The state GOP parties of Virginia and North Carolina think they’ve found a way around this whole Trump problem. The scheme is pretty simple: require candidates seeking ballot access for the presidential primary to pledge to support the eventual nominee of the party. Donald Trump is a businessman. He’s a negotiator – and he’s not going to make such a huge concession to the GOP. No ballot access, no Trump.
Right now, lawyers are currently working out all the details, but this sounds like more of a trial balloon to me. And if the blowback from social media is any indication, it’s going to backfire terribly.
The higher-ups in the Republican Party increasingly don’t understand their own voters. They see them not as allies in the struggle for America’s future, but obstacles to be avoided. They don’t understand this Trump thing at all. And because they don’t understand why his supporters think the way they do, their plans of taking him down have a high chance of ending in failure.
If the national party really wants Trump to collapse, they need to do just one thing: wait. They need to take a hands-off approach. If he’s really a buffoon, he’ll embarrass himself and turn off GOP voters who are shopping around. But if they target him specifically, that just makes him stronger. And it increases the chance that he’ll make good on his threat to run third party. (Which might not bother some Republicans who would rather see Hillary than Trump in office.)
Trump has a lot of supporters in the Republican Party. He also has a lot of non-supporters in the Republican Party who have a lot of doubts about him. If the party establishment doesn’t want to convert these Trump skeptics into Trump supporters, they should refrain from using heavy-handed tactics to take him down.
John Wynne is the “conservative voice” at PoliticsNC, where he also provides polling analysis and commentary on legislative campaigns. When not writing about politics, he enjoys gardening and listening to opera. Contact: johncwynne@gmail.com.
World continues to seem to get more nefarious, a disturbing trend in democracy that is anything but the foundation America began on, and which will be its greatest test – whether unity can survive with the enormous pockets of cash that allow some to need no one, and cause others constant and continuous aggravation – satanic blue marbles rolling throughout the big blue marble of earth to cause disruption, not peace.
Trump will make it to the Republican nomination, His toughest choice is who he will pick for his Vice Presidential candidate. My advice to him would be Ben Carson. However, Carly Fiorina is impressing a lot of people.
As for Hillary, she’s living in a house that has a constantly dripping faucet. No matter how you try to ignore it, that damned faucet just keeps on “dripping”.
Every time Hillary tries to rejuvenate her campaign, and get back on track, another e mail scandal report comes out.
The latest is Hillary’s IT Staffer, Brian Pagliano is mysteriously “taking the Fifth”, and will not answer questions before any congressional committee.
The remedy: the House (or Senate) Chairman subpoenas Pagliano, and grants him full immunity. Thus the Fifth Amendment does not apply. If he still refuses to testify, he gets sent to jail (indefinitely, and with no bail).
I’m guessing after a couple of nights in Cell Block D, with Leroy and Dewan taking advantage of his pasty white ass, he’ll be begging to testify, and throw Hillary under the bus!
Radagast:
Your last few posts on a few of these blogs demonstrate that you are one crass guy. Were in my power, I’d block you from commenting. Can’t stand the feeling of having to shower after reading many of your posts.
Oh, the gullible! The GOP has been snookered by The Donald. He has gotten the GOP to come to him, begging for “the pledge.” They actually believe that we won’t flame out, won’t drag the party down the tubes, won’t reverse himself on the pledge, that his act won’t get old and transparent and repetitive, and that he can win. This soap opera is getting better and better, as the GOP leadership get more clueless and desperate every passing day…..
Halleluiah! The Donald has been anointed by Reince Priebus! Trump signed a pledge that he would not run as a third party candidate, if he doesn’t get the nomination.
Looks like Priebus (at the direction of Republican Establishment Pope Carl Rove) has decided that Trump is for real, and they’re throwing “Jeb” under the bus!
What does this portend for Hillary? Well, Hillary is sinking her own ship. She’s tanking in the polls, as more (and more) information leaks out on her e mail scandal.
Not helping her cause, the Vaunted Wrinkle Queen comes out in her Pumpkin Suit, and denies everything (the problem being she can’t remember what lie she told the last time).
Reminds me of that scene in the Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy throws the bucket of water on the Wicked Witch of the West, and she cries: “I’m melting!”. The heroes rejoice, as the wrinkled sinned old broad just fades away.
Trump is right, Hillary won’t even make it to the starting gate.
Nice try, but it doesn’t matter. ANY e mail generated on a secure government server (classified or not) may not be transferred to a non-secure server. That is a felony.
