.
Okay, yeah, Trump’s the political equivalent of HFCS-frosted doritos with a side of low-fat ranch dressing, but for us Dems and devout cynics, he’s also the gift that will not stop giving. Like the herpes your cheating college ex just picked up during his late-night bar crawls, the more grief The Donald gives “his” party, the harder it becomes to hide our smirks. Could not happen to a more deserving bunch. This latest POLITICO cri du coeur “memo to Trump’s super fans” from “national Republican message and media strategist” Rick Wilson actually made me LOL…
… Don’t be fooled by Trump’s double-digit lead in a new poll: He is not going to win. He’s not going to win the primary. He’s not going to win the general. He’s not going to win a third-party bid. Sure, he can damage the GOP ticket badly enough to guarantee Hillary’s election, but he can’t win. He’s too flawed, too liberal, too undisciplined and too afflicted with verbal dysentery when even slightly provoked. He lacks the fundamental presence and gravitas of a commander-in-chief…
Trump will lose, and Trump supporters will wake up with a combination I call “herpes and a hangover.” They may have had fun the night before, but they’ll regret the hangover for a day. However, if Trump’s games in this campaign lead to the election of Hillary Clinton, they’ll regret the herpes a lot longer.. Here, Trump enthusiasts, is what I’m hearing you say, and why you’re Hillary Clinton’s new best friends:
1. You’re angry as Hell, and by God, you’re going to teach the GOP a lesson. Even if it means (and it well may) that Hillary Clinton sits in the White House, names 3 or 4 Supreme Court justices and lets Bill run around the East Wing molesting the help, you’re going to teach the hated Establishment a lesson by becoming Trump Super Fans, even if he runs as a third party candidate and guarantees Her victory…
Confirmed official from Trump camp on 3rd party: "I am running as a Republican but if I am not treated right then I may run third-party.”
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) July 23, 2015
Day 35 of the Trump hostage standoff https://t.co/rQF0op4PcE
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) July 23, 2015
This civil war within Right-of-center coalition has been brewing for years, and Trump appears to be its John Brown if you get the reference.
— Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) July 23, 2015
Brian Beutler, at TNR, on “Why Donald Trump Truly Terrifies Republicana“:
…[Some] Republicans hew to the theory, expressed numerically by RealClearPolitics analyst Sean Trende, that making inroads with minorities is not important. The key to winning, they believe, lies with activating a large block of the white electorate that has stood on the sidelines, but would find a natural home in a Republican party if it were led by someone who could channel the political mood of the white working class.
Donald Trump is currently performing the hugely important political task of adjudicating this intra-GOP debate. Running as a Republican, Trump has made both factions’ goals—and the overarching goal of winning the presidency—more elusive. But by stitching together all the performative qualities Republicans have nurtured on the right over the years—pomp and property worship, xenophobia and anti-establishmentarianism—he’s also showing us what it takes to stir the passions of these missing white voters. Most Republicans, quite sensibly, are horrified by what they see.
In years past, Republicans didn’t think of Trumpism as a liability so long as Trump was outside the tent pissing further out… When Trump was busily whipping up reactionary sentiment, indulging birther conspiracies, Republicans didn’t see a “jackass”—they saw an opportunity. They recognized his appeal to a segment of white voters, and concluded it could be put to good use, so long as he marshaled his followers into the Republican electorate. They didn’t call him a media creation back then—they sought his endorsement.
Trump is now inside the tent, pissing everywhere. He threatens to neutralize the potential of these voters, or train them as a weapon against their own natural party, while bulldozing inroads to minorities. By placing xenophobic immigration politics at the center of the campaign, he’s made it practically impossible for Republicans to convince minorities that there’s a softer side of the GOP. And by condemning him so vocally, his Republican critics are reminding Trump’s supporters of everything they don’t like about the Republican party…
Donald Trump is way ahead in a new ABC/Washington Post poll. Here, no doubt, is what transpired in the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/FpANiMvlQe
— Matt Viser (@mviser) July 20, 2015
In 2012 Bachmann knocked out Pawlenty. In 2016 Trump may take out five or six candidates.
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) July 20, 2015
The fear sets in RT @FrankLuntz: If Donald Trump runs as an independent, the next president will be Hillary Clinton. http://t.co/APR9DaP1OG
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) July 20, 2015
When is Donald Trump going to stop embarrassing his friends, let
alone the whole country?
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) July 19, 2015
Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch, in happier times. pic.twitter.com/YHj47oHARw
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) July 21, 2015
Gabriel Sherman, in NYMag — “Rupert Murdoch Wants to Stop Donald Trump, But First He’s Got to Rein In Roger Ailes“:
The mounting problem Donald Trump poses to Republicans is also a mounting problem for the country’s most powerful conservative media mogul: Rupert Murdoch. [Wednesday]’s New York Times gives front-page treatment to the billionaire grudge match that has become a major story line in this year’s (already) fractious GOP primary. The piece by political reporters Amy Chozick and Ashley Parker chronicles Murdoch’s intensifying efforts over the past week to blunt Trump’s surge to the top of the crowded GOP field…
One reason Murdoch is taking to social media and deploying his publishing properties to attack Trump may be the simple fact that he hasn’t been able to control his most powerful media organ: Fox News. According to sources, Murdoch has tried — and failed — to rein in Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, who, insiders say, is pushing Fox to defend Trump’s most outlandish comments. This week, Ailes told his senior executives during a meeting that Murdoch recently called him and asked if Fox could “back off the Trump coverage,” a source told me. Ailes is said to have boasted to his executives that he told Murdoch he was covering Trump “the way he wanted to.” The implication was that he wasn’t going to budge…
Murdoch’s public and private attempts to temper Ailes make Sunday’s Wall Street Journal editorial all the more fascinating. The piece — which carries no mention of Fox — excoriated the conservative media “apologists” that have been backing Trump. “Too many have adopted the view that there can be no adversary to their right,” the Journal said. “This was mainly a left-wing affliction in the last century as many liberals refused to condemn Communists. But today many on the right seem willing to indulge any populist outburst no matter how divorced from reality or insulting to most Americans. If Donald Trump becomes the voice of conservatives, conservatism will implode along with him.”…
It just occurred to me: If Donald Trump runs as an independent and polls in the teens, he'll be in the general election debates.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) July 21, 2015
Also, why didn't Goebbels kill Hitler?
