In both the federal election and in Indiana, if the individual heading up the GOP ticket gets the most votes, that individual is highly unlikely to actually serve a full term. That’s because In both cases, the “headliner” is much older than typical candidates for President and Governor, and in the case of Trump, clearly and rapidly plunging into senility and dementia.
A few days ago, Jennifer Rubin noted that reality.
In essence, the most unqualified man ever to run for vice president — without a lick of executive public experience, just two years in the Senate, author of not a single piece of significant legislation, lacking any experience with foreign leaders — would be promoted. We would have a real life encounter with Peter’s Principle in the most important job on the planet. And considering the opposition from most of the “adults” from the first term, he might be relying on likely Trump Cabinet officials and advisers such as Kash Patel, Stephen K. Bannon, Richard Grenell, Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
As Rubin points out, Vance is far more ideological than Trump. (Let’s face it, Trump couldn’t spell ideology, let alone embrace one–his only purpose is to be noticed, to be important, and to take vengeance on his enemies.) As she says, he “blows with the wind on everything from a national abortion ban to Social Security.” Vance, on the other hand, is “enmeshed in the fever world of conspiracies,” from the anti-Semitic obsession with George Soros to the “great replacement theory” to election denial. The fact that he can spell and use words properly may make him sound saner than Trump, but his ability to articulate a coherent argument just makes him more dangerous.
MAGA Mike Braun is not as old and senile as Trump, but he’s no spring chicken. More troubling is that during the campaign, he has demonstrated absolutely no ability to rein in his White Christian Nationalist running mate–shown none of the “leadership” ability he says he’d bring to the Governor’s office.
Not only does Micah Beckwith constantly reinforce his looney-tunes faux religiosity, he–like Vance–has zero experience with, or skills required for the job he’s seeking. The Indiana Lieutenant Governor’s primary responsibilities are for agriculture and tourism. Unlike his Democratic opponent, Terry Goodin, who has ample credentials relevant to the job, Beckwith is a loose cannon culture warrior who thinks he talks to God. He’s at odds with the Constitution and rule of law and totally unfit for any public position.
Among his many “policy positions,” Beckwith equates abortion with slavery and wants to erase the already-inadequate exceptions in Indiana’s draconian ban. He has advocated shooting brown people who cross the border. He has called Jennifer McCormick–the clearly superior candidate for Governor–a “Jezebel.” He opposes same-sex marriage and gay people generally. In his one official position, on a library board, he tried to ban books. The list goes on and on.
Even if Braun is able to serve out his term, Beckwith will have a profound impact on his administration–and undoubtedly on tourism. Braun–aka “Mr. Empty Suit”–has demonstrated no ability to muzzle or redirect Beckwith, who will “represent” what it means to be a Hoosier in the eyes of many.
In a world where voters truly understood how government works and were aware of the knowledge and skills required for the positions on their ballots, the impulse to simply vote for one’s tribe might be modified by recognition of the utter unfitness of candidates like Beckwith (and Banks and Rokita). When the choices before them are limited–Americans cannot “scratch” or split their tickets for either Vice-President or Lieutenant Governor–rational voters would consider the likelihood that the secondary candidate will either be calling the shots (in the case of the federal election) or–best case scenario–simply embarrassing the state (in Indiana).
Of course, we don’t live in a world where all voters are even minimally civically-literate…..
The ONLY hope for defeating these awful Indiana Rs is the possibility that large numbers of women will vote straight D as a result of Roe. One can hope – a little
As a poll worker, I have experienced the large numbers of people patiently, quietly, politely waiting in line for hours—and I hope this continues through Election Day. That makes me hopeful.
However, as I make sure each voter knows how the election machine works, the most common question is: I just want to know where I choose a straight Republican ticket.
That makes me worry.
When I got home from the polls last night, my husband told me he’d heard a report that many younger voters had never seen the full Access Hollywood tape—now circulating on TikTok…
That makes me frustrated (and sad) about our splintered sources of information and the huge amounts of misinformation and disinformation that confuse and separate people.
Thank you for all your columns, Sheila. I appreciate them.
The Indiana Republican voter is – as are almost all Republicans – a prisoner of his/her own ignorance and ideological lies. They have closed their minds to anything other than what they’ve been told by parents and preachers. They cannot and will not change and no logic, proof or argument will sway them.
