On Mike Pence’s “Major Announcement”; UPDATE: Will Endorse Cruz
Breitbart claims to have an exclusive regarding Mike Pence making a major announcement about the GOP presidential race today. No, I won’t link it.
I rather expect that it will be an endorsement of Ted Cruz. If so, it’s welcome, but the timing of it suggests it is not exactly a profile in courage. This is an endorsement that should have done Tuesday or Wednesday. It appears Pence feels pressured to endorse Cruz for posterity. The fact that he apparently wants to bury the news on a Friday afternoon — as if he were Obama dumping news of Hillary’s criminality — suggests that he won’t be actively campaigning for Cruz like Scott Walker did.
The fact that Breitbart, a pro-Trump site, has it as an exclusive is disquieting. There is no way he is endorsing Trump, of course, but if his “major announcement” is that he is not endorsing anyone, Trumpers would like that. They might even want to push it to Breitbart.
Any way you slice it, it looks like Pence is scared of the Trumpers and the effect they might have on his re-election prospects. If he continues to behave like a scared little girl, my patience with him will be at an end. This is no time for the weak. We need a Mike Lee type coming out with passion in support of Ted.
If Pence manages to do that, with gusto, I may forgive him the poor timing. But for God’s sake, man: step up.
UPDATE: This just came over the transom, as they used to say:
Mike Pence will endorse @tedcruz today, a source familiar with his plans tells me.
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) April 29, 2016
UPDATE x2: I almost did a new post regarding Pence’s endorsement but decided to do an update instead.
I think it’s easy to listen to Pence’s interview and conclude that it is half-hearted and weak. It is weak, and I am not going to heap praise on Pence here, but here’s the thing. He’s clearly terrified. He’s terrified that Trump is going to win; he knows that Trump is vindictive; and he worries that Trump will take it out on him and Indiana.
But he did it anyway.
Don’t get me wrong. I’d much rather see a guy who just steps up and tells it like it is. But what keeps running through my head is this: the definition of courage is not being without fear. It’s being fearful and doing the right thing anyway. Pence is clearly fearful. His abject terror is palpable to me. But he still endorsed Cruz. He was scared but he still acted.
Sure, you could argue that he did it because he’s also scared of conservatives’ wrath later. I’m going to be charitable here. I’m going to conclude that, while this was hardly something that will stir future generations, it was the right thing to do, and it was done under clear and considerable pressure. Pence didn’t have to do it, but he did. So I will say: good for him.
Pence is not popular in indiana, endorsing cruz would be captain tupolev move.
narciso (d8c19d) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:10 amDing.
Patterico (25d394) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:10 amOh. narciso beat me to it.
He’s definitely not Scott Walker popular. Maybe Cruz is OK with the timing. But he’s governor. Every bit helps.
Patterico (25d394) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:12 amHe’s making the announcement at “noon.” What time zone is Indiana on these days? I can never keep track.
Patterico (25d394) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:13 amFrom afar,
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:15 amDid Pence lose his popularity when he caved to the GLetc. agenda?
I looked it up. I guess it depends on where in the state he’s giving the speech. That’s as much research as I can manage this morning.
Patterico (25d394) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:15 amIt used to be different parts were different time zones at different times of the year.
I think that changed
But to what IDK
Ed, get yourself down to Indianapolis and cover it for us,
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:17 amPronto
Pence won with 49.6% inn 2012. He’s polling at 49% as of last week. He won’t be drinking any Trump Electoral Poison today.
Rick Ballard (fa8b05) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:25 amUPDATE: This just came over the transom, as they used to say:
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:27 am#8
Would not the % of republican voters be a better criteria, or is pence worried about getting the independent and democrat voters?
Joe - From Texas (debac0) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:28 amoh my goodness if Mike Pence is endorsing Ted maybe i should give him another look
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:32 amthis isn’t walker, I don’t see this going well,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:36 amso you have carrier in indiana, doing the bronx cheer and westward we have this,
http://www.krgv.com/story/31844858/consistent-surge-of-undocumented-immigrants
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:42 amJoe – From Texas,
Insiders: Clinton would crush Trump in November
Politico leans hard Dem so a pound of salt is in order but the underlying demographic framework is correct. The media have placed Trump where he is in the sure and certain knowledge of where he will be by November.
Rick Ballard (fa8b05) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:53 amNo big worry if Pence goes down with several ships- most Indiana Dems (except for the Carsons) are merely corrupt, and only the Carson dynasty is both corrupt and dangerous.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:59 amIndianapolis is on EDT today, BTW. Their clocks should say 11:04. But I don’t know what time zone it will be in an hour from now. 😉
nk (dbc370) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:04 amInsiders: Clinton would crush Trump in November
That outcome in general has been the conventional wisdom since before the current Republican candidates formally entered the fray. A combination of factors make that — regrettably and pathetically — a good bet. Most tellingly, such a result in November won’t be all that disappointing to a variety of Americans out there, from the staunch left (naturally) to the Koch-brothers right. After all, the current person these candidates want to replace rates not all the poorly (such as in Gallup), or as poorly as he deserves, so a third term of “America, your chickens are coming home to roost” looks to be in the cards.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:15 amNWI/”The Region” gets jipped on summer daylight compared to the rest of the state. I always felt NWI plus the South Bend area should form their own state (although the end result would be a midwestern Connecticut without the old money).
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:23 amback at the ranch,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/29/birmingham-men-suspected-of-giving-3000-to-man-in-the-hat-before/
recall the well connected kuwaiti schoolmaster, who was a chief jayvee fundraiser,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:24 amOh wow—maybe the internal polling is …..saying there’s a chance.
Just went over the general election with an old Cali Republican–and with Trump we were thinking the only sure states for Trump would be Idaho, Alaska and Oklahoma. We were debating–does Trump hold on to–Texas?
Danube River Guide (76b104) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:45 amThe timing tells me that Pence’s polling says Cruz will win Indiana, and Pence is trying to ride Cruz’s coattails to win his own re-election.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:47 amTexas only if you get a solid guarantee of HRC’s deviation from the Dem platform on a minimum of 2 key issues as directed by the Cruz machine. The Dems have their own mob to placate, or you could have the possibility of the 2 mobs uniting as a reaction to a NotTrump – mainstream Democrat shotgun marriage.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:55 amPence is barely leading his opponent. I hope Pence’s endorsement doesn’t hurt Cruz.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:08 amAnother betrayal: At this critical moment, Michelle Malkin has decided to attack Ted Cruz’s choice of VP. Up to now I have been disappointed at her silence on Trump’s despicable behavior, but this crosses the line. Time to mark her with a scarlet”T”. Here is the link:
http://michellemalkin.com/2016/04/28/the-trouble-with-carly-fiorina-top-11-red-flags/
Tony (ff2fe4) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:15 amDRJ,
Pence is trying to get some distance from Neutron Donny. It’s a simple survival tactic and it’s not designed to help or hinder Cruz.
Rick Ballard (fa8b05) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:16 amAnybody who thinks Michelle Malkin is for real also thinks Trump is for real. She’s good for the occasional snipe at the left when it helps her and that’s about all.
nk (dbc370) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:20 amI grew up in Indiana. They used to be on EST year round. Small corners near Chicago and Cincinnati used to match up with the time zones those cities are in (and maybe they still do, well East Chicago maybe still does).
A few years back, they went to Eastern time zone full-time. They now shift to EDT and back the same as everyone else in the time zone.
Advo (e6e38b) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:26 amYes it’s bSically blanc mange, now in to the next squirrel.
narciso (d8c19d) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:33 amThat’s right Tony, scarlet “T’s” for any who dare support Trump. In Michelle Malkin’s case merely not liking Cruz’s VP choice sends a life-long conservative to the reeducation camp.
The Trumpiteers may well be cult-like groupies but you anti-Trump people have taken on a hatred nearing a pathological obsession with the man. Now you want scarlet “T’s” for people. Maybe a week in the stocks and 20 lashes?
You just can’t seem to support Cruz without sliming and denigrating people who don’t in a most vicious and vile fashion. There must be something wrong with me since I am 100% for Cruz but somehow have failed to get the memo to vilify fellow Republicans for their choice. I’m saving my vulgar claptrap for Hillary!. But I guess you’ll be voting for her as a “protest” if Trump gets the nom.
I used to think it was only leftists who behaved like this. Now you’ve got us eating our own like they do and none of you realize that you’re doing it.
Rev. Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:33 amRick,
That could be, but his delay in endorsing suggests he wasn’t too concerned about distancing himself last week.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:38 amNo. Michelle Malkin wanted to impeach a wartime President over port security. She’s irrational.
Danube River Guide (76b104) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:39 amFiorina made her political bones, such as they are, as a servile toady for Meghan’s coward daddy
She’s not someone you want empowered
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:41 amSupposedly Walker went to bat for Cruz and leaned hard on Pence. I read that on Twitter though…
Danube River Guide (76b104) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:42 amHow soon before you all join another commenter in calling me a “a knowingly lying piece of caca tuckfard” for trying to cool down the inappropriate insults against Trumpeteers? Seems anyone who doesn’t tow the anti Trump line full throttle becomes an enemy and needs a scarlet T.
Rev. Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:42 amThanks, Advo.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:43 amWith family in NW Ohio, we always were thinking twice about whether we were or were not at the same time as 20 miles W.
Woukd Walker go to bat for Cruz in Indiana after what happened at the Wisconsin GOP convention?
DRJ (15874d) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:48 amNow Michelle Malkin is “irrational” because she made a remark a decade ago Danube River Guide didn’t like. Really? The woman has been a stalwart conservative columnist for years but now because of Trump she’s “irrational”. Have you agreed with every single sentence that fell from the lips of Cruz?
Rev. Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:49 amOff to follow the link DRJ, looks interesting.
Danube River Guide (76b104) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:50 amMalkin loset her freaking mind over dubai ports world
it was very embarrassing to watch and she lost a LOT of credibility
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:53 am*lost* her freaking mind i mean
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:53 amDRJ not sure what to make of that.
******
Rev. Hoagie
I agree with trying to keep things civil–but Trump does not do that. Now if you think impeachment during a war is something that should be tossed around lightly–that’s up to you. I knew people that were putting their lives on the line to win the war and there was Michelle Malkin pushing the impeachment plank in order to gain notoriety for herself. Of course I remember, you on the other hand had the luxury of thinking nothing of it. You’ve been lucky in life.
Danube River Guide (76b104) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:59 amMalkin loset her freaking mind over dubai ports world
it was very embarrassing to watch and she lost a LOT of credibility
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:53 am
*********
Holy cripes–someone remembers. Well okay then.
Danube River Guide (76b104) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:00 amHoagie, they realize what they’re doing alright, they know it’s wrong but they just can’t help themselves. Red hot hatred vanquishes all personal and group inclination toward balance and reason. The id and the ego dominate the collective consciousness and the higher order constraining influences are ignored.
They compete with each other to craft vivid denunciations, proud of their conformity and seeking approval from the crybully chorus, they countenance no dissent.
You see past it, they don’t.
ropelight (6b9125) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:00 amHmmm,
Just heard a clip of what Pence said on Rushbo…
Pence likes “all three” candidates…
isn’t against any of them…
had praise for Trump at giving voice to people’s anger…
said he would “vote for Cruz”…
(impressed with his knowledge of the Constitution and support for life)
Sounds to me calculated for his own purposes more than helping Cruz
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:03 ambut then again,
if he is not overwhelmingly popular in IN,
then maybe Cruz doesn’t want to be too strong being tied to him
Me, either, Danube River Guide. It could simply be that these GOP folks felt they had earned their way to the convention after 4 years of hard work during very turbulent times in Wisconsin. They probably have. Or it could be a resentful rebound against Walker’s support for Cruz, in which case I would expect Walker’s support might cool.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:06 amI think concerning both Pence and the WI delegate situation,
we should remember,
that most Repubs really don’t want Cruz, they really have no stomach for a battle over principles of government and the direction of the country
the people who have a stomach for battle are mainly for Trump, but they generally don’t understand where the battle should be fought
We will not know what will happen until after it happens, there are a lot of people who want neither Trump or Cruz,
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:15 amnor Clinton as well,
but they don’t know how to get their wish,
so moment by moment odd things will happen.
yes, and I recall there was a boomlet for a candidate who entertained w over the iraq war, and
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:30 amwas indifferent to the first amendment, re the disclose act, he was working for al jazeera, although now that went pearshaped, he’s shaking another tin can,
impeaching him over iraq war, but that would revisit macho grande,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:32 amI beg to differ, MD in Philly. As a Cruz supporter I am fully aware of which battles should be fought and where they should be fought. I also believe the entire kerfuffle is about the battle over principles of government and the lousy direction of our country. That’s exactly why I’m for Cruz. I believe he can do battle better than Trump.