http://t.co/XCZzBeor3D pic.twitter.com/F6jQeiLuso
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) July 22, 2015
Ryan Lizza, at the New Yorker, “Trump to G.O.P.: “You’re Fired” —
… While there was widespread condemnation of Trump’s comments from Democrats and many media commentators, Trump’s Republican rivals remained largely silent… The obvious reason behind this silence is that many voters in the G.O.P. primaries are sympathetic to Trump on the issue of immigration. Yes, the typical Republican candidate might think that the G.O.P., in general, needs to condemn anti-immigrant bigots. But there’s no benefit for any one candidate to speak up. A look at the polls supports this cynical analysis: much of Trump’s rise, which has been fuelled by his immigration tirades, has come at the expense of his most conservative rivals, who all see their opening in the race to the right of Jeb Bush, the candidate of the Republican establishment…
After the 2012 election, the new G.O.P. chairman, Reince Priebus, published a refreshingly honest and relatively unprecedented report about why Mitt Romney lost and how Republicans could win in 2016… Trump, who has dominated Republican-primary coverage for more than a month, and who, in a new ABC poll, has registered his largest lead since he entered the race, in June, has been like a Daisy Cutter to this strategy. He has made his rivals look weak and unwilling to speak up for the Latino community, and he has made it even more difficult than usual for them to embrace the one piece of legislation that the R.N.C. believes is essential for the Party’s future….
One can laugh at Trump and his absurdities, but it’s wrong to say that he doesn’t matter. He has exposed and exploited the Republican Party’s two great weaknesses: the fact that many of its voters don’t agree with Party leaders on immigration and the fact that the Party is powerless to do much about it.
And finally from our poll- Trump's hair has a -37 favorabilty rating at 12/49. Which makes it more popular than Chris Christie (-42 at 19/61)
— PublicPolicyPolling (@ppppolls) July 22, 2015
Atticus Finch has had enough of this New York ruffian. pic.twitter.com/foOzhW983g
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) July 24, 2015
I never want the Trump campaign to end. http://t.co/x99RJn09TI
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) July 23, 2015
PsiFighter37
The hairpiece will flame out soon enough. I will commit to a month of sobriety – no alcohol intake whatsoever – if he wins either the Iowa caucuses or the NH and SC primaries.
Maybe it’s enjoyable for now, but all it will do is serve to make JEB! more palatable to the masses by not coming off as a complete asshole.
Cervantes
Thanks, Anne Laurie. That’s quite a compendium.
Nonsense until proven otherwise.
jl
” HFCS-frosted doritos with a side of low-fat ranch dressing ”
Send that idea off to Cole. BJ could sell that and this blog might pay for itself after all.
Edit: except try a version with high fat ranch dressing.
Villago Delenda Est
@Cervantes: Most Republicans are thrilled with what they see. This guy ain’t pussy-footing around. He’s calling a Mezkin rapist a Mezkin rapist, much to the delight of the teabagger masses who were inspired to organize by something that happened just a few seconds after 8PM, PST on 4 November 2008.
Calouste
I’ve had a few hangovers in my day. I remember the fun that preceded them a lot better than the hangovers. And the knowledge that a hangover was going to follow never stopped me.
Tim F.
He has a point about the help. I half suspect Hillary will hand-pick Big Dog a staff of highly capable middle-aged men.
jl
This bolded bullet point gave the game away I wanted to yell, ‘Damn straight, you asshole’. Democrats need to get this message out loud and clear, and it’s implications, to (politically) stomp those a holes in the ground in 2016, regardless of what Trump does.
You think we’re dismissing the message, but we’re dismissing the messenger.
Edit: don’t know if I need to explain, but obviously, the GOP likes Trump’s message, just want it hidden from view and presented by a well behaved front man.
Villago Delenda Est
Please ship this comment directly to FSM with a plea to make it so.
Also, too, I’m in moderation for using a naughty word.
muddy
Thanks to Anne Laurie for introducing me to Bob Schooley, who is awesome in his tweeting.
jl
From Beutler link:
‘ The key to winning, they [those in the Cruz-Walker faction of GOP] believe, lies with activating a large block of the white electorate that has stood on the sidelines, but would find a natural home in a Republican party if it were led by someone who could channel the political mood of the white working class. ‘
Didn’t they count on these missing white working class doofus racists (edit: and I assume pretty olds) for a Romney win? And didn’t they go looking to see what happened to them afterwards? And what did they find? The wishy washy likes of Jeb! going to scare up more?
jl
@Villago Delenda Est: Why is the word ‘if’ in that statement?
srv
You people, like the RINOs, vastly underestimate Trump. Even Murdoch can’t stop him now.
I hear his tailor is making a Battle Flag of N.V. suit for the debate.
jl
@efgoldman:
” croaking social security and medicare. ”
By now, some Democratic marketing people have to be working on Jeb! = George W messaging, as we speak, and through the night…
Amir Khalid
I’m just a little worried that the Democratic celebration about the destructiveness to the Republican party of Trump’s candidacy might be premature. You never know, he might reach his “this is too much like real work” point and quit before having done the party quite as much damage as you’d like.
Roy G.
To me, Trump is playing the heel in a WWE wrestling match (thanks Citizens United!). He’s not serious about winning, he’s playing for laffs and being a kingmaker; What happens when he gracefully steps aside ‘for the good of the country’ (and a handsome reward from the Kochtopus), and declares that Scott Walker would make a great Prezident of the Yooonighted States?
El Caganer
So when Trump runs as an independent and Hillary crushes the opposition, embittered Republicans will be snarling, “Thanksthedonald” for years to come and using the election as a cautionary tale to teach future generations of the evil of independents and third parties.
catclub
What does this tell us about someone who has won election as president twice?
Not too flawed.
Not too liberal. not too undisciplined.
To win.
Cervantes
@srv:
Promise?
PsiFighter37
NYT headline on their website about inspector generals at the State Department and other intelligence agencies seeking a criminal probe into Hillary’s use of private email.
I feel like this is yawn-worthy for now, but it could be a problem once the hairpiece flames out. This is what Democrats get for putting all their goddamn eggs in one basket. And don’t fucking tell me Bernie Sanders is the goddamn answer.
srv
@El Caganer: You mean like they didn’t with Ross?
Splitting Image
My understanding is that Roger Ailes signed a contract extension shortly before Rupert Murdoch’s kids took over. None of the Murdochs are fans of Trump, so I think it’s possible that Ailes knows he’s in his last contract with Fox and is trying to be fired. After all, if you can get your salary over the next three years or be paid the same amount in severance right now, why not take the money and run?