Yes, the women may come to the rescue of our nation by secretly disobeying their husbands in the voting booths, but there won’t be enough of them in Indiana, Texas, Ohio, and all of the southern states to change the outcome of this election in those states.
Regarding Vance, he doesn’t need to be qualified. Like his running mate, he’d simply be a figurehead, with the forces behind Project 2025 calling the shots and pulling the strings. As for the Mike and Micah team—well, this is Indiana, after all…
Yesterday, while driving and listening to the BBC News Hour on NPR, I heard some voters being queried in a Philadelphia sandwich shop. One fellow said that he was tired of politicians who were out of touch with what average Americans have to deal with, especially financially. He then said he’d be voting for TFG because “he comes from the real world” and can relate. At that, I let out a screech (what “real” world does that guy inhabit?) that dogs two counties away probably heard. So, sadly, it seems that voters do not know whom they’re voting for.
The Other Sheila; I saw an on-the-street interview with a woman early voter in PA who said she really doesn’t like Trump but will vote for him because of what he stands for. There is no way for a normal person to understand their mindset; like his former Ambassador to EU, Gordon Sundland stated about Trump on Ari Melber’s “The Beat”, “Those things he says are just the way he talks.” None of them view Trump as a sane, rational, intelligent, qualified candidate for any position in government but all will vote for for him as President.
As Ricky Ricardo so often asked Lucy to, ‘splain!”
Earth two is a strange place. It is a world that reinforces those closely held beliefs that I contend are impervious to facts. The people who live there react to facts about the same way I might react to a rattle snake. They retreat to the confines of FAUX News and OAN. In those places, they are comforted by “alternate facts”. On earth one, we call those facts, lies.
“The real world.” I believe that man was referring to the emotional display tfg puts on. Perhaps that is what people relate to; it’s intense, personal, grabs one’s attention, and his MAGA nuts understand it…if nothing else. Beyond that the man is not in the real world, himself!
I expect that whatever Hitler used to actually say, as he ranted on in his extended
speeches, one does not need to know the German language to relate to the rage he displayed.
You’ve got your Brauns and Beckwiths, we’ve got our Scott and Rubio. We are stuck with the latter, MAYBE there is a half of a wiff of a chance to be rid off the former.
I don’t believe it’s tied because Trump has campaigned for himself over my and his whole lives, and Kamala caught up with the dynamic duo and passed them in three months.
In the language of some, that’s an undeniable trend.
TV still needs eyeballs so they create suspense.
Trump/Vance have returned to campaigning for themselves.
Pete writes, “TV still needs eyeballs, so they create suspense.”
That is correct! It’s like a horse race performance where they are neck and neck—a photo finish. Not only do our lame media need eyeballs, but they also want the advertising gravy train to continue, and so do the candidates.
If I were Rubin, I’d find another newspaper to write for because, after Bezos’s announcement last week, the WaPo is trash. Not sure why she mentioned Elon Musk as a guide for Vance when Peter Thiel is his long-time mentor. Peter is gay, married, and has children. Does that align with Vance’s ideology or the Republican Party’s?
I took a hiatus from X once the election kicked off, and Musk had carte blanche to push Trump and his immigrant bullshit stories. I don’t understand how Musk can run the companies he owns. I thought he was off-the-charts brilliant, as does Trump, but Elon doesn’t come across as very smart. There has to be something behind the scenes where Musk is just being used as a figurehead.
As for Indiana, Beckwith was forced down Braun’s throat by the Republican caucus. That should give you some insight into who is running our state or who is not running it. I see educated Hoosier women posting the most ignorant memes on Facebook almost daily in support of Trump or against Harris. How they could hold down a job or function in society is mind-boggling. I’ve attended government meetings where congregations come to protest a project near their neighborhood. Listening to their vast conspiracies, gullibility, and ignorance was shocking. I would text the public officials being talked to, “Where do these people come from?” They would shake their heads.
It’s scary!
I hope Indiana turns blue!
I had an interesting encounter yesterday when I was canvassing for a Democrat candidate for state rep. I encountered a couple who basically tried to shout me down with “Harris kills babies!” They did not believe me when I tried to take a mroe nuanced approach about women lives in dangerous pregancies. I have some friends who have had abortions and they were all pregnancies that could not be carried to term and had to be terminated to save the woman’s life. The woman told me she had raised 9 kids and did not believe me. They also did not believe me when I pointed out that Trump raised my income taxes by 25%. Where are people getting these ideas?
