One in 8 Republicans think winning is more important than election rules
There are two schools of thought when considering Donald Trump’s efforts to retain power after the 2020 election.
One holds that Trump was simply pushing the boundaries of legality, squeezing through cracks or uncertainties in the process to effect a result that blocked Joe Biden’s inauguration. Some of those who think this is a fair description of what Trump and his allies attempted also think it was warranted, given baseless concerns about election fraud or illegalities. Others simply think it was a clever effort to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, like violating unwritten rules to win a sporting contest.
The other school of thought argues that Trump and his allies broke the law to subvert the transfer of power. This camp includes special counsel Jack Smith.
Once we overlap these groups with the Republican primary electorate, things get interesting. A lot of Republicans clearly think that Trump was simply working an angle, as he had done so many times in so many circumstances before. Others — clearly fewer — think that what he did was illegal. Some chunk of the likely 2024 primary electorate, though, sits in a weird position: agreeing that Trump broke the law in his efforts to remain president, but also supporting his bid to regain that position in January 2025.
On Wednesday, The Washington Post released data from a poll conducted by Ipsos in partnership with FiveThirtyEight. Included among the questions was one that teased out an aspect of the distinction drawn above: Would Republican primary voters rather have a party nominee who respected the rules and customs of elections … or one who would do whatever it takes to win?
About 13 percent chose the latter, 1 in 8. Nearly all the rest chose a nominee who respects those customs. But that means, given Trump’s position in the polls, that a significant portion of the group preferring a nominee who respects election rules also support Trump’s candidacy.
There are interesting patterns in the willingness of likely primary voters to endorse a candidate indifferent to the rules of running for office. Men say that they prefer a candidate who will do whatever it takes to win more than women. So do extremely conservative Republicans, a quarter of whom endorse a candidate who will set rules and customs to the side.
As the news-consumption habits of respondents shift toward the fringe, their support for ignoring election rules climbs. More than a fifth of those who get news from Newsmax, One America News and other right-wing outlets prefer candidates indifferent to election rules. Among those who watch network news, the percentage is far lower.
Republicans have used the electoral collage to overturn the popular vote twice in my life. I have no doubt they'll do anything they can to undermine a fair election. They can't win otherwise.
No, Republicans haven't "used" the electoral college to overturn the popular vote, that's just how our election system works. I'm all for getting rid of the electoral college, but until then, this is the system we're stuck with.
I mean, to split hairs here, republicans (democrats as well, they just never succeeded in an electoral over popular victory) intentionally target specific areas with campaigning and funds in order to "use" the electoral system to secure the w, so they have used it, but they've used it to overrule the popular vote, not overturn.
Altho depending on who you ask there was some fishy shit with Bush IIRC so that could be overturn. I don't know anything about that tho so no clue the veracity of that.
The point is, it's not cheating or doing anything nefarious—it's just intelligent strategy. Don't hate the party, hate the system.
The 2000 presidential election is different. Florida's vote tallies were contested because they were so close. There was a recount that was also vey close and ultimately the Florida supreme court made a ruling in favor of Bush and gave him Florida's electoral votes. This was all technically legal, but very unusual, and what made it even fishier was the fact that Bush's brother (Jeb Bush) was governor of Florida at the time. That's why a lot of liberals felt Bush "stole" that election.
Yes, the electoral system works in favor of republicans. Just like gerrymandering is technically illegal but nobody's going to do anything about it.
Popular vote has NEVER meant shit in this country, there was no popular vote to overturn because that not how elections are measured
"Land votes not people, this is a good system" oh okay.
No one has ever claimed it was a good system, it's a system designed to work perfectly for the wealthy and the politicians they own
That's also why the Senate exists, it represents the States which are a stand in for Nobility. It's based on the UKs house of lords and house of commons. Congress represents the
peasantspeople, while the Senate represents thenobilitystate.Because this system is rigged in favor of republicans.
*the system is rigged in favor of the duopoly
I’d say our voting method is rigged in favor of the duopoly, and the electoral college is rigged in favor of republicans.
7 in 8 prefer to lie.
It's just out of habit at this point
Bullshit it's 1 in 8.... It's like cockroaches you see one there's hundreds or thousands. I'd say it's a lot closer to 1:2 or 1:1.
They 'prefer' a candidate that respects the rules but will support anyone that they believe will beat the Democrats.
It's like saying, I'd prefer to win fair and square but I'm willing to cheat if playing by the rules doesn't work out.
Seems low
7 in 8 Republicans are liars.
No, that also seems low.
One in eight? Lol. One in eight are willing to admit it. Probably like 1/3-1/2 would go along with subverting democracy for "their team". We're talking about the party that's fine with the fact that they lose every popular vote and still manage to regularly get control of the government. Democracy is not important to them.
That goes up to almost 1 in 4 (23%) when you look at people who watch Newsmax and OAN
I’d believe 12 in 8 before I’d ever believe 1 in 8 give a shot about election rules. They just want to win. They don’t care about following rules. We’ve had this proven time and again.
that number seems low
7-in-8 are probably full of shit.
