According to 2 conservative writers in the Atlantic, for Trump voters, "Trump's Unforgivable Sin"

[Stargleamer]

Last edited Sun Aug 10, 2025, 03:53 PM - Edit history (1)

Is ineffectiveness:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/08/trump-incompetence/683779/?gift=Ldq-fuF4b8DdqRzi5iF3l_NRwnMH4ybv_oo1gDPT_74&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Not rape, not racism, not cruelty, not hatred, not corruption. But ineffectiveness. WTF

[RandomNumbers]

1. If that's what it is, that's what it is.

Dem politicians / campaigners need to use it.

Of course being careful to focus on TSF's failure to make their lives better in any meaningful way. Not specifically "failing to abuse enough brown people" or so forth.

[yardwork]

2. It makes sense.

Most of the people who voted for Trump knew what a terrible person he is. They did it because they thought he would fix things - lower prices, mostly. Get rid of "woke" stuff - whatever that means. Deport criminals. He made a lot of promises.

They didn't care what a terrible person he is. They wanted the stuff he promised.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. Which should worry us because the next Republican will learn from his mistakes.

The only changes I see in the future, is that Republican's reputations, and I mean their voters, will get a hit. They will be known as racists and supporters of pedophiles. What happens next, whether the country devolves into a hypocritical capitalist society that favors white conservatives, or a society that gets back on track with equality and protections for all, will entirely depend on who wins the next two elections.

[Norbert]

9. I've had MAGA voters tell me much the same

That he's a jerk but I needed to look beyond that because he gets things done. I will check back with him in a few years.

[Scrivener7]

3. EPSTEIN!

[Lonestarblue]

4. Excellent article. Thanks for posting.

The reference at the end from The Great Gatsbyis a perfect description of Trump, his administration, and most Republicans in Congress.

“In THE GREAT GATSBY, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about Tom and Daisy Buchanan, the aristocratic couple who exemplify the moral corruption of the wealthy.

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy,” Fitzgerald wrote. “They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

If Democrats ever get back in power, they will be cleaning up the Trump mess for decades.

[LudwigPastorius]

6. Trump's weakest areas, according to the RCP averages of polls:

Trump's handling of inflation: -20.2
Trump's handling of the economy: -12.8
Trump's handling of the Israel/Gaza War: -11.4

[DBoon]

7. Being ineffective is a sign of weakness to Trump supporters

Trump's supporters wanted an authoritarian father figure whose word is law, and whose force of will could make anything happen.

Allowing reality to intervene is weakness. It means Trump does not have absolute authority, like a god or a modern superhero.

[Tommy Carcetti]

8. Bush Jr. had the same problem in his second term.

Going to war in Iraq on bad intelligence did not derail him with his base.

But the war's mismanagement, coupled with the economy going off the rails and bungles like the Katrina response, hurt his reputation amongst conservatives.

The difference here is that we are dealing with an administration that is exponentially more dishonest and malicious and destructive that the Bush administration (which was still pretty awful in its own right.)

[progressoid]

10. " postelection poll makes clear that voters prioritized perceived effectiveness rather than upholding democracy..."

Which is what we should have messaged. The "you need to vote for Demcorats XYZ to save democracy" isn't a winning message. We actually did good things, but nobody knows about it.

We need to break through the noise and let people know that people on the left are making their lives better.

[usonian]

11. I worked with a very conservative guy who joined the Marines and later worked at Los Alamos on weapons.

He said that he disliked Nixon for "being a fuckup"

Enjoy the FAFO collection.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219770873

Free sample.



(They're all free. )

[betsuni]

12. No, it's just that bad things are happening quickly and obviously Trump's fault. Can't blame anyone else.

He's doing what he promised and coming up with nutty things every day, says jump and everybody jumps. He is effective and the results predictable.

[Stargleamer]

13. Yes, he's very effective at hurting millions of people

Also the Atlantic article ignores the voters who did not vote for him, who knew that he would do things that would hurt millions.