No, I don't think GOP voter's support will change the minds of Republican leaders in Congress. They have been focused more on their own agenda than they have with what their constituents want and need. Times are also very different than the 80s. Less partisan and those in Congress attempted to work for their constituents. They probably also didn't go against their own ideas and needs, just so the other party didn't get any wins. My thought of what half term means is the GOP are trying to take back Congress and halt any additional progress from President Biden. We can't let them take back control. In my opinion DC media misses a lot of stories, especially if they aren't sexy enough. They have to get out of the habit of chasing drama.
Hi Ari. I am convinced that the GOP on Capitol Hill does not care about the American. They only care about the dark-money and staying in power. Personally, I am sick of corrupt politicians.
Nice breakdown of what I feel is a story I wish media would spend time on instead of controversy mostly of the media making..I appreciate your approach on politics Ari. Thank you for all your hard work. Keep on keeping on
While I would like to hold out hope that there are moderate Republicans willing to cross party lines, I think they under the current political climate, the majority of GOP voters would still rather see Biden fail, even at the expense of America’s success. I do think that the media has an awesome power and responsibility—and that is to highlight the story of the existence of moderates on both sides and if this is hammered home enough times, perhaps the narrative will shift over time. This won’t happen overnight so journalists do need to patiently and accurately cover the story of moderate Americans, give them a voice, empower them by showing all of us that they outnumber the extremists, and hopefully the moderates can carry the day.
Highly doubtful , Ari. The republicans, as God-awful as they have become, have the strength of cohesion and that cohesion represents big business and voter repression. We Dems are light years more open minded and independent which of course makes us weaker as a cohesive force. We have Manchin and Sinema, who, in my humble opinion, are a cancer in the Democrat party and therefore democracy.
Hey Ari- just saw a Manchin interview going from one nursing facility to another. He made absolutely no sense. Your reporting is always clear and concise- I think investigations are warranted to see who is donating to Manchin and Sinema. Their stonewalling makes no sense when compared to their past rhetoric.
Every day there's a right wing story or more that brings so much discouragement, I don't see any positivity ahead from any repugs. The (cringe worthy) Reagan Dems will never get any forgiveness from me. His trickle down did just that to me. Took away the job of a lifetime resulting in many life negatives besides economic. As always, great journalism, Ari. I just never get any hopefulness from the right.
The Republicans are all about getting and maintaining power at every level of our government and culture. If they do not follow in lock step, they are punished. They have no intention of helping people, just themselves.
I don’t know why someone doesn’t investigate Mitch MCConnell for corruption and look into his possible Russian connections. He and his wife should be investigated.
The fake news going out to the public is frightening and dangerous.
We are on the brink of losing our democracy. During the Cold War, Russia said they would destroy us from within and that plan seems to be going forward with the help of the so called Republicans.It’s beyond disgusting, what is happening here.
If we don’t hold on to our democracy, it will be a domino effect across the world.
The most dangerous, and this needs to be addressed , emphasized to the citizens, is that they are putting people in place who can negate the results if they don’t agree with them. That removes any power from democrats, and destroys our democracy. the dems need to get out there and be aggressive with this message.
It should be a main focus of the media! It’s the first domino.
A significant portion of Republican voters were the single issue “hold your nose” Trump voters who were able to vote for Biden with a clear conscience when ACB’s nomination was pushed through at the last minute. Why buy the cow when you can get a stacked SCOTUS for free? These voters who are socially conservative and fiscally ambivalent knew that between McConnell holding new legislation hostage and a judiciary branch firmly in their favor, Biden wouldn’t get much done, and he would certainly do less damage in neutral than his predecessor.
Unfortunately Ari, a lot of DC media is driven by FOX NEWS-drives me crazy. As for “GOP voters’ support for spending, changing minds in Congress?” Well, that depends on their ability to organize, to formulate one loud, consistent voice to push their Congress person(s). Congressional Republicans and their counterparts, are great at distractions and creating ire against individuals, opposed to debating issues. Their voters get lost in those traps. Meanwhile, Democrats become scattered and fail to paint a picture for GOP voters to show that all their party’s scare tactics and talk about Abortion, Hip-Hop, Teletubbies, Affirmative Action, Benghazi, Caravans, Birth certificates, Activist courts (that THEY did), Cancel Culture, and other such topics, didn’t increase their college enrollments, enable them to buy homes, increase their hourly wage, provide them with healthcare, nor make them whole or competitive in any way. Democrats never do the simple task of comparing and contrasting. It would be great if we could get the assistance of those GOP voters to influence their congressional body, but as always, it’s slim to none.
One pundit said the only way to get rid of obstructionist Congressional Republicans is to soundly defeat them in election after election. Schumer’s plan to vote on the voting rights bill is a good one because it tells the voters in each state and Congressional district how their representatives view voting rights. Their Democratic opponents can target them on this specific issue and other issues voted on by Congress. Such specific targeting should be able to diminish the power of current Congressional Republicans.
