Patterico's Pontifications

5/2/2016

Ed from SFV Reports from the Front Lines

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:57 am



Here is another guest post from Ed from SFV, this time about volunteering for Ted Cruz. — Patterico

It was a miserable, raw, and rainy day here in Northern Indiana. It felt more like late winter than early Spring.

I decided to go to the local Cruz office, not far from my home, and see if there might could be something I could do. I walked in and was surprised to see that young man from DC (I’ll call him John) whom I met at the rally on Thursday. The office was as bare bones as could be. Not much heat, either. Yet, there was a warmth to that space. A reassuring, nice, warmth.

There were a few rows of tables with some specialized phones. I quickly surmised one of these would have my name on it. The walls were sparsely decorated with some Cruz posters. Some bottled water and soda (Coca Colas to all y’all in Georgia) was on a table or in a cooler adjacent to the door. About half a dozen folks were manning phones. Only one was actually conversing the moment I walked in.

John gave me a big smile as he recognized me from the rally and I told him to put me to work. He handed me a written template of suggested phrases/talking points I might use with anyone I spoke with. Then, he gave me a quick tutorial on how to navigate the 3″ x 4″ screen which had corresponding buttons next to certain words which would populate. Some of these prompts said things like, “Not Home,” “Success,” “Refused,” “Bad Number,” and so on and so forth. Depending on the option chosen, a new set of prompts, with text at the top, would appear. Or, that call attempt would end immediately and the screen would return to the home page.

I asked John if there were any particular things I should avoid saying or doing and just as before at the rally, it was basically all about common sense. One gentle reminder he gave to me was that none of this was personal. If I ran into a belligerent person, I needed to be sure to not take offense. He said I should, “Just talk to them as you would to anyone about the election.” More rocket science, eh?

I was told this proprietary phone system and the numbers we were to call all came out of a place in Texas. I quickly noticed that all the calls were within a pretty finite geographical area in Indiana. It made perfect sense to me and it was an area one would expect significant support for Ted. If folks in that area turn out, Ted has a great chance to win.

I could overhear a few other calls as I settled in. To get started, I entered the common password. I hit the button indicating i wanted to make a call. Instantly, a name and the phone number I was calling appeared on screen. There would be bad numbers, answering machines answering, no answer, whatever. Most calls would not be answered by a live person, as expected. John had explained to me that Indiana law did not allow for us to leave messages, so we were to simply hang up (using the buttons/prompts) taking care to not say anything which could potentially be seen as leaving a message.

Most folks I reached were nice; a few were simply cordial. Once in awhile, I ran into a hornet who was not at all pleased that a political campaign (in some cases specific outrage that Ted’s campaign was calling), and not too many times, someone who was a Trump person, full stop. Again, pretty much what could be expected.

The only difficult times were when we had someone complain that we should stop calling them. Most of these were Ted supporters and I felt badly that we were serving to antagonize them. I sure as heck know how I would feel if I were on the other end of multiple contacts!

My absolute favorite encounter was with a lady who let me know in no uncertain terms that she was going to vote for Kasich. I asked if she would tell me the #1 reason she had reached that decision. “I am making sure that Donald Trump won’t win!!!” Hmm. I took that opening to explain to her that Kasich himself has said that the strategic vote to make, if stopping DJT was the priority, was to vote for Ted on Tuesday. She responded, “I don’t care about any of that. I am voting for KASICH to stop Trump!!!!!!” I tried to reiterate that only a vote for Ted could do that this week, but she interjected, “Listen, I am going to vote for Kasich and then in November I am going to vote for HILLARY!!!!!!!!” Click.

I had some very nice conversations with folks for whom morality, or the “Christian” way was the most important thing. It was a privilege to speak to them. I am confident that I was able to show them that Ted was the most consistent man. I invoked Ted’s famous reading of “Green Eggs and Ham to his daughters in the middle of a filibuster as the best window into his soul. This really resonated with most of them. I could almost see them smiling.

Other typical things the folks wanted to discuss: Who can beat Hillary? What about the debt – isn’t DJT the best guy to handle this? Ted’s likeability/niceness, and the perceived lack thereof. The inevitability of a DJT nomination. Here again – just exactly what one would expect. Not brain surgery. Just basic stuff. I loved telling Ted’s story, or his positions on these and other matters. The best moment for me was with a caller I didn’t even dial.

