Republicans' "He Is Us" Problem
In deciding how to describe the ongoing fratricide within the Republican Party, several metaphors and phrases sprang to mind. Rock, hard place. Rats, sinking ship. Petard-hoisting. There are several which are apt and appropriate, but I finally settled on the wise words of Pogo Possum. Because the Republican Party truly has fulfilled Pogo's reflective prediction: "We have met the enemy and he is us."
That is a rather amusing (and grandiose) way of beginning what is going to be, essentially, a "clip column." Because now that Donald Trump has finally gotten caught saying something which is so outrageous that it is actually impacting him in the polls, I thought it was high time to take a look back and see how we got here.
It was pretty easy to see, a very long time ago, what was going to happen to the presidential race if Donald Trump threw his hairpiece in the ring. His personality was so outsized that predicting his impact was fairly easy to do. In February, 2015, I made a prediction about how Trump would affect the presidential race, a prediction that has stood the test of time all the way up to the present, for the most part:
No word yet from the rest of the Republican field, but it's not hard to imagine them privately horrified at the prospect of facing Trump out on the campaign trail. Trump, if nothing else, is his own man. He says exactly what he feels or believes, with absolutely no filter whatsoever. This won't get him elected president, but it could create an absolute minefield for the rest of the Republicans, as reporters gleefully ask them about the most recent quip from Trump. Journalists will practice in front of mirrors (so they don't break down into peals of laughter) asking questions such as: "So what do you think about Trump's idea of just going ahead and forcibly annexing Cuba?"
That last line was written in jest, as I tried to come up with something Trump might promise on the campaign trail. He has -- so far -- not suggested forcibly annexing Cuba. However, he has indeed suggested just stealing Middle East oil by the strength of our armed forces, so I have to say my outrageous suggestion wasn't too far off the mark.
But the core prediction stands up: the entire presidential race has been reacting to Trumpisms. The primary was entirely about all the other Republicans reacting to each outrageous Trump statement, and the general election has certainly seen a goodly amount of the same (notably, from within his own party, as they struggle with the conundrum of supporting Trump or bailing on him).
Right after Trump announced his run, I was a little more specific in my prediction:
Trump's candidacy is going to cause the Republican Party several problems, though. The first is that Trump will always be able to (pun definitely intended) trump every other Republican candidate in the "speaking off-the-cuff, and saying monumentally ridiculous things" category. Oh, sure, people like Newt Gingrich set the bar pretty high (or low, really) in years past, and it's undeniable that we've already got several people in the Republican race who seem to have mastered the art of "saying idiotic things" (Ben Carson immediately springs to mind), but Donald Trump is in a league of his own, really. This is going to set up a conundrum for the more serious Republican candidates: should they just ignore Trump's blathering, or should they respond when he truly goes over the edge? We'll see a partial answer to that question soon, as in his ad-libbed announcement today he has already called Mexican immigrants "rapists" and other nasty names. Will Jeb or Marco respond? We'll have to see, but this problem wouldn't even exist if Trump weren't in the running.
Republicans have had it tough, for the entire election. They initially saw Trump as an outsider who would say things far outside the standard GOP orthodoxy. "He's not a real Republican," they'd tell themselves (in an effort to make themselves feel better). But then he started getting a whole lot of very real support from Republican primary voters. This is where the "he is us" realization began to dawn, at least seen from the outside looking in. In early July of last year, I was pointing it out:
To put this slightly differently, Republicans are going to have to confront the worst parts of their own base's nature. Which is a tricky thing to do, because it can erode any given candidate's support among the very voters which will determine the outcome of the primary season. Yes, there are racists and xenophobes among the Republican base, just as there are likely racists and xenophobes among the Democratic base. The difference between the two parties, however, is that Democrats largely gave up pandering to these attitudes roughly a half-century ago (an argument could even be made they began to do so in 1948, when Strom Thurmond bolted the party to form the "Dixiecrats"). The Republican Party, as a whole, has not shied away from such pandering in recent decades. Most Republicans these days prefer to use code words (or "dog whistles") to show their support for these attitudes, but some simply aren't that polished. Some Republicans truly believe that if they get enough white votes they can still win a national election (they're wrong about this, incidentally -- Mitt Romney got a higher percentage of the white vote than Ronald Reagan, and still lost).
. . .
