Of course they’ll fall into line eventually — it’s what Republicans do — but meanwhile we Democrats get to enjoy the klown show. Per the Wall Street Journal, “Tensions Rise Over Republican VP Options”:
… While rank-and-file conservatives are searching for a signal that Mr. Trump shares their values, Ben Carson, a former GOP rival now helping the presumptive Republican presidential nominee pick a running mate, said Thursday Democrats may be among those considered…
Mr. Carson is the public face on the search process, while top campaign aide Paul Manafort is maintaining overall tight control, according to people familiar with the campaign. In the interview, the former surgeon took himself out of the mix. “I’m not interested in doing that for a number of reasons,” he said. “I don’t want to be a distraction.”…
Given that Republican National Convention delegates aren’t bound to abide by his choice, Mr. Trump could face an arena of delegates rebelling against his running mate choice if he sends the wrong signal. “He could get to Cleveland and designate someone as his vice president and have the convention lose its mind,” said Erick Erickson, an anti-Trump conservative activist.
Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, said it is implausible that Mr. Trump’s selection won’t be nominated as his running mate. “I can’t imagine any scenario where the GOP nominee doesn’t have the opportunity to pick his own vice presidential candidate,” he said. But such a scenario nearly did play out in 2008, when then-GOP nominee John McCain was considering tapping Sen. Joe Lieberman, a pro-choice former Democrat, to be his running mate…Mr. Trump on Thursday said there is “probably a 40% chance” he would pick one of his 16 dispatched GOP presidential rivals but that he was “unlikely” to choose the last man standing, Ohio Gov. John Kasich who suspended his campaign Wednesday, a day after Mr. Cruz dropped out of the primary…
On Thursday a top aide to Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said he won’t submit to being vetted for consideration. “It’s not happening, period,” Mr. Portman’s campaign manager said. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Wednesday that she won’t be in the running either.
But in Maine, Gov. Paul LePage said Wednesday he is considering a 2018 Senate run “if I’m not into the Trump administration.” And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said by email Thursday that he “might” be willing to serve as Mr. Trump’s running mate, though he otherwise declined to discuss his interest…
To recap: A former competitor whose campaign unwound to a degree that observers were speculating about organic brain disorders is fronting the search, under the supervision of a notorious lobbyist for foreign dictators and a guy best known for assaulting a female reporter. Party apparatchiks are signaling that they will need to be persuaded. The best (okay, least worst) “respectable” candidates have been taking their names off the table…
“Never,” said Chris Schrimpf, a spokesman for Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who is still running against Mr. Trump. “No chance.”
“Hahahahahahahahaha,” wrote Sally Bradshaw, a senior adviser to Jeb Bush, when asked if he would consider it.
“Scott Walker has a visceral negative reaction to Trump’s character,” said Ed Goeas, a longtime adviser to the Wisconsin governor.
Or, as Senator Lindsey Graham put it, “That’s like buying a ticket on the Titanic.”
A remarkable range of leading Republicans, including Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, have been emphatic publicly or with their advisers and allies that they do not want to be considered as Mr. Trump’s running mate…
… but the obscure Maine embarrassment is happy to throw his MAKE AMURCA GRATE AGIN cap into the ring, as is The Giant Amphibian.
And up speaks Darth Cheney, per TPM: “Former Vice President Dick Cheney told CNN Friday that he will support presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in the 2016 race.”
So I guess his favorite daughter Liz is still hunting for a gig worthy of the family talents. And she’ll bring her own shotgun to Usay and Qusay Trumps’ hunting parties!
Matt McIrvin
I bet there’s no more tension over this at the convention than over who is the nominee. They’ll be OK with his choice.
Rick Taylor
What if he nominates his horse?
Baud
As am I. Donald, don’t call me.
gogol's wife
@Rick Taylor:
I just flashed on Jay Robinson in Demetrius and the Gladiators — “Christ-i-ans!”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Rick Taylor: what if he nominates Chris Christie to be his horse?
