CSotD: Waiting for the Elections or Something Like Them
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Wuerker is right that the GOP is trotting out the tried-and-true fear-mongering that has worked in the past, and I guess we’re going to see how it works today.
Certainly, these shopworn insults keep the faithful fired up, but as we watch Trump’s poll numbers slide, and with them, the polls for various old guard incumbents, there’s a question of whether “the faithful” are enough to win elections. The critical group is the faithful-adjacent, those who would support the party they’ve always supported, but who don’t fit the MAGA mold.
Trump did well in 2024, too, with Hispanic voters, but it will be interesting to see how many are outraged by ICE raids and deportations versus how many fit the “I’m here; draw up the ladder” demographic. I don’t think “Hispanic” is a coherent political category, having known both extreme right-wingers and militant farmworker types within the group. But keep an eye on Texas, where James Talarico appears to be leading and is not the only Democrat with a chance in a traditionally Red state.
We’ll also have to see how Trump’s abandonment of South Korea in favor of his good buddy to the North plays with conservatives. The veterans of the Korean War are disappearing, but they’re not all gone yet, nor are they the only ones potentially outraged by this turncoat policy. I’m looking forward to seeing how cartoonists handle it, but also how it plays among conservatives in general, and not just the trolls and bots on Xitter.
An important issue in any midterm is not how voters can be persuaded to vote, but whether they can be persuaded to show up at all. We’ll see.
Juxtaposition of the Day
While the GOP hardcore are screaming “Commies!” more moderate observers are screaming “Democratic Socialists!”
It’s not clear that this is a circular firing squad. Artley and Goodwyn aren’t flaming liberals in the first place. But moderate observers, including Never-Trumpers, are speaking out against people who are winning primaries and appear to be attracting young voters, and they’re fussing over rhetoric that may just be rhetoric while ignoring policies that people want.
When Michigan’s tough primary contest for the Senate slot ended, the losing candidates quickly spoke up in support of Abdul El-Sayed, who is not a Democratic Socialist but is being saddled with that title anyway, as well as being opposed because of his religion.
Will other Democrats follow suit and get behind candidates who can draw new, young voters to the polls?
Walters is no liberal, but he recognizes a Democratic positive outcome in that, despite the polls that saw her leading, Democratic voters rejected Francesca Hong’s bid for the Wisconsin gubernatorial slot, reportedly less because of her current policies than because they didn’t see her as electable. Most of her ghastly extremist statements were ancient, but she did a poor job of backing away from them in the present, and voters saw a likely defeat looming.
Meanwhile, conservatives continue to smear New York City Mayor Mamdani, but they’re swimming against a strong current, as the mayor seems not only popular but capable of carrying out his promises. Recently, he rallied Broadway theaters to contribute tickets and support a program to give underprivileged kids a chance to sample culture normally reserved for the elite.
While Mamdani is sending kids to theaters and museums, conservatives continue their war on LBGTQ+ people and promoting a nonsensical threat of cis men pretending to be trans in order to play in the WNBA. Did a pair of washed-up NBA players make such a threat? Sure. It’s fun to see your name in the paper. Was it real? Gimme a break.
When it comes to legitimately trans women in sports, there are barely any above the high school level and not a lot even there. The poster child for poor, abused cis women athletes bases her claim on having tied with a trans woman for fifth place at a swim meet. The same side of the aisle that mocks participation trophies is outraged that she only got half of a fifth place trophy.
Only the bigotry and hatred is real. The threat is nonsense.
Now comes the USS Abraham Lincoln, where rations are running out while Dear Leader accuses their families of lying about the conditions on board ship.
Two Bulls compares the sailors’ plight to Oliver Twist, suggesting that the U.S. Navy is becoming an abusive sweatshop. Meanwhile, women aboard the USS Boxer are begging their families to send tampons and sanitary napkins, but doing so aware that their mail hasn’t been arriving in a timely manner.
Learn more details at Meidas’ weekend wrapup, including this quote from Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA): “I have no interest in listening to a draft-dodging chicken hawk act tough while blowing off the concerned families of Sailors and Marines under his command.“
Speaking of tough guys, Deering mocks Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bizarre fixation on testosterone while supplies sailors genuinely need are MIA.
The lack of planning that has extended the Lincoln’s deployment is being addressed by bringing in the Washington to replace them, which leaves no carrier in the Pacific and makes Taiwan vulnerable should China decide to seize the moment, and the island.
The Lincoln is merely one more plaything in Dear Leader’s toy box. He’s decided that aircraft carriers should abandon their modern electronic launch mechanisms and return to steam launchers, reportedly because some sailor remarked to him that he thought they were really cool. Probably with tears in his eyes and certainly referring to the CIC as “Sir.”
He also wants — I am not making this up — aircraft carriers to move their command tower to the center of the ship rather than the end where they are currently placed, because that’s where they were during World War II.
World War II began, you may have heard, with the Japanese sinking most of our battleships, and Dear Leader has ordered a whole new set of those clunky targets and wants to name this new class of floating anachronisms after himself.
No word on whether they will be covered in gilt.
(There are a million versions of this song, with a million homes as the longed-for destination.)
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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