Any e mail generated on a secure government server (classified or not) may also not be modified, erased, deleted, or destroyed. Another felony.
The very fact that Hillary had her server wiped while it was under Congressional subpoena is (in itself) another felony.
That’s not to mention that some “Mom and Pop” server company in Denver had a backup server in a bathroom closet, containing all of Hillary’s e mails (which has yet to be investigated). Why did Hillary select that company? Because she figured no one would ever discover it (but they did).
Richard Nixon was impeached (in part) because of 15 minutes of erased tape recordings (and then lying about it). Gen. David Petraeus was fired and criminally charged for allowing his mistress to have access to “classified” information.
Hillary Clinton has done far worse. The question is: why hasn’t Hillary been indicted yet?”
Of course, Hillary won’t take this lying down; and will make a pathetic attempt to save her own skin by throwing Huma Abedin and Sid Blumenthal under the bus (for starters).
Nevertheless, the answer lies with Barack Obama, and whether he wants to back Joe Biden, or Hillary Clinton.
The fact of the matter is that Hillary is toast, and is tanking in the polls. In an attempt to get a “viable” Democrat candidate for the election, Obama will back Biden.
OK folks, let’s try this again.
There are three levels of classification: Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret. Each e mail has a header (which is in coded initials) that tells the recipient what classification each e mail has.
Any e mail between secure government servers that have “any of the above” classifications are to remain on secure government servers.
Taking or copying any e mails that have any of the above designations from a secure government server and transferring them to any non- classified (ie: private) server is a felony.
First, Hillary claimed there were no e mails on her private server that were classified. However, her attorney David Kendall, was in possession of three thumb drives containing Hillary’s e mails (which he did not have the security clearance to possess – goes to content). At least three were classified as Top Secret. Another felony (for Hillary and Kendall).
Third, under Federal code, no e mail, document, copy, fax (etc.) classified or not, may be destroyed, deleted or removed. Hillary turned over a “wiped server” to the feds. Another felony.
Hillary then claimed the e mails were not classified when they were sent, but were classified after she received them.
When this was proven to be a lie, Hillary then claimed the Classification Headers were removed before she received them. Nevertheless, according to The US Code, that doesn’t matter. It is assumed the recipient (with a top secret security clearance) should have known the information contained within was classified.
Then, Hillary claimed there “were so many e mails” she just couldn’t keep track of whether they were classified or not. That defies logic.
She has been touted as “the smartest woman in the world”, she has a Law Degree from Yale, she was a US Senator for 4 years, then 4 years as Sec State.
And she would have us believe: “she couldn’t tell if they contained classified information?” How stupid does she think we are?
Admittedly the FBI Investigation into this scandal is moving like tar in January, as Obama decides if he’s going to back Joe Biden, or throw Hillary under the bus ( as he did in 2008).
Admittedly, there is no love lost between the Clintons and the Obamas (goes back to Slick Williy’s remark in 2008 that “a few years ago, he (Obama) would’a been fetchin our coffee, Hyuk, hyuk)” .
I’m guessing Obama never forgot that remark.
The only question that remains is: why hasn’t Hillary been indicted yet?
Yes, folks, let’s let Radagast try—and try— again, Because he obviously needs the practice.
That must come from using biased sources of information, filtering out what he doesn;t want to hear, and having a thing against HRC. And liberals, And Democrats.
Today, this (below) was published in Politico. Does it sound anything like Radagast’s narrative? Does it sound like DOS policies/rules were clear and well established? Does it sound like anything clearly illegal or indictable was done? I am no HRC fan or apologist, but it does not sound that way to me.
“The new classifications (given to 150 more emails) will more than triple the previous total of 63 classified messages on Clinton’s account, but State Department spokesman Mark Toner stressed that the information was not marked classified at the time it was sent several years ago. He also said the decisions to classify the information did not represent a determination that it should have been marked or handled that way back then.
“That certainly does not speak to whether it was classified at the time it was sent, or forwarded, or received,” Toner said during the daily State Department briefing on Monday. “We stand by our contention that the information we’ve upgraded was not marked classified at the time it was sent.”
Nearly all the information officially classified by the State Department in prior email releases involved diplomatic strategy or information provided by foreign governments. Toner batted away questions about whether State Department policy dictated that Clinton and other agency employees treat as classified information obtained in confidence from foreign officials or diplomats.