I think Christie would take the job.
I can’t remember if it was here or on TV, but somebody said Gingrich might be angling for Chief of Staff, no campaigning, no Senate confirmation, and a good fit for someone who sees himself as a potential power behind the throne and (possibly) savior of Western civilization.
pseudonymous in nc
@Matt McIrvin: yeah, that read like a hack who’s disappointed that there won’t be a contested convention and desperately trying to come up with a contested… something.
Like that Vox piece said, the American political press will manufacture all sorts of stories over the next six months to keep the race interesting.
Mary
Maybe with one fewer glass of wine I could figure this out on my own, but who is this?
SiubhanDuinne
I am doing a bit of a double-take. One of the people quoted in one of the linked articles above is the son-in-law of very good friends of mine. I’ve never met him; my friends tell me he’s an extremely nice guy and a great husband and father, and when they get together they all simply refrain from discussing politics (my friends are liberal Dems).
Omnes Omnibus
@Mary: LePage.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mary:
Governor Paul LePage [spit]
different-church-lady
I’m beginning to think perhaps it’s not all that far fetched that Trump’s entire campaign is actually the greatest ratfuck in US political history, orchestrated by the the Clintons.
Ruckus
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Yep, look how badly he could fuck things up with only one person to answer to. Of course it seems that drumpf is somewhat of a micro manager and might not be amenable to someone with an ego only very slightly smaller than his.
Baud
@different-church-lady: As long as it doesn’t almost work…
Ruckus
@Rick Taylor:
The one he rode in on?
Mary G
Marco is out of work and he’ll get all the Hispanics to vote, also too.
Karmus
@different-church-lady:
This.
ETA: With possible complicity by a shifty Kenyan usurper.
Smiling Mortician
We got our ballots for the Washington State primary today. I was amused to see that Carson is still on the ballot (along with Cruz and Kasich). Well. And The Donald, of course.
We sat at the kitchen table and voted. The son went Bernie, while the spouse and I went Hillary. Nobody yelled at anyone. We toasted to voting D in November, and encouraging everyone else to do the same. Plus, the weather’s lovely.
Zinsky
Donnie sucks it.
amk
Really? After all his 24×7 poo flinging at the entire gop’s face for over an year, his veep choice will be the deal breaker? Really?
Baud
@Smiling Mortician:
Didn’t you already have a caucus?
Ruckus
@different-church-lady:
It certainly seems possible, with one small exception. Drumpf’s ego is way too large to carry that off for this length of time. He’s spent his entire life being a huge horse’s ass with out knowing it. That may seem like the perfect actor to pull it off, but he’s proven way too many times that he believes every word he says about himself to pull this off for a year. He’s in it to win, and is convinced that not only he can but that he is by far the best person for the job.
Gelfling 545
@Rick Taylor: oh I doubt he’d pick anyone that qualified.
dr. bloor
So Erick son of Erickson’s Ericksonian Erikson isn’t quite sure that’s already happened?
At this point, BankTrumPt could give Paul Ryan a facial on stage as part of the acceptance speech, and it would result in several thousand delegates talking about what a powerful domestic policy statement he made. t
dmsilev
@different-church-lady: I still blame Obama.
The Lodger
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He would still need to find a front end for the horse.
Amir Khalid
I’m not clear on why Deadbeat Donnie’s Veepsearch needs a public face at all, let alone why that face should be Ben Carson’s.
Baud
@Amir Khalid:
TV
hamletta
Since this is an open thread, I would like to share that my old college buddy sent me video of Paul McCartney doing “Let’s Go Crazy” in Minneapolis.
It was across the street from First Avenue, and she sent pics of loving tributes.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Amir Khalid: interesting to me that Trump still feels the need to suck up to that wing of the party
hamletta
Trump speaking: Hillary is buds with evil Wall St., but I know them better. Elizabeth Warren is goofy. Woman card.
redactor
@Baud: WA has caucuses, which count, and a ballot, which doesn’t. No idea why.