One of my compadres was speaking to a Vet who said he had a 100% disability. He had explained that he loved Ted’s concept for a flat tax, but he was very concerned that this would result in a VAT which would he would end up paying to his care providers. (Someone had given him this false information.) I was asked to come speak to him as the impression was that I was the most conversant with a wide range of issues.

No. I am not worthy. I won’t lie, though. That was a wonderfully affirming moment for me. I heard somewhere that it is better to give than receive. Well, if I were not there volunteering, I would never have had that affirmation. Must be true!

I spoke to the man for some minutes and it was entirely clear he knew his stuff. He was very intelligent. A little scared, too. I assured him that this VAT talk was a hyper-technical point, but that yes, there would be some added business taxation that seemed like a VAT. I also forcefully assured him that there was no plan to enact any new tax on vets receiving care. I told him that if I caught the slightest hint of such a thing, I would make it my business to work against Ted. He seemed pleased with what we had talked about, but did not promise to vote for Ted. He said he would look into some of the things I had discussed. I made a deal with him…if anything I said was wrong or misrepresented Ted’s true position, he was to vote for someone else. If I spoke the truth, he would vote for Ted. Done.

Closing time came and I asked John if he had any breakfast/brunch plans. I recommended a locally owned family place right on the same street as the office we were in. A couple of folks quickly asked me about it. You see, they were from Florida and were in the area and decided to work for Ted this weekend. Wow.

I had another great day. Because I gave a wee bit, Ted will most definitely have a few dozen more votes than he would otherwise have had. Not boasting. It’s true. Now, multiply that by however many folks like me who are having that same success. You think maybe those several thousand votes might could make a difference?

I’ll return later today to my front line position, in a cold, spare room, with some other committed, faithful, and good people. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll have the chance to meet up again someday under a Cruz presidency.

— Ed from SFV

64 Responses to “Ed from SFV Reports from the Front Lines”

  1. I have to ask- what is SFV? I can’t seem to google myself out of ignorance on this one!

    dbrugs (20a772)

  2. San Fernando Valley was my guess…

    njrob (2696e6)

  3. Fantastic post Ed. Thanks for walking the walk and giving me hope for tomorrow.

    njrob (2696e6)

  4. But but but …. But according to ropelight Cruz has pulled up his organization and gave up on Indiana.

    JD (34f761)

  5. Thank you, Ed. It’s uplifting to read your reports, and I don’t say that as a fellow Cruz supporter but as a fellow human being.

    DRJ (15874d)

  6. Go get’em, Ed! A must-win.

    Colonel Haiku (1ec93b)

  7. This reads like a letter sent home by German soldiers on the Western Front during the final days of World War II, or Dan Rather theorizing how John Kerry might still win the presidential election long after other networks have called the election for Bush.

    CrustyB (69f730)

  8. Paying VAT for services isn’t in the plan now. But it will be.

    No VAT, ever.

    SarahW (67599f)

  9. Baghdad ropelite says the Yanqui dog Cruz supporters are nowhere near Indiana—it is just propaganda! (LOL)

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  10. The trouble with depending on unbound delegates who you have swayed with promises and pressure is that those unbound delegates can change on they see which way the wind is blowing, and there’s not a darn thing you can do about it. This doesn’t go to a contested convention because it will be a first ballot blowout.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/us/politics/ted-cruz-delegate-count.html

    prowlerguy (fa36d8)

  11. meanwhile, the LA Slimes is worried that the illegals waving Mexican flags while protesting Trump may aid his campaign.

    from their 5hitty paper to G*d’s ears.

    redc1c4 (018028)

  12. I quickly noticed that all the calls were within a pretty finite geographical area in Indiana. It made perfect sense to me and it was an area one would expect significant support for Ted. If folks in that area turn out, Ted has a great chance to win.

    Not so simple.

    It means that Ted Cruz is hoping to at least win in that Congressional district and pick up 3 delegates.

