>>56637
I'd love to believe this (first scenario) because it's hard to reconcile that a country I truly love has so many hateful, stupid people. I get that Harris is no one's dream candidate, but she's competent and sane, which is better than a candidate who's demonstrably the opposite. It's like you have a choice between vanilla ice cream and a cup full of Drano and you choose the latter because vanilla is too boring.
Because I don't gaf what anyone says: things are really not that bad, and better by several metrics than at any time under Trump. Which is why on November 6 MAGA was already crowing about inflation coming down, unemployment being at historic lows, and the Dow hitting a new high. Coming off the greatest economic distaster since 1929 we're actually doing pretty good by comparison with our economic peers in Europe... but feels trump data 100% of the time (npi).
There was no fix. He won. Poll-wise Harris never was up by more than 2% nationally (margin of error is 4), and never broke out of a dead heat in MI or WI. Any big bumps she enjoyed, from inheriting the nomination in the first place to the cats and dogs debate to the Reichsparteitag at Madison Square Garden, were extremely short-lived. The momentum libs felt, especially in the final few weeks, was a media creation (both right and left). The post game makes it clear Trump didn't convert that many people, but a lot of ostensible Dems stayed home. These happened to be key demos in the swing states: white union members and middle class suburbanites, and just enough Blacks, Latinos, and Muslims.
I'm sleeping at night with the idea the Senate will not confirm batshit nominees like Gabbard, Goetz, RFK Jr, and Hegseth. The party is MAGA-happy atm because he led them to a big victory but the majority aren't suicidal. Tariffs and mass deportations will be kneecapped by Wall Street before it even gets there. Trump will resent Elon getting too much attention and start icing him out. Any major moves he wants to make will be scuttled by the same chaos, infighting, and lack of discipline that defined his first term. People say he learned from that but Trump is incapable of learning anything.
The bad news is that Ukraine will probably lose it's eastern provinces but that would likely happen anyway, just in 5 years rather than 1. If Trump brokers a capitulation (sorry, "peace deal") then Putin will call it a win and go back to rebuilding Russia's economy. The next administration will have to deal with it when he occupies Moldova. Any pro-Palestinian moron who stayed home or voted for Trump is about to have their hearts broken. Israel will reshape the region in their image and in 10 years a Palestinian state will not just be an improbability but forgotten altogether.
Economically speaking, a massive tax cut for rich people with no spending cuts — something all Republicans can agree on — will further blow up the deficit which could trigger another recession. And his tendency to platform nutjobs will mean a big explosion in crypto "investing" which might trigger a full-on crash.
>>56673
"The dog that caught the car." How the hell is he gonna make good on his promises? He doesn't have a clue and neither do the nutballs he's surrounded himself with.