And most Republicans may not really want Cruz now but wait and see if it’s Cruz against the b!tch who they’re for. That’s why we shouldn’t alienate Trumpeteers. We will need them.
Rev. Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:36 amEhhh, shaddup. I have the same concerns about Fiorina and nobody can accuse me of being a Trump-humper. When Ronald Reagan first ran, he chose as a running mate a liberal Republican former senator, Richard Schweiker. He’s now the answer to a trivia question, as someday Joe Biden will be.
L.N. Smithee (b84cf6) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:48 amHoagie,
I’m not sure you differ with me,
you may want Cruz, you may want to battle, you may know which battles to fight,
and I expect we agree much more than we disagree on all of those things,
but we are not “most Republicans”,
we are especially not most Republicans who have elected positions in DC and want to keep them,
those are represented by Boehner and Peter King, who said comparing Cruz to Lucifer was a slight against Lucifer
and I agree with you, always have, that alienating the average Trump supporter is foolish
I am hoping Cruz can lead an educated public discussion to get us where we need to go
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:51 amI stand by my comments on Ms. Malkin. She chose to criticize Fiorina at such a critical moment while NEVER having said ANYTHING about Trump’s despicable attack on Heidi Cruz. This is unconscionable. While I can sympathize with the under informed and underemployed Trump supporters who are fed up with career politicians who never did anything to address their loss of jobs, I have nothing but contempt for these high profile supporters who are not constrained by financial and intellectual resources. In contrast to these less fortunate people who are most likely to be affected by illegal immigration and outsourcing, Ms. Malkin knows full well that (with the exception of the security fence) most of Trump’s solutions are total B.S. She is just latching on to the strong horse. I used to enjoy reading her columns. She is dead to me now. I recently posted an essay about people like this. It is right here: https://plus.google.com/117744334887077653084/posts/DBjUEqq5YoZ
Tony (ff2fe4) — 4/29/2016 @ 11:16 amPence did poorly.
He praises Trump then said he will vote for Cruz and others can do whatever they want.
Pathetic.
njrob (197ae6) — 4/29/2016 @ 11:23 amNk,
Going to disagree with you on Mrs Malkin. She’s a stalwart conservative and a good voice in the media which is sorely needed at this time.
She can have her opinion on Fiorina which is fine. She is using facts for her opinion unlike Trumpeteers who don’t like Cruz’s nose, or say he doesn’t feel right or he’s lying because their false idol says so.
I’m indifferent to Fiorina, but I understand why Cruz made the choice.
Back to the article. Pence is a typical politician and we’d be better off if he was primaried.
njrob (197ae6) — 4/29/2016 @ 11:30 am@ Hoagie (#29): I don’t consider Trump to be either a Republican or a conservative. There are people who are one or both of those things who support Trump, but while they’re supporting Trump, I don’t consider them one of “my own,” I consider them misguided chumps — every single one of them, by definition. And that’s a deeply felt, carefully considered judgment on my part.
I don’t think your scolding is having the unifying effect you intend for it to have. If anything, it has the opposite effect, at least on me.
Hester Prynne’s scarlet letter was one put on her by a judgmental society. Trumpkins self-identify and self-stigmatize. It’s not remotely comparable, and I don’t feel sorry for their poor bruised feelings. It’s impossible to point out that a con man is running a con without insulting the marks who’ve already allowed themselves to be suckered.
Beldar (fa637a) — 4/29/2016 @ 11:35 amHillary will tax away all my money and use it to buy Medicaid, food stamps and Section 8 housing for her constituents, but after she’s taken all of it she’ll give me Medicaid, food stamps and Section 8 housing too.
Trump will use the asset forfeiture laws to take all my money and spend it on Slovenian hookers with his buddies Roger Stone and Milo Yiannopoulos on Jeffrey Epstein’s rape island, and leave me to starve or freeze to death on the street.
Advantage: Hillary
nk (dbc370) — 4/29/2016 @ 11:58 amPreach, Beldar.
JD (34f761) — 4/29/2016 @ 12:06 pmNjrob – could you explain why he needs to be primaried?
JD (34f761) — 4/29/2016 @ 12:07 pmEven if Ms. Malkin’s concerns about Fiorina are legitimate, she could at least wait until after the convention (or at least the Indiana primaries!) to publish them. In the context of her deafening silence on much more controversial issues with Trump, I am through with her.
If more so-called “conservative” columnists had been more intellectually honest from the get-go, we would not be in this mess where this successful governor has to qualify his lukewarm endorsement with praise for this man-child.
For crying out loud, the Founding Fathers risked much more than their careers to convert a struggling agrarian colony to the greatest nation on Earth!
Tony (ff2fe4) — 4/29/2016 @ 12:07 pmJD,
His expanding medicaid under Obamacare which will wreck the budget. His cowardice defending religious liberty when the left brought their knives to bear regarding private business, his weak non-endorsement of Cruz to name 3 quick issues.
njrob (197ae6) — 4/29/2016 @ 12:17 pmWhy Tony? She’s publicly supported Cruz and named him the right man for the job.
njrob (197ae6) — 4/29/2016 @ 12:18 pmFirst I’d like to address Tony. Of course you’re going to “stand by my comments on Ms. Malkin”. Because you think you’re right. Just like ropelight will stand by his statements on Trump because he thinks he’s right. But to you Tony, that makes ropelight a litany of vile names but makes you pure as the driven snow. BTW, reading comment #52 gave me the impression you’re an emotional mess. You need to cool off. Nobody is perfect Tony, not Malkin, not Cruz, not me and not you.
Now to Beldar. Like you I don’t consider Trump to be a conservative by any stretch of the imagination. Unlike you I realize he is, in fact, a Republican. Whether or not you or I like it. But then I wasn’t aware one had to have permission from Beldar to be a Republican. You are welcome to consider his followers misguided chumps because as you said, it’s a judgment on your part. Just as supporting him is a judgment on their part. But either way it’s no reason to be hostile and down right nasty to each other because your judgments differ. That’s leftist stuff.
Now I apologize if it sounded like I was “scolding” anyone least wise you who I respect deeply. That was not my intent. I was just trying to point out that until a few months ago the people you guys are calling every name in the book were, for lack of better words, one of us. Now you guys are saying crap I’d expect at a Black Lives Matter protest not on a conservative blog.
Just so you know the Trumkins were stigmatized by the anti Trump people, not themselves. If I recall it was Tony who stated about Malkin in comment #24 “Time to mark her with a scarlet ”T” ” . And if you actually believe “It’s impossible to point out that a con man is running a con without insulting the marks who’ve already allowed themselves to be suckered” then you are saying the con mans targets, IOW his victims, are no more than suckers who allowed themselves to be conned. So I guess it’s the victims fault? Good, release Bernie Madoff.
Rev. Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 4/29/2016 @ 12:22 pmHoagie,
The problem with your most recent remarks is that Trump encourages insulting behavior with his disreputable antics. So his supporters follow suit and behave the same way he does.
There are sites I can no longer visit because I was an open Cruz supporter and dared to defend Cruz against Trump’s noxious remarks. And that’s with people who I’ve spent years discussing these issues.
Trump has done a solid job diving the Republican party into three factions where there was only once two.
Congrats to him I guess.
njrob (197ae6) — 4/29/2016 @ 12:30 pmThat was no endorsement. That was a Trump- and Kasich-praising statement about how PENCE is voting. Cripes, Pence couldn’t even say that he thought Indianans should vote for Cruz.
Mitch (341ca0) — 4/29/2016 @ 12:55 pmGod bless you and your efforts, Rev. Hoagie. Though I’m sure you are aware no good deed shall go unpunished. Or so said Oscar Wilde. But we know what kind of man he was, don’t we? 😉
WTP (aca208) — 4/29/2016 @ 1:12 pmI thought pence came off statesmanlike, he knows dissing other candidates rarely works, in the long run, just my two cents,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 1:14 pmnobody wants to actively endorse undignified self-aggrandizing second-ballot goldy sacky drama queen silliness
poor desperate carly-pup
poor desperate teddy-pie
the only thing they’re in the running for is for to develop a base of gullible poopers they can milk for a few years sarah palin style
it would be sick if it wasn’t so sad
it would be sad if it wasn’t so sick
it’s sick sad and santorum is what it is
ugh
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 1:14 pmand the donner party was an unpleasant outing,
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/brad-wilmouth/2016/04/29/cnns-cuomo-blandly-tags-violent-protesters-dissatisfied-citizens
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 1:28 pm#14
Interesting article on the damage the down ballot canidates that a Trump nominee would create.
I voted for Hillary in the 2008 primary under the theory
1) it was going to be democrat year regardless of who the republican nominee was going to be
2) Hillary was going to be “less bad” than obuma
3) Hillary would cause less damage on the down ballots
Joe
Joe - From Texas (debac0) — 4/29/2016 @ 1:30 pmHoagie
Trump is the epitome of “Republican In Name Only”.
If I offer to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge, and you happily deposit millions into my account, then yes, you share responsibility in your own con. But at least in that scenario, you are only screwing yourself. Trumpkins are going to screw the entire world. When we have the opportunity to nominate an actual constitutionalist conservative, and we opt instead for the vile mixture of bombast, boorishness, cynicism, totalitarianism, and dishonesty that is Donald Trump, the ones who made this mistake possible cannot avoid their responsibility.
You say we cannot be “hostile and downright nasty” due to differences in judgment. I laud your inclination towards civility. But there is no HONEST way to express my opinion on Trumpkins WITHOUT using language that can be described as “hostile and downright nasty”. Supporting Trump unavoidably calls into question one’s intelligence, or integrity, or both.
cnh (c9c12f) — 4/29/2016 @ 1:38 pmdo the names floyd brown, nakoula basseley, or billy dale ring a bell, it seems like we’re operating in a vacuum here,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 1:48 pmPence and Trump actually have the same general border/immigration plan, (so says Kaus). Pence as national candidate saying the same thing would not have caused nearly the same amount of agita.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 4/29/2016 @ 1:56 pm@ Hoagie (#62): First off, thanks, friend, for a thoughtful and civil response.
You’re certainly right that Trump’s entitled to consider himself a Republican.
John Boehner certainly considers himself a Republican, too, and he has won many, many elections in his home state running under the Republican Party’s banner, and he’s occupied one of the nation’s most powerful and important constitutional offices as a direct result of the Republican Party’s success in re-taking the House. Despite his many failings, he’s also cast literally thousands of votes in Congress that did indeed further the conservative movement and the Republican Party. I think John Boehner gradually became the poster-child for the inside-the-Beltway rot and duplicity that must be excised from the GOP, and I was glad when he resigned the Speakership; he was a lousy Speaker. But I don’t deny that he’s part of the GOP, and I don’t think he’s being insincere when he claims to be a Republican.
But by contrast, I believe Trump is insincere. Regardless, Trump’s not entitled to have me consider him a legitimate Republican. As I view it, legitimate Republicans don’t give millions of dollars to a broad range of Democratic politicians at every level of state and federal government. “Oh!,” insist Trump and the Trumpkins, “giving them money doesn’t mean Trump supports Democrats, he was just doing business.” Horsesh*t. Giving them money is, literally, supporting them, and you can give money to both sides while remaining a businessman, but you can’t give money to Democrats while remaining a legitimate Republican, in my own admittedly subjective judgment, for whatever its worth to anyone but me.
Objectively, however, setting aside whatever self-righteousness I might be entitled to for a lifetime of my own Republican voting — and that of my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather: No objective observer could conclude that Trump is a sincere or legitimate Republican unless he abandons all objectivity, puts on his Trumpkinvision glasses, and then ignores Trump’s entire life before about 2011, and much of his life since 2015.
