he's a freak though I don't get where this idea he could fake being a savvy moderate comes from
Replies
i don't think he can fake being a savvy moderate. i think the electorate doesn't fully grasp that he isn't one, not in the same way they intrinsically do with trump
aug 30, 2025, 3:43 am • 3 0 • view
Imo I think he's fundamentally Weird in a way that isn't *culturally priced in* the way Trump was; so much of Trumps worst attributes were known as part of/related to the image he built and so people could project onto him. Vance is just a fucking freak who oozes anti-charisma AND has insane views.
aug 30, 2025, 3:49 am • 7 0 • view
do voters believe that the way we do, though
aug 30, 2025, 3:50 am • 1 0 • view
Hard to say but i think enough do? I think the bigger question is "do the same number of Trump voters transfer the loyalty/cult of personality to Vance", and i think the answer is no, which removes one of the biggest incentives for MAGAworld to back him to the hilt like they do Trump.
aug 30, 2025, 3:52 am • 1 0 • view
i think that second question hasn't been empirically proven though, so the uncertainty of it just worries me a little
aug 30, 2025, 3:54 am • 0 0 • view
Fair! I also wonder how much the fact we've had like three Shadow Presidents clearly running everything without Trump plays into what might happen. Like Stephen Miller basically has unilateral control over the Gestapo, even if he and Vance are ideologically aligned does he want to cede power back?
aug 30, 2025, 3:59 am • 4 0 • view
the scheming viziers are gonna keep scheming but except this time the emperor has clothes, so who the hell even knows what happens
aug 30, 2025, 4:01 am • 2 0 • view
Night of Insecurely Overcompensating Knives
aug 30, 2025, 4:01 am • 3 0 • view
Also, fascinating parlor game: who the fuck is Vance's VP
aug 30, 2025, 4:01 am • 2 0 • view
it's absolutely Rubio or Noem
aug 30, 2025, 4:01 am • 1 0 • view
I dont know which of those possibilities makes me want to (redacted) myself more, wow Youre not wrong though, I mean, Strom Thurmond is dead, so.
aug 30, 2025, 4:03 am • 3 0 • view
let’s play a fun game of how many positions can rubio have in a presidential administration
aug 30, 2025, 4:04 am • 5 0 • view
5000 years from now scholars will assume a Rubio is some sort of name of oblivion our time created to remember the acts of our worst people while consigning their true names to the void because of how every evil thing in the world eventually becomes Rubio's responsibility
aug 30, 2025, 4:09 am • 4 1 • view
A chunk of the country would be thrilled if they could become a Donald Trump because the perceived benefits outweigh [or INCLUDE] the terrible flaws. But I don't think anyone wants to be a Vance. If that makes sense?
aug 30, 2025, 3:50 am • 8 0 • view
Yea, someone told me a while ago about being in Amman and Trump being popular there because he’s sort of a stand in for “rich and somewhat vulgar” in an aspirational way.
aug 30, 2025, 4:04 am • 7 0 • view
this is a cult, we all recognize that. what happens to cults when cult leaders die?
aug 30, 2025, 3:43 am • 74 0 • view
i generally agree, you know this. but most cults don't have a designated successor, either i'm genuinely not trying to doom, i still think Vance gets flattened in 2028, but him being president introduces uncertainty that gives me pause
aug 30, 2025, 3:45 am • 6 0 • view
All else equal i would agree, he's smarter, but the slavish devotion Trump gets from the Senate & House is part of the problem The legislature in Florida routinely tells DeSantis to pound sand & I would expect a similar dynamic here
aug 30, 2025, 5:21 am • 3 0 • view
& just general capitulation from the smooth brains who think Trump is magic because he was on teevee for decades JD Vance is a 2 year senator from Ohio with a memoir that talks about how he was mean to his coworkers and wife
aug 30, 2025, 5:24 am • 4 0 • view
Depends on if there’s strong successor
aug 30, 2025, 4:36 am • 0 0 • view
the electorate thinks Trump is more moderate than Vance bsky.app/profile/silv...
aug 30, 2025, 3:45 am • 47 1 • view
does it? you have seen polling i have not, in that case
aug 30, 2025, 3:47 am • 1 0 • view
I don't think Vance could pull off the pivot, not by a long shot. I also don't think pulling off the pivot is outside the realm of possibility, so I don't begrudge someone worrying as long as they acknowledge its a longshot that's a better risk than "more Trump."
aug 30, 2025, 3:49 am • 10 0 • view
Its not even so much a pivot as Trump seems to be uniquely beloved by the worst people in America & might be the Antichrist, no one else has that juice We've seem repeated flame outs from people trying to run the Trump playbook themselves
aug 30, 2025, 5:20 am • 6 0 • view
Yeah, to be clear, "pivot" in this case is *not* just "pivot to being viewed as a moderate" but "pivot his public reputation to capture enough of the swing and MAGA crowd that he can rule without Trump's backing", which is part of why I view it as such a long shot.
aug 30, 2025, 5:24 am • 4 0 • view
Even beyond Vance's lack of ability to understand what centrist/swing voters like about Trump, the man has *negative* charisma with which to trap the Trump crowd. I sincerely doubt he can swing it, but it's possible (a lot of these people are idiots begging for a Caesar, no matter how pathetic).
aug 30, 2025, 5:27 am • 3 0 • view
We probably ought to replace it with our own cult if I’m honest honest
aug 30, 2025, 3:51 am • 2 0 • view
wcgw
aug 30, 2025, 3:52 am • 2 0 • view
Any true patriot would join him and ride in the back of his F-150 all the way to the pearly gates
aug 30, 2025, 3:53 am • 1 0 • view
I think he’d try to present himself that way, but his problem is he’s flipped positions so many times that he comes across as insincere and weird. No one will buy it. Trump has an ethos; Vance has a lust for power and nothing else (like Cruz). It’s off putting to say the least.
aug 30, 2025, 3:46 pm • 0 0 • view
He’s the kind of freak who’s good at conning beltway access journalists into thinking he’s presidential. This is a double edged sword.
aug 30, 2025, 4:03 am • 7 0 • view
Okay but to be honest: Trump has also completely won over beltway access journalists as is, so its not as if we'd go from a *diligent and critical press* to an obsequient fawning one as a massive sea change...
aug 30, 2025, 4:04 am • 5 0 • view
I think he's unelectable but I think basically anyone has a better chance of consolidating power than Trump even if he isn't close to a favorite on that front
aug 30, 2025, 3:44 am • 1 0 • view
i'm not worrying about them consolidating because i genuinely think the GOP as an entity implodes when Trump exits stage left there are far too many people that have so far followed his lead or been cowed by him that will suddenly be in it For Themselves once he's dead
aug 30, 2025, 3:48 am • 7 0 • view
The GOP is made up of disparate factions that all hate each other held together by the force of Trump’s personally. Without that, they will rip each other to pieces
aug 30, 2025, 3:49 pm • 1 0 • view