    Sammy Finkelman (643dcd)

  13. Of course, even if he hopes to win the state – and there is a poll that shows he can – yes, theer is a such a poll now * and he can only make a limited effort to try to turn out the vote – that’s the place to do it.

    http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/30/poll-cruz-leads-trump-indiana/83755438

    * The Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics poll has Trump at 29%, Cruz at 44.8% and Kasich at 13.3% which leaves about 13% undecided. That is Cruz +15.8%

    The Real Clear Politics polls, meanwhile show something quite different:

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/in/indiana_republican_presidential_primary-5786.html

    It shows 6 polls in April all showing Trump way ahead.

    The average of the 6 polls, taken from April 18 through April 29, shows Trump: 42.0 Cruz: 32.7 and Kasich:15.8, meaning Trump is +9.3 (this has about 9.5% undecided)

    It’s probably all due to the way the different polls decided to compensate for the refusal rate, which is over 90% in the United States as a whole, but may be less in Indiana, because of Indiana’s strict anti-telemarketing laws (for instance a computer cannot be used to dial the number, but the number must be dialed by hand, as was done in the 1980s)

    Sammy Finkelman (643dcd)

  14. My absolute favorite encounter was with a lady who let me know in no uncertain terms that she was going to vote for Kasich. I asked if she would tell me the #1 reason she had reached that decision. “I am making sure that Donald Trump won’t win!!!” Hmm. I took that opening to explain to her that Kasich himself has said that the strategic vote to make, if stopping DJT was the priority, was to vote for Ted on Tuesday. She responded, “I don’t care about any of that. I am voting for KASICH to stop Trump!!!!!!” I tried to reiterate that only a vote for Ted could do that this week, but she interjected, “Listen, I am going to vote for Kasich and then in November I am going to vote for HILLARY!!!!!!!!” Click.

    This story makes me want to go crawl into bed and not emerge until November 9.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  15. Sammy, that poll is kind of sketchy, to say the least. No weighting, 400 likely voters, long time period, no trends available. For a polling group that is specific to Indiana, seems a little strange that there were no previous polls for this race performed by IPFW (Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne) that I could find.

    UPDATE: A poll conducted by IPFW/Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics shows Cruz leading by 16 points. The samples were not weighted, at all, and the interviews began on April 13. No information was provided for the results regarding the corresponding days, which makes it impossible to identify a trend in either direction.

    “Like I said,” Baris responded to the poll, “the Cruz campaign doesn’t believe they are leading and admit they once had a lead. It was never this large. We never think it’s a good idea to dismiss any poll as an outlier outright, but I am more than skeptical to say the least. Let’s wait to see what the more reliable pollsters say this weekend.”

    http://www.peoplespunditdaily.com/polls/2016/04/29/internal-indiana-primary-polls-show-donald-trump-crushing-ted-cruz/

    prowlerguy (fa36d8)

  16. The samples were not weighted, at all, and the interviews began on April 13.

    Not adjusted for refusals. It sounds like raw data. But even in the 1935-1990 period, they used to weight their samples.

    They did weight things anotehr way.

    Here is Andrew Downs, the director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics, discoursing last September on polling:

    http://www.journalgazette.net/opinion/sunday-centerpiece/polls-8709714

    We are lucky that, conceptually, gathering public opinion through a poll is not that complicated…

    One thing he said is:

    if we want to know what likely voters think, we can screen potential respondents by asking how likely they are to vote on a scale of one to 10. The challenge comes in knowing what the cutoff number should be for including a respondent in the survey. If the number is too low, then we have included people in the poll who are not likely to vote. If the number is too high, then we will have excluded people in the poll who are likely to vote. In either case, we end up with a non-representative sample.

    Probably nobody else uses a scale of 1 to 10.

    Because it was collected slowly, the poll will not pick upo any kind of shift away from Kasich to Cruz, or away from Cruz anywhere.

    Sammy Finkelman (643dcd)

  17. TheMike Downs Center for Indiana Politics was founded around 2001 by friends and family of Michael Downs, a political scienmce professor at what soon become a branch of Purdue University, and his son, also a professor of Political Scienmce is his director.

    Not sure about their experience in polling.

