Cruz says Trump ‘embodies New York values’
01/12/16 09:03 PM
By Hallie Jackson
The truce is no more.
Presidential candidate Ted Cruz had once steadfastly maintained that he wouldn’t engage in attacks against GOP front-runner Donald Trump, as the two enjoyed rising polls and heavy crossover support from GOP primary voters.
But after the two began jockeying in earnest for front-runner status - and after Trump unleashed a series of attacks on Cruz’s immigration stance and his eligibility to be president - the Texas senator is hitting back, albeit in a way that he hopes won’t alienate the most strident of Trump backers.
In an interview on the Howie Carr radio show Tuesday, Cruz suggested that Trump should play “New York, New York” at his rallies – rather than “Born in the USA,” which Trump has recently started airing as a clear dig at Cruz’s Canadian birthplace.
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz (R-TX) puts his hand in his pocket as he speaks at a campaign stop at Union Jacks Grill in Rock Rapids, Iowa Jan. 6, 2016.
Photo by Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters
“I think he may shift in his new rallies to playing ‘New York, New York’ because Donald comes from New York and he embodies New York values,” Cruz said. “And listen, The Donald seems to be a little bit rattled.”The rhetorical slap appears to be an effort to head off the possibility that Trump’s attacks on Cruz’s status as a “natural born citizen” could hurt Cruz with his own coalition.
Trump repeated those charges at a rally Tuesday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa, suggesting that he did not initiate the attack but that Cruz must address his “problem” regarding his eligibility to serve as president.
A Cruz aide, earlier in the day, denied to NBC News that the line of attack has hurt the candidate, saying of the charge “We haven’t seen any evidence it’s resonating.”
In the Tuesday radio interview, Cruz also responded to Trump’s comment that “you don’t see a lot of evangelicals coming out of Cuba,” a reference appearing to question Cruz’s faith.
“Any time someone is attacking your faith that starts to suggest they’re getting really nervous about what’s happening in the race,” Cruz said before repeating that he hopes “not to engage in the mudslinging.”
Earlier Tuesday, Cruz drew ties between supporters of Hillary Clinton and those who back Trump.
Citing Trump’s references to Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe, who has cast doubt on Cruz’s eligibility to be president, Cruz branded Tribe “a liberal left-wing judicial activist Harvard Law professor who is a huge Hillary supporter.”
“Gosh, why are Hillary’s strongest supporters backing Donald Trump?’” he asked reporters in New Hampshire.
“It seems the Hillary folks are very eager to support Donald Trump and the attacks that are being tossed my direction,” he added.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/cruz-says-trump-embodies-new-york-values
01/12/16 09:03 PM
By Hallie Jackson
The truce is no more.
Presidential candidate Ted Cruz had once steadfastly maintained that he wouldn’t engage in attacks against GOP front-runner Donald Trump, as the two enjoyed rising polls and heavy crossover support from GOP primary voters.
But after the two began jockeying in earnest for front-runner status - and after Trump unleashed a series of attacks on Cruz’s immigration stance and his eligibility to be president - the Texas senator is hitting back, albeit in a way that he hopes won’t alienate the most strident of Trump backers.
In an interview on the Howie Carr radio show Tuesday, Cruz suggested that Trump should play “New York, New York” at his rallies – rather than “Born in the USA,” which Trump has recently started airing as a clear dig at Cruz’s Canadian birthplace.
Photo by Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters
“I think he may shift in his new rallies to playing ‘New York, New York’ because Donald comes from New York and he embodies New York values,” Cruz said. “And listen, The Donald seems to be a little bit rattled.”The rhetorical slap appears to be an effort to head off the possibility that Trump’s attacks on Cruz’s status as a “natural born citizen” could hurt Cruz with his own coalition.
Trump repeated those charges at a rally Tuesday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa, suggesting that he did not initiate the attack but that Cruz must address his “problem” regarding his eligibility to serve as president.
A Cruz aide, earlier in the day, denied to NBC News that the line of attack has hurt the candidate, saying of the charge “We haven’t seen any evidence it’s resonating.”
In the Tuesday radio interview, Cruz also responded to Trump’s comment that “you don’t see a lot of evangelicals coming out of Cuba,” a reference appearing to question Cruz’s faith.
“Any time someone is attacking your faith that starts to suggest they’re getting really nervous about what’s happening in the race,” Cruz said before repeating that he hopes “not to engage in the mudslinging.”
Earlier Tuesday, Cruz drew ties between supporters of Hillary Clinton and those who back Trump.
Citing Trump’s references to Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe, who has cast doubt on Cruz’s eligibility to be president, Cruz branded Tribe “a liberal left-wing judicial activist Harvard Law professor who is a huge Hillary supporter.”
“Gosh, why are Hillary’s strongest supporters backing Donald Trump?’” he asked reporters in New Hampshire.
“It seems the Hillary folks are very eager to support Donald Trump and the attacks that are being tossed my direction,” he added.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/cruz-says-trump-embodies-new-york-values
To make a paragraph. Also correct the font. Shall I demonstrate?
Your post (unreadable) followed by your post (with a little effort)
DONALD TRUMP’S ART OF THE STEAL
Time
There is a reason most presidential candidates stump through diners and living rooms this time of year. They can’t fill a bigger room.
And then there is Donald J. Trump.
On the second day of January, in the Gulf Coast town of Biloxi, Miss., at least 13,000 stood for hours in a stinging chill to pack an entire sports arena for Trump, and when that venue was full, the overflow spilled into a second megaspace nearby. Trump called it the biggest crowd in Mississippi political history, which is exactly what you’d expect him to say, and also entirely plausible.
A few days earlier, Trump had packed a convention hall in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Two days later, he filled the 8,000-seat Paul Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass., with people who waited on line in subfreezing cold. The next night, after standing for two hours in single-digit temperatures, locals filled the equivalent of two high school gymnasia on the Vermont–New Hampshire border to catch Trump’s revival show.
Given these crowds, the unprecedented Trump-driven television ratings for GOP debates and his unsinkable run at the top of the national polls–a streak of more than five months and counting–even the most mainstream Republicans are coming to grips with an idea they have resisted since last summer. This could be their nominee. And they are asking themselves, could they stop worrying and, perhaps, learn to love the Donald?
Leading Republicans unhappily find themselves deep in “probing” conversation, asking, “perhaps he wouldn’t be so bad,” says veteran strategist and lobbyist Ed Rogers. True, Trump is a wild card, a flamethrower, a man with no known party loyalties and no coherent political principles, a thrice-married casino mogul and reality-TV star, a narcissist and even a demagogue. On the other hand: Biloxi.
At a time when the crown princes of Republican politics can’t mount so much as a two-car parade, Trump is drawing the biggest crowds by far. He has the largest social-media footprint–again, by far–and lodges the sharpest attacks on Hillary Clinton while attracting the greatest number of potential recruits to Republican ranks. As a result, Washington insiders from both parties are now calling around to GOP heavies, asking, “Do you know anybody on Trump’s campaign? Who is on his foreign-policy team? I need to get to know them fast.” Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, who entertained a discussion of Stop Trump strategies at a meeting late last year, now consults regularly with the front runner by phone. Even if the GOP could resist, should it? “He’s got the mo, he’s got the masses,” says Rick Hohlt, a GOP strategist. “He’s attracting a new class of voters.” Efforts to stop him have failed miserably; meanwhile, Trump may be getting smarter as a candidate, adds Hohlt. “He knows when to push and when to back off.”
The man is moving people, and politics does not get more basic than that. Trump is a bonfire in a field of damp kindling—an overcrowded field of governors and former governors and junior Senators still trying to strike a spark. His nearest rival, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, has traction in Iowa among the evangelical bloc and—in contrast to Trump—is a tried-and-true conservative. But with little more than half the support Trump boasts in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls, Cruz has a long way to go to show that he can move masses.
Cruz staffers, tellingly, have been studying a 1967 tome titled Suite 3505 as a playbook for their campaign. This F. Clifton White memoir, long out of print, tells the story of the 1964 Barry Goldwater campaign. That was the last successful populist rebellion inside the Republican Party, propelling a rock-ribbed conservative past the Establishment insiders–just as Cruz hopes to do. But this triumph of intramural knife fighting proved a disaster at general-election time. Goldwater suffered one of the worst defeats in American political history. It’s no wonder that GOP leaders are every bit as wary of Cruz as they are of Trump.
In short, the GOP has awakened less than a month from the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary to find itself in bed between a bombshell and a kamikaze. It’s a sobering dawn for a political party that seemed, not long ago, just a tweak or two away from glory. Republicans dominate America’s state legislatures and governors’ mansions. They control both houses of Congress. So why is their electorate leaning toward the outstretched grip of such a man as Trump?
And could Trump be a sign of something bigger even than himself?
Traditional GOP power brokers have long since lost count of the indignities Trump has inflicted on their rites and rituals. Since entering the race in June with a fantastical promise to wall off America’s southern border and send the bill to Mexico, Trump has shredded the political rule book, scattering the pieces from his private helicopter. Have mouth, will travel. Policies that would be preposterous coming from anyone else–like barring all Muslims from entering the country or hiking U.S. tariffs while somehow erasing trade barriers erected by other nations–sound magical to his supporters when served up by their hero. Outrages that would sink an ordinary candidate, like mocking a person who has a congenital disease or giving a pass to Vladimir Putin for the murder of Russian journalists, lifted Trump atop the polls and then helped keep him there. What Flubber was to physics, Trump is to politics: an antidote to gravity, cooked up by a quirky but prodigious amateur.
Other candidates work to relate their lives to the struggles of ordinary voters. Trump does the opposite, encouraging Americans to savor vicariously his billionaire’s privilege of saying whatever he damn well pleases. “I love Donald Trump because he’s so totally politically incorrect. He’s gone after every group,” says Greg Casady, 61, an Army veteran who joined an immense Trump rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa. “He’s spending his own bucks–therefore he doesn’t have to play the politically correct game. He says what we wish we could say but we can’t afford to anymore.”
Trump is an anomaly, but not the only one in this 2016 campaign. There is Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an avowed socialist who leads the early polls in the New Hampshire Democratic primary–despite the fact that he spent most of his career spurning the Democrats. Though not as shocking or aggressive as Trump, Sanders is no less the darling of a discontented army. He too draws large audiences–but unlike Trump, Sanders faces an even stronger opponent in former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Big Money, the supposed superpower of post–Citizens United politics, is a dud so far. Super-PAC bets by various billionaires have done nothing to fire up such candidates as former Florida governor Jeb Bush. Bush has filled screens in key states with millions of dollars in both positive and negative ads. The result: falling poll numbers. Touted as a front runner a year ago, Bush is mired in single digits and rang in the new year by announcing that he was scrapping a round of ads in favor of more ground troops in early-voting states.
