Matt Taibbi: Ding, Dong, the Witch Still Leads the Polls

What do these people imagine will happen now? Where do they believe Trump voters will go? Do they think the anger that drove his campaign in the first place will evaporate? Do they realize Trump surged ahead in all the battleground states during this trial? Don’t they see where this is headed?

No. Washington pols always see elections through a rearview mirror, imagining candidates create supporters, not vice versa. It comes from the belief that voters are sheep and have no beliefs beyond what their political betters instruct them to feel. Therefore, one controls them by controlling leaders. But Gene McCarthy didn’t surge in 1968 by convincing people to oppose the Vietnam war. Voters were there. Buchanan and Perot didn’t inspire bitterness about the loss of manufacturing jobs, the unemployed did, and Bernie Sanders in 2016 didn’t invent post-bailout blue frustration. Voters lead the way. Politicians arrive to take advantage. It’s always how it works.

The Maddows and Psakis really believe racking up a felony conviction for Trump somehow ends the story, or marks the “beginning of the end,” as the Guardian’s man-on-the-street put it. But guaranteed, it will just piss people off more.

You don't have to agree with trump but the mob can't make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don't agree with everything anyone does. That's what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 25, 2018

More: Scott Adams talks about that big rip in reality you just saw from President Trump and Kanye.

Jimmy transitioned into Papa Doc so slowly, no one noticed.

“And any fan of mine who’s a supporter of his, I’m drawing in the sand a line, you’re either for or against, and if you can’t decide who you like more and you’re split on who you should stand beside, I’ll do it for it for you with this. F— you,” he said toward the end, raising his middle finger.”

Next time, tell us something you didn’t see in the media.

Ok, one more time.

Here is what the cosmopolitan class still does not get: It’s not just Donald Trump you are making fun of it, is people outside your circle, it is the voters whose sentiments and values that have been the punch line of Hollywood’s jokes for their entire lives.
And along comes this guy who finally says enough is enough, and they like it, said retired business executive Bill Englert, of New Kensington, Penn. “Trump is standing up for the so called deplorables, intolerables and irredeemables excoriated by Hillary and the left,” he said.
At the Golden Dawn restaurant bar in Youngtown, a group of fraternity brothers, a mix of both Trump and Clinton supporters, all agreed that what people like about Trump is that he emotes strength, stands up for himself, and — most of all — irritates reporters.
There is no subtlety in the elite’s perception of the rest of the country; they don’t think you respect them, or view them as equal.

“Everybody from the 313, put your motherf***in’ hands up and follow me.”

Trump Got Out His Voters And Made Hillary Pay For It.

Scott Adams (of whom most here are familiar) predicted a Trump win over a year ago, based on what he observed about his powers of persuasion. His blog makes for generally interesting reading on the broader topic of persuasion – if you have the time to go back and read his older postings, I recommend you do.
This is his prediction for the post-election Trump.
As for me, I never predicted a win, because I know better. But by July of 2015, I was certain Trump would resonate with a broad segment of working class America based on my own observations and interactions with the audience here. Because there was a desperate desire for someone to step up and take on what is euphemistically called “political correctness”. Someone with the strength to absorb the insults, own his identity, and in so doing, neutralize the slurs and disarm the attacker. I call it the 8 Mile Rule, from the film that produced the epiphany. It’s profane, but I recommend you watch that, too.
Trump was showing signs of understanding this, and while he adjusted and evolved in his style, he never really backed away from it. “Not all women, just Rosie O’Donnell”. That was ballsy.
He was called every vicious name in the book in an effort to force his political allies and supporters to distance themselves, and thereby weaken him. It didn’t work. Not only did it not work, when Trump stood his ground, millions of Americans, tired of being slurred as bigots, racists, deplorables — simply for sharing the ordinary, traditional beliefs of their good and honourable parents and grandparents — found a champion. An imperfect champion, to be sure, but imperfect was required under the circumstances.
I don’t know what kind of President Donald Trump will make, but I suspect he’ll do fine, judging by the people he surrounded himself with, and how quickly he jettisons those who under-perform. He’s consistently chosen strong, iron-willed personalities as allies and advisers — Pence, Gingrich, Guiliani, Conway — and they share the same strength in refusing to be verbally cowed by media. And he’s built his fortune as a builder and negotiator, skill sets which will serve him well.
As of this morning, the “tell these people something they don’t know about me” title goes into retirement, at least as it pertains to Trump.
I think I’ve made my point.

Remain calm. The night is still young.
10pm Eastern… “World braces for #TREXIT…”

Again, patience my lovelies….

Meanwhile at @CBCNews headquarters… #ElectionNight pic.twitter.com/V9fgbyrBQn

— Katewerk (@katewerk) November 9, 2016

11:30pm Eastern

Closing argument.

Glenn Reynolds – There seems to be a big shift in mainstream-media punditry this week. I wonder what it means?
Related.