So yeah, Trump and Mike Bloomberg can both call themselves Republicans. But I don’t buy it, and won’t — ever. I’m still a Republican but Bloomberg has dropped his act. I’ll still be a Republican after Trump drops his.
As for Trump’s supporters, as I’ve written here before:
I distinguish between mere suckers, whom I refer to as mere “Trumpkins,” and those who actively engage themselves in trying to bring in more suckers, “Trumpkin shills.” Both categories are victims. But that they are victims does not mean they are without blame. That runs along a continuum: Some of the victims have done nothing worse than blind themselves to red flags that would have been sufficient to stop them in their tracks before they embarked on their emotion-driven Trumpkinhood. Of them, I can only say, “You knew better, but you supported him anyway.” That doesn’t necessarily make that person my enemy, nor destroy my respect for him or her. Nor would it prevent me from embracing that person as my fellow partisan and fellow conservative in the future — at least, on things unrelated to Trump.
But other Trumpkin shills are genuinely complicit in Trump’s con job. I do not respect or like these people. I will ever like or respect these people, nor forget them, nor forgive them. And I no longer waste time or keystrokes trying to reason with them.
Beldar (fa637a) — 4/29/2016 @ 2:03 pmSo what are we really left with?
Trump looks to have the only mathematically possible path to 1237 delegates. If the GOP convention is contested, and anybody but Trump ends up with the nomination from a contested convention, Trump will go 3rd party. This has a better than even chance of resulting in Hillary winning.
So we are left with either voting for a criminal, versus a conman.
Pete (ef6079) — 4/29/2016 @ 2:16 pmPete – Hillary will beat Trump if he runs as the Team R candidate too.
JD (6f0ad7) — 4/29/2016 @ 2:23 pm@ Pete (#74): By the time of the GOP convention it will be past most states’ filing deadlines for the general election ballot. Trump can go “write-in,” but not third-party. He could do a lot of damage, but I don’t see him spending the tens of millions of dollars from his own pocket that it would take to mount a national campaign outside of the GOP. Your statement that “Trump looks to have the only mathematically possible path to 1237 delegates” is only true for the first ballot, and roughly three-quarters of the actual convention delegates will not be Donald Trump fans.
Beldar (fa637a) — 4/29/2016 @ 2:26 pmThere is an outside chance that the rescue ship for the alien symbiote on Trump’s head will finally show up and take them both to Aldebaran before the convention.
nk (dbc370) — 4/29/2016 @ 2:31 pmENTIRELY OFF-TOPIC, and wholly personal and self-indulgent: Several Patterico.com commenters shared with me your best wishes for my son Kevin Dyer when I mentioned here that he sat for the Texas Bar Exam in February. The results came out today, and I’m pleased to tell you that your good wishes paid off.
Beldar (fa637a) — 4/29/2016 @ 2:42 pmBeldar-
I don’t see Trump spending his own money, either. But he’s not really spending money now, either. If Trump has the nomination “stolen” from him, it’s possible it might make his followers even MORE fanatical. The ratings that would flow from their devotion might entice Fox to devote even MORE time to covering him. Hannity might not talk to another living soul for the rest of the campaign.
My hope is that Trump doesn’t actually want to be president. That he will embrace the exit, and the ability once more to claim the mantle of victimhood, having achieved his true goal of increasing his brand.
cnh (c9c12f) — 4/29/2016 @ 2:42 pm@ cnh (#79): The MSM is certainly now in a state of polyorgasmia over The Donald. We all know from those helpful TV commercials that erections lasting more than four hours require medical attention, but the mainstream media have been in a state of continuous and ever-increasing arousal since the day he announced his campaign. It’s more clear this campaign cycle than ever before that the mainstream media’s best interests are spectacularly contrary to the country’s.
Beldar (fa637a) — 4/29/2016 @ 2:50 pmBy the time of the GOP convention it will be past most states’ filing deadlines for the general election ballot
I don’t believe that is true. Most states have deadlines in August or even September for independents. PARTY deadlines are often earlier. A few states require independents to qulify before parties do, but those are likely unconstitutional.
http://ballot-access.org/2016/03/27/march-2016-ballot-access-news-print-edition/
However, if Trump were to “have” 1350 delegates locked up by June 8th, a credible and well-organized candidate could probably get on most, if not all state ballots.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/29/2016 @ 2:57 pmBeldar–
You indicated some time ago that Priebus had said that there as an IP agreement that would prevent any of the contenders from going third party. Is this still your understanding?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/29/2016 @ 2:59 pmhi dr. Pete happy springtime!
it’s the spring of harvardtrash ted’s discontent to where he adopted a carly-pup! Together they’ll have many adventures and when Mr. Trump is nominated for to save us from the pee-stanker, at least they’ll have each other.
And that is very heartwarming.
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:04 pmCongratulations, Kevin Dyer!
DRJ (15874d) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:07 pmCongratulations to your son, Beldar!
Leviticus (efada1) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:19 pmIt may sound strange, but in my experience the relief of passing the bar is surpassed only by the relief of completing it.
Joe – From Texas,
I found the downside damage portion of the Insider piece to be overstated. The Bag Lady – Wino bum fight will have an effect on total turnout but no one has any way to determine which political party will suffer most from the feces flinging. The Wino is going to have to throw more and throw harder to drive the Bag Lady’s negatives closer to his own negatives but some of it is going to stick to her. She definitely has the media advantage but it’s going to be hard to color the Wino bright red when he is so obviously pinkish blue.
Fortunately – there is absolutely no chance of any damage being done to morals, ethics, principles or standards in the fight due to neither opponent having ever possessed a whit of any of them.
Rick Ballard (60124c) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:21 pm@ Kevin M (#82): I still haven’t seen a copy of the data-sharing and cooperation IP agreements between the RNC and the candidates (including Trump), nor have I seen it referenced lately by Priebus or others. I suspect Priebus and the RNC folks have made a conscious decision not to release the document or talk about its terms, and there are plentiful reasons for that policy that aren’t specific to Trump.
But any moderately talented IP lawyer, upon being asked for a client like the RNC to protect its investments, both literal and figurative, in Republican presidential candidates and their campaigns, could certainly draft injunctive relief provisions whose enforcement would cripple any on-going campaign from going rogue as a third-party candidacy in competition to the GOP’s nominee. There are tons of objectively outrageous provisions which owners of intellectual property can nevertheless enforce based upon the contractual obligations undertaken by licensee users of that intellectual property. Trump, of all people, ought to know how powerful and restrictive IP licensing agreements can be — that’s what he tries to do when he licenses his name and the “Trump Brand.” But I suspect that the GOP has him badly outfoxed on this.
Beldar (fa637a) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:22 pmHello, happyfeet. Current temps where I live bely the onset of springtime, but I am happy to accept your good intentions.
I wonder, regarding Trump, how he will respond to the pro-Hillary biased media onslaught that will undoubtedly be released against him if he becomes the nominee. Additionally, I wonder what percentage of those currently voting for him are leftist crossovers who will switch back to the dems in the general.
The conundrum in which I find myself is tjat I cannot EVER vote for a dem, nuch less a Clinton or Sanders…and despite the agreeable positions on Trump’s website, I am unable to see him as anything but a conman. Complicating this is that staying home and not voting for Trump against Hillary is a de facto vote for Hillary and the corrupt marxist (but I repeat myself) agenda. Same with supporting a 3rd party or write-in candidate.
So I am left with donning my MOPP 4 gear and voting for Trump, trying to asduage my nausea with the knowledge that Lena Dunham has sworn to leave the country should Trump win the Oval Office.
Pete (ef6079) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:25 pm78-Beldar
mg (31009b) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:28 pmYou should be proud.
Mr. Trump has already been media-onslaughted good and proper dr. P, and the thing about pee-stank is – EVERYONE knows she’s exponentially worse than Mr. The Donald – deep down, as a person.
Mr. Trump will do good on the supreme court. Just remember that. He’ll nominate someone what will give that prissy roberts loser a wedgie right up his harvardtrash butt.
I applaud this cause of I love the constitutions.
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:28 pmhappy feet? Very disappointing. You don’t vote. Hate women and want to kill babies. Sad!
TheThinMan (28bfff) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:29 pmoh my goodness who invitered judgey mcjudge-a-lot
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:31 pmpee-stank got some botox i know i know
it’s serious
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:33 pmBeen lurking at various blogs for years you are a passive aggressive pussy
TheThinMan (28bfff) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:36 pmCongrats, Beldar.
Dustin (2a8be7) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:37 pmTC has defended the constitution his whole life, check out Heller, you disingenuous POS
TheThinMan (28bfff) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:39 pmCorrection, non-voting POS
TheThinMan (28bfff) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:43 pmPolitico says the GOP data-sharing agreement requires that RNC “any information Trump collects from his supporters, many of whom are not traditional Republicans, will be fed back into the [Republican Party] database for future use by the party and its candidates.”
Welcome to the GOP’s mailing list, Trump supporters!
DRJ (15874d) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:45 pmi was gonna let you have a bite of my avocado
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:46 pmbut that’s just not happening
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:46 pmHappy to hear the news of your son, Beldar. I hope his first major case isn’t some drawn-out litigation over GOP delegates in Cleveland.
JVW (eabb2a) — 4/29/2016 @ 3:50 pmcongrats, beldar, drj how will you fundraise off people who will likely consider betrayed by the same party asking for money,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 4:11 pmAlways entertaining reading individuals trying to get even with happyfeet.
mg (31009b) — 4/29/2016 @ 4:23 pmso it’s mostly an act, like christian slater, in ‘pump up the volume’ I think that’s right,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 4:24 pmHappyfeet- Nobska Farms Ghost Pepper Jelly is a palate pleaser.
mg (31009b) — 4/29/2016 @ 4:33 pmi will google and get some but I become kinda infatuated with the Harry and David onion and pepper relish
the texture is a little odd but the flavor is amazing
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 4:35 pmCongratulations, Kevin Dyer.
nk (dbc370) — 4/29/2016 @ 4:40 pmok i ordered 4 jars i probably take some to des moines with me and the “north shore” which is something to do with lake superior
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 4:40 pmGorgeous country, happyfeet.
mg (31009b) — 4/29/2016 @ 4:51 pmMy uncle has a cabin in Grand Marais, spent many days along the N.shore as a kid.
Boundary waters is a special place.
Donald Trump contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.
It’s true, I am not making it up.
nk (dbc370) — 4/29/2016 @ 4:52 pmall i saw so far is there’s an island (grand isle or something)
i’m thinking of seeing if we can get a condo there or what have you
for memorial day
that’s probably super optimistic
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 4:54 pmDonald Trump is a gorgeous scenting of a fabulously expensive essential oil after the reeking fetid suppuration of president food stamp.
I’m so excited to turn the page.
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 4:55 pmin california, that’s practically any substance, including carbon dioxide, if jerry brown has anything to do with it,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 4:59 pmisle royale national park is in Michigan.
mg (31009b) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:01 pmWell, this changes everything: Trump aide: We’re prepared to hit Clinton with Lewinsky. According to Trumpkin shill Katrina Pierson, the Trump campaign has discovered that while Bill Clinton was president, he may have had some improper dealings with a young intern named Monica Lewinsky.
Boy, if that’s true, Hillary Clinton couldn’t get elected dogcatcher, or U.S. Senator from New York, or be confirmed as SecState, or run away with the Democratic Party’s superdelegates and nomination.
Yes, it’s finally revealed — the missing step in Trumpkin logic has now been filled it:
(1) Nominate Trump
(2)
???Point out, to the astonishment of the entire shocked world, that Bill Clinton has been unfaithful to Hillary(3) Profit/Presidency!
Hey Trumpkins, get a clue: He says, and you parrot, that he “hasn’t even started in on Hillary yet.” But guess what? He never will, because he can’t. There’s no new news with Hillary, ever. And buyers of political influence lack any standing, or much will, to confront Hillary over selling it. They’re just two limousine liberals from New York. They can sit together again at the next Planned Parenthood benefit.
