Was a long time listener when you hosted your WTMJ talk show back when you endorsed RonJon. I’ve voted for him twice. Never again. Not Congressman Fitzgerald either, although he’s not as nuts as RonJon. AND certainly no Trumpers ever again. I’ve just started reading Bulwark as a subscriber. I subscribe to The Dispatch too and read National Review regularly. Used to have a Weekly Standard subscription. Thanks to your group and Steve and Jonah’s group and a few others I think I’m getting a better take on things. I started curtailing my Fox watching a year ago or longer and have virtually wiped them from my consciousness now.
Charlie, sadly you are right about Senator Ron Johnson could win re-election. My party, the Democrats, are consistently commenting own goals that help Republicans. I am center-left, and I wish the Democrats would listen to you, Tom Nichols, and AB Stoddard in her piece a weeks ago in the Bulwark.
My party, the Democrats, are just plain terrible in politics.
A slightly off-topic point comes to mind watching that clip of Jake Tapper interviewing Eric Adams. We get a lot of whataboutism from the Right when we complain about Fox News. They'd like to portray CNN and MSNBC as just as hopelessly biased and dishonest. But here is Tapper asking a Democratic mayor some tough questions about a policy that will be a favourite of Democrat progressives. And it's not a one-off - I see Tapper and some others on CNN doing this all the time. Would a Fox interviewer ever challenge a Republican official the same way about a policy that was popular with the MAGAs? I think at least one network is still trying to do some real journalism and the other is not.
Charlie, you might be politically homeless but that doesn't mean you're a bystander in Wisconsin politics. Why not throw in with Sarah Godlewski (or the candidate you think has the best chance to beat Johnson)? I'm sure it's not *that* simple or straightforward to just sidle on up to the WI Democratic Party but this is kind of where the rubber meets the road in terms of getting these charlatans out of office, right?
Charlie's worst nightmare: Ron Johnson running for reelection. Which means daily reminders of Charlie's worst political sin. What's Charlie's favorite drink and where can I send a bottle as a sign that all is forgiven?
So, let me say this. I think you both have a great read on the issue and yet are missing the issue entirely. You understand that RonJon likely has a great opportunity to win reelection, because the GOP wants its crazy straight. On the other side though, I think the issue with democrats is that they speak a language no one else does.
Let me explain. The 'rooted in sexism, misogyny, and racism' thing is talking about how most public school teachers, and public schools, are staffed by women and poc. The places that will suffer from keeping them open are the places that always suffer: lower income, inner city schools. Of course, this leaves out that this will be true even if you close them. But the tradeoff is this: if you keep them open, you're exposing teachers and children to a deadly disease, who might then bring it back to their parents. If you close them, you're denying them access to things like food and education. The message they're trying to send is 'the people who are demanding schools be open are not the ones most at risk to die of this disease.' And it's not like teachers are easy to replace either.
On the matter of new york, I agree that it's better for citizens to be the ones voting. But, one thing that isn't as obvious is that, like with the census, this doesn't really represent the people who actually live there, which creates a sort of trickle down effect where the places that need representing most don't get it. It's what happens when you try to solve a human problem with a bureaucratic solution; you suddenly start needing a lot more money to fix something rather than leave it as is. That doesn't make it good. But it's also reality.
The issue with the democrats, I think, is that there's a catch 22. You can't win running 'center' candidates, because the democratic base won't vote for them. That's because the current 'center' is Jeb Bush. The right has moved so far right that the 'center' is now essentially what was considered hard conservative twenty years ago. And that's not going to fly. If you want democrats to turn out, you need democrats to run. And that means you can't be looking for 'centrists' who are now essentially members of the GOP.
But I also disagree with the idea that trying to be more like your opponent is good politics. We have a two party system so both parties can produce different versions of what they want the future to look like, and the voters can then choose between them. Trying to win by making both parties look the same only results in people thinking that the parties ARE the same, and that leads them to do things like vote for Trump and RonJon. Why? Because they go 'well, everyone seems the same and it doesn't matter, this guy is different!'
The very reason the idea of the 'swamp' resonates is because since Clinton the parties have tried to be the same. That's not what voters want, and it's not the point of a two party system. The point is to have two different visions, and to have voters choose. You're never going to find a democrat that's going to out GOP a member of the GOP. And you won't see Jeb Bush running as a democrat because of it.
Trump and Obama proved that the way you win is by turning out lots of people for your message. If your message is 'well, I'm a less interesting version of the other guy' you're going to lose. There are not enough imaginary 'swing' voters to make up the difference if the base won't vote.