Trump's schtick is to tell what he sees as the truth, politics be damned. But he's not the only Republican running on this playbook. Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, and Ben Carson are all running similarly-themed campaigns (as well as a few others, to lesser degrees). Cruz has already thrown his lot in with Trump's immigration position, so it's to be expected that anything Trump says in a debate will garner at least some support from a few other candidates. This is the very definition of the problem, in fact. Trump isn't saying things that are so far beyond the bounds of Republican positions, after all, he's just saying them in rather colorful ways. If he truly were staking out what might be called pariah positions, then the entire Republican field would unite in denouncing them. They're not, to put it mildly. It took weeks for any Republican candidate to condemn Trump's immigration remarks, after all. It took Jeb Bush something like 18 days to disagree with Trump. Obviously, the Republican field would really prefer to ignore Trump as a distraction to their own campaign messaging. But that becomes impossible when he's saying such things right next to you on a national debate stage.
By the end of that month, I was contemplating Trump as the GOP nominee (this was a lot earlier than most of the inside-the-Beltway types managed, I might add).
Republicans running for office this year have been at a loss as to how to treat Trump. They are in a classic "damned if I do, damned if I don't" conundrum -- avid Trump supporters make up a big portion of the Republican base, but then so do Republicans who are disgusted with Trump's antics. Backing Trump or repudiating Trump will both lead directly to enraging one of those groups. Some, like Paul Ryan, have tried to create a tightrope to walk between these two choices, but not with any notable success.
The problem, obviously, has gotten a lot more acute since last Friday. It's even trickier now, because Republicans who have turned against Trump (and this list is a long one and getting longer by the day) now have to explain to the voters why all the rest of Trump's outrageousness was OK before Friday. Most don't want to explain this, but their Democratic opponents are forcing the issue in a big way.
Last August I wrote an article offering up four tactics that I thought the other Republican presidential candidates might use in a debate. One of these was supporting Trump. Now, obviously the dynamics of a competitor for the GOP nomination are somewhat different than GOP candidates for other offices deciding whether to support their own party's nominee, but the prediction about timing certainly still holds true:
There are two big risks to kissing up to Trump, of course. The first is that you are obviously following, not leading. This isn't very presidential. The second danger is that you follow Trump right over a cliff. If Trump does blow it at some point, it's likely going to be a pretty spectacular event (he is, after all, Donald Trump). If you have been supporting and defending Trump the whole campaign, you may get caught in the wreckage if he goes down. The trick would be to support him right up to the edge of the cliff, and then shake your head sadly and watch Trump go over the edge, by himself. But this would require precision timing, which may be impossible.
The precise moment I spoke of happened last Friday. As the Trump train headed over the edge of the cliff, many Republicans jumped off in desperation. Did they jump off early enough to save themselves, or did they jump off after the train was already in mid-air? That has yet to be determined.
Most people in the Republican Party -- apart from a few brave folks like Mitt Romney -- at some point decided that supporting Trump was better than not supporting him. As has been true all along, Trump's extreme positions did not disqualify him with millions of voters in the GOP base. They were, after all, not all that far removed from the official party line. Trump eschewed the traditional GOP "dog whistle" phrases, and was far more blunt than professional Republican politicians, but what he was saying was pretty close to what the party as a whole had believed for a long time. Look into the history of conservatives' use of the term "amnesty" if you require proof.
Trump's vulgarity may be his downfall. But even if Trump hadn't run, the candidate who came second (in delegates) was Ted Cruz -- another Republican who has staked out some pretty extreme positions. What this all means is that cries of "Donald Trump is not who we are as a party!" coming from Republicans now are nothing more than wishful thinking. If it were true, after all, then there wouldn't be any conundrum for a Republican to face when deciding not to support Trump. If Trump didn't resonate with a large segment of the Republican base, then it would be painless for another Republican to refuse to support Trump. Which is not the case, obviously.
Pogo was right. Republicans are finding out just how prophetic his quip has proven to be. The GOP has met the enemy, and he is indeed them. That's what makes dumping Trump such a headache, after all.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
My biggest concern now is how he handles the loss. Someone was saying the other day that one of the problems with Trump is that he's not a seasoned politician and as a result, hasn't learned how to "lose" as a politician. It would not surprise me if he is defiant, although perhaps that's giving him too much credit. It's probably slightly more likely he'll not lead his troops into a civil war because even he probably understands that won't end well for him.
But he may be just incendiary enough to cause some of his horrible followers to become violent.