    But there is a tendency for polls to converge as an election gets closer, but not necessarily to the truth, because they all tweak their data so as not to be too different from the average poll.

    http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/heres-proof-some-pollsters-are-putting-a-thumb-on-the-scale/

    It’s not the inaccuracy of the polling average that should bother you — Iowa was one of many states where the polls overestimated how well Democrats would do — so much as the consensus around such a wrong result. This consensus very likely reflects herding. In this case, pollsters herded toward the wrong number.

    See also: http://www.ncpolitics.uk/2015/06/is-there-evidence-of-pollsters-herding.html/

    Pollsters have a number of methodological decisions to make in order to achieve a sample representative of the population – phone or online fieldwork, which variables to weight by, which parties to prompt for, how to model turnout, how to handle don’t knows and refusers, and so on. In many cases there is no “right” or “wrong” answer, but these decisions have consequences for the final results. If pollsters systematically err on the side of the herd when picking a methodological path, polls will end up with unnaturally similar results.

    But this poll did not weigh anything at all, so they couldn’t have tweaked it wrong. And they did select their sample differently. They asked people to rate their liklihood of voting on a scale of 1 to 10. Not merely very likely, likely, somewhat unlikely or very unlikely.

    We’ll find out how to evaluate this poll after the fact.

    Sammy Finkelman (643dcd)

  18. The inability to achieve an erection has not prevented Trump from screwing people.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  19. This has gone really too far now. Neither Trump nor Cruz can unify the party an longer. This entire campaign has come down to a choice of whom to lose with, rather than the certain victory we thought we had going in. Own goal after own goal, mostly at the hands of Trump. but not entirely.

    They should both agree to withdraw and throw it open to the delegates.

    When you have places like Red State running articles saying that “Donald Trump Would Be Worse Than Any Prior Republican Nominee” and the major party donors saying they will sit the election out, you know that we’ve come down to a suicide pact.

    Since I don’t really expect Trump or Cruz to bow out, the alternative is for the RNC to change the convention rules, pre-empting all state party rules and releasing all bound delegates to vote their conscience. I would hope they would have the sense to hit reset and select someone who can win.

    Yes, I would love to see a President Cruz, but it isn’t going to happen. But I want a shot at not seeing Hillary gutting the Bill of Rights.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  20. Mr. Trump will do all the unity cause of he has the best ideas versus pee-stank, who has genuinely crappy stupid ideas, and I’m *very* excited about this.

    happyfeet (a037ad)

  21. The only unifying The Mr Donald will do is to unify the country against him.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  22. That is not the front lines. This is:

    https://youtu.be/DCMZaBFcxrk

    Rev. Hoagie ™ (734193)

  23. My advice happy feet is
    1) Learn to love Hillary; but
    2) Not before July 20; because you might need to
    3) Learn to love Cruz.

    nk (9faaca)

  24. #19 & #20
    Perry obviously wants to discuss transvestites again. I bet he watches “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” every weekend.

    [I deleted perry’s comments because it is very easy to do, and no one needs him fouling this discussion. What a sad, sad soul that one is. – JVW]

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  25. Thanks for your efforts in the campaign,
    And the reporting
    Best reporting by far on anything claiming to be a news network

    Watching Fox with my dad is maddening, it is disgusting

    Here is the news story,
    Tomorrow there will be a really, really, really important primary in Indiana.
    Something will happen,
    Which some people would like to influence by their slanted reporting,
    But we will not
    When it happens,
    Hold on now,
    We will see what happens next,
    And who is still trying to influence it and how.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  26. Thank you, Ed.

    Milhouse (87c499)

  27. yes, fox business does focus more on actual issues, then fox prime, which has gone blanc mange,

    narciso (732bc0)

  28. “Hello, this is NBC-DNC. We are conducting a poll about the primary election on Tuesday and would like to ask you a question. Will you vote for Cruz even though he made a dirty deal with Kasich to disenfranchise the Indiana voters and cheat Donald Trump out of his delegates?”

    “Yes? Seriously? So you don’t care about honesty in politics?”

    “You do care about honesty in politics. So can we put you down as planing to vote for Trump?”

    “No? So you’re undecided then. Thank you very much.”

    nk (9faaca)

  29. The only unifying The Mr Donald will do is to unify the country against him.

    He already has. He has taken undreamed-of media attention and converted it to a 29% approval rating. Nixon RESIGNED with better numbers than that. His negatives — people who cannot stand him, exceed two-thirds.

