How the Republicans can win in 2024 (part 1)

It would appear that no one fools with blogs these days. I haven't updated this one in over five years, in fact, and no one has noticed (I didn't even realize that sad fact until a few moments ago). So, it's safe to say that I can rant to a nonexistent audience. Fair enough.

So, the 2022 midterms are over and what have we learned? We know that Joe Biden is about as popular as anal warts (have a look at his pitiful approval rating over at 538 if you want proof) so it would seem the GOP was poised to crush Democrats in the midterms, right?

Well, that didn't happen.

Why?

Simply put, it appears that certain voters hate Republicans enough to vote for anyone running against them. There are two races that stand as evidence of that -- the senate race in Pennsylvania and the governor's race in Arizona.

Now, Pennsylvania was particularly eye-opening. While it's true that Republican Mehmet Oz isn't a great candidate, he ran against John Fetterman -- a shuffling goon with brain damage who has trouble forming a complete sentence. Does anyone believe that voters enthusiastically lined up to vote for a lummox who is more likely to show up in a hoodie and drool on the Senate floor than introduce any meaningful legislation for the people of Pennsylvania?

Nope. They didn't vote for Fetterman -- they voted against Oz.

As for Arizona, Republican Kari Lake faced off against Democrat Katie Hobbs. That is a particularly revealing race because Lake is an intelligent, well spoken individual while Hobbs is analogous to the color tan -- she's not particularly offensive, but she's not terribly bright or engaging, either. To make matters worse, she gives of a "cat lady" vibe and her voice is like nails on a blackboard. It's hard to believe that people would actually go out and vote for her -- people simply chose to vote against Lake.

It's safe to say that Republicans have an image problem that cost them the midterms and could cost them the presidency in 2024 unless they make some changes. And, yes -- I, the great Hawg, am here to advise the GOP on a few things it can do to appeal to voters and stop losing to horrible candidates like Fetterman and Hobbs. I'll do this in several parts and will add posts when I damn well feel like it.

Step 1: Get Rid of Trump

Don't get me wrong. I voted for Trump twice. If he gets the nomination in 2024, I'll vote for him for president. However, sticking with the Trumpster is a great way to see that Joe Biden or one of his surrogates wins the presidency in 2024. I've had enough of high gas prices, inflation, reckless spending and the other maladies inflicted on the international embarrassment that is Joe Biden. So, no thanks.

Here's the thing about Trump -- his approval was almost as bad as Biden's. That is just a fact and one can easily compare numbers on the aforementioned 538. Sticking with the guy is a recipe for failure. Consider this -- Democrats realize how much Americans hate Biden and there are calls for him to not run in 2024. Why on earth would the GOP rally behind a candidate who is almost as hated as the slug that is in the White House right now? That just makes no sense.

Want more proof of the public's negative reaction to Trump? He endorsed Mehmet Oz who -- as I've discussed -- lost to a lunkhead. He also endorsed Lake who, yes, struggled with the personification of the color tan. There are races around the nation where Trump was more of a hindrance than a help. Just look them up and one thing becomes clear -- the red wave was stopped and Trump was the dam.

I'll argue all day long that Trump was a better president than Biden. However, that doesn't matter. The Democrats have painted him as an insurrection-promoting fascist and that has worked for them. After all, all the Democrats couldn't tout their successes during the midterms because their haven't been any -- they could, however, declare that "Democracy was on the ballot" and that nonsense worked.

Hillary Clinton is a bitter old crone

I was reading this article earlier this evening in which the author reported that prominent Democrats weren't yet endorsing Hillary Clinton.

Is there anyone out there who really wonders why people aren't lining up to support Clinton? The answer is pretty simple -- the woman is a bitter, old crone with about as much personality as a table. Think of it -- the woman has no emotional warmth, she cackles rather than laughs and one really doesn't have to use too much imagination to imagine her trying to coax children into her gingerbread house so she can toss them in an oven.

Clinton had better hope people stop their analysis of her right about the time they decide she is an old crone because a further examination of her is even less flattering. What has she achieved, really, other than endure her husband and his philandering ways instead of shooting him? Not much. She failed as a secretary of state, her attempts to reform healthcare in the 1990s failed and were treated more like the busy work her husband gave her to shut her up for a year or so and her time as a New York senator didn't generate anything of note.

