2016 Presidential Election Thread

[wa3zrm]

Sanders vowing to break up banks during first year in office

Characterizing Wall Street as an industry run on "greed, fraud, dishonesty and arrogance," Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders pledged to break up the country's biggest financial firms within a year and limit banking fees placed on consumers, should he become president, in a fiery speech on Tuesday.
He coupled that promise, delivered in front of a raucous crowd just a few subway stops from Wall Street, with a series of attacks on rival Hillary Clinton, arguing her personal and political ties make her unable to truly take on the financial industry.
"To those on Wall Street who may be listening today, let me be very clear: Greed is not good," said Sanders, in a reference to Oliver Stone's 1980s film, "Wall Street."
"If Wall Street does not end its greed, we will end it for them," he said, as a cheering audience jumped to its feet. ...

(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...

[wa3zrm]

New survey shows a sizable number of Democrats ready to defect from Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump

So if Donald Trump proved the political universe wrong and won the Republican presidential nomination, he would be creamed by Hillary Clinton, correct?
A new survey of likely voters might at least raise momentary dyspepsia for Democrats since it suggests why it wouldn't be a cakewalk.
The survey by Washington-based Mercury Analytics is a combination online questionnaire and "dial-test" of Trump's first big campaign ad among 916 self-proclaimed "likely voters" (this video shows the ad and the dial test results). It took place primarily Wednesday and Thursday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.
Nearly 20 percent of likely Democratic voters say they'd cross sides and vote for Trump, while a small number, or 14 percent, of Republicans claim they'd vote for Clinton. When those groups were further broken down, a far higher percentage of the crossover Democrats contend they are "100 percent sure" of switching than the Republicans.
When the firmed showed respondents the Trump ad, and assessed their responses to each moment of it, it found "the primary messages of Trump's ad resonated more than Democratic elites would hope."
About 25 percent of Democrats "agree completely" that it raises some good point, with an additional 19 percent agreeing at least "somewhat."
Mercury CEO Ron Howard, a Democrat whose firm works for candidates in both parties and corporate clients, concedes, "We expected Trump's first campaign spot to strongly appeal to Republican Trump supporters, with little impact - or in fact negative impact - on Democratic or independent voters."

(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...

[wa3zrm]

Dean: ‘Donald Trump Has Finally Met More Than His Match’ in Bill Clinton

Friday on MSNBC while discussing Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trumps strategy to attack former President Bill Clinton to weaken his potential general election opponent Hillary Clinton, former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean echoed his sentiments from yesterday when he said that strategy was ill-advised.

Dean said, "I would say that Donald Trump has finally met more than his match. Bill Clintons the best politician in this country, probably the best we've seen in this country since Franklin Roosevelt. And he's not going to respond to Donald Trump. Donald Trump is really good at what he does. His skills don't compare to Bill Clintons skills. So, I think hes just helping us by criticizing Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton's going to let it float. He'll come up with a couple of great one liners that will put him down. This is like Newt Gingrich complaining about being in the back of the plane. It completely undid the whole Republican attack on Clinton in 1996, or whatever it was.
You just don't mess with Bill Clinton. You're going to be finding yourself six feet under before you know your name.

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...

[wa3zrm]

Farrakhan: Trump will 'take America into the abyss of hell'

The leader of a prominent Islamic religious movement has harsh words for Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
"If Donald Trump becomes president, he will take America into the abyss of hell," Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said on his Facebook page Thursday.
In a video, Farrakhan said Trump will "take America where America is heading" if he becomes president.
"If he becomes your president, you'll be just like him. ... When you get leadership that is not rooted in justice, then they begin to make the people just like themselves," he said....

(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...

[Burnsey]

I think there are a lot of people out there that are fed up and like Trump because of the way he talks; however, when they go into the voting booth are they really going to vote for someone like him? I have no idea. I was very ant-Reagan during the day and he turned out to be one of the best presidents we have ever had (JMOP). I don't know if Trump is another Reagan. And, based on my track record, don't trust anything I think. I also thought that in the late 1970's that personal computers were just a passing fad.

I voted for RR twice, I was an ABC voter (anybody but Carter).....in retrospect, once might have been enough?