This: http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/10/trumps-one-service-was-exposing-the-misogyny-of-the-gop.html
Republicans are not shocked; they’re scared. Donald Trump is losing and they are beginning to understand that his loss is going to expose them, not simply to partisan defeat, but as a party that has been covert in its cohesion around the very biases that he makes coarse and plain…Trump’s attitudes about women are not different from the attitudes that have been supported by the contemporary Republican Party via their legislative agenda.
The author, Rebecca Traister, appeared on Chris Hayes and described exactly what I've been feeling since the debate -- Trump's purpose was to degrade Hillary. Not debate her, degrade her. As a woman I cannot find the words to convey how much I despise that man at this point. Not just for being a skeevy scum, but for his reduction of this political process to such a place.
Separately, Ana Navarro was on CNN -- John Aravosis of Americablog played the clip, where the spokeswoman for the orange man was trying, haplessly, to do the "its just locker room talk -- give it a rest" -- and Navarro said women have been stopping her in public to say they've been accosted by men like Trump, and thanking her for speaking up. She was almost in tears. Anderson Cooper, who'd been trying to interrupt, just stopped talking and let her get it out.
A friend of mine has been volunteering at a different HRC campaign office than ours, told me the day after the debate she was making phone calls and everyone she called wanted to talk about that debate.
Deplorable women may vote for this jerk but I think the rest want to get away from him as fast as possible. And when its all over he may be the most hated man in America.
. . . but rappers say nasty things.
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/at-debate-trump-s-gender-based-menace-783125059659
Link to Rebecca Traister on Chris Hayes.
[3] Stop trying to make me laugh!
[3] :-)
Paula,
My biggest concern now is how he handles the loss.
Is his mind, there will be no loss. Above everything else, Trump is an opportunist who is in it for Trump. He'll do what he always does and what he almost always recommends. A real world example:
"I would announce that we have been victorious in Iraq and all the troops are coming home and let those people have their civil war."
https://youtu.be/1jFdN-W8av8?t=4m30s
Regardless of all his lies to the contrary, Trump wanted all the troops out of Iraq and said we should have taken their oil. He didn't care about any civil war or who would fill the power void, just how we should be taking their oil.
Trump will be looking for a way to declare victory and tear the GOP apart at the same time while making him tons of money off the rubes who believe his utter bullshit. Look for him to launch something like "TET" (Trump Entertainment Television) or TTV (Trump TV) and "Trump Web" or whatever.
Steve Bannon and the far-right nut jobs want to burn the house down and make money in the process. They'll be looking for people to blame... Paul Ryan, etc... and they'll be looking for a way to make themselves rich in the process off the rubes who are ignorant enough to buy into their latest alternate reality scheme and pony up their cash in the process. Same shit different day.
[7] Kick: Agree with all. But that doesn't mean his gun-nut followers aren't going to hurt people. I don't think they'll rise, en masse or anything really big. But some may well go out on shooting sprees or may attack individuals or blow up mosques or temples, etc.
Who is more unpopular than Trump or HilRod? The GOP in congress! It is encouraging that the Unshackled Orange Menace has decided to ruin them. He's heard the American People. They want a change in direction.
[9] Yep!
You know, Fred Phelps was often accused of being a stealth lib. Maybe the Orange One decided that playing The Heel was the best way to put the Clintons back in the White House. I know that this is not a new conspiracy theory, but why were Chelsea and Ivanka talking on Sunday? It's more believable than Trump's suggestion that maybe there is no hacking. Maybe the Democrats are leaking their own emails.
{11} Playing the heel is one thing. Inciting and fomenting violence is something else. As for Chelsea and Ivanka -- maybe they're just friends.
I still don't get what's up with the snorting like an animal at debates. Has anyone heard Trump do that at one of his shows? I've watched quite a few and never noticed any. He must be snorting at her, but what does it mean? Low T?
[3] JFC,
. . . but rappers say nasty things.
And... OMG... I heard they let one of them in the White House. {where are my smellin' salts... I'm gettin' the vapors}
Now I'm going to ask a question, and I want to preface it by saying that it's not meant in any way to be a moral judgment on my part of anyone's life choices... got that? So okay... the question:
Can you imagine the shit coming out of right-wing media if the Democratic nominee for President of the United States had a spouse that was 20+ years younger, born in a communist country, and appeared in a multitude of nude pictures that included soft core homosexual pornography?
. . . or if HilRod said "Check out this sex tape".
{14] - [15] Given republicans still bring up Chappaquiddick it's clear they'd be talking about either/both for about a century.
