Question21 As You May Know A Special Congressional Committee Is Investigating The Storming Of The Us Capitol That Occurred On January 6th And It Has Issued Several Subpoenas To Witnesses As Part Of Its Investigation Do You Want To Hear More Information About What Led To The Events Of That Day Or Do You Think Enough Is Already Known About What Led To The Events Of That Day
ADULTS..................................................... WHITE........ 4 YR COLL DEG Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes NoWant to hear more 40% 22% 59% 38% 38% 42% 57% 36%Enough already known 56 74 38 58 58 54 41 59DK/NA 4 3 3 4 4 5 3 5 AGE IN YRS.............. WHITE..... 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Men Wom Wht Blk HspWant to hear more 40% 37% 41% 42% 41% 45% 43% 34% 33%Enough already known 57 57 54 56 54 52 53 61 63DK/NA 3 6 5 2 5 3 4 5 5
Hey Democrats You Wanna Get Rid Of Trump Here’s How
Political and Pop Culture Analyst
Talk to any Democrat and two things are certain to be heard: I hate Donald Trump and were banking on Robert Mueller to take him down. While special prosecutor Muellers RussiaGate investigation may ultimately prove collusion and/or obstruction of justice, the very likelihood is that this Republican-controlled Congress is simply gonna say, Hey thanks Bob, well take it all under advisement…and then walk away and throw the file in the trash. So my advice to Democrats is simple: dont bank on Mueller, Congress or anyone but yourselves. Just vote. Voters have all the power.
The blue tsunami thats been crashing against special-election shorelines should give Democrats more than just hope. Its a very strong indicator of massive voter anger, enthusiasm and engagement, all of which could result in a landslide next November. Stunning victories in Washington, New Jersey, Virginia and Alabama have created sheer panic in the GOP. And even where Democrats lost, i.e. Kansas, Georgia and South Carolina, the margins have been shockingly small compared to prior elections, giving the left momentum in states where they normally wouldnt have a shot in hell. Even by conservative estimates, its already looking pretty bleak for the GOP and we still have another ten months of Crazytown.
Just think of the lefts overall campaign proposition:
…The Republican Party is the face of Donald Trump, Roy Moore and billionaires. The choice is yours…
Trumps Future: Nine Possibilities
As former President Donald Trumps second impeachment trial begins, it shines a light on a new reality: although its been nearly 100 days since Trump lost his re-election he is not going away, at least in the short term. What will become of Trump? Here are nine possible outcomes for Trumps futurethe first four possibilities keep him in the middle of national politics in the latter five, he would more likely fade away.
1. Leading the Trumpublican faction of the GOP
Over the course of four years as president, Trump masterfully consolidated Republican voters into a cult of personality. His hardcore supporters were willing to believe anything that left his lips, regardless of evidence to the contrary. They were willing to put their own lives at risk as he huddled them together at rallies and mocked those taking precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. They were willing to commit insurrection against their own government, all in his name and to support his lies about election malfeasance.
That non-trivial group of Republican and Republican-leaning voters is not going away, and they remain loyal not to the party but to Donald Trump. It remains to be seen exactly how large this group is, how much power they will wield in Republican primaries and whether a non-Trumpublican candidate can consolidate the remainder of the party.
2. Uniting MAGA to form a third party
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Question22 How Much Of The Responsibility If Any Do You Think Former President Trump Bears For The Storming Of The Us Capitol On January 6th: A Lot Some Not Much Or None At All
ADULTS..................................................... WHITE........ 4 YR COLL DEG Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes NoA lot 42% 5% 81% 36% 33% 50% 53% 27%Some 15 15 11 19 18 13 11 14Not much 13 21 1 17 16 10 14 18None at all 27 56 5 26 31 25 20 37DK/NA 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 4 AGE IN YRS.............. WHITE..... 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Men Wom Wht Blk HspA lot 39% 42% 42% 46% 28% 43% 36% 77% 42%Some 23 17 12 8 13 13 13 9 20Not much 13 10 13 16 20 14 17 2 12None at all 23 25 30 29 36 27 31 10 25DK/NA 2 5 2 1 4 3 4 1 1
Trumps Survival After Scandals
More than a year and a half since Trump left office, 58 percent of Americans hold an unfavorable view of him, according to this latest poll. That includes 89 percent of Democrats and 63 percent of independents. But 83 percent of Republicans say they still favor Trump, along with roughly a third of all Americans.
Trumps favorability among the GOP outpaces that of a handful of other Republicans who are considered potential rivals for a White House bid in 2024:
According to GOP strategist and conservative pollster Whit Ayres, most Republicans are also open to having a new candidate who carries less baggage than they believe Trump carries as their nominee in 2024.
It all depends on who the alternatives are, Ayres said. Most alternatives arent nationally known here.
Trumps political resilience is unlike anything else in U.S. presidential history, said Jeffrey Engel, who directs the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
As with everything with Donald Trump, history gives us no guide, Engel said.