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. - Ronald Reagan

[wa3zrm]

Jeb Challenges Trump to Debate – Trump Posts Photo of Jeb Picking Nose

Jeb Bush, who is still running for president, challenged Donald Trump to debate today.
"I'll take you on one-on-one in a debate. Anytime, anyplace, I'll do it."
Later today Donald Trump posted a photo of Jeb picking his nose.

(Excerpt) Read more at thegatewaypundit.com ...

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[wa3zrm]

Donald Trump Trashes Michelle Malkin On Twitter: You’re A ‘Dummy’ And ‘Were Born Stupid’

So looks like Michelle Malkin and Donald Trump are having a good ole Twitter spat.

Malkins conservative Twitter aggregator site Twitchy took to calling the real estate mogul and recent CPAC speaker Trump a conservafraud.

Shortly thereafter, Malkin took to Twitter as she is wont to do to ask Trump why he once called her a dummy and smeared her past.

(Excerpt) Read more at mediaite.com ...

[wa3zrm]

Ted Cruz Is Not the Social Conservative Rick Santorum Is Looking For
Red State ^ |

Rick Santorum is in what will hopefully be his last run for the White House. I’ve long felt sorry for him for a couple of reasons. First, he’s fated to ever be a Jeremiah or Cassandra. He’s been right a lot but no one really cares. And why does no one care? Because Santorum doesn’t inspire, he hectors and nags and sounds generally unpleasant. I like his view point but I have to fight the urge to stick myself in the eye with something sharp whenever he starts to speak. These are not good traits to have in a politician. Arguably, in 2012 Santorum filled a needed space in the GOP field… he was actually THE conservative in that race. I’m not sure what his role is today.
Yesterday, Santorum appeared on NewsMax TV and basically unloaded on Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) saying that he really isn’t a social conservative (danger BuzzFeed link that may or may not include nude dancing cats):

…Ted Cruz takes the position, very much a 10th Amendment, states rights, which is, you know, very much Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Ron Paul position," Santorum said.
"They're being sold, Ted Cruz says, 'Oh, I'm this social conservative,'" Santorum continued, saying people haven't had a chance to actually look the candidates positions on social issues.
Citing an article in the Iowa Republican which declared Cruz "False Prophet Of Social Conservatism," the former senator said many would look at Cruz and say, "what a minute, he says he's these things, but he's not."
"It's basically that he's not the social conservative that he's portraying himself to be and is the answer is he's not," added Santorum, citing a Politico story where Cruz said on a secret tape at a fundraiser that he wouldn't make fighting same-sex marriage a top three priority in his administration.
"If people want to do drugs in Colorado, it's fine with him," said Santorum. "If people want have different kind of marriages, it's fine with him. He doesn't agree with it. If you want to have an abortion, it's fine with him, he doesn't agree with it, but he's not gonna fight it. That's not what people are looking for. They're looking for someone who has a very clear vision of what's right and what's wrong and be able to lay that vision out for the American people."

I’m always at a loss when I confront arguments like this from people who claim to be social conservatives. You can’t take Santorum’s position and then turn around and claim the left is wrong when they say you want to institute a “theocracy.” The heart of conservatism, fiscal or social, is that smaller government is better government. What Santorum basically wants is for us to do to the left what they have been doing to us on social issues: use the power of the state to enforce their point of view.
There is nothing non-conservative about saying that you are willing to allow the voters of Colorado to legalize drugs or the voters of Massachusetts to legalize homosexual marriage. That doesn’t make those decisions right but what social conservatism is about is creating a space where people of faith are free to campaign to have their view be the dominant one. On abortion that means fighting in all states to have abortion outlawed. It doesn’t mean you have to win in all states. It means getting the Supreme Court out of these issues and not imposing Anthony Kennedy’s perverted view of human sexuality upon 300 million people.
All of this recycling Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)'s attack on Ted Cruz has the same feeling of sour grapes as Mike Huckabee’s attack. In 2012, Santorum received nearly 25% of the vote in Iowa. Today his is polling a solid 0%. He has to be wondering why the voters who came out for him last time aren’t even listening to him. The obvious reason is that in 2012, homosexual marriage was a hot button issue. Today it is the law of the land and we are desperately fighting for the ability of religious people to not have to participate in this travesty. The battles are different. The battlefield has changed. Santorum’s social conservatism was never an easy fit with traditional live-and-let-live social conservatism and it is simply not viable today.