Mike J
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@different-church-lady:
That story about Bill talking Trump into running always rang true to me, except I really can’t imagine that Bill ever would have believed Trump would possibly have made it this far – he probably thought Trump would take out JEB, because Trump hated all of the Bushes, and that would be enough to clear the path for Hillary, but now Trump’s rolling out of control. whoops! sorry ’bout that, Hillz!
Baud
@redactor: That’s nuts. I understand why parties choose caucuses because primaries are expensive. But if there is a primary anyway, why would you ever deal with the horror that are caucuses.
Mike J
@redactor:
And in ’08, Obama won the caucus handily, and Clinton won the ballot. Which is one of the reasons the automatic delegates say they will vote for whoever has the most pledged delegates nationwide. Do you go with the will of 5% of the people which is official or the will of 30% of the people which is not?
The Dangerman
@Rick Taylor:
It could be a whinny combination.
Bill E Pilgrim
There’s actually a certain rationale for them strategically running a third-party conservative, and at least some of them are discussing it apparently:
They just really don’t want to be tagged with being the party of Trump, but it’s too late for that.
Chad ‘n Freud, my favorite 60s pop duo.
schrodinger's cat
OT:
BS was on the Snooze Hour today. He was predicting that he is on track to win >50% of the delegates if he wins 65% of the vote in the remaining states. Has anyone checked his math? Is this true? What is the probability of that happening.
schrodinger's cat
This is the logical conclusion to nominating Sarah Palin for Veep. Donald Trump is the stupider, uglier male version of the the phenomena.
peej01
@Rick Taylor: Caligula reference?
The Dangerman
@Karmus:
I could see this being a ratfuck with the Clinton’s behind it (if the Republicans had nominated just about anyone else of the 16, Hillary probably loses)…
…but I don’t see Obama in on it; I don’t think there’s a lot of love lost between Obama and the Clintons.
ETA: More correctly, from the Clintons towards Obama; he took Hillary’s “rightful spot” 8 years ago.
Baud
@The Dangerman:
Yeah, Bobby Jindal would have wiped the floor with her. :-\
amk
@schrodinger’s cat:
As usual, it’s bs.
gf120581
@schrodinger’s cat: Zero. Sanders is merely trying to keep the illusion of victory so that the gullible keep sending him money so he doesn’t end this campaign up to eyeballs in debt (his fundraising is drying up and he’s been burning cash like he’s Heath Ledger’s Joker).
Ignore the delusional old man. Hillary is, the media largely is, and you should too. We have our two candidates and no whining from Saint Bernie is going to change that. Turn a deaf ear to his complaints. He doesn’t deserve any attention for what is at this point a vanity campaign.
NotMax
@The Dangerman
Well played.
The mane thing is that after they tally the yays and neighs, ought to be a ‘shoe-in’ and win blanket approval.
Omnes Omnibus
@The Dangerman:
FFS.
Amir Khalid
@schrodinger’s cat:
There’s the rub. The polling indicates that Hillary is leading him in most of those remaining states, so chances are that’s not going to happen.
Anne Laurie
@Mary: Paul LePage, the man Charles Pierce calls “the Human Bowling Jacket”. Last seen on national TV complaining that Black drug dealers make special trips to his bailiwick just to impregnate young white wimmens to increase the moocher population. Imagine Trump without money.
schrodinger's cat
@gf120581: That was my hunch but I hadn’t crunched the numbers myself, hence the question. He does have a problem with math, must have taken math for poets in college.
Villago Delenda Est
Ewick has been huffing hair spray again.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
i don’t trust Newsman, but I’m glad this rumor is out there and I hope it gets enough traction to humiliate Li’l Marco
The Dangerman
@Baud:
Maybe not Jindal, almost certainly not Carson or Fiorina…
…but, off the top of my head, everyone else might have taken Hillary. 13 of 16 qualifies for “just about anyone else”, I think.