You probably know more about this than I do, but my understanding is that the Supreme Court struck down Article 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights bill because it did not apply uniformly to every state, rather, only to states that had de jure exclusionary voting laws ( I.e, Southern States). To me it seems rather simple to apply Article 5 to every state, which I understand is done by the “For the People Act”and the “John Lewis Act”.
I agree that the media has a huge responsibility to communicate all facts to its viewers and not just those facts championed by their viewing audience. It is time to put “outrage” aside and replace it with factual reasoning.
Congress is but one problem. The GOP state government is proving to be morally corrupt. It saddens me that we have not shown any true progress in the past 57 years. The Senate GOP has no moral compass and the house GOP is not far behind them.
No, I don't think the republican voters are having much effect on the GOP, it seems they have their own agenda, and that is to oppose Biden's plans for the country, they have put the welfare of the country on the back burner, they are obsessed with trying to insure that Biden fails, if he does nothing else he has already done more in five months than Trump did in four years, even with the opposition this country is still moving forward, not as fast as we would like it, but none the less. It is a repeat of the Obama years, he had to fight for every victory and so shall we continue the fight.
Any?, I'm not sure, but by and large, no. The present gestalt within the hierarchy of the GOP is one of a civil war that never ended, exacerbated by and emanating from the mishandling of Reconstruction. They have no use for democracy, desire for egalitarianism, concern or respect for their constituency. They believe in political domination by those who are 'worthy' with the "mudsills" going about their blissfully ignorant lives while driving the economy. The embodiment of evil.
It won't change the minds of Republicans in Congress who think they need Trump to win a primary, but hopefully Biden Republicans will vote those Senators and Congresspeople out in 2022 and the country can move on from Trump for good.
Being eternally optimistic, I think Republican constituents are going to start holding their representatives accountable for their actions other than just obstructing all Democratic ideas. I'm in Texas and the low grumbling on social media comments I've seen is why are our representatives passing purely partisan bills instead of addressing the power grid and ERCOT or property taxes? People get fed up with idealistic posturing and want some actual work to be accomplished. This may be a motivator to some of our incumbents to do their jobs or face the public and the next election cycle. I think seeing people behave like adults and try to work together might appeal to a few, but you have to start somewhere.
After they have suppressed voters rights and established their kleptocracy across this country, do they believe they can control the beast they will have created?
No, I don't think GOP voter's support will change the minds of Republican leaders in Congress. They have been focused more on their own agenda than they have with what their constituents want and need. Times are also very different than the 80s. Less partisan and those in Congress attempted to work for their constituents. They probably also didn't go against their own ideas and needs, just so the other party didn't get any wins. My thought of what half term means is the GOP are trying to take back Congress and halt any additional progress from President Biden. We can't let them take back control. In my opinion DC media misses a lot of stories, especially if they aren't sexy enough. They have to get out of the habit of chasing drama.
Hi Ari. I am convinced that the GOP on Capitol Hill does not care about the American. They only care about the dark-money and staying in power. Personally, I am sick of corrupt politicians.
Nice breakdown of what I feel is a story I wish media would spend time on instead of controversy mostly of the media making..I appreciate your approach on politics Ari. Thank you for all your hard work. Keep on keeping on
First, thanks Dennis. Second, yes there are certainly topics that get "too much" media attention because of conflict etc
While I would like to hold out hope that there are moderate Republicans willing to cross party lines, I think they under the current political climate, the majority of GOP voters would still rather see Biden fail, even at the expense of America’s success. I do think that the media has an awesome power and responsibility—and that is to highlight the story of the existence of moderates on both sides and if this is hammered home enough times, perhaps the narrative will shift over time. This won’t happen overnight so journalists do need to patiently and accurately cover the story of moderate Americans, give them a voice, empower them by showing all of us that they outnumber the extremists, and hopefully the moderates can carry the day.
Typo: I think *that* not *they*
Highly doubtful , Ari. The republicans, as God-awful as they have become, have the strength of cohesion and that cohesion represents big business and voter repression. We Dems are light years more open minded and independent which of course makes us weaker as a cohesive force. We have Manchin and Sinema, who, in my humble opinion, are a cancer in the Democrat party and therefore democracy.
Hey Ari- just saw a Manchin interview going from one nursing facility to another. He made absolutely no sense. Your reporting is always clear and concise- I think investigations are warranted to see who is donating to Manchin and Sinema. Their stonewalling makes no sense when compared to their past rhetoric.
Every day there's a right wing story or more that brings so much discouragement, I don't see any positivity ahead from any repugs. The (cringe worthy) Reagan Dems will never get any forgiveness from me. His trickle down did just that to me. Took away the job of a lifetime resulting in many life negatives besides economic. As always, great journalism, Ari. I just never get any hopefulness from the right.