So it could be that Trump’s main effect will be to force Ailes out of Fox, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Whoever replaces Ailes will probably start sacking the 70-year-olds whose audiences are older than they are (i.e. Bill O’Reilly).
Of course, things that sound too good to be true generally are, so file this under “wishful thinking”.
Tree With Water
@Cervantes: Ditto, Anne. It is an entertaining format.
My elderly Russian American neighbor is an all round sweetheart. She is also the only dye in the wool FOX partisan I’ve ever cared to know. We sometime discuss politics, and she knows where I stand, so I had a little fun with her about Trump the other day. She may be quite elderly, and she may love FOX, but she’s no one’s fool. She is distressed by Trump and how it reflects on the GOP, and it was with a big smile that I agreed with her 100%. She’s such a good sport that she couldn’t help laughing a bit at my glee..
mtiffany
@PsiFighter37:
Even more terrifying thought: What does the crop of potential candidates look like for ’20 and ’24? Who’s out there? Eight plus years from now I can see Tammy Duckworth as a VA Secretary, or even as a VP running mate, but who’s out there for who can run for the big chair?
Splitting Image
@efgoldman:
Well, keep in mind that foreign attacks on the United States are the FBI’s main jurisdiction, so it’s natural that the director would be more concerned with ISIS as a foreign threat…. No wait. That’s the CIA, isn’t it?
Carry on.
cmorenc
We progressives whose hearts are with Bernie need to recognize that a similar point applies to us if Clinton becomes the Democratic nominee – but fortunately without having to feel shamefully regretful or hung over about having attached our support to him the way wingnuts would experience from their fling with Trump, if only wingnuts were capable of being ashamed of themselves. Fact is, whether with Sanders or Clinton as the Democratic nominee, the 2016 election is a must-win for us, a turning point where a better path toward an enlightened progressive society is still at least possible, or else an awful turn toward a very long period of regressive darkness the right will use to destroy not only every progressive achievement since the New Deal, but to destroy even the foundations from which rebirth will even be possible for several decades at least. Think what SCOTUS would be like with two or three more justices in the mold of Scalia, Alito, and Thomas – or even worse (yes, even worse than them is possible, but even worse is exactly what many of the current crop of GOP nominees will be searching for in a nominee). And those won’t even be the worst results, as they’d soon be digging the U.S. into even deeper, vaster, more expensive wars in the MidEast.
khead
@muddy:
Yup. I first wondered “who the hell is Bob Schooley”.
Then I searched him and asked “what the hell is Kim Possible”?
Then I just said to hell with it and laughed at his tweets.
gwangung
@khead: Huh. You got my attention with “Kim Possible.”
Tree With Water
@cmorenc: You’re late to the party, but welcome..
Redshift
@mtiffany: You’re seriously worrying that we don’t know who would be a strong Dem presidential candidate in eight years? Had you heard of Obama in 2000? Bill Clinton in ’86?
Even if we thought we knew, we don’t know. No point in borrowing trouble.
David Koch
But, but… Obamacare is a jobs killer!
Belafon
@mtiffany: What I always wonder when people complain about Democrats putting all their eggs in one basket: Are you going to run for office? How do people vote for someone who does not exist? How does the party grow new candidates if no one runs?
mclaren
A whopping total of 31 comments assures us that no one gives a shit about Trump, and neither do I — so time to talk about the only Republican presidential candidate who isn’t a complete fool and isn’t self-destructing: Scott Walker.
Turns out Scott Walker has some massive skeletons in his closet. Lots of corrupt self-dealing, special loans to campaign contributors, and so on. If Walker winds up being a frontrunner this will hurt him badly. In fact, you can practically hear the oppo campaign ads the Demos will run against Walker now: Scott Walker funneled state loans to his millionaire campaign contributors during his first official action as Governor of Wisconsin.. Scott Walker: wrong about jobs. Wrong about the economy. Wrong for America.
And then there’s Jeb Bush, the gift who keeps on giving. Now he’s gone on record as “wanting to phase out medicare.” How can this goof possibly get over that in the general election? Doesn’t he realize this clip will run non-stop during his campaign from now until November 2016 courtesy of Democratic oppo researchers?
Clearly the Repubs are going to try to drag lots of oppo research out of the vault to smear Hillary, but their problem is that this stuff is ancient. Bill’s Christmas card list (Republicans spent a grand total of 140 hours of congressional testimony on that one) — but that was 1994. Nobody cares in 2015. Bill getting a hummer in the Oval Office — but that was 1998. Very few people care in 2015.
Meanwhile, the Repub candidates are stockpiling huge amounts of liabilities right now, today, and within the last couple of years. I just don’t see how the Repub campaign strategists bury HRC with dirt from the mid-nineties when their own candidates will be drowning in the sewage of their own video clips from the last couple of years.
Ian
@PsiFighter37: @mtiffany:
Warren, Booker, Hickenlooper, O’Malley, Gillibrand, Merkely, Bennet, Feingold, Boeccera, Baldwin, or Edwards are all last names of prominent Democratic politicians far, far more qualified to lead this country than anything the opposition can put up.
the Conster
@Villago Delenda Est:
Bingo. The first “take back our country” march was in April 2009.
Brachiator
@Amir Khalid:
Very true. This might all evaporate before serious campaigning has begun. I would like to see Trump contest some primaries and get more deeply entangled in GOP politics.
Omnes Omnibus
@mclaren: And no one else knows this or would use it against them? Right, thanks for bringing up what we all know.
PsiFighter37
@Ian: It’s Bacerra, not whatever incorrect spelling you put up there.
And no, the only one of those who would be ready for prime-time is Gillibrand, and maybe Hickenlooper. The rest are lightweights, including Warren (who has fuck-all knowledge of foreign policy – at least Sanders has a clue on that stuff).
mclaren
@mtiffany:
Alan Grayson.
Elizabeth Warren.
Russ Feingold.
Any more questions?
cokane
I remember reading that Sean Trende argument awhile ago. To argue that Republicans could possibly do better among whites when Democrats will almost certainly have a white nominee is to just completely ignore a pretty salient fact.