Hillary is simply not very well liked by a large segment of the population (I’m in CA, so it matters not, but I’m not voting for her … or anyone else for that matter).
ETA: I see this hasn’t been a popular position, but, sorry, Hillary is a weak candidate. Get over it.
Villago Delenda Est
@gf120581: His top aides have been banking all that cash. The grift is strong with them.
Baud
@The Dangerman:
Gilmore, Pataki, Carson. Rick Perry. A few others I can’t even remember anymore.
Villago Delenda Est
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Marco wants to terminate his political career, doesn’t he?
Omnes Omnibus
@The Dangerman: Again, FFS.
Mai.naem.mobile
I want him to pick Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. My assumption is that Dougy will resign so we get rid of a Kochsucker in AZ and also too it will be Trump/Douchey ’16.
gf120581
@The Dangerman: Only Kasich could have given her a serious run.
Don’t even think of arguing for Jeb. Hillary would have cut Jeb to ribbons. It would be 1992 all over again.
jeannedalbret
What is this St. Bernie meme about? I find it lots of places, and it sounds very condescending to supporters of one of the Dem candidates.
debbie
@schrodinger’s cat:
No, it started before Palin, back when Lee Atwater strode the earth. Palin was just the movement’s perky smile.
gf120581
@Villago Delenda Est: He already did that and quite nicely. ;)
I imagine any Republican with a future will avoid Trump like the plague. Hell, the smart ones are already laying the groundwork for 2020 (I imagine that’s the main reason behind Ryan’s reluctance to support Trump; he’s already positioning himself as the great savior to lead the party out of the Trump wreckage).
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Well, in New Jersey and California, but in important non-Southern states like West Virginia and Kentucky, real voters could give Bernie! more blather ammunition.
in the meantime, HRC is putting almost a hundred million toward ads in swing states, starting next month
schrodinger's cat
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: In his Snooze Hour interview he started yelling at Judy Woodruff. Is he hard of hearing ?
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@jeannedalbret: For quite a while Bernie’s campaign would end his rallies with Bowie’s “Starman”:
Lots of his supporters seem to take that seriously.
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
gf120581
@jeannedalbret: Yes, but it’s not without merit. A fair chunk of Sanders supporters think he walks on water and simply will not tolerate even the slightest hint of criticism towards him.
I tend to call him “their beloved boyfriend,” because they aren’t acting like supporters of a presidential candidate, they’re acting like an aggrieved high schooler pissed that their sweetie didn’t get picked for homecoming court.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
feel the Gilmore-mentum! stand back and gaze at the awesome power of Lindsey Graham! President Rick Santorum, almost. Mike Huckabee, because America loves a Southern sheriff with a banged-up Bible…..
ETA: @schrodinger’s cat: obviously, if Bernie! had to yell, it must be Ms Woodruff who is hard of hearing. Or maybe hard-of-listening!
max
@different-church-lady: I’m beginning to think perhaps it’s not all that far fetched that Trump’s entire campaign is actually the greatest ratfuck in US political history, orchestrated by the the Clintons.
That was the theory, but the problem comes up: just exactly who is ratfucking whom? Did Bill take advantage of Trump, or did Trump take advantage of Bill? And why isn’t this a theory of collusion with the ratfuck aimed at the voters?
Which invokes notions of oligarchical collectivism (neo-classical liberal version) and some other fun notions involving eyes, pyramids, Illuminati, UFO’s, Bigfoot, Hitler’s moonbase, and the killer trees that are stalking America.
max
[‘”Smith was watching the History channel when all the clocks struck 13…”‘]
different-church-lady
@hamletta: The truly surprising part is thinking about it and realizing, “Yes, McCartney could pull that off.”
The Dangerman
I stand corrected; Hillary’s a great candidate, which is why a 74 year old socialist (that isn’t even a Democrat) gave her a decent run for the slot.
Good grief.