It is inconceivable to me that clear thinking Americans who want to be represented in Congress at any level would consider Ron Johnson worthy of their vote. He is an insult to intelligence and an embarrassment to America.
"Johnson’s nutjobbery ranges from his various takes on the “deep state” and the January 6th insurrection, to his musings on the efficacy of modern medicine vs. God. (“Why do we think that we can create something better than God in terms of combating disease?” Johnson said, ignoring the progress of medical science since the 12th century.)"
There is an opening here that Democrats would be wise to exploit in there efforts to win more religiously minded voters. The theological point is that there is no war between God and modern medicine. Modern medicine should be seen as God's instrument in combating disease. Giving God the credit will expose the anti-vaxxers as heretics, a message that the solid majority that have been vaccinated will be receptive to.
Dear Charlie, I've been listening to you since 2015 and I'm grateful to you and the Bulwark for what you're doing. Last night I listened to you and Tom Nichols and I had to turn you off. The dominant theme of your discussion was the lack of coalition by the Dems. I don't disagree but where are the Republicans? Last year I remember you, Tom, Sarah and JVL and other saying that Biden should focus on voting rights because Republicans could get on board with voting rights. You all agreed! You gave me hope at that time that maybe voting rights would pave the way for a political coalition to protect our votes and save our democracy. Where are they now? Where are those Republicans who you at the Bullwark were so sure would temporarily ally with Dems to protect voting rights? There aren't any. You talk about a lack of coalition in the Democratic party and I agree. They're exhausting but Republicans are the party of obstruction. They have been for 13 years. They obstructed healthcare and got nothing done on infrastructure because they do not coalesce on any idea coming from Democrats. They do not work in good faith on any issue not matter how important it is and even when it comes to saving our democracy. I'm losing faith.
There is what can be described as a mass retirement of House Democrats announced. Most of these retirements are established moderates.
The way I see it, the old Democrat establishment sold their souls to the radical left agenda... but really never fully adopted it. They knew they needed the younger vote, and thus virtue signaled support for the AOC mindset even though it was inauthentic (aka a lie).
Lying always catches up. You cannot maintain a fake act forever, even with all that mainstream corporate media cover.
And the other related problem is that the radical left agenda is despised by the majority of American voters. As the polls start to reflect this, the Democrats are stuck walking the razors edge of appearing to support the radical left while also appealing to the moderate center.
The lie is unraveling... as all lies generally do eventually.
And so the radical left will fill some of those seats, and Republicans will fill the others. And the radical left will continue to demonstrate that the Democrat dog food is more and more unpalatable... hence further destroying the brand of Democrat and conceding more power to the GOP.
And in the end the lesson that should be learned... authenticity is a much better political strategy than is putting up a false front trying to make friends with the devil.
I don't care if RonJon is going up against a ham sandwich. Him winning is not a sign of the "bad" Dem challanger but a sign of the bad people voting RonJon in. Sorry, that is the truth.
I read Miller's entire piece, and it's just a funhouse mirror over there in Bannon world. One thing that struck me, and many things struck me, is that it seems like a certain congresswoman out of Georgia is like a regular, daily guest on that show. And it's so obviously a cult of Trump. Any dissent at all is intolerable. If you are not 100% in agreement with Trump, you are excommunicated, and simply not a serious candidate for office.
In Wisconsin, how is the Lt. Governor chosen? By election? Appointment? As a joint ticket with the Governor? Did Barnes win a statewide election to become Lt. Governor?
"But Barnes’s politics are, to quote the immortal Bob Uecker, “just a bit outside”."
The Democrats are outside. Joe Biden has ensured that unmistakable branding by failing to project any sense of moderation in his policy support, and by adopting all the extreme policies and rhetoric of the radical left that has taking root in the old party of the working class.
This is the mistake of the tone deaf left-coast liberals and socialists. They are in their bubble. Their media feed are in the same bubble. They seek their safe ideological spaces and cancel out any noise of opposing view points. They have denigrated and dismissed those that don't adopt their political view 100% as uneducated & stupid... and now dangerous and fascist. For example, I am sure Charlie will get feedback to ban me for this post.
The Democrats won power in DC only because of the pandemic and the election shenanigans it allowed them to leverage. Kudos for them to get that done. But then the big mistake happened... to see their barely squeaking by majority as a mandate. To start patting themselves on the back that the public will eat their same ideological dog food.
Trump was President and got 74 million votes. The Senate remained split. The House lost seats.
