"Old and quite weird": Democrats finally discover new effective attack — and Republicans hate it
After nearly a decade of being forced to take Trump seriously, Democrats increasingly call BS on the whole charade
Sure, Donald Trump is a threat to democracy — a would-be dictator on day one who has called for terminating the U.S. Constitution so he can hold onto power even after losing a free and fair election. But while draped in the rhetoric of populism, Trump and his MAGA movement are not actually popular; the man himself has never won more votes than the person he ran against, a majority of Americans twice rejecting him and his off-putting cult of personality. That he was ever president is more or less because a few thousand swing voters in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania thought it would be fun.
President Joe Biden won in 2020 largely by promising to a return to normalcy and baseline competency. In 2024, Democrats are making a similar argument but more forcibly: They’re pointing, laughing and dismissing Trump and his circus as a total freak show to which we can’t return.
Here's the thing. Biden hails from an era of politics where one would absolutely get lit up by the media for breaking decorum.
It's been a slow decline for some time, but the Republicans along with
their propaganda outletFox News have slowly changed the country's thermostat on this over the last few decades. Much like wearing a winter parka in the summer heat, maintaining complete and total political decorum in this climate is no longer a boon, it's a handicap. We all saw Biden take one heck of a beating while taking the high road and never really taking the (rage) bait to hit back in quite the same way. But while that approach is performing on virtue, the optics are one of a punching bag in the eyes of many crucial voters.So tactics have been changed, and boy have they ever.
What I appreciate about this approach is that it's actually very light-handed, considering all that could be done. It also looks downright polite compared to how much right-wing media has run with hyperbole and even outright fabrication. Yet running on the rather casual sounding observation of "old and weird" is generating actual results. It's also refreshing to loudly point out what we were all baffled about from the get-go: "Don't they know? I mean, they're seeing the same stuff we are, right?"
I welcome this new shift to "bless your heart" politics.
This is the equivalent of pointing out grammatical errors in an otherwise logically sound argument. This is not a positive development, it is a sign that things are continuing to get worse.
Not even a little. Trump is wrong about what the problems are, and proposes "solutions" to the non-problems that we know will make them worse.
Plus, he's old and weird, and he running mate might be young-ish, but double-weird instead.
Let me rephrase this.
This is like pointing out grammatical errors in both a logical/illogical argument.
You are either the person going 'neener neener you misspelled a word' to a person with a sound argument, or you're stooping to the level of an idiot to defeat an idiot.
If you cannot recognize why both are bad, I am not going to explain it to you.
Problem is you are pretending like the illogical argument didnt sit in office for 4 years.
No, I'm not, you're reading into what I've said and think you've got me because you don't understand what I'm (and by association, you're) talking about.
I'm sorry if you cant recognize the ridiculous strawman argument you put up, I'm not going to explain it to you.
Not a strawman lil guy, you just can't read. Actually, the only strawman placed is the one you propped up.
Hey cool, I unlocked the 'attempt to win an argument by attacking the other person because i have no real standing' part of the strawman. I wonder what happens next?
You suggested I propped up a strawman. I told you I didn't, and insulted you because this is how you want discourse to occur. Why exactly is it wrong here and not there?
Edit: two hours and I'm still waiting for an answer, I guess the hypocrisy of their words finally dawned on them. Good for them, even if it did take a little bit of coercing.
lol, remember just yesterday, when you complained about online discourse, while attacking people because you don't like what they said? this you?
or are we going to go with "disagreeing with me is insulting me"? I can flip to that page ahead of time if you like.
Sorry I don't live on fucking lemmy to respond to some troll throwing insults at a moments notice lmao.
I responded within minutes showcasing to you why what you're arguing for is wrong. You have, twice now, responded like a child.
Your opinion is not valuable on this topic, thank you for contributing.
All you've done is prop up a strawman and insult people and then act like insulting people is the highground lmao.
I'm glad that in your world time spent active on lemmy equates to being correct, lmao.
Fascists don't get civil debate. They get mocked, beaten, and ignored. If you don't understand why I call people that are involved with Project 2025 "weird", I'm not going to explain it to you, again.
The death of civil discourse, ladies and gentleman. Propagated by people who think they're doing the right thing. The same people who are responsible for the complete lack of civil discourse online, who would have thought?
It is, in fact, not at all the equivalent of that. Get your lab equipment tested.