Professor James Allan: Losing to Win

Longer term readers of the Speccie will recall that back in 2015 and 2016 I thought, and argued, that all conservative voters would do better to preference Labour rather than Malcolm Turnbull and the Libs in the 2016 election. In other words, I thought we had to lose short-term to win long-term.

Darren Gee: A Golden Age for American Meritocracy

The inauguration of the 47th President of the United States was a moment that occupied the wild fantasies of millions of Trump supporters since November 2020, when Joe Biden was declared victorious and Trump’s political fortunes had seemingly run dry. All would testify to the surreal spectacle of when fantasy became reality this week, as Donald J. Trump was received by the current President, his Vice President, three former Presidents, the Supreme Court Justices and four of the five wealthiest people on Earth, and took the oath to return to the Presidency.

Melanie Phillips: Israel dodges a bullet

Donald Trump is far from perfect. But at this moment, his election feels like deliverance

A nightmare has been averted, both for Israel and the west.

With the stunning re-election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, Israel has dodged a virtual bullet just as Trump himself was saved this summer from a projectile that came within an inch of assassinating him.

JC: Media Should Hang Their Heads

They are completely out of touch politically, both internationally and domestically.

The news media are nothing short of an unmitigated disgrace. They have proven themselves to be a national embarrassment. They don’t deal in reality; they inhabit their left-wing bunker, spout leftist rhetoric and seem to think we will just sit here and swallow it. Well, those of us who, unlike the media, do our research and follow reputable news outlets are aware of the reality and see the BS we are being fed.

Peter Williams: It's Trump

Told you so!

This Substack predicted it 8 days out.

But to be honest you did not need to be Nostradamus to call it. That so many seemed surprised by the margin of Donald Trump’s victory shows (a) that the western population is split into parallel universes and (b) identity politics is dead and buried. (NB Green Party)

Robert MacCulloch: Kamala Harris mistake - taking advice from Ardern....

(One of) Kamala Harris' Big Mistakes: Taking Rubbish Advice from former NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Its hard to think of anyone more out-of-touch with American values and beliefs than our former PM, Jacinda Ardern. How come? An influential view in economics these days is that the US system of relatively ungenerous welfare and low taxation is supported by the beliefs of ordinary Americans. Most of them believe in "The American Dream" - namely that effort is rewarded in the market place and that folks like Elon Musk deserve their wealth. Not just high income Americans, but low income ones as well, including Latin American immigrants. The flip-side is that 60% of Americans believe the poor are lazy, and as such, undeserving of high levels of welfare payments. These beliefs support the American equilibrium that many of us consider is behind that country's status as being the world's largest economy, with high rates of innovation and entrepreneurship, together with high inequality.

Brendan O'Neill: They still don’t get it

Why the elites remain so mystified and horrified by Trump voters.

They still don’t get it. Eight years after Donald Trump was first elected president of the United States of America, the elites remain mystified that such an anomaly could occur. They still view his voters less as rational beings to be engaged with than as a far-flung tribe to be studied. They still approach this curious horde – if they approach it at all – as a Victorian anthropologist might have approached a pre-modern people in the densest forests of Africa. ‘I went to CPAC as an anthropologist to understand Trump’s base’, wrote a ‘distinguished professor’ earlier this year, breezily unaware of the offence such pseudo-scientific studies might cause to those being studied. That’s another thing they still don’t get: how creepy they seem to ordinary people.

Justin Grimmer, Andrew B. Hall & Andy Myers: Election Day And The Day After

Familiarize yourself with the conflicts likely to erupt—and expect a potentially long wait for the outcome.

Election Day is imminent. Here is a quick analysis of what to expect once the polls close.

• The election is likely to be turbulent, and there may be prolonged uncertainty regarding the winner.

Barry Soper: Harris is reading from a familiar political playbook

As political promises go, they should be familiar to all of us- lifting children out of poverty, removing red tape and building much needed houses more quickly, and giving women the right to decide their fertility.

Kamala Harris told her audience she remembered sitting at her mother's yellow formica table as she struggled to put food on it and juggled household bills.

Peter Williams: It'll be Trump

Harris has serious limitations

The description of Democratic presidential candidate Karmala Harris by American-Australian actor/director Mel Gibson that she “has the intelligence of a fence post” is, while founded in some truth, still rather unkind.

Ms Harris is after all a person who has completed a legal education, albeit not from a highly regarded institution, and held various positions in public law offices until she entered politics as the San Francisco District Attorney in 2003.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Can we finally admit Kamala Harris was a mistake?