Big Media too has been brought low. The collapse of Trump was predicted so often, so erroneously, in so many outlets that the spectacle was almost comic, like a soap opera that keeps killing off the same deathless character. Televised debates became seminars in media ethics, with candidates delivering stern lectures to their questioners, while offscreen, campaigns threatened to boycott networks and blacklist reporters.
What if all of these groundswells are part of the same tsunami? By coming to grips with Trump, Republicans might begin grasping the future of presidential politics, as the digital forces that have upended commerce and communications in recent years begin to shake the bedrock of civic life.
Disintermediation is a long word for a seemingly simple idea: dumping the middleman. It came into use a half-century ago to describe changes in the banking business. A generation later, the term described a key concept of the Internet age. In one field after another, the power of networked computing swept middlemen out of the picture. Ubiquitous retailers like RadioShack and Waldenbooks have either downsized or vanished as their customers go online to buy directly from manufacturers and warehousers. Netflix shutters the Blockbuster chain by mailing movies directly to viewers–then offers streaming, which cuts out the mailbox as well. Craigslist drains the advertising lifeblood from local newspapers, and local libraries reinvent themselves after the web puts the world in your pocket. It’s a familiar story, one of the megatrends of our era.
Donald Trump is history’s most disintermediated presidential front runner. He has sidestepped the traditional middlemen–party, press, pollsters and pooh-bahs–to sell his candidacy directly to voters, building on a relationship he has nurtured with the public from project to project across decades.
As far back as 1986, Trump began seeding this direct relationship with the public. That was the year he goaded New York City Mayor Ed Koch into handing over the disastrous renovation of the Wollman ice-skating rink in Central Park. The decline of New York was an old story by then, and the ice rink was a sorrow symbol. City bureaucrats had turned a routine rehab into a six-year slog with no end in sight. Trump took the reins, and the project took less than six months. He cut the ribbon on a beautifully finished rink, completed ahead of schedule and below budget, with live TV there to cover it.
He followed up with more self-styled rescue missions: the East Coast shuttle operations of dying Eastern Airlines, for example, and the ruined paradise of Atlantic City. Launched with fanfare (if often abandoned in silence), these efforts burnished Trump’s image as a can-do, cut-the-crap businessman–even as he risked his fortune. This is part of the power of owning your image, free of the mediators. You can tell your own story, even if it is not entirely true. Trump’s a fine businessman, with a keen eye for bargains and a knack for leverage. Where he is peerless is as a promoter; he is the Michelangelo of ballyhoo.
A masterstroke in 2004 vaulted him free of remaining middlemen; that’s when Trump debuted his television show, The Apprentice. Tens of millions of Americans followed the cameras past the gatekeepers and into a direct relationship with the purse-lipped entrepreneur. That this intimacy is an illusion doesn’t really matter; it has an undeniable power to create loyal followings for even the unlikeliest characters. From the Kardashians of Rodeo Drive to the Robertsons of Duck Dynasty, from the Cake Boss to Honey Boo Boo, the crafted characters of reality TV experience a different kind of stardom from the TV and movie idols of the past. Fans are encouraged to feel that they know these people, not as fictional characters but as flesh and blood.
Something similar goes on in every celebrity Twitter feed or Instagram account. Properly tended, the social network of skilled disintermediators can grow to encompass tens of millions of people, all sharing a joke or commiserating over a disappointment or comparing breakfasts with their famous “friend.” The pop star Taylor Swift’s nearly 70 million Twitter followers recently overheard her share a Christmas memory with her brother Austin and chuckled at a picture of her cute elf costume.
Peggy Lemke, 64, from Dows, Iowa, is one of many voters who see what is going on. “Trump is a reality-show phenomenon,” she says. “His supporters treat this like American Idol. We treat everything like American Idol. I’m having a really hard time taking this seriously.”
Disintermediation is not entirely new. In 1941, the radio personality W. Lee “Pappy” O’Daniel dealt Lyndon B. Johnson the only defeat of his consummate insider’s career. Johnson had the credibility with middlemen, but O’Daniel had a direct connection to his listeners. Nearly 60 years later, the professional wrestler Jesse Ventura used his direct connection with an audience to win a three-way race for governor of Minnesota. But technology now gives the power of direct relationships to everyone, not just media stars; indeed, the line between being a media star and simply having a big Twitter following is blurring into nothingness. It’s telling that Trump’s rallies often feature appearances by a pair of women who go by the names Diamond and Silk, whose spirited endorsement of Trump on YouTube has been watched by nearly 100,000 people–as many as tune in to some cable news shows.
Trump tends his virtual community with care. Among the candidates, his 5.6 million Twitter followers are matched only by his counterpart at the top of the Democratic polls, Hillary Clinton. Trump has 5.2 million Facebook likes—three times as many as Cruz and 17 times as many as Bush. His 828,000 Instagram followers is nearly a third more than Clinton’s 632,000. For many, if not all, of these individuals, their networked relationships with Trump feel closer and more genuine than the images of the candidate they see filtered through middlemen.
This can explain why Trump is unscathed by apparent gaffes and blunders that would kill an ordinary candidate. His followers feel that they already know him. When outraged middlemen wail in disgust on cable news programs and in op-ed columns, they only highlight their irrelevance to the Trumpiverse.
Indeed, the psychology of disintermediation adds another layer of protection to a figure like Trump. For members of an online network, the death of the middlemen is not some sad side effect of this tidal shift; it is a crusade. Early adopters of Netflix relished the fate of brick-and-mortar video stores, just as Trump voters rejoice in the idea of life without the “lamestream” media. Trump gets this: mocking abuse of his traveling press corps is a staple of his campaign speeches.
The fading power of middlemen is also visible in less garish manifestations than the Trump campaign. For example, voters used to judge candidates in part on their record of government service. Experience was a middleman, a sort of ticket puncher, that stood between the would-be President and the public. Not anymore. A stable of successful GOP governors–Rick Perry of Texas, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Scott Walker of Wisconsin–have dropped out, unable to understand the new calculus. As for the three current Senators on the trail–Cruz, Florida’s Marco Rubio and Kentucky’s Rand Paul–experience is the least of their selling points. All are first-term rookies known for defying party leaders, not for passing legislation. Rubio won office by challenging his party’s official choice for the seat. Cruz glories in his reputation as the least popular Senator in the cloakroom: he doesn’t need Washington’s validation. In fact, it’s the last thing he wants.
The three Senators–and their colleague Sanders in the other party–have used the Senate as a foil. What they accomplished as Senators, which is next to nothing, pales in their telling compared with what they refused to do. They did not sell out. They did not compromise. They did not break faith with their followers–a virtue that has replaced the ideal of service to a constituency. With disintermediation, the power to set the campaign agenda shifts from the middlemen to the online networks, and those networks, this year, are very angry. Here, again, Trump is far outrunning his rivals in seizing the momentum. Americans are unhappy about an economy that punishes workers, according to opinion polls and conversations with voters. They are tired of politicians who don’t deliver on their promises. Trump’s strongest backers are angry about illegal immigration. Cruz channels anger over Obamacare. Sanders mines anger from the opposite end of the spectrum, targeting “Wall Street” and “billionaires” to the seething satisfaction of the Democratic base.
These voters don’t want someone to feel their pain; they want someone to mirror their mood. Woe to the candidate who can’t growl on cue. Perhaps nothing has hurt the Bush campaign–whose money and endorsements, lavished by middlemen, have fizzled on the launchpad–more than Trump’s observation that the former Florida governor is “low energy.” Translation: he’s not ticked off. Voter anger in this sour season is less a data point than table stakes.
At a late-December rally in Council Bluffs, Trump treated his audience to one of his trademark free-form speeches, which are like nothing in the modern campaign repertoire. He sampled alter egos from talk-radio host to insult comic to the fictional Gordon Gekko. (“I’m greedy,” Trump bragged. “Now I’m going to be greedy for the United States.”) When he wrapped up, Teresa Raus of nearby Neola, Iowa, waited another 30 minutes for Trump’s autograph. Why? “I feel real confident that he can make America better. I believe him,” she explained. And yes, she’s angry. Other politicians “are liars,” Raus continued. “They’re all liars. I’m sick of politicians. If he’s not running, then I’m not voting.”
But if Trump voters are angry, that doesn’t mean they’re crazy. You meet more state representatives and business owners at his rallies than tinfoil-hat conspiracy buffs. In ways, they are a vanguard, catching sight of a new style of politics and deciding early to throw out the old rules. Their radical democracy helps account for Trump’s uncanny resilience: the less he honors the conventions of politics, the more his supporters like him. They aren’t buying what the political process is selling. They want to buy direct from the source. “It’s like this,” says Casady, the Army vet. “We’re going to go with this guy sink or swim, and we’re not going to change our views. It doesn’t matter. It’s time for us to do a totally insane thing, because we’ve lost it all. The times demand it, because nothing else is working.”
Some powerful forces inside the GOP will continue to fight Trump to the bitter end. As strong and durable as his support appears to be, the number of Americans who tell pollsters they would not vote for Trump is bigger. Trump’s intemperate remarks have alienated millions of Latino, Muslim and women voters. His rash pronouncements are the antithesis of the moderate approach that many citizens still value. His proposed religious test for foreigners who want to come to this country is as inconsistent with America’s self-image as linoleum floors in a Trump hotel.
The problem is that the party is weak at the national level, deeply divided into hostile camps, while Trump has the strength of a technological epoch at his back. Finding a way to live with Trump might not be a choice for the GOP; those might be the terms of surrender that he dictates at the national convention in Cleveland in July. And in private, even top party officials occasionally admit it.
Unless Cruz can continue to rise through the primaries—aided by members of the congressional Freedom Caucus who share his maximal conservatism—or a candidate like Rubio manages to push aside all mainstream rivals to consolidate the anti-Trump vote, the pot-stirring plutocrat may well steamroll through winter into spring with the lion’s share of the delegates. They won’t stop Trump because they can’t stop Trump.
In that case, party insiders may be forced to decide whether to pull every trick in the rule book to keep Trump from the nomination, with all the havoc that would ensue–including a very real chance that the party could split in two. Faced with that prospect, they may decide instead to swallow hard and follow Trump’s glowing blond nimbus into battle this fall. “The pundits don’t understand it,” Marco Rubio told an audience at a recent campaign stop in New Hampshire. “They don’t understand why in this election, why aren’t the things that worked in the past working again? Why is it that the people with the most money, or the most endorsements, or the one that all the experts thought would be in first place–why aren’t they winning?”