Beldar (fa637a) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:03 pmSo that’s Katrina Pierson. I was wondering what happened to Donald Sterling’s “personal assistant”. She apparently changed her name and got a job with the Trump campaign.
nk (dbc370) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:07 pmoh
i was wondering if it was a ferry thing or a helicopter thing
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:08 pmi love islands
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:09 pmactually she supported cruz in 2012, and ran against pete sessions in 2014, was endorsed by papa cruz and the huntress,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:14 pmI never got the argument that Bill being unfaithful is a reason to hate Hillary. She defended her husband and stood by him, and while some out there wouldn’t, it’s really her decision, cynical or not. How on earth does Trump use this issue? He boasted that he left the mother of his children for a ‘hot piece of ass’ model that worked for his modeling agency. He’s pure sleaze. He makes Bill Clinton look like a saint.
The crimes with the classified intel and her emails, among other things, are much better criticisms, but those aren’t concepts Trump can articulate, and he would obviously be worse as far as integrity and caring about our security goes.
Once again, I’m baffled by conservatives who prefer Trump to Hillary.
Dustin (2a8be7) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:20 pmTrump cannot — Carly can. “You are the war against women, Hillary!” “You enabled your husband’s abuses of women!” “Trashed them in the media as ‘bimbos’ and ‘trailer trash’!” Kathleen Wiley has already been doing it since before Hillary announced.
nk (dbc370) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:27 pmBTW, happyfeet, those essential oils you smell on Trump — they’re from the scent glands of the animal on his head. They could contain pheromones … hmm.
nk (dbc370) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:29 pmOnce again, I’m baffled by conservatives who prefer Trump to Hillary.
Dustin, did you vote for Obama?
ropelight (6b9125) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:30 pmhe’s a plum lolly, Mr. Trump is
you’ll see
it’s gonna be swell
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:34 pmAllow me to clear that up for ya, Dustin. They prefer Trump over Hillary! because Trump is a liberal a-hole but Hillary! is a phuking commie. Is that clear enough?
Rev. Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:43 pmOnce again, I’m baffled by conservatives who prefer Trump to Hillary.
Forget Trump or, for that matter, any other Republican vis-a-vie hideous Hillary. For a person to feel even a tiny bit of warmth towards her — regardless of context — suggests he or she is more liberal than he lets on or than he’s aware of. She’s so disreputable and corrosively liberal — reportedly truly a nasty, foul-mouthed human being behind closed doors — that I can’t bring myself to think of her in anything but negative terms—today, last year, 10 years ago, in November, in 2017 or beyond.
She’s pathologically dishonest and is infamous for laughing at weird, inappropriate times. That doesn’t even include my perception of her in tandem with that of scroungy Bill and all the victims (eg, Juanita Broaddrick, etc) that surround those two characters.
They’re like the prelude or opening chapter to the era of “Goddamn America, your chickens are coming home to roost.”
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:53 pmI’m baffled by conservatives who prefer Trump to Hillary.
now he’s doin horse
it’s june
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:55 pmMark, every comment of yours distills to the following: “anyone who feels the slightest bit of warmth towards a Democrat is suspect, and remember how every single Sunday Jeremiah Wright thundered GOD DAMN AMERICAN nonstop for three hours while Obama cheered and chanted along?”
We get it. I’m a little bored with it, honestly.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/29/2016 @ 5:59 pmFWIW, I think Katrina Pierson’s probably Trump’s best surrogate, and she’s a paid employee of the Trump campaign. She’s likely to be tasked with lots of Hillary bashing, and she’ll do a good job of that, I’m sure.
But the notion that “Trump hasn’t even started in yet on Hillary” is utter nonsense. I feel sorry for Pierson.
Beldar (fa637a) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:04 pminstead of Jeremiah Wright they should call him Jeremiah Pooper cause of he’s such a trashy commie pooper
is he still alive btw?
i haven’t seen a postage stamp
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:04 pmconsider this fwiw, not judgemental but a practical analysis
http://www.weeklystandard.com/what-trump-saw-and-cruz-did-not/article/2002126#.VyO_OmzzzNs.twitter
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:05 pmPatterico, you are criminally underrepresenting the Rupert Everett Quotient in Mark’s comments. Also, Detroit.
Leviticus (6ea25f) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:06 pmwell she’s better then scotty hughes, nails on a blackboard,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:07 pm^^^ To be clear, I don’t dispute that Trump hasn’t yet spent any time attacking Hillary in any new or effective way. I dispute the premise that he can.
Beldar (fa637a) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:07 pmslightest bit of warmth towards a Democrat is suspect
I never said that, Pat. An honorable liberal (the few that exist in the public realm) will never trigger the disgust I have towards people like Hillary or the person she hopes to succeed.
But, yea, I do like quoting Jeremiah Wright’s infamous words since they’re a reflection of the mindset of the person currently in the Oval Office. Those words also illustrate that it’s ridiculous to perceive one of the Republican candidates in 2016 as the worst in our lifetime. A person who feels differently must tilt left more than he or she realizes.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:15 pmAlso, Detroit.
Leviticus, when liberals like you happily, nonchalantly relocate to such environments that epitomize modern-day liberalism (ie, where over 90-plus percent of an electorate is of the Democrat Party, votes for liberals, embraces liberalism) or, unlike the two-faced couple now in the White House, happily, nonchalantly send their children to public schools in the middle of such progressive paradises, I’ll change my tune.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:22 pmNo you won’t. You didn’t shut up about it when I told you that I lived two blocks from my city’s MLK Jr. Ave – another one of your stupid hobby horses.
Leviticus (6ea25f) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:29 pmNope. Trump is the worst of my lifetime.
Obama has faults a plenty, but I don’t actually worry that he is going to nuke someone.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:32 pmobama’s arranged for others to do his jew-nuking for him
happyfeet (831175) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:37 pmobama wants Iran to nuke someone.
mg (31009b) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:37 pm1) Kudos to Kevin Dyer!!!!!
2) Pence’s “endorsement” got very little play on South Bend news.
3) Y’all are nuts if y’all believe that a full-throated Pence endorsement, a la Walker’s, would be a negative for Ted. In fact, in a REPUBLICAN primary, it would be yooge. Pence has taken some courageous social issue stands – the very type of thing Ted does. It is confusing to natural Cruz voters that Pence has withheld.
4) DRJ – You called it exactly right. Pence waited until the winds sufficiently shifted (IPFW poll at +16 confirming) to breathe a hint of support for his ideological brother, Cruz.
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:38 pmUgh. meant to add – Pence had a perfect opportunity this morning to show up at the taping in Indianapolis of the Hannity show (An hour with Ted) about to air.
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:40 pmYou didn’t shut up about it when I told you that I lived two blocks from my city’s MLK Jr. Ave
I’d like to see the details via google maps, and I’m not being sarcastic when I ask that. I admit that a variety of “latte liberals” are among those in the forefront of gentrifying urban dives, but the number of such people is still rather limited. Moreover, if you ever have kids, I’d be interested in which schools you’ll be sending them to and the distance of those schools from a setting evocative of “King Avenue.” In that regards, even the latte-liberal gentrifiers often are guilty of talking the talk, but not walking the walk.
Obama has faults a plenty
But did you feel that way in 2008 with the same vigor you feel today towards Trump today? I only ask because I saw through the current White House occupant’s leftism and stereotypical liberal divisiveness from the time his background and life history started to come out. I therefore never fell for the crease of his pants and certainly never suspected he was all that patriotic about or proud of America, unless it was a USA in a parallel universe that mimicked a socialist paradise like Venezuela.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/29/2016 @ 6:52 pmGive it a rest. Obama and Trump are both narcissistic leftists with zero constitutional principles, zero respect for the free market, and zero redeeming qualities. Let’s be frank: you prefer Trump because he puts an R after his name. In fact, I’ll go further. If Obama had put an R after his name, you would have gone easier on him, even if he said and did the very same things. So: can the superiority complex. All you’re doing is showing that you are a hyper-partisan. Yay for you. I guess that makes you better than me.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:10 pmBeldar,
Congrats to your son Kevin Dyer. I am not remotely surprised but am still very pleased, to the point where there is a very visible smile on my face as I type these words. Those familiar with my Eeyore-like personality, natural pessimism, and Resting Face of Gloom know that a smile is pretty rare for this face, so please know this is a big deal to me.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:17 pmHey Mark,
There are a great many people who didn’t realize how bad Obama is till later in the game. I knew he was bad news from the beginning and I don’t fault people who realized it late the same way you do. You see, I’m in the same boat. But not about Obama. You see, I didn’t realize how big a douchenozzle you are until late in the game. And I’m sure others won’t fault me for that oversight.
John Hitchcock (4b6cdd) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:19 pm#130: narciso, this article is interesting, but it doesn’t connect with reality. Kristol (a guy who may secretly harbor a severe case of Cruz envy) quotes a character named Danker who claims Cruz was overly reliant on high tech targeting of voters, and not sufficiently willing to mix it up with Trump. The latter may be true but from my perspective, the Cruz campaign staff is definitely second rate and whatever success Cruz has had is due to something other than a high priced targeting approach. As Ed has outlined in his report of a Cruz appearance in South Bend, the event in Indiana was a success because of the volunteers (including Ed who hadn’t intended to play such a role) with an almost incidental contribution from the campaign staff. One fellow came in early to caution people about the sort of signs that can be displayed, but after that it was extemporaneous. I have maxed out to the Cruz campaign (you can verify this with the FEC online fundraising page) and the geniuses with Cruz’s campaign continue to bombard me with appeals for $5, $25, whatever. And I don’t get one appeal a week, I get between 3 and 6 emails and as many as three letters every day! And none of these emails exhibits any knowledge that I have already contributed, nor do they show any “targeting” of the appeal to push my hot buttons. It is all just more of the same stuff Romney spewed. Consultants harvesting the latest crop of hopefuls.
So the real story about Cruz is that he is succeeding despite his campaign. Cruz and Fiorina have a great deal to offer to the country, and I desperately hope they can pull out a win in the fourth quarter. But for the rest, the high tech campaign and the PACs run by guys like Danker, they are nothing but an anchor that is dragging Cruz down.
The good news is that if Cruz wins the nomination, he can drastically improve his campaign simply by dumping the fools who are advising him. He is a great candidate. His campaign needs to get out of his way.
BobStewartatHome (404986) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:34 pmand apparently he agrees, from his twitter field, yes marketing and promotion, needs to have more feedback, so one doesn’t aggravate the donors and voters,
https://americanprinciplesproject.org/tag/rich-danker/
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 7:43 pmLet’s be frank: you prefer Trump because he puts an R after his name. In fact, I’ll go further. If Obama had put an R after his name, you would have gone easier on him, even if he said and did the very same things.
For you to say that means you totally ignore all the years I’ve been talking about liberal or leftist impulses. And, yea, I do repeat the same concepts over and over again, yet in spite of that you choose to believe my awareness of party labels runs roughshod over my curiosity about and awareness of the sappiness of left-leaning emotions (sometimes derided as “bleeding heart”).
BTW, such a dynamic does need to be honed in on constantly since quite a few people buy into the idea that it’s impolite to talk politics (and religion) — and therefore the feelings that influence people’s politics — in mixed company, at family gatherings, or if only because (due to it going against the liberal agenda) it’s harder to theorize that, for example, the current president is snubbed for reasons that are ideological instead of racial.
By contrast, I’ve often cited the non-political aspects of Ted Cruz, which are the main dynamics (not political ones, but purely superficial ones) that I believe undermine him. His face and voice don’t enhance the crease of his pants the way the face and voice of a wretched candidate in 2008 enhanced the crease of his pants.
You see, I didn’t realize how big a douchenozzle you are until late in the game.
Keep your reaction in mind when you wonder what makes people like Trump tick. Or what makes jerks, in effect, jerks.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:26 pmLike Trump has in spades?
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:28 pmMazel tov, Beldar, excellent! So when does Fils Dyer hang his shingle, and what area of law is he eventually planning on?
Bill H (dcdd7b) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:33 pmAllow me to clear that up for ya, Dustin. They prefer Trump over Hillary! because Trump is a liberal a-hole but Hillary! is a phuking commie. Is that clear enough?
