Trump met with Obama, and so far so good.

[Blackjack200]

I don't think anyone should support him in attempts to ban muslims, defund successful and necessary social programs, regress women's rights to Victorian era social norms, fracture NATO so that Putin can reoccupy sovereign nations. I think we should fight him tooth and nail and with any means necessary if any of these policies are, indeed, more than bluster.

But at this point, we can only see if this really is his goal. He has long been on both sides of all of these issues and so I think that his supporters who elected him for the big ? and us liberals that railed against him because of the big ? really can't do much more right now than wait and see what side of that ? he falls on.

Sorry, I meant to respond to this. My chief concern is not is proposed policies. My chief concern is that he's a power hungry, vindictive bully that now has the levers of power. The FBI already blatantly interfered with the election, and he's not even in power yet. Don't underestimate his ability to bully dissidents and use the power of the executive branch to punish his enemies. Don't underestimate his ability to turn the USA into the GDR.

That is a reasonable attitude. And where I think many of us are at on this. He used some scary old school tactics to whip people into a frenzy and get them to vote for him. But is this really a prelude to a radical agenda, or the end of effective campaign PSYOPs?

Why would tactics that were effective to getting him elected not be effective to getting what he wants when he's in office. Again, I hope you're right, I just don't see any evidence for it or any reason to believe it.

 

[Gardener]

If this were a normal election cycle I would agree without reserve. But least anyone forget, he blitzkrieged the GOP and all of its most popular members. I would not count on the GOP having everything rubber stamped the way some fear will happen.

Trump was a populist, and to the left of everyone (except Sanders) on many issues during the primary, he was against the war, supported tariffs, and spoke about bringing the jobs back to the US.

During the general election he pivoted to more standard republican positions, since he needed the RNC to run his national campaign...which they did.

Now, again he needs the party support to form a cabinet and to govern. I think they will have a great deal of influence, to quote GW Bush, they will be the "decider". I hope I am wrong, but I would not put money on it.

The first test is his cabinet selections, if we see a mix of democrats, independents, and republicans, that will indicate that Trump is his own man.

 

[sxr7171]

This is a great example of ignoring facts to believe in a narrative. In this case, that the Democrats were out of touch with America and thus overconfident.

It's true that Democrats thought they were going to win. It's also true that they thought they could win back the Senate and even an outside chance at the House. They had a substantial GOTV effort as a result. In fact, after the election I heard a lot of people questioning the value of GOTV efforts since trump won with essentially no ground game.

But it doesn't fit you narrative, so just pretend the facts are different.

You tell me what the media was saying up to Monday and what every single poll was saying. Up until Tuesday she "had it in the bag".

If you weren't shocked by this result then you might not be from this planet.

I don't have a narrative. Just look at what happened that's the narrative.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Why would tactics that were effective to getting him elected not be effective to getting what he wants when he's in office. Again, I hope you're right, I just don't see any evidence for it or any reason to believe it.

The realities of the office mean many campaign promises cannot be kept. And I expect that just as with Obama, once you get to see what is going on behind the curtain, your perspective and agenda perforce change.

Gardner may be right that he will be implementing policies the party pushes on him. It is the path of least resistance after all. However, if there is anything you can give the guy, it is that he does not seem to do easy with much of anything.