Donald Trump will be happy to tell them.
==================================================
DONALD TRUMP’S ART OF THE STEAL
Time
There is a reason most presidential candidates stump through diners and living rooms this time of year. They can’t fill a bigger room.
And then there is Donald J. Trump.
On the second day of January, in the Gulf Coast town of Biloxi, Miss., at least 13,000 stood for hours in a stinging chill to pack an entire sports arena for Trump, and when that venue was full, the overflow spilled into a second megaspace nearby. Trump called it the biggest crowd in Mississippi political history, which is exactly what you’d expect him to say, and also entirely plausible.
A few days earlier, Trump had packed a convention hall in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Two days later, he filled the 8,000-seat Paul Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass., with people who waited on line in subfreezing cold. The next night, after standing for two hours in single-digit temperatures, locals filled the equivalent of two high school gymnasia on the Vermont–New Hampshire border to catch Trump’s revival show.
Given these crowds, the unprecedented Trump-driven television ratings for GOP debates and his unsinkable run at the top of the national polls–a streak of more than five months and counting–even the most mainstream Republicans are coming to grips with an idea they have resisted since last summer. This could be their nominee. And they are asking themselves, could they stop worrying and, perhaps, learn to love the Donald?
Leading Republicans unhappily find themselves deep in “probing” conversation, asking, “perhaps he wouldn’t be so bad,” says veteran strategist and lobbyist Ed Rogers. True, Trump is a wild card, a flamethrower, a man with no known party loyalties and no coherent political principles, a thrice-married casino mogul and reality-TV star, a narcissist and even a demagogue. On the other hand: Biloxi.
At a time when the crown princes of Republican politics can’t mount so much as a two-car parade, Trump is drawing the biggest crowds by far. He has the largest social-media footprint–again, by far–and lodges the sharpest attacks on Hillary Clinton while attracting the greatest number of potential recruits to Republican ranks. As a result, Washington insiders from both parties are now calling around to GOP heavies, asking, “Do you know anybody on Trump’s campaign? Who is on his foreign-policy team? I need to get to know them fast.”
Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, who entertained a discussion of Stop Trump strategies at a meeting late last year, now consults regularly with the front runner by phone. Even if the GOP could resist, should it? “He’s got the mo, he’s got the masses,” says Rick Hohlt, a GOP strategist. “He’s attracting a new class of voters.” Efforts to stop him have failed miserably; meanwhile, Trump may be getting smarter as a candidate, adds Hohlt. “He knows when to push and when to back off.”
The man is moving people, and politics does not get more basic than that. Trump is a bonfire in a field of damp kindling—an overcrowded field of governors and former governors and junior Senators still trying to strike a spark. His nearest rival, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, has traction in Iowa among the evangelical bloc and—in contrast to Trump—is a tried-and-true conservative. But with little more than half the support Trump boasts in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls, Cruz has a long way to go to show that he can move masses.
Cruz staffers, tellingly, have been studying a 1967 tome titled Suite 3505 as a playbook for their campaign. This F. Clifton White memoir, long out of print, tells the story of the 1964 Barry Goldwater campaign. That was the last successful populist rebellion inside the Republican Party, propelling a rock-ribbed conservative past the Establishment insiders–just as Cruz hopes to do. But this triumph of intramural knife fighting proved a disaster at general-election time. Goldwater suffered one of the worst defeats in American political history. It’s no wonder that GOP leaders are every bit as wary of Cruz as they are of Trump.
In short, the GOP has awakened less than a month from the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary to find itself in bed between a bombshell and a kamikaze. It’s a sobering dawn for a political party that seemed, not long ago, just a tweak or two away from glory. Republicans dominate America’s state legislatures and governors’ mansions. They control both houses of Congress. So why is their electorate leaning toward the outstretched grip of such a man as Trump?
And could Trump be a sign of something bigger even than himself?
Traditional GOP power brokers have long since lost count of the indignities Trump has inflicted on their rites and rituals. Since entering the race in June with a fantastical promise to wall off America’s southern border and send the bill to Mexico, Trump has shredded the political rule book, scattering the pieces from his private helicopter. Have mouth, will travel. Policies that would be preposterous coming from anyone else–like barring all Muslims from entering the country or hiking U.S. tariffs while somehow erasing trade barriers erected by other nations–sound magical to his supporters when served up by their hero. Outrages that would sink an ordinary candidate, like mocking a person who has a congenital disease or giving a pass to Vladimir Putin for the murder of Russian journalists, lifted Trump atop the polls and then helped keep him there. What Flubber was to physics, Trump is to politics: an antidote to gravity, cooked up by a quirky but prodigious amateur.
Other candidates work to relate their lives to the struggles of ordinary voters. Trump does the opposite, encouraging Americans to savor vicariously his billionaire’s privilege of saying whatever he damn well pleases. “I love Donald Trump because he’s so totally politically incorrect. He’s gone after every group,” says Greg Casady, 61, an Army veteran who joined an immense Trump rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa. “He’s spending his own bucks–therefore he doesn’t have to play the politically correct game. He says what we wish we could say but we can’t afford to anymore.”
Trump is an anomaly, but not the only one in this 2016 campaign. There is Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an avowed socialist who leads the early polls in the New Hampshire Democratic primary–despite the fact that he spent most of his career spurning the Democrats. Though not as shocking or aggressive as Trump, Sanders is no less the darling of a discontented army. He too draws large audiences–but unlike Trump, Sanders faces an even stronger opponent in former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Big Money, the supposed superpower of post–Citizens United politics, is a dud so far. Super-PAC bets by various billionaires have done nothing to fire up such candidates as former Florida governor Jeb Bush. Bush has filled screens in key states with millions of dollars in both positive and negative ads. The result: falling poll numbers. Touted as a front runner a year ago, Bush is mired in single digits and rang in the new year by announcing that he was scrapping a round of ads in favor of more ground troops in early-voting states.
Big Media too has been brought low. The collapse of Trump was predicted so often, so erroneously, in so many outlets that the spectacle was almost comic, like a soap opera that keeps killing off the same deathless character. Televised debates became seminars in media ethics, with candidates delivering stern lectures to their questioners, while offscreen, campaigns threatened to boycott networks and blacklist reporters.
What if all of these groundswells are part of the same tsunami? By coming to grips with Trump, Republicans might begin grasping the future of presidential politics, as the digital forces that have upended commerce and communications in recent years begin to shake the bedrock of civic life.
Disintermediation is a long word for a seemingly simple idea: dumping the middleman. It came into use a half-century ago to describe changes in the banking business. A generation later, the term described a key concept of the Internet age. In one field after another, the power of networked computing swept middlemen out of the picture. Ubiquitous retailers like RadioShack and Waldenbooks have either downsized or vanished as their customers go online to buy directly from manufacturers and warehousers. Netflix shutters the Blockbuster chain by mailing movies directly to viewers–then offers streaming, which cuts out the mailbox as well. Craigslist drains the advertising lifeblood from local newspapers, and local libraries reinvent themselves after the web puts the world in your pocket. It’s a familiar story, one of the megatrends of our era.
Donald Trump is history’s most disintermediated presidential front runner. He has sidestepped the traditional middlemen–party, press, pollsters and pooh-bahs–to sell his candidacy directly to voters, building on a relationship he has nurtured with the public from project to project across decades.
As far back as 1986, Trump began seeding this direct relationship with the public. That was the year he goaded New York City Mayor Ed Koch into handing over the disastrous renovation of the Wollman ice-skating rink in Central Park. The decline of New York was an old story by then, and the ice rink was a sorrow symbol. City bureaucrats had turned a routine rehab into a six-year slog with no end in sight. Trump took the reins, and the project took less than six months. He cut the ribbon on a beautifully finished rink, completed ahead of schedule and below budget, with live TV there to cover it.
He followed up with more self-styled rescue missions: the East Coast shuttle operations of dying Eastern Airlines, for example, and the ruined paradise of Atlantic City. Launched with fanfare (if often abandoned in silence), these efforts burnished Trump’s image as a can-do, cut-the-crap businessman–even as he risked his fortune. This is part of the power of owning your image, free of the mediators. You can tell your own story, even if it is not entirely true. Trump’s a fine businessman, with a keen eye for bargains and a knack for leverage. Where he is peerless is as a promoter; he is the Michelangelo of ballyhoo.
A masterstroke in 2004 vaulted him free of remaining middlemen; that’s when Trump debuted his television show, The Apprentice. Tens of millions of Americans followed the cameras past the gatekeepers and into a direct relationship with the purse-lipped entrepreneur. That this intimacy is an illusion doesn’t really matter; it has an undeniable power to create loyal followings for even the unlikeliest characters. From the Kardashians of Rodeo Drive to the Robertsons of Duck Dynasty, from the Cake Boss to Honey Boo Boo, the crafted characters of reality TV experience a different kind of stardom from the TV and movie idols of the past. Fans are encouraged to feel that they know these people, not as fictional characters but as flesh and blood.
Something similar goes on in every celebrity Twitter feed or Instagram account. Properly tended, the social network of skilled disintermediators can grow to encompass tens of millions of people, all sharing a joke or commiserating over a disappointment or comparing breakfasts with their famous “friend.” The pop star Taylor Swift’s nearly 70 million Twitter followers recently overheard her share a Christmas memory with her brother Austin and chuckled at a picture of her cute elf costume.
Peggy Lemke, 64, from Dows, Iowa, is one of many voters who see what is going on. “Trump is a reality-show phenomenon,” she says. “His supporters treat this like American Idol. We treat everything like American Idol. I’m having a really hard time taking this seriously.”
Disintermediation is not entirely new. In 1941, the radio personality W. Lee “Pappy” O’Daniel dealt Lyndon B. Johnson the only defeat of his consummate insider’s career. Johnson had the credibility with middlemen, but O’Daniel had a direct connection to his listeners. Nearly 60 years later, the professional wrestler Jesse Ventura used his direct connection with an audience to win a three-way race for governor of Minnesota. But technology now gives the power of direct relationships to everyone, not just media stars; indeed, the line between being a media star and simply having a big Twitter following is blurring into nothingness. It’s telling that Trump’s rallies often feature appearances by a pair of women who go by the names Diamond and Silk, whose spirited endorsement of Trump on YouTube has been watched by nearly 100,000 people–as many as tune in to some cable news shows.
Trump tends his virtual community with care. Among the candidates, his 5.6 million Twitter followers are matched only by his counterpart at the top of the Democratic polls, Hillary Clinton. Trump has 5.2 million Facebook likes—three times as many as Cruz and 17 times as many as Bush. His 828,000 Instagram followers is nearly a third more than Clinton’s 632,000. For many, if not all, of these individuals, their networked relationships with Trump feel closer and more genuine than the images of the candidate they see filtered through middlemen.