[wa3zrm]

I think there are a lot of people out there that are fed up and like Trump because of the way he talks; however, when they go into the voting booth are they really going to vote for someone like him? I have no idea. I was very ant-Reagan during the day and he turned out to be one of the best presidents we have ever had (JMOP). I don't know if Trump is another Reagan. And, based on my track record, don't trust anything I think. I also thought that in the late 1970's that personal computers were just a passing fad.

[Burnsey]

Clipped from an email I received today.......

This is why Trump is zooming ahead. He is at least talking about issues that most Americans are concerned about. My mantra about Trump is this: We are usually in agreement with most of what he says but wish someone else was saying it.

[wa3zrm]

What I find most interesting about the Trump phenomonon is that the polls cannot really be believed.

It seems that verbally expressing true opinions (and/or support) about the rise of "Trump" is the absolute height of public shame for the person being polled or sitting around a coffee shop.

So we will never really know just how well (or badly) The Donald is doing: until the voter enters the secrecy of the ballot box.

Dan

Maybe Trump is buying off all the pollsters?

[DanF]

What I find most interesting about the Trump phenomonon is that the polls cannot really be believed.

It seems that verbally expressing true opinions (and/or support) about the rise of "Trump" is the absolute height of public shame for the person being polled or sitting around a coffee shop.

So we will never really know just how well (or badly) The Donald is doing: until the voter enters the secrecy of the ballot box.

Dan

[wa3zrm]

Trump’s decline

Two recent developments have raised questions about billionaire Donald Trump's staying power as a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. One is the latest national poll from Quinnipiac indicating that Mr. Trump's commanding lead over his Republican rivals may have slipped. Mr. Trump came in with 28 percent, just four percentage points ahead of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who seems to be enjoying a bit of a political surge at the moment. The survey had Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 12 percent and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 10 percent. Jeb Bush, considered some months back as the likely nominee based on name, family and resume, was favored by only 4 percent of respondents.

The other development was Mr. Trump's crude comments alluding to Hillary Clinton's late return from a bathroom break during the Democratic presidential debate at New Hampshire's Saint Anselm College on Saturday. "I know where she went -- it's disgusting, I don't want to talk about it," said Mr. Trump to a large crowed afterward. "No, it's too disgusting. Don't say it, it's disgusting." He later dismissed her as a loser, saying she had been "schlonged" by Barack Obama in the 2008 contest for the Democratic nomination.

Now we've all seen the coarsening of American society in recent decades, manifest in the popular culture, in the way we treat each other, and, yes, in political discourse. And we all know that Mr. Trump takes the cake in his willingness to employ coarse political language, as when he seemed to make reference to Fox commentator Megyn Kelly's menstrual cycle, dismissed Sen. John McCain's war record because he somehow allowed himself to become a prisoner of war (he was shot down over North Vietnam) and mocked a disabled newspaper reporter.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...

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[wa3zrm]

Donald Trump leads an insane white cult — and Pat Buchanan just explained how it works

GOP front-runner leads cult of personality centered around white alienation, racial resentment and authoritarianism.

Donald Trump is the front-runner in the 2016 Republican presidential primary race. He leads his closest rival, Ted Cruz, by a substantial margin. Trumps proto-fascism, xenophobia and bigotry are not anomalies or outliers. These values are held by a large percentage of Republicans.
Donald Trump validates these feelings. As such, it is now fundamentally clear that Donald Trump is a hero and leader for many conservatives in the Age of Obama.
Most members of the pundit class have been befuddled by the ascendance of Donald Trump. But, there is one person who has solved this riddle.
In a little-discussed editorial written several weeks ago, Pat Buchanan offered the following analysis:
Enter The Donald.
His popularity is traceable to the fact that he rejects the moral authority of the media, breaks their commandments, and mocks their condemnations. His contempt for the norms of Political Correctness is daily on display.....

(Excerpt) Read more at salon.com ...