Villago Delenda Est
Hitler learns that Trump has won the Indiana Primary
Omnes Omnibus
OT: Just watched the final episode of Luther (Season 1). Damn.
AkaDad
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Christie would take the job without thought.
Christie is so far up Trump’s ass, he helps him digest taco bowls.
Anne Laurie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: If Rubio actually takes the VP slot, it means he’s given up all hope of ever holding political office again, and just wants to spend a few more weeks schmoozing moneyguys prior to starting his career as an open lobbyist. I think he’s still under the apprehension he can run again in 2020, or 2024 at worst.
Although I do like the vision of Deadbeat Donald yelling “You’re fired!!!” at Little Marco, on camera, the first time Mr. BankTRUMPt has his tender feelings dissed. Would Rubio actually burst into tears?
JordanRules
I believe the WHCD humiliation was a big motivation for the run. The thin skin, small fingers and narcissism create really good conditions for the racism disease to thrive. The Clinton or Dem super ratfuck strategy just doesn’t ring true for me at all.
This diseased campaign and it’s VP pick will probably just seem more sick to sane people and more brilliant to those already infected.
Omnes Omnibus
@The Dangerman: She’s a shitload better than anyone else who is running.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Anne Laurie: > Like I said, I don’t trust the source. I’d be more surprised than not if Marco doesn’t think (along with Ryan, Cruz and who knows who else) that the party and the country will turn regretful eyes to him in 2020.
Anne Laurie
@The Dangerman:
For one thing, as so many pundits have gravely informed us, she doesn’t even have a penis. Surely that’s the very least we can expect of a Serious Strong Candidate! Just look at how the Repubs are making that crucial characteristic one of their major party platforms!!!
debbie
@Omnes Omnibus:
Luther’s on my summer binge watch list. Hoping it will finally get me over my Stringer crush.
different-church-lady
@schrodinger’s cat: I thought I saw it somewhere that even though Clinton has not clinched yet, it’s now mathematically impossible for Sanders to clinch a majority of pledged delegates.
Anyone care to confirm or correct?
ETA: now that I think about it, that can’t possibly be correct, can it?
Mike J
@schrodinger’s cat:
538 ran the amount he needs from each up against the demographics of each state and came up with this chart of what he needs. He usually leads in lilly white states, so he needs to overperform there, and in states that have any non white people at all, he needs to overperfrom.
fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/indiana-primary-presidential-election-2016/?lpup=16148712#livepress-up…
WV is mostly white, so he needs to win by 52%. New Jersey has minorities (it looks a lot like NY or PA) which is bad news for Bernie, so he “only” needs to win by 13% there.
pseudonymous in nc
@Smiling Mortician:
Still, that scenario should make you appreciate why vote-by-mail is not the panacea that PacNW people — including Ron Wyden! — sometimes think it is. Because there are lots of kitchen tables where if it was vote-by-mail, there’d be yelling and more than yelling.
mike in dc
Trump just reiterated his earlier “Hillary was Bill’s enabler” attack tonight. Seems riskier than usual for him. For one thing, since he did it earlier, her campaign has had literally months to prepare for it to come again. For another, she won a lot of sympathy back then, and this can easily blow up in his face.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: how could I forget Ol’ George! Hillary never would have survived the Pataki Attack!
pseudonymous in nc
@The Dangerman:
So Obama was a terrible candidate because Hillary gave him a decent run for the slot?
Does not fucking compute.
Mike J
@different-church-lady:
He can get to 2026, which is a majority of pledged delegates. However, he’s been saying that Clinton should have to get to 2383, which is the majority of pledged+supers on pledged alone. It is mathematically impossible for Sanders to hit the mark he set for Clinton, but he could get a majority of pledged only, but it’s very unlikely.
933 delegates left, Sanders has 1417, Clinton has 1701, and the target is 2026. At that point the supers vote for whoever crosses 2026.
gf120581
@different-church-lady: It is mathematically impossible now. Which is why he and his flacks keep babbling about the superdelegates deciding things.