So, like Europe. Where the “right” are socialists against immigration,. and the “left” are socialists for immigration. Got it.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:38 pmUPDATE x2: I almost did a new post regarding Pence’s endorsement but decided to do an update instead.
I think it’s easy to listen to Pence’s interview and conclude that it is half-hearted and weak. It is weak, and I am not going to heap praise on Pence here, but here’s the thing. He’s clearly terrified. He’s terrified that Trump is going to win; he knows that Trump is vindictive; and he worries that Trump will take it out on him and Indiana.
But he did it anyway.
Don’t get me wrong. I’d much rather see a guy who just steps up and tells it like it is. But what keeps running through my head is this: the definition of courage is not being without fear. It’s being fearful and doing the right thing anyway. Pence is clearly fearful. His abject terror is palpable to me. But he still endorsed Cruz. He was scared but he still acted.
Sure, you could argue that he did it because he’s also scared of conservatives’ wrath later. I’m going to be charitable here. I’m going to conclude that, while this was hardly something that will stir future generations, it was the right thing to do, and it was done under clear and considerable pressure. Pence didn’t have to do it, but he did. So I will say: good for him.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:47 pmThat’s funny. I can just see it, Trump walks onstage plastered with Prop 65 labels. Could be better that that Sabo poster of Cruz bare-chested, tatted up and a cigarette dangling from his lips.
Bill H (dcdd7b) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:48 pmLike Trump has in spades?
I’ve never said otherwise. I previously characterized him as ideologically amoral, as squisher than Jell-O. But the reason why I estimate he is less leftwing than the person he wants to replace (or Hillary, for that matter) is that he probably couldn’t have sat in Jeremiah Wright’s church for 20 years hearing sermon after sermon of “goddamn America, your chickens are coming home to roost!” Even the very liberal Oprah Winfrey pulled out of that same church due to the theology and ideology being reportedly too radical for her. In comparison, the current occupant of the White House wanted Wright to be his personal adviser in 2008 until controversy forced a change in plans.
In a similar vein, Hillary paid personal respects to Al Sharpton a few months ago, visiting him in his office and also speaking at one of his organization’s conventions. She was even mocked (by outside observers peering in) for trying to ingratiate herself with his leftist cabal by putting on a phony black dialect. As liberal as Republicans like Trump or Kasich may be, they’re likely not quite so idiotically liberal to do something as bad as that.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:50 pmHe couldn’t sit through such services, not because they would offend him, but because he would find them boring. They are not about him and how great he supposedly is.
I can’t believe you’re making me defend Obama, but Jeremiah Wright did not scream GODDAMN AMERICA week in and week out for 20 years. Also Hitler did not kill 100 million people, so if you claim he did I will also point that out and you will accuse me of defending Hitler.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/29/2016 @ 8:55 pmbut because he would find them boring.
Come on, Pat, you’re just being glib now. You know full well that the current occupant of the White House, whether he sat physically — butt on a pew — in Wright’s church for 20 years or not, every Sunday or not, every month or not, is philosophically attuned enough (inflated ego or not) to have a clear sense of what Jeremiah Wright was all about. Attuned enough and so smitten with that church’s theology and ideology (probably more the latter than the former), he wanted that pastor in the role of one his campaign advisers in 2008.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:07 pmA Rainy Night in Texas:
Rick Perry declines to endorse Ted Cruz and instead announces he’ll vote for Donald Trump.
ropelight (6b9125) — 4/29/2016 @ 9:49 pmYes, and Wright is loud, obnoxious, and leftist — probably like 98% of black preachers in the country. Let’s just not parrot the lazy partisan line that he was screaming out the GODDAMN AMERICA stuff every week. You can probably find someone at Breitbart to tell you that if it makes you happy and reinforces your prejudices (no, not racial prejudices), but let’s get real. Wright is a jerk and a leftist but he was not screaming GODDAMN AMERICA every week and anyone who wants to pretend he was, is just substituting partisanship for reason.
Which is not to defend Obama any more than it would be “defending Hitler” to note that he didn’t kill 100 million Jews. Let’s make our criticisms appropriate and factual, since we are not idiot Trumpers.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:11 pmA rainy night in Texas, or a cold day in hell?
Yes, I know Perry is doing the whole “I’ll vote for him in the end if I have to” thing that politicians do (and that I bet Cruz will do if it comes to that), but the rest of your rainy day scenario is fantasy.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:14 pmwell neither did derrick bell’s primers at u of chicago, or robert de unger, or ayers at the annenberg exchange, and the joyce foundation,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:19 pmCan I just say that I think it’s over the top to oust Michelle Malkin from the movement because she is critical of Carly Fiorina?
I think Michelle has some good points. I think Michelle is solid as a rock, and very smart to boot.
This whole fervor to cast anyone overboard who says anything unkind about Ted Cruz or anyone connected with him . . . this just reveals how unseemly it is.
First, Michelle is not a Trumper. Second, I hate to admit (but I have before): there are some intelligent and reasonable Trumpers. They just have different outlooks than most of us. But let’s work on the civility. Especially as regards Michelle Malkin, whom I continue to think is fantastic.
I still like Ann Coulter and Mickey Kaus too.
It helps to meet people as flesh and blood humans. It makes it harder to demonize them. I bet if I met ropelight, as much as I have disagreed with him, I would love the guy. I would still be very happy to do so.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:27 pmCrimeny, JD even says happyfeet is a good guy, and he talks about fetuses wriggling on tables.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:28 pmI like you too, Patterico, I just don’t like you all that much.
ropelight (6b9125) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:37 pmHa. Maybe you would like me better in person. Or maybe not!
I feel pretty certain I would like you better in person. The differences would be glossed over quickly with a laugh. The similarities would bind us together. Such is the nature of actual human interaction. Of course I could be wrong.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:53 pmhonestly it’s beyond parody,
http://michellemalkin.com/2016/04/29/movie-about-barack-michelles-first-date-might-break-even-just-in-ticket-sales-to-lapdog-media/
but typical of the media,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/29/2016 @ 10:56 pmI’m of the same mind, I tried to arrange a get together 6 or 7 years ago when you took your family to Hurst Castle, I suggested the store at the foot of San Simeon pier. It didn’t work out.
Then I was living in Cayucos, now I’m in SW Florida. Let me know if you visit the Naples area, I know my way around.
ropelight (6b9125) — 4/29/2016 @ 11:08 pmA long time ago, I read a western story in which a man walked into a saloon where the piano player was playing as horribly as a piano player can play and not be shot. He asked if he could try his hand at the piano and the piano player obliged him. He played a classical piece beautifully. When he finished, the saloon piano player started insulting the piano again. The writer concluded: “No man who plays as horribly as that would play after the beautiful performance by the stranger unless he was paid to do it.”
Which is, by way of illustration, why I don’t trust pundits who do it for a living.
nk (dbc370) — 4/29/2016 @ 11:08 pmI remember that, ropelight. I’m sorry it didn’t happen. I’d still be up for a meet if I were in the area.
Patterico (25d394) — 4/29/2016 @ 11:26 pmFunny story, nk. I do think a lot of paid pundits are compromised. But people might say I am compromised by having met people and being less willing to criticize them having met them. So who knows. For me it’s not “yeah they’re terrible but I have to be nice” as much as “I have met them and they actually are nice in person.” Ann Coulter for example is absolutely super charming in person. I actually think a lot of politicians get an unfair perception of them, when probably a lot of them are decent people caught in a horrible system.
It just makes me appreciate people like Mike Lee and Ted Cruz all the more.
Patterico (25d394) — 4/29/2016 @ 11:33 pmI think we go to Florida this summer, ropelight, but I think it’s the panhandle. Mrs. P. knows, I just go along for the ride.
Patterico (25d394) — 4/29/2016 @ 11:35 pmThe heat and humidity in the summertime in Florida is unbearable, winter is the time for Florida and the oysters from Apalachicola are in season. Summer rates are low for a reason. Think about the worst days of Santa Anna Winds with humidity in the mid 90s everyday all day and little or no breeze.
ropelight (6b9125) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:11 amThese Trump protesters in Cantafordya should be deported to a Mexican sewer. Illegal latinos suck.
mg (31009b) — 4/30/2016 @ 2:43 amPardon me while I double down: The trouble with Malkin’s critique of Fiorina is the timing (a few days before the Indiana primaries) and the context (her overall silence on Trump). Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Prager, Bill Bennet, and Rush Limbaugh have all criticized Ted Cruz, but I still respect them because they have not been silent on Trump’s shortcomings. I can no longer respect someone who ignores the elephant in the room while writing about a much less important issue that empowers this monstrosity of a candidate.
Tony (ff2fe4) — 4/30/2016 @ 4:53 amMexifornia is real.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 4/30/2016 @ 6:11 amBobStewartatHome,
Danker is affiliated with a pro-Cruz PAC, not the Cruz campaign, and it doesn’t have access to the campaign’s data-analytics. The PAC probably pulled your name from an FEC donOr list and it’s bombarding you because you donated the max. The campaign donor limits don’t prevent people from also giving to the PACs.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 6:32 amRick Perry endorsed Cruz in January. He recently said he would vote for the eventual GOP nominee, including Trump if at the end of the day he is the nominee.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 6:42 amIn the summertime when the ‘gators are grim
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 4/30/2016 @ 6:53 amYou can jump right in and go for a swim
When the weather’s hot
But yer really sweatin’ even if it’s not
Have a drink, have a drink
Go out and show ’em what you got
And the Donald’s rich but he never did steal
He won’t get your vote? you can go blow a seal
Go and post some sh*t
Have a laugh it becomes a coughing fit
When it all goes down
If he makes it, make it good a little bit
He’s no threat, people
He’s not dirty, he’s real clean
Talks to everybody and he says what he means
If it comes to it
I’ll be votin’ won’t be sittin’ on my thumbs
Though I hope it’s Cruz
All I know’s it can’t be a Leftwing bum
#175: DRJ, the emails and letters that I mentioned all came from the Cruz campaign. Nothing from a PAC. I rather doubt the campaign shares its lists with the PACs for legal reasons, if not for concern over their supporters’ privacy. My point is that I can see no outward manifestation of a super technical, targeted campaign. From my standpoint, a simple knowledge of SQL or Access could move them forward three decades in terms of their use of voter information. The campaign does make a big deal about twitter and facebook, and magical “apps” for smart phones, but the social media links only feeds the Zuckerman’s of this world, and a smart phone app is no better than the data fed into the algorithm. GPS tracking and a neat interface are lipstick on a pig in the absence of carefully assembled and verified data.
BobStewartatHome (404986) — 4/30/2016 @ 7:29 amYou’ve outdone yourself, Haiku.
nk (dbc370) — 4/30/2016 @ 7:34 amI don’t think they share lists either, which is why I said your name may have been obtained from FEC donor lists that are publicly available.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 7:53 amAs in:
Chiron. Thou hast undone our mother.
Aaron. Villain, I have done thy mother.
— William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, Act IV, Scene 2
nk (dbc370) — 4/30/2016 @ 7:53 amSome Cruz supporters seem to like the Cruz phone app.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 7:54 amIt’s not a very high bar, nk!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 4/30/2016 @ 8:33 amI still like Ann Coulter and Mickey Kaus too.
I like Ann’s willingness to speak her mind, and with a biting wit.
Kaus, I have no respect for because, at the end, he will vote for the Democrat. He voted for Gore, Kerry and Obama twice, and will vote for Hillary in November. He’s quite ready to probe the GOP’s immigration faults, but he always ends up voting for the open borders Dems. How can I have ANY respect for that? At best he’s a hypocrite. More likely he’s an agent provocateur.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/30/2016 @ 8:36 amIF Trump does lock it up before the convention, perhaps it is time to form that Tea Party after all. Never happened because no one wanted to dilute the GOP vote, but withy Trump as the candidate, who would care? It’s not like Trump is a (small government, rule of law, constitution first, anti-Obamacare) Tea. He’s a Pat Buchanan paleo, which is just about the opposite of all those things.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/30/2016 @ 8:52 amI tip my flat cap to you, Col.
mg (31009b) — 4/30/2016 @ 8:53 amSign me up, Kevin M.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:07 am#182: DRJ, that’s a very interesting link. Whenever I’ve tried to connect with the campaign via their website, the first thing that appears is a request for yet another donation, followed by a request for a facebook link. But I have no interest in linking them into my facebook “family”, and I can donate nothing more to the primary campaign, so good bye! If they had contacted me and asked me to make the calls I’d have done it. And this is what I mean by an intelligent use of technology. Someone in the campaign knows I’ve maxed out, as have about 8,000 others, and one would think that this group would be a good one to contact for non-financial activities. It would take about thirty seconds to select this group from a relational database for a “targeted” email. And the email should begin by thanking the supporter for their financial contributions, and make clear that something different is now sought. Eight thousand is a big number, and one could anticipate the number of positive responses to be in the mid-double digits, depending upon what was asked. At this point, since most of the large donors are probably spamming the Cruz emails and recycling the form letters unopened, it will be a problem to get their attention.