Re: the sniffing -- I read a rather interesting blogpost in which a, I think it was a Speech Pathologist, said sniffing like that is an "anxiety tic". That actually seems more likely than the prevailing theory that Trump is a cocaine addict.
TRUMP IS TOAST prediction #433
Successful Predictions To Date: ZERO
:D
Michale
Don't ya'all EVER get tired of being wrong?? :D
Michale
Can you imagine the shit coming out of right-wing media if the Democratic nominee for President of the United States had a spouse that was 20+ years younger, born in a communist country, and appeared in a multitude of nude pictures that included soft core homosexual pornography?
Well, I am sure glad you aren't getting judgmental... :D
Michale
Paula,
Playing the heel is one thing. Inciting and fomenting violence is something else.
"If they bring a knife to the fight, we'll bring a gun!"
-Barack Obama, 2008
You were saying????
Oh wait, wait.. I know...
"Well, that's different"...
Of course it's different. They guy fomenting gun violence has a '-D' after his name. So of course, in your mind, it's different..
For someone not enslaved by Party dogma, however, it is no different..
Michale
As to the commentary itself...
It simply proves what I have been saying all along..
Hillary's support is 1000% ideologically based.. It's ALL Party loyalty and Party loyalty only..
Trump's support is SOLELY and 1000% based on patriotism... Nothing else...
This election it's patriotic Americans (Trump) vs Corporatists/Globalists (Clinton)....
Michale
Ya'all complain about violence at Trump rallies against protesters...
http://www.theamericanmirror.com/clinton-campaign-losing-patience-bill-rape-protesters/
Yet ya'all are PERFECTLY fine with protesters being roughed up at Hillary rallies..
Funny how that is, eh??? :^/
Michale
It's probably slightly more likely he'll not lead his troops into a civil war because even he probably understands that won't end well for him.
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/10/11/cbs4-investigation-reveals-another-dead-voter-fraud-cases-and-gaps/
If Democrats don't get their cheating and fraud under control, you can bet there will be violence...
Michale
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/SAPD-motorcycle-cops-violate-city-policy-by-9965231.php
Like I said.. The vast majority of Americans who wear a gun for a living support Trump...
Who is Odumbo going to call to enforce a fraudulent election??
Michale
Excellent recap (sounds better than clip show). All quotes were memorable enough that I actually remembered them all!
The media have finally turned on Trump, which is to say they have actually started to do their job and ask hard questions. That was the October Surprise.
Trump seems to have been more badly damaged by the 2nd debate than I initially thought. He still hasn't leveled out, all the tea leaves are looking pretty bad for him, and the most pertinent polling data are just beginning to come in.
If possible, the National Republican Party is in worse even worse shape than Trump. It's civil war right now, Tea Party vs Establishment with a sizeable body of the Establishment sitting it out, closing their eyes and hoping the fire just burns out. As of now, it's completely unclear how and how much the Republican Party is funding/supporting the Trump Campaign. It's uncertain how much Trump is funding his own campaign...is it self funding or just short term self loaning?
The media have finally turned on Trump,
Ya gotta admire Stig... Latest up to the minute news every second! :D
Newsflash, the "media" turned on Trump the minute he announced his candidacy...
Trump seems to have been more badly damaged by the 2nd debate than I initially thought. He still hasn't leveled out, all the tea leaves are looking pretty bad for him, and the most pertinent polling data are just beginning to come in.
TRUMP IS TOAST prediction #476
Accurate Predictions: ZERO
:D
I guess ya'all DON'T get tired of being wrong...
Michale
Michale
Oh goodie!!!!
Another Podesta email dump!!! :D
This should be good for some laughs and about a hundred comments or so... :D
Michale
http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/11/hills-shills-leaks-have-exposed-journalists-in-clintons-corner/
This is why it's impossible to believe the MSM on anything regarding Trump..
They have explicitly stated that they are in the bag for Hillary and it is their duty to make sure Trump doesn't win..
Of course, ya'all eat it all up because the MSM is saying EXACTLY what ya'all want to hear....
Michale
Here ya go:
An instant meme that I made on my own desktop:
Trump Unshackled
http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b502/Balthasar2020/Trump%20Unshackled%20FU_zps3nutuogh.png
(compare to the DVD cover of 'Django Unchained')
Trumpers: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/todd-warnken-arrested-threatening-black-woman-trump
On his way out, Warnken allegedly harassed a black woman waiting for a taxi, calling her a racial slur and threatening her physically.
"Trump is going to win and if you don't like it I'm going to beat your ass," he yelled, according to Smith.
