It’s a big week for debates in many key races as the polls show races tightening in some surprising areas.
Who can break out in the debates and define their opponent in the final two weeks will make a difference.
Stay tuned.
By Friday we may have a good handle on how some key states and offices are going.
Today is the only Pennsylvania Senate and N.Y. Governor debates.
One caution for you as you watch and judge:
Expectations are everything. You raise the bar on what people expect and you can win the debate and still lose.
The divide is so real in the nation today. Look at this finding from an NBC News Poll:.
Roughly 80% of Democrats and Republicans said that the opposing party “poses a threat that, if not stopped, will destroy America as we know it.”
Now that is a divide.
This NYT poll finding is interesting too.
It shows 64% of Americans believe the economy is headed in the wrong direction.
That’s a truly dismal number for the party in power and a true danger warning.
Here’s a chart that will explain why people are uneasy. It measures the month President Biden was sworn in vs. today. It is self explanatory, except to President Biden who says he inherited a mess.
Though, I think the administration will get a boost this week when the GDP report comes in and shows growth the last quarter. You may remember we had two negative quarters to start the year. You will see the President and others touting the growth and saying the bad news is behind us.
The other issue they will continue to beat upon is Donald Trump, and as always the former President will give them ammo. Here’s what he said this weekend in Texas:
“I ran twice. I won twice. I did much better the second time than I did before. In order to make our country successful, safe and glorious again, I will probably have to do it again.”
He cannot accept 2020 and move on and he has to make everything about him.
Then we are about to get more of Bob Woodward and that ill-fated interview the former President gave him because he thought he could trust Bob — despite his history with Republican Presidents going back 50 years.
So now Woodward has a new essay and audiobook on his 20 interviews with the former President.
The name: “The Trump Tapes”
The new Woodward spin:
After re-listening to his eight hours of Trump interviews he has moved further into the camp of longtime establishment figures who see Trump as a danger to American democracy and to the future of the country.
“In 2020, I ended ‘Rage’ with the following sentence:
When his performance as president is taken in its entirety, I can only reach one conclusion: Trump is the wrong man for the job. Two years later, I realize I didn’t go far enough. Trump is an unparalleled danger. When you listen to him on the range of issues from foreign policy to the virus to racial injustice, it’s clear he did not know what to do. Trump was overwhelmed by the job. He was largely disconnected from the needs and leadership expectations of the public and his absolute self-focus became the presidency.”
Republicans have to move on from the former President, and he has to recognize his greatest contribution going forward is to support the party in places he can be the most effective.
His denial of the 2020 election without proof is old now.
Meanwhile where are the books on Democratic denials?
I heard Hillary deny the 2016 election for years, and now we know it was her campaign who actually colluded with the Russians.
What about Georgia now?
Stacey Abrams is continuing to spout voter-suppression. (After denying she denied the 2018 election, which we have on tape over and over.)
She claimed Georgia’s new voting law was to stop voting. Her noise even cost Atlanta the baseball all star game, you may recall.
Well, Georgia voters have turned out in record numbers since early voting began last week.
The media has to play this both ways, but their bias doesn’t allow them to talk about anything but Trump and Republican deniers.
Here’s a story now that should make you shake your head.
Top Russian officials warned that the war in Ukraine is spiraling toward “uncontrolled escalation,” as Moscow reportedly withdrew some of its top military officers from Kherson ahead of a looming Ukrainian counteroffensive and a battle for control of the city.
Russian Defense MinisterSergei Shoigu spoke to several European counterparts to discuss “the situation in Ukraine, which is consistently veering towards further uncontrolled escalation,” according to Russian state-run media.
What?
Who started this? Who invaded their neighbor? Who bombed cities and killed civilians? Now that the Ukrainians are taking the fight to you, you want to worn the world of escalation?
One final thought today. I am watching NYC deal with all the crime, subway showings and upheaval. I shook my head listening to the leadership say “it’s mental health and we have to get people off the streets.”
Really? Some of us have been saying that for years while you are yelling it’s “the gun” and we need more gun laws. You mean it has taken shoving in front of subway trains, stabbings and violence to realize the issue is bigger?