velo

july 27 1794 - sept 7 1936
professional Casa Bonita speedrunner

[Ron DeSantis @RonDeSantis]

Abolishing the electoral college would mean not knowing who won the presidency for 4 weeks while California keeps counting. No thanks.

[Mike Benz @MikeBenzCyber]

Laura Loomer is two weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon.

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@doomernat22 No, the closest was a poison pill proposal. Miller has always opposed it whenever given more choice (eg vs gang of 8 with Sessions, 2017 daca termination, gang of 6 in 2018, dignity act this term)

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@ObamaGarak @cvmonakow @AccolonsMetal he was entirely wrong on immigration policy and continues to deceive his viewers about it, countless others saw iran coming

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@marcthiessen @JDVance delete your account

[Megyn Kelly @megynkelly]

Since some ppl are blatantly lying about this fact: 74% said the Iran war was either “crucial” or “a major factor” in their vote. 3/4ths of the electorate. Don’t be gaslit by humiliated warmongers.

[JD Vance @JDVance]

One of the things the data analysts on our side obsessed over was "composition"—whether the electorate looked close enough to 2024 for Republicans to win. And despite polls that showed a Democrat blowout, the data kept on telling us the same story: in some states turnout was merely OK, in other states it was downright amazing, and in no state was it catastrophic. There was a genuine sense of optimism on our team: our people were showing up.

So, I asked the smartest data guy I know, does that mean we're going to shock the world? "No," he told me. "We might do better than the polls suggest. But the data is telling us that a lot of Trump/Vance 2024 voters are pissed and planning to vote for the other guys. Our voters are turning out, but they may not vote for us."

Well, that looks prophetic now. Our voters did show up. In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026.

There will be a lot of infighting and arguing over what happened and why that is. One of the pollsters I really respect told me that our economic messaging wasn’t sharp enough down the stretch. I’m sure that’s true.

But the real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone.

Another pollster—one of the smartest people I know in politics, told me yesterday we’d lose the generic ballot by 13 points. I felt negative going into Tuesday, but even I was shocked by this. In his polling, he saw that a lot of Trump 2024 voters were angry and planning to vote for Democrats. He asked those voters who had abandoned us what would cause them to come back on our team. The top four answers, accounting for nearly all of the responses were:

1) End the war
2) Focus on cost of living/inflation
3) Put America First
4) Change our relationship to Israel

Our voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats. This is according to a pollster who nailed the results. While many spent Monday attacking Rachel Campos Duffy for calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, it turns out her political advice was sound. (She’s also a great person.)

In the next few months, there's going to be a lot of gaslighting. Expect to hear any number of establishment politicians say the solution to our woes is amnesty. I'm open to the idea that we should change enforcement—by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance. But anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you.

The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.

If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that's at least honest.

But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.

I remain hopeful about our country. To the people who are pissed off and want to say, “I told you so”: you’re right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be. Let’s take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country.

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@Ital0hh @Pax_Bisonica_ @ChudInwards Cato is pro-immigration

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@saturnine_grace maybe you should kill these thoughts instead of posting them

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@apographe wayback is oddly obstructive at times: https://t.co/OGWANvBKCW

https://t.co/FNXcP53J82

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@Shiftant it's more due to religion drawing more otherwise-liberals right on a handful of issues than an independent moderating effect

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@ABorlandFan88 pretty suspicious of dm screenshots in general and doubly when people dump them in public rather than reaching out directly

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@blancmontagnard reminiscent of this thread https://t.co/A3eUkbRBEy

[Yeerk.P 🦆 @PYeerk]

I think in the final analysis the millennial sensibility comes out of the conviction that total passivity is the only ethical life

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@ABorlandFan88 these guys are walking into the same trap as women who spend their adulthood desperately trying to relive the excitement of being young and beautiful

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@blancmontagnard has bap ever offered a direct critique of standard "trad" positions besides just equivocating between these and being david french?

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@ReforgedSwordo "what young men want/do/think" talk is entirely a stand-in for whatever the author wants at this point

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@JamesSurowiecki @LostViking86 @politicalmath Are we supposed to believe that your sincerity handwringing was restricted to prolifers who only think doctors and not women should be charged

[velo @_the_redbaron]

@whyvert most modern reactionary authors (haller, leo, de maistre) would be good examples to fill in the left side