Trump knows in his heart that second place is first loser, so he needs to fire up the excuse factory. Here’s the whiniest of a set of tear-stained tweets he pooped out between sobs into his pillow this morning:
I don't believe I have been given any credit by the voters for self-funding my campaign, the only one. I will keep doing, but not worth it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2016
Trump really didn’t spend a lot in Iowa and finishing second place there would have been a yuuuge showing if he hadn’t been spending every waking moment calling everyone else a loser.
Well, Donald, now you’re the fucking loser. If your campaign isn’t worth the money you’re spending, quit.
chopper
totally. dude’s been half-assing it the whole way and came in a close second in a crazy evangelical stronghold. he should be pretty comfortable, but yeah, he’s trump.
hueyplong
He’s had more than 12 hours of adversity. Not sure how long he can hold out.
Send snacks.
Tokyokie
Like most bullies, Donnie can’t take a punch.
BGinCHI
How many hundreds of millions of dollars will Republicans spend to run the government that they don’t believe in?
American Exceptionalism!
K488
Waiting for “You people are pigs! I’m going to personally spit into every 50th burger!”
BGinCHI
@hueyplong: He already has all the dildos he can use.
shortstop
What’s more attractive than a bully who whines and plays the victim?
BGinCHI
@shortstop: To Ann Coulter? No one, apparently.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Trump is the GOPs silver medalist.
Nobody ever remembers the guy who comes in second.
Fortunately for him, and frankly for the rest of us for whom the idea of “President Cruz” makes us wake up screaming in the night, he’s going to run the table all the way until Super Tuesday. No serious opposition. Rubio will be the establishment choice since JEB? has officially shit the bed, but this is not the establishment’s year.
Joel
Let’s not forget the fact that Cruz is just as bad.
And Rubio is only *marginally* better.
Mike in NC
Like many rich pricks, Trump is supposedly a real tightwad when it comes to his wallet. Hopefully he loses again to Cruz in NH and goes third party just to sooth his ego.
Tractarian
Am I the only liberal disappointed by this result?
I was kinda looking forward to the GOP’s complete and utter implosion with Trump as the nominee.
MomSense
This is easy for Trump. Iowa is the loser. They’re fired! They always pick losers never winners like the yooge and classy state of New Hampshire.
Tractarian
@Joel:
Precisely. And ironically, Rubio’s chances at the nomination hinge on his ability to convince the GOP base that he is, in fact, as bad as those two.
benw
Trump is evil in a bozo nightmare
Adele banned all the music with a phony gas chamber
‘Cuz Ted Cruz is a weasel
And Rubio’s got a flag
Carson’s on the pole, shove Jeb! in a bag
Amir Khalid
I am disappoint. I don’t want El Donaldo to quit. I want him in the primaries all the way to the end, win or lose, pissing inside the Republican tent every time his bladder fills up.
BC in Illinois
If I remember correctly:
Did somebody get bored?
Cermet
Uh, WTF? Sorry but tRump is massively leading in New Hampshire and holds a lead in South Carolina. If your argument is the polls are wrong, again, sorry but Iowa polling is not indicative of these other states and it would be foolhardy to consider tRump out of this in any manner. Glad he didn’t win but most thug whiners of Iowa lose.
Brachiator
So, does Trump have an exit strategy to “honorably” get out of the presidential campaign?
He is supposedly ahead in the polls leading up to New Hampshire. So I guess South Carolina and Nevada will be the real test as to whether or not he has any staying power.
Just Some Fuckhead
I don’t see Trump’s victory in Iowa as being all that different from Romney’s in 2012. Both used their own money, both came in second. Both went on to win New Hampshire by a convincing margin..
shortstop
@BGinCHI: Hey! Somebody told me you’re in…Norway? Am I remembering that right?…when I tried to make sure you knew about a newish awesome restaurant in Anderland. What are you up to?
Stillwater
Yeah, the CW is that he underperformed in Iowa (based on pre-election polls) and that he’s a loser. But given the amount of effort he expended he overperformed and the “spin” could just as easily play that angle. Cruz dedicated every once of energy over four weeks to win Iowa, a state Trump largely didn’t pay any attention to until right before election day, and only beat Trump by 3.5%.
And really, who are we rooting for in the GOP primary? Trump would be easier for Hillary to beat; he’s waaaay more moderate than either Cruz or Rubio (on everything except on Teh Illegals), and he won’t rubber stamp crazy GOP legislation like the other guys would.