    Yet, the party may well decide it has no choice. Again, it is a suicide pact. The rules will NECESSARILY lead to utter defeat. Everything the party has built up over 20+ years will be trashed and if the party survives, it will be as a minority party as far as the eye can see.

    Assuming it even survives the convention.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  30. Great work, Ed! Carry on.

    I saw a short video clip of Cruz responding to a Trump supporter (protester?) at a rally. The Trumpkin was a fairly young man, perhaps early 30s. “Trump will protect our Second Amendment rights! What are you [sneering] going to do for the Second Amendment?”

    I wanted to take this ignorant, aggressive man-child and sit him down in a quiet chair, where he could watch 15 minutes of Trump video clips in which in his own emphatic, unambiguous words, Trump is supporting an assault weapons ban and other gun control measures favored by Dems like Trump. And then I wanted to make this ignorant Trumpkin shill listen as I read aloud from portions of the U.S. Supreme Court brief that Cruz wrote on behalf of Texas and 30 other states (AL, AK, AR, CO, FL, GE, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MN, NE, NH, NM, ND, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, UT, VA, WA, WV & WY) as amicus in District of Columbia v. Heller.

    “Young man,” I wanted to tell him, “back in 2008, when Ted Cruz was fighting and winning in the Supreme Court to uphold the Second Amendment — including your rights as an Indianan, even though you’d never heard of Ted Cruz — Donald Trump was blogging to the public that he knew Hillary Clinton well and that “she’d make a great president or vice president.”

    Beldar (fa637a)

  31. Cruz did his Captain Queeg today with a gaggle of voters backing Trump.

    But honestly, having lived in Indianapolis for two years myself, anybody calling a basketball hoop a ring is done. Bobby Knight and now ND’s Lou Holtz have endorsed Trump. Ted’s toast. And doesn’t do well under pressure.

    Update on DCSCA’s Trump VEEP prediction.

    Kasich cut his own throat doing faux deal w/Cruz. Bad move. But then, a Buckeye has always been a useless nut. Now that Trump has labeled him a ‘slob’ which was reaffirmed by his dining habits and at the WHCD, consider this Trump VEEP option:

    Colin Powell.

    Reagan Republican, black, moderate (by today’s standards,) respected and experienced in Washington bureaucracy as well as being a retired general w/war experience- both serving in one and running one. Former Secretary of State; Joint Chiefs– and hates Dick Cheney. If Trump can offer Powell the right deal and he’d go for it, he’d be the right choice.

    DCSCA (a343d5)

  32. Beldar, I think the nutty Trump fans read this and took it seriously.

    http://www.imao.us/docs/NukeTheMoon.htm

    Simon Jester (2708f4)

  33. [This comment was fished out of moderation. How it got there I do not know. It’s the one that MD refers to in his comment below. – JVW]

    Saw that too, Beldar…
    One thing Fox irritated me on
    They said such a thing was unheard of…
    liars or inattentive..
    We’ve seen clips here with Cruz doing that with Code Pink and others…
    They need to read PP more than we need to watch them

    Then one Guy had the nerve to say the rabble rouser equaled Ted in the “debate”

    I know what I would like to do if I had the Koch fortune…

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  34. Here, from NRO, is a much longer version of the discussion between Cruz and some Trumpkins than the one I saw on CNN. The Second Amendment discussion starts at about 1:57.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  35. I just wrote a comment and it is saying that it is awaiting moderation
    Just who is at mission control tonight, anyway?

    [I rescued it. – JVW]

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  36. Simon –
    That was written by someone sitting next to Arlo on the group “W” bench, I believe.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  37. major tom, I think,

    narciso (732bc0)

  38. I can tell when I write something that should be in moderation,
    And nothing in that should be,
    So there,
    Major Tom.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  39. Watching that clip,
    I am reminded of at least one reason why I am not running for president,
    I would have not kept my composure.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  40. sorry I was being topical,

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFks9A9TCF0

    narciso (732bc0)

  41. I knew what you were referring to

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  42. Kevin M,

    You can’t ignore the approval/disapproval numbers earned by the rancid crone when contemplating down ticket ramifications of stepping in a pile of trump. Goldwater certainly cost the GOP House seats in ’64 just as McGovern cost the Dems a chunk of House seats in ’72 but the GOP only dropped two Senate seats in ’64 while the Dems actually gained two in ’72. Incumbents just need to be very careful not to step in the trump.

