Too Good to Be True

[Steve R.]

Poll: Dem Favorability Hits 35-Year Low as GOP Gains Trust on Key Issues

The Democrats' image has fallen to its lowest level since 1990, as voters favor Republicans on nearly all major issues.

www.breitbart.com

Don't believe it. Even if true, it gets very tiring listening to how bad-off the Democrats are. That can lead to a false sense of security and complacency by Republicans.

Recall that the "Red Wave" in 2022 was a big flop. Even with Trump's 2024 (landslide) win, one would have expected Republicans to pick-up a large number of seats in Congress. That didn't happen. Republicans have very slim majorities. That indicates that the public still has residual support for the Democrats.

When it comes to wining elections, Democrats have vastly superior propaganda skills when compared to Republicans. Democrats know how to manipulate the gullible.

While not an election issue per se, Democrats in Congress march in lock step to obstruct the Republican agenda. Republicans, (in Congress) fortunately and unfortunately are much more independent when it comes to voting. Consequently, it is somewhat easy for Democrats to drive a wedge between Republicans. What that means is that Republicans, to get their agenda passed will need to have more Republican members in Congress.

The lesson; your opponent may appear down, but you have to act as if you are down and fight hard to get the votes.

 

[Pat Hartman]

I think it depends on which polls you hear being reported. I just heard one that had Trump below 50%.

Tell me the result you want and I'll make sure that is what my poll reflects because I frame the questions and pick the population

 

[Isaac]

What makes me wonder is when polls show people disapproving of his handling on a majority of issues yet still approving of him in general. Makes me wonder if they're awake, dogmatic, or just stupid

 

[The_Doc_Man]

What makes me wonder is when polls show people disapproving of his handling on a majority of issues yet still approving of him in general.

What it REALLY means is the pollster didn't know how to create a poll that would give an honest answer to public sentiment on various issues. A poorly constructed poll can do that.

 

[NauticalGent]

Don't believe it. Even if true, it gets very tiring listening to how bad-off the Democrats are. That can lead to a false sense of security and complacency by Republicans.

Even though I TRY to stay centered, it is that mentality that led to the DNC losing the last election.

 

[Isaac]

What it REALLY means is the pollster didn't know how to create a poll that would give an honest answer to public sentiment on various issues. A poorly constructed poll can do that.

I guess. I think there's a possibility that it means they are 'stuck on him' while actually being a bit nervous about his handling of each specific issue.
After all, that even happened with me for a while. Now I got my overall approval rating in line with my approval of the individual issues, but it took some mental wrangling and truth-telling inside myself.
Meaning now if you asked me what I think of his presidency overall, I'd say 60%. and if you tallied how I feel about individual issues, it'd come out to around 60% too - but it took some 'deep thinking' for me to get out of the place where I was for a bit, which is overall I felt he was at 90% but at the issues I felt he was at 60 or less. Eventually I realized that was quite irrational, but it took time.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I still think he's doing things by the "toss the spaghetti at the wall to see if it sticks" method. In other words, he knows where he wants to go and is trying various ways to get there. I see some disruption, but I also see the goals.

For instance, mass deportation? Remove people who have not paid into funds to support the indigent. Remove people who are a drain on our society and who consume resources better used for our own people. See, for example, where FEMA funds went to New York City hotels for immigrants but little or no FEMA funds are going to victims of the massive flooding on the East Coast states. Spend the money, not on housing illegal immigrants, but on removing them.

Tariffs? So many people have taken advantage of the USA's generous nature that we had a really shaky balance of trade. Tariffs underscored that unfairness. Right now, China is have fits because their residential apartment projects have nearly gone bankrupt, buildings and roads are collapsing due to shoddy work and shoddier materials, and now we are hitting their low-cost manufacturing by revoking the 'de minimis' exceptions on their tariffs. And also working on their evasive tactics to ship their cheap goods elsewhere, allowing the goods to be relabeled so as to appear to have lower tariffs.

