(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: More on elections and consequences [1] ['Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags', 'Showtags Popular_Tags'] Date: 2023-04-07 x More of this. Of course, I think they do have their position straight. The problem is that their position is highly unpopular. https://t.co/g7sL3lYlsm — Jonathan Cohn (@CitizenCohn) April 6, 2023 POLITICO: Wisconsin and Chicago elections expose liabilities in GOP case for ’24 The crime-related political attacks didn’t land. “Voters showed that they understand public safety to be much more nuanced than the way the Republicans try to frame it. That this is not just about having adequate law enforcement on the streets to promote public safety, but also about investing in mental health and substance use treatment and addressing poverty,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in an interview with POLITICO. “There are not just the short-term efforts to address crime, but also the long-term efforts.” x Trump indictments are like buses. If you don't like this one, another will be along soon enough. — Rick Perlstein (@rickperlstein) April 6, 2023 Greg Sargent/The Washington Post: Wisconsin’s stunning outcome puts MAGA Republicans in a serious bind The Wisconsin results suggest a trend that developed in the 2022 midterm elections will continue. Candidates who stood up for abortion rights — and emphasized that protecting democracy is critical to safeguarding those rights — defeated anti-choice, election-denying MAGA candidates everywhere. That’s the message Protasiewicz and Wisconsin Democrats employed against Kelly, who lent support to Donald Trump’s lies about his 2020 reelection loss. Democrats argued that a liberal court majority would likely overturn the state’s abortion ban. But Democrats also spent heavily on spots that cast a conservative court as a threat to democracy. Democrats argued that a right-wing court could subvert the state’s 2024 presidential outcome, and noted that a liberal court might overturn the state’s extremely gerrymandered legislative districts. This combination helped drive the size of the Wisconsin victory, the state Democratic Party believes, as well as record turnout for a state Supreme Court race totaling 1.8 million votes. x She was worthy enough to whip your ass. What’s beneath contempt is more and more republicans like you losing like this—whining, weak shells of a candidacy unwilling to concede defeat. https://t.co/mEoN1cPbaq — Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) April 5, 2023 Stephen Collinson/CNN: The pulsating state politics that could shape America more than Trump’s legal woes This remarkable series of local battles is not always noticed in Washington, where lawmakers are gearing up for a looming debt ceiling crisis and arguing about aid to Ukraine. But political brushfires that begin in states can later rage at the national level and define future general election clashes. It’s already clear, for example, that gender and transgender issues will be a dominant question in 2024, as Republicans slam Democrats for embracing policies that they describe as “woke.” x The thing about all of Trump’s crimes—from Stormy Daniels to Mueller obstruction to “the perfect telephone call” to 1/6–is there’s no doubt he did it. The GOP just believes he’s above the law and Dems and prosecutors believe he’s not. This is really quite simple. https://t.co/8dGrkYL8Jj — Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) April 4, 2023 Tim Alberta/The Atlantic: Donald Trump Is on the Wrong Side of the Religious Right Evangelical leaders are abandoning the former president, and his Republican rivals are scrambling to win their support. Piety aside, raw political calculation was at work. Trump’s relationship with the evangelical movement—once seemingly shatterproof, then shaky after his violent departure from the White House—is now in pieces, thanks to his social-media tirade last fall blaming pro-lifers for the Republicans’ lackluster midterm performance. Because of his intimate, longtime ties to the religious right, Pence understands the extent of the damage. He is close personal friends with the organizational leaders who have fumed about it; he knows that the former president has refused to make any sort of peace offering to the anti-abortion community and is now effectively estranged from its most influential leaders. According to people who have spoken with Pence, he believes that this erosion of support among evangelicals represents Trump’s greatest vulnerability in the upcoming primary—and his own greatest opportunity to make a play for the GOP nomination. But he isn’t the only one. x Please watch this video from Tennessee House floor. Takes only a minute. If you would be so kind, please tell us your reaction after viewing it: https://t.co/97WifLT1L7 — Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) April 7, 2023 x The MAGA claims that the kids in Tennessee were engaged in "insurrection" are pure gaslighting. Here is the paper of record in Nashville: "No demonstrators broke into the Capitol, no one was arrested or injured, and no property was damaged."https://t.co/Psluq5Naxw — Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) April 7, 2023 Here’s what happened (via the Tennessean link above): “With a bullhorn, Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, and Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, led protestors in the galleries in several chants calling for gun reform.” Reps. Jones and Pearson (who are Black) were expelled from the Tennessee House on Thursday. Rep. Johnson (a white woman) was not. x Reporter asks Rep. Gloria Johnson why she thinks there was a difference between her outcome and Rep. Justin Jones Rep Johnson: "I'll answer your question; it might have to do with the color of our skin." pic.twitter.com/8fyIRRqP0S — philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 6, 2023 Those young Representatives will be back. They’ll either be reappointed by local councils or reelected by their constituents. But they’ll come back stronger than when they left, now with national profiles. Great job, Republicans. Julia Azari/POLITICO: The Trump Indictment Reveals More About Our Politics Than It Does About the Ex-President Is the effort to hold Trump accountable showing the limits of our “politics of revelation”? Trump’s actions have remained consistent over time. He started his presidential bid with a clear track record on race and immigration, paying debts, and following the law. At nearly every turn, Trump has been exactly who his words and actions told us who he was. It’s the response to them that has changed, and that has told us who we are. What has surprised at least some observers is the reaction to Trump from political leaders, the media and the public. From insulting John McCain in 2015 to the Access Hollywood tape to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., to Jan. 6, elected Republicans have mostly kept their criticisms tepid, and the president’s public support has remained steady. The media has often relied on the “unprecedented” frame, talking about Trump’s actions as norm-breaking when they should have talked about them as republic-breaking. x This is why public trust in the Supreme Court is cratering: Clarence Thomas Secretly Accepted Luxury Trips From GOP Donor — ProPublica https://t.co/lbJCIqZ6XH — Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) April 6, 2023 Zack Beauchamp/Vox: x One thing people aren't talking about.... The combination of GOP loss in Wisconsin & Trump indictment makes it harder for them to recruit quality candidates for 2024 House/Senate races. It's recruitment season. — Jesse Ferguson (@JesseFFerguson) April 6, 2023 McKay Coppins/The Atlantic: THE HUMILIATION OF DONALD TRUMP He was forced to return to the island that rejected him—not in triumph, but in disgrace. No one predicted that he would look quite so humiliated. Of course, becoming the first ex-president in American history to be charged with a crime is not exactly a coveted résumé line. But Donald Trump’s indictment yesterday marked a low point in another way too: For a man who’s long harbored a distinctive form of class anxiety rooted in his native New York, Trump’s arraignment in Manhattan represented the ultimate comeuppance. The island of Manhattan plays an important role in the Donald Trump creation myth. In speeches and interviews over the years, Trump has repeatedly recalled peering across the East River as a young man, yearning to expand the family real-estate business and compete with the city’s biggest developers. For a kid born in Queens—even one who grew up in a rich family—Manhattan seemed like the center of the universe… But Trump was never really accepted by Manhattan’s old-money aristocracy. To the city’s elites, he was just another nouveau riche wannabe with bad manners and a distasteful penchant for self-promotion. They recognized the type—the outer-borough kid who’d made good—and they made sure he knew he wasn’t one of them. With each guest list that omitted his name, with each VIP invitation that didn’t come, Trump’s resentment burned hotter—and his desire for revenge deepened. x Well well well... if it isn't the consequences of their own actions. https://t.co/twxkzVQxZH — Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) April 6, 2023 [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/7/2162508/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Roundup-More-on-elections-and-consequences Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/