Warnken was arrested near the grocery store and charged with misdemeanor aggravated harassment, the newspaper reported.
Supporters of the Republican nominee have invoked Trump’s name while assaulting strangers in several other incidents over the course of the 2016 race.
n March, two Wichita State University students said they were beaten in a convenience store parking lot by a man they said called them “brown trash” and told them “Trump will make America great again.”
Two brothers in Boston were sentenced to prison in May for beating a homeless Mexican man because they thought he was an undocumented immigrant, telling police Trump “was right” about deporting “all these illegals.”
My favorite new Trump Nickname: "Sniffles".
http://www.eschatonblog.com
Can Sniffles keep it going another four weeks at this pace? I'm betting no.
Another variation of my 'Trump Unchained' meme:
http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b502/Balthasar2020/Trump%20Unshackled%20PUSS_zpsdrynauc0.png
Final (I swear) variation, substituting confetti for the red splatter.
http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b502/Balthasar2020/Trump%20Unshackled%20PUSS%20conf_zpsetno1xyj.png
Trumpers: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/todd-warnken-arrested-threatening-black-woman-trump
You have no moral authority to complain about Trump supporters supposedly assaulting anyone..
NO MORAL AUTHORITY whatsoever..
Michale
Final (I swear) variation, substituting confetti for the red splatter.
Dood!!!
I thought I was bad... But you need a life!! :D
Michale
My favorite new Trump Nickname: "Sniffles".
http://www.eschatonblog.com
Can Sniffles keep it going another four weeks at this pace? I'm betting no.
TRUMP IS TOAST PREDICTION #532
Accurate Predictions To Date: ZERO
:D
Michale
Gotta love WikiLeaks!!! :D
“So here’s my idea. Bernie and his people have been bitching about super delegates and the huge percentage that have come out for Hillary,” wrote Siegel.
“Why not throw Bernie a bone and reduce the super delegates in the future to the original draft of members of the House and Senate, governors and big city mayors, eliminating the DNC members who are not State chairs or vice-Chairs. (Frankly, DNC members don’t really represent constituencies anyway. I should know. I served on the DNC first as Executive Director and then as an elected member for 10 years.)
So if we “give” Bernie this in the Convention’s rules committee, his people will think they’ve “won” something from the Party Establishment. And it functionally doesn’t make any difference anyway. They win. We don’t lose. Everyone is happy.”
That's what I like about the Clinton Campaign..
They are so above board and honest and full of integrity in everything they do...
{/sarcasm}
Once again... Bernie supporters will stay home by the millions or, in a fit of revenge, vote Trump...
Michale
I thought I was bad... But you need a life!!
Well I could instead spend all my time in the comments section of a blog that isn't mine, but why waste my time that way? :)
Well I could instead spend all my time in the comments section of a blog that isn't mine, but why waste my time that way? :)
So, what you are saying is that you think it's more productive playing with yourself.. :D
Michale
mmmaaaybe. Requires research.
mmmaaaybe. Requires research.
hehehehe
"You masturbate more than anyone else on the planet!!"
-Rufus, DOGMA
:D
Michale
Looks like Hillary is going to ignore Bill's son....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3834438/Are-Clintons-secret-grandkids-father-man-claims-s-Bill-s-love-child-says-prostitute-mother-slept-former-Arkansas-governor-13-times-received-seven-100-bills-month-delivered-state-trooper.html
Yea... Cuz IGNORING a problem has always worked so well for Hillary in the past.. :^/
Michale
Hey,Michale, since you are so sure Trump will win, how about a little wager? If Trump win's I won't comment on this blog. If Trump loses, you won't comment on this blog. Or at the very least, you have to admit you were WRONG. Put your money where your mouth is.
SP4,
Or at the very least, you have to admit you were WRONG. Put your money where your mouth is.
Do you know who I am!?? :D
I have NEVER had a problem admitting when I am wrong and I have the T-Shirts to prove it!!! :D
It's bad form here in Weigantia to bet commenting privileges for wagers such as this...
How about this..
If Trump wins, you wear a T-SHIRT of my choosing for an entire weekday at work, at play, all day...
If Hillary wins, I'll do the same for a T-SHIRT of your choosing...
Michale
Bill's taunters are having an effect.. :D
Clinton campaign losing patience with Bill ‘rape’ protesters
http://www.theamericanmirror.com/clinton-campaign-losing-patience-bill-rape-protesters/
You can't escape the crimes you have committed, Bubba....