“Classification — we’ve said this many times — is not an exact science. It’s not, often, a black-and-white process,” Toner said. “There’s many strong opinions. … It’s not up to me to litigate these kinds of questions from the State Department podium.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/clintonemail-batch4-213164#ixzz3kRSaFsUW
Disagree that the Republican establishment doesn’t understand Trump’s supporters. They’ve understood them at least since Nixon’s Southern Strategy/Silent Majority appeals. The difference is that past Republican leading candidates bamboozled white voters with racial code words but had a real agenda favoring rich people. Trump doesn’t care whether conservative billionaires like him, and he certainly doesn’t need their money. He cares only about gaining fame and power. So he’s able to support Social Security and Medicare and other popular safety-net programs that super-rich conservatives hate. Trump may be creating a new ideology–National Capitalism (Nakism?). If he gets disciplined and stops with the self-inflicted wounds, watch out.
OK, let’s do a little “speculation” here. Joe Biden announces he’s running for the presidency, and Elizabeth Warren would be his running mate. Biden also sez he will serve only one term (leaving the door open for Warren to run in the next term).
After that, Obama calls Hillary (and her attorney) to a White House meeting. In the room with Obama is Shadow President Valarie Jarrett, Atty. General Loretta Lunch, and FBI Director James Comey.
They say: “OK Missus Clinton, here’s the deal: We are about to indict you, your attorney, and two of your aides on federal charges”. They let that sink in for a moment.
Then, Obama will make Hillary an offer she cannot refuse: “you will drop out of the race, and you will endorse the Biden-Warren ticket”.
“In exchange, I will issue a Presidential pardon to you, your attorney, and your aides”.
Sound like a Tom Clancy novel? Sure does!
OK, let’s do a little “speculation” here.
There will be no indictment. No laws were broken by HRC. She was following what was allowable under e-mail policies at the time.
You are correct on only one thing. It does sound like a novel. Pure fiction. In your mind.
I agree with Progressive Wing. What law did she break?
What harm was done in her keeping her emails on a private server?
I won’t argue that Trump is a good show and providing a shock to the system, but Senator Sanders is consistently drawing bigger crowds with a platform that is understandable and can work. I would love to see a national campaign of Sanders/Warren, Sanders/Anthony Foxx or Sanders/Castro vs.Trump/Palin or Trump/Cruz.
Sanders/Warren, man that would be the ticket, no pun intended!
Not wanting to have America say it’s sorry is all about a rigid belief in American Exceptionalism (“We Americans can do no wrong!”). Not a fan of that mindset, as there are lots of things, big and small, that this country has gotten very wrong.
From its original sin of slavery and then racist oppression since 1865, to its mistreatment of Native Americans (since Day One) and Japanese Americans (during WWII); to its handling of veterans causes and benefits for decades; to abandoning key provisions of the Voting Rights Act; to Citizens United; to corporate subsidies and tax coding that have only exacerbated income inequality and the winnowing down of the middle class. All wrongs.
But don’t worry, Trump fans, because he’ll never have to formally apologize for any American wrongdoings, past or present. Why? Because he’ll never be elected to the White House, and he isn’t the sort who will personally apologize for anything anyway.
And, IMO, I’d say that someone who supports Trump and his brand of bigotry, Ayn Randian avarice, and callousness may just be as intolerant, greedy, and cold-hearted as the man himself.
Real Clear Politics has Trump in the lead by a whopping 13.2% while Huffpollster has him leading Big Brother Bush by 15%.
Similar to the sportsmanship exhibited by the kid who doesn’t like the way the game is going and takes his ball and goes home, the party of “less government” is again trying to change the rules in the middle of the contest to suit their very specific, subjective needs. If I didn’t find it personally repulsive I would bask in the hilarious and juvenile futility of it all. In Bible thumping lingo these troglodytes can understand “You reap what you sow.”
I was not a Trump supporter to begin with, but now I am. The fact that the Va. and No. Cal. “Jeb Bush RINO’s” would try to take him out is no surprise.
Fox New’s Megyn Kelly followed her marching orders, and did her best to take Trump out during the first debate. Then mysteriously, Kelly had to take a week and a half “vacay”, and Trump surged in the polls!
However, Donald Trump is hitting a nerve (and not just with Republicans). Americans are sick and tired of the spineless career politicians in Washington.
The fact is, Americans have had enough of the Clinton-Bush dynasty.
As the Hildabeast continues to tank in the polls (and may very well be criminally indicted – God Speed) the Dems are frantically trying to find a replacement, ergo: Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren.
