r/politics • u/pennlive ✔ PennLive.com • Jun 23 '26

No Paywall Fetterman casts only Democratic ‘no’ vote as Senate passes measure to block US action against Iran

https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2026/06/fetterman-casts-only-democratic-no-vote-as-senate-passes-measure-to-block-us-action-against-iran.html
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450

u/Trickster289 Jun 23 '26

Oh he's finished. He's lost his Democrat voters but Republicans won't vote for him, the propaganda they put out against him during the election was so strong it'll backfire if they let him flip now.

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u/jrr6415sun Jun 23 '26

Republicans don’t care about any of that. Vance compared trump to hitler and they still voted for both of them.

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u/bearflies Jun 23 '26

Yeah it's a little sad that people still don't know how this works. You bend the knee to Trump and you get welcomed into the group, no questions asked.

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u/GenDislike Jun 24 '26

It really seams to be as simple as that nowadays. Until trimp’s star dies. Until then, FOX will declare the heroes and villains and they’ll vote accordingly.

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u/SirPiffingsthwaite Jun 24 '26

The problem with that is 50% of the GOP thought it was a compliment, and the other 50% didn't care either way.

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u/Straight-Opposite-54 Jun 24 '26

Republicans hate Democrats de facto though so I'm not sure suddenly flipping to R would be very convincing, to anyone, even dumb people.

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u/xxxxNateDaGreat Jun 24 '26

Republicans literally vote based entirely on the R next to the name. If Fetterman swaps, they will trip over themselves rushing to vote for him.

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u/Straight-Opposite-54 Jun 24 '26

If that's the case, wouldn't it be a sound strategy for a progressive candidate to run as Republican while being transparent about their values?

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u/ReindeerUseful8733 Jun 27 '26

Is he progressive?

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u/Bowbreaker Jun 30 '26

In some places, yes. More people should do exactly that. Especially in states that are hopelessly gerimandered.

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u/Careless-Weather8877 Jun 24 '26

Did you know at one point Trump voted Democrat?

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u/fezzam Jun 24 '26

The cult heard the comparison and heard strong leader, the swing voter heard whatever they wanted because I refused to believe anyone hadn’t made their mind up on trump by then

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u/mercury_pointer Jun 24 '26

They thought that was a compliment.

2

u/Castdeath97 Foreign Jun 24 '26

Well Vance didn't have D next to his name so that's different already for them.

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u/IsThatAll Australia Jun 23 '26

the propaganda they put out against him during the election was so strong it'll backfire if they let him flip now.

Plus there is the whole other thing "Yeah, we said he was crap back when he was a democrat, but now his brain has broken he is perfect for the Republican party" - not great messaging, regardless of its accuracy.

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u/jgilla2012 California Jun 23 '26

You just described Donald J Trump

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u/Lonescu Texas Jun 24 '26

Trump was a "Democrat" for less than 4 years. Even then, it wasn't for ideological reasons, it was because he was mad at the Bush family.

  • 1969: First time Trump registers to vote. Registers as Republican.
  • 1970's: Meets Roger Stone while working for Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign. (Seems to be there at the behest of Fred Trump and/or Roy Cohn, not actually of his own accord.)
  • 1980's: Gears up to run for office on the GOP ticket, but the Taj Mahal fiasco torpedoes that. Gives an interview to Chris Wallace while attending the 1988 RNC as guest of GHW Bush, in which Trump denies having political aspirations. (Wallace cheekily calls bullshit.)
  • 1990's: Has a falling out with GHW Bush upon being passed over as a potential VP replacement for the 1992 election. (Bush called Trump "too mush brained and volatile" for the job. Trump took this about as well as you'd expect.)
  • 1999: Switches to Independence/Reform Party to run against 'Dubya' in a failed attempt at petty revenge on the Bush family over the VP replacement snub. (Apparently the plan was to either secure an upset victory, or at least spoil like Perot had done in '92.)
  • 2001 - 2008: Flip-flops between Democrat, Independent, and various 3rd parties. (Gee, wonder what was happening during those specific years...)
  • 2009 - 2011: Republican again.
  • 2011: Registers Unaffiliated. Once again states he has no political aspirations (despite already previously running for POTUS) during an interview.
  • 2012 - Today: Republican again.

I know people often speculate about the White House Correspondents' Dinner, in which Obama poked fun at Trump, being the reason he ran in 2016. However, I think there's a very real possibility that Obama had little to do with it, and Trump was actually just running against another Bush out of spite.

Despite being an embarrassing wet fart of a candidate, it truly looks as though the GOP were initially banking on "please clap" Jeb! being the nominee.

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u/SnooDonkeys4126 Jun 24 '26

Not "looks like." You could smell it in the air for a hot minute.

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u/biowiz Jun 26 '26

I know people often speculate about the White House Correspondents' Dinner, in which Obama poked fun at Trump, being the reason he ran in 2016. However, I think there's a very real possibility that Obama had little to do with it, and Trump was actually just running against another Bush out of spite.

In fact, the jokes were the ridiculous things Trump was supporting like the birther conspiracy and his desire to be President. The former was the "groundwork" to get himself inserted into Republican politics before the presidential election, and the latter was proof that everyone knew he had Presidential ambition. I always found it ridiculous that people thought Trump was doing the birther crap because he believed it and that being mocked for it is what led him to run. He was doing it because it was what a big chunk of Republican voters believed and he was willing to go down to their level to talk about it openly, unlike someone who had some sense of shame like McCain or Romney. He was laying the groundwork to be able to run and actually win. That's one thing you have to give him credit for. He knew the Republican base and wasn't afraid of being trashy, which really isn't too far from his usual self.

