The ultimate political nightmare may occur if Republicans don’t finally put an end to Donald Trump’s reign of terror and latest foray into the 2024 presidential election. The worst outcome is that Trump wins the election. Doubtful. The next worse result is that Trump hurts the chances of a qualified conservative candidate.

Moving forward our country needs effective leaders and lawmakers to deal with the plethora of dangers present in our country and around the globe. We do not need a self-promoting liar who falsifies actions of others and dreams of an autocratic government.

Trump did some wise things when he was president. No doubt in my mind. But those actions were more than offset by his propensity to lie about his contributions and self-aggrandizement. No matter what the issue, Trump would not accept criticism or accept constructive suggestions.

How can the leader of the free world be at war with fellow Americans and even people in his own political party?

I have no doubts that Trump will not be nominated by Republicans in 2024. He does not have the intelligence, honor, empathy, and diplomatic skills to be the town’s dog catcher. A vast majority of Americans know this, so he will surely lose in the general election.

But what might he do to hurt fellow Republicans that have a reasonable chance to be elected president? By stirring up his ragtag group of America haters, Trump could divert votes from a good conservative candidate to himself. This would result in a Democratic presidential victory, the third worst outcome.

Ross Perot split the popular vote in 1992, giving the election to Bill Clinton, over George H.W. Bush. It’s likely that Trump would badmouth the Republican nominees if he morphs into an Independent campaign, as a spoiler.

There are a lot of other things to be concerned about in 2024. If Republicans can win the White House and both houses of Congress, they would be able to cleanup the slate of misguided actions by Biden and his sycophants.

Assuming Republicans have a non-filibuster proof majority in the Senate, they will need to eliminate the filibuster once and for all. If Republicans balk at this ploy, the government will continue to be in paralysis. Of course, there will be blowback from the minority relating to a change in the law.

The issues pressing our government are serious enough to need drastic action. Republicans must nominate someone who is not shy about negotiating across the aisle or across the ocean. Immigration, crime, education, social issues, nuclear proliferation, race relations, inflation concerns and a possible World War all will be on the next president’s agenda.

House Democrats made a smart move by demoting Pelosi and the rest of her leadership team in the House. Republicans should follow suit and get rid of the old white men. And Ron DeSantis needs people who will listen to him if he can rise to the presidency.

The “instability of our democracy” is a canard. January 6 was not as great of an occasion as Democrats claim. It was shameful and scary, but there was no imminent coup d’état. Trump was not in control of the military or any one on the 6^th that would have enabled him to control the country.

Our democracy is strong and honored by almost every American, regardless of party affiliation. Donald Trump would like to change this, which is the reason why every person in the country should prevent him from having a soapbox or a position of power on the government landscape.

I suppose many of my readers are expecting a mea culpa from me regarding my prognostications about the mid-term elections. Consider me “mea culpa-ed” (I’m coining a new word).

To be clear, I said there would be a red wave during the mid-term elections. I thought Republicans would win control of both houses of Congress; they are lucky to be winning the House alone.

There were some highlights for conservatives. Ron DeSantis is now the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination assuming we can finally rid the country of Trump, once and for all. More on this later. [Last night Trump said he will run. Ugh!]

DeSantis killed it. He won nearly every voting county in Florida including Hispanic dominated Miami-Dade. His leadership regarding education, COVID and crime were appreciated and rewarded by voters. And, he is young and vibrant, unlike so many of the tired old battleaxes in government today.

When Republicans finally do take over the House, it will be a major accomplishment and ensure that Biden and company will not do too much more damage in the ensuing two years before the next presidential election.

But Republicans must prove to voters before 2024 that they can control the government after the presidential election. They need to have specific plans to address pressing problems, social, racial and economic, more successfully than Democrats. The short comment is that Republicans must provide strategies on how to deal with problems rather than saying over and over that Democrats are unable to govern effectively. Moreover, some conservatives need to turn the volume down on some controversial issues such as abortion and election fraud.