The big worry is Rubio. He could give Hillary a real challenge.
Germy
@Amir Khalid: I agree
JPL
OT.. From the nytimes Sarah Palin’s English
Sarah Palin has been mocked a lot for the way she talks, especially in her strange and rambling endorsement speech for Donald Trump. But her speeches on the campaign trail aren’t simple; they are actually incredibly complicated.
yeah, right!
shortstop
@Joel: No one’s forgetting it. But if you can’t kick a blowharding ALL I DO IS WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN asshole when he’s down, when can you?
Ultraviolet Thunder
The argument has been made in various places that the whole narcissistic exercise of the Trump campaign has been to enhance Brand Trump. If this is true, as soon as it starts hurting the Brand he will drop out.
I just can’t see Donald going into the wilderness and returning a better man to try again.
Hillary Rettig
@Mike in NC: from your lips to dog’s ears!
Underpaid Propagandist
@Tractarian: Count me in. I wanted to see him Pied Piper those freaks into total Trumpian nihilism. (Plus I find both Cruz and Rubio even creepier . . . )
bobbo
A candidate deserves credit for self-funding? I.e. for having money to burn? Huh?
MattF
Suggests to me that many people went to his rallies for entertainment rather than expression of a political preference. Also, it wouldn’t surprise me if people have figured out how to game the pollsters– after all, with Caller ID, you can figure out who’s calling.
Hillary Rettig
@Brachiator: >So, does Trump have an exit strategy to “honorably” get out of the presidential campaign?
a great question that I suspect the GOP leadership is fervently asking themselves.
OzarkHillbilly
@Stillwater:
I’m not sure how you know this when the main complaint against Trump is “We don’t know what he will do!!!”
Ahasuerus
@Amir Khalid:
From your lips to the FSM’s noodly ears.
NonyNony
I will say this – it’s truly the mark of a savvy businessman who is spending money on an investment, realizes that the investment “isn’t worth it”, and then continues to keep spending that money. Truly a man with business sense like that is a model by which all men who run businesses should measure themselves. Perhaps he should write a book explaining his methods so the lowly can learn from him?
@Stillwater:
Meteors.
Stillwater
@OzarkHillbilly: Cuz he’s not anti-gay, he’s not ant-choice, he’s not anti-Ocare, his tax plan calls for increasing taxes on the wealthy….. He’s not a GOPer!
Add: well, he’s aganst Ocare, just not in the way the GOP is against OCare.
Brendan in Charlotte
@Brachiator: the words tRump and honorable do not belong in any sentence with a positive connotation…
NorthLeft12
You know what? Trump would probably see another uptick in the polls if he did go in full whine/insult mode and call out the GOP voters in Iowa as a bunch of ignorant farmers and hicks who don’t know enough to vote for the [eventual] winner.
Throw in a few choice tweets about Iowa not deserving the first in the nation primary [or whatever the hell this just was] and you can say goodbye to Iowa for another four years…….thank Dog.
Those superstar endorsements of Palin, Huckabee, and that other religious nutjob did not seem to help, did it Donald?
BGinCHI
@shortstop: Yep. We’ve been here since mid-August. In Bergen. Mrs. BG has a Fulbright and I am on sabbatical.
Great year…lots to recommend this place. Email me if you want some photos.
Calouste
@JPL: Complicated, but not complex.
OzarkHillbilly
@Stillwater: Say’s who? Trump? And you believe him? That man will, and has, say anything, up to and including “I could kill someone and it wouldn’t cost me any votes.”
Stillwater
@NonyNony: Injuries. I’m rooting for Trump for all the reasons I mentioned above, but there’s one more: if Trump can actually pull this off (the nom, that is) I think the national-level GOP is gonna have to abandon a bunch of its current (so-con, Cleek’s Law, etc) radicalism, and that’s good for policy generally.
Betsy
OT: All this talk of Chicago meetup .. does anyone in triangular N.C. want to meet up sometime soon?
Stillwater
@OzarkHillbilly: Well, tear down Trump and get a Rubio. Have at it!
...now I try to be amused
I wanted to read the post title as “Soy un predator”. That is all.
OzarkHillbilly
@Stillwater: his tax plan DOES NOT call for increasing taxes on the wealthy. They make out like bandits.
