95 thoughts on “A Pitiful Display in New Hampshire

  1. What would be the timing of the most humiliating possible series of events for Haley to drop out and endorse Trump, clearing his path to re-nomination? Probably the morning after losing her home state to him. So that could be as long as a month from now.Report

    1. Call me contrarian, but if she really wanted to damage him, she’d run this out until a brokered convention dawns . . . and then the GOP elites would be forced to nakedly, publicly, do the dance they are all doing in private . . .Report

      1. You misunderstand me.

        What sequence of events would be most humiliating to Haley before she, too, debases herself by kissing Trump’s ring, as predicted in the OP?

        Haley will not embarrass Trump. She lacks the ability to do that, because she lacks the ability to command a majority of Republican primary voters in any state; she lacks the ability to gain a sufficient number of delegates to broker the convention.

        This despite her admittedly sensational resume, a remarkably good manner of delivery, and her status as the Republican’s most credible choice of a person who could actually be President. (Particularly given DeSantis’ showing as the updated version of Scott Walker.) She just isn’t Trump, and the GOP wants Trump.Report

      2. She’d probably run out of money well before then. It’s one thing to get the right wing money men to fund your long shot campaign to be a tax cutting placeholder for them. It’s another thing to ask them to fund your campaign that would potentially damage their actual tax cutting placeholders odds in the general.Report

        1. But she can probably raise enough to run staff if she avoids big TV buys. So she keeps doing the grunt work to be on all the ballots and depends on the mainstream media to keep mentioning her. We’re still ten months out and there’s a lot of legal proceedings against Trump. Something may be the breaking point (eg, if a bunch of evidence surfaces that he literally sold US security secrets to China, or the New York civil suit bankrupts him). It’s a long shot, but you can’t win if you don’t play the game.

          Recall the fairly regular headlines from 2012: “Romney Finishes 2nd in State X, Increases Delegate Lead.” Every time it looked like someone was going to make a run, it turned out they hadn’t done the paperwork and weren’t in the next couple of primaries.Report

  2. From Jake Sherman at Punchbowl News:

    NEWS from me &
    @bresreports
    in
    @PunchbowlNews
    PM:

    MCCONNELL told a closed meeting of Senate Republicans Wed that the politics of the border has flipped for Rs and cast doubt on linking Ukraine and border.

    “When we started this, the border united us and Ukraine divided us.”

    “The politics on this have changed,” McConnell then told his GOP colleagues.

    This is ALL about Trump.

    McConnell referred to Trump as “the nominee” and noted the former president wants to run his 2024 campaign centered on immigration. And the GOP leader said, “We don’t want to do anything to undermine him.”

    “We’re in a quandary,” McConnell added.

    We have the gameplan ahead of us.

    Abortion vs. Immigration. Until November.Report

      1. A few days ago the Supreme Court gave the Biden administration a 5-4 decision on an emergency application that allows the Feds to dismantle all the barriers and barbed wire Texas erected at Eagle Pass to deter refugees/migrants. Texas is responding by doubling down and putting up more barriers (cargo containers double stacked) and barbed wire.

        Texas is clearly trying to goad Biden into a military response and sees it as a heads we win/tails Biden loses situation. If Biden orders military response/arrest of Texan troops, it gives them permission to open/exchange fire and accuse Biden of having blood on his hands. Ruby Ridge II/Cliven Bundy II. Or they get a chance a jury nullification in Fed Courts in Texas. If Biden does not engage, they get to keep their barriers and Biden looks like a weaklingReport

              1. It shows no actual interest in doing something about the problem including when the something actually now on the table is almost entirely on Republican terms. What Texas is doing is theater.

                Think of it as renaming the elementary school from George Washington Elementary to Malcom X Decolonized Learning Center while 0% of the children meet reading proficiency standards.Report

              2. Texas is finally demanding the federal judiciary pay its bill after 40 Years of reworking by conservatives. And they are seeking to make democrats look weak and ineffective so as to force permanent minority rule in the US.Report

              3. If the migrants aren’t crossing at the obstructed part of the border (or merely crossing in significantly fewer numbers) but crossing at the unobstructed part, I think that a case can be made that a measurable part of the goal is meeting its milestone.Report

              4. I don’t think putting state law enforcement on a collision course with federal law enforcement is likely to reap much fruit, but I suppose that’s an open question.