This can explain why Trump is unscathed by apparent gaffes and blunders that would kill an ordinary candidate. His followers feel that they already know him. When outraged middlemen wail in disgust on cable news programs and in op-ed columns, they only highlight their irrelevance to the Trumpiverse.
Indeed, the psychology of disintermediation adds another layer of protection to a figure like Trump. For members of an online network, the death of the middlemen is not some sad side effect of this tidal shift; it is a crusade. Early adopters of Netflix relished the fate of brick-and-mortar video stores, just as Trump voters rejoice in the idea of life without the “lamestream” media. Trump gets this: mocking abuse of his traveling press corps is a staple of his campaign speeches.
The fading power of middlemen is also visible in less garish manifestations than the Trump campaign. For example, voters used to judge candidates in part on their record of government service. Experience was a middleman, a sort of ticket puncher, that stood between the would-be President and the public. Not anymore. A stable of successful GOP governors–Rick Perry of Texas, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Scott Walker of Wisconsin–have dropped out, unable to understand the new calculus. As for the three current Senators on the trail–Cruz, Florida’s Marco Rubio and Kentucky’s Rand Paul–experience is the least of their selling points. All are first-term rookies known for defying party leaders, not for passing legislation. Rubio won office by challenging his party’s official choice for the seat. Cruz glories in his reputation as the least popular Senator in the cloakroom: he doesn’t need Washington’s validation. In fact, it’s the last thing he wants.
The three Senators–and their colleague Sanders in the other party–have used the Senate as a foil. What they accomplished as Senators, which is next to nothing, pales in their telling compared with what they refused to do. They did not sell out. They did not compromise. They did not break faith with their followers–a virtue that has replaced the ideal of service to a constituency. With disintermediation, the power to set the campaign agenda shifts from the middlemen to the online networks, and those networks, this year, are very angry. Here, again, Trump is far outrunning his rivals in seizing the momentum. Americans are unhappy about an economy that punishes workers, according to opinion polls and conversations with voters. They are tired of politicians who don’t deliver on their promises. Trump’s strongest backers are angry about illegal immigration. Cruz channels anger over Obamacare. Sanders mines anger from the opposite end of the spectrum, targeting “Wall Street” and “billionaires” to the seething satisfaction of the Democratic base.
These voters don’t want someone to feel their pain; they want someone to mirror their mood. Woe to the candidate who can’t growl on cue. Perhaps nothing has hurt the Bush campaign–whose money and endorsements, lavished by middlemen, have fizzled on the launchpad–more than Trump’s observation that the former Florida governor is “low energy.” Translation: he’s not ticked off. Voter anger in this sour season is less a data point than table stakes.
At a late-December rally in Council Bluffs, Trump treated his audience to one of his trademark free-form speeches, which are like nothing in the modern campaign repertoire. He sampled alter egos from talk-radio host to insult comic to the fictional Gordon Gekko. (“I’m greedy,” Trump bragged. “Now I’m going to be greedy for the United States.”) When he wrapped up, Teresa Raus of nearby Neola, Iowa, waited another 30 minutes for Trump’s autograph. Why? “I feel real confident that he can make America better. I believe him,” she explained. And yes, she’s angry. Other politicians “are liars,” Raus continued. “They’re all liars. I’m sick of politicians. If he’s not running, then I’m not voting.”
But if Trump voters are angry, that doesn’t mean they’re crazy. You meet more state representatives and business owners at his rallies than tinfoil-hat conspiracy buffs. In ways, they are a vanguard, catching sight of a new style of politics and deciding early to throw out the old rules. Their radical democracy helps account for Trump’s uncanny resilience: the less he honors the conventions of politics, the more his supporters like him. They aren’t buying what the political process is selling. They want to buy direct from the source. “It’s like this,” says Casady, the Army vet. “We’re going to go with this guy sink or swim, and we’re not going to change our views. It doesn’t matter. It’s time for us to do a totally insane thing, because we’ve lost it all. The times demand it, because nothing else is working.”
Some powerful forces inside the GOP will continue to fight Trump to the bitter end. As strong and durable as his support appears to be, the number of Americans who tell pollsters they would not vote for Trump is bigger. Trump’s intemperate remarks have alienated millions of Latino, Muslim and women voters. His rash pronouncements are the antithesis of the moderate approach that many citizens still value. His proposed religious test for foreigners who want to come to this country is as inconsistent with America’s self-image as linoleum floors in a Trump hotel.
The problem is that the party is weak at the national level, deeply divided into hostile camps, while Trump has the strength of a technological epoch at his back. Finding a way to live with Trump might not be a choice for the GOP; those might be the terms of surrender that he dictates at the national convention in Cleveland in July. And in private, even top party officials occasionally admit it.
Unless Cruz can continue to rise through the primaries—aided by members of the congressional Freedom Caucus who share his maximal conservatism—or a candidate like Rubio manages to push aside all mainstream rivals to consolidate the anti-Trump vote, the pot-stirring plutocrat may well steamroll through winter into spring with the lion’s share of the delegates. They won’t stop Trump because they can’t stop Trump.
In that case, party insiders may be forced to decide whether to pull every trick in the rule book to keep Trump from the nomination, with all the havoc that would ensue–including a very real chance that the party could split in two. Faced with that prospect, they may decide instead to swallow hard and follow Trump’s glowing blond nimbus into battle this fall. “The pundits don’t understand it,” Marco Rubio told an audience at a recent campaign stop in New Hampshire. “They don’t understand why in this election, why aren’t the things that worked in the past working again? Why is it that the people with the most money, or the most endorsements, or the one that all the experts thought would be in first place–why aren’t they winning?”
Donald Trump will be happy to tell them.
Cruz says Trump ‘embodies New York values’
01/12/16 09:03 PM
By Hallie Jackson
The truce is no more.
Presidential candidate Ted Cruz had once steadfastly maintained that he wouldn’t engage in attacks against GOP front-runner Donald Trump, as the two enjoyed rising polls and heavy crossover support from GOP primary voters.
But after the two began jockeying in earnest for front-runner status - and after Trump unleashed a series of attacks on Cruz’s immigration stance and his eligibility to be president - the Texas senator is hitting back, albeit in a way that he hopes won’t alienate the most strident of Trump backers.
In an interview on the Howie Carr radio show Tuesday, Cruz suggested that Trump should play “New York, New York” at his rallies – rather than “Born in the USA,” which Trump has recently started airing as a clear dig at Cruz’s Canadian birthplace.
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz (R-TX) puts his hand in his pocket as he speaks at a campaign stop at Union Jacks Grill in Rock Rapids, Iowa Jan. 6, 2016.
Photo by Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters
“I think he may shift in his new rallies to playing ‘New York, New York’ because Donald comes from New York and he embodies New York values,” Cruz said. “And listen, The Donald seems to be a little bit rattled.”The rhetorical slap appears to be an effort to head off the possibility that Trump’s attacks on Cruz’s status as a “natural born citizen” could hurt Cruz with his own coalition.
Trump repeated those charges at a rally Tuesday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa, suggesting that he did not initiate the attack but that Cruz must address his “problem” regarding his eligibility to serve as president.
A Cruz aide, earlier in the day, denied to NBC News that the line of attack has hurt the candidate, saying of the charge “We haven’t seen any evidence it’s resonating.”
In the Tuesday radio interview, Cruz also responded to Trump’s comment that “you don’t see a lot of evangelicals coming out of Cuba,” a reference appearing to question Cruz’s faith.
“Any time someone is attacking your faith that starts to suggest they’re getting really nervous about what’s happening in the race,” Cruz said before repeating that he hopes “not to engage in the mudslinging.”
Earlier Tuesday, Cruz drew ties between supporters of Hillary Clinton and those who back Trump.
Citing Trump’s references to Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe, who has cast doubt on Cruz’s eligibility to be president, Cruz branded Tribe “a liberal left-wing judicial activist Harvard Law professor who is a huge Hillary supporter.”
“Gosh, why are Hillary’s strongest supporters backing Donald Trump?’” he asked reporters in New Hampshire.
“It seems the Hillary folks are very eager to support Donald Trump and the attacks that are being tossed my direction,” he added.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/cruz-says-trump-embodies-new-york-values
So your disdain of Trump is so robust that your championing Cruz statements,
whose policies I can't believe you believe in. Good grief!
[h=6]- JANUARY 13, 2016 -[/h][h=1]DONALD TRUMP: MY NOMINATION WOULD INCREASE VOTER TURNOUT[/h]USA Today
The last time the Republican Party had a crisis of identity was in 1980, when an upstart former actor named Ronald Reagan challenged the establishment with his campaign for the Republican nomination. Many in the news media and the GOP said he couldn't win it. In fact, some people thought his campaign a joke, not to be taken seriously. When he won the nomination, Democrats and many moderate Republicans gave him no chance against the incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter.
Reagan won the general election with one of the greatest landslides in presidential election history. He won re-election the same way. How in the world did that happen when he struggled to gain acceptance with the mainstream of the party? He did it through getting Democrats and independents to come out to vote for him. At that point in history, many of them felt abandoned by their parties, so they were willing to sit on the sidelines. Reagan gave them a reason to come out to vote. Reagan, through his optimism and force of will, convinced Americans that our best days were ahead of us. Best yet, he made good on his word.
Today, the American people are looking for a leader who will give them a voice in their government and a sense of pride in their country. They are tired of being lied to, and they are tired of seeing their country diminished — not by outsiders and foreigners — but by their very own political leaders. If the leadership of the country cannot take pride in the nation, how is it expected that others will recognize and embrace American exceptionalism? When the American people find someone who speaks their language and who they think can deliver on his word, they are going to flock to him, regardless of their political alignment.
I hate to throw out numbers, but a few seem appropriate right now.In a recentFluentpoll, I garnered more voter participation than any other Republican candidate included. What is most significant is the higher percentages of Republicans (plus 4 points), Democrats (plus 3 points) and Independents (plus 6 points) who said they would vote if I were on the general-election ballot, as opposed to if my next closest competitor were the nominee. The difference in independent turnout is even greater — 10 to 12 points — when I'm compared with the other four candidates in the poll.
My whole campaign has been focused on expanding the number of people who want to, and will, participate in this election cycle. My campaign has been like no other, and as my rallies continue to draw crowds in the thousands and tens of thousands, so will my campaign attract millions more voters. Imagine if we are able to get just 2% more of the electorate to vote. That would mean about 5 million more votes cast. If we had a 4% increase in voter participation, within the realm of possibility, we could see an additional 10 million votes cast across the country. Additionally, the latest national poll results from Fox News show me beating Hillary Clinton by several points in a general election matchup.