One comparison is tough to ignore, though todays political dynamics are nearly opposite. In 1974, after an investigation uncovered that President Richard Nixons reelection campaign had bugged the phones at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, Nixon resigned in disgrace before he could be impeached. He retreated from public life and partially rebuilt his reputation in foreign policy during the decades that followed, Engel said.
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Question9 Overall Do You Think Donald Trump Has Had A Mainly Positive Or Mainly Negative Impact On
ADULTS..................................................... WHITE........ 4 YR COLL DEG Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes NoPositive 41% 84% 4% 45% 48% 35% 37% 58%Negative 51 9 94 47 44 58 60 36DK/NA 8 7 2 8 8 7 4 7 AGE IN YRS.............. WHITE..... 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Men Wom Wht Blk HspPositive 33% 36% 47% 49% 57% 45% 50% 12% 37%Negative 56 54 47 49 36 50 44 81 51DK/NA 11 9 6 3 7 5 6 7 12
Fmr Republican Gov Walker On Fbi Search Of Trumps Home: Its Outrageous
The unprecedented investigation into a former president one who is a likely candidate for his old job creates a labyrinthine set of political risks and opportunities for Biden and Trump. For Trump, the greatest threat is becoming toxic to voters because of an indictment or conviction. Biden has to walk a tightrope between partisans who want him to ensure that Trump is prosecuted and voters who may see such a move as an abuse of power that unfairly targets a political adversary.
Biden appears to have chosen the cautious and traditional route of letting Justice Department officials speak or act for themselves.Its not even Bidens style to use something the Justice Department does to his political advantage, said a source close to the White House who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Also Check: How Many Votes Did Trump Get In Florida
Question5 Is Your Opinion Of Donald Trump Favorable Unfavorable Or Haven’t You Heard Enough About Him
ADULTS..................................................... WHITE........ 4 YR COLL DEG Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes NoFavorable 39% 86% 3% 38% 43% 35% 32% 55%Unfavorable 52 10 91 49 46 57 63 35Hvn't hrd enough 5 2 4 6 5 4 2 4REFUSED 5 2 1 7 5 4 4 5 AGE IN YRS.............. WHITE..... 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Men Wom Wht Blk HspFavorable 26% 41% 45% 47% 52% 42% 47% 7% 38%Unfavorable 55 53 48 49 38 51 45 83 49Hvn't hrd enough 10 3 3 1 3 4 3 5 9REFUSED 8 4 4 2 6 3 5 5 4
Developments Following The 2016 Election
Although Trump’s campaign drew a substantial amount of criticism, Trump received 90 percent of the Republican vote, while Clinton won 89 percent of Democratic voters.
After Trump won the election, two Electoral College electors launched an effort to convince fellow electors who were allocated to Trump to vote against him.
On December 11, Jim Himes, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, wrote on that the Electoral College should not elect Trump: “We’re 5 wks from Inauguration & the President Elect is completely unhinged. The Electoral College must do what it was designed for”. In a December 12 interview on CNN‘s New Day, Himes said he was troubled by several actions by the President-elect. The issue that “pushed over the edge” was Trump’s criticism of the CIA and the intelligence community. The Congressman did admit Trump won “fair and square”, but he said that Trump proved himself unfit for public office. He cited the intentions behind the creation of the Electoral College and argued that it was created for an instance such as the election of Trump.
In the end, efforts to persuade more electors to vote against Trump ultimately failed and Trump won 304 electors on December 19. Trump’s electoral lead over Clinton even grew because a larger number of electors defected from her: Trump received 304 of his 306 pledged electors, Clinton 227 of her 232.
In a National Review article titled “Never Trump Nevermore”, Jonah Goldberg stated:
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Distrust Cuts Both Ways
Trumps antipathy toward the career federal workforce may have been sealed on Inauguration Day, after a National Park Service employee retweeted Twitter messages comparing crowd sizes at the 2017 ceremony with those of the 2008 inauguration of President Obama. The effect, not favorable to Trump, prompted the new president to phone acting NPS Director Michael Reynolds to complain that his crowd size was underplayed.
One can see how this might have informed Trumps impression of a deep state. Just six weeks later, Trump accused President Obama of wiretapping his conversations at Trump Tower in New York.
More than half of federal employees had said the previous October they would vote for Hillary Clinton, according to a Government Executive/Government Business Council survey. Just 34 percent were for Trump.
Campaign donations from federal employees for the 2016 cycle skewed toward Democrats, in some agencies by a factor of 10-to-1, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In recent months, the news media, which Trump often derides as fake, have published numerous essays and interviews with disgruntled federal employees, including one from a former State Department employee who accused Secretary Rex Tillerson of an inherent distrust of the State Department and career officers.
Who Is Following The Jan 6 Hearings
The hearings are unlikely to be a factor in shaping Republican views because most say they are paying little to no attention to the investigation. According to this latest poll, 58 percent of Americans said they were paying at least some attention to the hearings, while another 41 percent said they were paying little to no attention, including 56 percent of Republicans. Democrats are the most reliable audience for the Jan. 6 hearings, with 80 percent following along.
Its almost an article of faith for a Republican to say, Im not paying attention to this stuff, Ayres said.
