General Election - Something Important to Consider

[MineralMan]

My parents are both 91 years old, which means I'm an old fart, myself. My mom was just 21 years old when I was born in 1945 a couple of weeks before my father flew back from Africa in the B-17 he had piloted during WWII.

They're pretty conservative, my parents are. They generally vote for Republicans in presidential races. Generally.

I talked to them yesterday. We don't normally discuss politics, since we have different points of view. Yesterday, though, my mother mentioned Donald Trump. "How could such an awful man be running for President?" she asked. I said, "I don't know, Mom." She followed up with, "Well, if he is the Republican, I'll be voting for the Democrat in November." My father chimed in, "Me, too."

I just said, "Your vote. Your choice." As I said, I don't talk politics with my folks.

So, if someone wonders how either Democratic candidate will win, that's how. If my parents are still living in November, which is very likely, they'll be voting for our Democratic nominee, whoever it is, if Trump is the Republican nominee.

They don't think much of Ted Cruz, either. I don't know what they think of Rubio, and won't be asking.

Anyhow, that's my input into the "Trump will win" argument. He won't. There are lots of people like my parents. They vote for Republicans, generally, but not always. My parents didn't vote for George W. Bush, either. My father called him a "Chickenhawk," and my mother thought he was far from a smart man.

They're Republicans, but they vote for the candidate they think is better in each election.

On another note, my Dad just got his first pair of hearing aids on Friday. He's needed them for some time. My Mom said that he's been telling her that she doesn't need to shout ever since. I asked him, "Can you hear me now?" when I called on Friday. They're old, but far from finished.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Good to know because they will have to replace a boat load of voters

who are going to stay home.

I mean that. I hear that A LOT. And yes, this is anecdotal as hell.

And I do not think it is getting polled that much.

Though blessed their hearts, if the Rs do what they told poltico, they will save the democratic bacon in November. (And split the party)

[MineralMan]

2. People will do what they do.

I'm not much into insisting that anyone do anything. I'm very insistent about voting for myself, though, and I'm always happy to help someone vote. As for people not voting, there will be a lot of Republicans who do that, too, if Trump is the nominee. His boorish, ugly persona is going to turn off all sorts of people who normally vote for Republicans.

I guarantee it.

But people will do what they do. I'll be out, as always, working on GOTV. I don't tell people what to do. I encourage them to vote, but the decision is theirs.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Oh I will be at the polls for the June Primary

not becuase of that, by the way

We have the minimum wage on the ballot That matters to me a lot

The state races are critical as well

[Hortensis]

28. Enjoyed reading about your parents, MineralMan.

Sound like Republicans you can be proud of.

A lot of conservatives are saying, credibly, that they absolutely will not vote for Trump, like Erick Erickson of RedState.com. It's harder to guess how many would vote for Hillary to make sure he didn't get elected, or to elect her instead, but it'd likely be significant.

As for our own voters and candidate, I am as sure as I can be that most of any who are angry now and insisting they won't vote in the fall for Hillary will have calmed down long before then. They'll also have had several months to get a good, close look at the GOP's choice for president. Trump is a dangerously unprincipled authoritarian nutcase, and the others are all extremist conservatives who will continue demolishing progressivism and liberalism in government. Including "moderate" fascistic John Kaisich.

[MineralMan]

29. Thanks. They split in 2008. Mom voted for Obama. Dad Didn't.

They won't vote for Trump, but they sure as heck will vote for someone.

[Hortensis]

31. Lol. That's great. If we last that long, I expect my

husband and I will be like that. We're already "split," though. Only Republicans win in our area, so he registered Republican long ago so he could vote against the worst of them.

[Zambero]

8. And charter the Titanic for Trump GOP

The Republican party is split into 3 warring factions, and the apparent primary enthusiasm for that party is divied up accordingly. If Trump is the nominee, his supporters will certainly show up to vote for him in November. On the other hand, he has serious issues with the establishment and religious branches of the party. While I don't see a tidal wave of GOP voters going for Hillary, there will be plenty of them passing on Trump, the impact which will roll down ticket as candidates quickly distance themselves from him. Hillary may not the model progressive for some, but she is arguably the most centrist candidate when you look at the entire field of both parties. That alone will work in her favor. Her support with African-american voters has not diminished, and she will do quite well with Hispanic and Asian-American voters who are repelled by Trump's unbridled hate speech. I'm reminded of the Rolling Stones line, "You can't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need". Well, I happen to admire Bernie but what we certainly do not need is a Donald Trump in the White House playing Russian roulette with sensitive foreign policy matters and establishing the course for a reactionary Supreme Court for a generation or more (or Cruz or Rubio for that matter).

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. You realize that part of his coalition IS THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT

You only got it right as far as the business faction (who is behind that third party run attempt) And it is a good question how many will support that.

This is not unlike the REAGAN coalition and that one included a boat load of democrats.

[Zambero]

23. Part of the RR yes. Not all of them will be on board however

Yes Trump is getting a share of Evangelical votes, much to the chagrin of Cruz. But more than a few object to him personally and would never vote for him. Even they are capable of seeing him as the worldly lying opportunist that he is. I'm not overly worried about so-called "Reagan Democrats" jumping ship since most of them are either dead, went over to the GOP long ago, come from solid red states, or (better yet) have atoned for their ways. And the Democratic party as a whole does not include as many conservatives as in years past who would be willing to support a far-right Republican. On the other hand, the party needs to be unified and motivated to get out and vote in November, or we will all be facing some serious consequences in the years ahead.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Yes, and that he will make it up with democrats, (and a boat load of independents)

mostly working class, white and pissed off over the outsourcing of jobs.