David Koch
Great Pete Souza photo of Obama meeting with black youth.
dogwood
@mclaren:
Alan Grayson, a rich self promoter with a big mouth. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
cokane
i do suspect when actual voting happens, trump will grossly underperform, if he’s even still in the race. also the iowa caucus seems like a structure designed to kill this kind of campaign.
redshirt
I’m #TEAMTRUMP
Omnes Omnibus
@mclaren: Yes, which of them has any desire to run?
mtiffany
@mclaren:
I’m sorry, I left of the word ‘next’. Who’s in the next crop? No one lives forever. What does that farm team look like? Who can be promoted up to the major leagues? Anyone who will not be in their mid-60s to early-70s next cycle?
KG
Couple of thoughts…
Gavin Newsome and Kamala Harris will both be south of 60 in eight years time. Newsome may be governor of California and Harris will likely be one of our senators. So there’s two choices. Then there’s who ever serves as Hillary’s VP, that’s almost automatic. The Castro brothers as well. There’s plenty of potentials eight years out.
As for Trump, the Onion had the article recent about him entitled “Admit it, you want to see how far this goes”… When I saw it on Facebook, my only comment was “can I put $10 on it going until Trump tells Clinton ‘listen here little lady’ during the first debate”.
cokane
@mtiffany: you’re being silly… who was Obama in 1999?
mtiffany
@Belafon: I would be a perfect as a politician save for one fatal flaw, I’m the kind of sociopath that can’t disguise my contempt for my fellow man.
Omnes Omnibus
@mtiffany: The Castro brothers, Harris in CA. Who had a clue about that weird Obama guy in 2000? Chill out.
Ruckus
@Roy G.:
This misses the point about T Rump. He is absolutely sure that he can do the job. He made all these billions didn’t he? Didn’t he? He is a republican of the far right. His history tells us that he is an opportunist and isn’t all that far to the extreme right, but his toxic race for the maximum fame possible shows me that he will do anything to get there. He may be a blow hard, pompous asshole but what else can he do to get to the top of the pile of people like him? Nothing else has gotten him anything like the respect he knows he deserves. We all want to believe that he will just blow over, and we can get on with it. But I don’t believe that, I think he’s going for it. Whatever it takes. He has enough money to do it his way, he has Faux sucking his ass, he has a fair bit of the old conservative white people fooled and nothing else has gotten him this kind of, what’s the word, respect? Of course it’s the respect of morons but still, who else could you expect?
dogwood
@cokane:
I totally agree. Trump doesn’t speak evangelicaleze. Evangelicals are going to be looking for the most authentic opponent of gay marriage who appears electable. I’m sure they agree with Trump about the Mexican peril, but that’s not the issue that floats their boat. Two years ago I put my money on Scott Walker and I haven’t seen anything that changes my mind. Jeb is campaigning like a guy who doesn’t really want the job. I wonder if he simply felt some duty to the family and all their long time backers.
slag
Just watched Jon Stewart’s extended interview with Obama. Am I the only one frustrated by Jon Stewart’s bias that Dems have the burden of proof that government is better than the free market fairy at doing some stuff? Why don’t the free marketeers have the same burden of proof that said fairy will do the job better? Who in the private market does Stewart think is going to step up and solve the problems that the VA hasn’t? AT&T? DuPont? FedEx? Microsoft?
I’m all for actively making the government better. But I don’t think starting from the standpoint that government has to prove its value any more than any other institution does is going to get us there. By the people, for the people, all that stuff.
benw
A YOOGE Trump post from AL (thanks!) and not one single YOOGE joke!? That’s not CLASSY BJ commenters, not classy at all.
Redshift
@cokane: Sam Wang presents pretty compelling evidence that Trump doesn’t have much upside as the field gets smaller (which hopefully won’t happen for a while.) Says that in a field this large, single-choice polls are almost meaningless, and instant-runoff ranking pools would show it.
mai naem mobile
@mtiffany: Castro brothers, Kamala Harris, Bill Deblasio, Chris Van Hollen, Jay Inslee, the Oregon,Montana and Colorado governors and several senators.
mtiffany
@KG:
Thanks, I’d forgotten about those two. As far as Hillary’s VP is. I hope it’s Biden. If he can’t go down in history as a President, he might as well get written down as the first 3 or 4 consecutive term VP in American history.
Chris
@Tree With Water:
Anecdotal experience; people who’ve immigrated from communist nations (you said “elderly” so I’ll assume Russia was still communist) often make good Republicans, as they gravitate to the loudest and angriest opposition to the communist system they ran away from. Miami Cubans were notorious for this for a long time, but the same can be true of East Europeans, if my Hungarian and Polish friends are anything to go on (being white probably doesn’t hurt).
I tend to be more inclined to give these people a pass than the rest of the Republican voter base, since at least they come by their allergy to all things left wing honestly and somewhat understandably.
(“I am more inclined to give them a pass” =/= “I always give them a pass.” Ayn Rand is still one of the worst human beings ever to inflict her literature on the human race).
Cacti
Donald Trump is everything the troglodyte wing of the GOP has been taught is important:
He’s white, he’s male, he’s rich, he’s boorish, he’s loud, and he’s devoid of empathy.
That’s why he’s going to make a deep primary run at the very least.
wasabi gasp
Going Indy before the first debate would free Trump from brushing up his shitshow for another year. Else, he might have to make a modicum of sense. And that would be awful.
slag
@Ruckus:
Just like every Republican born on third base who convinces himself he hit a triple, all the world is just and fair in his eyes until something bad happens to him.
mtiffany
@Ruckus:
He is an opportunistic grifter with impeccable timing. The string of bankruptcies he has left in his wake is proof only that he knows how to leave someone else holding the bag.
RaflW
That, dear Brian, is not really Donald’s work. I mean, maybe he put the tootsieroll turd on the frosting, but the GOP has been baking that hard, dry, bitter cake of fuck you for years and years.
Petorado
A harbinger of peak wingnut? Of course, I jest. But maybe a sign that some of the less well-seasoned conservative travelers start peeling-off this election, or at least realize their right wing brand loyalty has its limitations.
KG
@slag: lets be fair… Trump was born on third base and thought he hit a home run
Chris
@mtiffany:
You Know Who Else was an opportunistic grifter with impeccable timing?
(George Wallace. Actually).
dogwood
@slag:
I watched it too. Stewart was pretty hostile. For all his talent as a satirist; Stewert suffers from the same disease that afflicts a majority of Americans. The delusion that the president, being “the most powerful man in the world” can fix anything if he wants it bad enough. It’s this delusion that leads to the cynicism of “both sides do it.” One of the reasons I always preferred Colbert, was that it appeared the real Cobert was always skeptical but never cynical.