Donald Trump: I’d Consider Appointing Justices That Would Overrule SCOTUS Gay Marriage Ruling
SenyorDave
@Ultraviolet Thunder: The argument has been made in various places that the whole narcissistic exercise of the Trump campaign has been to enhance Brand Trump. If this is true, as soon as it starts hurting the Brand he will drop out.
tRump has already irreparably damaged his brand. His development company is doing the renovation of the old Post Office bldg. in DC. Two high end restaurants have already pulled out because of his remarks about Mexicans. What city will want to do business with the tRump in the future?
Stillwater
OK OK. YOu guys want Trump to lose and Rubio to get the nomination. Fair enough!. Sorry I brought the whole thing up!
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: Name me a Republican candidate that wouldn’t appoint a conservative justice to the court. Cruz’s tax plan hurts the middle and lower class the most. I want the one that can’t win the presidency.
OzarkHillbilly
@Stillwater: I really don’t have a dog in the GOP fight. They are all fatal for me.
Brachiator
@Stillwater:
There was a late story with accompanying photo that a Trump Iowa event was severely under-attended. He was not getting the vote out. This is bad from any angle. That Iowa brought out a lot more Republicans than usual, but Trump did not do better, is bad from any angle.
I’m not sure that this is the case. Trump and Cruz are forcing the GOP candidates to run to the far right on immigration (and other issues). Unless the mood of the nation changes dramatically, I think this hurts Rubio if he becomes the nominee.
ETA: I don’t know who the worst GOP candidate might be, totally ignoring any poll that looks at matchups. I think it’s still too early to really say.
catclub
If Donald can spend $100M of his own money to be a real threat to go third party, and then get the Koch brothers to pay him $500M not to go third party, that is a fantastic investment that pays off in less than two years.
Best part is if the Democrat still wins. Other best part is Trump THEN says he was put up to it by Bill Clinton.
Other other best part is he takes the $500M and goes third party anyway.
Ultraviolet Thunder
@catclub:
I hope the whole office didn’t just hear the loud thump from the underside of my desktop.
Archon
@OzarkHillbilly:
They all have disastrous tax plans that give massive tax breaks to the wealthy. Trumps is probably the biggest giveaway and most reckless. Rubio’s plan gives tax breaks to couples with large families (AKA red states) but ends deductions for people that pay alot in local and state taxes (AKA blue states). Cruz’s plan tries to make up the difference with a VAT tax which would mean a big tax increase to people without a lot of disposable income (AKA poor and working class).
All 3 of their plans make George W. Bush look like a socialist.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: Who said otherwise? I just said Trump is whatever he needs to be at the moment.
catclub
@Brachiator:
I heard commentary on that. Why are all his troops working at an event when they should be out getting voters to the precincts????
Gian
Trump is a lot of things, but of the three top finishers, Cruz, Rubio, and him in Iowa, he’s the one I hate the least.
Rubio seems like he’s for sale to me. Cruz seems like a guy who wants to rerun Reagan Era politics, but only that Ronnie wasn’t Right Wing Enough.
Besides, aren’t we all just a bit curious if he’d put gold leaf all over the white house to classy it up?
pamelabrown53
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Heh. If Trump played it smart instead of reacting, he’d profusely thank Iowans for his second place finish while reminding the entire republican party who “won” Iowa in the past. Clue: not the past nominees.
catclub
@Archon:
A VAT is also a big new tax on the elderly, who have already paid income taxes. With a VAT, they would be taxed on the SS income that they are now spending.
[a VAT tax is a Value Added Tax tax, also, an ATM machine is an Automatic Teller Machine machine]
karen marie
@Stillwater:
Pffffft.
Hal
@OzarkHillbilly:
What are the chances of getting a SCOTUS candidate who would be willing to admit to this or this current iteration of the court being willing to overturn.
My one wish for Obama’s admin is that he gets the retirement of one of the 5 conservatives. He has a year.
? Martin
Relaying observations from someone on the ground…
Rubio outperformed in Iowa by basically winning 2 key counties out of 99. He put his ground game in the most populated two counties that coincidentally were also the most favorable to an establishment candidate. That should reveal two things:
1) His campaign isn’t really up to the task of competing for an entire state, at least not yet.
2) He’s going to have a really hard time repeating this task in states that don’t look like Des Moines. South Carolina immediately springs to mind.
If Trump had any kind of competent ground game, he would have won. Kudos to Rubio’s team for seeing a strategy and implementing it well, and kudos to Rubio for hiring those people (if only Hillary’s team in 2008 was as good…) Pretty much the same goes to Sanders, but on a larger scale. I think he’ll have a harder time pulling as effective of a volunteer network out of SC or NV as he did out of IA, though.
