It's Not Always About Trump

 I understand that Uncle Ken is disappointed by Tudor Dixon's winning of the Republican nomination for governor because she is the one candidate who might have a snowball's chance in hell of beating Queen Gretchen.  That's one of the reasons I voted for her myself, not because of Trump's last-minute endorsement.  Indeed, you might say that I voted for Dixon in spite of Trump's endorsement, not because of it.  

There were no Libertarians on the ballot because this was a primary, you can either vote for Democratic candidates or Republican candidates but not for both, and certainly not for Libertarians who don't even have a primary in Michigan.  I didn't know if there were any non-Trumpist Republican candidates in Michigan, but I just found out there was at least one.  He was not running for governor, he was running for re-election to Congress, and not in my district.  Turned out he was defeated, largely because of a false flag ad put out by Democrats who thought his Trumpist opponent would be easier to beat in November.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/democrats-should-hang-their-heads-in-shame-for-helping-oust-principled-republican/ar-AA10gBT5?rt=0&ocid=Win10NewsApp&referrerID=InAppShare

I seem to remember that Uncle Ken was ecstatic when Trump won the Republican nomination in 2016 because that surely meant Hillary was going to win in November.  I speculated that maybe he was sent by somebody for that very reason, but it backfired on them when Trump won.  Now I wonder if that isn't why they are keeping him around after all these years.  They keep investigating him but not charging him, except for that impeachment thing which they knew was doomed to failure.  If Trump was in prison where he belongs, they couldn't use him to cast aspersions on all the other Republican candidates and everybody who votes for them.

another vote for trump

 Your vote for the Trump-endorsed candidate was hardly irrelevant.  When future candidates try to decide whether to go all out Trump or not, they will consider what his record on endorsements is, and the triumph of Tudor will be one more example of how it is politically wise to go the Trump way.  Your vote was another palm leaf laid before the feet of the orange one.  

You have admitted that none of these Trumpists have a chance of beating Gutsy Gretch so what difference does it make who you chose, except that you could have made a choice to vote in a very small way against Trump.  Were there no libertarians? You could have written in the name of that Czech guy you used to write about, or yourself, or maybe a non-Trump republican if such a thing exists in Michigan.

I remember how you used to peddle this theory that Trump was some sort of double agent sent by Them to ensure Hilary's victory, well now I have to think that you are some sort of double agent, complaining about Trump but using your vote to advance his interests.

But this is America, you can do whatever you want.

Didn't mean to disparage Michigan reps, here is who the proud reps of Illinois have chosen to run Illinois.

I Decided That Trump's Endorsement is Irrelevant

It bothered me when Trump endorsed Dixon, but not enough to make me change my mind.  I thought it possible, even likely, that he waited till the last minute before jumping on the Dixon bandwagon before it started off without him.  I just now came across this article that tends to agree with me:

“The last-minute endorsement for Dixon was more about Trump trying to position himself as the kingmaker,” says Michigan-based Republican strategist Dennis Lennox. “He waited and waited until it became obvious that all the third-party money and endorsements from a who’s who in Lansing had pushed her over the top.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/michigan-primary-tests-trump-s-role-as-republicans-anointer-in-chief/ar-AA10ezPP?rt=0&ocid=Win10NewsApp&referrerID=InAppShare

What other choices did I have anyway?  Three other Trumpists and one preacher man who thinks he can save Michigan by restoring Judeo-Christian principles to government.  Sorry to say, that ship sailed a long time ago.  It was way back in the 60s that the Polish enclave of Hamtramck had to cancel their annual Christmas pageant because they couldn't find a virgin and three wise men, or so I have been told.  I understand that the Poles abandoned Hamtramck to the Muslims some time ago, and maybe that's one of the reasons why.

another vote for Trump

 Dixon is the evilest of the five evils.  Because she has been endorsed by Trump, the election is sort of a referendum on Trump.  If she wins then the craven reps will see that the Trump endorsee has won and that will be an example of how powerful he is in the party and they will be less likely to try to go against him in any way.  A vote for Dixon is a vote to keep Trump strong.

And a vote for Trump is a vote for Russia and their invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile here in Illinois the hick has been abandoned by his fatcat backer, Uihlein, interestingly enough an heir of the Schlitz fortune.  The fatcat who backed the fake republican has has left the state for  Florida, and the other Irvin backers are not bothering to throw their support to the hick, and he is broke and cannot even air commercials, and the dem incumbent, who is his own fatcat, is pounding him on the airwaves.

