How are these recent shootings worse *politically speaking* than some of the more high-profile incidents like Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Parkland or even Columbine? I’m talking about the public outcry and political opportunism not body counts. From my perspective, Sandy Hook probably tops the list of gut wrenching mass shootings of all time at least here in the US. And what happened?

The 2nd Amendment wasn’t touched, the government didn’t take our guns away, there were no demonstrable restrictions placed on gun ownership…. What significant freedoms did we lose in the wake of Sandy Hook, when 20 kindergarten children and six adult teachers and staff were murdered by a mentally unstable gunman?

Are these recent events the tipping point? I don’t think so. But something has changed.

The establishment media and Democratic Party have been beaten down pretty badly since Trump took office. Any objective observer cannot deny the Left's self-inflicted damage over the past three years. The left knows how weak they are politically, and they’re desperate for a win of any kind. These two shootings just gave them the life-line they’ve been looking for, But it’s fleeting.

It’s a long way from the 2020 election. Some have mentioned that this couldn’t have come at a worse time politically. No! I disagree. A far worse time is something like this happening a year from now.

The Democrats and establishment media will do everything in their power to string this out for as long as they can. But it won’t work. Gun control has never been a deciding issue in any Presidential election. To the degree that it’s had any impact on a national election, the effect – with few exceptions – has been fairly minimal.

To be clear, I’m not minimizing the horrific scale and tragedy of these mass shootings, or the potential political fallout that might be coming our way. We just don’t know, and we certainly shouldn’t let our guard down, but if the past is an indication of anything, this too will pass for better or worse.

If you want something to worry about politically, worry about the economy. A collapse between now and 2020 would pretty much put a Democrat in the White House.

I worry about 2024. If immigration isn't checked we could lose Georgia, Texas and North Carolina for good in the electoral college. If so the Republican party will never win the white house again. It'll be check mate.

I've long maintained the media is to America what Judas Iscariot was to Christ...a betrayer. The media refuses to acknowledge the economy except for its downturns. I think your entire post was right on target. If the economy tanks, we're toast.

Yep , Trump is a refreshing pit stop on the libtard raceway to h e 77

Mainer, imo I believe there's a big outcry with these 2 especially El Paso because "the potus did it" (as the media and the left state). They said he fueled it created racial divide and is this that and the other thing.
If we use the left's logic we can blame them for people overdosing, committing crimes to feed their addictions. The manifesto sounds like he loved the socialist agenda.

The left and the media are like ants on sugar with the El Paso shooting. If any of the dems win in 2020 we can kiss the 2nd goodbye as we know it and the economy will crash but they will blame Trump.

Yes, but "the POTUS has been doing it" since the morning after his election. If you remember, they were calling for Trump's impeachment even before his inauguration. Krugman predicted in the wee hours of that morning that the economy would never recover…we were all doomed! That schizophrenic pattern continues to this very second and has become one of the largest self-inflicted wounds of the Left. What haven't they blamed Trump for? That's right, Posco, the economy!

They've been crying wolf on Trump from the very beginning, and every time the villagers come running with their torches the establishment's credibility takes another hit. They called Reagan the Teflon President; I don’t think Reagan holds a candle to Trump in that regard. People are tired of hearing and watching this nonsense.

Best of all, you don’t need a poll or a pundit to figure this out.

Yep the trend is clear unless something really odd or significant happens. And even with immigration checked if the migration from the big cities particularly off the east and west coasts continues into traditionally conservative areas at current pace the end isn't that far off. Whether we want to hear it or not, we'll have a few more years of fighting like what we have seen in the last few years and it'll probably get worse for awhile but eventually the scale tips and we officially become the next Europe.

I agree with some of what you say, but how can you claim the Dems are politically weak after they re-took the House last year?

Jim

The dems will be in the white house again.It always goes back and forth eventually.

This POTUS's economy is the best since WWII for virtually everyone. Yet today I heard a black army recruiter using the economy as a recruiting tool. You need to sign up because of the way the economy is... if not you'll never survive..... speaking to a black girl, no less. Uhhhhh what?!?

For midterm elections historically, Trump actually did very well. I need to look at my sources again, but given historical trends Trump should have lost both the House and the Senate. He didn't. So Trump was correct when he declared the midterms a victory of sorts.

Mueller was a huge blow to the Democrats. They put all their eggs in that one basket, and it just failed miserably. Their entire 2020 hopes were predicated on that investigation as was their extended credibility. Partisanship aside, these are major blunders in any political field.

I'm not saying Trump is a shoo-in by any stretch of the imagination. But so far, the Democrats haven't been able to touch him. That by itself makes me nervous.

Edit: If you look at midterm elections since the Civil War, there were only two instances when the presidency in its first term maintained (didn't lose) its party majority in the House: Roosevelt in 1934 and Bush in 2002. If you throw out those two outliers, the average midterm loss in the House is 41 seats. Obama lost 63 seats in his first term, and Clinton lost 52. Trump lost only 27 seats in the House and gained 3 in the Senate. By comparison, in Reagan's first term he lost 26 seats in the House and gained 1 in the Senate. And if we use history as a guide for Trump's chances in 2020, the odds are in his favor 8:1 (88.8% likelihood of winning) going back to FDR as a starting point. Source: https://musaalgharbi.com/2017/05/10/trump-will-probably-win-second-term-2020/

The democrats have terribly misjudged how most Americans feel about illegal immigrants. The democrats have also alienated most moderate democrats by allowing ocasio cortez and ilhan omar to become the voice of the democrat party.

Keith

I'm not surprised.. money was a recruiting factor for me. It's how they get the poor kids in. "Work for us, you can get all the things you want"

They ended up not taking me in LOL