It is ironic that the hand-wringing here is about Wisconsin... the state where leftists attempted an insurrection and occupied the state capital for 100 days. The state that passed right to work laws. But the state that was turning a more blue shade of purple. Now it is going back to red. It is going back to red because the Democrats have turned blue into something that the average American isn't buying.
RonJon is just a consequence of the terribleness of what the Democrats have become. Barnes represents that well.
I have no love for the Democrats (the party, as opposed to some very fine people I know and some of whom even love). What I feel about the GOP (with the same qualification) isn't fit to print. At least not in anything resembling polite company. As to Bannon et. al. with whom the GOP is more than happy to snuggle and consort, even the most pro-free-speecher would probably want to censure me. Ditto whoever their mirror-image counterparts may be on the other side.
A quick party-line vote on a policy issue: democracy / liberal, decentralized govt...
Democrats: yea
Republicans: nay
(Right Flank: lock & load)
So, what the hell is the choice? Obvious, I guess, if your own vote is yea on the above. But man, those folks have moved beyond being a disappointment. They are really startin' to piss me off. They may not be trying to lose, but they might as well be. And when that happens, then what?
A new playbook is needed. Playing like The Detroit Lions just ain't gonna' cut it, though they might take a lesson or two from that Packers game. Procuring votes by pulling both triggers on a sawed-off double-barreled money gun isn't it. Neither is being The Rainbow Coalition while ignoring the true needs and sentiments of the working class writ large and rural-dwelling citizens, whose actual needs and some sentiments aren't all that different from the working class writ large.
(Speaking of citizens...I don't live in NYC. But 800K non-citizen voters? AYFKM???)
The D's have got my vote by default, based on the above mentioned "policy issue". But there are plenty like me, as described above, who won't see it that simply.
It's NOT the economy, Stupid! Not this time. It's people. Like me. And they'd better learn how to start talkin' our language if they want to keep this little democratic enterprise we call a republic in business.
I'm a little less pessimistic about the chance of getting rid of Ron Johnson. I think Alex Lasry could do it. He's got the money and should be able to benefit from some good will for investing in the Bucks and taking some credit for making them a championship team. Plus, as a business owner and a centrist he would appeal to some disaffected Republicans.
Hi Charlie,
Was a long time listener when you hosted your WTMJ talk show back when you endorsed RonJon. I’ve voted for him twice. Never again. Not Congressman Fitzgerald either, although he’s not as nuts as RonJon. AND certainly no Trumpers ever again. I’ve just started reading Bulwark as a subscriber. I subscribe to The Dispatch too and read National Review regularly. Used to have a Weekly Standard subscription. Thanks to your group and Steve and Jonah’s group and a few others I think I’m getting a better take on things. I started curtailing my Fox watching a year ago or longer and have virtually wiped them from my consciousness now.
Cheers to the alternative Conservatives.
Jeff Fuller
Brookfield WI
So, when are you folks going to start asking why Mitt Romney and Susan Collins are OK with Ron Johnson's nutbaggery?
Charlie, sadly you are right about Senator Ron Johnson could win re-election. My party, the Democrats, are consistently commenting own goals that help Republicans. I am center-left, and I wish the Democrats would listen to you, Tom Nichols, and AB Stoddard in her piece a weeks ago in the Bulwark.
My party, the Democrats, are just plain terrible in politics.
A slightly off-topic point comes to mind watching that clip of Jake Tapper interviewing Eric Adams. We get a lot of whataboutism from the Right when we complain about Fox News. They'd like to portray CNN and MSNBC as just as hopelessly biased and dishonest. But here is Tapper asking a Democratic mayor some tough questions about a policy that will be a favourite of Democrat progressives. And it's not a one-off - I see Tapper and some others on CNN doing this all the time. Would a Fox interviewer ever challenge a Republican official the same way about a policy that was popular with the MAGAs? I think at least one network is still trying to do some real journalism and the other is not.
Charlie, you might be politically homeless but that doesn't mean you're a bystander in Wisconsin politics. Why not throw in with Sarah Godlewski (or the candidate you think has the best chance to beat Johnson)? I'm sure it's not *that* simple or straightforward to just sidle on up to the WI Democratic Party but this is kind of where the rubber meets the road in terms of getting these charlatans out of office, right?
Charlie's worst nightmare: Ron Johnson running for reelection. Which means daily reminders of Charlie's worst political sin. What's Charlie's favorite drink and where can I send a bottle as a sign that all is forgiven?
So, let me say this. I think you both have a great read on the issue and yet are missing the issue entirely. You understand that RonJon likely has a great opportunity to win reelection, because the GOP wants its crazy straight. On the other side though, I think the issue with democrats is that they speak a language no one else does.
