The Trump Card...

[Turtle]

While he has been talking about declaring a national emergency for weeks, he has not done so. If it's an emergency, what is he waiting for?

See my last paragraph above. Plus, he knows that if he goes with the declaration, there's no going back, with Chuck-N-Nancy doubling down on The Resistance. He keeps threatening it because he's hoping Chuck and Nancy will be able to care more about the safety and security of the American people than they do about making sure Trump doesn't get a win to use for reelection.

 

[ATeam]

See my last paragraph above. Plus, he knows that if he goes with the declaration, there's no going back, with Chuck-N-Nancy doubling down on The Resistance. He keeps threatening it because he's hoping Chuck and Nancy will be able to care more about the safety and security of the American people than they do about making sure Trump doesn't get a win to use for reelection.

What you call The Resistance, I call the mid-term elections in which the American people turned out in record numbers to take control of the U.S. House from the Republicans and give it to the Democrats. They did not do so because they were pleased with the results Trump and the Republican Congress were generating. They did it because because they were displeased.

If it's about caring more about the safety and security of the American people, Trump has mishandled the politics of that in a way from which he may not be able to recover. We just completed a month plus in which the news presented every day man-on-the-street, your-neighbor stories of people who were hurt by the shutdown. Polls show Trump is blamed for this pain far more than the Democrats.

When reports came in about people being delayed at airports because of the shutdown, the pain became too great for even the Senate Republicans to bear. That's the point McConnell told Trump he could not longer hold Republican votes in support of Trump. And that's the point Trump, not Pelosi, made the big announcement about ending the shutdown, receiving NOTHING for his troubles and the trouble he caused for the Republicans in the Senate who can cast the decisive votes to impeach him.

With the Democrats now in control of the House, this is the first time Trump had the true chance to demonstrate the deal-making, get-things-done skills he claimed to have when he campaigned to be president. If conservative commentary is any indication, what Trump showed did not impress his base.

And what did Pelosi and Schumer have to do to achieve what is for them such a politically wonderful result? They simply said no to wall funding and sat back while Trump did all the rest. Because that strategy worked so well, look for more of the same in the future.

Again, this is the first time Trump has faced true opposition in Congress. His now-empowered opponents know the political game better than Trump and it shows.

If Trump declares a national emergency, it will not be for him a way out. It will be another opportunity for the Democrats to trip him up in a web of his own making.

 

[ATeam]

A number of pundits are saying Trump underestimated Pelosi. I'm not so sure.

Trump talking about Pelosi before she was elected House Speaker: "I like her, can you believe it? I like Nancy Pelosi. She's tough and she's smart..."

 

[muttly]

See my last paragraph above. Plus, he knows that if he goes with the declaration, there's no going back, with Chuck-N-Nancy doubling down on The Resistance. He keeps threatening it because he's hoping Chuck and Nancy will be able to care more about the safety and security of the American people than they do about making sure Trump doesn't get a win to use for reelection.

What you call The Resistance, I call the mid-term elections in which the American people turned out in record numbers to take control of the U.S. House from the Republicans and give it to the Democrats. They did not do so because they were pleased with the results Trump and the Republican Congress were generating. They did it because because they were displeased.

If it's about caring more about the safety and security of the American people, Trump has mishandled the politics of that in a way from which he may not be able to recover. We just completed a month plus in which the news presented every day man-on-the-street, your-neighbor stories of people who were hurt by the shutdown. Polls show Trump is blamed for this pain far more than the Democrats.

When reports came in about people being delayed at airports because of the shutdown, the pain became too great for even the Senate Republicans to bear. That's the point McConnell told Trump he could not longer hold Republican votes in support of Trump. And that's the point Trump, not Pelosi, made the big announcement about ending the shutdown, receiving NOTHING for his troubles and the trouble he caused for the Republicans in the Senate who can cast the decisive votes to impeach him.

With the Democrats now in control of the House, this is the first time Trump had the true chance to demonstrate the deal-making, get-things-done skills he claimed to have when he campaigned to be president. If conservative commentary is any indication, what Trump showed did not impress his base.

And what did Pelosi and Schumer have to do to achieve what is for them such a politically wonderful result? They simply said no to wall funding and sat back while Trump did all the rest. Because that strategy worked so well, look for more of the same in the future.

Again, this is the first time Trump has faced true opposition in Congress. His now-empowered opponents know the political game better than Trump and it shows.

If Trump declares a national emergency, it will not be for him a way out. It will be another opportunity for the Democrats to trip him up in a web of his own making.

