jimjam wrote:Back in the 1980's Republicans came upon a catch phrase : "The silent majority" to define themselves.
Silent MajorityThe silent majority is an unspecified large group of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly.[1] The term was popularized by U.S. President Richard Nixon in a televised address on November 3, 1969, in which he said, "And so tonight—to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans—I ask for your support." [2][3] In this usage it referred to those Americans who did not join in the large demonstrations against the Vietnam War at the time, who did not join in the counterculture, and who did not participate in public discourse. Nixon, along with many others, saw this group of Middle Americans as being overshadowed in the media by the more vocal minority.
I was about a month shy of my 2nd birthday, probably sucking on a bottle in Berkeley, California, when Nixon uttered those words. I guess you must have been at an anti-Vietnam demonstration if you think it became popular in the 1980s.
Lot of hippies where I spent my childhood...
jimjam wrote:Todays Trump/Republican party is hardly silent nor a majority.
No. They are no longer silent, but they do represent the largest swathe of the country.
jimjam wrote:The 2018 election returned the House to the Democrats by an overwhelming majority.
Not that overwhelming. 218 votes is a majority in the House. Democrats reliably have about 233. So a loss of 16 seats would leave them in the minority again. There are at least 30 vulnerable seats, and some are speculating the Republicans could pick up as many as 50 seats. That may be a bit optimistic, but it would not surprise me to see Nancy Pelosi handing over the gavel again.
BigSteve wrote:Your would-be queen lost to a reality television star...
That never gets old. When I think back on Trump beating Hillary Clinton, I still think it has to be the greatest political upset of my lifetime by far.
BigSteve wrote:Your would-be queen lost to a reality television star...
Yep, and his son got re-elected with polls regularly under 50%.
QatzelOk wrote:The expression "silent majority" is an easy way to pretend to have support for something where no real support is visible (it's hidden and silent. shhhh....).
It's also because people don't want to be harassed in restaurants, have their car paint scratched or tires slashed by Democrats/Antifa types. I voted for Trump--as pointless as that is in California--but I didn't put a Trump sign on my front porch or on my car bumper. Democrats/Antifa are very violent and irrational people in my area of the country.
"We have put together the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics."
-- Joe Biden