Ask Not What You Can Do for Trump’s Candidacy
New Jersey Republicans are going all in on RFK Jr.
A missive dispatched on Monday said the following:
“The NJGOP welcomes the thousands of RFK Jr. supporters into the Republican Party, and we are ready to ensure they all cast their votes this November.”
Republican excitement about RFK Jr. has been widespread since he gave up his campaign and endorsed Donald Trump last week.
A more cautionary note is that Kennedy’s polling numbers have been trending down, which is common for independent candidates as we get closer to an election. Many people do not want to vote for a candidate who has no chance of winning.
There is also some polling data that suggests he’s been drawing support from both Democrats and Republicans.
No matter, Republicans are enthused and we will see how that turns out.
The statement from the state Republican Committee included a message from RFK Jr. himself.
Interestingly, this was not mere boilerplate, but a rather perceptive take on the upcoming election.
Here’s how it began:
“The phrase ‘MAGA’ has troubled liberals who think it is a call for a return to an America before civil rights, gay rights, and women’s rights.”
That is exactly what many liberals and Democrats believe. Here’s an anecdote for you.
Years ago, I read a quote from a Baby Boomer supporter of Trump who said he wanted things to go back “to the way they used to be.”
That can mean a lot of things, but one not so wild interpretation is a desire to return to a 1960s world where there were few, if any, environmental safeguards, and there was open discrimination against minorities, gays and women.
That supposition certainly seems accurate when you consider the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
And judging from what I have seen and heard at Trump rallies, “going back” is what many MAGA adherents seem to want. For instance, there would be no debate about gay-themed books in school libraries if such books did not exist.
RFK Jr. offered another analysis. Here it is:
“But I have a more generous interpretation, one that is truer to my experience of Donald Trump as he is today. “Make America Great Again” recalls a nation brimming with vitality, with a can-do spirit, with hope and a belief in itself. It was an America that was beginning to confront its darker shadows, could acknowledge the injustice in its past and present, yet at the same time could celebrate its successes. It was a nation of broad prosperity, the world’s most vibrant middle class, and an idealistic belief (though not consistently applied) in freedom, justice, and democracy. It was a nation that led the world in innovation, productivity, and technology. And it was the healthiest country in the world. I have talked to many Trump supporters. I have talked with his inner circle. I have talked to the man himself. This is the America they want to restore.”
That is certainly a very idealistic take on the MAGA movement.
A more practical observation is, how many voters in New Jersey are going to buy it? With or without help from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
RFK’s views on the MAGA movement are completely at odds with what MAGA Republicans espoused at the RNC. The entire thing was doom and gloom and, honestly, Vance’s caricatures of people from the south and midwest are just sad and offensive. The Democratic convention offered a true message of hope.
MAGA is precisely the reason Republicans in NJ will not have a majority (and likely the governorship) any time soon. They have embraced a warped, backwards viewpopint and fealty to one deranged man (Trump). It’s F*cking weird and most New Jerseyans know that.
RFK Jr. is a mental pygmy.
Fred Snowflack is a Trumptard apologist.
The two of them deserve each other.
Hello Michael Schnackenberg,
You strike me as left of Center. So am I. Please take a deep breath and relax. Fred Snowflack is not a Trump apologist here. Please re-read what he wrote, paying careful attention to what he has placed in quotations, and who he is quoting.
The Trump Derangement Syndrome apparatchik is out in force again. Horatio says Republicans in NJ will not have a majority anytime soon (and likely the governorship) any time soon for following MAGA. Republicans haven’t had a majority in NJ for over 30 years. Wonder if the computer voting systems has anything to do with it, since Republicans in key races always seem to lose by 54-56, 55-45 or 56-44 percent. It’s the same every year. I couldn’t get those odds that good in Las Vegas.
Interesting to read in these comments that the deranged have spoken!
I pretty much agree, however, Cittarelli (apologies for the most likely bad spellling) did better than anyone thought he would, and Christie isn’t all that long ago…
Ship of Fools
The worm is speaking, and mourning the bear cub and beheaded whale. Listen carefully now. That is decay you hear, total MAGA rot.
The Democrat-Communists have nothing to impart other than personal ad hominem attacks. If they can prove what I said, then they should do so. Otherwise, they should STFU, and keep their mouths closed, or they’ll remove all doubt as the fools they are.
pygmy – Someone who is not important or has little skill.
RFK Jr. may have a more generous interpretation that is reminiscent to,” the way they used to be.” For some this is refreshing and beats listening to all the crazy vitriol.
What is neither small or lacking importance is a fair and open primary with debates, so that the voters can make the decision who they feel is the best candidate. And in a snap of a finger, the DNC orchestrated a coup of Biden and coronation of Harris all without a single vote.
Time will tell if this seemly undemocratic maneuver was a political plan thought up by masterminds or a political plan thought up by sophomoric pygmies.
Matthew Grau….that is the quote of the week .
BUT….deranged is an understatement!
I have been declared dumb by Thomas Jefferson.
To improve this deficiency, I have been reading his fact filled posts.
When reading response 9, I see an unfamiliar word…..
stfu, that must be difficult to pronounce
I google it………oops!
Visiting daughter arrives——What’s new?
I explain about Betsy Ross, Thomas Jefferson, 1776, etc.
AND the definition of my new vocabulary word.
I AM NOW GROUNDED FOR A MONTH!!!