The Republicans are all about getting and maintaining power at every level of our government and culture. If they do not follow in lock step, they are punished. They have no intention of helping people, just themselves.
I don’t know why someone doesn’t investigate Mitch MCConnell for corruption and look into his possible Russian connections. He and his wife should be investigated.
The fake news going out to the public is frightening and dangerous.
We are on the brink of losing our democracy. During the Cold War, Russia said they would destroy us from within and that plan seems to be going forward with the help of the so called Republicans.It’s beyond disgusting, what is happening here.
If we don’t hold on to our democracy, it will be a domino effect across the world.
The most dangerous, and this needs to be addressed , emphasized to the citizens, is that they are putting people in place who can negate the results if they don’t agree with them. That removes any power from democrats, and destroys our democracy. the dems need to get out there and be aggressive with this message.
It should be a main focus of the media! It’s the first domino.
A significant portion of Republican voters were the single issue “hold your nose” Trump voters who were able to vote for Biden with a clear conscience when ACB’s nomination was pushed through at the last minute. Why buy the cow when you can get a stacked SCOTUS for free? These voters who are socially conservative and fiscally ambivalent knew that between McConnell holding new legislation hostage and a judiciary branch firmly in their favor, Biden wouldn’t get much done, and he would certainly do less damage in neutral than his predecessor.
Unfortunately Ari, a lot of DC media is driven by FOX NEWS-drives me crazy. As for “GOP voters’ support for spending, changing minds in Congress?” Well, that depends on their ability to organize, to formulate one loud, consistent voice to push their Congress person(s). Congressional Republicans and their counterparts, are great at distractions and creating ire against individuals, opposed to debating issues. Their voters get lost in those traps. Meanwhile, Democrats become scattered and fail to paint a picture for GOP voters to show that all their party’s scare tactics and talk about Abortion, Hip-Hop, Teletubbies, Affirmative Action, Benghazi, Caravans, Birth certificates, Activist courts (that THEY did), Cancel Culture, and other such topics, didn’t increase their college enrollments, enable them to buy homes, increase their hourly wage, provide them with healthcare, nor make them whole or competitive in any way. Democrats never do the simple task of comparing and contrasting. It would be great if we could get the assistance of those GOP voters to influence their congressional body, but as always, it’s slim to none.
One pundit said the only way to get rid of obstructionist Congressional Republicans is to soundly defeat them in election after election. Schumer’s plan to vote on the voting rights bill is a good one because it tells the voters in each state and Congressional district how their representatives view voting rights. Their Democratic opponents can target them on this specific issue and other issues voted on by Congress. Such specific targeting should be able to diminish the power of current Congressional Republicans.
You probably know more about this than I do, but my understanding is that the Supreme Court struck down Article 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights bill because it did not apply uniformly to every state, rather, only to states that had de jure exclusionary voting laws ( I.e, Southern States). To me it seems rather simple to apply Article 5 to every state, which I understand is done by the “For the People Act”and the “John Lewis Act”.
I agree that the media has a huge responsibility to communicate all facts to its viewers and not just those facts championed by their viewing audience. It is time to put “outrage” aside and replace it with factual reasoning.
Congress is but one problem. The GOP state government is proving to be morally corrupt. It saddens me that we have not shown any true progress in the past 57 years. The Senate GOP has no moral compass and the house GOP is not far behind them.
No, I don't think the republican voters are having much effect on the GOP, it seems they have their own agenda, and that is to oppose Biden's plans for the country, they have put the welfare of the country on the back burner, they are obsessed with trying to insure that Biden fails, if he does nothing else he has already done more in five months than Trump did in four years, even with the opposition this country is still moving forward, not as fast as we would like it, but none the less. It is a repeat of the Obama years, he had to fight for every victory and so shall we continue the fight.
Any?, I'm not sure, but by and large, no. The present gestalt within the hierarchy of the GOP is one of a civil war that never ended, exacerbated by and emanating from the mishandling of Reconstruction. They have no use for democracy, desire for egalitarianism, concern or respect for their constituency. They believe in political domination by those who are 'worthy' with the "mudsills" going about their blissfully ignorant lives while driving the economy. The embodiment of evil.
It won't change the minds of Republicans in Congress who think they need Trump to win a primary, but hopefully Biden Republicans will vote those Senators and Congresspeople out in 2022 and the country can move on from Trump for good.
Being eternally optimistic, I think Republican constituents are going to start holding their representatives accountable for their actions other than just obstructing all Democratic ideas. I'm in Texas and the low grumbling on social media comments I've seen is why are our representatives passing purely partisan bills instead of addressing the power grid and ERCOT or property taxes? People get fed up with idealistic posturing and want some actual work to be accomplished. This may be a motivator to some of our incumbents to do their jobs or face the public and the next election cycle. I think seeing people behave like adults and try to work together might appeal to a few, but you have to start somewhere.
After they have suppressed voters rights and established their kleptocracy across this country, do they believe they can control the beast they will have created?