Short version, they executed well, but it’s not a durable strategy. It buys them momentum to fundraise and organize for the next state, but that was pretty much part-and-parcel of how Obama won.
This will be interesting to see play out. It will be interesting to see if Trump can become competent at this, because right now he’s totally not.
kindness
If Donald needs pointers on quitting he can ask his new bestie Sarah Palin. She’s the Queen of the Quitters.
catclub
@Stillwater:
Important if true on the bold stuff. I have some doubts.
goblue72
Trump has been planning this run for awhile. And at same time, he’s been running his campaign off-the-cuff. Agree with poster above who notes that as soon as it becomes clear that this is hurting his bottom line in a serious way, he will drop out. Though frankly, as the votes get piled up over the next month or so, better than even odds that there is a NOT-Trump candidate that comes out on top. We are in the winnowing phase of the cycle when the candidates who have been clearly also-rans for months finally start dropping out and the focus starts to shift clearly on a couple of options.
Dems have already done that with MOM dropping out. Next Dem debate will be clearly mano-a-mano. (Or womano-o-mano.)
Same thing will happen for the GOP. Jeb!, Outlaw Jersey Whale, Dr. Ben Crazy, Aqua Buddha, The Angry Man Knowns as John – the whole Klown Kar Cavalcade will drop like flies soon enough, until its Trump and likely Rubio and/or Cruz, and then the real steel cage match starts. And at some point, Trump runs out of puff.
Anoniminous
Cruz got 51,666 votes, Trump 45,427, and Rubio 43,165. That’s 140,258 votes for the top 3 candidates. In 2014 the total turn-out for the GOP was ~128,000, a record.
I’m not attempting to push the PANIC! button but it is something to keep an eye on.
Roger Moore
@hueyplong:
I’ve got a nice bag of salted dicks to send him.
catclub
@Hal: It would be ‘something that has never happened before’ (TM),
if the Senate refused to vote on any SC nominations made by Obama, or voted them all down. I am assuming it will happen if there is any SC opening in 2016.
(Didn’t the Senate actually do something like this to LBJ?)
NonyNony
@Hal:
Not gonna happen. For two reasons:
1) None of them will willingly retire when there might be a Republican victory in November.
2) If one of them is unwillingly forced off the bench (i.e. death) then the Senate will refuse to even consider an Obama nominee. They will tell him that with the election coming up the court can sit at 8 until “the people” decide on their next president. (And then the campaigns go crazy because conservatives will freak out and liberals will sense an opportunity – the reverse happens if it’s a liberal justice who leaves the bench).
So Obama won’t get another one. For me it’s probably the major reason that we need a Dem in the Oval Office after November – and any Dem will do and any Republican will be a disaster.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: Scott Brown is the same. Rumor has it that he plans to endorse Trump tonight. Brown is still trying to be relevant.
@catclub: MSM will talk about his tax plan after the Presidential election.
misterpuff
Will those who Tweet, please tweet and retweet “Trump is a loser!” until the Donald loses his sh*t.
Please. Please, Please!
OzarkHillbilly
@Hal: Getting any SCOTUS nominee to admit to anything is damn near impossible, but one can always tell who is on the “right’ side of history. That’s how we got an Alito and a Roberts, not to mention a Kagan and a Sotomayor.
catclub
@goblue72: I see Kasich staying in until Ohio. Paul until Kentucky, and Bush until Florida. That is pretty deep into the primaries. We shall see.
Gimlet
Shown up by Cruz and Rubio?
This shall not stand!
On to NH and maybe an independent run if not treated fairly.
JPL
This is so true
Politics: Guy who finished 3rd won. Woman who finished 1st lost. One guy who finished 2nd lost; other guy who finished 2nd won link
catclub
@Anoniminous: Big independent vote for Trump in NH probably is bad news for Sanders. Less crossover. And vice-versa.
Luther M. Siler
@Anoniminous: I’m hearing 171,000 turnout for the Dems, which suggests that both our major candidates beat all of theirs.
I’m glad you’re not attempting to push PANIC! because getting a ton more votes despite most Dems being perfectly happy with either candidate (anecdotal, I admit) seems like a weird reason to be upset.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: Heh.
Calouste
@Hal:
I doubt any of the 5 conservatives have plans to retire while a Democrat would name their replacement.
Iowa Old Lady
I personally was happy to see Trump get schlonged but when any of the loons take a pratfall I’m happy.
