In comic book lore, “The Secret Wars” was a marketing campaign by Marvel to sell more toys to kids. The series itself was published in the mid-80s — and not-so-coincidentally, “Avengers: Secret Wars” will be a Marvel movie in 2027 — but the reason it was named “Secret Wars” was because a Mattel focus group reported that little kids responded favorably to the words “secret” and “wars.”
Its crass commercial beginnings blossomed into a beautiful bouquet of timeless art. (Or something.) Regardless, “The Secret Wars” sold very well: Outperformed all the other superhero comics and moved a ton of toys off the shelves.
Turns out, little kids knew what they wanted better than the adults did. The grownups just needed to shut up and listen.
In a related note, Politico released a story today, “Voters Were Right About the Economy. The Data Was Wrong.” It’s a fascinating article and well worth your time, although you may struggle to suppress your giggles. Here’s the opening paragraph:
Before the presidential election, many Democrats were puzzled by the seeming disconnect between “economic reality” as reflected in various government statistics and the public’s perceptions of the economy on the ground. Many in Washington bristled at the public’s failure to register how strong the economy really was. They charged that right-wing echo chambers were conning voters into believing entirely preposterous narratives about America’s decline.
That’s a tasty setup, ain’t it? Sure, it kind of telegraphs the punchline, but nonetheless, try to enjoy it:
What we uncovered shocked us. The bottom line is that, for 20 years or more, including the months prior to the election, voter perception was more reflective of reality than the incumbent statistics. Our research revealed that the data collected by the various agencies is largely accurate. Moreover, the people staffing those agencies are talented and well-intentioned. But the filters used to compute the headline statistics are flawed. As a result, they paint a much rosier picture of reality than bears out on the ground. [emphasis added]
The author is Eugene Ludwig, an American financial expert who served as U.S. Comptroller of the Currency under President Clinton, which makes sense: Only a Democratic economist would be “shocked” to discover that the people actually know what’s going on!
In the early 1960s, John F. Kennedy warned of a missile gap. Thirty years later, President Clinton warned of a “skills gap.” President Obama followed it with the “gender pay gap.”
Today, the Democrats are suffering from a reality gap. They spent four years preaching that Bidenomics was the envy of the world; inflation wasn’t so bad; Trump is “literally Hitler”; and Biden is “as sharp as a tack.” Each and every claim has been thoroughly discredited. It’s decimated the Democrats’ credibility.
Many Americans were voting for Donald Trump in 2024, but millions were also voting against the broken promises and false claims of Joe Biden. Reality is still the ultimate political litmus test.
So, if you’re a Democratic kingmaker, what’s your next move?
CNN actually wrote it all down for you, in today’s article, “Inside the GOP’s careful pushback to Musk’s DOGE effort.” As with the Ludwig’s Politico piece, giggle-suppression could be an issue for conservative readers, because CNN’s “analysis” is hopelessly intertwined with all the standard leftwing assumptions. Their central thesis is basically this: As we all know, Donald Trump is a terrifying, evil man, and he’s scheming with Elon Musk to destroy the Constitution. Unfortunately, the congressional Republicans are too scared of Trump to fight for what’s moral and just. But maybe — just maybe — a few brave Republicans might finally find the courage to do the right thing!
And to prove their point, CNN did what it usually does: Rely on an anonymous Republican source to “sound the alarm” on Trump’s fascism.
“If this was a Democratic administration with the same things happening, people would be lit up about it,” one GOP lawmaker told CNN. “So, I think we have to be careful about the precedent that they’re setting.”
The thing is, I don’t think CNN fabricated that quote. I suspect there are (multiple) RINOs on Capitol Hill who are actively plotting their exits — and collaborating with liberals in the process.
Amidst the flurry of Trump’s executive orders and dizzying pace of new MAGA initiatives, never forget that there’s still a Democratic ground game in D.C. It operates in secret, waging war on conservatives.
And right now, its biggest priority — by far — is to identify Republican politicians who are willing to jump ship.
They’ll be patient. Trump is still in his honeymoon period; they’ll wait until there’s blood in the water. But it’s Partisan Politics 101: When there’s a narrow majority, the minority only needs to pick off a handful of people. It’s happened before and will certainly happen again.
The left still has ample assets to bestow upon traitors: Cable TV time-slots, book deals, pop-culture approval, and access to new pipelines of donors. They’ve been diminished, but their cupboard isn’t bare. And in the (likely) event that a GOP policymaker finds himself on the wrong side of a MAGA barb, jumping ship might be the only way to stay afloat in the ocean.
Besides, the left doesn’t even need Republicans to forsake their own party entirely. Capitol Hill is the land of committees, bureaucratic bloat, and enough red tape to choke a horse: There are countless ways to undermine the MAGA agenda while still maintaining your “plausible deniability.”
Keep an eye on Republican politicians who make repeated appearances on liberal media outlets. That’s the telltale sign that the two sides are playing footsie. Another tipoff is when a Republican suddenly receives positive praise from oft-hostile outlets and platforms: Overnight, they go from persona non grata to the next Liz Cheney.
Comedian Jon Stewart dissected the Democrats’ sales pitch to wayward Republicans last night. Check out this clip, beginning at the 14:09 mark (time-stamped for your convenience):
As Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman said, “We are going to need some Republicans, frankly, who are willing to lose, who are willing to be a Liz Cheney, and say, ‘I will lose my seat to do the right thing by this country — not the right thing by Donald Trump.’ I haven’t seen it yet. Let’s hope.” [emphasis added]
(Not the most inspiring sales pitch, but hey, they’re doing the best they can.)
Irrespective of its clumsiness, the Democratic recruitment campaign is fully underway in D.C., waging war in secret, searching for GOP defectors. And because it’s a ground game, it won’t always be visible from afar.
It’s Secret Wars, D.C.-style.
This is one of those stories that’s far from over. More likely than not, the worst is yet to come.
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