Government restructuring? I don't think ANYONE can say that in the last 20+ years our government has become MORE efficient. The waste, fraud, and abuse of government benefits simply dumps money down a deep, dark hole. Forcing a switch to more AI-related tools and reducing the work force will be disruptive, but I've already seen the articles about how Trump is directing a DOGE task force to use AI analysis to detect apparent cases of waste, fraud, and abuse. USAID was a high-profile egregious example. There are more.

 

[Isaac]

Stuff like this just makes me sick. It's one thing to claim we have to deport people here illegally, it's another thing to make fun of them and celebrate the very concept of people in handcuffs. This is why he gets 60% max from me.

That's not throwing things up and making it stick, that's trying to appeal to people who think it's fun and funny to watch families torn apart.
Rather, it should be treated as when police have to shoot somebody. I.E. "We know this is tragic and people are suffering immensely from this, but it has to be done" - but that's not how it's being treated by a long shot.

I choose to believe there are still 'good Republicans' out there who support the president 100% only because they haven't seen a lot of the media he puts out. But now, you know - no excuse.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Oh, don't worry. I'm not 100% behind DJT. It's just that I appreciate the magnitude of what was done to this country by Progressive Liberals and it is going to take ALL of this term for Trump to drain at least some of the swamp. We can only hope that Mr. Vance will be able to maintain the momentum. But we HAVE to drain the swamp of things that don't belong in this country. Like deep-state bureaucrats, resource-sucking illegal immigrants, and unfair competition from our trade partners. I'm not sure I like some of the things being done, but considering the magnitude of the problem, I suspect it WILL be a rocky ride.

As to making fun of them, in or out of handcuffs, no. I pity them because they didn't have the courage to stay and clean up the mess in their home countries. So ... what will they do here? Bring on more crime because they don't have a vested interest in the country? I see them as people who have become victims - which is exactly what the Libs wanted to do with minorities so as to lasso them in to the Lib Corral. We don't need them if they aren't willing to make the investment - and coming in illegally is a sign that they are NOT willing to make that investment. We don't need a bunch of victims holding out their hands. Take a really good look at Mexico's laws regarding illegal immigrants. If you think WE are Draconian in our approach, look hard at Mexico, our neighbor to the south.

 

[Isaac]

I know, but if we don't want us to become like Mexico, then there is no need to compare our laws to theirs - we don't want to be them anyway, we want to rise higher.
Good to hear you aren't just a blanket 'everything he does is perfect' attitude. I do pity kids where Dad didn't come home from work today and will never be seen again.......it's pretty drastic, but I know we can't just let them all stay.

 

[AccessBlaster]

I know, but if we don't want us to become like Mexico, then there is no need to compare our laws to theirs - we don't want to be them anyway, we want to rise higher.
Good to hear you aren't just a blanket 'everything he does is perfect' attitude. I do pity kids where Dad didn't come home from work today and will never be seen again.......it's pretty drastic, but I know we can't just let them all stay.

I would support an incentive program. Work, no criminal activity beyond illegal entry, assimilation, = citizenship. I do realize some are not interested in citizenship, just the bennies.

 

[Isaac]

I would support an incentive program. Work, no criminal activity beyond illegal entry, assimilation, = citizenship. I do realize some are not interested in citizenship, just the bennies.

That's similar to what I've said as well. This phrase has earned a bit of a reputation, but basically that = a "path to citizenship". We could debate the various aspects of the Path, but if it's tough enough, I'd support it too.
I do wish there was a way to just remove the millions that entered in the past year or so, as I believe that's a huge number and they haven't settled in all that much yet, I would support that but more importantly the path to citizenship if they are truly working, then essentially that eliminates a lot of people's concerns about illegal immigration - not all but a lot

for me the path might look like
1) working truly
2) assimilation - prove you are trying to learn english, enrolled in courses even, if you know none then you are on the way to learning
3) no criminal activity beyond illegal entry, with possibly an exception for things that everybody gets accused of like DV and traffic violations
4) you're not on welfare, or you've gotten off of it and no welfare while executing the plan