Leslie,
People always take charge of their own minds and presumed self-interest. I’m sure I do.
Collectively we used to understand freedom but today many of the safest, most comfortable humans ever miss fear and anger so filling that hole in their lives becomes a need.
Filling that need has become Republican politics.
It scares me how big the need has become.
Great threads here. So we have a population so titillated by the MAGA show, that they believe and live the lies they are told, even some to the point of violence as directed by their leaders. The answer, whoever wins, is honor and “living democracy” in such a way that we tear down autocracy and fascism by our daily lives. This is the message that Kamala brings, the bankshot, that by living for the future, for all of us, for the good, for common sense and common good, we can overcome the misinformation, the deflections, and the lies and distortions toward dictatorship.
im being asked, did ya vote? the majority said trump. as expected,, 4 said none of the above.. one harris. they havent a clue. everyone bounces on the cost of living, and they voted trump. no one reads,no one takes more than a sound bite. just ear shot failure. in cool hand luke,as said, Stother Martin, “seems we have a failure to communicate..” no shit… fox was a big influence if,,these peasents went past the headline WTFs, they said were actully watching it. NoDak is true blood red politically ignorant. I can not even get a good debate. but,they do listen.. maybe someone who could talk to them as i do would make inroads. Dems have this sense everyone sits down to read and study issues. The maga types dont. they could care less as long as the immigrants go back and the liberals die. there is nothing from this empty group,just failure..
I believe that a number of issues are intertwined here. There is No Question – that the discussion of the inanities of Indiana’s Political Leadership within the Republican Party is totally on target! They “why’s?” are more interesting to me. IF – I was a “Big Businessman” in Indiana – I would face two issues of potential importance to me that might make me be heavily Republican: 1.) Money I can make off of the situation and 2.) The potentially negative results upon my business and personal life – if I “buck the trend” and either am silent or speak up for justice. IF – I was a “One Issue” – individual – such as believing that “killing babies” would result in me “going to hell” if I didn’t “act” – I could see supporting the lunatics you have. If – I was working in Indiana – for extremely low wages – with No Health Insurance through my work – and had children and a life partner – I could imagine: 1.) Being too exhausted to research the issues seriously, and 2.) Being easily swayed – to “blame the immigrants” or similar – dealing with my own existential situation – and lack of trusted others in my life to help me see things more clearly (the propaganda is quite out there)!. I would also note – that though Republicans are horrific – in a lot of areas Democrats are – 60-80% of the “just as bad” in many ways. Corporate greed buys off plenty of Dems (too)! Killing innocent Palestinians – seems to largely be a bi-partisan effort – with few exceptions (one Indiana Congressman seems to “have morality” here). There must be a lot of Black People in Indiana – also – who have seen the Dems – nationally – promise a lot to them – only to see – “reality” – be that absent a deep commitment (not there) and the lack of “power” that Dems – have – within Congress and the Court System – not much happens – and oft times things get worse.
Pete:
seems the trick was Harriis. but in the DNCs scheme, they had to buid a 30% higher hill to get over to even play even. seems it worked.hopefully every female voter stands in line and gives the facists a well deserved finger.
L Stephen Cain:
in NoDak in the blue collar ranks, where i reside. seems for years we were the facist.seems the maga bunch didnt even know the definition of facist,or who was. now they have relized who we are pointing a finger at now. like the brown shirts,they are killing our democracy. they havent a clue how close it is to being inslaved by the money bunch for a few cheap trinkets..
best wishes all..
George, your last point about all the Democratic policy failures was felt hardest with people of color during Obama’s presidency. His progressive campaign pitches fired up Americans and even made Indiana a fan. The problem was his failure to follow through on any of the promises. He will forever be known as an abject progressive failure. It’s also why Hillary Clinton was the absolute WORST choice for the Democrats against the outsider Trump.
Biden sure didn’t get them back, and with Harris sucking up to moderates, it feels like our two-corporatist political parties have completely abandoned progressives. The Oligarchy has no use for progressives, but as Marx predicted, this will be to their own detriment.