I must say that I was in good company predicting a red wave. I guess the polling that influenced me and other prognosticators is still far from perfect. I’m sure that early voting and the barrage of cocksure talking heads on cable is causing the inaccuracy of electoral polling. And the excruciating delays in reporting election results obviously need to be addressed. Florida is a gigantic state, and it reported final results during Election night, whereas some states are still counting votes and slowing up the change in government in our country.

The interesting aspect of the current electoral situation relates to the other prediction I made. I said that neither Biden nor Trump would win the party’s presidential nomination.

For the life of me, I cannot understand why Democrats would re-endorse Joe Biden. He is too old; he is a liar; he is not in great physical condition; he is not in great mental condition; and he is not viable enough to deal with the rigors of the job, and so on. But mostly, he has not accomplished a damn thing of importance during his tenure and allowed inflation and crime to fester. The only positive attribute of the president is that he beat Trump in the last election.

On the other side of the coin is Trump. I have already commented ad nauseam about the plethora of reasons why Donald Trump should not be in politics, out of sight and out of mind. He is a menace and an embarrassment to our country. He has some good ideas mixed in with the craziness, but he is such a horrible person that he should not even be considered by Republicans.

Trump endorsed many candidates in the midterm elections. If they were successful, he would have taken credit and used it as a steppingstone to a presidential nomination. They were not particularly successful. Of note, Oz and Walker were supported by Trump in their bids to become senators. They lost and Republicans were unable to take control of the Senate.

I’m not a flip flopper and will stick with my guns. I can’t believe either Biden or Trump will get the nomination. Heaven help us if either one does.

Why can’t this nation find suitable men and women to lead and legislate our government?

Don’t worry, I have no plans to become a pollster or a person paid to give political predictions. Who would pay me anyway?

I’d like to congratulate New York City for doing an excellent job with early voting. City officials made it easy to do one’s civic duty.

I reviewed the slate of candidates and the referendum items the night before, and it took about 10 minutes to vote and submit my ballot at the polling station located at the Met. Everyone working at the polling place was organized and knew what they were doing. I thanked several volunteers for their service. It is a well-oiled machine.

I can’t speak to the security of the voting process, but the volunteers were efficient and ensured that I was who I said I was without checking a physical ID. A lady looked up my name, asked me for my address and had me sign. A very tidy process.

I also would like to apologize for having doubts about the voting system since the 2020 Election. This year there were short lines, no waiting and convenient hours of operation before Election Day. I took a few minutes to recall how cumbersome voting has been in the past.

I hope that the other 49 states, Washington DC and the American territories operated without any issues, and they are voting without any fraud.

Talk about American democracy. An efficient and accurate voting system is critical to fair elections. In 2020, there were a lot of accusations of fraud that were unsubstantiated. A group of thugs tried to disrupt the election. I hope that Americans are more comfortable that this vote is fair.

Our country needs to ensure the security and accuracy of the vote. It’s how we pick our leaders and lawmakers. Every year a certain number of elected officials are up for reelection. Every two years, all representatives of the House stand for election. Every six years, senators must run again. And every four years, we elect the president. That’s a lot of voting and it includes every state. There’s plenty of things that can go wrong. There are literally trillions of dollars in play based upon who is elected.

I hope that Americans vote and do it with knowledge of the people running. Having low turnout is a disgrace. The US should have the highest percentage of voters voting in each election. The US has been far from an acceptable showing in recent years.

Several years ago, my family travelled to Bhutan, a country located between China and India and the Himalayan mountains. While we were there, the country voted to change from a monarchy to a democracy. Almost every eligible person voted, in excess of 90% of the population. The polling places were orderly and everyone had to wear traditional garb to cast a ballot. Maybe America should dress up to vote. It might improve turnout.

On November 8, those who didn’t vote early will make their choices for national, state and local officials. I’d like to announce that the New York Times and Softball Politics are of one mind regarding the elections. This essay will first refer to a Times article on Wednesday and end with an overview of the political landscape by SP.