Fucking traitors.
I'd bet those numbers are much higher in actual life. 10s of millions of Republicans will happily vote for the coup leader the next time around.
Once again Republicans showing us how much they "love" America and freedom by telling us they hate the American people and democracy.
When it stops being politics and becomes a religion in and of itself...
I read, for what that's worth, that around 30% of any population would.be authoritarian..so that makes sense
"Election rules" are what govern democracy itself. Without them you don't have a free democracy.
So the headline should be changed to "One in 8 Republicans think winning is more important than democracy" and you can see where the problem lies.
If you don't like democracy, you can expatriate. That's your option. Beyond that, it's treason.
Emigrate. Don't sugar coat it. When they leave they will be immigrants in their new countries. Let them wrap their heads around it.
These are the people you see on YouTube losing their entire shit at their kids’ ball game.
Actions a speak louder than polls. Lol to 1/8.
Wow that's lower than I thought. Nice.
LOL, I'm suspicious that the number is that low. How many House Republicans actually supported the coup efforts with their actual votes in 2021? 147?
Seriously. Given the general level of intellect (or lack thereof) with these guys, I'd wager a good chunk didn't understand the question.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
One holds that Trump was simply pushing the boundaries of legality, squeezing through cracks or uncertainties in the process to effect a result that blocked Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Others simply think it was a clever effort to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, like violating unwritten rules to win a sporting contest.
Included among the questions was one that teased out an aspect of the distinction drawn above: Would Republican primary voters rather have a party nominee who respected the rules and customs of elections … or one who would do whatever it takes to win?
While that minority of the electorate who is indifferent to rules and customs is interesting, it’s probably more telling that so many Republicans express a preference for a rule-abiding candidate and also want Trump to be the 2024 nominee.
This group almost certainly falls into the first school of thought articulated at the beginning of this article, those who think Trump was pushing against the rules to retain power, without breaking them.
The former president and his allies have stoked this idea for years, in part recognizing that it is a preferable legal strategy to admitting that he’d broken the law.
The original article contains 761 words, the summary contains 198 words. Saved 74%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
These people are wrong on 91 counts.
The thing that scares me a lot more is the number that don't explicitly think that way, but will believe any story that says the election was stolen by Soros or whatever
Sounds like most SportsBall fans. As long as my team wins, whatever it takes.
Almost like people treat politics like a sport.
Go red team
1 in 8 Republicans need their citizenship revoked and to be airdropped somewhere in the Sahara.
I mean, they don't want to play by the rules, then why not suspend them just in scope of dealing with them? (I know it's not logical, hush it).
You don't need to go that far, just drop them 20 miles from any city or town in literally any terrain and most of them couldn't make it.
Honestly surprises me and gives hope.
Democrats are exactly the same.
In what way?
I think its obvious These are hit jobs. Obviously most people are tired of the status quo when it comes to politics and rules that only apply to certain people. Things Have to change and everyone knows it. If you think that last election was run by the rules youre not paying attention. thats the first of many examples.
Are we gonna collectively ignore that the DNC argued in court that they don't have to go by their own rules?
“What about the DNC?!”
People like this guy are the reason why Russian troll farms still get funding lol
Because Dems, as usual, try to call out republicans for the exact same things their party does, which they quietly ignore, and when it's pointed out they scream whataboutism and Russian bots
You know you could move to Russia and get paid for this, right? You don’t have to parrot their talking points for free
You see Russian everywhere dont you?!?!
I’m a simple man. I see people copy and pasting Russian troll farm comments, I call them out on it. Idk if you’re an unwitting victim or not… but you could be getting paid for what you’re doing
Then you are too simple to see that some people outside of your echo chamber don't hold the same neoliberal status quo protecting views. To liberals everything outside the authorized narrative is 'Russian,' who your party blames for everything when they should be blaming themselves for their ineptitude in governing
It's almost as if there's a difference between election fraud and playing dirty with selecting your own party's nominee.
They're both dirty, but ones not illegal in any way, shape, or form
Giving your constituents the illusion that their voice matters is a fraud
The existence of superdelegates was entirely public information long before that. It doesn't make it not shitty, but its not fraud.
I'm not talking anything about superdelegates, which is undemocratic, I'm talking about them arguing in court that they are a private corporation that do not have to follow their own rules or bylaws and that voters should not have any expectation of who they will select to be their primary candidate
Again, it's shitty, but not illegal. Not sure what else to tell you bud.
Except they are a private corporation. So is the RNC. We don't have any government ran or government supported political parties. It's not illegal to run for any political position without being affiliated with the DNC or RNC, but without them, one simply wouldn't gain enough traction.
Because voters are more concerned about being on a winning team then they care about doing what's right. The party thats FPTP can be changed based on votes, it doesn't have to be either right wing party.