On his Friday HBO show, Bill Maher addressed the few remaining “undecideds,” such as me, whom he called “those curious few, bisexuals of the political world.’
It’s OK. He’s a comic. I can take a joke.
Then he addressed people like me directly.
“You obviously don’t like Trump, or you’d be in that camp already, but you’re still torn.”
Yes, exactly.
“And I’m the guy who keeps saying, I get why. You wanted more reassurance that the Democrat isn’t going to go along with every aggressively anti-common sense idea that comes out of the woke mind virus, which, yes, is a thing.”
Bingo!
“And if she loses, that will be mainly why.”
He then did a few minutes trying to prove the economy is actually pretty good, but that’s wasted energy because too many Americans are spending too much on necessities. It’s a tough sell when 70% of Americans, including me, say America is on the wrong track, although my reasons might be different from most. For me, it gets back to Democrats’ constant and unnerving slide to the weird precincts of the Far Left, the world of gender politics, CRT, DEI, LatinX, and personal pronouns that don’t resonate with the average American.
Maher says things aren’t so bad, “but they might get a helluva worse under the rule of a mad king. Do I love everything about Kamala? No. Who told you you get to love everything? Do I wish she came up with a better reason to be president than ‘I’m not Trump’? Yeah.”
A liberal, but not a progressive, Maher says voting against Trump is still a pretty good reason.
For me, it has had been not good enough.
I question Kamala’s authenticity, specifically, her head-spinning reversal on almost every position she held during her train wreck run for president in 2019. Americans ran away from her extreme ideas like she was peddling Covid popsickles.
Am I supposed to believe she has sincerely changed on fracking, EV car mandates, ending ICE, Medicare for all, free transgender surgery for detained illegals, and much more? Am I supposed to believe the leopard has changed her spots?
Well, in my role as unpaid and unauthorized political consultant, I suggested exactly how she could do that. You can read it here.
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A week earlier, on ABC’s “This Week,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican foe of Trump’s, said he is where I am was: He won’t vote for Trump, but Kamala had not closed the sale with him. Why?
She’s squishy.
“What she has to do is directly answer the immigrant question. Answer it! They fumbled it at the beginning. Now she says she wants to get tougher, stronger, better on it…. She couldn’t answer the question on the wall, but here’s what you have to do when you’re a leader … if that’s what it takes to get things done, I’ll give them the wall.”
Illegal immigration has been a strong issue for me for almost two decades. Barack Obama did some serious deporting and enforcing, and Donald J. Trump finished the job, driving illegal immigration to near historic lows.
Following on his campaign promise, Joe Biden reversed Trump’s border enforcement, which resulted in an immediate explosion of illegal crossings. See for yourself
That was an unforced error, and illegal immigration — finally — became an important issue for Americans.
Smelling the coffee, as Christie said, Kamala now wants to curtail illegal immigration and, yes, promised some $650 million for construction of a wall, plus other border-enforcement enhancements.
I have written about my Kamala misgivings before, I have many friends tell me that a vote for a third party, or writing in the name of my wife or Nikki Haley (a nonwhite woman), is actually a vote for Trump. (Trump people say a third-party vote is actually a vote for Kamala.) No, it isn’t. It is a protest vote against both of them.
But Maher’s voice is in my head.
He shares my distaste for woke (I should say neo woke, to distinguish it from the old, good woke), and progressives, who are close-minded and driven by Left ideology, as opposed to liberals, who are open-minded, and sane.
I would prefer neither Kamala nor Trump as my president.
I felt the same in 2016, but I voted for Hillary believing she was both qualified and centrist, although very annoying.
I don’t believe Kamala is centrist. I know Trump is not centrist.
I have struggled with this choice for weeks, privately and publicly. One of my closest friends has said, in effect, if I don’t vote for Kamala we can’t be friends.
His first reaction, when I told him I was not sold on Kamala, was that I was sexist.
Classic knee-jerk, close-minded, identity-based Leftism. I calmly reminded him I had voted for Hillary. And I had voted for Barack, to close the “racism” door.
Maher again, on wokeism: “And if she loses, that will be mainly why.”
If Kamala’s loss would cause a restructuring of the Democratic Party into something more centrist and sane and middle class, that would be a good thing. But I can’t quite bring myself to root for that.
If Kamala’s victory would encourage the Squad and the anti-democratic, anti-Israel and (dare I say it?) anti-white male wing of the Democratic Party, that would be a bad thing. I can’t root for that, either.
A Trump victory would be worse. I want him to be gone. Not because he’s Hitler. He’s not. Not because he’s going to round up (fill in the blank) journalists, political enemies, gays, talk-show hosts, U.S. generals. He’s not. To me, he is an American abscess who generally sides with dictators over democracies, and offers four years of chaos abroad, and turmoil at home.
Reluctantly, hesitantly, without joy, I cast my vote for Kamala Harris. I hope she earns it. If not, next time, Nikki Haley.
You finish with, “I cast my vote for Kamala Harris.” But you don’t drop the mic because you wish you felt better. I am the same way, “I cast my vote for Donald Trump” and gently place the mic on the stool beside me. I wish I felt better.
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I can’t read you anymore since you voted for Kamala. HA ! Your ‘friend’ is like many on the left That’s the difference, if Kamala wins, I get up Wednesday and live my life If Trump wins, many people I know will be at their therapists office,
I see what you said was satire. The REAL peoblem with America is the extremists, Left and Right.
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Agreed “Friends”.
I also made the choice, and chose Trump.
Largest rationale: Mainly the people he is surrounding himself with.
If she wins, I hope for the best. If “OMB” wins, I’ve already had a few friends tell me the resistance begins and I won’t get a call from them for a while. (because I’m voting for him)
Gutless and disappointing.
Phil would you care to explain why you think it is gutless and disappointing?
I’ll do it for him…..it should be all about POLICIES, not whose gender or personalities. Whose POLICIES are best for America, not you personally, but for America. No sane person can tell me that Kamala’s policies, as you have indicated on the border, price controls (she wants to go after the ‘big corporations to lower food prices’, when she doesn’t even know that they presently average 1.6% margin, foreign policy- can you honestly think that giving Iran billions of dollars so they can try to bully the middle east (Israel), thank Obama for that, but I’m sure she would go along because she doesn’t have an original thought in her head, fracking/throwing American money are climate control as if they are God, and I could go on and on, but judge the candidates by their POLICIES. Trump’s policies bring prosperity to America….Kamala’s will destroy our country in short order. We will be a Marxist/Socialist country before she leaves office if she is elected. Chew on these realities before you cast an unqualified gender vote.
You sound like a smart man, now vote like it. BTW, if the POLICIES for each candidate was reversed, I would be voting for Kamala, even as dumb as I think she is personally.
I will bet I put more thought into my choice than you did in yours.
You win that bet Stu.
You made the correct decision Stu, although you will obviously will catch hell from the MAGAets here.
Stu have you noticed that the orange-skinned POS seems to becoming more and more mentally unglued?
You’re part of the problem, not the solution. Therapy is the answer.
The best solution, Steve, is to make sure the orange-skinned POS does not win.
that’s the best solution for you, most likely an elitist .. The American people are hurting from Harris/Biden .
You truly know nothing about me Steve.
Elitist, AND the village idiot. One of them, anyway.
So far, Stu has not “caught hell” from anyone. It’s unlikely he will.
Jim, I hope your are correct but based on what I have witnessed there are some zealots here, on both sides of the aisle, who have done that in the past.
Stu, you stated the reasoning for your decision and did it well. Good enough for me, everyone has their vote, that is what democracy is about.
Hey, Joe…apparently, based on some of the anti-Stu answers posted here today, democracy is as defined by those voting for tRUMP – NOT the kind you are logically referring to for the rest of us. That’s a shame.
I’ll take your arguments a step further Stu. Yes, I’m a Democrat with a strong disdain for the Progressive element of the party (I still just don’t like the term “woke”, even though it’s a thing). But I also have strong disdain, perhaps a bit stronger, for the MAGA element of the Republican Party, which has, for now, taken over most of it. I said in the spring, and I still claim today, if real Republicans, not MAGA extremists, would have regained control of their party, they would have nominated Nikki Haley, and she’d have my vote in a heartbeat. But I want Donald Trump as far away from the White House as I can get him, and if voting for Harris, flaws and all accomplishes that, it’ll have to be good enough for the time being. And I already cast my vote, in person, two weeks ago.
I voted for Trump. End of story
I understand your choice, and it will not affect our lifelong friendship.
Of course not. We are friends for life
I appreciate you referenced Bill Maher, as I consider myself a Bill Maher Democrat. Trump has been so stubborn in not asking Nikki Haley to campaign with him at least in PA where she did very well against him. Maher makes the case. As I tell my friends leaning Trump, the country can take four years of policy you might not agree with, but I do not think we can take a Trump Presidency with no competent guardrails. Just take note of his rhetoric this week, you want that for at least four years? Give Harris her four years to prove she has some centrist credentials while hopefully the GOP can come out of their eight year nightmare and return to the center/right party they once were.
The problem is that if Harris wins, we don’t ‘turn the page’ in ’28 We still have Harris/Biden/Obama running again and can’t have a reboot until ’32. Can we make it to ’32 ? The best thing for the country would be a Trump win and 2 fresh new young bodies in ’28.
I agree Trump Vance is the ticket.
In the 1944 presidential election, FDR dumped Wallace from the ticket because Wallace was too pro-Soviet. The beneficiary was the USA because Harry Truman was named VP on the ticket and assumed the presidency when FDR died. (Truman belongs in the top 5 of all US presidents in my opinion.) Now we are faced with two horrid individuals, either of whom may bring the nation to its knees if elected. So, my decision will be based on the same three reasons my Jewish friend Allan from Brooklyn stated to forcefully at our weekly poker game last week: Israel, Israel, and Israel.
And to correct a misunderstanding of why Allan hated the Brooklyn Dodgers: not because they moved to LA, but because they made the fans give back any foul ball that did not go into the stands. No kidding.
According to a recent poll, 2/3s of Israelis prefer Trump, but I am not an Israeli, and I am not a single issue voter. I believe U.S. support will continue under Kamala, but not S unquestioning as under Trump.
I also did not know about the Dodgers and foul balls.
Hey Vince, I have Harry at #1. A man amongst men. Hell, a group of liberal hippies who happened to be great musicians even wrote a song about him: Harry Truman – Chicago VIII 1975 (written by the great Robert Lamm). A very good tune.
Nit a Truman fan. After WW2 ended, he let the Euros take back their colonies from Japan (FDR said we’re not fighting this war to give them back their colonies). Truman let the French back into Vietnam, even though we supported Ho Chi Minh against the Japanese and flew in a medic to save his life). Truman also refused to give S. Korea heavy arms and left them off of our then security zone. How’d all that work out?
He was a great president, not a perfect president.
Is ANY president PERFECT?
Open borders, hundreds of thousands of Americans overdosing on drugs. High crime high prices high interest rates paying for wars that should have never happened. This is the country the democrats have given us the last 4 years and people are voting to continue this . What are you people thinking. I pray to god Harris is not elected.
No surprise here, Stu. Not from this loyal reader anyway. I respectfully disagree, however. No surprise there either. Love, Stude.
I have no problem with disagreement. I do have a problem with demonization, which you have not done.
Thank you so kindly for that comment. Greatly appreciated and cherished. Sincerely. If I were afforded a personal “theme-song,” it would be “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” by the late Joe Cocker. A beautiful number (and lyric).
I’m glad that you made the decision to vote for Harris. I too am not thrilled with her, but I strongly believe that another Trump administration would be a disaster for our country and humanity.
Yes, because the worst one was so bad.
Sad😒
Thank you for making a well informed, thoughtful decision in spite of your misgivings.
