The establishment folks double down against Trump

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

The establishment is not capable of understanding. It's not about Trump. We, most of the republican voters, hate you. We do. We do not want you in elected office. EVER.  AGAIN.   

I wonder what sort of super boost this will give Trump.

Entertainment!!!

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/03/09/huffpos-grim-54-private-jets-at-meeting-to-stop-trump/

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/03/09/john-hayward-on-tech-mogul-conspiracy-to-stop-trump/

[brimic]

I have to agree here.
I wouldn't spare the time to urinate on any of those attendees if they were on fire- they ARE the problem.

[Perd Hapley]

The Romney Rant lends much credence to the notion that Trump is actually the establishment candidate. They don't want to be thrown in that briar patch. Really. Really, they really don't.

[makattak]

The Romney Rant lends much credence to the notion that Trump is actually the establishment candidate. They don't want to be thrown in that briar patch. Really. Really, they really don't.

I'd be willing to believe that, except that such a notion implies the establishment is intelligent enough to act with reverse psychology.




You know, the same people that thought that ¡JEB! Bush was a great investment.

[Ron]

Trump is not an ideologue and speaks the establishment language of "let's make a deal".

I doubt he is their candidate even though they probably feel they could co-opt him.

Cruz is more of an ideologue than Trump by far.

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

I liked Cruz, for the most part. Then he starred to run for Prez. Then he did his Iowa hit job on Carson. And every time I hear him speak, that preacher "Bow to God, after you give me money" voice, I can't stand him. That and he is trying very hard to convince folks (and has been successful for the most part) that he is not part of the establishment of cartel he stands against. Of course, he is.

[Perd Hapley]

Not the Carson mythology again. Groan. Trump did a nice job smearing him with that one. He knows how to work people, alright.

[Ben]

No matter what your opinion is on Trump, it's astonishing to me how out of touch the entrenched establishment is. They really think they're "saving" us, when it's them we're trying to be saved from. It doesn't appear to be that much different on the D side, with people like Wasserman-Schultz in full denial mode.

[Perd Hapley]

Trump is not an ideologue and speaks the establishment language of "let's make a deal".

I doubt he is their candidate even though they probably feel they could co-opt him.

Cruz is more of an ideologue than Trump by far.

Do I detect someone using "ideologue" in a non-pejorative sense?    A red-letter day.

[AJ Dual]

Not the Carson mythology again. Groan. Trump did a nice job smearing him with that one. He knows how to work people, alright.

This. It was bad wording/misquote on the part of CNN, and the Rubio camp fell for it too.

[makattak]

Not the Carson mythology again. Groan. Trump did a nice job smearing him with that one. He knows how to work people, alright.

Trump continues this because Cruz is one of the most honest politicians* today.

That's why he continues to call Cruz a liar, because Trump is well aware that he (Trump) is considered untrustworthy. So, knowing there is almost nothing he can do to actually increase the faith people place in his word, he must make himself comparatively better off by attacking his opponents as untrustworthy. ("He's just a liar!")

This, of course, simply emphasizes his own lack of forthrightness for me.



*Note: He's still a politician, so remember it's a low bar.

[T.O.M.]

America is ripe for a third political party.  The public base of the Republican party is turning their back on the organization by supporting Trump, against the will of the GOP.  It appears that the Dems aren't too thrilled with their choices, either.  A third party, perhaps with libertarian elements, may be able to gather support from both sides of the aisle.  Problem is that much like Teddy Roosevelt with the Bull Moose party, you need a strong figure in the lead who doesn't come across to everyone as some kind of fringe lunatic.  You need a man or a woman who is outside of either party, capable of standing in front of a crowd and speaking intelligently, and who has good solid ideas for making things better...all things.

[makattak]

America is ripe for a third political party.  The public base of the Republican party is turning their back on the organization by supporting Trump, against the will of the GOP.  It appears that the Dems aren't too thrilled with their choices, either.  A third party, perhaps with libertarian elements, may be able to gather support from both sides of the aisle.  Problem is that much like Teddy Roosevelt with the Bull Moose party, you need a strong figure in the lead who doesn't come across to everyone as some kind of fringe lunatic.  You need a man or a woman who is outside of either party, capable of standing in front of a crowd and speaking intelligently, and who has good solid ideas for making things better...all things.

I'd love a Federalist party, whose only position is devolving most of the Federal Government's current powers back to the States. No position of social issues, no position on economic issues or tax levels (in general) except that the Federal Government should be doing as little as possible.

That way, if you want to have your little environmentalist/socialist (or libertarian/anarchocapitalist) utopia, you can go ahead and set that up in California (or New Hampshire) and leave the rest of us alone.