I know another large contributor, and she has the same complaint I have, too many nonsensical emails and no simple way to contact the campaign.
BobStewartatHome (404986) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:09 amWhy thanks, mg.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:22 amMe too Kevin, if the worst happens. But I’m still very hopeful that the sober Republicans in Indiana will give us a crucial win on Tuesday. And from there, things could get very interesting.
Trump doesn’t have much to offer to the Republican Party, but he must be opening a lot of eyes in what’s left of the Scoop Jackson wing of the Democrat Party in the northeastern states. A good demagogue could role up a nice majority with the Trumpeteers, plus the 25% of the Democrats who still pay taxes and aren’t one of the “special snowflake” interest groups, plus disgruntled Republicans tired of losing.
BobStewartatHome (404986) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:27 amEarly on, I told the people who called me how and when I want to be contacted and what I wanted to do, and they did exactly what I asked. The only other contacts I’ve had since then have been from PACs, and those are endless but easily ignored.
At this point, I’m sure the campaign is focused on delegates more than donors, but you should tell them your concerns if they call (or tell them not to contact you anymore). It worked for me. I was actually impressed how well the campaign altered its outreach to tailor it to what I wanted.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:27 amIf the PACs were as smart as the campaign, they would do more asking and less spamming.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:29 amI shoukd have said listening, not asking.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:30 amIt looks like Trump has at least 19 (and probably more) of the 54 unbound delegates from Pennsylvania.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:32 amAlso, I forgot to include Drudge on my list of media to ignore. Everyone has preferences but I think Drudge, Fox, Breitbart and Rush have hurt their credibility and their brands.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:38 ami love Mr. Drudge he helps me understand the whirl more better for example now zika is in TWO different kinds of mosquitos
holy moly
is almost summer and i live in the soggiest place on erf help me jesus
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:39 amMaybe the Cruz people in Texas are better organized and superior than elsewhere, having roots back to the senate campaign.
I imagine some calls are nation wide, not by state, but Texas might still be an exception for the Cruz camp.
I think very often the final product is so far removed from the initial contractor that all one gets is crap. The desire to meaningfully interact with the public turns into a stat of how many individual calls get made, or something.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:05 amSome of you know much more than me about it, but yes, sometimes it gets worse than not being contacted at all.
DRJ, thanks for the PA delegate information. I counted the “Trump” and the asterisk “*” (Trump slate candidates) delegates and got 31. That leaves 23, 3 of whom identified as Cruz delegates. I believe Cruz had 26 candidates in the primary, so most of them lost unless they chose to run as “Uncommitted”, or maybe “UncommitTED”. Nevertheless, there is some hope that the anti-Trump delegates will number in the teens when all is said and done. Trump obviously did a much better job of organizing for the PA primary. No cries of outrage from the Trump camp that Cruz and Kaisch haven’t been awarded a number of delegates in proportion to their popular vote.
BobStewartatHome (404986) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:25 amYou just need more time to adjust, happyfeet. It’s hard coming to Chicago from Los Angeles where the only naturally-occurring showers are golden showers.
nk (dbc370) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:29 amWright is a jerk and a leftist but he was not screaming GODDAMN AMERICA every week and anyone who wants to pretend he was, is just substituting partisanship for reason.
That’s not too different from theorizing that staunch Communists like Fidel Castro don’t scream “America is capitalist evil!” every week of their existence, or staunch Islamicists don’t scream “death to America!” every week of their existence.
For a person to say that anyone who believes otherwise is guilty of partisanship (inserting that specific word—a word that focuses less on ideology than on party affiliation) actually may be a case of the person who’s making that statement more vulnerable to left-leaning biases than he or she is aware of or wants to admit.
Such a person may have therefore ignored or rationalized away all the ultra-liberal characteristics, traits and history of the Democrat’s main candidate in 2008 and been far more susceptible to admiring the crease of his pants. Republicans like Peggy Noonan certainly exhibited that behavior 8 years ago, which is a variation of truly conservative Republicans giving a pass to Trump in 2016.
The one difference is that while Trump is full of liberal and chameleon-type biases, the person he wants to succeed and a Democrat like Hillary are not just full of similar liberal impulses, they’re oozing and overflowing with them. Such Democrats can sit happily and contentedly in Jeremiah Wright’s church or at least be complacent when visiting that place — perhaps putting on a frozen smile and faking southern or black dialects in the process — while Republicans like Trump probably would grimace and shake their heads, or more likely wouldn’t visit Wright’s sanctuary to begin with.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:36 amThat is “naturally-occurring” in the broadest sense of the term.
nk (dbc370) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:41 amyes yes is too many soggies
and not as windy as advertised really
but i like this Bruce Rauner he helps keep the taxes lower
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:41 amFor ropelight, because he loves links about Trump. This is from yesterday in California:
I bet he’s talking about people like Ted Cruz and me, don’t you? Listen to Trump and stop hectoring us about voting for him. He doesn’t want our support.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:45 amDRJ, I’ve been called once in connection with a $2700 a plate fund raiser, which I politely declined since I’ve already max’ed out. Lately I received an email for a similar fund raiser which I again politely declined, and added a note about my concerns for the campaign. I did receive a response to that email:
which ignored completely the problems and issues I raised. I have never been called by anybody else, the emails I have sent the campaign have never been acknowledged other than this latest email, and I think I received thank you letters for only a portion of my donations. The rest has been spam from the campaign in various flavors. I think Doc has the right idea about where the problem lies. Mindless stats documenting apparent effort instead of a steady tracking of effort and results with adaptation and innovation as required.
My wife was a Rubio supporter, and she will vote for Cruz. But she sees the crap I get from the campaign, and she will never make a contribution. I’m the dreamer in the family.
Sometimes I wish I lived in Texas! But as I look out on the swallows building their nests in my specially designed bird houses, I recover my sanity quickly. (Just joking … my Uncle Bob lives in Dallas, and he’s salt of the earth, as are a substantial majority of Texans.) By the way, do you ever go by DrJ?
BobStewartatHome (404986) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:46 amAnd don’t blame us either. This is on Trump.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:46 amhe’s so good i think he’s the better choice against the hillary, Mr. Trump is
it seems like most never trumpsters have a lot of money to where they don’t have to care what pee-stanky old lady will do on failmerica, all the lives she will ruin all the jobs she’ll pee all over
george will for example – pooper got his so he doesn’t care about if your opportunities wither in a torrent of old lady urine
but i care
i care a whole bunch
i want the rising tide to lift all the boats!
we need Mr. The Donald for that cause of he understands that people are not doing very well
gogogo Mr. Donald go get all them delegates!
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:50 amAgain, DRJ, I just don’t see how Trump can beat HRC.
All I hear is that “he might” or “what I think is” magical cogitation.
I look at all the polls.
And then I get “Well, Cruz doesn’t do great, either.”
Given the history of the polls, and the high negatives of DJT (not to mention the 6 year old style argumentation), I am not impressed.
So helping HRC doesn’t impress me. And that is what the Trump campaign is doing.
I will say that if Cruz manages to get the nomination, Trump’s antics will make him look fabulous to many voters.
Weird old world.
I doubt the Republic of Texas would accept me as a citizen, so all I can do is hope for the best.
Simon Jester (30e2d6) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:52 amI’ve always been DRJ online (except at Instapundit — there was already a DRJ1,2,3 and 4 when I signed up, so I go by DRJ44).
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:53 amSimon,
Texas isn’t that great, it’s the self-reliant people who make it great. There are self-reliant people like you everywhere, but I’m starting to think there may be a larger percentage of them in Texas. Having said that, would be welcome and I think you would like it.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:56 amI have to say, nk, that golden showers are much more of a Bay Area thing.
S&M clubs are oh so LA.
Simon Jester (30e2d6) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:59 amBobStewart,
Actually, no one calls about fundraisers where I live because it’s too far off the beaten path. My guess is the Houston folks have the same complaints you’ve raised. But the Cruz campaign should listen and I hope you keep telling them. They need to know this, whether it’s for November 2016 or 2020.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:00 amWould Trump-Boehner 2016 show Trump supporters who he really is? Probably not.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:07 amthey’re trying to rehabilitate the peak oil narrative?
these people make me tired
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:17 amhe must be opening a lot of eyes in what’s left of the Scoop Jackson wing of the Democrat Party in the northeastern states
Not sure there are such, unless they are independents now. But I do wonder how the Dems get Teamsters and AFL/CIO workers into the same party as men wearing skirts and lipstick who want to hang out in the ladies room. There must be some tension.
Or course, the GOP tries to bind libertarians, Christian fundamentalists, main street car dealers, and corporate overlords, so tension isn’t something unknown in mass coalitions. But hard-hats and drag queens seem unlikely to mix well.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:20 amHalf that oil may have vanished, but it wasn’t OUR half.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:22 amTeamstertrash lol they’re all gonna be replaced by clean, literate, shiny, non-morbidly obese robots
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:23 amDRJ–
They would probably go with Trump-Michelle O. Hell, they would probably go with Trump-Pelosi. It might take them a few hours to think of why it made sense, but it keeps coming back to Orwell and the parable of how-many-fingers.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:24 amis just so seely we have SO many oils it’s just a function of price
plus a smorgasbord of methane hydrates are just sitting there
peak oil is junk science like climate change and “americans eat too much salad”
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:25 amLiving where I do in Los Angeles, Democrat fundraisers are common. Streets being blocked for Obama are never a surprise. Next Saturday I’ll be lucky to get out of my driveway because Bill Clinton is giving the commencement speech at Loyola*, less than a mile away.
—-
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:33 am* there are unhappy alumni, who think Bill Clinton doesn’t reflect well on Catholic Loyola.
But hard-hats and drag queens seem unlikely to mix well.
That might have been the case several years or certainly decades ago. But the culture — and the corresponding politics associated with it — has gravitated further and further to the left since the 1950s and 1960s. Everyone is increasingly desensitized, shock-proof and dumbed down, including me.
I think that’s the main reason we’re in the predicament we’re in, facing nothing but a series of Hobson’s Choices and Catch-22s. If that weren’t the case, Ted Cruz would be guaranteed to clinch the nomination and win in November. Moreover, shoddy Democrats like Hillary would have slithered away in shame and embarrassment years ago, and no one would have even a sliver of warm feelings for public figures like her or, for that matter, her husband. And, of course, the person such Democrats want to succeed wouldn’t have snared the presidency to begin with.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:42 amhttp://news.discovery.com/earth/global-warming/earth-gets-greener-as-globe-gets-hotter-160428.htm
Turns out more co2 equals more salad. So Americans eating more salad is a coefficient dependent upon the amount of co2 produced on the way to the grocer.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:43 amwho think Bill Clinton doesn’t reflect well on Catholic Loyola.
I don’t know if he’s necessarily all that different from (or any better than) the person currently heading the Catholic Church.
Liberalism has corrupted and corroded every square inch of modern society, Western society in particular.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:46 amI heard a rumor that Joni Ernst is being vetted as Trump’s VP.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:47 amDRJ says sign me up, and I do too — with a caveat. I wonder whether “Tea Party” has baggage or connotations I don’t care for. That said, a lot of work went into it, and it got folks like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee into office — and folks like them are the best hope for our country. If I had to name a party, it would be the Constitution Party — but apparently such a thing exists and I know nothing about it.