It's only going to get more and more as election day draws near...
Michale
Trumpers: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/this-won-t-go-away
As I loaded the groceries, he began a tirade of abuse and yelling about Hillary Clinton. I told my wife to get into the car and to not respond.
As a 75 year old man, I usually try to avoid physical confrontations.
As I loaded my groceries, he noticed my bumper sticker- Defeat Trump: Defeat Racism. He switched from anti women abuse to anti Obama comments. He called President Obama a N’gger, and made wild claims about racial offenses.
After about 10 minutes he left.
There's more.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/10/roland-martin-cnn-email-donna-brazile-wikileaks-229673
Collusion between Media and Camp Clinton...
FACT
Michale
http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/10/roland-martin-cnn-email-donna-brazile-wikileaks-229673
Collusion between Media and Camp Clinton...
FACT
More and more Bernie supporters will be staying home....
Michale
Emails: Podesta Listed ‘Needy Latinos’ for Hillary to Call
Campaign chairman: Former Hispanic Gov. Bill Richardson ‘can be a dick’
http://freebeacon.com/politics/emails-podesta-listed-needy-latinos-hillary-call/
hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
My gods, this is fun!!!!! :D
"Needy Latinos"...
Yea, THAT will go over well with the hispanic community...
Michale
There's more.
Yea, I am sure there IS plenty more propaganda...
But what you lack is FACTS....
Michale
It's funny how ya'all denigrate infowars.com but swear by talkingpointmemos.com
:D
Yea.. NO bigotry there... :D
Michale
Arizona flipped blue on the 538. Interesting.
Arizona flipped blue on the 538. Interesting.
Everything will flip blue on 538...
Interesting?? Not so much...
Ya'all didn't accept 538 when it was saying Trump had a 50/50 chance of winning..
Why now???
Michale
As protesters accuse her husband of rape, Clinton blasts Trump’s ‘scorched earth’ tactics
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-campaign-blasts-trumps-scorched-earth-tactics-as-protesters-accuse-her-husband-of-rape/2016/10/12/7b8a6df2-908f-11e6-a6a3-d50061aa9fae_story.html
And the facts are starting to hurt, hay Hillary?? :D
If ya can't stand the heat, divorce the frak'in rapist...... :D
Michale
"We have done our best to stay out of all the meanness.
I want you to know, I want to be the president for everyone. I am tired of all the division and the barriers. I want to bring people together across party lines, across all the lines that divide us.”
-Hillary Clinton
Funny.. Hillary wasn't tired of all the division and barriers when she called tens of millions of Americans "deplorables" and "irredeemable"...
Where was her high and might inclusiveness then???
The fact is, Hillary is feeling the heat of tens of millions of Americans turning against her and her rapist husband...
And now that her emails about ridiculing and attacking Bernie supporters are now public??
Hillary is going down... :D And not in the good way she is accustomed to... :D
Michale
Kick [7] -
Oh, I think he'd name it Trump Informational Television Service.
Heh.
Michale [17] -
I may have laughed about Trump's chances in the first month he started running. But personally, I haven't made a "Trump is toast" prediction since then, because I believed the polls from that point on.
Until last Friday, that is. The only question now is whether the Trump toast will only be lightly browned, or totally burnt.
sd4david [43] -
Only if it happens after the year-end pledge drive, either one of you. Gotta pay the bills first...
:-)
Michale [44] -
Don't forget the most important part of the bet. You're not allowed to explain the T-shirt to anyone that day. No "I lost a bet" comments at all.
Heh.
:-)
-CW
FBI, DOJ roiled by Comey, Lynch decision to let Clinton slide by on emails, says insider
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/10/12/fbi-doj-roiled-by-comey-lynch-decision-to-let-clinton-slide-by-on-emails-says-insider.html
What I tell ya???
Agents and lawyers are in revolt at the FBI and the DOJ...
I predicted this EXACT thing would happen..
Michale
CW,
I may have laughed about Trump's chances in the first month he started running. But personally, I haven't made a "Trump is toast" prediction since then, because I believed the polls from that point on.
Until last Friday, that is. The only question now is whether the Trump toast will only be lightly browned, or totally burnt.
You aren't part of the WPG....
The WPG has excelled at TRUMP IS TOAST predictions on a daily, sometimes HOURLY rate....
And they have *ALWAYS* been wrong...
**ALWAYS** :D
Michale
Only if it happens after the year-end pledge drive, either one of you. Gotta pay the bills first...