Jacel
Let’s wait a few months and see if most of the Republican convention delegates from Iowa again wind up voting for Ron Paul. That was how their whole caucus process worked out in 2012 after Santorum and Romney tied initially.
AnotherBruce
@Calouste: Meth hounds do tend to be complicated. Not in a good way.
Calouste
@Jacel: They fixed that. Yesterday’s GOP caucus was basically a primary, with national convention delegates awarded proportional to the vote. They actually did learn from 4 years ago.
trollhattan
Can’t really see Iowa changing Trump or how he runs the campaign, NH a better litmus test for him. Regardless, not going away.
Campos at LGM makes a key point about Rubio and Cruz–in all but a couple specific policy areas they’re essentially twins. While one is obviously evil and the other seemingly a perpetual hapless alter boy, if elected each is virtually as dangerous as the other.
Matt McIrvin
@srv: Who are you the mythic invention of?
trollhattan
@Matt McIrvin:
Someone who took the brown acid, man….
Soylent Green
Trump does not want to be president. He wouldn’t know what to do with the job if he got it. He has been doing this for the lulz and for the mountain of attention it has brought him.
If he doesn’t win every remaining primary, and the race tightens, I could see him throwing a hissy fit and withdrawing. After that, there’s no way Trump would run as a third party because he knows he would come in third place.
Joyce H
I particularly enjoy Trump’s Iowa loss because losing Iowa is not at all that hard to come back from – but it requires doing something that Trump is psychologically incapable of doing.
Coming back from losing Iowa or an early primary loss requires that you follow a beloved script – the scrappy guy who loses (and loses and loses) but persists and won’t quit and eventually makes it to the triumph at the end. People LOVE this story! Americans in particular love it, which is why Hollywood goes back and retells this story over and over again.
But here’s the catch. In order to play this story, and to get audience buy-in, get the viewer-reader-voter invested in the story and wanting to help the gutsy striver make it to the triumph, the ‘hero’ has to admit that he lost! And this is something that Trump simply CANNOT do. He’s already out there (as I knew he would be) explaining why he didn’t really lose Iowa. Well, without the loss, there’s no real savor to the triumphant finale, the audience has no rooting interest. The audience goes away.
Aww – too bad.
danielx
@shortstop:
Just about everything that breathes, and some things that don’t.
Also too, must second Betty C’s comments re the fall of House Bush in previous thread. Time for them to go back to genteel swindling and the like. Cheer up, Jeb!, there’s always room at the Carlyle Group, even if you can’t make people like Michael Schiavo miserable as a matter of policy.
catclub
@Matt McIrvin: Ever read the Borges short story “The Dreamer and the Dreamed”?
JPL
@srv: Didn’t know that we were electing a city manager. Thanks for the info.
goblue72
@Anoniminous: There wasn’t a Presidential Iowa caucus in 2014. If you actually meant 2014, and those turnout #s you posted were from 2014 – then I am not surprised 2016 is higher. Midterm turnouts are always lower.
Paul in KY
@Joel: You can win by coming in 2nd. Let me use a long ago horse race to illustrate:
The 1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup was run at 1 1/2 miles & had Seattle Slew & Affirmed meeting. The race starts out and Slew & Affirmed engage in a suicidal speed duel. Slew puts away Affirmed & as they hit the last 1/2 mile, a great distance runner named Exceller comes up & around Slew. Nevertheless, Seattle Slew engaged Exceller all the way to the wire, turning in one of the greatest horse race performances I’ve ever seen as he finished 2nd in that memorable race.
So it can be done. Probably not by El Trumpo, though.
Paul in KY
@JPL: I think the complicated thing is transcribing them & figuring out where to put the punctuation.
trollhattan
@srv:
Trump–most certainly no Eisenhower. Brush up on some history, son. Trump could become a Reagan, provided he endures some significant blows to the head. Recommend that long-delayed boxing match with Tyson go ahead to achieve this dream.
Soylent Green
@srv: He won’t be a manager at all. As president he would put his name in big gold letters on the side of the White House, preen before the cameras at every opportunity, and delegate every actual governing chore to someone else.
This is a good reason for the GOP to fall in line behind him. Once in office, the party can get him to back whatever they want as long as he thinks it will be good for his image. The real president will be whomever he hires to do the work: the VP (personally, I’m pulling for Liz Cheney) and various other wormtongues.