I think if Trump gets the GOP nomination, those of us who care about constitutional principles are going to have to band together. Not everyone will agree on every issue but there has to be one simple unifying concept and I think the Constitution has to be that concept. People more energetic than I, with more time on their hands than I have, will probably be the ones to lead this effort. Me, I hope that folks like Justin Amash in Congress and Mike Lee and Ted Cruz in the Senate will take an active role. I also want to work on identifying the members of Congress (if there are any) who are foursquare solid on what I care about. Right now, those three are about the only ones I know. Maybe Rand Paul too.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:50 amPresident Trump will do the constitutioner principle really good PLUS make America great again and stymie the pee-stanky old lady!
He’s a three-fer!
Y’all are just very negative people sometimes in the sense you don’t look for the good in people. People like Mr. The Donald specifically.
I will pray for you to open your hearts.
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:53 amhappyfeet! You’ve been taking your medications! Methane-hydrates, supply is related to price, you’re just full of happy surprises today. Stick with it! My flocks of Violet-Green and Tree Swallows will make our neighborhood a hostile workplace for mosquitos. The same would work in Illinois, but you might want to target Purple Martins for your local air cover.
BobStewartatHome (404986) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:57 amHere’s a good place to start: a group of “Never Trump” people, including some in Congress. Amash is at the top of the list.
I want to do some research into the others. I’ll probably start donating to people like Mike Lee and Amash. We need to support the people who care about the Constitution.
I don’t care for the “Never Trump” movement and have never used that hashtag in a Twitter post. I’m not sure why, since I agree with the sentiment, but for some reason I just don’t like it. But I’m still willing to use that list as a starting point for who is a serious person in politics.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:59 amHaiku, you’re wrong: Trump U. is on a level with theft, in my book.
Ibidem (970323) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:00 pmDRJ, I thought I’d read that Trump had 40 of the unbound delegates in Pennsylvania.
Also, “one of these is not like the others”: I read Rush as saying that he prefers Cruz (the best conservative, “if that’s your bag”), but he has also stated that he thinks that a Trump *presidency* would have “more pluses than minuses” (which is not a ringing endorsement either.)
Tony et al, if you seriously think Michelle Malkin is a Trumper, look at twitchy.com/tag/heidi-cruz/
(I read Twitchy fairly regularly, and claiming Malkin’s for Trump is absurd.)
feets, Legal Insurrection/College Insurrection would have given you more info about that than Drudge.
He doesn’t know anything about constitutional principles. My children know more. This is not an exaggeration.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:04 pmTrump may well have 40 of the unbound PA delegates but only 19 are declared. In addition, he won 17 delegates because he won the state primary, so that gives him 17 + 19 = 36 at a minimum.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:08 pmhe’ll do fine i promise
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:11 pmRush Limbaugh has tried to stay neutral, which I understand, but he has also defended Trump as a legitimate conservative choice. I don’t understand that.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:11 pmhere’s a nice look at the important role coal plays in the texas economy
gotta love that coal
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:13 pmHere are the names of the people in Congress who (according to The Hill) have said they will not vote for Trump:
Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.)
Rep. Carlos Curbelo (Fla.)
Rep. Bob Dold (Ill.)
Rep. Richard Hanna (N.Y.)
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.)
Rep. Reid Ribble (Wis.)
Rep. Scott Rigell (Va.)
Rep. Mark Sanford (S.C.)
Sen. Ben Sasse (Neb.)
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:17 pmRep. Justin Amash (pooper)
Rep. Carlos Curbelo (pooper)
Rep. Bob Dold (pooper)
Rep. Richard Hanna (pooper)
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (pooper)
Rep. Reid Ribble (pooper)
Rep. Scott Rigell (pooper)
Rep. Mark Sanford (pooper)
Sen. Ben Sasse (pooper)
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:18 pmThis explains how Rush has redefined conservatism as being a Jacksonian attitude rather than conservative ideology. That goes against everything he’s been saying since the 1980’s.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:19 pmIt’s more than hilarious to read comments from Cruz supporters touting adherence to the US Constitution. The hypocrisy is lost on them. They support a Canadian pretender when it’s more than abundantly clear that Ted Cruz isn’t qualified to run for the presidency of the United States.
Ted is not a natural born citizen. Case closed.
ropelight (0f59b5) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:21 pmI’m going to start going down the list. I already know about Amash. I’m scratching Curbelo off it:
Pass. Next!
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:25 pmScratching Dold off the list as well. Supports abortion, gun control, etc. Is against repealing ObamaCare. He’s one of those “No Labels” squishes. Bzzzzt. Next!
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:28 pmyour kickball team is gonna get disqualified for not enough players it happened to my cousin this year
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:29 pmHanna a squish. Has encouraged women to contribute to Democrats, for God’s sake. Next!
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:30 pmYou may be right, happyfeet. At least as far as members of Congress goes, there appear to be precious few who care about principles of limited government.
I think that both “the problem” and a reflection of the electorate.
By the way, Simon Jester, I picked up that book you recommended: “The True Believer.” Just two bucks on the Kindle! Ted Cruz maybe should have studied it more at the beginning of his campaign. It would have helped him be a demagogue, which Trump has a natural talent for. That is obviously what Americans want.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:33 pmAdam Kinzinger is a Jeb guy. Ex military and seems like your standard Congressman with no real principles. Pass.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:37 pmIt’s interesting to see how something written in the (not so) innocent 1950s works today, Patterico.
Again, the bit from “A Canticle for Leibowitz” resonates:
Replace “simpleton” with “trumpkin,” and “town” with “wall,” and it sound pretty familiar.
Last time I quoted that, people missed the point.
The point is the fleeing of reason and consistency because of anger and an incoherent wish for revenge.
This is the road many people are taking.
Simon Jester (923d12) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:38 pmI already know about Sasse (good guy, but where is his endorsement for Cruz?), and I am too depressed to Google the others right now. This is not promising. Probably starting with the Freedom Caucus would have been a better bet.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:39 pmThe 9 founders of the House Freedom Caucus, which some reports say is now up to 36 members.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:42 pmfreedom’s not a caucus it’s an attitude
and it
is
saucy
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:47 pmI’m scratching Curbelo off it:
How come it’s often Republicans who in terms of ideology are closeted, meaning they’re closeted liberals, and so few Democrats are a counterpart to that, meaning they’re closeted conservatives?
The creeping infiltration of modern-day liberalism reminds me of the movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
I also think any person who’s truly emotionally, innately, intrinsically of the right will never even hint at voting for a nasty, disreputable liberal like Hillary. They’re disliking Trump makes perfect sense, but to say that if his name is on the ballot in November, they’ll be punching the chad next to Hillary’s name leads me to be suspicious of what really motivates such people.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:51 pmPatterico, The True Believer was required reading in freshman college social studies classes in the early 70s. It’s great insight was that believers were believers first, last, and always without regard to the content of any specific belief system. For example, that Communists or religious fundamentalists were the most likely converts to National Socialism. (I’m over simplifying to make the point, but not much.)
What true believers have in common is a compulsion to submerge the individual self in a passionate collective cause. The cause itself is secondary, what counts is the overarching need to belong to a movement greater than the individual identity.
Switching causes is characteristic of the malady.
ropelight (0f59b5) — 4/30/2016 @ 12:53 pmTed Cruz just came out at the California GOP convention. It’s live here:
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-gop-convention-watch-live-ted-cruz-at-the-california-gop-convent-1462044219-htmlstory.html
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 1:03 pmThat’s because you don’t care about the Constitution or limited government principles. You’re about right vs. left. And you’re one note, and you sound it again and again and again and again and again.
I made my argument about why Hillary will be better for limited government in the lawmaking context: the GOP will oppose her. I think Hillary will be worse for the Court. In many ways it’s a jump ball as far as I’m concerned, but I can see how someone could decide that the former is more important, given Trump’s erratic and narcissistic, overly aggressive demeanor.
But you don’t respond to this. You just repeat Peggy Noonan and crease in the pants and Jeremiah Wright and you are boring.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 1:07 pmHuh. I have only just started it, but so far it seems to fit the Trump nationalism movement pretty neatly.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 1:08 pmKeep reading.
ropelight (0f59b5) — 4/30/2016 @ 1:10 pmUm, OK.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 1:20 pmted came out?
FINALLY
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 1:20 pmI made my argument about why Hillary will be better for limited government in the lawmaking context: the GOP will oppose her.
You’re just assuming that. That’s even more of a stretch in light of the way that same US Congress full of Republicans has accommodated the current very liberal president.
When I cast doubts about any person, particularly a Republican or non-Democrat, expressing even a bit of softness over the idea of a Hillary presidency, I wasn’t thinking of you since I didn’t realize you’d even joke about voting for that person. It’s therefore disturbing if I struck closer to home than I realized, but it’s one reason why I think this nation is headed down the toilet.
And, yes, I have to be boring because the differences in political biases (and the varying degrees of liberal or conservative sentiment out there in the electorate) apparently fly over quite a few people’s heads. That’s similar to the way an otherwise astute political observer went into lengthy detail on the shortcomings of Ted Cruz’s campaign in an article linked the other day by narcisco. The analyst mentioned everything BUT the way that Cruz’s superficial traits of face and voice don’t ping the enthusiasm of as many people the way other politicians who have an edge are able to do—thanks largely to DNA or Mother Nature.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/30/2016 @ 1:30 pmNot really clear to me how Hillary is worse than Trump, no.
In fact, I cited specific reasons why Hillary seems better. I believe those reasons, even though I think Hillary’s terrible. Trump is just a lot worse. He’s the kind of president that gets a lot of people killed. This is serious and it’s bigger than partisanship.
If Hillary had the R and Trump had the D some folks here would be just as vehement about this but in reverse. Trump would be the ‘f’ing commie’. To me, the party label means nothing. Not only is Trump’s choice of party a lie, but the party has betrayed me at every turn anyway.
DRJ also made a fine point: Trump hates his critics. He hasn’t attempted to win me over… he’s told me he doesn’t want my vote. Cruz embraces the opportunity to win a critic over because this is about bigger issues than his ego. In other words, getting upset with me for refusing to support a politician who says he doesn’t want my support is misguided. It’s also silly… Trump would lose red states by millions of votes, so I’m just the messenger. A GOP that allows Trump to represent it has lost its collective mind (and soul).
Dustin (2a8be7) — 4/30/2016 @ 1:41 pmTo me, the party label means nothing.
The same appears to be true of ideology too. Your point about reversing the party labels of Trump and Clinton, and that possibly not affecting in the least the supporters of those two people, would be legitimate if both of them were focusing on the exact same things and criticizing or praising those issues in the exact same way.
From a standpoint of pure rhetoric, if Hillary were mouthing off in a manner a bit closer to that of her (ironically enough) husband — who criticized the current president several days ago as to his negative effect on the country — or if Trump were rallying around the motto of “Let’s keep the good times going!,” and either disdain or the warm fuzzies towards Hillary and Trump remained exactly the same, then you could proclaim “a-ha!”
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/30/2016 @ 1:58 pmOne can hope the dreadful nine will be Cantored.
mg (31009b) — 4/30/2016 @ 2:00 pmI can think of only one rationale for a conservative voting for Hillary and that’s that we are headed for another economic crisis like 2008 and we want a real conservative there to pick up the pieces.
The theory there will be less spending under Clinton could possibly be true, but recent experience suggests otherwise. Obama has shown how to intimidate the Congressional Republicans to largely go along with his agenda. That’s not a convincing reason to vote for Clinton.
Gerald A (7c7ffb) — 4/30/2016 @ 2:08 pmGerald, I concede your point. Republicans go along with democrats so much that they really are the same political entity.
The GOP faced Obama’s budget busting with a solution that got rid of the debt ceiling. Gee whiz guys.
But you could get extra cynical about the economic problems that the media have covered up for the present administration’s benefit. To the perception of many, the consequences of the financial problems will fall on whoever succeeds Obama.
Also, in economic crisis, a man like Trump would do drastic, terrible things. I distrust Hillary less in that situation, which of course is the faintest praise.