RaflW
Oh, and Rupe’s tweet? Precious! Murdoch has been wagging the GOP dog for years for fun and plenty of profit. And he is mad at Trump? Puh-leez.
David Koch
“theater patron”?
“theater patron”?
If he was a person of color or a moooslim would CNN be referring to the mass murderer as a “theater patron”?
Mandalay
@Chris:
Netanyahu loves recent Russian immigrants, and if it weren’t for them he’d probably be out of a job:
Frankensteinbeck
@PsiFighter37:
Jeb will never be palatable. He says publicly the kind of horrible ‘I really do hate poor people’ stuff Romney had to be secretly filmed saying. He’s not the moderate, bland, will-do-well-in-the-general-election choice. If he were bioengineered as a gaffe machine, he’d be a better candidate.
I think people are starting to get this, but I’ll keep saying it until everyone realizes Jeb’s just another clown in the car.
Brachiator
@PsiFighter37:
The conservative masses love Trump. I agree that Trump may burn out early, but he may end up forcing any more docile GOP candidate to promise to be more like Trump.
mclaren
@Omnes Omnibus:
Alan Grayson is currently running for the U.S. senate, and as a general rule of thumb, if you’re ambitious enough to run for the senate, you’re willing to consider a presidential run. As witness our current president, former U.S. senator Obama.
Elizabeth Warren isn’t interested in running for president in this election cycle and has said so. That’s a smart cohice, since HRC is sucking all the air out of the room with her support and institutional backing, plus Bill’s political connections. But assuming that HRC gets elected in 2016 and stays there for two terms, it’s hard to imagine Elizabeth Warren not being interested in running at least in 2024.
Russ Feingold is also running for senate again, so the same comments that apply to Grayson apply to Feingold. Also, Feingold is a multi-term previous U.S. senator, so he’s already wired into the Washington mindset.
All of these people are savvy enough that it’s easy to imagine them running in 2024. If HRC wins in 2016 I’d think it unlikely that they run in 2020 because if HRC does even a halfway decent job as President, she’ll have an insuperable advantage running as incumbent.
slag
@KG: Ironic, isn’t it, that Carter, Clinton, and Obama are actually much more of what Republicans and Libertarians pretend to be? The more Bushes we have running for office, the more obvious it is that the toxic haze of Republican bombast is really just a smokescreen for a massive inferiority complex.
Gavin
Gavin Newsome is not a serious candidate. Adam Carolla eviscerated him in a long-form interview a couple of years ago – because Newsome is a complete idiot whose skill is catchy soundbites. Newsome doesn’t have an understanding of issues, and makes up for it with zero ideas on how to make decisions.
mclaren
@Frankensteinbeck:
You’re absolutely right, but if palatability were an issue the Republicans would never have nominated Barry Goldwater in 1964, Richard Nixon in 1968 or 1972, George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, John McCain in 2008, or Mitt Romney in 2012.
All those people are deeply loathsome. Republicans don’t care if the candidate is loathsome as long as he has enough cash. Republicans’ attitude toward the American population is that they’re ignorant gullible peons who can be enticed to eat shit if they’re told the turd is a delicious fish taco…and, to be fair, the Republicans are right about that in roughly half the elections in my lifetime.
slag
@dogwood: That’s interesting. I didn’t find him hostile, per se. I just found him biased. Biased toward the idea that the government has a higher burden of proof than any other potentially competing entity or conglomerate. Why? Why should we a priori assume that some heretofore unidentified institution can solve a given problem any better than we the people can? Is there any evidence for this proposition at all?
David Koch
Pretty sure Hillary will be next president whether Trump runs 3rd party or not. Only thing that could stop Hill is some self inflicted wound (ie Eastern Europe not dominated by Soviets)
David Koch
¡Jeb! is Dubya without the brains.
guachi
@David Koch:
Yes. SATSQ. Because the point they are trying to get across is that he isn’t an employee or someone who didn’t buy a ticket. “Customer” and “guest” don’t sound right. What else would they have used? Movie-goer?
And he’s not a mass-murderer. He only murdered three people so far.
Mandalay
@mclaren: I like your optimism, but I’m not sure about any of those choices. Feingold and Grayson have both been voted out of office, Feingold will be 71 in 2024, and Warren will be 75. Running at 75 would be borderline ridiculous.
The only way I can image us getting President Warren would be if Clinton loses, and then Warren runs and wins in 2020. After that it’s too late.
mtiffany
Reading the comments about Stewart’s interview with the President (no, I didn’t watch), and I have to ask: is it possible that Stewart wasn’t being unfair, he was just forcing a politician to justify his positions with rational argument and facts? Is Stewart guilty of committing an act of journalism?
Mandalay
@Gavin:
This. He’s oily, phony, lightweight, slimy, fake, unctuous, superficial and vain.
But apart from that….
mtiffany
@Mandalay:
A Dem loss in 16 is a disaster — with 3 likely SCOTUS retirements, that’s a SCOTUS that votes 7-2 in favor of Rep bullshit than us getting a net gain of 1 and the resulting 5-4 majority.
Do you want this:
In Roe v. Wade, this court erred…
In Obergefell, this court erred…
In Griswold, this court erred…
In Miranda, this court erred…
Or this:
In Citizens United, this court erred…
In Pembina Consolidated Silver Mining Co. v. Pennsylvania, this court erred…
In Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, this court erred…
In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, this court erred…
We need a win in ’16 or a lot of us are fucked.
slag
@mtiffany:
I wouldn’t mind if this were the case. I actually like it when journalists do that.
But this is a case of Stewart trying to make Obama prove that the government sparkles better and brighter than the magical mystery unicorn hiding under his desk. First, show me the unicorn, and then we’ll talk sparkles. You don’t get to just assume the unicorn. That’s not a rational starting position.
mclaren
@Mandalay:
What about Warren getting selected as Treasury Secretary by HRC in 2016, then running in 2020 if HRC declines as second term because of health issues?
As Mr. Chapel was wont to say in the 1998 TV series Vengeance Unlimited, “Anything is possible.”
David Koch
@Mandalay:
How can you say that when you have been supporting Sanders who will be 75 next year?