Every candidate should be working to expand the electorate rather than limiting those who might come to the polls. My campaign, and my campaign alone, has been bringing as many people into the process as possible. Actual voting begins in just a few weeks, and we will see what it means to grow the electorate in a meaningful way rather than bashing opponents with TV ads to keep the vote down. As special interests continue to fund the super PACs, the special interest I represent is the American people. The establishment is threatened this time around, and they are threatened by a campaign that says what it means and means what it says. The American people are hungry for someone who has, and will deliver. All my life, I have delivered, and I will not let you down. Together, we will make America great again.
The last time the Republican Party had a crisis of identity was in 1980, when an upstart former actor named Ronald Reagan challenged the establishment with his campaign for the Republican nomination. Many in the news media and the GOP said he couldn't win it. In fact, some people thought his campaign a joke, not to be taken seriously. When he won the nomination, Democrats and many moderate Republicans gave him no chance against the incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter.
Reagan won the general election with one of the greatest landslides in presidential election history. He won re-election the same way. How in the world did that happen when he struggled to gain acceptance with the mainstream of the party? He did it through getting Democrats and independents to come out to vote for him. At that point in history, many of them felt abandoned by their parties, so they were willing to sit on the sidelines. Reagan gave them a reason to come out to vote. Reagan, through his optimism and force of will, convinced Americans that our best days were ahead of us. Best yet, he made good on his word.
Today, the American people are looking for a leader who will give them a voice in their government and a sense of pride in their country. They are tired of being lied to, and they are tired of seeing their country diminished — not by outsiders and foreigners — but by their very own political leaders. If the leadership of the country cannot take pride in the nation, how is it expected that others will recognize and embrace American exceptionalism? When the American people find someone who speaks their language and who they think can deliver on his word, they are going to flock to him, regardless of their political alignment.
I hate to throw out numbers, but a few seem appropriate right now.In a recentFluentpoll, I garnered more voter participation than any other Republican candidate included. What is most significant is the higher percentages of Republicans (plus 4 points), Democrats (plus 3 points) and Independents (plus 6 points) who said they would vote if I were on the general-election ballot, as opposed to if my next closest competitor were the nominee. The difference in independent turnout is even greater — 10 to 12 points — when I'm compared with the other four candidates in the poll.
My whole campaign has been focused on expanding the number of people who want to, and will, participate in this election cycle. My campaign has been like no other, and as my rallies continue to draw crowds in the thousands and tens of thousands, so will my campaign attract millions more voters. Imagine if we are able to get just 2% more of the electorate to vote. That would mean about 5 million more votes cast. If we had a 4% increase in voter participation, within the realm of possibility, we could see an additional 10 million votes cast across the country. Additionally, the latest national poll results from Fox News show me beating Hillary Clinton by several points in a general election matchup.
Every candidate should be working to expand the electorate rather than limiting those who might come to the polls. My campaign, and my campaign alone, has been bringing as many people into the process as possible. Actual voting begins in just a few weeks, and we will see what it means to grow the electorate in a meaningful way rather than bashing opponents with TV ads to keep the vote down. As special interests continue to fund the super PACs, the special interest I represent is the American people. The establishment is threatened this time around, and they are threatened by a campaign that says what it means and means what it says. The American people are hungry for someone who has, and will deliver. All my life, I have delivered, and I will not let you down. Together, we will make America great again.
[h=6]- JANUARY 13, 2016 -[/h][h=1]PENSACOLA PREPARES FOR TRUMP-MANIA[/h]Pensacola News Journal
A smattering of Donald Trump supporters occupy the Pensacola Bay Center on Tuesday afternoon as they prepare the arena for his Wednesday night campaign stop.
Ten volunteers, with Sharpies in their hands, write, “Enterprise for Trump” and “Teachers for Trump” and so forth on poster boards.
About 50 feet away, Sound Associates assistant manager Chuck Johnson and his crew prepare the sound, lighting and staging in the arena.
The scene symbolizes the calm before the storm.
Sound Associates set up the Biloxi venue earlier this month for the Trump team, and Johnson said the atmosphere there resembled a rock concert. Johnson predicted the same will be true at 7 p.m. Wednesday when the Republican presidential frontrunner stops in Pensacola for a political rally. Doors open at 5 p.m.
“You're going to see a venue that's packed to the rafters, people everywhere, tons of cameras," said Johnson, whose father is co-owner of the Mobile company.
George Gigicos, Trump Advance Team director, said the Bay Center will be set up for a crowd of 11,500. The arena usually holds about 10,000. Gigicos said Trump will speak for about an hour and be preceded by community leaders and veterans who will voice their support for Trump as the Republican presidential nominee.
The Trump Advance Team director advised individuals to arrive early and bring only essential items. Gigicos said security measures similar to those at an airport will be in place. Food concession stands and Port-A-Potties will be available outside the Bay Center. Crowds at Trump rallies usually form lines hours before the doors open and number in the thousands.
"Mr. Trump has energized the country in such a way that I think is unprecedented for any presidential candidate, and it's very exciting for me personally to be involved with and to see the excitement in the crowd," Gigicos said. "You'll see it tomorrow just in the line how excited people are."
Vojvodic predicted the crowd will be emotionally charged Thursday night. She recalled in Beaumont when family members of people killed or murdered by illegal immigrants, according to Trump, joined him on stage. Family members then shared stories of how their loved ones died.
“I don't think there was a dry eye in the place,” Vojvodic said. “Those who have not experienced it are going to get their socks knocked off of them, because it's really that powerful.”
Her mother visited his campaign headquarters in South Carolina, but she said this will be her first Trump rally.
"I'm excited," Doyle said emphatically shaking her body for effect. "I'm very excited. It's my time."
The number of Trump supporters such as Doyle will number in the thousands, but as his past rallies indicate, there will be a relatively significant number of protesters, too.Security removed 56-year-old Rose Hamid and Marty Rosenbluth on Friday at the rally in Rock Hill, S.C. Hamid and Rosenbluth stood up directly behind Trump in silent protest when he suggested an affiliation existed between Syrian refugees and ISIS.
Gigicos said a safe area will be set up outside the arena for protesters, but anyone who disrupts his speech inside the facility will be escorted out by security.
“He values the First Amendment just as much as he values the Second Amendment (and the right to bear arms),” Gigicos said. “Having said that, an event that Mr. Trump is hosting is not the venue for others to come and disrupt him.”
A smattering of Donald Trump supporters occupy the Pensacola Bay Center on Tuesday afternoon as they prepare the arena for his Wednesday night campaign stop.
Ten volunteers, with Sharpies in their hands, write, “Enterprise for Trump” and “Teachers for Trump” and so forth on poster boards.
About 50 feet away, Sound Associates assistant manager Chuck Johnson and his crew prepare the sound, lighting and staging in the arena.
The scene symbolizes the calm before the storm.
Sound Associates set up the Biloxi venue earlier this month for the Trump team, and Johnson said the atmosphere there resembled a rock concert. Johnson predicted the same will be true at 7 p.m. Wednesday when the Republican presidential frontrunner stops in Pensacola for a political rally. Doors open at 5 p.m.
“You're going to see a venue that's packed to the rafters, people everywhere, tons of cameras," said Johnson, whose father is co-owner of the Mobile company.
George Gigicos, Trump Advance Team director, said the Bay Center will be set up for a crowd of 11,500. The arena usually holds about 10,000. Gigicos said Trump will speak for about an hour and be preceded by community leaders and veterans who will voice their support for Trump as the Republican presidential nominee.
The Trump Advance Team director advised individuals to arrive early and bring only essential items. Gigicos said security measures similar to those at an airport will be in place. Food concession stands and Port-A-Potties will be available outside the Bay Center. Crowds at Trump rallies usually form lines hours before the doors open and number in the thousands.
"Mr. Trump has energized the country in such a way that I think is unprecedented for any presidential candidate, and it's very exciting for me personally to be involved with and to see the excitement in the crowd," Gigicos said. "You'll see it tomorrow just in the line how excited people are."
Vojvodic predicted the crowd will be emotionally charged Thursday night. She recalled in Beaumont when family members of people killed or murdered by illegal immigrants, according to Trump, joined him on stage. Family members then shared stories of how their loved ones died.
“I don't think there was a dry eye in the place,” Vojvodic said. “Those who have not experienced it are going to get their socks knocked off of them, because it's really that powerful.”
Her mother visited his campaign headquarters in South Carolina, but she said this will be her first Trump rally.
"I'm excited," Doyle said emphatically shaking her body for effect. "I'm very excited. It's my time."
The number of Trump supporters such as Doyle will number in the thousands, but as his past rallies indicate, there will be a relatively significant number of protesters, too.Security removed 56-year-old Rose Hamid and Marty Rosenbluth on Friday at the rally in Rock Hill, S.C. Hamid and Rosenbluth stood up directly behind Trump in silent protest when he suggested an affiliation existed between Syrian refugees and ISIS.
Gigicos said a safe area will be set up outside the arena for protesters, but anyone who disrupts his speech inside the facility will be escorted out by security.
“He values the First Amendment just as much as he values the Second Amendment (and the right to bear arms),” Gigicos said. “Having said that, an event that Mr. Trump is hosting is not the venue for others to come and disrupt him.”
I think they are both disgraces for our Country and would be disasters as POTUS. I just find it funny how these "good friends", who would never stoop so low to attack each other, are attacking each other full boar. Gun to my head, I'd choose Trump over Cruz. At least Trump used to be sane. Cruz never has been.
[h=6]- JANUARY 13, 2016 -[/h][h=1]VIRGINIA RADIO HOST ENDORSES TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT[/h]Breitbart
I am endorsing GOP front-runner Donald Trump for our party’s nomination.
As one of the only radio personalities in America to project Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA)’s historic upset victory that rocked the nation last year, I also predicted Donald Trump would be the 2016 Republican Presidential nominee back in May, before he even officially announced his candidacy.
I rarely make public endorsements of political candidates.
I am endorsing GOP front-runner Donald Trump for our party’s nomination.
Here’s why:
This is not some vague election about the future. It’s an election about what is happening to our country – and its people – at this very moment.
Every day, innocent Americans are being maimed and murdered by criminal aliens roaming free across this country. Violent gangs like MS-13 are spreading poverty, violence and ruin. The streets are painted red with the blood of innocent Americans killed by those who should never have been allowed into the country to begin with.
But the Washington Republican Party elites do worse than nothing. They join in the mayhem, pushing legislation like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’s Gang of Eight bill to legalize sex offenders and gang members, and to give our jobs, our tax dollars and our voting booths to those who illegally entered our country.