He knows he’s done. It’s all about the $ now. Tad Devine’s vacation home isn’t going to pay for itself, you know. And personally, I think Bernie’s gotten a bit of a taste for that 1% life (the Vatican trip for example) and is reluctant to give it up.
PaulWartenberg2016
Just use the patented VOX.COM VICE PRESIDENT FILTER!
vox.com/2016/5/5/11598834/vp-generator-shortlist
Omnes Omnibus
@Mike J: When HRC was playing similar games in 2008, she was wrong. Bernie is wrong for dong it now.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
hear the hoof beats of the White Horse, my friends!
pseudonymous in nc
@gf120581:
I’ll be generous and say that it’s that he’s got a taste for the campaign life — like a session musician who starts gigging late in life and realises he likes the travel and the adulation — and is reluctant to give it up.
Punchy
So Bob Dole, the guy claiming to be disgusted by Trump….just endorsed him. Yup, they fall in line no matter what.
Anne Laurie
@different-church-lady: Nope, Politico published the math:
Sen. Sanders may not believe the numbers — Devine & Weaver are handling that for him, while Jane looks for the tax forms — but he can’t get enough pledged delegates.
All he’s doing now is keeping his supporters ginned up for the convention (and siphoning more $27 donations to Tad Devine’s agency).
Mike J
@Omnes Omnibus: If anything, the games Hillary played in ’08 were worse, but when it was over it was over and she worked hard for Obama.
She did not threaten to filibuster the convention with incessant motions on every topic if she didn’t get her way. The latest threat from the BS camp is going to make sure he doesn’t get a single super.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Punchy: I actually find that one kind of sad. No one would have noticed if the old man had stayed home.
Brachiator
@different-church-lady: Sanders can’t win based on delegates. He’s looking to rack up impressive wins in the remaining states to argue that he is “more electable” than Hillary.
Smiling Mortician
@Baud: Yup, we do both here. I’m interested in seeing how the primary results compare to the caucus results. My hunch is the primary results will be less like Bernie’s caucus rout and a little closer to my household’s stats.
In any cause, I was disappointed that my ballot included Carson and not Baud!
That’s just rude.
Gin & Tonic
@The Dangerman: She’s gotten more votes than any other candidate in either party. I thought that signals strength, doesn’t it?
mike in dc
The important thing is that Sanders just pledged, no matter who the nominee is, to do everything he can do to stop Trump. He also indicated he’s not going to try to get the nomination at the convention if he doesn’t have the pledged delegate majority. Instead he promised a “floor fight” over the party platform, which sounds a lot less problematic.
Omnes Omnibus
@gf120581:
I disagree. I think he started as an issue candidate and became a contender for a while. Transitioning back to being an issue candidate or walking away is probably hard. Especially with Weaver and Devine advising you. Weaver is willing to burn down the system to “win.” And Devine is a real Democrat, but he is just not good at his job.
different-church-lady
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: OK, I just put $200 into the Mitt Romney Independent victory fund. Who’s with me?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Just saw this retweeted again and I’m reposting because I love it.
think again buddy. Weak.
that’s gonna leave a mark.
Anne Laurie
@mike in dc:
Which seems to support something that Dave Weigel, among others, have argued: Trump’s misogynist comments aren’t “gaffes”, they’re a key part of his campaign. He’s appealing to the hardcore misogyny of his angry-male base (and, I assume, the rump of Repub women who’ve convinced themselves that if only Hillary had been a better wife, Bill wouldn’t have “strayed”.)
I don’t think there are enough of those 1950s revanchists for him to win, but it’s exactly the sort of crap his dedicated base wants to hear.
Elie
@Anne Laurie:
This. And somehow, we have to be quiet while he does his shakedown. I would pay some money to make sure someone primaries his sorry ass. But first things first: “yes Bernie, we will pay off your debt to torture us with your semi baked revolutionary bullshit if you promise to take the money, stuff it in your g string and go home”
Villago Delenda Est
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: She’s trolling the stupid SOB, and he’s going to rise to the bait.