Ruckus
@KG:
T Rump was born about a foot from home and thought he owned both teams. He would never think about honest manual labor like swinging a bat.
mtiffany
@slag:
Show me the fish you caught, and I’ll tell you about the time I caught one 6 inches longer…
Or
Show me the fish you caught, and I’ll tell you that statistically there’s dozens out there that are at least 6 inches longer…
got it.
Ruckus
@mtiffany:
Hence the second Didn’t he?
Not only did he start on home plate or very close to it I really think that he isn’t worth nearly as much as he says he is. Yes he’s got a fair bit of value in his portfolio but I’d bet he’s counting on a lot of inflated property evaluations for that, like his name on buildings that he has no stake in. He sold his name, nothing more. And as we all know his name is worth, what’s that word? Oh yes, shit.
Mandalay
@David Koch:
A fair question…
[1] I have always had concerns about his age, but increasingly so when I see him get really long-winded and rambling when he takes questions. (Maybe that’s just him, and nothing to do with his age, but it’s certainly a characteristic of older people, and it’s definitely not presidential.)
[2] Also, your posts about his voting record have made me much less confortable about supporting him at all.
[3] At one stage I would have supported Biden, but McClaren persuaded me long ago that he is not the person we want controlling our foreign policy.
[4] I really don’t care for Clinton or O’Malley.
Given all that, Bernie is just the least bad option, but I suspect that I will be like most folks here and end up holding my nose and voting for Clinton.
dogwood
@mtiffany:
There was nothing wrong with the questions he asked, there was just something a bit off about his affect. He wasn’t rally playing the role of the journalist in that interview, because he seemed to be more interested in expressing his view than eliciting a response from the president. If I were the president I would have had that feeling you get when you’re talking to someone who isn’t really listening, but rather thinking about what he’s gonna say next? It seemed like that to me. Lots of interrupting.
Mandalay
@mtiffany: You completely misread my comments. I don’t disagree with anything you wrote but it had absolutely nothing to do with my post.
slag
@mtiffany: Yeah. And he’s done it before with other Dems. He states this bias outright as if it’s obvious that Democrats need to prove the value of government before they get to try to improve the government. Why should they have to prove that? Why shouldn’t the burden of proof be on the anti-government side of the argument? Why is it assumed that Monsanto would (or even could) be better at anything than the Department of Health is? Where does idea that come from?
David Koch
@Mandalay: it’s a disappointing lot for me. O’Malley, Chaffee, Webb aren’t serious. Sanders is too old. Hillary is a hawk.
The best we can do right now is do everything we can to get Trump the nomination so that the landslide is big enough to sweep out the wingers in the House.
dogwood
@David Koch:
There is no landslide big enough to sweep the wingers out of the House.
mtiffany
Off to bed. Thanks everybody and goodnight.
Mandalay
@mclaren: That works for me, though I can’t imagine Clinton doing that to Wall Street.
And I think we are conditioned to assume that presidents will always want to run for a second term. Maybe Clinton will freely choose to just be a one-term president.
Fair Economist
Is publishing this “treating Trump right”? I’m thinking not. Popcorn, please!
sparrow
Early AM here in Greece, but apparently there’s been another theater shooting in Louisiana. Of course, Jindal declares this a politics-free moment because god forbid we discuss why a tragedy happens right after it happens.
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/24/us/louisiana-theater-shooting/index.html
“We will get through this” Jindal says.
WHAT THE FUCK. The press is totally complicit in treating this as some kind of act of god, like a tornado or hurricane, and not a toxic mixture of white male paranoia (god knows what it will be specifically, but I can bet there will be one of: gays, feminists, muslims, blacks, mexicans, etc) and absurdly easy access to guns.
I’m so so over the second ammendment. I want it repealed, time to be like the UK.
Tree With Water
@Mandalay: Give Gavin his due with fighting the good fight on behalf of gay rights before it was cool. Recall that he loudly demanded the democratic party platform include an unequivocal endorsement of the right to marry at its national convention in 2004. And when he was told to STFU, he refused to oblige.
Tree With Water
It’s almost a shame that Bill Cosby and OJ Simpson never collaborated on a film project. Co-starring Robert Blake..
Mandalay
@Tree With Water:
No argument from me – what he did was ballsy, and to his everlasting credit.
But that doesn’t mean I want him anywhere near the White House, and I really don’t like his personality. He reminds me of Tony Robbins, and that is not meant as a compliment.
Tree With Water
@Mandalay: Newsom in the White House? Oh, fuck no!
I’m no fan of Hillary, but a great catch by Daily Kos has once again compelled me to rise to her defense. I hate that dynamic. And there’s is something wrong in the front office of the NY Times:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/24/1405261/-New-York-Times-dramatically-rewrites-a-new-Hillary-Clinton-email-story-after-midnight
dogwood
A question for all the Warren and Sanders fans here. Did they show up to pay homage to Bibi when he came to town to campaign against the president? How many standing ovations were they down for? I didn’t watch or read about Bibi’s speech because it made me too embarrassed for my party.
Groucho48
Michelle Obama would be 60 in 2024. I am sure Warren has proteges. If DiBlasio can survive running NYC and dealing with endless attacks from the MSM, he could be ready for a run in 8 years.
We should have a few new Dem Senators this cycle. Maybe one of them will be presidential material. Hopefully a Governor or two, as well.
dogwood
@Groucho48:
Holy crap! Whats wrong with you? Michelle Obama isn’t interested. She’s made it clear that she hates politics. Her husband has even said she would be miserable in elected office. No wonder this country is screwed up. People of both parties live in some fantasy land.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Tree With Water: The NYT and the WaPo have a history with the Clintons. Either read or re-read ‘The Hunting of the President’.
Groucho48
@dogwood:
We’re making up stuff about an election 8 years away. Settle back and have a refreshing beverage and enjoy the fun.
Ideally, Michelle would be a shoo-in as a 6-3 liberal bloc on the Supreme Court, led by Barack Obama and the Notorious RBG would have rolled back most of the voter denial laws and extreme gerrymandering, so, she’d also have a Dem majority in both Houses to work with.
A fellow can dream, can’t he?
El Caganer
@David Koch: No, they’d refer to him as “theatre thug.”
Tree With Water
@dogwood: Sanders and Warren could have done somersaults during that ridiculous charade and I wouldn’t have cared. Sanders opposed the Bush-Cheney War, and Warren talks truth to power*. If they feel obliged to play jack-in-the-box during a kabuki performance, it’s OK with me.