    Rick Ballard (0ef036)

  43. MD – one thing that struck me was that Cruz was wasting his time in a blue blue blue area during a primary. Several of his stops were like that. Wildly inefficient use of time and resources. With the growing early voting over the last few days, clear Trump momentum despite his nonsense, like denying Mike Tyson is a rapist, it is hard to see how Cruz will even be competitive here now.

    JD (52076d)

  44. The word that is a color that is the same as rose and starts with “p” and ends with “k” and the letters in-between are “in” will put your comment in moderation.

    nk (dbc370)

  45. [I deleted perry’s comments because it is very easy to do, and no one needs him fouling this discussion. What a sad, sad soul that one is. – JVW]

    some people take all the fun out of life… 😎

    redc1c4 (018028)

  46. Hillary does not have to make people like her. Like the guy running away from a bear, she just has to make them like Trump less. That should not be hard.

    Trump is starting, after months of FREE publicity, at Watergate levels of approval, and he dug this hole all by himself. Anyone want to bet he stops digging?

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  47. Thank you JVW for rescuing me
    Thank you nk for the explanation…who knew

    I just shake my head at all of the craziness, JD,
    At least until I regain some perspective as to
    Who is on the Throne
    But He is not happy, and I am afraid every one, R and L, are getting what they have sown.

    People have been dumbed down and our consciences seared,
    Apart from a great wave of mercy, it is just ugly and uglier.
    Reminds me of “Tubular Bells”, but with an overly prolonged disharmony with no recovery.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  48. there will come a time when there will no need for elections, justice will be perfect and swift, as paul reminded us in romans 13, it is long since time to prepare,

    narciso (732bc0)

  49. Ed, your posts are wonderfully illustrative of what the “Republican Party” actually is — and why Donald Trump will never truly lead it.

    I’m among the people most pleased and appreciative of the “Cruz Campaign’s” efforts to wrangle delegates who support and appreciate him, regardless of whether they’re pledged on the first ballot to some other candidate. But what your posts show, as a vivid and granular example, is that the “Cruz Campaign” has a whole lot more to it than just Ted Cruz, candidate.

    I’m still cautiously optimistic; I’ve always viewed this as a long-shot dark-horse campaign, although I never expected that the last competitor besides Cruz would be some reality TV star who is no more a Republican than Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

    But the delightful thing about this kind of first-hand report is that it illustrates how the campaigns are greater than the candidates. Hearing these details of your personal involvement makes me proud to be an American, and proud to be a Republican.

    Watching Trump and Trump’s shills, by contrast, makes me ashamed to be a human being. Tonight I heard crowds cheering Trump while he told a hateful lie about American troops in the Philippines, a tall tale repeatedly discredited, one whose roots go back to at least the Sepoy Mutiny in India in 1857 and British rifle cartridges allegedly made with pig fat. I’m surprised he didn’t lead them in ritual chants: “Death to Iran!” I suppose he’s saving that for the general election.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  50. @ redc1c4 (#44): There are websites devoted to transsexuals, pro and con. This isn’t one. Perhaps if you want that kind of fun, you should find one. The hateful screeds that have been deleted are as close to content-free as is possible while typing non-random characters, and no one else here misses it.

    @ JVW (#24): Thank you!