Our schools are overcrowded. Our resources are stretched to the breaking point. Our educators indoctrinate our children to believe their own American culture is inferior.
Yet, our Washington Republican Party elites do worse than nothing.
They push to make the congestion worse, giving precious school slots and dwindling dollars to ever-growing waves of newcomers who have not contributed a cent to our taxes or to our local treasuries.
Our workers are struggling to get raises, promotions, and job security.
17 million more U.S.-born workers in their working-age years were without jobs in 2014 than in 2000. Our working class has been laid to waste economically.
Yet, our Washington Republican Party elites do worse than nothing.
They conspire with corporate lobbyists and cheap labor seeking donors to bring in more H-1B workers, H-2B workers, refugees, green-card holders, and foreign students and on and on to fill available jobs at lower wages.
In the meantime welfare rolls surge, food stamps explode, community confidence saps, and assimilation grinds to a halt.
There is one man in this race who will bring us back to sanity: Donald J. Trump.
His immigration platform – outlined in detail on his website — puts the needs of American workers first.
He’ll reduce immigration, build the border wall, and protect our jobs.
In the midst of growing national security threats, Trump is the only candidate who will pause Muslim immigration until our country can be made safe. We have admitted more Muslim immigrants since 9/11 than the population of Iowa; a pause is the moderate, sensible thing to do.
Perhaps people forget that we had zero immigration growth in America for an entire half a century, after Calvin Coolidge hit the pause button.
The immigrant population shrank to less than 10 million by 1970.
On our current trend-line it will be 80 million by 2065.
Meanwhile, our manufacturing sector has been destroyed. An entire way of life has been hollowed out. Working-class Americans are dying off – figuratively and literally. Middle class America is circling the drain.
Yet, our Washington Republican Party elites do worse than nothing.
They join with Obama to Fast Track his extremist soul-crushing trade agenda.
Marco Rubio cast the deciding vote to Fast Track Obamatrade. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) did everything in his power to shove it through.
Rubio running the White House and Ryan running the People’s House would be like giving Obama four more years to finish his legacy – and finish off our working class.
Donald Trump is the only candidate who has consistently led the fight against fast-track and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He alone has a trade plan to get back our jobs, our manufacturing, and our middle class existence.
We can also count on Trump to create a tax code, a regulatory system, and a budget that keep tax dollars in our pockets, good paying jobs in our communities, energy in our homes and businesses in business.
Trump will put the special interests on a level playing field and reign in the EPA.
A President Trump would be beholden only to one entity: the American people.
Trump also has a rational foreign policy. Some want to nation-build and police across the globe – with our sons’ and daughters’ blood and our money – all while importing the world’s displaced refugees into our communities.
It is time to stop nation-building and instead start building alliances based on our national interest.
It’s time for all of us to accept some uncomfortable truths.
Our current crop of D.C. GOP elite leaders are working against us, not for us.
Whereas the Democrat leaders are loyal to their base and will defend it at every turn, the D.C. GOP elites often loathe their base.
Have you ever heard a Democrat say Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) isn’t liberal enough?
Yet we are stuck with the D.C. GOP elite open borders crowd – led by Speaker Paul Ryan – who wants to work with Obama to free criminals from jail, pass Obama’s TPP trade pact, and complete Obama’s immigration legacy.
Voting Republican in national elections has become a form of ritualized self-abuse.
We keep voting, we keep believing, we keep electing national Republicans — and they keep betraying us.
Rinse, wash, repeat.
The painful truth is that the establishment Washington Republican Party leadership class has become a for-profit business model.
They appear to regard their shareholders not as average folks but as the members of the professional political class.
The retread consultants who appear relentlessly on television, on campaigns, in the Congressional offices – it’s all one big revolving door. And everyone is profiting — but us.
Like a large tone-deaf monopoly, the D.C. GOP elites are interested only in protecting their market share, their power, their windowed corner offices and their corporate officers. They work for their big donors who pull the strings.
Trump has no donors. He will work for us.
The D.C, GOP elites view dissent from voters, radio talk show hosts, activists and conservative thinkers as annoyances to be quashed.
That is precisely why the Republican Party of Virginia has created a new loyalty oath to intimidate new voters Trump has brought to the Party – including Trump’s many Independents and black supporters – from coming to the polls.
When is the last time you turned on the T.V. and heard a Republican pundit or politician defend the American worker and our wages? When is the last time the D.C. GOP fought as hard to protect your family from mass immigration as they fought to pass Obamatrade, or an awful omnibus budget deal, or another meaningless show vote? When is the last time your D.C. GOP elites spoke in your defense, instead of lecturing you about how you need to get with their program?
When have you ever heard a Republican State of the Union response where the GOP speaker fought as hard for your family as the President fights for the families of illegal immigrants?
When have you ever heard a Republican State of the Union response where the speaker spends half her time bashing a Presidential candidate – in her own Party?
When have you ever even heard a Republican leader – any Republican leader – say they agree with the overwhelming majority of GOP voters who think immigration numbers are too high?
When Disney workers were replaced with foreign H-1B workers, the D.C. GOP elites did not lift a finger on their behalf.
Only Donald Trump demanded that Disney hire them back.
When terrorists attacked San Bernadino, the D.C. GOP elites went out of their way to tell us how America has a duty to let in as many Muslim immigrants as wish to come here, no matter what they believe about America.
Only Donald Trump said it was time to hit pause.
When Obama tried to ram through his Fast Track for TPP, the Washington Republican Party elites laughed at your pleas, mocks us as “Neanderthals” and shoved it through.
Only Trump said hell no.
Only one person in the race cannot be bought, cannot be corrupted.
Only one person in this race can smash that revolving door to pieces.
The fact that the professional class so hates the idea of Trump winning is the proof – the only reliable proof – that Donald Trump is the one man who can give us our country back and put the people who have betrayed us out of business.
This is our moment of truth. This is our moment of justice. This is our moment of redemption.
This is our moment to show the media elites, the professional political consultant cabal, the open border slave-traders, the banksters, the Tarpists and the crony capitalists that this is still our country.
Together, we can take our country back. And Make America Great Again.
I am endorsing GOP front-runner Donald Trump for our party’s nomination.
As one of the only radio personalities in America to project Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA)’s historic upset victory that rocked the nation last year, I also predicted Donald Trump would be the 2016 Republican Presidential nominee back in May, before he even officially announced his candidacy.
I rarely make public endorsements of political candidates.
I am endorsing GOP front-runner Donald Trump for our party’s nomination.
Here’s why:
This is not some vague election about the future. It’s an election about what is happening to our country – and its people – at this very moment.
Every day, innocent Americans are being maimed and murdered by criminal aliens roaming free across this country. Violent gangs like MS-13 are spreading poverty, violence and ruin. The streets are painted red with the blood of innocent Americans killed by those who should never have been allowed into the country to begin with.
But the Washington Republican Party elites do worse than nothing. They join in the mayhem, pushing legislation like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’s Gang of Eight bill to legalize sex offenders and gang members, and to give our jobs, our tax dollars and our voting booths to those who illegally entered our country.
Our schools are overcrowded. Our resources are stretched to the breaking point. Our educators indoctrinate our children to believe their own American culture is inferior.
Yet, our Washington Republican Party elites do worse than nothing.
They push to make the congestion worse, giving precious school slots and dwindling dollars to ever-growing waves of newcomers who have not contributed a cent to our taxes or to our local treasuries.
Our workers are struggling to get raises, promotions, and job security.
17 million more U.S.-born workers in their working-age years were without jobs in 2014 than in 2000. Our working class has been laid to waste economically.
Yet, our Washington Republican Party elites do worse than nothing.
They conspire with corporate lobbyists and cheap labor seeking donors to bring in more H-1B workers, H-2B workers, refugees, green-card holders, and foreign students and on and on to fill available jobs at lower wages.
In the meantime welfare rolls surge, food stamps explode, community confidence saps, and assimilation grinds to a halt.
There is one man in this race who will bring us back to sanity: Donald J. Trump.
His immigration platform – outlined in detail on his website — puts the needs of American workers first.
He’ll reduce immigration, build the border wall, and protect our jobs.
In the midst of growing national security threats, Trump is the only candidate who will pause Muslim immigration until our country can be made safe. We have admitted more Muslim immigrants since 9/11 than the population of Iowa; a pause is the moderate, sensible thing to do.
Perhaps people forget that we had zero immigration growth in America for an entire half a century, after Calvin Coolidge hit the pause button.
The immigrant population shrank to less than 10 million by 1970.
On our current trend-line it will be 80 million by 2065.
Meanwhile, our manufacturing sector has been destroyed. An entire way of life has been hollowed out. Working-class Americans are dying off – figuratively and literally. Middle class America is circling the drain.
Yet, our Washington Republican Party elites do worse than nothing.
They join with Obama to Fast Track his extremist soul-crushing trade agenda.
Marco Rubio cast the deciding vote to Fast Track Obamatrade. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) did everything in his power to shove it through.
Rubio running the White House and Ryan running the People’s House would be like giving Obama four more years to finish his legacy – and finish off our working class.
Donald Trump is the only candidate who has consistently led the fight against fast-track and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He alone has a trade plan to get back our jobs, our manufacturing, and our middle class existence.
We can also count on Trump to create a tax code, a regulatory system, and a budget that keep tax dollars in our pockets, good paying jobs in our communities, energy in our homes and businesses in business.
Trump will put the special interests on a level playing field and reign in the EPA.
A President Trump would be beholden only to one entity: the American people.
Trump also has a rational foreign policy. Some want to nation-build and police across the globe – with our sons’ and daughters’ blood and our money – all while importing the world’s displaced refugees into our communities.
It is time to stop nation-building and instead start building alliances based on our national interest.
It’s time for all of us to accept some uncomfortable truths.
Our current crop of D.C. GOP elite leaders are working against us, not for us.
Whereas the Democrat leaders are loyal to their base and will defend it at every turn, the D.C. GOP elites often loathe their base.
Have you ever heard a Democrat say Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) isn’t liberal enough?
Yet we are stuck with the D.C. GOP elite open borders crowd – led by Speaker Paul Ryan – who wants to work with Obama to free criminals from jail, pass Obama’s TPP trade pact, and complete Obama’s immigration legacy.
Voting Republican in national elections has become a form of ritualized self-abuse.
We keep voting, we keep believing, we keep electing national Republicans — and they keep betraying us.
Rinse, wash, repeat.
The painful truth is that the establishment Washington Republican Party leadership class has become a for-profit business model.
They appear to regard their shareholders not as average folks but as the members of the professional political class.
