April 30, 2018

There are many Republican lies that float about in the media, and one of the most frequently spouted by Republicans (apart from "both sides do it") is that Democrats don't have any policies, they just hate Trump.

As Driftglass said on last week's Professional Left Podcast, we don't just hate Trump. We hate that he's destroying the policies we supported. We Democrats are pro-EPA, pro-women's rights, pro-human rights, pro-science, pro-Emoluments Clause.

And yeah, the fact that Trump is against all those things and also a colossal liar and likely criminal, yeah we kinda hate him. But it's based on policies as well as a personal dislike of the guy.

John Kasich is, of course, running for President as the not-Trump Republican and we'll see how that goes. But in the meantime, his nonsense against Democrats will not stand, except when CNN lets him. And they always let him.

TAPPER: So, I want to ask you about the midterms.

Republican congressional leaders increasingly worried that a Democratic wave is coming, that they will lose the House, they might even lose the Senate.

President Trump doesn't agree. He's confident in his abilities. He's confident that the Republicans are going to hold the House and Senate.

You're out there in real America in Ohio. How concerned should Republicans be, how concerned should President Trump be?

KASICH: I think that the Democrats are more energized than the Republicans.

And then the Republicans are going to have trouble in a lot of these suburban districts, because a number of people who live in the suburbs, including women who have been traditionally voting Republican, are very uncomfortable with what they see.

So, in that race in Pennsylvania, which is an area I'm really familiar with because I grew up there, this young man Conor Lamb, he won in a district that no Democrat had really won. So, you're beginning to see the intensity factor.

Now, where the Democrats fall short, Jake, is, I have no idea what they're for. I mean, they're really betting on the Republicans just bouncing the ball off their foot out of bounds, and that they will win the game that way.

So, I believe it will be a decent Democrat year. But it could be a big year if they stood for something, but -- and, you know, look, they're all screwed up too, because the left wing is really dominating them, just like the right wing is dominating the Republican Party.

It's an amazing situation.

TAPPER: When you say that suburban women voters who normally vote Republican are trending the other way because that -- they don't like what they see, what do you mean? Do you mean President...

KASICH: Harsh language.

TAPPER: President Trump?

KASICH: Yes, they don't want -- they don't like harsh language. They don't like division.

And, Jake, here is what is going on in our country. Look, you got the hard left and the hard right. They only absorb what they agree with. God bless them. Maybe we can come back and rescue them later. But there's a big ocean of people in the middle who are up for grabs. And these are people who are objective. These are people who are rational. And these are people who seek the truth.

Last night, people come up to me, "Well, I'm a Democrat, I'm for you" at the dinner. "I'm a Republican." I said -- "I'm for you."

I said, forget it. Don't identify yourself. Be yourself. Be an American and care about being rational, objective and seeking the truth, because we're almost in a post-truth environment.

What does that mean? A post-truth environment means that somebody would argue, I'm not even on the set with you. We have to get our facts right. We have to seek the truth. And if we have a difference between liberals, conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, we can mediate those differences, if we can agree to the facts, the basic facts.

In order to agree to basic facts, Governor, YOUR party would have to reject Fox News.

And Limbaugh.

And "alternative facts."

At what point are you, Governor Kasich, going to stand on a debate stage with so-called President Trump and insist that Barack Obama was born in the United States of America and was, UNLIKE TRUMP, duly elected to the presidency?

Because the vast majority of YOUR party is opposed to those "basic facts."

You, Governor Kasich, need to get your "above party" head out of your butt and switch parties ASAP. Trump would tell you the publicity would get you a real bump.

Good luck otherwise.

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