23 Comments

Great take. I like Trump but will vote for Kathy Barnette for Senate and McSwain for Governor. McSwain tried to keep Philadelphia safe when the Soros-funded D.A. Larry Krasner fell down on the job.

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Trump has been burned by many RINO’s. Candidates looking for his endorsement should be trying to help with the vetting process. I think he’s doing the best he can without having to do any of it. Candidates need to get credible information out to him and his team early and often.

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100% correct JD. Trump's endorsement strategy is not helpful to the MAGA movement. This is a good way to end up with a bunch of RINO's just like the one's we are trying to eliminate from office.

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I'm a Trump supporter, but, to quote Harry Callahan, "A man's got to know his limitations". Trump's biggest weakness, in my opinion, is that he's actually a poor judge of character. He has repeatedly hired, appointed and endorsed people who are clearly stone cold sociopaths. Michael Cohen, Pierre Delecto, Paul Manafort, Lindsey Graham, Brian Kemp, ...) When they stab him (and his supporters) in the back, he never seems to learn or change his game. As the author points out, Trump also cares too much about always picking winners. This suggests a lack of faith, or commitment, and even, as in the case of Dong Mastriano, a lack of loyalty. Mastriano has been among the most steadfast and tireless fighters for election integrity. I'm disappointed that Trump did not endorse Mastriano from outset.

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The PA GOP is the absolute worst of the RINO establishment.

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Michigan might be giving them a run for that title. Fred “Ugh” Upton.

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What red state are you planning to flee to?

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For now, have to stay in NE for family reasons. Might consider NH as the least of evils but not sure if it will be sufficiently better to justify a move. I’ll keep an eye on FL. How about you?

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For the next 4 years I am bound to Pennsylvania. It’s tough to be able to watch college football games and college dance team events from a red state.

We are looking, though. Maybe SC? First thing is do in SC is oust Lindsey G.

Right now, though, I’m helping to turn this purple state back to red.

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I'm for Kathy Barnette 100%. Trump made a mistake when he endorsed Dr. Oz. I like Trump but I'm not voting for people based on his endorsements. He doesn't know PA and what the people here would want. Someone's giving him terrible advice.

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I am hoping that Desantis will make a run for it. While Donald Trump was an important part of solidifying the American populist movement, his limitations and some decisions he made as President will saddle him going forward. As The Covid vaccine injuries and fallout come to light over the next couple of years Americans will want retribution. President Trumps decision to fast track vaccine development and not get rid of Fauci may potentially severely damage his electability. I believe that the vaccine is the biggest medical blunder in history and we are just beginning to see it’s effects.

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Do you think T’s approach is more about being able to claim endorsement successes or backing a candidate that has the best chance of beating the democrat in the general? The first is foolish without the second. It’s likely in many instances that the first and the second align in a candidate.

The perceived influence from racking up nomination wins could lead to more influence for T and enable more MAGA policies, esp. if the winning candidates will owe him in some way (although waiting until there is a clear leader can undermine a later claim that the endorsement put a primary candidate over the finish line - but again, what matters is mobilizing the most votes to defeat the Democrat.)

Perhaps (likely) there exist states and districts where the independents (voters) are not leaning strongly MAGA, where backing a MAGA candidate and getting the nomination win could end up putting a Democrat in office. The limits of T’s influence on independents is an important reality. Hence the better calculation might be to defeat the Democrat and try to establish some influence with the winning R candidate.

Update: In this article T is quoted as saying “We have to take a majority in the Senate.” And he is spot on about that. So as discouraging as it may be to see less-than-MAGA candidates being endorsed, it’s hard to argue the utilitarian political calculation. We have to win back the Senate with healthy majority and House to walk back from the brink of disaster represented by Democrats and Biden. NY POST Editorial Board to PA Republicans: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/05/14/ny-post-editorial-board-to-pa-republicans-dump-barnette/

Eye on the prize.

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I have been on this line of thought for quite a while now. Love DJT. He is still my President. And I have no doubt he will be back. But his endorsement honestly means nothing to me. He endorsed Gov Abbott when we had 3 strong conservative America First Candidates that would actually, I believe, have done much more on our border, and would no longer support out Democrat parading around as a Republican House Speaker.

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Some good truth. Trump has made some lousy choices thats for sure. Seeing them all lined up like that makes it blatantly obvious he's no judge of character nor does he vett his picks sufficiently.

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A lot of these candidates are phony, Mastriano being the biggest phony there is, see Act 77 he pushed for. MAGA people are gullible, low information voters. No wonder the uniparty has so much control today.

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I can't drive 20 yards without seeing a Barnette sign in Lancaster, Pa and beyond. She is the real deal.

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"His endorsements are based solely on the word of his advisors and big donors who tell him who to back based on whether they can notch another win on his belt."

Sorry, NO. I've watched Trump for 44 yrs and there's one thing I can tell you - he is his own man and NEVER does anything just because someone advised him to do it. He trusts no one but his own judgment and always looks at things thoroughly before deciding. He is his own intelligence agency. He works in very unusual ways and most people don't understand why he does what he does. But he would NEVER just endorse someone because an advisor told him to do that - that would be anathema to his soul. He thinks in far larger terms than most people can even imagine. Sometimes he endorses people just to out them as jerks, as in Dr. Oz. Sorry Mr. Rucker, you are wrong and are thinking small. If you keep up with this line of thinking, I will have to unsubscribe from you because I don't think you have a clue who he is and how he really works.

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Lol. Cult of Trump naivety?

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It is clear that his strategy is based on the one ridiculous premise that he could somehow loose at any point in any universe against the corrupt and illegitimate contenders without the backing of the criminal leadership in the republican party. With this strategy, all he will succeed in doing is remaking the political power that stole power from the American people and handed him his hat. This bodes extremely bad for We The People, who still must endure those who have allied themselves with a man instead of the principles of liberty.

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Shame on Trump. He should be supporting the MAGA bunch

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I agree with your assessment. Trump wants to have winners in his endorsement column. Doug Mastriano is the right person to endorse. I also like the former U. S. attorney who is running in the primary, McSwain. He was on Tucker's show last night. Good man but probably doesnt' have much chance of winning.

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