The Dems are almost always in lock step with their party leadership. Republicans (Senators)usually have at least a handful that don't stand in solidarity. Nothing Trump can do about that. That's why he said before the midterms to elect more republicans in the Senate. Too many squishy ones defecting on votes.
It's a process. Most things won't come easy because the Democrat party is gone. Taken over by the extreme progressives. No more blue dog Dems in the Senate. Just look how radical Kirsten Gillibrand has become. A younger version of the newer version of Hillary Clinton. Racial, gender identity politics at every turn.
So Trump should just declare a National Emergency in three weeks because nothing will change. You can't deal with the Dems. They think having a wall to protect our country is immoral.
A National Emergency has been called something like 42 times and only once was it reversed by the courts.

 

[Turtle]

We just completed a month plus in which the news presented every day man-on-the-street, your-neighbor stories of people who were hurt by the shutdown.

Wait. What? The news media presenting stories that make Trump look bad?!? I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you!

As for Trump losing House seats in the Midterms yeah, that, like, never happens.

 

[ATeam]

As for Trump losing House seats in the Midterms yeah, that, like, never happens.

You know it commonly happens that the opposition party gains seats in the mid-term elections. It does not commonly happen with record turnout or in the number of seats gained in the House this time. Some call it a blue wave and make a big deal out of that idea. I don't. The numbers are what they are and it's enough to talk about them. Voters gave the House to the Democrats and Trump now has that to deal with. His doing that so far has been ham-handed at best. The budget thing did not go well for him. Oversight hearings will soon begin.

 

[ATeam]

Wait. What? The news media presenting stories that make Trump look bad?!? I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you!

It's not fair what they're doing to Trump but he's doing nothing to temper it either. He provokes the press instead of working to smooth things over.

I have no way to establish this factually but it is my observation that the persistently and instinctively Trump-negative coverage many journalists or so-called journalists have given has become a deeply ingrained habit in their minds. As Trump's situation deteriorates further (as I expect it will), they will be blind to all sense of balance and feast on Trump's defeats like hyenas on a fresh kill. They have become deeply emotionally engaged in the Trump story and that is not journalism. America is worse off for it.

 

[muttly]

As for Trump losing House seats in the Midterms yeah, that, like, never happens.

You know it commonly happens that the opposition party gains seats in the mid-term elections. It does not commonly happen with record turnout or in the number of seats gained in the House this time. Some call it a blue wave and make a big deal out of that idea. I don't. The numbers are what they are and it's enough to talk about them. Voters gave the House to the Democrats and Trump now has that to deal with. His doing that so far has been ham-handed at best. The budget thing did not go well for him. Oversight hearings will soon begin.

There was a lot of Republican incumbents that decided to not run for reelection. Let's not forgot that played a large role in losing seats.

 

[muttly]

Wait. What? The news media presenting stories that make Trump look bad?!? I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you!

It's not fair what they're doing to Trump but he's doing nothing to temper it either. He provokes the press instead of working to smooth things over.

I have no way to establish this factually but it is my observation that the persistently and instinctively Trump-negative coverage many journalists or so-called journalists have given has become a deeply ingrained habit in their minds. As Trump's situation deteriorates further (as I expect it will), they will be blind to all sense of balance and feast on Trump's defeats like hyenas on a fresh kill. They have become deeply emotionally engaged in the Trump story and that is not journalism. America is worse off for it.

It doesn't matter much if he provokes the press or not. This is how they act generally with a Republican President. But yes, with Trump they've kicked up a notch or two. That's why they trip over themselves to get the next negative story out about him or even Melania. (See the Telegraph story correction)
They dislike him immensely. And so does many former intelligence community swamp creatures who want to undermine his presidency. That's why every Friday there is a story or S.W.A.T arrest leaked to the NYTimes or the Washington Post to keep feeding the fire. This time it was probably former FBI and underling to former FBI Director Comey, Josh Campbell who now works for CNN, that was tipped off about the Stone raid.

 

[Turtle]

Trump could walk over to the Reflecting Pool in DC and walk across it, and the headlines would be...

TRUNK CAN'T SWIM

 

[Ragman]

Trump could walk over to the Reflecting Pool in DC and walk across it, and the headlines would be...

TRUNK CAN'T SWIM

Maybe, but what about Trump?

 

[ATeam]

There was a lot of Republican incumbents that decided to not run for reelection. Let's not forgot that played a large role in losing seats.

You are correct. Why was it that a relatively large number of Republicans chose to not seek re-election while an unusually high number of Democratic candidates rose to run?

 

[muttly]

There was a lot of Republican incumbents that decided to not run for reelection. Let's not forgot that played a large role in losing seats.

