In this country that’s about 85-90% of the populace regardless political affiliation.
Do you really think NOT having Colbert (and Stewart) incisively deconstructing the political horrors of the day is a good thing? I would argue the absence of their intelligent satire results in a less informed public and more apathy – not increased activism. Obviously Colbert the human being is much more than a “character” – but the character was what made him such an effective force. Without the mask, he cannot seem to muster the will to take on racists and demagogues to their faces. The man is just too polite. Less generous reading – he has censored himself with his own ambition. His softball interview with Trump left me aghast. I had really looked forward to his new show charting some new territory – but its really disappointing.
I would like to think that Mr. Trump is truly a “Colbertesque” candidate, who will at some point between now and the election throw off his masque and yell “gotcha.”
What I fear though is that he may have miscalculated, and that when he triumphantly reveals his true self, and declares his allegiance to Ms. Clinton, he will be hauled into court, declared incompetent, forced to continue to run for president under the joint guardianship of Mr. Cruz and Ms. Palin, subsequently is elected president, and becomes unable to extricate himself, let alone the country, from the nightmare to come.
I think a better example of what Steviedee is pointing out is the Bush/Gore contest. Gore won the popular vote handily (as I recall about 55%) but after the Supremes threw Florida to Bush he won the EC vote.
Geez, man, what the heck got you so ticked off. It’s not like you.
The Nazis had only about 33% of the vote in the November, 1932 elections. The only hopeful thing about that was that it was a drop from their percentage in the July elections. The combined votes of the left wing parties, the Socialists and the Communists, totaled 37%.
No, Trump and Cruz are such divisive figures that many Republicans and certainly independents will not vote for him.
I disagree with Stephen. I think he did the character better. He did it with a wink and a nod, a covert acknowledgement that this was comedy. He also used big words, even making them up (like truthiness) as he went along.
Trump is doing the character more successfully, from a political standpoint. But I don’t think he’s going to get a late night show out of it. Or be worth Face the Nation’s time in 2017