Let me explain. The 'rooted in sexism, misogyny, and racism' thing is talking about how most public school teachers, and public schools, are staffed by women and poc. The places that will suffer from keeping them open are the places that always suffer: lower income, inner city schools. Of course, this leaves out that this will be true even if you close them. But the tradeoff is this: if you keep them open, you're exposing teachers and children to a deadly disease, who might then bring it back to their parents. If you close them, you're denying them access to things like food and education. The message they're trying to send is 'the people who are demanding schools be open are not the ones most at risk to die of this disease.' And it's not like teachers are easy to replace either.
On the matter of new york, I agree that it's better for citizens to be the ones voting. But, one thing that isn't as obvious is that, like with the census, this doesn't really represent the people who actually live there, which creates a sort of trickle down effect where the places that need representing most don't get it. It's what happens when you try to solve a human problem with a bureaucratic solution; you suddenly start needing a lot more money to fix something rather than leave it as is. That doesn't make it good. But it's also reality.
The issue with the democrats, I think, is that there's a catch 22. You can't win running 'center' candidates, because the democratic base won't vote for them. That's because the current 'center' is Jeb Bush. The right has moved so far right that the 'center' is now essentially what was considered hard conservative twenty years ago. And that's not going to fly. If you want democrats to turn out, you need democrats to run. And that means you can't be looking for 'centrists' who are now essentially members of the GOP.
But I also disagree with the idea that trying to be more like your opponent is good politics. We have a two party system so both parties can produce different versions of what they want the future to look like, and the voters can then choose between them. Trying to win by making both parties look the same only results in people thinking that the parties ARE the same, and that leads them to do things like vote for Trump and RonJon. Why? Because they go 'well, everyone seems the same and it doesn't matter, this guy is different!'
The very reason the idea of the 'swamp' resonates is because since Clinton the parties have tried to be the same. That's not what voters want, and it's not the point of a two party system. The point is to have two different visions, and to have voters choose. You're never going to find a democrat that's going to out GOP a member of the GOP. And you won't see Jeb Bush running as a democrat because of it.
Trump and Obama proved that the way you win is by turning out lots of people for your message. If your message is 'well, I'm a less interesting version of the other guy' you're going to lose. There are not enough imaginary 'swing' voters to make up the difference if the base won't vote.
It is inconceivable to me that clear thinking Americans who want to be represented in Congress at any level would consider Ron Johnson worthy of their vote. He is an insult to intelligence and an embarrassment to America.
"Johnson’s nutjobbery ranges from his various takes on the “deep state” and the January 6th insurrection, to his musings on the efficacy of modern medicine vs. God. (“Why do we think that we can create something better than God in terms of combating disease?” Johnson said, ignoring the progress of medical science since the 12th century.)"
There is an opening here that Democrats would be wise to exploit in there efforts to win more religiously minded voters. The theological point is that there is no war between God and modern medicine. Modern medicine should be seen as God's instrument in combating disease. Giving God the credit will expose the anti-vaxxers as heretics, a message that the solid majority that have been vaccinated will be receptive to.
Dear Charlie, I've been listening to you since 2015 and I'm grateful to you and the Bulwark for what you're doing. Last night I listened to you and Tom Nichols and I had to turn you off. The dominant theme of your discussion was the lack of coalition by the Dems. I don't disagree but where are the Republicans? Last year I remember you, Tom, Sarah and JVL and other saying that Biden should focus on voting rights because Republicans could get on board with voting rights. You all agreed! You gave me hope at that time that maybe voting rights would pave the way for a political coalition to protect our votes and save our democracy. Where are they now? Where are those Republicans who you at the Bullwark were so sure would temporarily ally with Dems to protect voting rights? There aren't any. You talk about a lack of coalition in the Democratic party and I agree. They're exhausting but Republicans are the party of obstruction. They have been for 13 years. They obstructed healthcare and got nothing done on infrastructure because they do not coalesce on any idea coming from Democrats. They do not work in good faith on any issue not matter how important it is and even when it comes to saving our democracy. I'm losing faith.
There is what can be described as a mass retirement of House Democrats announced. Most of these retirements are established moderates.
The way I see it, the old Democrat establishment sold their souls to the radical left agenda... but really never fully adopted it. They knew they needed the younger vote, and thus virtue signaled support for the AOC mindset even though it was inauthentic (aka a lie).
Lying always catches up. You cannot maintain a fake act forever, even with all that mainstream corporate media cover.