The retread consultants who appear relentlessly on television, on campaigns, in the Congressional offices – it’s all one big revolving door. And everyone is profiting — but us.
Like a large tone-deaf monopoly, the D.C. GOP elites are interested only in protecting their market share, their power, their windowed corner offices and their corporate officers. They work for their big donors who pull the strings.
Trump has no donors. He will work for us.
The D.C, GOP elites view dissent from voters, radio talk show hosts, activists and conservative thinkers as annoyances to be quashed.
That is precisely why the Republican Party of Virginia has created a new loyalty oath to intimidate new voters Trump has brought to the Party – including Trump’s many Independents and black supporters – from coming to the polls.
When is the last time you turned on the T.V. and heard a Republican pundit or politician defend the American worker and our wages? When is the last time the D.C. GOP fought as hard to protect your family from mass immigration as they fought to pass Obamatrade, or an awful omnibus budget deal, or another meaningless show vote? When is the last time your D.C. GOP elites spoke in your defense, instead of lecturing you about how you need to get with their program?
When have you ever heard a Republican State of the Union response where the GOP speaker fought as hard for your family as the President fights for the families of illegal immigrants?
When have you ever heard a Republican State of the Union response where the speaker spends half her time bashing a Presidential candidate – in her own Party?
When have you ever even heard a Republican leader – any Republican leader – say they agree with the overwhelming majority of GOP voters who think immigration numbers are too high?
When Disney workers were replaced with foreign H-1B workers, the D.C. GOP elites did not lift a finger on their behalf.
Only Donald Trump demanded that Disney hire them back.
When terrorists attacked San Bernadino, the D.C. GOP elites went out of their way to tell us how America has a duty to let in as many Muslim immigrants as wish to come here, no matter what they believe about America.
Only Donald Trump said it was time to hit pause.
When Obama tried to ram through his Fast Track for TPP, the Washington Republican Party elites laughed at your pleas, mocks us as “Neanderthals” and shoved it through.
Only Trump said hell no.
Only one person in the race cannot be bought, cannot be corrupted.
Only one person in this race can smash that revolving door to pieces.
The fact that the professional class so hates the idea of Trump winning is the proof – the only reliable proof – that Donald Trump is the one man who can give us our country back and put the people who have betrayed us out of business.
This is our moment of truth. This is our moment of justice. This is our moment of redemption.
This is our moment to show the media elites, the professional political consultant cabal, the open border slave-traders, the banksters, the Tarpists and the crony capitalists that this is still our country.
Together, we can take our country back. And Make America Great Again.
[h=6]- JANUARY 13, 2016 -[/h][h=1]SHIFTING SANDS IN IOWA[/h]The Washington Post
A plethora of Iowa polls came out this week, with the gold standard of them all — the Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll– out this morning. What do we learn about the GOP race?
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) is on a downward trajectory, which explains his decision to finally go negative against Donald Trump. No more avoiding the “cage match” the mainstream media supposedly want to have, as Cruz has claimed. No more bowing and scraping to the billionaire. Cruz is slipping, and he cannot afford to lose Iowa.
The pattern is consistent. In the DMR/Bloomberg poll, Cruz is down 6 points from December, holding on to a statistically insignificant lead of 3 points. Trump leads in three other recently released polls, again within the margin of error. In other words, the race is effectively tied. Some Republicans (15 percent) — but not a significant percentage according to DMR/Bloomberg — care about the citizenship issue. Many more care about his national security views, and it is there where Trump, and to a greater extent Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), has ground to plow on Cruz’s opposition to metadata-gathering, vote against the defense authorization bill during wartime and lack of a coherent plan for defeating the Islamic State. (Like Hillary Clinton, Cruz is telling the fiction that we can do this without an increased U.S. presence.)
On the positive side for Cruz, he enjoys favorable ratings (in the 60s or 70s, depending on the poll) that are a whole lot higher than Trump, who tops out in the 50s. That suggests there is not too many more votes to be found for Trump. And that is good news for the GOP as well, given that more than 70 percent of the electorate is not backing Trump. The task for the party that wants to avoid catastrophe, then, is to whittle down the non-Trump candidates quickly.
Meanwhile, Rubio is in a comfortable niche. He isn’t close to the top runners, but few think Iowa is critical to his game plan. Other competitors are far in his rearview mirror, right where he wants them. If after the first two contests he, Cruz and Trump are the only candidates to finish in the top three in both, then Rubio is in a good place — provided other non-Trump candidates exit.
Ben Carson’s support is crumbling. In the DMR/Bloomberg poll, he is down two points since December. On average he has slipped into single digits in the state he is best suited to win. There will be little reason for him to push on after Iowa. (He’s at a puny 3.5 percent in the RealClearPolitics New Hampshire poll averages.)
Jeb Bush is in worse shape, with unfavorables comparable only to Trump. According to the Post-ABC national poll, “Trump’s and Bush’s ratings are significantly worse at this point than any candidates since 1984 who have won their parties’ nominations. Trump’s net favorable rating (percent favorable minus percent unfavorable) is -27, while Bush’s is -23.” In Iowa, specifically, Bush has a -3 net favorable rating, the worst of any candidate except Ohio Gov. John Kasich. His super PAC is again stepping up his negative ads (with a widely ridiculed attack on Rubio for, of all things, immigration), but his own negatives are so high that it almost certainly will do him no good. To be below 5 percent at this stage — after spending tens of millions and enjoying his brother’s political network — surely is demoralizing for his supporters and donors. The drumbeat from the establishment GOP — the very people he needs — to get out of the race surely will start.
The rest of the crowd is at 4 percent or less. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has seen momentum in New Hampshire, does not want an embarrassing result in Iowa. It’s worth his while, as he has vowed to do, to work hard enough to at least best Bush.
In sum, there is a dogfight for first, with two critical debates coming up. The DMR/Bloomberg poll tells us that national security is clearly the top issue (79 percent of the GOP respondents said it was the most important). Moreover, a plurality (38 percent) consider how the candidates respond to events in the United States and internationally to be the most important in deciding their vote (closely followed by debate performance, at 36 percent). That suggests the race turns on candidate performance, including their appearance in the next two debates. In high-stakes elections, it usually does.
A plethora of Iowa polls came out this week, with the gold standard of them all — the Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll– out this morning. What do we learn about the GOP race?
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) is on a downward trajectory, which explains his decision to finally go negative against Donald Trump. No more avoiding the “cage match” the mainstream media supposedly want to have, as Cruz has claimed. No more bowing and scraping to the billionaire. Cruz is slipping, and he cannot afford to lose Iowa.
The pattern is consistent. In the DMR/Bloomberg poll, Cruz is down 6 points from December, holding on to a statistically insignificant lead of 3 points. Trump leads in three other recently released polls, again within the margin of error. In other words, the race is effectively tied. Some Republicans (15 percent) — but not a significant percentage according to DMR/Bloomberg — care about the citizenship issue. Many more care about his national security views, and it is there where Trump, and to a greater extent Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), has ground to plow on Cruz’s opposition to metadata-gathering, vote against the defense authorization bill during wartime and lack of a coherent plan for defeating the Islamic State. (Like Hillary Clinton, Cruz is telling the fiction that we can do this without an increased U.S. presence.)
On the positive side for Cruz, he enjoys favorable ratings (in the 60s or 70s, depending on the poll) that are a whole lot higher than Trump, who tops out in the 50s. That suggests there is not too many more votes to be found for Trump. And that is good news for the GOP as well, given that more than 70 percent of the electorate is not backing Trump. The task for the party that wants to avoid catastrophe, then, is to whittle down the non-Trump candidates quickly.
Meanwhile, Rubio is in a comfortable niche. He isn’t close to the top runners, but few think Iowa is critical to his game plan. Other competitors are far in his rearview mirror, right where he wants them. If after the first two contests he, Cruz and Trump are the only candidates to finish in the top three in both, then Rubio is in a good place — provided other non-Trump candidates exit.
Ben Carson’s support is crumbling. In the DMR/Bloomberg poll, he is down two points since December. On average he has slipped into single digits in the state he is best suited to win. There will be little reason for him to push on after Iowa. (He’s at a puny 3.5 percent in the RealClearPolitics New Hampshire poll averages.)
Jeb Bush is in worse shape, with unfavorables comparable only to Trump. According to the Post-ABC national poll, “Trump’s and Bush’s ratings are significantly worse at this point than any candidates since 1984 who have won their parties’ nominations. Trump’s net favorable rating (percent favorable minus percent unfavorable) is -27, while Bush’s is -23.” In Iowa, specifically, Bush has a -3 net favorable rating, the worst of any candidate except Ohio Gov. John Kasich. His super PAC is again stepping up his negative ads (with a widely ridiculed attack on Rubio for, of all things, immigration), but his own negatives are so high that it almost certainly will do him no good. To be below 5 percent at this stage — after spending tens of millions and enjoying his brother’s political network — surely is demoralizing for his supporters and donors. The drumbeat from the establishment GOP — the very people he needs — to get out of the race surely will start.
The rest of the crowd is at 4 percent or less. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has seen momentum in New Hampshire, does not want an embarrassing result in Iowa. It’s worth his while, as he has vowed to do, to work hard enough to at least best Bush.
In sum, there is a dogfight for first, with two critical debates coming up. The DMR/Bloomberg poll tells us that national security is clearly the top issue (79 percent of the GOP respondents said it was the most important). Moreover, a plurality (38 percent) consider how the candidates respond to events in the United States and internationally to be the most important in deciding their vote (closely followed by debate performance, at 36 percent). That suggests the race turns on candidate performance, including their appearance in the next two debates. In high-stakes elections, it usually does.
[h=6]- JANUARY 13, 2016 -[/h][h=1]DONALD J. TRUMP ENDORSED BY SEVERAL COMMUNITY LEADERS IN FLORIDA[/h]
Mr. Trump stated, “It is my great honor to receive endorsements from each of these incredible people. Their support for my message and endorsement of my candidacy for President of the United States means so much to me, and with their help, and the help of so many great people in Florida and all over the country, we will Make America Great Again!”
George Scarborough, Pensacola resident and brother of former Congressman and TV personality Joe Scarborough, is the owner of Scarborough Consulting and regional Director of The Studer Group.
Pastor Gallups, (Minister for Prayer), is an author, radio and television talk show host and senior pastor of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church in Milton, FL.
Clover Lawson is a founding partner of Lawson & Palmer, LLC. Clover is one of the foremost women in the firearms industry and represents world class competitive shooters, as well as some of the best manufacturers in tactical gear.
Capt. Allen Brady served 32 years in the US Navy including 4 years at the US Naval Academy and 6 years as a P.O.W in Vietnam’s infamous Hanoi Hilton.