I have been studying who is voting for him. I will include a group that here people will scream. Republicans who happen to be minorities. and he will pull the majority of them. Anecdotally not only do I know a few, but I have been told why they are voting for Trump. More than a few are young.

The DNC is in for a nasty surprise... I am being kind.

[Zambero]

26. The threshold for a GOP presidential win is 40% of Latino vote

Romney got less than 30%. GWB got 44% in 2004 (and barely) won . What's this years' prediction for Trump?

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. This is a very unusual election

as is, I called this a base revolt, officially (For both parties) back in December. And unlike most in the media who were still chortling over Trump as late as December, I went on record on how dangerous he is back in July.

Will trump get a boat load of latinos in California for example? First off CA is not in play. Will we see voter suppression in places that are at play... yes. How much of that will play a role is still a good question, Many of those laws are fairly new. I expect some of this crap to really register after the election.

And I consider the party to be fairly incompetent at this point... whether it is on purpose or not, is to be left for future historians.

[GummyBearz]

10. Its easy to stay home when your choices are

a corporatist warhawk vs a corporatist racist. I don't want either.

[bvf]

3. Nobody's impressed by this.

But nice story. You have parents. Cool.

[MineralMan]

6. I see. I wasn't really trying to impress anyone, though.

It's a bit of anecdotal information. That's all.

But, yes, it's nice to still have parents at my age. Not many do. I'm very lucky, and glad I have their genes, too.

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my little story. Really.

[okaawhatever]

4. That's great. One of my first thoughts when you mentioned your dad's hearing aid was:

"You think Trump sounded crazy before, wait until you hear everything he had to say". You might need to teach him where the "OFF" switch is. LOL

[MineralMan]

9. He bought some pretty good hearing aids.

They have bluetooth, so he can adjust them from a little remote or from a cell phone app. He has a nice Android phone he uses mostly for email and Facebook browsing.

I call them on their landline phone, though, promptly at 2 PM their time every day. We always chat for about 30 minutes.

[okaawhatever]

19. That is fantastic. I had no idea hearing aids had become so advanced. I can only imagine

the quality of life that gives to the hard of hearing these days.

[MineralMan]

20. They're pretty amazing these days. Pretty damned expensive, too.

No batteries to replace, either, with his aids. He just drops them in the charger by his bed, and the batteries last all day. He opted for the behind-the-ear type because of the long battery life, rechargeable batteries and the bluetooth connectivity. I haven't told him, but he can connect to his cell phone to listen to music, too, with them. Of course, he doesn't have any music on his cell phone.

[TDale313]

5. I would say don't underestimate Trump's appeal.

I genuinely don't know how things will play out if he's the nominee. I would love to think most Americans would see through his con. It sounds like your parents have. But there are a lot of angry, frustrated people in the country(with good reason) and he's giving the middle finger to the system that hasn't been meeting their needs for decades. It's entirely possible he'll self destruct- best case scenario. But I watched my liberal California vote in the Governator. Don't underestimate the appeal of celebrity, antiestablishment rhetoric, and authoritarianism. This is gonna be a fight.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

11. My elderly mother voted Democratic one of the few times in her life in 2008.

It wasn't that she liked Obama so much as she couldn't stand Sarah Palin.

[MineralMan]

12. Nice. A very good reason, too.

Thanks for the reply!

[Zambero]

33. I know a few GOP who voted Obama in '08 for the very same reason!

And most of them returned to the fold in 2012 when Palin was not on the ticket. Donald Trump will not appeal to many of them.

[KentuckyWoman]

13. I feel you.

A herd of staunch Republicans in my family - some of which are also Fundie Christians. There are a few Trump supporters in the bunch but mostly they'll sit it out if he wins for the Republicans. 2 have privately told me that actually want Bernie.

The whole "Bush lied us into the Iraq war" meme was brought up yesterday in a family gathering and not one of them disagreed with Trump on that score. Shocked the socks off of me......

I'm like you. I keep my politics to myself and refuse to comment on theirs. I'm the oddball in my family and this just works best.

[MineralMan]

16. I'm very politically active, but I keep politics out of

family relationships. Family trumps everything, in my opinion, so politics and religion aren't topics of conversation where family is concerned.

Outside of the family, though, and I'm not at all bashful about my political or religious opinions. I'm a liberal Democrat and an atheist.

[okaawhatever]

21. Jimmy Carter got a lot of the pious Repubican vote when he ran. They put morality before other

issues and saw Carter as the superior candidate because he would "do the right thing" due to his convictions. I'm glad the religious right sees that quality in Bernie.

[etherealtruth]

15. My parents are almost 80 (78 & 79), they have always voted Dem

.... but, I have to say I have never seen them as charged up against the republican candidates as they are this year.

They are horrified and embarrassed by the racism, boorishness and general horror that is the Trump campaign.

Cruz horrifies them .... but, they have never had tolerance for what they consider religious nut-jobs (they are devout Catholics but have always believed religion was a very private matter and NEVER a political one).

[MineralMan]

17. I'm sure they'll be at their polling place or casting

an absentee ballot. Our parent's generation votes. They know how important it is. It's a pity that has decreased in subsequent generations, I think.

[etherealtruth]

18. They will .... they instilled that same virtue in me ....

I have instilled it in my three children.

When my youngest was 8 or 9 and was feeling particularly enraged with me he yelled: i'll show you ... I'm gonna grow up and vote republican. At 19, he grew up to vote Dem

[Downwinder]

22. Be nice if we can offer a candidate that is not a chickenhawk.

[annabanana]

24. You see, your parents REMEMBER what WWII was fought over.

They know that America leads best by example, not by waving weapons around. I'm sure they sense echos of Mussolini in Trump, and naturally shy away from the braggadocio that is now HIS trademark.

[malaise]

30. They'll never be Republicans again

That party is imploding

[mcar]

32. K&R