So, she's having trouble getting prominent Democrats excited. That's no shock. She'll probably have trouble getting voters excited, and I can't help but think she's about to find a way to win the Democratic presidential nomination only to get whipped like a rented mule by Donald Trump and whomever he picks as a running mate.

I have just one request of the old crone -- never step foot in my beloved Arkansas again. She cultivated a reputation for hating all of us unworthy rubes in the Natural State when she was forced to live here, so sticking to more "enlightened" areas should be a breeze for her.

Why I'm voting for Trump and you should consider it, too

Yeah, I know. Donald Trump is as blunt as a crowbar and, by this point, may have said something to offend a majority of people in the United States.

But, so what?

Here's the thing about Trump -- love him or hate him, he could lay the template for politicians to follow in the future. That is, ultimately, a good thing.

Why? Think about how the political process works right now. Special interests buy and sell elected officials who are supposed to be representing us voters and the result has been the wreck of a government that we have right now. Banks darn near bankrupted the country through irresponsible lending a few years ago and they had enough pull to convince the government to bail them out. That's right -- they ran through our money and got more from the government thanks to their influence. That's just great.

Want another example? How about bankruptcy reform? Citibank managed to buy some legislation that Bill Clinton had the good sense to veto twice, only to have George W. Bush rubber stamp that horrible reform legislation as soon as it hit his desk. The result? It's a lot harder to file for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy than it was before 2005, meaning consumers get dumped into Chapter 13 cases and wind up paying back a lot of their debt.

That sounds like a good thing until you realize that credit card companies such as Citibank lost a lot of unsecured debt in Chapter 7. That was the reason, the credit card industry told us, that interest rates were so high. Advancing credit to everyone with a pulse, seemingly, was risky. You'll notice that the reform that the credit card industry bought shoved more money in their pockets but interest rates haven't dropped. And, of course, their reckless lending practices continue unabated. In other words, they are as irresponsible as they were before bankruptcy reform, but they're making more money and are hitting consumers as hard as ever.

You can thank lobbying for that sad state of affairs and a whole lot more. Heck, we can't even address terrorism in rational ways anymore because groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations will get bent out of shape and there's a group that has been amassing power like crazy as of late.

But, what does all of this have to do with Donald Trump? He is the one candidate out there who has a shot of winning and isn't in the pockets of a bunch of special interests who think the government exists to get stuff for them. I'd rather have a loudmouth who shoots from the hip like Trump than a puppet like Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton any day of the week.

And the fact that the establishment Republicans hate Trump so much makes me like the man even more. Want to know why GOP leadership dislikes Trump so much? Because he can't be bought and that terrifies them. If you want to see the lengths they'll go to to deny him the Republican nomination, just read this Washington Examiner article and pay particular attention to how little special interests care about what's good for the country or for us poor slobs who happen to live here.

And, then, ask yourself one question -- what's more offensive? A loudmouth who says what he thinks or a politician who panders to you for your vote but will jump whichever way his donors pull his strings? Love Trump or hate him, wouldn't it be great if he kicked off a trend in which what we voters want actually mattered to people who beg us for our votes?

I'll pay Trump $50 to punch Bush in the mouth

I don't know about anyone else, but I've grown tired of Jeb Bush.

Ole Jeb has decided he wants to be the president. He calls himself a Republican even though he's not a whole lot different than Hillary Clinton (well, he's more effeminate than Hillary, but that's another story). Ole Jeb has also decided to ridicule Donald Trump (the guy whipping Jeb like a rented mule in the polls right now, remember?)

I've got a proposal that we can all get behind. It doesn't matter if you are a Democrat, Republican, socialist, Nazi or bomb-toting ISIS member -- I'm willing to bet you'd support an effort to put Donald Trump in a position to punch Jeb Bush right in the mouth.

To that end, I will offer a whopping $50 to Donald Trump if he will punch Jeb right in the mouth. And I mean, I want to see a busted lip, a fair amount of blood, and Bush crying like a miserable sissy.

So, how about it Donald? You know you want to punch Jeb Bush, so why not act on that urge and get $50 in the process? That's a heck of a deal!