*(That’s the first time in my life I’ve ever invoked that particular phrase, as I’ve always thought it hackneyed. But it’s exactly what Warren does, isn’t it?).
opiejeanne
@guachi: What is the numerical line which must be crossed for it to be considered mass murder?
Mandalay
@dogwood:
It’s so strange to read your comment since I’ve just been listening to a radio interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates where he says that his advice to his son is to be skeptical but not cynical (at around 27:45).
Mike J
@opiejeanne: FBI says four. Since he shot nine more people, we can safely assume he wanted to be a mass murderer.
Funny that just today, Fred over at Slacktivist had a post called “Why is it men who commit mass shootings?”
mclaren
Now Barney Frank, of all people, is accusing Bernie Sanders of the being the Ralph Nader of 2015:
“Barney Frank unloads on pro-Sanders progressives: Says they’re only helping GOP win,” Slate, 23 July 2015.
Sounds 100% completely wrong to me.
dogwood
@Mandalay:
That’s weird. I taught AP US Government and Politics and that was my mantra to my students. They’d give me shit about it all the time. One kid made a cool poster in his graphic design class using that motto. It hung in my classroom for years.
Keith P.
Wow, blaming liberals for how right-wing the GOP is. That’s choice.
mclaren
@opiejeanne:
The numerical threshold is that the shooter’s skin tone must be C=46, M=67, Y=77, B=50 as opposed to a skin tone of C=3, M=15, Y=16, B=0.
mikefromArlington
He should hint he’s picking Sarah Palin so secure the gop nomination
Mike J
@Keith P.:
As long as I’ve known liberals, the above has been true, just not in the way they meant it. The left does almost nothing but criticize those on the left. There is no adversary on the right, at least not until we get rid of the Judean People’s Front.
dogwood
@mclaren:
I think Barney frank has earned the right to have an opinion about the Democratic Party.
Tommy
@dogwood:
Good for you! I have always believed the most important class I took in high school was typing. You know on typewriters back in the mid-80s. Who knew years later when I could touch type 60+ WPM (closer to 100 now I’d think) on a computer keyboard it would be such an “important” thing.
The second was our government affairs class. Heck one of the only classes I even found interesting in high school, until I got into college and I could take the classes I wanted.
It wasn’t political in the political campaign kind of way. We just learned how our government worked. The branches of government. Kind of important things like how a bill, well becomes a bill. Stuff like that!
We paid a fee for the class, and I think it was either the NYT or WSJ had a special edition of the paper just for civic classes we’d get that focused not on political news from DC, the “horse races” and such. But again how our government works.
I often think they couldn’t have that class anymore now because people on the right, and yes even the left would bitch and moan about this or that. I asked a teacher that teaches at the high school I went to a few years back if they still have the class, and no, in fact they do not.
I found that more sad than anything else …..
dogwood
@Tree With Water:
No its hackneyed. And the second I read it you lost me. I suppose she does that thing when it comes to financial regulation and middle class economics. I have no idea what she thinks about anything else or even if she actually thinks about anything else. I do know she’s a big supporter of Chuck Schumer and Israel, she might be in the bomb Iran crowd for all I know.
Tommy
@dogwood: I didn’t like what Barney had to say and for a few seconds I was a little pissed off, like “WTF dude, of all people I wouldn’t think you’d say something like that.”
But after a sip of some sun tea and a deep breath or two I kind of came to the same conclusion you did. Of just about anybody in our party that could say what Barney said, well he is the one that has earned, through decades of “fighting the good fight,” to be able to say things like this.
But that is just my two cents …..
dogwood
@Tommy:
My very red state requires 2 semesters of American Government. i don’t think that’s unusual.
BillinGlendaleCA
@dogwood: I think we only had one semester in mid 1970’s CA.
ETA: Ya know, back when Jerry Brown was (a first term) governor.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
When I was teaching for a while, I taught the required 11th grade American History to the terminally stupid.
Kathleen
@dogwood: I agree with you 100%. I’m not sorry to see Stewart go.
Tommy
@BillinGlendaleCA: We only had one as well. Sophomore year. Mandatory class. It was one of only a few classes I both enjoyed and learned something I now use in my day-to-day life. The others typing and home ec class. Also liked history and biology. We got to do some really cool shit in the biology classes. In hindsight I do kick myself I never paid attention for a second in math classes. My ability to math is maybe at a 8th grade level (if that) and it is pretty darn sad if I do say so myself.
Yeah, I was that dude that got my parents to sign a form so I didn’t have to take shop and home ec instead. Back in the early to mid-90s I got called a fag*ot for this (and worse). I wasn’t, not that there was anything wrong if I was.
I just didn’t want to learn to make a knife or bookshelf (what most students did). I’d rather learn to cook, and oh I was the ONLY male in a class of 30 women, so while you are learning to sand I am hitting on your lady :).
Applejinx
Barney Frank is entitled to an opinion, and more power to him. But if Bernie Sanders is the nominee, he’ll win. My pet matchup is Sanders vs. Trump, because I think EITHER of them is better than the alternatives.
Except for I’d choose Clinton over Trump, but I trust Clinton slightly less than Trump: unless she really reads the tea leaves correctly she’ll fall back on neoliberal hawkishness and 1%erness and at least with Trump you’ll get resistance to his nonsense. Plus he’s an idiot and not organized so his effectiveness will be compromised. Clinton’s effectiveness would be greater but she’d be pulling in some of the same directions under cover of liberalism.
She might be better on gun control than Sanders, because Sanders. But what I’m seeing is that his intrasigence on gun control is helping him pull crowds in Red State Murika: it’s not going unnoticed. Sanders is 100% economic survival all the time. Right now, that’s as big a deal as gun control, and nearly as important as police murder of black people (I figure the state of economic survival in the US is killing more black people on a daily basis than the cops).
dogwood
If a non republican is going to the White House, I’d bet Barack Obama hopes to hell its not Bernie Sanders. Obama would be stuck being head of the party and its chief fundraiser, and he’d have to speak at all the funerals. Imagining Bernie at Emanuel AME telling those people that guns and racism weren’t the problem, Dylan Roff just needed a job is a bit unsettling.
BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: I had American History in 11th grade, but it was an AP class. My teacher got his PhD during the year I had his class.
@Tommy: I took typing in Jr. High, as well as shop. I never took home ec, but did take college prep math(Algebra, geometry, trig, pre-calc). I ended up taking lots and lots of math in college(2 years of calculus, sadistics…).