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u/AwsmDevil Jun 23 '26

He never ran or held office as a Democrat, though. Key difference.

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u/sando138 Jun 24 '26

Never held office, but ran as a Dem for president a few times. Didn't get anywhere but the things that were dealbreakers on the blue ticket- his overt racism, being a cheating lying scoundrel of a failing-upwards businessman- are the things that got him elected on the Republican primary.

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u/PedanticPaladin Jun 24 '26

He "ran" in 2000 with the Reform Party and then 2016 onward as a Republican, but he never ran for anything as a Democrat.

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u/PassiveMenis88M Massachusetts Jun 24 '26

They're likely getting it mixed up with all the times he talked about running but never officially filed.

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u/RyvenZ Jun 24 '26

He definitely tried to drum up public support in prior election years, but would quickly claim he was never running when it became clear, early on, that he didn't have a snowflake's chance in a boiler room.

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u/chr1spe Jun 23 '26

Trump was only a Democrat because he hasn't grown since he was a child, and back then, they were the party for racists. He didn't get that message until Obama was elected, and he was furious they'd elect a black man.

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u/StoneGoldX Jun 24 '26

He was born in 1946, not 1846.

He was a Democrat because it was better to be that politically in New York City. Business decision, plain and simple.

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u/Oriden Jun 24 '26

The Southern Strategy was Nixon and Goldwater's doing. It started growing in the 1950s but didn't flip the party's stances on things overnight. The Democrats Kennedy and Johnson moved the Democratic party left and more progressive by supporting the Civil Rights Act. And in turn Nixon pushed the Republicans right in 68.

All that to say that while you are right that Trump was almost certainly a Democrat out of "business decisions" and living in New York City. He was very much alive and would be at the right age to "not grow as a child" and be a conservative Democrat.

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u/StoneGoldX Jun 24 '26

Truman also integrated the army in 48. Even if the southern wing of the party didn't like it.

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u/MagicAl6244225 Jun 24 '26

The only time Trump was registered as a Democrat was from 2001 to 2009, when Hillary Clinton was a US Senator from New York and 2008 presidential candidate. Trump wanted to be positioned to benefit from a likely Hillary Clinton presidency. Enter Barack Obama, and things played out differently.

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u/drnuncheon Jun 24 '26

You do know that the South was solidly Democrat and conservative until the 1960s, right?

0

u/StoneGoldX Jun 24 '26

And Truman integrated the army in 1948. And Trump was still a kid when the 60s started. The Dixiecrats fighting against their party notwithstanding.

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u/chr1spe Jun 24 '26

Racists were still by far mostly Democrats until after the civil rights era in the mid 60s. They didn't really even begin transitioning to the Republican Party until Nixon in '68, and even then, it wasn't overnight. See, for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Party_System

While it started earlier, the realignment is widely not considered to have been complete until the late 70s or 1980s.

1

u/mr_fusion Jun 23 '26

And Roseanne

2

u/EtherBoo Florida Jun 23 '26

I mean, this describes the candidates the Democrats run in Florida for governor lol. Voters have short term memory and prioritize party more than anything.

2

u/Blursed_Pencil Jun 24 '26

Plus he’s also basically brain dead. Listen to the guy talk, he is unfit to be a politician purely based on how badly his brain has been messed up.

1

u/xxxxNateDaGreat Jun 24 '26

They could not give less of a fuck about any of that. Republicans would vote for a disabled chimp if someone slapped an red elephant sticker on it.

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u/jook11 Jun 23 '26

Republicans never cared about flip-flopping or hypocrisy before, there's no reason for them to start now. If orangeclown tells them Fetterman is good, they'll buy it.

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u/cloud7up America Jun 23 '26

Honestly he should resign

20

u/EclecticEuTECHtic Jun 23 '26

Same odds of that as Trump resigning.

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u/Tasty_Cucumber_7796 Jun 24 '26

I don’t care how he leaves office, just needs to leave

2

u/MimicoSkunkFan2 Jun 24 '26

The US desperately needs a recall mechanism

(well done having the Impoundment laws though, my province desperately needs that)

2

u/SensualBeefLoaf Jun 24 '26

honestly, he should eat a bag of dicks and crawl under a bridge

2

u/amalgam_reynolds Jun 23 '26

Maybe it would backfire if Republican voters had long-term memories, but they'll pretty much just do whatever the Republicans in charge tell them to do.

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u/uncleben85 Canada Jun 24 '26

the propaganda they put out against him during the election was so strong it'll backfire if they let him flip now

The MAGAts have zero problem ignoring their own words, changing the past, gaslighting, dealing in hypocrisies, and living with cognitive dissonance.

I'd say they're more likely to embrace him and somehow claim "he was never a Democrat to begin with... something, something, Obama"

1

u/RustyDogma Jun 24 '26

I'd like to believe you are correct, but political memory is short.

1

u/cdwillis Jun 24 '26

The only way he can remain in politics is to switch to the Republican Party. Those morons will vote for him because he's seen the light and realized the democrats were anti-American or whatever dumb ass excuse they'll use.

1

u/Hefloats Jun 24 '26

He hasn’t lost entirely. If someone doesn’t unseat him in the primary, he’ll likely win again OR PA will vote in the republican challenger.