The Times appears to be giving up on the liberal party in the impending midterm elections. A red wave could be in the offing. In a story titled, “Democrats Say Party Stumbles On Messaging,” the paper used a number of defeated expressions and words in the piece that make it clear what they think will transpire on Election Day. It’s not good news for Democrats.

Here are a few examples.

• Democrats have failed to coalesce around one effective message with enough time to stave off major losses in the House and possibly decisive defeats in the highly contested Senate. [I suspect the Times is referring to immigration, inflation, education, the economy, crime …]
• Republicans hammer away [effectively] with attacks over the economy and public safety. [These are winning issues.]
• Democrats have offered a scattering [and relatively ineffective] shot of their own accusing their opponents of wanting to cut abortions, shred the social safety net and shake the foundation of American democracy. [In the meantime, inflation is decreasing our buying power on a daily basis.]
• Yet as the country struggles with high gas prices, record inflation and economic uncertainty some Democrats now acknowledge that their kitchen sink approach may be lacking. [Amen.]
• In the area where victory depends on high Black voter turnout, Democrats worry that they are not mobilizing that constituency.
• Others say there has been too much focus on abortion rights and too little attention on the worries about crime or the cost of living.
• Democrats point to an inadequate economic message and inability to [effectively] herald their legislative accomplishments.
• The truth is Democrats have done a poor job of communicating their approach to the economy, said a Democratic Representative from Michigan.
• If you can’t speak directly to people’s pocketbooks and talk about our vision for the economy, you’re just having half a conversation.

The article goes on in this vein for quite some time. The fact is that Democrats and almost everyone else believe liberals are on the verge of a catastrophic loss of power that will hurt them dearly in the upcoming presidential election in 2024 [and will enable them to add more conservatives to the Supreme Court].

Now consider SP perspectives.

The inability of Joe Biden to assist his fellow Democrats is not helping the electoral cause. Democratic leaders have called on the likes of Barack Obama and other former Democratic political stars. Biden has even resorted to having Jill Biden make rallying speeches across the country in his absence.

It’s interesting that most of the rhetoric coming from the left relates to a loss of democracy in the country. The continuing strategy of using Donald Trump as the villain has not been successful. Democrats are in power, controlling the presidency and both houses of Congress. In spite of this overwhelming position of strength, Democrats have done little to encourage voters to support for them on November 8th.

Democrats have also worked very hard using the shameful attacks on the Capitol as political fodder. The people involved in the unlawful siege of Washington do not represent the Republican Party in the United States. To say that longtime Republicans are in any way like the criminals who stormed the capitol is a great falsehood and will not be endorsed by mainstream voters.

It’s clear to me that the Democratic Party needs to reorganize and elevate younger lawmakers into positions of importance. The continuing reliance on the likes of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi will not be helpful to the future of the political party. Of course, it should be noted that the progressive tendencies of young Democratic lawmakers has not be well received by American voters.

It’s very sad that we have such incompetent and insensitive leaders currently running our government. From the words of the New York Times above it’s obvious that many in the media are fed up with lies and exaggerations about faux accomplishments by the party. Time and again the president has said we are not in a recession, inflation is subsiding and everything is under control. I beg to differ. We are destined to face more difficult times economically and politically in this country. Not until the right leaders are elected and the old leaders who are incapable of compromise are eliminated, will we have domestic and international tranquility.

In a previous blog, I lauded the bravery and determination of the Ukraine president. Once again, I would like to do so and say that there must be leaders of the same quality in our country who would bring us back to prosperity and security.

Unfortunately, if the Republicans do take control of both houses of Congress, the country is in for at least a two-year hiatus, where nothing will get done legislatively. Joe Biden will veto substantive efforts to improve our economic and political situations. Only after a presidential victory for the Republican Party will our country get back on the right track to being great once again.