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
I as well took AP History ion 11th grade. The AP exam administered afterwards was pretty much a joke.
Students in the classes I taught, however, were taking American History only because it was required. Including the one class with 53 pupils.
Joel
@mtiffany: I think that’s fair. Another consideration is that Stewart doesn’t do this effectively with republicans. Probably because they aren’t going to be sympathetic to his line of thinking. But if he were a journalist, you have to confront… Not that many do, these days.
dogwood
@NotMax:
Ap exams are a joke and your students were “terminally stupid”. So sorry you’re not teaching anymore.
NorthLeft12
Is it just me or are more of these articles/tweets on the Republican primary antics getting more ridiculous?
Especially the rewriting of history; ie. “In 2012 Bachmann took out Pawlenty”??!!?? Are we left to infer that this was some critical turning point in history, and that we might possibly be looking at a Pawlenty presidency if not for the clever machinations of Ms. Bachmann? Or that Bachmann somehow split the critical support of Minnesota Republicans which cost Pawlenty the nomination?
Look, how strong a candidate are you if Michelle freaking Bachmann takes you out?
NotMax
@dogwood
The description of those particular students was from the department head, not original to me. As low person on the totem pole, was given the classes with those who had to be there, not those who elected to be. (For what it may be worth, got the highest rating from students of any teacher in the school, even with insisting on having them turn in two writing assignments per week – something practically antediluvian.)
The class I was assigned with 53 of them was a split class, purposely held in a portable classroom as far from the main building as possible – teach ½ a period, then they would leave to go to lunch and come back for second ½ of class. By the time had taken attendance twice, left very little teaching time
Another Holocene Human
@mtiffany: Well, Deval Patrick stepped down. He was my #1 draft pick!
What about Gillibrand or Harris?
Another Holocene Human
@KG: Fuck Gavin Newsome. People with massive personality disorders have no business being the D party nominee. (Although there is Clinton. Eh… one term of him was better than two.)
Another Holocene Human
@David Koch: How much of the demon weed was in his system?
Another Holocene Human
@mclaren: mclaren, no. Alan Grayson is a deeply flawed pol and human being.
He shills for his district, which is fine, because he’s in the business of getting elected. But all that prog-lefty showboating is just that. A show. There are no deeply held principles there.
Another Holocene Human
@guachi: “He’s not a mass murderer–he’s a terrible shot!”
Another Holocene Human
@dogwood: Stewart was infamous for putting his nose up the ass of Bush admin officials. Part of it was wanting more of them to come on the show (so kissing up for access). Part of it was … I don’t know. Stewart has seemed to truly dislike Obama ever since he became president. Maybe Obama disappointed him in the first 9 months in office. I don’t really know. But it’s just obvious he has a long list of grievances with Obama and can’t get past that to do the kind of interview we kind of expect out of him. I mean, he’s nicer to Bill O’Reilly even when he’s skewering him.
Another Holocene Human
@sparrow: Louisiana has the highest per capita murder rate in the United States. It’s comparable to our Caribbean and Central American neighbors that are experiencing “troubles”.
Also their cops suck so much at one time there were three different serial killers operating in Baton Rouge at the same time and all they could do was collect the bodies and wring their hands.
Another Holocene Human
@Tree With Water: Bull. Shit. Tom Menino was at our events back in the late 1990s. Big gay city, very popular stance to take. Being stridently pro-SSM did not cost Newsome anything.
Denali
While I am enjoying the Trump as much as everyone else, it kind of worries me that we are paying so much attention to this shiny hairpiece that we might not notice if a nuclear bomb went off somewhere. The power of distraction.
NotMax
@mclaren
It’s easy to imagine, as she’ll be 75 years old in 2024.
rikyrah
I’ll say it again….
they are mad at Trump for not speaking in Frank Luntz-approved dogwhistles.
S-Curve
@David Koch: CNN is hoping that Houser shot everyone because they were texting during the movie. It’s such a relatable peeve.
The Other Chuck
@jl:
Geek that I am, I read that as “Jeb != George W” and thought gee, wouldn’t Jeb!’s people have thought of doing that long ago? :)
Ima refer to him as “Jebbang” from now on.
C.V. Danes
Republicans stare into the abyss, see Trump staring back at them. I would be scared too!
The Other Chuck
@Gavin: I’ve seen Newsom in other interviews, and he comes off, if anything, as professorial… if Alec Baldwin were a professor, anyway. Still has the raspy voice and swaggering posture, but he’s not dumb. Mind you, the guy is pretty much made of social-pages scandal, so there’s that…
The Other Chuck
@NorthLeft12:
No, but a few Pawlenty victories in the primaries maybe. There are two contests that have to be won, after all. Still, it seems pretty far fetched that T-Paw could have won anything at all.
Kropadope
@NorthLeft12: Pawlenty dropped out after Bachman won a straw-poll.
Talk about jumping the gun.
Kropadope
@The Other Chuck:
Returns a 0.
Paul in KY
@Amir Khalid: He could also be bought out by high rollers in party or they could put a horse head in his bed.
Paul in KY
@Splitting Image: Wonder what Ailes has on Murdoch? Being insubordinate to him would usually lead to being fired.
Phil Perspective
@mai naem mobile: You don’t pay attention to the news very much, do you?
Paul in KY
@mclaren: They must be hoping Hillary shoots herself in the foot 3 or 4 more times.
Paul in KY
@Another Holocene Human: That’s the stupidest comment I have ever seen from you.
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: Completely correct.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@mclaren:
Probably not, for two reasons:
1. Hills will need every Democrat she can get in the Senate;
2. I think Warren is of better use crafting legislation.
Remember that Supreme Court nominations require Senate approval; we really need to flip the Senate back with seats to spare. Congress and state houses are the real batllegrounds this year.
Piquoiseau
@Mandalay
“And I think we are conditioned to assume that presidents will always want to run for a second term. Maybe Clinton will freely choose to just be a one-term president.”
Nobody has freely chosen to be a one-term president since 1880 or arguably 1884. What this suggests (to me anyway) is that, under modern conditions, neither party will forgo the advantages of incumbency. It was different in the 19th century because the parties were riven by rival factions, and candidates were selected by delegates at the convention. When no faction could get enough delegates for their man, a dark horse promising to serve only one term could present himself as a compromise candidate. The one-term promise allowed all factions to hold out hope for getting their man elected in four years. Since the parties are more cohesive now and the nomination decided by primary, I don’t see that tradition returning.