Terry Busbee Sr. served multiple tours in Vietnam before moving into politics. Seeking real and positive change for America, Busbee is leaving the Democratic Party to endorse Donald J. Trump for President because ‘he’s the smartest man for the job’.
Chief Warrant Officer, (Ret) Gary O’Neal is a US Army Ranger and President of Worldwide Army Rangers Association. A biography titled ‘American Warrior: The True Story of A Legendary Ranger’ detailing O’Neal’s extraordinary service, was released in 2013.
Trump Campaign Stronger Than Ever in Sunshine State Rolling Out Key Endorsements at Massive Pensacola Rally
(New York, NY) January 13th, 2016 – Today Donald J. Trump received the endorsement of several prominent community leaders in Florida prior to his rally in Pensacola where more than 10,000 were in attendance. Businessman George Scarborough, Pastor Carl Gallups, 2nd Amendment activist Clover Lawson, and Veterans Terry Busbee Sr., Gary O’Neal and Capt. Allen Brady each spoke prior to Mr. Trump’s speech, in addition to Kathryn ‘Kat’ Gates-Skipper the first female Marine in Combat Operations, who endorsed Mr. Trump’s candidacy in November at his Sarasota rally. Mr. Trump stated, “It is my great honor to receive endorsements from each of these incredible people. Their support for my message and endorsement of my candidacy for President of the United States means so much to me, and with their help, and the help of so many great people in Florida and all over the country, we will Make America Great Again!”
George Scarborough, Pensacola resident and brother of former Congressman and TV personality Joe Scarborough, is the owner of Scarborough Consulting and regional Director of The Studer Group.
Pastor Gallups, (Minister for Prayer), is an author, radio and television talk show host and senior pastor of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church in Milton, FL.
Clover Lawson is a founding partner of Lawson & Palmer, LLC. Clover is one of the foremost women in the firearms industry and represents world class competitive shooters, as well as some of the best manufacturers in tactical gear.
Capt. Allen Brady served 32 years in the US Navy including 4 years at the US Naval Academy and 6 years as a P.O.W in Vietnam’s infamous Hanoi Hilton.
Terry Busbee Sr. served multiple tours in Vietnam before moving into politics. Seeking real and positive change for America, Busbee is leaving the Democratic Party to endorse Donald J. Trump for President because ‘he’s the smartest man for the job’.
Chief Warrant Officer, (Ret) Gary O’Neal is a US Army Ranger and President of Worldwide Army Rangers Association. A biography titled ‘American Warrior: The True Story of A Legendary Ranger’ detailing O’Neal’s extraordinary service, was released in 2013.
Where have you gone, Sarah Palin? The woman who just endorsed Donald Trump is not the rogue conservative I knew in 2008
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, January 19, 2016, 5:00 PM
Back in December, I was at a small event in a Las Vegas bar; CNN’s Jake Tapper was interviewing Sarah Palin. He asked which candidate she’d most like to grab a beer with. Her answer? Donald Trump.
Trump, of course, has been sober his whole life. But the moment perfectly encapsulates the Palin-Trump romance. Because in addition to endorsing a beer run with a man who doesn’t drink, she also just endorsed for the presidency a man who is neither a committed conservative nor an anti-establishment rogue.
SARAH PALIN OFFICIALLY ENDORSES DONALD TRUMP'S 2016 BID
Trump’s long history of liberalism is well known. He was once a registered Democrat who supported Democratic candidates, from Bill de Blasio to Hillary Clinton. He has said publicly that the economy usually does better under Democrats. At times he’s supported legalizing drugs, raising taxes on the wealthy and embracing isolationist foreign policies.
But what’s most jarring is the positions he’s held on a number of issues that are particularly important to Palin.
In the past, he called himself “very pro-choice.” Yet Palin — who made the very courageous and compassionate decision to have a baby she knew would be disabled — is unbothered.
On guns, he once supported a ban on so-called assault weapons and longer waiting periods to purchase a firearm. That should be deeply disconcerting to Palin, a Second Amendment firebrand who once said, “If you control arms, you control the people.”
And Trump has supported universal health care — expressing admiration for Scotland’s single-payer system as recently as last year. Palin spent years denouncing Obamacare, which is many steps short of a single-payer plan, as “socialized medicine.”
These aren’t minor policy differences. The beliefs long embraced by Palin and long eschewed by Trump are fundamental to conservatism. That Trump has suddenly gotten religion — on issue after issue — should be met by Palin with suspicion.
If his world-view weren’t enough to make Palin cringe, Trump’s inauthenticity as an anti-establishment candidate should be. Palin admirably took on what she called the “good old boy network” to become Alaska’s first female governor. Now, she leaps to support a guy who helped create that network and who thrives in it. In what bizarre world is a billionaire real estate mogul who donates money to Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Harry Reid “anti-establishment”?
TRACK PALIN, SARAH PALIN'S ADULT SON, ARRESTED IN ALASKA
Over the past eight years, Palin’s influence within the Tea Party has remained strong, but her favorability rating among all Americans has dropped 40 points. Worse, her rating among Republicans has declined more than 55 points.
But despite that waning influence, I’ve supported and admired Palin for defending life, religious liberty and gun rights, and for being a strong mother to a disabled son and another serving overseas.
The Sarah Palin I knew in 2008 — the one who campaigned tirelessly and many times thanklessly for John McCain, a war veteran Trump has openly mocked — would have seen through Trump’s charlatan candidacy. The Sarah Palin I knew in 2008, a devout Christian whose faith was constantly scrutinized by the secular left, would have no affection for a man who is constantly scrutinizing the devout Christian faiths of other conservative candidates.
The Sarah Palin I knew in 2008, who was a passionate and fearless voice for hockey moms, mama grizzlies and women everywhere, all while enduring patently sexist attacks from the left, wouldn’t have supported a man who calls other women bimbos and slobs, thinks women who breast-feed and go to the bathroom are “disgusting,” and criticizes another candidate for her looks.
That Sarah Palin is gone. Maybe one day, over a beer, she’ll tell me why.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, January 19, 2016, 5:00 PM
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presi...lin-i-knew-in-2008-would-never-endorse-trump/SAVULICH, ANDREW, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Different speciesBack in December, I was at a small event in a Las Vegas bar; CNN’s Jake Tapper was interviewing Sarah Palin. He asked which candidate she’d most like to grab a beer with. Her answer? Donald Trump.
Trump, of course, has been sober his whole life. But the moment perfectly encapsulates the Palin-Trump romance. Because in addition to endorsing a beer run with a man who doesn’t drink, she also just endorsed for the presidency a man who is neither a committed conservative nor an anti-establishment rogue.
SARAH PALIN OFFICIALLY ENDORSES DONALD TRUMP'S 2016 BID
Trump’s long history of liberalism is well known. He was once a registered Democrat who supported Democratic candidates, from Bill de Blasio to Hillary Clinton. He has said publicly that the economy usually does better under Democrats. At times he’s supported legalizing drugs, raising taxes on the wealthy and embracing isolationist foreign policies.
But what’s most jarring is the positions he’s held on a number of issues that are particularly important to Palin.
In the past, he called himself “very pro-choice.” Yet Palin — who made the very courageous and compassionate decision to have a baby she knew would be disabled — is unbothered.
On guns, he once supported a ban on so-called assault weapons and longer waiting periods to purchase a firearm. That should be deeply disconcerting to Palin, a Second Amendment firebrand who once said, “If you control arms, you control the people.”
And Trump has supported universal health care — expressing admiration for Scotland’s single-payer system as recently as last year. Palin spent years denouncing Obamacare, which is many steps short of a single-payer plan, as “socialized medicine.”
These aren’t minor policy differences. The beliefs long embraced by Palin and long eschewed by Trump are fundamental to conservatism. That Trump has suddenly gotten religion — on issue after issue — should be met by Palin with suspicion.
If his world-view weren’t enough to make Palin cringe, Trump’s inauthenticity as an anti-establishment candidate should be. Palin admirably took on what she called the “good old boy network” to become Alaska’s first female governor. Now, she leaps to support a guy who helped create that network and who thrives in it. In what bizarre world is a billionaire real estate mogul who donates money to Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Harry Reid “anti-establishment”?
TRACK PALIN, SARAH PALIN'S ADULT SON, ARRESTED IN ALASKA
Over the past eight years, Palin’s influence within the Tea Party has remained strong, but her favorability rating among all Americans has dropped 40 points. Worse, her rating among Republicans has declined more than 55 points.
But despite that waning influence, I’ve supported and admired Palin for defending life, religious liberty and gun rights, and for being a strong mother to a disabled son and another serving overseas.
The Sarah Palin I knew in 2008 — the one who campaigned tirelessly and many times thanklessly for John McCain, a war veteran Trump has openly mocked — would have seen through Trump’s charlatan candidacy. The Sarah Palin I knew in 2008, a devout Christian whose faith was constantly scrutinized by the secular left, would have no affection for a man who is constantly scrutinizing the devout Christian faiths of other conservative candidates.
The Sarah Palin I knew in 2008, who was a passionate and fearless voice for hockey moms, mama grizzlies and women everywhere, all while enduring patently sexist attacks from the left, wouldn’t have supported a man who calls other women bimbos and slobs, thinks women who breast-feed and go to the bathroom are “disgusting,” and criticizes another candidate for her looks.
That Sarah Palin is gone. Maybe one day, over a beer, she’ll tell me why.
All your really trying to point out is that Trump is not a doctrinaire conservative, that's established & that is not
hurting him though most quasi or true conservatives in the race have pointed that out. If Sarah Palin, an ultra
conservative with bonafides, prefers Trump to those more associated with her known values, that's a politcal
coup for Trump, and will alter the outcome of the Iowa caucus as Iowan Tea Party & Evangelicals still hold Palin
in high regard.
The Trump phenomenon also seems global and inevitable. Everywhere the global class is being
challenged by anti-immigrant, occasionally-protectionist parties who do not parrot free-market
economic policies, but instead promise to use the levers of the state to protect native interests.
'What so frightens the conservative movement about Trump's success is that he reveals just how
thin the support for their ideas really is. His campaign is a rebuke to their institutions. It says the
Republican Party doesn't need all these think tanks, all this supposed policy expertise. It says look
at these people calling themselves libertarians and conservatives, the ones in tassel-loafers and bow
ties. Have they made you more free? Have their endless policy papers and studies and books
conserved anything for you? These people are worthless. They are defunct. You don't need them,
and you're better off without them.And the most frightening thing of all is that the underlying trend has been around for at least
20 years, just waiting for the right man to come along and take advantage.'
'