Yep.... :D
Don't forget the most important part of the bet. You're not allowed to explain the T-shirt to anyone that day. No "I lost a bet" comments at all.
yea... Not many can stay silent on that.. :D
Michale
CW,
What do you think of Hillary's plan to ignore Bubba's black son???
You think it's a mistake?
Michale
WikiLeaks and BILL IS A RAPIST are really taking it's toll on Camp Clinton.....
Can she survive???
Michale
Hey CW
So, how do you explain that Hillary isn't topping 50% despite Trump's numbers falling?
Is there is an unreported increase in the polling for Johnson and Stein?
Are turnout projections just falling?
Your electoral college columns don't venture into this territory, but you must have some thoughts on the subject.
A
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/10/11/cbs4-investigation-reveals-another-dead-voter-fraud-cases-and-gaps/
If Democrats don't get their cheating and fraud under control, you can bet there will be violence...
So a registered Republican votes by mail 6 weeks after his death by ballot mailed to his home, and a Trump supporter posts it as somehow evidence of Democrats "cheating and fraud." The voter was a registered Republican, and the ballot was mailed to his home.
Does anyone maybe see a problem with Trump inciting his rube followers to blame Democrats of voter fraud if he loses?
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Here we go! http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/politics/donald-trump-women.html?_r=1
Headline:Two Women Say Donald Trump Touched Them Inappropriately
An enlightening little read. I fully expect there will be more such stories coming.
Michale,
Everything will flip blue on 538...
Ignorant House Troll :D
Interesting?? Not so much...
Contradicting Himself Ignorant House Troll :D
Ya'all didn't accept 538 when it was saying Trump had a 50/50 chance of winning..
I have great respect for the 538. Nobody has more respect for the 538 than I do. I have tremendous respect for the 538, and the 538 has respect for me. Are my 2 minutes up yet? sniff, sniff
I have great respect for the 538. Nobody has more respect for the 538 than I do. I have tremendous respect for the 538, and the 538 has respect for me. Are my 2 minutes up yet? sniff, sniff
Yea, that's what you say NOW...
But when 538 was saying the race was all tied up, you wouldn't give 538 the time of day... :^D
Michale
Headline:Two Women Say Donald Trump Touched Them Inappropriately
An enlightening little read. I fully expect there will be more such stories coming.
Until such time as you condemn Bill Clinton for his raping of a woman and all of his sexual assaults, you have no moral foundation to attack Trump for these fantasy accusations by paid Democrat shills..
Michale
Michale,
But when 538 was saying the race was all tied up, you wouldn't give 538 the time of day... :^D
Please continue to prattle on and on about things you know absolutely nothing about. You making yourself look like a total tosser is such a timesaver for the rest of us. :)
Please continue to prattle on and on about things you know absolutely nothing about.
Oh I will...
Just as you will continue to ignore the facts that you simply CAN'T address because they PROVE how wrong you are about everything.. :D
Michale
You see, my sensitive little snowflake..
*I* have facts to back up my comments and positions..
All you have is bigotry and Party enslavement...
:D
Michale
Clinton rape protester beaten at Vegas rally...
http://www.theamericanmirror.com/clinton-campaign-losing-patience-bill-rape-protesters/
Like I said... Ya'all don't mind violence one bit..
As long as it's the Right people being attacked and assaulted..
Textbook hypocrisy
Michale
For decades, every four years the Republicans have used fear-mongering to secure the votes of the white-middle class. I grew up hearing how awful and amoral Liberals were, how illegal immigrants were stealing our jobs, how the "homosexual agenda" wanted to recruit our children, how welfare queens were popping out as many kids as possible and living the high life off of the backs of hard working tax paying citizens, and how all of our financial problems were the Democrats fault with all of their government programs giving away our tax dollars.
The Republicans told us that we were looking at the end of our great nation unless we stopped (insert minority-causing disaster here) from destroying it! And the only people who will stop them are Republicans, so we voted for Republicans. Our nation didn't crumble; crisis averted! Yet every campaign season, these issues would once again threaten our country just like clockwork, and they'd be more dire than ever before, so we continued to be scared and voted straight GOP tickets because we truly loved this country!
When you've been told for 40 years that your hard earned tax dollars go to pay for people who refuse to get a job to enjoy HBO and free rent while you are drowning in debt, it can make a person resentful. The Republicans believed that our attention spans are so short that we wouldn't notice that they have never actually fixed any of the problems that we have been told to fear. They never wanted to fix the problems, because the fears they caused were simply too valuable to them as campaign tools and as distractions from their horrific legislative records.
