THE ERA OF TRUMP

[K@th]

His approval rating is higher than Obama's.

What are you seeing? Thought you hated polls?

[Okeefenokee]

It's time to eat some crow, Kath.

David Brooks: How the left wins the culture war

The early results would seem to completely vindicate my position. The Florida Legislature turned aside gun restrictions. New gun measures in Congress have been quickly shelved. Democrats are more likely to lose House and Senate seats in the key 2018 pro-gun states. The losing streak continues.

Yet I have to admit that something bigger is going on. It could be that progressives understood something I didn’t. It could be that you can win more important victories through an aggressive cultural crusade than you can through legislation. Progressives could be on the verge of delegitimizing their foes, on guns but also much else, rendering them untouchable for anybody who wants to stay in polite society. That would produce social changes far vaster than limiting assault rifles.

Two things have fundamentally changed the landscape. First, over the past two years conservatives have self-marginalized. In supporting Donald Trump they have tied themselves to a man whose racial prejudices, sexual behavior and personal morality put him beyond the pale of decent society.

While becoming the movement of Dinesh D’Souza, Sean Hannity and Franklin Graham, they have essentially expelled the leaders and thinkers who have purchase in mainstream culture. Conservatism is now less a political or philosophic movement and more a separatist subculture that participates in its own ostracism.

Second, progressives are getting better and more aggressive at silencing dissenting behavior. All sorts of formerly legitimate opinions have now been deemed beyond the pale on elite campuses. Speakers have been disinvited and careers destroyed. The boundaries are being redrawn across society.

As Andrew Sullivan noted recently, “workplace codes today read like campus speech codes of a few years ago.” There are a number of formerly popular ideas that can now end your career: the belief that men and women have inherent psychological differences, the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman, opposition to affirmative action.

What’s happening today is that certain ideas about gun rights, and maybe gun ownership itself, are being cast in the realm of the morally illegitimate and socially unacceptable.

That’s the importance of the corporate efforts to end NRA affiliations. It’s not about NRA members saving some money when they fly. It’s that they are not morally worthy of being among the affiliated groups. The idea is to stigmatize.

If progressives can cut what’s left of the conservative movement off from mainstream society, they will fundamentally alter the culture war. We think of the culture war as this stagnant thing in which both sides scream at each other. But eventually there could be a winner. Progressives have won on most social issues. They could win on nearly everything else.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/articl ... /180309925

Meanwhile,

A Hillary Staffer Goes to CPAC
‘Try not to get killed,’ a friend warned. But I was greeted with open arms.

To be sure, I’m a tiny, talkative South Asian woman who spent four months on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign staff. I wasn’t exactly in my element surrounded by people in “Make America Great Again” hats chanting “Lock her up! Lock her up!“ But there was more to CPAC than that. In four days, I spoke with more than 100 conservatives, most of whom greeted me with open arms and thanked me for being there and having an open mind. They happily engaged me in meaningful political conversation and invited me for drinks and after-parties.

In retrospect, I’m embarrassed at how nervous I was when I arrived. I found myself singing along to “God Bless the USA” with a hilariously rowdy group of college Republicans, having nuanced discussions about gun control and education policy with people from all walks of life, nodding my head in agreement with parts of Ben Shapiro’s speech, and coming away with a greater determination to burst ideological media bubbles.

Among liberals, conservatives have a reputation for being closed-minded, even deplorable. But in the Washington Republicans I encountered at CPAC, I found a group of people who acknowledged their party’s shortcomings, genuinely wondered why I left my corporate job to join Mrs. Clinton’s campaign in 2016, and listened to my arguments before defending their own positions.

Although CPAC attendees were as passionate about policy as my liberal friends, they took a more lighthearted approach. At one after-party, they alternated between taking selfies with Milo Yiannopoulos and engaging in a thoughtful, substantive discussion with a Democrat. One notable exchange: I exclaimed, “Of course the Department of Education is necessary!” which drew the rejoinder, “Great! Let’s make 50 of them!”