Frankensteinbeck
Trump was polling neck and neck with Cruz in Iowa, and only barely lost. Maybe he underperformed his polling, but not by much. In that respect, this was a good result for Trump, because he has much bigger leads in more important states. The bad aspect for him is that being a ‘winner’ is a big part of his reputation and appeal. I have no clue whether his poll numbers will hold steady, improve, or lessen, but it looks like he can indeed turn them into votes – if not *quite* at full level.
catclub
@srv:
Ollie North. William Casey. Edwin Meese. Elliot Abrams. James Watt at Interior.
El Caganer
@srv: Yeah, that rising-above-the-fray, no-micromanaging thing really worked well for GWB, didn’t it?
Cacti
@Frankensteinbeck:
Last night’s result exposed one fairly significant weakness for Drumpf. Lack of GOTV ground game.
JPL
@catclub: President Obama has a long list of accomplishments including dedicating his time to help those in need. When someone mocks, his work as a community organizer, I realize that’s a sad, worthless person. I shouldn’t have responded to srv.
Don’t forget that St. Ronny is the one who didn’t raise taxes and promoted peace.
Frankensteinbeck
@Cacti:
It didn’t expose it nearly as much as people are saying, though. If his poll leads remain big, and he turns them into votes at this level, he’ll win. He and Cruz were statistically tied going into this, and he got 90% of Cruz’s votes. Definitely a problem, but not if you’re killing the rest of the field.
Matt McIrvin
I’m not sure it’s a good idea to draw broad conclusions from how the caucuses in Iowa went vs. expectations, given that Iowa is known to be really atypical. I think we’ll know how things are actually going come Super Tuesday.
Just Some Fuckhead
@pamelabrown53:
Yep. But that would require Trump to care about voter expectations more than he cares about his own expectations.
Brandon
This loss really demonstrates Trump’s core weaknesses: no organization or GOTV. While this may get him through some of the early primaries, particularly NH and NV. I think it will leave him with his arse handed to him on Super Tuesday when he needs to be able to have a multi-state operation, including spending on TV ads, door knocking volunteers, organized rides to polling stations for the elderly, help with returning absentee ballots, etc. The GOP primary is likely to be a long, hot mess.
Lolis
@Tractarian:
Cruz is as bad as Trump but Cruz doesn’t come with the baggage Trump does, ie liberal values of multiple marriages, party lifestyle. I think if Trump won the nomination he would lose, but Republicans would try to say it was because he was too liberal. Cruz is purely conservative and an asshole but he won’t try to pivot for the general. So I think if he went down big, it sends a clearer message that Republican ideas suck.
trollhattan
@srv:
I understand they also both ate food. You probably missed this in home school: Eisenhower led history’s largest amphibious invasion commanding troops from thirteen nations. That invasion led to the collapse of Nazi Germany’s western front.
Trump led supermodels to Studio 54.
Let us savor.
Iowa Old Lady
@Matt McIrvin: This is really true. At the moment, we’re mostly venting our anxieties, which is probably why we’re cranky.
Peale
@Frankensteinbeck: He got the majority of first time caucusees. This is going to be a problem for him. He’s a “different” candidate. If his strength is attracting new voters or folks who haven’t shown up for awhile, his ground organization would be key. Unlike Iowa, in most other primaries, you can’t just show up and register that day and expect to participate.
Frankensteinbeck
@Peale:
Iowa is also the state he didn’t give a damn about. He called its voters ‘stupid’. Still, I take your point and will reserve judgment on how well he can turn out votes until later. I just want to caution people that no, this did not prove that Trump is dust and can’t get his voters out.
Iowa Old Lady
What percentage of primaries are open vs closed? That is, is party membership going to be a problem for Trump in other states where you can’t change it on the day?
Gimlet
Last night’s bipartisan winner …Goldman Sachs!
Immanentize
@catclub: Absolutely the Senate screwed over LBJ (and the American people) — but the whole thing was a mess. Chief Justice Warrne stepped down and LBJ appointed Abe Fortas who was a sitting Associate Justice. It ends up Abe had a financial interest in a company that had come beofere the court (a fact that today would not even be considered yawn worthy). And, oh yeah, he was Jewish. So, Abe was out, Warren was out and LBJ had nominated Homer Thornberry for Fortas’ seat but when the brouhaha began, the Senate balked on appointing anyone and he was withdrawn by the white house. Homer was a really fine smart person who was a great federal judge for decades afterwards. The Senate therefore saved two open seats for friggin Nixon — Burger who became chief (looked great but was an idiot) and Blackmun (who ended up being quite smart and cool).
lgerard
I am feeling the Trump nostalgia as well.
