GOP senators say there is less enthusiasm for former President Trump among Republican-leaning voters compared to 2016, a drop in voter energy that was apparent when only 15 percent of Iowa’s registered Republicans showed up for Monday’s caucuses.

Lawmakers acknowledge the weather was a factor behind the low turnout in Iowa but point to other signs of diminished enthusiasm for Trump, something that could hurt down-ballot Republican candidates in swing states.

Senate Republicans hope that Trump’s problems will be balanced by lower enthusiasm among Democrats for President Biden, though they expect Trump being atop the ticket will drive Democratic voters to the polls in large numbers.

Another concern among GOP senators is that Biden will have a big fundraising advantage over Trump, who is pouring his resources into his legal defense in the face of four criminal trials and two civil cases.

  • krashmo@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    What a fucking ridiculous situation it is when the fact that one of the front runners for the presidency is fighting 6 legal battles at once and the biggest concern from their party is that those battles will hinder his ability to fundraise for them. No concerns over character or fitness to lead, just money. Our society needs to hurry up and collapse because we are a cancer on this planet.

    • alvvayson@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Indeed.

      And you’d think the Republicans would get tired of losing after the third time.

      But it seems they really want to lose four elections with Trump.

      The problem is their base is just too crazy. Bernie bros still showed up to vote for Hilary and Joe.

      But the Trump maga crowd will not show up for anyone else, unless their cult leader is in charge.

      • silverbax@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I have wondered what the GOP will do when they lose again with Trump. If they do what they’ve done in the past, they will learn the wrong lessons and try to make up for it with more illegal power grabs.

        • Jaysyn@kbin.social
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          6 months ago

          The Capitol police will have their submachine guns & permission to use them next time.

      • krashmo@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        A distinction without meaning in my opinion. It doesn’t really matter what the exact percentages or causes are. The end result is the whole country taking the poison pill.

  • Atelopus-zeteki@kbin.run
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    6 months ago

    I dunno guys, I’ve kinda lost enthusiasm for the twice impeached, rapist, fraudster-in-chief, too. I have to admit, I didn’t have much to lose in the first place, so I didn’t even really notice the loss. I almost, but not quite, feel sorry for all his boot-lickers.

    • thorbot@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      You mean you don’t feel confident voting for a criminal rapist pathologically lying cheeto that’s filled with human feces who would happily sell out the country to impress foreign rulers for 5 minutes?

  • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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    6 months ago

    One day, I’ll be smiling for no apparent reason. Someone will ask me why and I’ll remind them that Donald J. Trump is dead. Then there will be two people smiling…

  • Wrench@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Well, maybe they should have publicly cut ties and impeached him on Jan 7th, instead of covering for him.

    He literally led a violent insurrection and attacked our democracy itself. And they still fell in line.

    It’s too late. You shit the bed, enjoy laying in it.

  • thefartographer@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    I’m just gonna say it: I think part of the reason there’s less energy than 2016 is because the president isn’t black.

    • athos77@kbin.social
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      6 months ago

      Obama wasn’t running in 2016. The real fear of the party of misogynists and racists was that, after having to endure 8 years of a black man in the White House, they might then have to endure listening to a woman.

      • thefartographer@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        I’m sure two things can be true at once, but considering that the party literally is powered by anger, I think they were invigorated by their rage of being led by a black person. On top of that, they had less fear about accidentally speaking out against the front-runner in a way that got them called “racists.”

        Remember when racists used to be scared of being identified? Those were almost ever so slightly better days…

      • ferralcat@monyet.cc
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        6 months ago

        I’m super curious if they nominated Haley how it would go, but democrats didn’t do much better. When there is a woman on the ballot the bar suddenly gets shot to the moon.

        • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          The GOP is also the party of die-hard misogynists. It’s part of the whole reactionary “remember how it used to be when people (non-white, non-male, non-cis/het, etc) knew their place?” GOP safe space for little minds.

          If Nikki Haley, by some miracle, actually topped the ticket it would split the GOP. Probably not down the middle, but by some lesser yet significant percent. These “never a woman” voters would not vote for a Dem, they’d just stay home.

          But IMO it would take a literal miracle for Nikki Haley to have any real chance at the presidency. There are too many conservatives of both genders, Trumpers and non-Trumpers alike, who will just as heartily reject a woman for the top spot as they ever did a black man, and even now only barely tolerate the idea of a female governor.

          So the RNC will let Haley run to use her resources and funds to clear out the field of lesser candidates, like they did Trump (never expecting he would win), but the party of troglodytes will never support her directly for the top job unless she just singlehandedly sweeps the field of all other candidates and leaves them no choice in it, which is not what’s happening.

          Note especially the absolute lack of condemnation and utter silence from the rest of the GOP on the topic of Trump’s recent cheap shots in her direction. They are openly racist, openly vile, beneath the dignity of ANY other US president in the last century. Yet I haven’t heard of a single word of censure from any of them about it, and to me that silence speaks volumes: Haley’s allowed to run to coalesce undecided support and thus make way for the real winner to emerge, and then she needs to depart the field without making a fuss once she has delivered that service to her party.

          My opinion, anyway.

  • cybersandwich@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Another concern among GOP senators is that Biden will have a big fundraising advantage over Trump, who is pouring his resources into his legal defense in the face of four criminal trials and two civil cases.

    Oh, they should be. I plan on donating quite a bit for the first time ever. I am planning on putting my money in the areas where it will make the biggest difference.

    I’ve never donated to anyone before. But I gonna make it rain on the Dems if he’s their nominee.

  • Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Not sure that the Iowa caucus turnout was only lack of enthusiasm. There was also a bad ice storm.

    That being said, even if there is lower enthusiasm than in 2016, it just has to be higher than Biden’s, and there’s still a big risk there.

  • slurpeesoforion@startrek.website
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    6 months ago

    There use to be a time in America when conmen, wife beaters, business cheats, and men unfaithful to their wives and family had the devil beaten out of them.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    6 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Lawmakers acknowledge the weather was a factor behind the low turnout in Iowa but point to other signs of diminished enthusiasm for Trump, something that could hurt down-ballot Republican candidates in swing states.

    Another concern among GOP senators is that Biden will have a big fundraising advantage over Trump, who is pouring his resources into his legal defense in the face of four criminal trials and two civil cases.

    A Colby College poll released Friday, for example, showed rural voters, one of Trump’s core constituencies, aren’t that excited about his candidacy.

    More troubling for Republican lawmakers, a CNN entrance poll for the Iowa GOP caucuses found that 31 percent of participants said Trump would not be fit for the presidency if convicted of a crime.

    Senate GOP leaders have agonized for months — or years, even — over Trump’s lack of appeal with independent and swing voters — especially suburban and college-educated women.

    Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and other Trump allies are hoping he wins New Hampshire by a large margin, which would likely knock Haley out of the race, so Republicans can begin coalescing behind a nominee sooner rather than later.


    The original article contains 1,330 words, the summary contains 189 words. Saved 86%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!