with the blaming of Democrats for issues with the state roads, schools, Detroit, etc. Except, an exception Michigan Republicans do not acknowledge, they the Republicans have had control of the state Senate since 1992, the state House 2/3rds of the time since 1992, the Governorship 2 of 3 times up till now, and a trifecta twice during the time period 1992 – 2018. Republicans control the legislature now. Typical argument:
“common sense doesn’t need to be documented. It’s very easy to blame everything on Democrats. Mainly because they’re guilty.”
“Sorry, your version of common sense can not alter the reality of what took place.”
It is a distortion of the facts on a national stage which has tickled down to the states and blathered on social media by Republican trolls.
And the politicians in Congress? The politicians are too interested in keeping their jobs as senators and congressional representatives to acknowledge the facts or tell the truth. And Democrats are too quick to jump on Trump’s transgressions and provide entertainment for Trump. He is playing the Democrats and laughing as he has the backing of his followers at the state level similar to the mini-conversation I had who denies reality, and those supporters in the Senate. He knows Democrats are toothless.
I think we need to realize that what trump says should not matter to Dems. Just call him out for his lies and move on. His voters are the only one that believes him.
Impeach him. Drive the Dem base to huge turnouts and the trump problem will be solved.
“The New York Times informs us that Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is blitzing the online world:
‘On any given day, the Trump campaign is plastering ads all over Facebook, YouTube and the millions of sites served by Google, hitting the kind of incendiary themes — immigrant invaders, the corrupt media — that play best on platforms where algorithms favor outrage and political campaigns are free to disregard facts.
….That campaigns are now being fought largely online is hardly a revelation, yet only one political party seems to have gotten the message. While the Trump campaign has put its digital operation firmly at the center of the president’s re-election effort, Democrats are struggling to internalize the lessons of the 2016 race and adapt to a political landscape shaped by social media.’
My goodness. I guess Democrats must be taking a pummeling as Trump’s approval rating climbs and climbs. Let’s take a look:
Huh. After six months of blitzing, Trump’s net approval rating has gone down from -8.2 to -11.5. It’s almost as if all those outrageous online ads have had no appreciable effect on anyone but Trump’s base, which already approved of him anyway.
It’s possible, of course, that without all the online ads Trump’s approval rating would have dropped even more. However, it’s also possible that incendiary online ads are mostly a waste of money because they appeal only to true believers in the first place. I think the latter is more likely.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with keeping your base worked up. It’s a time-honored strategy, and Democrats will be doing it too once they agree on a candidate. But Trump isn’t going to win in 2020 with a base strategy. His base is just way too small. He’s going to win—if he wins—by taking some votes from the middle. He might or might not do that via social media, but he definitely won’t do it with obviously scurrilous ads. That’s the kind of thing that turns off moderates.
Bottom line: don’t worry too much about the fact that Trump is able to lie online, especially this far ahead of Election Day. It may keep his base frothing at the mouth, but that’s about all. It’s not the game changer people sometimes make it out to be.”
Not sure if this is Axelrod or run75441, but what in the world is this “setting the stage for something else” that might result in “all our actions…reflect(ing) poorly on us”? Considering the monumental accusations that were made about Trump, this is kind of important really. Is it kind of small potatoes ‘Schiff knew about the whistleblower memo before the IC IG did’ or nuclear explosions like ‘yeah, Brennan arranged with other countries to manufacture probable cause against Trump campaign’? Everything else in this post is minor compared with how this feeling turns out.
Eric,
Once again you need to check your information sources, or at least provide your information sources when making statements.
Impeach him. Drive the Dem base to huge turnouts and the trump problem will be solved.
The Democrats have made the entire argument “Trump is bad” so if you impeach him and replace him with generic Republican Mike Pence what happens to Dem turnout now that the “boogeyman” has been slayed? The Dems have no plan to beat President Pence. And he’s far more dangerous to America than Trump ever was.
Edmondo:
Many things on the table right now. If we do not take action, we may find we are worse off in the end. The House will hold for now. Maybe McConnell will lose too. He is not that popular in Kentucky. We do have to do something.
Pence will be far, far easier to beat than trump. He is a cipher.
And there is no chance of the Rep Senate impeaching trump. There is no way those people are going to risk alienating their base, and that is being shown to be true by every action(or inaction) they do every day.
. The House will hold for now. Maybe McConnell will lose too. He is not that popular in Kentucky. We do have to do something.
It depends. If you put Senile Joe Biden at the head of the ticket, the House could very well be in play. LOL. Amy McGrath has about as much chance of beating Mitch McConnell as Bernie has of passing M4A in the first 100 Days. Do something? How about beating that crazy fuck in an election? If you impeach him you will only exacerbate the coup theories and make sure we get Tim Cotton as president in 2024.
And the GOP senate will vote for conviction if they see President Pence as their best shot of holding the Oval Office. The evangelicals will have a rapture in their pants.
Edmundo:
Biden needs to retire. He sounds silly. Baby boomers would make great VPs. Dems need to support Amy over that sh*t who was
kicked-out, my mistake, had political assistance to get an early discharge from the Army. He can be beat. Cotton is military garbage.Trump should be exposed. When I passed through Jackson, Michigan; Federal funds were used to build a new wall splitting US 96 just like in Colorado. What a dumb F***. He is mentally ill and needs to go.