Let’s face it. E pluribus unum is old and busted. It isn’t even English.
It’s on his hat would be a great national motto, plus it will help to increase our brand’s visibility across multiple platforms
gene108
@Hal:
None of them are retiring until 2024 at the earliest, unless one of the gets hit by a bus. None of the five conservative justices are close to retirement age for a justice, which seems to be just a day short of being at deaths door.
What’s important is being able to replace Brier or Ginsburg, should one or both of them choose to step-down.
trollhattan
@srv:
President Obama was a US senator and before that, a three-time Illinois state senator. He taught constitutional law. He edited the Harvard Law Review before graduating magna cum laude. All achieved through his own drive and ambition, despite growing up in a single-parent household.
Trump was born on third base thinking he hit a triple to a fraudulent and racist father who was one of New York’s biggest property owners. He has a BS in econ and got out of the draft because of “bone spurs” in his feet.
Yup, just the dude we want in office.
trollhattan
@gene108:
Cheney’s heart surgeon is probably on call 24/7 to revive any of the five, especially fat Tony. They’ll live FOREVER!
Patricia Kayden
@Tractarian: Trump has many chances to win though. I’m sure he’ll double down on his nastiness and do better in the South.
I’m more afraid about what is happening on our side. Seems like the supporters of Sanders and Clinton are going after each other a little too much. Really hope that everyone calms the hell down by November so we can focus on continuing President Obama’s legacy by electing another Dem President.
@Lolis: “Cruz is purely conservative and an asshole but he won’t try to pivot for the general.”
That would actually be a good thing for our side since most Americans aren’t as conservative as Cruz. His ideas and policies would probably frighten a lot of regular Americans and push them to vote for the Dem candidate.
catclub
@Immanentize: Thanks! I learned something, too.
Patricia Kayden
@Soylent Green: Trump may have started his campaign as a joke (or in response to President Clinton’s entreaties) but I assume his ego got the best of him once his campaign caught fire among the Wingnuts. He’s in it for real now and probably really believes that he would make a fantastic President.
If Cruz beats him and gets the nomination, I’d love to see Trump’s public meltdown. He may take his rage out on that poor possum on his head.
NonyNony
@Cacti:
Trump is on the only path that leads to his loss – being unable to cash the checks his mouth has written.
If he underperforms in NH – even if he comes in second, maybe even if he wins it but with less than his polling suggests he should – then the media will swarm him like piranhas. If the other candidates successfully tar him as a “loser” going into SC and he underperforms there he’s toast. Not because he couldn’t win it if he’d put the effort in, but because he’s going to lose his mind and go the full Perot.
He needs to do well enough in NH to rub everyone’s faces in his victory going into SC. If he does that he’ll have his “winnah” aura and might be able to win. But if he doesn’t get that aura of winning back he’s done.
catclub
@Patricia Kayden:
This sounds exactly like 2007-8 to me. Lots of people promised they would never vote for the other guy if the other guy won. Actual incredibly united party by September. Racism and sexism cards were unfairly played by both sides.
This year seems more cordial between Hillary and Sanders. Bill Clinton has not made any big gaffes vis-a-vis Sanders.
OzarkHillbilly
@trollhattan: Why are you responding to someone who thinks a good golf game is a main qualification for President?
JustRuss
@JPL:
If you’re trying to diagram them, sure. That word-salad would have given my eighth grade English teacher a nervous breakdown. Proving we live in an age of miracles, one brave soul made the attempt: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_good_word/2008/10/diagramming_sarah.html
OzarkHillbilly
@catclub: It is, and while it bothers me and I try not to get involved, this too will pass.
Keith G
To look at this a bit differently, Trump did not put a lot of effort, and almost no “professional effort” into Iowa and he still corralled a sizable amount of support.
If he gets serious (i.e., disciplined) about running can he do better? Does he want to make that effort?
Brachiator
@Keith G:
This still boils down to Trump talking a lot of smack, but settling for being a loser.
And yes, the question is, does Trump have what it takes to run a disciplined campaign. He obviously will have to do so if he hopes to accomplish what he claims he wants.
Calouste
@Keith G: It’s too late for Trump to get more serious about running. Half the primaries will have been and gone within the next six weeks. That’s not a lot of time to organize 24 states. On the other hand, Trump still leads by 20+% nationally and in New Hampshire. If he only underperforms the polls by the amount he did in Iowa (which was 7%, all numbers from Pollster), he will still win quite comfortably.
Drew
@NonyNony:
SMOD! He’ll crush them all. And the rest of us, too.
schrodinger's cat
@Brachiator: This reminds me of students who say, if only I had studied more I would have got an A.
trollhattan
@Patricia Kayden:
Yup, from the first downward escalator glide to address the paid cheering section up through the first few polls, it was a vanity campaign primarily to what else, self-market. Pretty shrewd in a Kardashian sense, as he had “All the cameras” pointed at him for the first time en eons. But like a campfire getting out of the rock circle into the surrounding woods, it took on a life of its own and now the Trumpster is running around like it was his idea all the time–“It’s a controlled burn, only Yuuge!”
At some point the fire ends in the high mountains or at the shore.
WaterGirl
In case anyone is sick of politics:
I have been going through everything in my house, getting organized and giving lots of stuff away. Today I came across a printout of an early morning pet thread from 2010.
Early Morning Open Thread: Reunited
…and the follow-up on Sugar in 2011:
Early Morning Open Thread: Sugar
Both are wonderful stories. Paul C, it looks like you haven’t commented in a long time, if you’re out there lurking, please pop up and tell us how you are.
trollhattan
@Drew:
Heh, hopefully I’ll be upwind (of course all is downwind if it’s sufficiently large).
I hope the nomination goes to Strong Bad.
jl
@Calouste:
” It’s too late for Trump to get more serious about running. Half the primaries will have been and gone within the next six weeks. ”
That depends on how much work ethic Trump has. Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Sanders, Obama have all showed ability and willingness to forge ahead through multiple set-backs and put in a genuine effort to win in electoral politics. Even, I guess, Jeb is doing that, though right now it seems hopeless and humiliating.
So, does Trump only win when it comes easy, or he has a big advantage (like inheriting big dough for his business) or will he quit, either formally or by just not putting in the effort? Or will he try and is just in over his head when it comes to building an organization where you can’t pay problems to go away, and hire and fire at will?
I don’t think anyone knows the answer to those questions. If he can’r really function well in electoral politics, and yet he manages to win enough primaries through free media and unhinged nature of the current GOP electoral primary voting base, I guess that would be good news for the general election.
trollhattan
@jl:
So many morans and so many voting opportunities. How can we rule the Donald out? One hopes we’ll soon stop Cruzing, but if one candidate can gram-for-gram match Trump’s ego, it’s Cruz, the human zit.
I have yet to encounter a single proCruz or even Cruz-curious troll. How is that possible?
Heliopause
We must never let ourselves forget that this is Donald Trump we’re talking about. Donald. Trump. D-O-N-A-L-D. T-R-U-M-P. And that this is the United States of America. Let it sink in for a bit that this individual could lead major party polls for seven minutes much less seven months.
schrodinger's cat
@trollhattan: Even the trolls don’t like him. I did see two evangelical ministers who were pro Cruz on the Snooze Hour yesterday.
Karen
If Trump is the GOP candidate, if he loses the general election (I am praying for that), Trump will claim that it was rigged, that Hillary cheated and demand a do over. Or he’ll send his white nationalistic buddies at every election bullying any potential Hillary vote or even following them home. I put nothing passed them.
Gimlet
I heard so much here at BJ about how well Hillary’s GOTV ground game was in Iowa and that Sanders had little or no organization there.
Also his support was mainly on college campuses and even then there were so many out of state students not to mention the instate students away from their hometowns where they needed to caucus. Sanders had so very many young and new supporters that unlike Hillary’s veterans were never going to show up to support him at the caucuses.
It was going to be an embarrassing slaughter.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Gimlet:
All the white supremacists in Iowa came out for white supremacist Sanders. It’s so duh in hindsight.
Gimlet
@Just Some Fuckhead:
I just learn so much from the professionals here at BJ. Thanks.
JPL
@JustRuss: What a brave soul. Sarah’s latest speeches have become even more complicated that her earlier ones. Thanks for the article it was entertaining.
JPL
@WaterGirl: Thank you for linking to the old posts. I had tears in my eyes, just like I did the first time I read the posts.
Chyron HR
@Gimlet:
It’s weird how Bernie’s supporters like to compile comprehensive lists of every slight against them, but are unable to produce a single example of someone predicting a landslide win for Hillary last night.
WaterGirl
@JPL: Thanks. Me, too. But worth it. The reunion is such a lovely, amazing story. Written so well. :: sniff ::
Tehanu
Love the title of your post. “Soy un perdedor,” one of my favorite Luis Miguel songs!