Dork
@pseudonymous in nc: Shorter Dangerman: my girlfriend is smart, fun, and independent. Great job and loved by my friends. But those boobs just arent D-cups. Weak junk. Weak girlfriend. Cant continue to date her.
Omnes Omnibus
@Anne Laurie:
Eep?
Villago Delenda Est
@Anne Laurie: The problem for The Donald with this approach is sure, it makes his base happy, but you don’t win national elections with only 27% of the vote in even a three way race.
Villago Delenda Est
@Dork: Sad.
different-church-lady
@Anne Laurie: Right, thank you (and others). I get it now: Sanders cannot mathematically clinch with pledged delegates alone. Yet he is making some kind of argument that if Clinton doesn’t do something he is mathematically eliminated from doing himself, then he has some kind of moral claim on the supers.
Crazy ass.
Adam L Silverman
@Villago Delenda Est: Its already terminated. He’s not running for reelection. When he was approached about running for mayor of Miami several years ago, in between the Florida legislature and his Senate run, and turned it down because he didn’t think it was high profile enough. This has been well documented in Florida. His career in elected or appointed office is over. He’s unlikely to get elected to anything again from Florida. No one down here has any fondness for him, and his well documented penchant for not showing up for the jobs he’s in/been elected to is also well known down here. He’s made himself toxic. Evan as bad as the Florida Democratic Party’s choices are for Governor, I don’t think he could win that office running as a Republican down here anymore.
mike in dc
@Anne Laurie:
He’s more than ripe for a counter-attack on this, in my view. His own philandering, marrying trophy wives, allegations of harassment and abuse, the list goes on and on. Trump’s a self-enabler.
burnspbesq
I have this feeling I can’t shake that Trump’s “outreach” to the social conservatives is going to consist of picking some raving lunatic like Tom Cotton or Greg Abbott.
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus:
Bullshit. He’s just a mercenary, like Manafort. His only loyalty is to the greenbacks.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@The Dangerman: Was Bernie ever ahead? Nope. She was ahead before he even entered the race (the “superdelegates”). But even not counting those, he never had a chance.
Iowa · 44 delegates
Clinton 23 delegates, Sanders 21
New Hampshire · 24 delegates
Clinton 9, Sanders 15 delegates
Nevada · 35 delegates
Clinton 20, Sanders has 15
South Carolina · 53 delegates
Clinton 39 delegates, Sanders 14
And so forth.
His only chance was to have blowout wins in lilly-white IA and NH to chance the perception that Hillary was unbeatable. He didn’t.
His campaign seems to be flailing around trying to keep people interested and try to stay relevant now. I got the following in an e-mail from them tonight:
(Emphasis added.)
That bolded section strikes me as yet-another a tone-deaf slap at Obama. Do they really think that he wouldn’t sign a bill like that if it made it to his desk?? When he called for it to be passed on the 7th anniversary of his signing the Lilly Ledbetter Act??
I’ll be happy when he finally gets on the Hillary bus and ends his campaign. The unworkable, tone-deaf mantras he spouts in his (and his campaign’s) seemingly interminable efforts to try to convince Democrats that he’s the only one pure and smart enough to make the government work better for people is grating. But he needs millions for his Revolution™. So, if the Revolution™ fails it won’t be his fault…
(sigh)
Cheers,
Scott.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: Has he worked for non-Ds?
Peale
@different-church-lady: I think we’re going to have to move the convention to Denver and just hand out joints to the delegates. Those hoping for a Republican meltdown in Cleveland are going to be sorely disappointed when our convention becomes a snooze fest of procedural votes and challenges.
The Other Chuck
i’m thinking trump will just pick himself as his running mate
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus: I don’t know. Is Viktor Yanukovych a Democrat now?