                However my comment really boils down to asking where Abbott or the rest are when it comes to making the case for his own party to take a deal on the table? I feel like there’s a lot of contortion going on to give the benefit of the doubt to GOP theatrics that we would never give to Democrats on some other issue like, I dunno covid NPI or schools. Why would they rather defend putting up barbed wire for a photo op than taking yes for an answer at the level of government best suited to handle this?Report

              5. I think it will reap fruit.

                NOBODY is going like it. Sour persimmons will taste like pineapple rings with a maraschino cherry in the middle by comparison.

                But fruit we will have.Report

              6. So he can make a big spectacle of shipping a bunch of confused illegal aliens across the country but he can’t go banging down Chip Roy’s door demanding he and the Freedom Caucus vote yea on a total GOP win in Congress?Report

              7. Oh he can. He’s just choosing not to in the same way that Chip Roy is screaming at his colleagues for not accomplishing anything while obstructing them from accomplishing anything.Report

              8. I mean that the GOP has by all reports won major, major policy concessions at the federal level in exchange for aid to Ukraine and Israel, that a critical mass of them, including GOP reps from those states, have decided nevertheless they won’t vote for, lest it dampen interest in Trump’s key issue. I am saying if the governors actually cared about this problem putting pressure on their colleagues is where the focus would be. Instead we have this which at the end of the day will be just another stunt.Report

              9. I don’t know that this will end up as another stunt.

                I’m not an expert on the issue or the politics of it, but it seems that there’s a compromise deal promised every year that never passes. If the reports are true that there was a real deal to be made and the Republicans in Washington walked away from it, then it seems like a mistake for the governors to not press them on it.Report

              10. What concessions?

                I honestly haven’t seen (no do I think the article writers know) what concessions have been conceded.

                That said, it does seem as though R’s won’t sell out Trump’s key issue before the election.

                The negotiator in me says to use Trump as leverage to get even bigger concessions from Dems as you do the thing you want to do and slide the knife into DJT’s back.Report

              11. Based on reporting I am seeing basic contours are:

                -More money for enforcement and judges
                -Higher standard for asylum
                -expedited deportation
                -possibly hard caps on parole into the country while cases are pending

                All with no policy concessions from Democrats on people already here or are trying to get here. I’d add other links but this hits it in a nutshell.

                https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-immigration-deal-republicans-biden-border/Report

              12. Thanks to both.

                Still mostly a positioning doc for the public.

                Way at the bottom:
                “The White House and the small group of senators involved in the negotiations have agreed on some provisions, like [1] creating an authority to expel migrants [1a] when border agents record a spike in illegal crossings, [2] making asylum screenings harder to pass and [3] expanding the expedited removal process. But the [4] parole policy has continued to divide them, sources said.”

                That’s not nothing, but seriously, compare it to H.R. 2 and see what ‘Major’ concessions would look like.

                Here’s the thing… politically… if it’s really a Major Concession legislation, it really would hurt Trump and give Biden a great campaign position.

                But, if it’s ‘Major’ in the Ronald Reagan/George Bush Major sort of way, I bet Trump wins.

                I say, dig deep Dems and Rotary Club R’s… the pain of a strong border bill is offset by the pleasure of sticking the knife in Trump’s back.Report

              13. I’m on record as saying I don’t care about giving the GOP big concessions on immigration (meaning I’d give them) because a. I think it’s in our long term interest for Ukraine to stay in the fight and b. for exactly what you suggest, taking the wind out of the sails for Trump’s key issue going into the election.

                We all rely on the reporting though, and the latest is that they were quite close to something up until the Trump campaign stepped in pushing for no deal.

                Maybe the reporting is wrong or misleading but it’s what we have to go on at the moment.Report

              14. Agreed, we can only infer from what the press tells us.

                My point is that this only seems like ‘major concessions’ to reporters who think they are major concessions. My concern is that if those are the concessions, they aren’t major. Plus… the issue a Parole — which is dividing them — is Major.Report

              15. In addition to the governors of Oklahoma, Florida, Virginia, Arkansas, and South Dakota stating support for Texas, the states of Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming have reportedly sent resources to Texas to assist.

                Biden has to start shooting people now.

                Or, I suppose, change the subject to abortion, abortion, and abortion.Report

              16. A joint statement signed by 25 governors has been released:

                “President Biden and his Administration have left Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border. Instead of upholding the rule of law and securing the border, the Biden Administration has attacked and sued Texas for stepping up to protect American citizens from historic levels of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorists entering our country.

                “We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border. We do it in part because the Biden Administration is refusing to enforce immigration laws already on the books and is illegally allowing mass parole across America of migrants who entered our country illegally.

                “The authors of the U.S. Constitution made clear that in times like this, states have a right of self-defense, under Article 4, Section 4 and Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution. Because the Biden Administration has abdicated its constitutional compact duties to the states, Texas has every legal justification to protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation.”

                Signatories include: Governor Kay Ivey (AL), Governor Mike Dunleavy (AK), Governor Sarah Sanders (AR), Governor Ron DeSantis (FL), Governor Brian Kemp (GA), Governor Brad Little (ID), Governor Eric Holcomb (IN), Governor Kim Reynolds (IA), Governor Jeff Landry (LA), Governor Tate Reeves (MS), Governor Mike Parson (MO), Governor Greg Gianforte (MT), Governor Jim Pillen (NE), Governor Joe Lombardo (NV), Governor Chris Sununu (NH), Governor Doug Burgum (ND), Governor Mike DeWine (OH), Governor Kevin Stitt (OK), Governor Henry McMaster (SC), Governor Kristi Noem (SD), Governor Bill Lee (TN), Governor Spencer Cox (UT), Governor Glenn Youngkin (VA), Governor Jim Justice (WV), and Governor Mark Gordon (WY)

                Report

              17. Fentanyl and terrorists are the best they can come up with? This is laughable. You would think the fearmongering would wear thin after awhile, but apparently that side of the aisle has an endless appetite for it.Report

              18. Don’t take it at face value!

                Hell! Say it doesn’t exist! Say it doesn’t matter! Say that all of these guys should be shot! Call for Biden to shoot them! DARE SOMEONE TO DISAGREE WITH YOU!!!!

                It’s all good.Report

              19. Here’s the best play, Saul. “Are you still talking about that?”

                Here are screenshots of the front page of the New York Times, CNN, and MSNBC. I took these myself about 5 minutes ago.

                Check the screenshots that I took against the front pages yourself, if you want: NYT, CNN, MSNBC.

                Look for a mention of what the governors did.

                Play this the *EXACT* same way.

                “Why are you talking about something that doesn’t even matter?”Report

            1. An armed confrontation between state forces and federal forces or even a very vicious court battle in the Supreme Court as currently constituted are both playing into Abbot and the rights hands.

              It bears remembering that the voting population sits uncomfortably far to the right of the popular left consensus on immigration. The more you elevate this issue in the public eye the worse it gets unless you have some actual resolution you can impose- which we don’t.Report

              1. We’re in “Biden needs to send men with guns down there” territory at this point.

                And the dilemma is:

                1. If Biden sends men with guns down there, someone is likely to get shot
                2. If Biden fails to send men with guns down there, he will be the guy who failed to send men with guns down there after the court order

                Which of those would you prefer?

                If you see significant downsides to both, congrats. You’re now seeing the root of the problem.Report

              2. If I’m intended to read that as saying “Just as it is justified to shoot freeway blockers (or drive over them), Biden will be justified in sending men with guns down to shoot the Texas guys (as well as any others from other states who may be participating)”, then let me ask you:

                Do you think it will reflect negatively on Biden if he does not send people down there to shoot these guys?Report

              3. Biden already has men with guns down there. Called the Birder Patrol. Who should probably start arresting Texas guys with guns for obstructing federal law enforcement.Report

              4. I think that the argument is that they’re obstructing non-enforcement.

                But I’ll ask you the same question: Do you think it will reflect negatively on Biden if he does not start shooting these guys?Report

              5. The Border patrol is apprehending people crossing at places that are not official. They then take them to border facilities and process them. If those persons claim asylum they get sent down one path, where they are allowed to go free until their cases can be heard. Do you know how many of them then skip their hearings? 17%. And 96% of asylum seekers who are represented by an attorney show up for their hearings. These people want to be here and our system can’t let them in fast enough.

                As to the others, I find it laughable that both Biden and Obama have higher arrest and deportation rates are still dinged as not enforcing the laws. It’s a cool lie being told by the GOP because they don’t want to reform the system because it will weaken their political power.

                As to how Biden looks – the only thing making him look bad is that he keeps expecting the GOP to act like a governing party instead of a frat house.Report

              6. And the tendency of Republicans to shoot abortion providers?
                And their depraved indifference to human life?
                Or wage violent attempts to overthrow an election?
                Or shoot cops?

                Sure.Report

              7. SCOTUS just said that the Feds can’t be locked out of the Border area, and therefore they couldn’t be sued for cutting the barrier wire. No reasons were given.

                Is there another ruling I should be looking at too?Report

          1. I disagree strongly. Allowing state governments to openly defy federal supremacy and the federal government is a bad idea. They must be made to conform to lawful authority.Report

            1. ” Allowing state governments to openly defy federal supremacy and the federal government is a bad idea”

              In this paper we demonstrate why the practice of legalizing marijuana necessitates the Federal Government take over state and local police enforcement.Report

              1. I’ve also seen the comparison to the school in Little Rock.

                That governor was defying Federal Law!

                Just like the governors today are! I mean, I assume they are. Does anyone know what the Federal Law in question is?Report

              2. Sure, then you can double back to ‘sanctuary cities’ which have as their basis non-compliance with Federal Authorities on matters of Immigration.

                Turtles of non-compliance all the way down.

                What liberalism really needs is an authoritarian president who’s not afraid to do what’s right! Crush the Marijuana Dispensaries and arrest local govt employees who ignore Federal requests on Immigration enforcement.Report

              3. Sanctuary cities aren’t defying any law or court order.

                And no one is asking Texas state officials to cooperate with federal Border Patrol, just not stand in their way.

                A true comparison would be if Gavin Newsom directed California state police to physically block Border Patrol agents from carrying out raids.Report

              4. Sure, there’s your compromise then!

                Border patrol will be free to patrol the border in between the physical barriers and the border. They are also free to patrol the area outside the physical barriers.

                Meanwhile Texas employees will just go about their business maintaining the physical barriers at unauthorized crossings so as to encourage migrants to use the 50 authorized crossings for their safety and good order.

                And Border control continues to manage the authorized crossings according to Federal guidelines on immigration.

                It’s not like Abbot is physically blocking the authorized crossings.Report

              1. On the other hand if the Texas National Guard is filled with MAGATs that would openly defy a lawful order from a Democratic President, it is better to find this out now than on Election Day or later.Report

              2. No one should assume that. People generally join the National Guard for tuition assistance and to serve their communities.

                The more likely scenario is people standing around trying to figure out what they’re supposed to do on an ill defined mission they aren’t trained or equipped for.Report

          2. As usual I think you’re right. I’m not really sure what the parry to McConnell is here though. I’d do a deal too but if the Republicans have decided there is no deal no matter what I’m not sure what the Biden admin is supposed to do. I guess look into what unilateral executive action is available to maks a show of ‘getting serious about the border’ even if it doesn’t do anything on the long term policy front.Report

            1. I would, assuredly, focus all messaging on blasting out that the GOP is actively refusing and obstructing a border deal. That being said I also recognize that simply messaging is weak tea- but what can you do? More executive action is like struggling in quick sand- it just makes you sink deeper and compounds the problem.

              I think the main, concrete take away is that the Dems need to internalize that addressing immigration should be a huge priority the next time they take a trifecta. In the past the left has always avoided it because the far left and center left are badly divided on policy and no one on the left feels that strongly that it needs addressing as they view the status quos as tolerable.Report

              1. Until that trifecta includes a 60/40 split in the Senate there isn’t a damn thing the Dems can do. Getting rid of the filibuster rule ought to be job one.Report

              2. While Manchin and Sinema took most of the heat in public over not getting rid of the filibuster, I believe Angus King also said he would vote against such a move. I suspect there are a number of other Democrats who would vote against if it ever got that far.

                Being a Senator seems to endow them with a belief in complicated privileges for themselves and the body. To get the 17th Amendment through the Senate and sent to the states required being on the verge of calling a constitutional convention.Report

              3. I agree, Manchin and Sinema were simply the faces for this but the filibuster has been buckling and breaking despite that dynamic. It’s never been used as a universal impediment to all business like it has been used under McConnell and I think that innovation is going to burn it out like a car constantly floored to spin its wheels in the snow. Even Senators will eventually tire of it if it keeps being used in such a lop sided fashion to beat them over the head. It’ll only take a 50% vote to end it, and only once.Report

              4. I don’t know if I would use as strident language as Lee but I think there is a real danger in letting the GOP defy the Federal Courts this way. They tried it during the civil rights era and nationalizing their state guards largely caused them to fold.Report

      2. Yep. And the base will eat it up because they can’t think their way out of the morass GOP politicians have built.

        Trump’s federal trials can’t come soon enough and I hope at least one is televised.Report

  3. “Happily, with the same false, cringy over smile and talking hands”

    gosh, i wonder why don’t more women post hereReport

  4. I think sometime in the next few weeks, Nikki Haley will have a struggle session in which she admits her BadThink, and learns to love Donald Trump.Report

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