You are correct. Why was it that a relatively large number of Republicans chose to not seek re-election while an unusually high number of Democratic candidates rose to run?

The "Blue Wave" genisis was largely a news media creation. Some Republicans didn't want to run again because they believed the hype. Self fulfilling prophecy. Some of them didn't want to go back to just being a regular congressperson because they would lose leadership positions. Republicans have "term limits" on that from what I heard. Dems do not.

 

[ATeam]

Republicans have "term limits" on that from what I heard. Dems do not.

Here's an instructive article about that.

 

[muttly]

The demise of one of the best gigs in Congress


Trump's comments on chair "term limits".
And article that explains it as well

 

[ATeam]

The current status is same as it was before the most recent shutdown. Government will shutdown soon if Trump does not get wall funding. Democrats remain steadfast on no wall funding. Trump is threatening to declare a national emergency to build the wall but is not following through.With Trump and the Democrats maintaining the same positions and repeating the same actions, will we get anything other than the same result when the three-week negotiating period expires?

It has not been talked about much but there is a HUGE risk to Trump in declaring a national emergency. Many in his base believe he has the power to fund and build a wall. If he declares a national emergency, they will expect to see wall construction begin soon. But the fact is, Trump does not have the power to get a wall quickly built and that fact will be laid bare if he declares an emergency.

The idea behind the emergency is to bypass congress and obtain funding. If Trump declares the emergency, he gains few capabilities and loses all excuses.

Turtle did a good job above in stating the big-picture risks of a national emergency (income-inequality national emergency). Instead of declaring a national emergency for a wall that won't be built, Trump and the Republicans could better serve the country and protect their friends by modifying the national emergency laws to be less available to any president.

The Democrats would likely go along because they'd see it as taking power away from Trump. In fact, such an action would disempower the presidency itself for all future office holders, thereby protecting the country from unilateral presidential mischief.

 

[Solar]

You can’t call it a blue wave when Republicans picked up seats in the Senate.

You can’t cry about the popular vote in 2016 and 2018 when Bernie Sanders won the popular vote over Hillary Clinton and lost the nomination.

I think Democrats winning the House has put President Trump in a garden spot, because he’s beating them like a drum all over Media.

What I mean is, why build a wall when you can run on the wall, and have 2 years of Democrat opposition. This is President Trump’s favorite wedge issue because it not only wins the electoral college majority, but it weeds out neo-conservatives of the by gone era. A 2 for 1.

And if President Trump does get some form of barrier up before 2020, FAHGETABOUTIT!

 

[ATeam]

You can’t call it a blue wave when Republicans picked up seats in the Senate.

You can’t cry about the popular vote in 2016 and 2018 when Bernie Sanders won the popular vote over Hillary Clinton and lost the nomination.

I think Democrats winning the House has put President Trump in a garden spot, because he’s beating them like a drum all over Media.

What I mean is, why build a wall when you can run on the wall, and have 2 years of Democrat opposition. This is President Trump’s favorite wedge issue because it not only wins the electoral college majority, but it weeds out neo-conservatives of the by gone era. A 2 for 1.

And if President Trump does get some form of barrier up before 2020, FAHGETABOUTIT!

So, are you saying Trump wins by not building the wall?

One thing to note about two years of Democratic opposition is it produced results. Immediately after Trump's election, work began for Democrats to win the House and they did. With the House majority comes subpoena power, and the ability to conduct oversight hearings, launch investigations and initiate impeachment proceedings. It gave the Democrats new power to deny wall funding to Trump, which did not work out well for Trump when he caved and re-opened the government while receiving nothing in return.

Some garden spot.

Yes, a Democratic House gives Trump more talking/Twitter points, but to what real effect on the ground in a way that matters beyond the talk shows? Trump may be beating them like a drum in the media but they are beating him in elections and policy battles. While your view is interesting, I've never met any political operative who believed it was better for the president of his or her party to have House control in the hands of the opposing party.

 

[muttly]

Bill Clinton. His party lossed control of the House in spectacular fashion but it was better for him. It allowed him to adapt some of the Republican agenda and call it his own.
He went on to win In a landslide.
But I do think Trump is faced with much different set of circumstances due to the Dems being completely off their rocker as a party.

 

[ATeam]

You can’t call it a blue wave when Republicans picked up seats in the Senate.

That "blue wave" thing never made sense to me. No, you can't call it a blue wave when Republicans picked up seats in the Senate. Yes you can call it a blue wave because Democrats won the House with numerous convincing victories.

So what? Election results are one of the rare things that are clear in politics. The numbers are what the numbers are. What does "blue wave" (or "red wave" in a future or past election) have to do with anything?