Things that will help the GOP before 2022 elections.

[Dill]

(02-23-2021, 03:48 PM)fredtoast Wrote: 1.  The law suites filed by Dominion.  There will always be a small portion of brainwashed Trump followers, but when all these issues are hashed out in courts of law instead of in internet chat rooms a lot of people will end up eating crow and having to accept reality.

2.  Possible legal/financial problems by Trump.  Again, a small portion will believe that any criticism of Trump is just a "witch hunt", but if he is forced to admit defeat and settle some of these issues in court it will diminish his authority.  It will also expose how much he profited from money donated to his campaign.

3.  Impact of Covid on economy.  No matter how much we try to fix this by just churning out more government debt there will be serious consequences over the next two years.  We are not really fixing the economic problems.  Instead we are just kicking them down the road.  And since Dems are in control they will take the blame.

I rather disagree with your points 1-2, but I think they are good bases of discussion.

What I would dispute is that the portion of Trump followers who think the election was stolen and that his financial problems are a witch hunt is "small," and will become significantly smaller anytime soon.

77% of Republicans thought the election was fraudulent as of a Dec. 10, 2020 Quinnipiac poll
https://www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-q-poll-republicans-believe-fraud-20201210-pcie3uqqvrhyvnt7geohhsyepe-story.html

By Quinnipiac's Feb. 4 poll, almost a month after the Capitol riots, that number had only dropped to 76%.
https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=3689

As of Feb. 15, 56% of Republicans thought that Trump did everything he could to STOP the Capitol insurrection, and 75% want him to play a "big role" in the Republican party going forward.  https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=3691

Remember the popular cry on social media that Dem/MSM fearmongering of "COVID COVID COVID" would end on election day? There is no evidence that disproof of that and like "predictions" affect Trump support at this point. Don't count on any serious degree of "eating crow" and "having to accept reality." Trump is still the GOP boss.  You, and the rest of us, have to accept that "reality."
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/oct/31/viral-image/no-coronavirus-pandemic-wont-end-day-after-electio/

(02-23-2021, 03:48 PM)fredtoast Wrote: 3.  Impact of Covid on economy.  No matter how much we try to fix this by just churning out more government debt there will be serious consequences over the next two years.  We are not really fixing the economic problems.  Instead we are just kicking them down the road.  And since Dems are in control they will take the blame.

I agree this will help the GOP, but for the same reasons that I doubt 1-2 above.

The RWMM will be going full spin on how Biden is at once mishandling COVID and the economy; it will link any necessary safety/distancing/masking measures to "totalitarian" control, insisting Dems view the pandemic and consequent economic problems as an opportunity to "expand government" and "limit freedoms" like free speech.  There will be outraged "proof" of this every day on Fox and OANN, and hashed over on WND and NEWSMAX.

Trump's handling of the pandemic, his dissing of the military, and voter fraud lies each pared away small fractions of his support--enough to cost him the election.  It is quite possible, or even likely, there will someday be a sudden collapse of Trump support, dropping it as low as 15%. That frequently (but not always) happens with authoritarian populists. But I am not sure that will happen to Trump before 2022.

For the foreseeable future, Trump supporters will continue to avoid the "fake news," while the ongoing "witch hunts" into Trump's finances and culpability in the Capitol riots. viewed through the prism of RWM, will maintain his support rather than pare it away.