Of course, that's not about to happen. Can't have political comity as people just self-sort as to what kind of state they'd prefer.

[Perd Hapley]

I'd love a Federalist party, whose only position is devolving most of the Federal Government's current powers back to the States. No position of social issues, no position on economic issues or tax levels (in general) except that the Federal Government should be doing as little as possible.

I'm not sure how that would work. The party may say it has no opinion on social issues, but one of the planks you just outlined is essentially a call for Roe v. Wade and Obergefell to be overturned. Sounds great to me, but I'm pretty sure that would be incredibly controversial.

Now, if you'd started that party about 45 years ago...

[brimic]

.  Problem is that much like Teddy Roosevelt with the Bull Moose party, you need a strong figure in the lead who doesn't come across to everyone as some kind of fringe lunatic.  You need a man or a woman who is outside of either party, capable of standing in front of a crowd and speaking intelligently, and who has good solid ideas for making things better...all things.

Yes, the problem is that whenever we get a guy who is on the right track, he eventually discredits everything he stands for by saying something like "Jet fuel doesn't melt steel!!!1111ELEVENTY"

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

Not the Carson mythology again. Groan. Trump did a nice job smearing him with that one. He knows how to work people, alright.

Well. According to Fox News, Cruz is being accused of the same damn thing in Hawaii towards Rubio.

So, also looks like Fox, Megyn Kelly, are now pimping Cruz. Sweet, spit swapping going on. The crawler that shows what sound bite Cruz just said, was showing the sound bite before it came out of his mouth. Nice coordination 

[charby]

The Cruz-ators are already talking about staying home on election day if Trump gets the nod.

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

The Cruz-ators are already talking about staying home on election day if Trump gets the nod.

Let the butthurt bastards stay home. More entertainment. 

[charby]

Let the butthurt bastards stay home. More entertainment. 

Then we'd have another Clinton in the whitehouse.

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

Then we'd have another Clinton in the whitehouse.

Well. Then the Cruz-bots will be responsible.

[RoadKingLarry]

Then we'd have another Clinton in the whitehouse.

You say that like it isn't already a foregone conclusion.

The only possible way Clinton will not be elected president is if the DOJ indicts her before the DNC convention. In that remote possibility, Biden or Warren can jump in to save the day but I just don't see it happening.
The GOP will continue it's self-destructive, defend the establishment at all costs campaign. Unless Trump or possibly Cruz actually makes it to the convention with enough delegates to secure the nomination we will see a brokered convention and end up with an establishment hack as the nominee. I would expect some combination of Kasich/Romney/Rubio/Bush for the final* GOP ticket. And, even if Trump or Cruz score enough delegates I still would not be surprised with back door dealings at the convention to take the nomination away from him and give us yet another limp dick candidate.

The Republic is dead.


* By final I do indeed mean the last one we will ever see.

[Perd Hapley]

The Cruz-ators are already talking about staying home on election day if Trump gets the nod.

Well. Then the Cruz-bots will be responsible.

Um, I'm pretty sure the Republican anti-Trump sentiment is much wider than just Cruz's supporters. (And wouldn't we be Cruz-aders, rather than Cruz-ators? (As opposed to Cruz-haters.))

This Cruzader hasn't ruled out a vote for Trump in the general, and I don't expect to rule it out. I've seen plenty of internet commentia along the lines of "I prefer Cruz, but Trump wouldn't be half-bad." I suspect my tribe is more numerous than some might think.

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

If the establishment try's and succeeds in stealing the nomination from Trump (or any other one who rightfully represents the will of the people) I will either not vote at all or vote a straight democrat ticket. I am not alone in this line of thinking. The establishment has to die. Career politicians need to just fade away. And FWIW, I include Cruz in the career politician catagory.

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

I'm sure the establishment elites will not take this seriously.

http://m.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2016/24_of_gop_voters_are_very_likely_to_vote_for_trump_if_he_runs_as_a_third_party_candidate?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyNewsletter

[MikeB]

Um, I'm pretty sure the Republican anti-Trump sentiment is much wider than just Cruz's supporters. (And wouldn't we be Cruz-aders, rather than Cruz-ators? (As opposed to Cruz-haters.))

This Cruzader hasn't ruled out a vote for Trump in the general, and I don't expect to rule it out. I've seen plenty of internet commentia along the lines of "I prefer Cruz, but Trump wouldn't be half-bad." I suspect my tribe is more numerous than some might think.

I think this is probably more true than not.

I haven't actively supported anyone yet. Being in PA we rarely actually get a vote before the Primary is already decided so I've never really had much choice in the past.

I'd prefer Cruz, but would have no real issues voting for Trump over Clinton or Sanders. FWIW I'd feel better voting for Cruz or Trump than I did voting for McCain or Romney.