Last I heard that Michigan commission is fair and square so since the previous redistricting was rigged to favor the reps, they should do less well in the elections, but I don't know anything more of what is going on in those races.

The black majority district thing did indeed backfire.  The blacks did get their districts but at the cost of losing their representation in other districts, so that the legislatures in the white districts, having few black people in their district, they had no incentive to pay attention to black districts.

Trump Marches On

Thanks to Uncle Ken for clarifying that De Vos issue.  I have read vague references to it, but I didn't know what they were talking about.  The election is tomorrow, and I've got to vote for somebody, so I think I'll stick with Dixon as the lesser of five evils.  I agree that Queen Gretchen will probably get re-elected, but she won't do it with my vote. 

The political survival of Trump never ceases to amaze me.  I thought he would be history after the January 6 riot, but he keeps hanging on like an albatross around the neck of the Republican Party.  I suppose it's because he tells people what they want to hear, but there must be somebody else out there who can do that without being Trump.  That's what I would like to see, the Trump agenda without the Trump.  

Meanwhile back at the mid-terms, it will be interesting to see what effect the latest redistricting will have on the balance of power in the Michigan legislature.  Queen Gretchen wouldn't be that hard to take if the Republicans maintained their majority in both houses.  Remember, our legislature no longer does its own redistricting, it's done by a citizen's committee that is supposed to be fair and impartial.  Last I heard, they were being sued by a couple of Black districts that were split up, leaving neither of them with a Black majority.  Like Uncle Ken said, gerrymandering can backfire on you, and it appears that de-gerrymandering can too.  

Fiddling while Rome burns

 I have been watching your rep gubernatorial race a bit since Beagles brought up the subject, and it has been wild.  As Beagles has said it is just a race to be Trumpier than thou. Four mad dogs slavering to kiss the ring on the notoriously short finger.  And at last, like that Michelangelo painting of God reaching down to touch the finger of Adam, Trump has leaned down from Mar A Lago and touched the finger of Tudor Dixon.

So of course she was on the Fox Sunday talk show.  She has been backed by that awful Betsy DeVos, whose main goal as secretary of Education was to destroy the nation's public school system.  Aye she was a slimy one that Betsy, and yet she resigned in the wake of 
January 6, like a handful of other Trumpists did.  A handful of portraits in courage?  More like rats fleeing a sinking ship.  Only it turned out that the ship was not sneaking and many of them (Kevin McCarthy) immediately jumped back on.

But Betsy DeVos did not, though she did not swim so far away enough to keep her from begging Trump to back her candidate, which he did a couple days ago.  And on the Sunday show when faced with DeVos's mild denunciation of Trump, she swiftly denunciated DeVos.  

I predict an easy victory for Gutsy Gretch.

The ship is listing though in the gales of Jan 6 hearings which have filled in the details of Trump's Putsch, and which would have never existed of the dems hadn't taken the senate.  Fox news has toned down their Trump praise and The New York Post and the Wall Street Journal have come out against him, and even some sitting pols.  The base however is as solid as it ever was.  However they are only like a third of the nation, so how are you ever going to take over the country with that?

And meanwhile cities bake and California is running out of water, and storms are flooding St Louis and Kentucky.  The house is burning down while the firefighters are squabbling.

The Endorsement

 After many minutes of research, I believed that I had identified the lesser of five evils in the Michigan gubernatorial Republican primary, but now I'm not so sure.  As I said previously, they are all Trumpists, varying only in degree.  The Trumpiest of all, according to his own ads, is a guy named Rinke, while the least Trumpiest seemed to me to be a woman named Dixon.  I don't recall her claiming that herself in so many words, but Rinke has accused her of it on several occasions, calling her a tool of the Republican establishment, or words to that effect, so I decided to believe Rinke and vote for Dixon.

Trump declined to endorse any of these candidates until Friday, four days before the election, when he graciously bestowed his endorsement on.......Dixon!  Does that mean that Rinke has been lying to us and Dixon is really the Trumpiest?  Does that mean that Dixon has been less than honest with us about her alleged Trumpism?  Does that mean that Trump really prefers Rinke to Dixon but endorsed Dixon, assuming that it would inspire me to vote for Rinke?  Normally that would work because I always try to vote the opposite of what they want me to vote, but this time it involves Trump, who is a notorious liar.  It's possible that he anticipated my suspicions and said the opposite of the opposite so that I would do the opposite of what I believed he wanted, which would be the same as what he really said.