Well one Stu, logical as always. He could have secured the presidency by bringing Nikki Haley on board, but chose not to. She was getting a large amount of votes even after she had dropped out. That may end up being the final nail in his grave. I am a republican, but cannot vote for Trump as I believe he is dangerous. However, I think he ultimately gets slammed here if he doesn’t find a way to get Nikki Haley out today.
After these years of lack of leadership, weakness here and disasters abroad, fumbling, endless bad decisions, weird selections for his cabinet, (remember the Cabinet fellow in the lovely red AOC lipstick who stole ladies luggage for ladies underwear? ) and a whole lot of backward policy in the White House, and much overreaching in numerous Federal Departments and much underreaching in CIA, FBI, Secret Service and the military, too. Please recall that Biden was not anyones best choice as a Democrat to become president; recall he lost or dropped out of the presidential race 2 or 3 times before for revelations of plagiarism, he has always been a well known liar, and all manner of weak character issues. Biden’s reputation of corruption and backward policy thinking in Delaware for those decades as a senator ought to have kept him out of any other office.
Here is an interview a while ago with Victor Davis Hansen of the Hoover Institute that summarizes aspects I like about Trump. https://www.hoover.org/research/victor-davis-hanson-case-trump
Trump is a bit like a designer who looks at any complicated project with the attitude of how can I move this forward and make it better, bypassing the mistakes made before. As VHD notes above, Trump comes at all government issues as an outsider, and yet if he wins this election, he will have been inside, but not wedded to the stultifying, sand in the gears, DC culture to feel he has to respect it; so much of the DC governmental culture is overbearing bureaucracy and much too tax expensive and unproductive behavior needs to be reined in to strengthen the country. Trump has the best opportunity and demeanor and will to do that.
Yes, I would prefer better candidates from both parties; both parties are mired in their respective right and left end zones, Harris much more so than Trump. Thank heavens the Republicans finally got rid of Ronna Romney McDanials, former Chair of RNC and Gov. Romney’s daughter, who was a religiously strict anti-abortionist, the most suicidal party plank any party has ever embraced. Republicans lose many elections and millions and millions of votes on that one exceeding cruel plank. Why are they so stupid and stubborn about that one suicidal plank? Yet, that glaring and horrible flaw would not be enough to decide on a presidential candidate, at least for me; far more important issues for the country and for our allies,
The No Labels party, co-founded by a St. Andrews schoolmate, Adm. Denis Blair, invited prospects to be their Third Party candidate and none accepted. Last one they asked was Adm. William McRaven. No Labels was seeking to represent the majority of voters who are more or less comfortable with national and international policies which are between the 30 and 40 yard lines of policies, or more or less comfortable rationally debating those issues, not being locked away in either fortress end zone. Their thinking also believes that the majority of voters are annoyed, angry and frustrated with the DNC and the RNC myopic monopolies on selection of candidates, who no one really respects or wants as president.
I cannot find a reason to vote for Kamala; hand picked in a most unAmerican and undemocratic way essentially by Pelosi and her back room boys, the odious Schumer, too, as she gesticulates and warbles on and on about “saving democracy.” Pelosi has done everything legal, illegal and certainly unconstitutional to get rid of Trump for the last eight years. Some could say that a vote for Kamala is a vote for Pelosi’s 8 years of seditionist plotting against an elected president, Trump. Pelosi, to me, is the most despicable and corrupt person in our government after Biden.
I hear over and over that we need a female president. OK, Yes, but why not have one who is the best we can find; not one who is incoherent, does not appear to be very deep or even intelligent; also one whose employment record has too many secrets and failures. Maybe one who, as VP, had accomplished something, anything at all? Certainly not one who last time around as a presidential candidate dropped out because, competing openly and fairly against other plausible Democrats as Biden had also done, received not one endorsement, not one vote and no funding. Also, let us find a strong female candidate whose policies are not to the left of self avowed and proud Socialist Bernie Sanders, if we all want to protect and strengthen the USA and our allies.