Can we say it now? It might be a bit early, but I'm going to say it - Kamala Harris was a mistake.

The Democrats should never have picked her to run against Trump. I mean, never say never, but it's becoming more and more likely that Trumpy's gonna win in a couple of weeks.

I said that last week, that he's too close behind her in the swing states - so he'll over-perform in them like he usually does on the night and then he'll win.

JC: The Things Media Won’t Tell You

A Trump win looks inevitable. Will Kamala’s friend Jacinda find a place at Harvard for her so they can spout their Marxist duologues?

Regarding the presidential election in America, listening, watching or reading about this in the mainstream media gives you no idea of what is really happening. The results of polling from those companies which have proven to be the most accurate at picking the winner, are painting a very different picture from what 1News (Pravda) and other left-wing media are delivering – they do this by employing a false narrative – a tactic they employ on many occasions. It is their go-to for spreading propaganda.

Geoffrey Miller: How the US election could affect New Zealand foreign policy

Change is coming to America.

Next month’s elections are likely to pave the way for an overhaul of US foreign policy– regardless of whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris wins the presidency.

Bob McCoskrie: Trump is the only option when the alternative is Kamala

I will always put policy above personality – IF I can’t have both.

Let me repeat what I wrote in 2021 – January 2021, and explain why when the option is Kamala or Trump, there is only ONE option.

I’m not here to defend Trump’s at-times terrible tone, messaging, character and communication.

Graham J Noble: Deep State Stumps for Kamala Harris Because Orange Man Bad

Hundreds of former national security officials put their Trump Derangement Syndrome on display.

Such is the state of modern American political partisanship that people who are, or were, in positions of power and influence say things that are both hilariously out of touch with reality and startlingly dangerous. Take America’s national security community, for example, which is a major component of the Deep State – or, if one prefers a less conspiratorial term, the administrative state. Fifty-one Intelligence Community (IC) officials and former officials already beclowned themselves attempting to deny the veracity of Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop. Now the bureaucrats are at it again, with 741 former high-ranking national security officials signing off on a statement endorsing Kamala Harris for president.

Jeffrey A. Tucker: Grocery Rationing within Four Years

There is a lack of public comment and debate about Kamala Harris’s call for price controls on groceries and rents, the most stunning and frightening policy proposal made in my lifetime.

Immediately, of course, people will reply that she is not for price controls as such. It is only a limit on “gouging” (which she variously calls “gauging”) on grocery prices. As for rents, it’s only for larger-scale corporations with many units.

John Klar: Taxing Unrealized Capital Gains and an Inflation Nexus

The 'Inflate and Tax' proposals of Kamala Harris.

Among the various new taxes proposed by Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign are increased levies on capital gains and taxation of unrealized capital gains on wealthy Americans. Given recent history, this is particularly sneaky. The Biden-Harris team sparked rapid inflation, so now the Harris-Waltz duo wants to tax the phantom inflationary gain even before citizens holding assets as a shield against inflation have disposed of them. In other words, Harris plans to tax gains that don’t yet exist, which wouldn’t be possible without the inflation exacerbated under the Biden-Harris administration.

Barry Soper: There was no debate - Harris won

How on earth anyone can go out and vote for a man like Donald Trump is beyond me.

His stupidity in another setting would be certifiable and he'd be admitted to an institution for the confused, but this 78-year-old is running for what's arguably the most powerful job on earth - and if you listen to him, he'd have no problem in putting that power into action.

Brendan O'Neill: Why Kween Kamala is still dodging democratic scrutiny

Kamala Harris’s interview with CNN was dull, lifeless and insipid – just as she wanted.

Yesterday, finally, the kween deigned to engage with her subjects. Yes, Kamala Harris did her first sit-down media interview since replacing Joe Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket nearly 40 days ago. For more than a month she’d maintained a monarchical distance from the grubby presses, flat-out refusing a one-to-one with any of its probing hacks. Now she’s relented and had an exclusive chat with CNN’s Dana Bash. The end result? Only one word will do, and it’s a word normally aimed at the other side: weird.

Sir Bob Jones: Kamala Harris

Kamala is on track to be the next American president. She presents a striking contrast to Trump on every count and will win the office by a record margin of Trump’s three runs to date.

The U.S Presidential voting system is highly undemocratic. It was designed that way for now redundant reasons, albeit they never had much merit in the first place.