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Vance's Old School Politics Might Just Save the GOP

7 hours agoCenter Right

In so many ways, what was considered normal when it came to basic politics has been turned upside-down during the turbulent and ever more anarchistic Age of Trump. For more than a decade now, campaigning, communicating and vetting, has been plunged into a seemingly bottomless abyss of reimagined reality governed by continually changing ideological rules.

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Panicking Trump issues dark warning to GOP: ‘Stupidity brings losing and death!’

Raw Story

13 minutes ago

Panicking Trump issues dark warning to GOP: ‘Stupidity brings losing and death!’

President Donald Trump issued a panicked plea Monday to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) as the clock ticks on his controversial voter ID bill known as the SAVE Act, warning the South Dakota Republican that “stupidity always brings LOSING & DEATH.”“John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER, where Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of, including a full and deep throated SAVE AMERICA ACT, the Budget, and the ever looming Debt Ceiling disaster, 1929!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “The Dumocrats will do it on day one, and can’t believe how lucky they got with this Senate leadership. Remember, stupidity always brings LOSING & DEATH!”The SAVE Act has stalled in the Senate, with Thune repeatedly claiming he lacks the votes to advance the bill. As a means to force through the SAVE Act, Trump has pressed Thune to eliminate the filibuster, a Senate rule that effectively blocks legislation from advancing in Congress’ upper chamber without 60 votes. Thune has consistently resisted pressure to do so.Described by some critics as a form of “voter suppression,” The SAVE Act would require voters to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote, something experts say could pose hurdles for the 52% of voters who don’t possess a passport and the 11% who don’t have access to their birth certificate. The bill would also disproportionately affect voters with lower incomes, who make up a significant share of Democratic Party voters.

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Ominous ‘shock’ warning from political scientist gets ‘more severe’ with new development

Raw Story

53 minutes ago

Ominous ‘shock’ warning from political scientist gets ‘more severe’ with new development

On July 6, political scientist Robert Pape made an ominous prediction that an "August energy shock" could send global oil prices skyrocketing, but on Monday, a recent development led him to double down and forecast an even bigger shock to come.Last week, the Yemeni military organization the Houthis implemented a new maritime blockade on Saudi Arabian energy exports through the Red Sea, and over the weekend, Saudi Arabia launched attacks against the Houthis after its oil tankers came under fire.“After Houthi attacks on Saudi oil tankers, over 40% of Saudi oil bypassing Hormuz via the Red Sea is not hitting the global market. More attacks could reduce this further,” Pape, a professor at the University of Chicago, wrote in an analysis published Monday on his Substack. “By opening an active Red Sea front through its regional partners while keeping Hormuz closed, Iran [is] no longer presenting Washington with one maritime challenge. It is creating a two-front war problem in strategically linked theaters that must be managed at the same time.”Pape predicted as far back as June 15 that Iran was well positioned to “exploit the oil inventory clock” and weaponize rising oil prices to its advantage. He reiterated that analysis on July 6 and more explicitly predicted that an “energy shock” could hit global markets in August.Energy prices have, in fact, increased significantly since Pape’s initial prediction. With the United States having ramped up attacks on Iran starting earlier this month, gas prices have since soared in the United States to an average of $4.10 a gallon as of Friday, and are “poised to climb higher,” per NBC News.“In my July 6 briefing, I warned that the earlier prediction was on track,” Pape wrote. “The developments of the past week reinforce that strategic logic and likely make the coming shock more severe.”

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Sen. Jim Banks Becomes THIRD Republican Senator to Demand Senate CANCEL August Recess Until SAVE America Act Passes

The Gateway Pundit

1 hour ago

Sen. Jim Banks Becomes THIRD Republican Senator to Demand Senate CANCEL August Recess Until SAVE America Act Passes

The pressure is mounting on RINO Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the do-nothing Republican establishment. The post Sen. Jim Banks Becomes THIRD Republican Senator to Demand Senate CANCEL August Recess Until SAVE America Act Passes appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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MAGA voters will soon 'quit watching Fox' as gas soars and GOP excuses Trump: Republican

Raw Story

2 hours ago

MAGA voters will soon 'quit watching Fox' as gas soars and GOP excuses Trump: Republican