Fundamental to me, leaving the lesser issues newspapers and the networks say are important about Harris’ candidacy, is that we are voting for a Commander in Chief in a tumultuous and increasingly dangerous world now. So much of what is written promoting Harris seems as though those promoting her are merely electing a high school class president without the responsibilities a president of the USA has. As I have seen Harris behave, I think she will be utterly squashed, humiliated, disrespected even more than Biden has been seen as a corrupt weakling, and she will be shunned by our allies and will certainly be taken full advantage of by our foreign enemies, to our colossal disadvantage. These are extremely important reasons to not have Harris in the White House in charge of policies nor as leader of our military.
The choice we all have in front of us, thanks to the inadequacies of the DNC, the conniving ways of Pelosi/Schumer and the RNC are quite unsatisfactory. However Trump is, to my way of wanting to protect the USA and to improve the Federal Gov., hands down better for our country than the gibbering, incoherent, Word Salad, left of Sanders, (and far too short!) Kamala Harris.
Before Biden was deposed, my vote would have been for the stronger of the VPs, since either Biden or Trump could die in office. Then, my vote would have been for JD Vance versus Harris, as the most credible person to step into the presidency. Since Harris is now the candidate, my vote would be, even more emphatically, for JD Vance versus the silly goose Walz, who, another weakling, lost control of his own state and major cities when the George Floyd rioters took over, who Harris selected for her VP. Can anyone imagine Walz in the White House? Keeping Walz out of the White House is another extremely compelling reason, of many, not to vote for Harris.
Perhaps irrelevant, but as a competitor, Trump has had everything legal, illegal, unconstitutional, seditionist, false dossiers, false Russian hoaxes, The Mueller Report, opportunist DAs, AGs, every main media newspaper and network, all their editors, the nasty fingers of Pelosi ripping up his State of The Union address like a school girl, with the two unconstitutional impeachments she initiated, and then her third world J6 Committee, two assassination attempts, several attempts to bankrupt him with “lawfare”…and he is still standing tall and ready to compete on the battlefield.
No one in our political life has even been so persecuted and prosecuted continuously, viciously with hate, smears and loathing with such venom by the DC culture, for at least eight years. That competitive resilience, backbone, strength and willingness to continue deserves some sort of respect.
My vote will be for a Commander in Chief for our country, not for a class president.
A tip. The longer you write, the less it is read.
You beat me to it. I was about to write the same thing. Two paragraphs in and I was done.
Ever notice that those who go on and on and on always say, “To make a long story short….”?
Same here. I did not even get to the end of the second paragraph.
Well said, Gardner. Those of us with an attention span read every word.
While I couldn’t convince you, I’m glad Bill Maher did. Too much at stake. Proud of you.
I voted Harris.
I have a lot of the same opinions as Maher. I find the MAGA extremism to be a lot worse than the Left’s more annoying culture war garbage. But the real reason I didn’t vote Trump is simply that I don’t want the leader of the USA to be an insulting, loudmouth asshole.
I don’t find the policy differences very compelling, and I don’t think anything will happen in 4 years’ time, irrespective of outcome, that can’t be changed down the road.
Regardless of who wins, if Congress is controlled by the opposite party, there will be gridlock for another four years. I cannot see either candidate being able to convince the opposition to go along with their proposed agenda.
You call it gridlock. I call it a brake. I like divided government.
The biggest problem facing our country is the division, polarization and mean spirited discord. Trump got elected by opening this Pandora’s Box. At this point, extremists from both sides are guilty. Hatred by leftists. Hatred by right wingers. Centrists getting bullied by both sides.
I hope whoever wins, whenever we find out, will try to be conciliatory. I don’t think Trump will even try. Kamala will try, or at least pretend to, but it may be hopeless. Unity in this country may be completely unattainable at this point.
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Tomorrow, I’ll be voting in person as I do every election – just to be sure that I can take into account any election eve info. My prayer – that whichever candidate becomes President will significantly out-perform expectations and fears.