The "Dems going after Paul Ryan in 2018" thing...how many voters are that aware, or give a f*ck?

[Miles Archer]

I read this today and thought "non-starter."

I use my sister and brother in law...both "red hats"...as a litmus test. If I throw Paul Ryan into the conversation, their response is "who?"

So the question I have here is that if the strategy is to make Ryan the poster child of all that is wrong in the Republican party, will that resonate in middle America? I see the red hats simply saying "Trump ought to fire him" and it ending right there.

House Democrats choose a 2019 villain: Paul Ryan — not Donald Trump



https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/house-democrats-choose-a-2019-villain-paul-ryan-not-donald-trump/

WASHINGTON - House Democrats think they've found a Republican to demonize during next year's midterm election, and it's not Donald Trump.

Recognizing the Republican president's enduring popularity with his white working-class base, Democrats are preparing a campaign that focuses just as much on Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House whose standing with Trump voters has suffered as Republicans struggle to pass major legislation through Congress.

Democrats say the Republican lawmaker better represents a dysfunctional Washington, especially in an election in which the party will fight in conservative-leaning districts where Trump performed well last year.

"On the battlefield we have, we have to target districts where Donald Trump performed quite well and talk to people about Speaker Ryan," said Tyler Law, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political arm of House Democrats. "A message about establishment Washington Republicans is very powerful and does not alienate voters.

"Speaker Ryan is going to be huge factor in the midterm election," Law said. "There's no question about that."

[PJMcK]

1. Your last sentence is sad but funny

Americans have been getting more and more ignorant about our civics for years. It is eroding our republic. Distrust of our governments has been stoked by Republicans' decades-long assault on the structures of our nation. In our schools, very little time is spent teaching the civics of the U.S. and how they work. The complexity and intricacies of our governments are profound yet Americans don't make the effort to comprehend them.

We see the examples of this ignorance nearly every day. The misunderstandings of the Bill of Rights and the other Constitutional Amendments has been glaringly highlighted in the recent disputes about NFL players' free speech rights. Trump's ignorance about the Founding Documents, the Rule of Law and the mechanics of government exemplifies how little too many Americans know about the philosophical and practical structures of the U.S. It's been demonstrated many times that, in general, voters really don't know very much about the candidates and the issues they cast ballots for.

Trump thought being president would be very different than what it is. He wants to be dictator so he could, in fact, fire the Speaker of The House.

Trump is an idiot but it frightens me that so are so many of our fellow citizens.

[Vogon_Glory]

2. Whatever the whatever, I plan to donate to his Democratic opponent

when Paulie runs for re-election next year.

[Not Ruth]

3. Ryan was originally forced to take the job, always wondered why, secret affair maybe?

I think that he always wanted out.