With gas prices back above $4 a gallon and the midterms approaching, Republicans are choosing to defend President Donald Trump's Iran policy rather than distance themselves from it — a bet that could backfire as voters feel the pinch at the pump.Some GOP lawmakers acknowledge the political risk, but few are willing to blame the 80-year-old president for the higher prices or criticize his decision to launch a war against Iran as they make their case to voters heading into the midterm elections, reported MS NOW.“It’s certainly something we’re concerned about,” said Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee. “President Trump did the right thing ... We need to support what he’s doing. If that means we have to go to the voters and explain it, so be it.”Hudson insisted the issue had not yet shown up in NRCC polling, but Republicans seem aware that voters are skeptical of the war and its impact on fuel costs.“We’ve got to explain to people that, you know, unfortunately until we get some new leadership in Iran, we’re going to continue to see conflict, which is going to see higher gas prices,” said Sen. Rick Scott, who previously chaired the Senate GOP’s campaign arm.That message may not hold. Some Republicans not seeking reelection were more candid about the risk. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) suggested voters would eventually stop trusting favorable media coverage and start reacting to what they're paying at the pump.“Eventually, I think people’s pocketbooks are going to impose reality on them, and they’re going to quit watching Fox and pay more attention to the gas prices,” Massie said. Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who like Massie was ousted by a Trump-endorsed primary challenger, was more measured, arguing that solving the affordability problem is good politics.Many rank-and-file Republicans dismissed the price increases as temporary, deflecting blame toward local regulations, alleged corporate price gouging, or the previous administration. Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) invoked Biden-era gas prices while defending the Iran strikes as necessary. Reps. Tim Moore (R-NC) and Tim Burchett (R-TN) both pointed fingers at oil companies rather than the war.Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) dismissed the entire issue as election-season noise. “The only reason you’re talking about gas prices is because we’re a few months away from a general election, and you’re just trying to get people irritated,” he told MS NOW. “That’s what you do.”“We knew it was going to go up," Nehls added, "but it is really temporary.”Vulnerable incumbents took a different tack. Reps. David Valadao (R-CA), Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) each tried to shift blame toward Democratic energy policy rather than directly defend the war's economic fallout.The polling suggests the political ground is shifting under them. Oil prices jumped roughly 10 percent last week as hostilities continued, and gains Trump had made in approval ratings after an earlier ceasefire have largely disappeared. A Gallup poll found two-thirds of Americans reporting financial hardship from rising gas prices, with majorities saying they're driving less or altering summer travel plans. A Politico poll found most Americans, including a majority of MAGA voters, blame the war for the price spike — and nearly half of those MAGA respondents said it could push them to vote outside their party.Democrats are moving quickly to capitalize. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has directly tied the price surge to the war, while Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) argued the administration has failed on both of its major promises — lowering costs and avoiding new wars.

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Trump tariffs come back to haunt GOP as elections near

NewsNation

2 hours ago

Trump tariffs come back to haunt GOP as elections near

The Trump administration announced Thursday it will impose double-digit tariffs on imports from 60 trading partners over forced labor violations.

Center

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Trump Poll Collapse Hits New Milestone as Leaks Reveal Fresh GOP Panic

The New Republic

2 hours ago

Trump Poll Collapse Hits New Milestone as Leaks Reveal Fresh GOP Panic

Donald Trump has hit a trifecta, throwing away the traditional GOP edge on the economy, immigration, and national security. The latest polls show Democrats are leading Republicans on the economy by a comfortable nine points, have hit near-parity with the GOP on immigration, and lead on foreign policy, even as Trump has sunk into the 20s on the Iran war, all shockers. These polls show it’s all driven by Trump’s collapsing approval on all three. Yet Trump just unleashed a huge new wave of tariffs. His GOP allies are leaking their deep dismay to Politico: One suggests this worsens the affordability problem and cannot be spun favorably by GOP candidates. Another says this is a “bad conversation for Republicans.” We talked to Democratic strategist Andrew Bates. He explains what all this looks like on the ground in difficult House races, what obstacles still remain, and why it remains hard for Democrats to win rural voters who are unhappy with Trump. Listen to this episode here. A transcript is here.

Left

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GOP Louisiana Sen John Kennedy Says Bailing on Iran War Would Be A ‘Huge, Huge Mistake’

The Daily Caller

2 hours ago

GOP Louisiana Sen John Kennedy Says Bailing on Iran War Would Be A ‘Huge, Huge Mistake’

‘I support the president in Iran. We all need to do a better job messaging’

Right

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Trump allies quietly advising GOP candidates to distance themselves from him as polls sink

Raw Story

3 hours ago

Trump allies quietly advising GOP candidates to distance themselves from him as polls sink

Republican candidates are quietly getting advice from President Donald Trump's own circle ahead of November's midterms to break with the administration and stop talking about the Iran war the way he does, according to a report.MS NOW White House correspondent Jake Traylor reported the shift Sunday on "Alex Witt Reports," saying strategists close to the president are telling incumbents and challengers alike to create daylight between their message and Trump's. The president has insisted the nearly five-month conflict is going well, even as it drags on and he weighs whether ending it outright could blunt the political damage to his party."They're encouraged to actually put some distance and space between the way Trump talks about the war and the way they do," Traylor said, in remarks flagged by The Daily Beast. He pointed to consistently negative polling and the sense that Republicans lack a winning strategy on the war heading into the vote.A CBS News/YouGov survey taken July 22-24 found most Americans believe the conflict has been harder than the administration expected, and most say Trump makes the war sound better than it is. Approval of the military action stays underwater. With the midterms roughly 100 days out, the war has collided with rising gas prices and an economy that has become the number Republicans fear most.Fighting has paused in the region, asTrump halted strikes Friday after the top U.S. commander in the Middle East advised that the bombing campaign around the Strait of Hormuz had reached the limits of its effectiveness. Some House Republicans have already broken ranks with the president to rein in the war.One GOP strategist warned that a race that becomes a referendum on Iran is doomed to fail.

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Vance's Old School Politics Might Just Save the GOP

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Vance's Old School Politics Might Just Save the GOP

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