And the other related problem is that the radical left agenda is despised by the majority of American voters. As the polls start to reflect this, the Democrats are stuck walking the razors edge of appearing to support the radical left while also appealing to the moderate center.
The lie is unraveling... as all lies generally do eventually.
And so the radical left will fill some of those seats, and Republicans will fill the others. And the radical left will continue to demonstrate that the Democrat dog food is more and more unpalatable... hence further destroying the brand of Democrat and conceding more power to the GOP.
And in the end the lesson that should be learned... authenticity is a much better political strategy than is putting up a false front trying to make friends with the devil.
I don't care if RonJon is going up against a ham sandwich. Him winning is not a sign of the "bad" Dem challanger but a sign of the bad people voting RonJon in. Sorry, that is the truth.
I read Miller's entire piece, and it's just a funhouse mirror over there in Bannon world. One thing that struck me, and many things struck me, is that it seems like a certain congresswoman out of Georgia is like a regular, daily guest on that show. And it's so obviously a cult of Trump. Any dissent at all is intolerable. If you are not 100% in agreement with Trump, you are excommunicated, and simply not a serious candidate for office.
In Wisconsin, how is the Lt. Governor chosen? By election? Appointment? As a joint ticket with the Governor? Did Barnes win a statewide election to become Lt. Governor?
"But Barnes’s politics are, to quote the immortal Bob Uecker, “just a bit outside”."
The Democrats are outside. Joe Biden has ensured that unmistakable branding by failing to project any sense of moderation in his policy support, and by adopting all the extreme policies and rhetoric of the radical left that has taking root in the old party of the working class.
This is the mistake of the tone deaf left-coast liberals and socialists. They are in their bubble. Their media feed are in the same bubble. They seek their safe ideological spaces and cancel out any noise of opposing view points. They have denigrated and dismissed those that don't adopt their political view 100% as uneducated & stupid... and now dangerous and fascist. For example, I am sure Charlie will get feedback to ban me for this post.
The Democrats won power in DC only because of the pandemic and the election shenanigans it allowed them to leverage. Kudos for them to get that done. But then the big mistake happened... to see their barely squeaking by majority as a mandate. To start patting themselves on the back that the public will eat their same ideological dog food.
Trump was President and got 74 million votes. The Senate remained split. The House lost seats.
It is ironic that the hand-wringing here is about Wisconsin... the state where leftists attempted an insurrection and occupied the state capital for 100 days. The state that passed right to work laws. But the state that was turning a more blue shade of purple. Now it is going back to red. It is going back to red because the Democrats have turned blue into something that the average American isn't buying.
RonJon is just a consequence of the terribleness of what the Democrats have become. Barnes represents that well.
I have no love for the Democrats (the party, as opposed to some very fine people I know and some of whom even love). What I feel about the GOP (with the same qualification) isn't fit to print. At least not in anything resembling polite company. As to Bannon et. al. with whom the GOP is more than happy to snuggle and consort, even the most pro-free-speecher would probably want to censure me. Ditto whoever their mirror-image counterparts may be on the other side.
A quick party-line vote on a policy issue: democracy / liberal, decentralized govt...
Democrats: yea
Republicans: nay
(Right Flank: lock & load)
So, what the hell is the choice? Obvious, I guess, if your own vote is yea on the above. But man, those folks have moved beyond being a disappointment. They are really startin' to piss me off. They may not be trying to lose, but they might as well be. And when that happens, then what?
Wrong candidate, wrong policy, wrong place, wrong time, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong...
A new playbook is needed. Playing like The Detroit Lions just ain't gonna' cut it, though they might take a lesson or two from that Packers game. Procuring votes by pulling both triggers on a sawed-off double-barreled money gun isn't it. Neither is being The Rainbow Coalition while ignoring the true needs and sentiments of the working class writ large and rural-dwelling citizens, whose actual needs and some sentiments aren't all that different from the working class writ large.
(Speaking of citizens...I don't live in NYC. But 800K non-citizen voters? AYFKM???)
The D's have got my vote by default, based on the above mentioned "policy issue". But there are plenty like me, as described above, who won't see it that simply.
It's NOT the economy, Stupid! Not this time. It's people. Like me. And they'd better learn how to start talkin' our language if they want to keep this little democratic enterprise we call a republic in business.
Hi, Charlie.
I'm a little less pessimistic about the chance of getting rid of Ron Johnson. I think Alex Lasry could do it. He's got the money and should be able to benefit from some good will for investing in the Bucks and taking some credit for making them a championship team. Plus, as a business owner and a centrist he would appeal to some disaffected Republicans.