Hulkotron listens to CSPAN on his commute most mornings and often a Leftist will call in complaining that they answer half the calls from the Republican line, saying it gives the misleading impression that ~ half the country supports the Republican party. I think it's the Leftist who is wrong here. In my lifetime there's been a grand total of ONE TIME where a President has received dramatically more than half of the popular vote (Ronbo Reagan re-election, 1984). No president in our country's history has received more than 61% of the popular vote. There's a lot of support for both sides even in either side's weakest moments. Even when there's a big disparity in popular vote I think it's usually because of high or low turnout by one side or the other, not because of shifts in what fraction of Americans identify ideologically with either party.
The public-facing narrative of the Democratic party is being driven by a few thousand Wokesters on social media who voted for AOC. The majority of the party's base are like the Hulkotron, older and more moderate and far less outraged by the perceived injustices/"crimes" of the Trump Administration than Twitter would have you believe. I read a story yesterday using various models over Hulkotron's head that the Dems will likely need historic turnout levels, higher than ever before, to win in 2020.
I don't like him much as a person and would say I'm a Dem if forced to pick one political party but I think DJT has been a pretty effective President and we could do a lot worse than four more years. Bill Clinton was a shitty person but a good president. Economy is strong, maybe that's not due entirely to DJT but he's surely going to get the blame if/when it tanks so he should get the credit when it's strong too. We could easily be at war with Iran right now but we're not. The tariffs will be the right move in the long term (Hulkotron is an expert on such things). It is hard to tell how much of his rhetoric is who he really is vs. an act to get a rise out of people and keep his base engaged. I think people forget he was a legit TV star for many years before a politician.
George H.W. Bush PBUH is the most admirable president of my lifetime. He knew new taxes were the coup de grace for his re-election but he did it anyway because it was the right move for our country.
Current polarized situation stems from 2008, you could argue that stems from GWB war/invasion decisions but I think Obama was winning in an electoral landslide in 2008 no matter what. Obama swept into office and Dems have full control over everything, this was their time to say okay GOP we can ram through whatever we want, that's the nuclear option and you need to center a bit and work with us here. Instead they ram through Obamacare, GOP/Tea Party digs their heels in and here we are.