Then Trump shows up and does something that the GOP never bothered to do... Promised solutions to all of these problems that we were repeatedly facing. His solutions sounded outlandish; but they were to solve problems that were fictional creations intended to cause fear amongst the masses....so the bigger the fake problem, the more outlandish the fake solution must be to solve it! Trump took the GOP's fear-mongering and used it to steal their supporters right out from under them. Yes, there have been plenty of high-ranking Republicans who have spoken out against Trump, but they were ones who knew what was actually behind the curtain of the Great Wizard of Oz, so of course they know how dangerous it is to fix such imaginary problems!
As someone raised Republican and who considered himself a Republican until 2008, it is hard to watch my family and friends continue to drink the GOP's Kool-aid. Using bigotry to fuel fear-mongering just to get votes is an extremely dangerous campaign strategy in a country as big and diverse as this. The GOP has been playing with fire for a long time, and they have finally gotten burned!
Funny.. Hillary wasn't tired of all the division and barriers when she called tens of millions of Americans "deplorables" and "irredeemable"...
She defined "deplorables" as people who are "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic". What would you prefer we call someone like this? Oh wait, I know....
"Mr. President"
Funny.. Hillary wasn't tired of all the division and barriers when she called tens of millions of Americans "deplorables" and "irredeemable"...
She defined "deplorables" as people who are "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic". What would you prefer we call someone like this? Oh wait, I know....
"Mr. President"
For decades, every four years the Republicans have used fear-mongering to secure the votes of the white-middle class.
Oh puuulleeesseee..
Ya'all are on record as stating if Trump is elected, he is going to launch a nuclear attack..
THAT's fear mongering....
Jeeeze...
Michale
She defined "deplorables" as people who are "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic".
Nice try to re-write recent history..
Hillary defined HALF of Trump supporters as "people who are "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic". "
You lose...
Michale
Hillary defined HALF of Drumpf supporters as "people who are "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic"
...and apologized and recanted the percentage.
nonetheless, those groups do seem more drawn to his candidacy than to hers, along with those who openly discriminate against veterans, overweight, disabled... pretty much any protected class one can name, donald's supporters are foremost among those who they need to be protected from.
as we've established, a candidate is not necessarily responsible for all the actions and attitudes of his supporters. however, if said candidate actively encourages such people's behavior instead of denouncing them and their support, then that IS his responsibility. likewise, if he echoes and re-tweets those people's words and actions, that is also his responsibility.
with the exception of the sexual improprieties (for which there's hard evidence), i tend to believe the rest is not due to any malice on his part.
i'd chalk it up to "extreme carelessness."
;)
JL
altohone [62] -
I'd explain it by pointing out that if Trump weren't the GOP candidate, Hillary would be the most unpopular candidate since polling on the subject began. Also, strength of 3rd party candidates, which may or may not hold up on Election Day. Bill Clinton won twice but didn't crack 50%, due to Perot.
-CW
Michale,
All you have is bigotry and Party enslavement...
More projection from you, *snowflake* !!!
Poor dumb *flake*, he thinks he has facts, but all he's really got is spoon fed propaganda from the right-wing bubble and the same two lame arguments as outlined above. *LOL* :D
Hillary defined HALF of Drumpf supporters as "people who are "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic"
...and apologized and recanted the percentage.
Which isn't my point..
Listen tried to deny that Hillary did in fact say it..
The fact that Hillary backpedaled PROVED it wasn't an accurate thing to say...
Michale
More projection from you, *snowflake* !!!
I ain't the one who is a card carrying Party member, sweet cheeks.. :D
Look in the mirror to see who is enslaved by Party ideology...
Michale
i'd chalk it up to "extreme carelessness."
HILLARY LAUNCHES NUCLEAR STRIKE
"i'd chalk it up to 'extreme carelessness.' "
-NYPoet22
:D
Hillary is so extremely careless about so many things...
And THAT is who you want as your President??
Mind-boggling... :D
Michale
U of Florida offers 24/7 counseling for students ‘troubled’ by Halloween costumes
http://www.theamericanmirror.com/u-florida-offers-247-counseling-students-troubled-halloween-costumes/
Those are snowflakes, sweet cheeks...
Ironically enough, they are all Democrats.. :D
Michale
Hey CW
Sorry, just noticed your reply.
Your honesty is awesome.
A