As I look back on all the people who greeted me warmly, made sure I didn’t get lost in the crowd, and went out of their way to introduce me to their friends, I can’t help but wonder how a Trump supporter would have fared at a Democratic rally. Would someone wearing a MAGA hat be greeted with smiles or suspicion, be listened to or shouted down?
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-hillary- ... 1519949987

[Okeefenokee]

His approval rating is higher than Obama's.

What are you seeing? Thought you hated polls?

If the numbers are slanted, which direction do you think they're being tipped?

Against Obama and in favor of Trump?

Do you think that's happening?

[K@th]

His approval rating is higher than Obama's.

What are you seeing? Thought you hated polls?

If the numbers are slanted, which direction do you think they're being tipped?

Against Obama and in favor of Trump?

Do you think that's happening?

You made a definitive statement. I assumed it was based on something. My bad.

As to the previous post? Not sure how it has anything to do with me.

[Okeefenokee]

What are you seeing? Thought you hated polls?

If the numbers are slanted, which direction do you think they're being tipped?

Against Obama and in favor of Trump?

Do you think that's happening?

You made a definitive statement. I assumed it was based on something. My bad.

As to the previous post? Not sure how it has anything to do with me.

No, I meant what I said,

USA Today/Suffolk Univeristy published a poll of 1,000 registered voters showing Mr. Trump’s approval at 38% and Democrats leading the generic ballot by a whopping 15 points (47% to 32%) over the Republicans. Around the same time, The Economist/YouGov regular tracking polling of 1,296 registered voters has Mr. Trump at 44% approval but the Democrats leading only by 2 points 40%-38%. Finally, my son’s Zogby Analytics poll this week posts a 48% job approval rating among 869 likely voters nationwide. (There was no congressional generic ballot test on this one).

Aside from the fact that it is a Zogby Poll, there are clear reasons why I believe it is more accurate. First and foremost is the fact that it includes “likely voters” and not “all adults” or just “registered voters”. I have maintained this standard over four decades of professional polling. The demographics of likely voters are notably different than more general groups. I have always felt that it is misleading to publish results of likely voters close to an election and adults or registered voters months before an election – then compare them as trends. These are all distinct groups and in matters related to public policy and election choices it is really only likely voters that count.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnzogby/ ... 3b8d6263df

President Barack Obama's job approval is the worst of his presidency to date, with 46% of Americans approving and 48% disapproving of the job he is doing as president in the latest Gallup Daily three-day average.
http://news.gallup.com/poll/126809/obam ... lines.aspx

At the very least, their approval ratings are equal, given a margin of error, and if the polls are being slanted, there's only one direction they would be going.

[Okeefenokee]

What are you seeing? Thought you hated polls?

If the numbers are slanted, which direction do you think they're being tipped?

Against Obama and in favor of Trump?

Do you think that's happening?

You made a definitive statement. I assumed it was based on something. My bad.

As to the previous post? Not sure how it has anything to do with me.

And you did certainly claim over and over and over for years and years that the SJW campus madness was nothing, would never be anything, and no one should be concerned.

Are you going to pretend that you didn't?

[Penner]

Am I really that far? I thought that I sprout the mainstream ideas here?

With the few people here, yes.

After all, if this site would accurately portray US opinion, Trump would be the most popular President in US history ever.

His approval rating is higher than Obama's.

Please stop changing my quotes. I am going to report you from now on.

[Okeefenokee]

With the few people here, yes.

After all, if this site would accurately portray US opinion, Trump would be the most popular President in US history ever.

His approval rating is higher than Obama's.

Please stop changing my quotes. I am going to report you from now on.

The fuck are you talking about?

[Penner]

Am I really that far? I thought that I sprout the mainstream ideas here?

With the few people here, yes.

After all, if this site would accurately portray US opinion, Trump would be the most popular President in US history ever.

Trump has the lowest approval rating for any sitting president during his first year. Obama's was higher than Trumps (during the same time as president. Meaning the "One Year Into His Presidency". Trump is scrapping the barrel compared to Obama's and even Bush's approval ratings.

[Fife]

Trump is scrapping the barrel

Trump's not the only one scrapping the barrel, it appears.

:goteam: :drunk: