“Love me or hate me, you still have to vote for me.”
asserted
you → love → me
That was President Donald Trump‘s patently unorthodox pitch during the 2016 presidential campaign, which got roasted by the usual suspects in legacy media.
asserted
which → roast → media
But Trump was simply reading the room correctly.
asserted
Trump → read → room
He understood, and still does, that his in-your-face brand isn’t appealing to everyone, especially establishment Republicans.
asserted
brand → understand → everyone
The overall premise is simple: You may not like me, but the alternative is infinitely worse.
uncertain
alternative → like → me
The midterm elections coming in less than 40 days are a binary choice between common sense and chaos.
asserted
elections → come → sense
GOP candidates, of course, represent the common-sense side.
asserted
candidates → represent → side
To prove the point, here are the questions voters should ask their candidates between now and election day:
Are you for or against illegal immigration?
asserted
you → prove → immigration
Are you for or against the mass deportation of those in the country illegally, including those with criminal records?
asserted
you → include → records
Are you for or against maintaining the Electoral College, as the founders intended?
asserted
founders → maintain → College
Are you for and against stacking the Supreme Court?
asserted
you → stack → Court
Are you for or against parents not being notified if their child seeks a sex change?
asserted
child → notify → change
Are you for or against men playing against women in sports?
asserted
you → play → sports
Do you support government ownership of most large corporations?
asserted
you → support → corporations
Do you support communism and chaos, or capitalism and common sense?
asserted
you → support → communism
This appears to be a simple choice for anyone sane, sober, and a student of history.
asserted
This → appear → history
Massive expansion of government has never prospered.
asserted
expansion → prosper → government
It has often failed.
asserted
It → fail → ?
HBO’s Bill Maher once contrasted the difference between capitalism and socialism perfectly on his Friday night program, Real Time.
asserted
Maher → contrast → program
“Here’s capitalist South Korea at night from space,” Maher said while showing a satellite photo of a glistening country full of lights from above.
asserted
Maher → ’ → lights
“Here’s socialist North Korea,” he contrasted with a pitch-dark photo.
asserted
he → ’ → photo
But then Poland, finally free of Soviet-style economics, went all in on capitalism and now their economy is as big as Japan and people there have high wages, low inflation, cars, vacations, homes,” Maher continued.
asserted
Maher → go → wages
“Meanwhile, Venezuela traded capitalism for Hugo Chavez’s socialism for the 21st century, which turned out to be like socialism in the last century or any century, a f***ng mess.
asserted
which → trade → century
“It turned one of Latin America’s richest countries into one of its poorest.
asserted
It → turn → poorest
Low wages, high inflation, shortages, outages, 8 million people fleeing,” Maher concluded, before taking a shot at socialist New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani:
asserted
Maher → flee → Mamdani
“If you think New York can somehow reinvent this wheel, you’re in for a rude awakening.
asserted
you → think → awakening
Republicans need to hammer home this argument during every interview, every speech.
asserted
Republicans → need → interview
The free-stuff pitch sounds great until you apply basic math and logic.
asserted
you → sound → math
The socialist mayor promised universal free child healthcare, but now says the program will only cover 2-year-olds and apply to only 2,000 eligible families in a city of 8 million people.
asserted
program → promise → people
In a related story, this is the same city that already has a projected fiscal 2027 budget shortfall of $10.4 billion and has no idea how to pay for this limited childcare program without widening said shortfall.
asserted
that → relate → shortfall
Mamdani also promised free busing, government-run grocery stores, and lower rents.
asserted
Mamdani → promise → busing
But so far, in order:
A) Free busing hasn’t happened.
asserted
busing → happen → order
B) Government-run grocery stores have not opened, aren’t expected to until 2029, and are already at twice the cost they were originally budgeted for.
asserted
they → run → cost
C) Rents in Manhattan hit a record $5,285 in August, marking the third straight month since the mayor’s celebrated rent freeze that this dubious record has been broken.
asserted
record → hit → freeze
For context, a studio apartment now goes for $4,186 per month, the highest on record.
asserted
apartment → go → record
In other words, it’s a disaster in the Big Apple.
asserted
it → ’ → Apple
A cursory look at the nation’s largest cities shows voter disdain for its Democratic leaders.
asserted
look → show → leaders
So with New York as a preview of things to come if Democrats gain back power, and with previous macro examples of failed states from the Soviet Union to Cuba to Venezuela to the aforementioned North Korea, the argument should be a relatively easy one for Republicans to make.
asserted
Republicans → come → Korea
The problem for the Red Team is that the current state of the economy is a mixed bag, with its most glaring problem advertised on every street corner with a gas station.
asserted
problem → mix → station
The cost of gas sits at about $4.50 per gallon.
asserted
cost → sit → gallon
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