Dustin (2a8be7) — 4/30/2016 @ 2:17 pmNope. Trump is a big government crony, and so is Hillary. They share the same ideology. You’ve never really been able to talk about ideology with any insight. You don’t understand that subject well enough to understand my views, even though anyone commenting here should understand them at this point quite well and know I’m strictly ideological.
Dustin (2a8be7) — 4/30/2016 @ 2:19 pmFrom Wikipedia:
ropelight (0f59b5) — 4/30/2016 @ 2:44 pmSorry about that.
ropelight (0f59b5) — 4/30/2016 @ 2:45 pmThey share the same ideology. You’ve never really been able to talk about ideology with any insight.
By the same token, you don’t seem able to understand the innate biases (or emotions) that fuel many people’s ideologies. I’ve said repeatedly and endlessly about the different reactions humans have towards various issues and circumstances, so much so that for you to toss that all aside makes me feel like I need to knock on people’s heads and ask, “hello, hello, is anyone home?”
Again, Hillary or the person she hopes to succeed are emotionally (and, in turn, ideologically) able to drop by a place like Jeremiah Wright’s church, experience his “goddamn America” rhetoric and happily either embrace it or, at the least, shrug it off. Beyond that, Hillary dropped by Al Sharpton’s own place in New York City earlier this year.
Trump probably (admittedly I say probably) won’t behave in an identical fashion like the two leading characters of the Democrat Party have done, and probably (admittedly I say probably) won’t want to mosey over to Wright’s church or Sharpton’s office.
Ideology and bias, emotion and ideology. Somewhat similar, somewhat different, but all influencing one another.
I do qualify all of this, however, by noting that liberalism has so ingrained itself in modern society, I don’t rule out the possibility of any public figure (of any party, on either side of the philosophical divide) behaving in a politically-correct, nonsensically left-leaning manner.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/30/2016 @ 2:45 pmI’ve always said I would not vote for Hillary, but on balance I think she’s a less wretched outcome than Trump. Better in some ways, worse in others, but on balance better because the GOP will fight her.
I am under no illusions that the GOP will fight her hard. But count up the number of GOP members of Congress who voted for ObamaCare, and then add to that number the number of GOP Senators who have said they will support Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court. Once you have crunched those numbers (I’ll give you a hint: the grand total — once all the addition is complete and all the 1’s have been carried — is in the area of ZERO) then you can give me your song and dance about how Republicans and Democrats are totally the same.
They’re the same far more often than I would like to see. It’s pathetic, in fact. But it’s also overstated — and I believe all the goddamned exaggeration has helped create the Trump phenomenon to some degree.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 4/30/2016 @ 2:46 pmnobody is bringing me appetizers
happyfeet (831175) — 4/30/2016 @ 2:58 pmTrump might have an edge as the lesser evil due to his lack of drive in actually performing duties. Clinton spent most of her time during The Rapist administration salting the DoJ and, to a lesser extent, State with hires who burrowed in and gave Obama the means to ruin the performance and reputation of both agencies. Clinton may not have the energy to pursue destructive hires as she did while enabling her husband but her coven will be happy to fill in as needed.
Rick Ballard (284091) — 4/30/2016 @ 3:05 pmbut on balance better because the GOP will fight her.
I’m sorry, Pat, but to believe that is astonishing to me. It seems like an act of faith to buy into that assumption, one full of innocence and naivete. I get the sense your theory is based on your being less appalled (than someone like me) by how liberal this society has become, and a lack of awareness of just how deeply the emotions of political correctness have tainted every aspect of it.
Similarly, Trump supporters had better be prepared to be deeply disappointed, if not outright disgusted, by the choices (and antics) that will come out of a presidency managed by him. But I estimate that will go double or triple for what will come out of Hillary being in the Oval Office.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/30/2016 @ 3:06 pmFirst, thanks to all for your congratulations on my son’s good news, and for indulging me in some bragging on someone whom none of you even know.
Regarding the future of the GOP if Trump gets the nomination: I respectfully disagree that trying to encourage a new major party is a better option than trying to reform the GOP. There are excellent reasons that we haven’t had a new political party catch hold since the Civil War (whose trigger was the last, and so far only successful, third-party run for the presidency). Since the Civil War, both major parties have undergone fortune and famine, boom and bust, in cycles of alternating periodicity, but with sufficient stability to withstand such challenges as two world wars, a depression, Watergate, and the cold war, without the tanks ever having to roll down the National Mall. Each party has been pronounced clinically dead by the pundits more than once just in my own lifetime; but on every occasion since the Civil War when one party has seemed doomed, it has, in fact, come back.
Even in this year of the “outsider,” neither Sanders nor Trump opted to try to mount a third-party campaign. Rather, they attempted to mount hostile takeovers from within each of the two major political parties — to coopt, rather than supplant, all of those two major parties’ histories, infrastructures, data, communications, traditions, and means.
The Tea Party movement isn’t, wasn’t, and never tried to be a free-standing political party. In terms of results achieved, though, it’s a very impressive, and very recent, example of the changes that can be wrought within an existing major political party through grass-roots organization. If one wants to see something that looks different than the GOP would look with Trump as its titular leader, I recommend one take the Tea Party’s reform-from-within model, rather than wasting one’s time, treasure, and belief in another irrelevant attempt to create a new political party to supplant the GOP. That is a gnome underpants fantasy, with the “???” part including “what do we do to put New Party nominees into all of the other state & federal offices currently filled with Democrats and Republicans?” Third-party schemes barely hang together even for purposes of talking through a fantasy for winning the White House, but they never hang together in piecing together how they’d actually consolidate the supplantation of either existing party. (Again, the last time that happened was 1856-1860, and it was rather messy, not a model to repeat.)
As for the direction that the internal reform efforts within the GOP should take, I emphatically agree — with Ted Cruz and with Patterico — that the organizing premise is a return to Constitutional fidelity. That’s a long way from the current reality, as perhaps Cruz’ campaign will confirm if it falls short. But even if Trump wins, Cruz’ relative success compared to the rest of the GOP candidates this year (other than Trump, who’s sui generis) is a strong indicator that meaningful reform within the party is still possible. And however stiff the odds are, they’re still better than the odds of supplanting the GOP with a new party.
Beldar (fa637a) — 4/30/2016 @ 3:07 pmMeaningful reform will only arrive when more than Cruz, Lee, Sessions and Steve King give a fuck.
mg (31009b) — 4/30/2016 @ 4:10 pmRepublican Presidents come into office looking for ways to govern in a bipartisan manner. The first thing on President Trump’s agenda will be replacing Scalia. That will not end well for conservatives.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 4:15 pmwell that was a problem with poppy, w, and probably maverick,
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/04/29/obama-announces-three-new-gun-controls/
the joyce foundation collaboration with ayers rings true, as does the embrace of the Castro bros, a work that jeremiah wright encouraged
narciso (732bc0) — 4/30/2016 @ 4:21 pmSpeaking of bipartisan, Democrats understand Trump:
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 4:28 pmGovernor Walker shows Governor Pence how to make an endorsement.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 6:21 pmDRJ–
There is never going to be a “President Trump.” There will be President Hillary “50-state landslide” Clinton.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/30/2016 @ 7:21 pmpls just don’t get it twstd
happyfeet (ac9f29) — 4/30/2016 @ 8:03 pmhave you seen any of the night manager, pikachu, hard to see loki (hiddleston) as hero, hugh laurie does a decent amount of scenery chewing,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/30/2016 @ 8:08 pmPatterico, I think you’re wrong about Trump vs Hillary, though I would also vote third-party in such a case.
1. Trump has certainly expressed plenty of Democrat sentiments, and funded a lot of Dems; but against that, there have always been a range of Democrat sentiments, and from what I’ve seen, Trump fell a little less far left than HRC.
2. While some of the ‘flagship issues’ have seen every single (R) hold the line, it’s far from true that every one has held the line even on issues we consider important. (Consider the Cromnibus and Boehner’s last budget.)
3. Trump lacks Obama’s spine; he is certainly capable of backing down. As I read him, his agenda is power and “winning”, even if he’s probably the worst politician in recent history at getting true popular approval.
As such, I expect that he’ll try to stir up his own base, at least for a while; and that his eventual support for Democrat planks will be not a deliberate, full hearted, undermining of Republicanism, but a dog returning to its own vomit. If there’s a Republican House and Congress, he’ll probably govern as a left-leaning (R), with the occcasional sop to the right. If it’s Dem, he might end up as a middling (D), which is admittedly much too far left.
HRC, in contrast, seems to only know one step: left.
4. If we lose the Court to a fifth full lefty, they *will* legislate from the bench, rendering permanent progress impossible except for a Convention of States, their deaths or impeachments, or revolution.
I don’t have any confidence Trump will follow through on the Court, but I guess that Garland II would be the worst case, short of Trump and a Dem Senate.
Against this, it’s necessary to weigh that (1) there’s no guarantee this is correct (he could be worse, or better), (2) a vote for the lesser of two evils is, at the end of the day, still a vote for *evil*, and (3) votes send a message.
If you vote for Hillary, it will persuade the left that the world agrees with them–and, quite likely, the (R) Establishment.
Ibidem (970323) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:10 pmIf you vote for Trump, it will ensure a stream of copycat imposter demagogues spewing more vileness and lies.
If you don’t vote, they’ll pretend you didn’t care.
I think that voting third party for president (specifically, Constitution Party, American Independent, or Libertarian: NOT Green) would be the only way to make an objection heard.
So I’d vote third party in any state where the outcome is clear.
what is beyond quixotic, for a 1,000 Alex, we’ve seen what red queen has done from 1975 on, what her lt sid vicious did in the 90s, what she tried to do re health care, the evidence from north africa to the caucasus, to the levant,
narciso (732bc0) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:23 pmNRO says Cruz will be on all 5 Sunday shows tomorrow.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:32 pmIf you vote for Hillary, it will persuade the left that the world agrees with them
Why anyone who isn’t a staunch liberal or dyed-in-the-wool Democrat doesn’t realize that exact conclusion is beyond me. Even more so since Hillary is the lowest of the low when it comes to scandal-ridden, pathologically dishonest, greedy-limousine-liberal-type leftism.
If she were instead an honorable, decent — and famously competent and ethical — liberal, then the world might see her choice by the US electorate in November as not necessarily a cavalier embrace of the left. Or, in turn, a strong repudiation of anything deemed as even a bit non-conservative. Or, in effect, an affirmation of the third term of “Goddamn America.”
Since just about all of Trump’s biggest, most vociferous opponents out on the campaign trail apparently are hard-core liberals (holding up protest signs along the lines of “Make America Mexico Again!”) — and since his major opposition despises him not for his left-leaning reality and history but his supposed rightist sentiments (feigned or otherwise) — his predicted loss to Hillary will therefore be judged as a strong slap in the face to Republicans and right-leaning public figures, and, in turn, a big hug to modern-day liberalism.
But that continuing trend is increasingly unavoidable since current opinion polls indicate more younger Americans today than in the past see capitalism as bad, socialism as good.
Mark (fb60e8) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:41 pmWell, I can’t vote for Gary Johnson any more than I could vote for Hillary or Badgerhead. His social positions are to the left of Hillary. Waaay left. We’re talking marijuana and tranny hookers at White House fund-raising dinners for the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. 😉
nk (dbc370) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:53 pmInteresting article on the Cruz campaign in California.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2016 @ 9:59 pmThe local media will not stop trumpeting an “expected 10-12K” folks to see Trump on Monday in South Bend. The road next to the venue is to be closed hours before his visit.
Bernie will be here in about 12 hours. There is no talk of any excitement building for his impending visit.
The weather will be nice for DJT, so there will be little excuse if this does not pan out. If it doesn’t, I will be calling all of the stations demanding that the reality did not meet the days-long anticipatory reporting.
There are a few small groups of folks who are trying to organize a protest.
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 4/30/2016 @ 10:53 pmIs announcing your support of a losing candidate once it is clear he will lose anything to take note of?
Mr Black (3efb66) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:07 pmEDIT to 284 – “demanding they say that the reality did not meet…”
Apologies.
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 4/30/2016 @ 11:10 pmhaven’t seen any night manager yet still kinda struggling to get into the 12 monkeys thing
i read the book forever ago i think
happyfeet (831175) — 5/1/2016 @ 8:54 am