    Beldar (fa637a)

  51. well bob graham, then chairman of the senate intelligence committee was putting that one forward,

    http://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/index.php?topic=883.0

    narciso (732bc0)

  52. We are all screwed when idiots like this sink the ship taking us all down with them.

    Trump is taking our only chance at defeating Hillary away….CRUZ

    Damn Trump for that!

    jrt (bc7456)

  53. We will see what happens after it is all over.

    I would have thought that Cruz would have had little chance against some others like Walker, etc., that Cruz was “too conservative”, etc., when it all started,
    but with the O2 sucked up by Trump, every one else splitting votes or sabotaged by their own campaigns,
    those who were paying attention and principled kept Cruz in it.
    If Trump ends up winning the nomination,
    I hope we get an interview of Kasich being asked how he feels about giving the nomination to him,
    and that every one remembers it.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  54. Trump is the mole for Hillary and be is too stupid to know this…
    Trump: Parliamentary procedures? What are they? and why do I need to follow them in order to make America great again….. Poof….I can’t I just rule like an imperial leader does….
    Only Cruz is skilled enough to serve the people justly.

    jrt (bc7456)

  55. If Trump gets the nomination,
    I think one of two things will happen:
    1) Trump will find a way (which will not be hard) to throw it to Clinton,
    . As the emperor has foreseen
    Or
    2) It will be the ugliest thing ever and most of America will stay home, ashamed to vote for either one,
    and less will feel ashamed to vote for HRC,
    even if she is under indictment.

    I heard someone today throw out the idea of a Warren /Sanders ticket after HRC is indicated /disgraced…

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  56. I hope we get an interview of Kasich being asked how he feels about giving the nomination to him,
    and that every one remembers it.
    …………………………………………..

    Yup,
    Trump received most of his winner take all delegates from open primaries and when there were 12 to split the votes. The last east coast primaries that Trump brags of…. Hillary got more votes, so in a general all those states will then go to Hillary. Trump can’t win without the Cruz voter…… not good.

    jrt (bc7456)

  57. 2) It will be the ugliest thing ever and most of America will stay home, ashamed to vote for either one,
    and less will feel ashamed to vote for HRC,
    even if she is under indictment.
    ………………………

    How can the voter who has screwed us in 08/12…..turn around and hand us either Clinton or Trump
    WHEN CRUZ IS THE MOST CAPABLE OF Repealing Obama, The Executive Ruler

    jrt (bc7456)

  58. Trump will rule if elected,
    just like Obama,
    do what he wants, legal or not, until someone stops him.
    But some say that will not be so bad as Congress and the courts will be willing to oppose him,
    Unlike Obama

    I’m still concerned it will be like a massive train wreck,
    Complete with natural gas coming from one direction,
    Liquid Oxygen from the other,
    In the middle of rush hour in one of the top 3 cities.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  59. like maverick threw the match in 2008, like romney thought he was in a badminton competition,
    tell how the performance of the candidates can be worse than those two instances, now self fulfilling prophecies, the rockefeller/scranton cartel didn’t want goldwater, they undermined him, with all their resources, as difficult as that campaign could have been, they made it unsurpassable,

    narciso (732bc0)

  60. Goldwater certainly cost the GOP House seats in ’64

    I don’t agree. I think Oswald cost the GOP those seats, and they’d have been lost no matter who had been nominated. But nominating Goldwater was worth doing regardless of the outcome, simply because it was the right thing.

    Milhouse (87c499)

  61. one thing that struck me was that Cruz was wasting his time in a blue blue blue area during a primary. Several of his stops were like that. Wildly inefficient use of time and resources.

    Does Indiana allocate delegates by congressional district? If so then votes in blue areas are worth much more than votes in red areas, and it makes sense to campaign for them.

    Milhouse (87c499)

  62. Milhous,

    Excellent point. I should have used the year rather than the candidate.

    Rick Ballard (0ef036)

  63. Thanks for more kind responses!

    Indiana awards 30 of 57 total delegates to the overall state winner. Each of 9 CDs award 3 delegates to whomever wins that CD. Ted is expected to do well in at least 3 of these. Indianapolis and the Northwest part of the state look to be solid Trump wins. If Ted wins, he’ll probably get 39-42 delegates. That is a pretty big “if.”

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  64. Beldar (fa637a) — 5/2/2016 @ 6:12 pm

    i didn’t see the poasts in question, so i had no idea what was in them when i made the comment.

    since i came to the modern web from Usenet, i still find trolls both amusing and great entertainment by making them dance around defending the contradictions and errors in their stupidities.

    however, i understand how they can make a blog unreadable for others, so i usually restrain myself to occasional poking, rather than long, involved smack downs.

    YMMV

    redc1c4 (018028)


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