Trump may be politically incorrect, rough around the edges, and is making the Republican RINO establishment puke their pabulum, but he continues to rise in the polls.
I say: “It’s about time!”.
Two things I know President Donald Trump will never do: He will never apologize for America, and he will never bow to a foreign leader (like somebody else we know).
Democrats are confident that HRC will acquire the votes of Latinos, swing voters, independents and a considerable number of moderate republicans. Her crossover appeal and traditional roots will result in her becoming the first female president
Not a huge HRC fan, but I still wonder how the big HRC haters, and those others trying so hard to badmouth her candidacy for whatever reasons (like Radagast on this thread, who has proclaimed her campaign dead and her future filled with an indictment), will deal with this little factoid?
“State Dept. Says There Was No Policy Against Private Email
On CNN’s New Day, State Department spokesman John Kirby said, ‘We have said in the past that there was no policy prohibiting the use of a private email account here at the State Department, and that is still a fact.’
There was no policy against using a private email account when Mrs. Clinton was Secretary of State. And the State Department has said this repeatedly but folks keep ignoring this FACT.
At the time, she was not violating any policy. New policies somehow do not apply retroactively. She violated no policy because there was no policy to violate. And, in fact, Colin Powell used one. And SOS Clinton followed the process that SOS Powell set up.”
(from the Daily Kos, 8/25/15)
The Repugs will treat it like they have Benghazi. Hold hearing after hearing after hearing with each one showing that nothing improper was done. Not liking that result they will hold hearing after hearing after hearing being bound and determined to get a different result.
You know, the definition of insanity and all.
“Kochs plowed the ground, provided water & fertilizer for Trump and are now appalled at their crop of crazy.” — Bruce Bartlett
Trump is fascinating to observe. He is brand who has now become a candidate. Through one lens he is a creature who has arisen from the muck and is essentially a distillation of values that echo in the spoof known as “Caddyshack” and as well as in the vicious natavist rhetoric spewed by Bill the Butcher in “Gangs of New York”. He is the return of “Bonfire of the Vanities” with a dash of “American Psycho”. The “Donald” is here to stay and this golem created by the profit driven world of infotainment/crass reality entertainment is everyone’s problem.
“In words are seen the state of mind and character and disposition of the speaker.”
Plutarch
“The higher-ups in the Republican Party increasingly don’t understand their own voters. They see them not as allies in the struggle for America’s future, but obstacles to be avoided.”
Finally a passage in a Wynne blog that I can actually agree with.
Indeed, the GOP indeed does not understand the ultra-conservative voter base they invited, nurtured,and brainwashed within their party for about a decade now. They have welcomed (and even favored) within the party the obstructionists, the arrogant corporate elite, the Tea Party and Libertarians loonies, the uncompromising, the intolerant, the blowhards, and the hate-filled. They fully expected to be able to lead such a diverse mix of extreme interests by the nose, and to get them to agree on a candidate that the big GOP donors would happily bless.
And yet, amazingly, when someone came forward as a presidential candidate who is a corporate bully, verbally callous, biased, ethical-questionable, and not a team player, and who also wants to play outside their little box, they can’t seem to understand what their base sees in the guy??? Really?
Can’t wait for the sit-com on TV…….
Huzzah! Apply Liberally has it exactly right.
While I would never compare Trump to Hitler, there is an important historical similarity in that few in the German establishment in the 1920s and early 1930s took the crazy, ubernationalist demagogue seriously … until it was too late.
Well said, But I disagree with Wynn, I think Trump will agree to support the nominee, because he thinks it will be him. It is too difficult running as an independent.
Here’s why this is pure speculation with no rational or legal basis: A candidate who participates in the North Carolina presidential preference primary of a particular party shall have his name placed on the general election ballot only as a nominee of that political party. NCGS § 163‑213.6.
I am not sure I would disagree with Wynne that Republican party leaders are considering ways to push Trump out legally; he is after all speaking generally for all 50 states. It does seem as if the horse may already be out of the barn, however. I do find the above NC statute intriguing and wonder how many states have similar laws in place. OTOH, if enough Republican GA members decide they want to back Trump, they will certainly try to find a way to get around this to get him on the general election ballot; law of the land notwithstanding.
This is apparently not the law in South Carolina, where the Republicans are proceeding with this tactic. Trump is a demagogue, but he is doing everyone a favor by delineating the differences between the natures of the two major parties. And perhaps we Democrats will learn a lesson and stop gagging over every statement by a candidate that is not politically correct.