READ MORE:Majority of Americans think Supreme Court overturning Roe was more about politics than law
No matter how earth-shattering these hearings are, there is also little to suggest they will inform the way people vote during the November midterms. In fact, only 9 percent of U.S. adults said it will be top of mind for them this fall, including 17 percent of Democrats and 2 percent of Republicans. A far larger share of Americans 37 percent said they care most about inflation, including 57 percent of Republicans and 42 percent of independents.
For Democrats, abortion ranked as the top concern. Following the Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade and the loss of federal protections for the medical procedure in June, 29 percent of Democrats and 18 percent of Americans overall picked abortion as what matters most to them.
Chart by Megan McGrew/PBS NewsHour
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Restrict Voting To One Day Using Paper Ballots
Trumps grievances over losing the 2020 election and baseless conspiracy theories about voter fraud have inspired Republican state lawmakers across the country to propose and adopt new voting restrictions. Trump has called for measures such as universal voter ID since disbanding in 2018 the commission he established to back up his false claim of millions of fraudulent votes costing him the 2016 popular vote.
Trump has recently added a demand for same-day voting using paper ballots. That should be our goal, he said at CPAC. The proposal echoes his false claims blaming mail ballots and electronic voting machines for his loss in 2020.
As president, Trump could not change the rules on his own. He could pressure Republican-led state legislatures to pass more restrictions, or he could push for action in Congress. Congress has the power to regulate elections under the Constitution, with past examples including the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Requiring everyone to vote on one day would upend elections across the country. Forty-six states and D.C. allow early in-person voting, and 35 and D.C. permit voting by mail without an excuse, including eight that automatically send mail ballots to voters, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Donald Devine Former Head Of The Office Of Personnel Management
During the Reagan transition, Elkins attended a meeting where political appointees spoke frankly about favoring industry, he told Government Executive. He was deeply committed to the programs mission, and the message from the new administration was disturbing. My first reaction was we cant lose this, Elkins said. But soon his thoughts turned to the 100 people who would lose their jobs at a time when he himself had two kids in college. He responded by setting up a clinic on resume writing. Soon most employees found jobs with the Navy or the Interior Department, where Elkins did a stint before eventually returning to EPA to work in other areas.
Burford feared the bureaucracy enough to compile an enemies list, recalled Elkins colleague Ed Hanley. He recalled being summoned by EPAs acting boss and handed a yellow buck slip with seven names, all career, with instructions that he should get on top of these people, or something vague and threatening like that, Hanley said.
It was left to Hanley to explain the limitations on firing career staff without cause. In the end, Burford signed off on some questionable personnel actions to get her people in, Hanley recalls, but ultimately Burford herself was fired and Reagan brought back the original EPA administrator William Ruckelshaus, whose tenure Hanley recalled as his best years at EPA.
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When Can We Stop Thinking About Trump Every Minute
The future looks quite different with the president in the rearview mirror.
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By Gail Collins and Bret Stephens
Ms. Collins and Mr. Stephens are opinion columnists. They converse every week.
Bret Stephens: Gail, we both need to spend December recovering from the dramas and traumas of 2020, so this will be our last conversation until 2021. Looking back on the year so far, do you feel more optimistic, or less, than you did when it began?
Gail Collins: Well gee, Bret. Any year in which we get rid of Donald Trump certainly cant be all bad. Its hard to get past the coronavirus pall, but Im gonna pin my hopes on a vaccine program that brings things under control by the time warm weather returns. And the new administration is in full swing.
How about you?
Bret: In January I predicted that Trump would win re-election. Ive never been so glad to be proved wrong. I also feel pretty good about the team Joe Biden is putting together. Janet Yellen isnt going to blow up the economy. Antony Blinken isnt going to blow up the free world. Alejandro Mayorkas isnt going to put kids in cages. All this promises to make 2021 better than 2020 purely by default.
Gail: Default works for me.
But the big heroes in Washington were still senators who could make bipartisan deals and keep things moving.
Bret: Ha!
Whats your verdict?
Bret: Touché.
‘contesting The 2020 Election’
What’s Trump’s key legacy?
Contesting a very constitutionally and numerically clear election victory by Joe Biden.
We’ve had plenty of really unpleasant transitions. Herbert Hoover was incredibly unpleasant about his loss, but he still rode in that car down Pennsylvania Avenue at inauguration. He didn’t talk to Franklin Roosevelt the whole time, but there still was a peaceful transfer of power.
Trump is a manifestation of political forces that have been in motion for a half century or more. A culmination of what was not only going on in the Republican party, but also the Democratic party and more broadly in American politics – a kind of disillusionment with government and institutions and expertise.
What else stands out to you?
Trump is exceptional in many ways, but one of the things that really makes him stand out is that he is one of the rare presidents who was elected without having held any elected office before.
Trump may go away, but there is this great frustration with the establishment, broadly defined. When you feel powerless, you vote for someone who’s promising to do everything differently and Trump indeed did that.
A presidency is also made by the people that the president appoints, and a great deal of experienced Republican hands were not invited to join the administration the first go round.
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