Elie
@Anne Laurie:
Oh not enough for him to win, but I truly believe that there is a huge wellspring of anti-woman psychology in the Democratic Party, much less the Ork REpubs. The mister is very careful around me as I sharpen the kitchen knives while we discuss politics. Hillary will be remembered years after this for her contribution to justice. Lysistrata is a wonderful play that shows some of the way: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysistrata
pseudonymous in nc
@Adam L Silverman:
Yeah, the postmortems that were embargoed until he formally dropped out noted that a) every office was merely a stepping stone to the next one; b) everybody who supported or endorsed him got ghosted. You don’t burn that many bridges in politics and have a career at the end of it.
Anne Laurie
@Omnes Omnibus: I don’t believe it, you don’t believe it, but there are still Phyllis Schafleys out there who really do believe that a man only “runs around” if his wife isn’t doing her all-important job of giving him everything he needs.
And, tragically, not all of them are in their dotage. Remember when Josh Duggar’s name turned up on the Ashley Madison mailing list? And his poor wife publicly apologized that — what with being six months pregnant & solely responsible for two toddlers — she hadn’t “worked hard enough to support her marriage”?
Sure, she’s brainwashed, and besides has no other economic choices given the way she was raised. But we have to acknowledge there are women who will vote for Trump, just as there are gays who voted for Sanctorum and people of color who voted for… well, any Republican.
mike in dc
@Elie:
Honestly other attacks by him on Hillary didn’t bother me as much, but this kind of thing pisses me off. I have to assume that a lot of Democrats(and independent women voters) may feel the same way.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: I wasn’t aware of this. Your sarcasm is noted. I apologize for not being aware of everything that happens in Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
Anne Laurie
@Villago Delenda Est:
I’m hopeful it will make him even more unelectable in the general, but it probably worked for him in the primaries. Sad!
NotMax
Trump now scheduling big ticket fund raisers in NJ to raise money to pay off Christie’s campaign debt.
Helps explain the “held hostage” demeanor of Chrsitie when on the same stage with Trump.
Adam L Silverman
@different-church-lady: Rafalca!
lihtox
OK, that’s awesome. Maybe she should have run instead of Jeb.
Adam L Silverman
@Anne Laurie: Franklin Foer’s take:
slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/03/donald_trump_has_one_core_philosophy_misogyny.…
Face
Anyone got a follow up on that NC tow trucker who bounced his customer over a bumper sticker? Fired? Gotta believe the negative pub the company has received would be grounds for termination (unless he’s the owner).
Adam L Silverman
@Villago Delenda Est: He’s in way over his head on this one.
gf120581
@NotMax: Christie these days comes off like the Bond villain henchman who gets bumped off in creative fashion in the second act.
Anne Laurie
@burnspbesq: Or Mike Lee, who’s dumb enough to jump at the offer, as long as his puppeteer Ted Cruz doesn’t mind.
If Trump were to pick Tom Cotton, though, he’d need a food taster. Frankly I think Cotton’s pious sanctimony makes him unelectable outside of his gerrymandered Bible Belt, but he’s most certainly working the lean&hungry Cassius/Iago thing…
Elie
@The Dangerman:
Baby, she didn’t try to cut him bad. She could of. HE is not important. His supporters are. You are so –clueless.
Not gonna vote? Great. Anyone who calls him or herself a progressive that stays home is really too stupid to be worth talking to. Why do you come here, stupid one? You and Bob of Portland need to connect. There must be the elite stupid site for you to go to where elite morons like yourself pontificate about their superior acumen in judging progressive policy and leaders. I personally would be pleased if you did that. Otherwise, have you considered approaching Trump to work on his campaign? You certainly have the attitude and smarts that he would respect….
PhoenixRising
@mike in dc: ding! We have a winner!
Donald Trump is stupid enough to open the door for Hillary surrogates – – because she would never stoop to doing herself – – to attack his character and judgment based on his personal life. Multiple failed marriages to ever relatively younger supermodels is repellent to a wide variety of voters (baptists, feminists).
If he’s really stupid enough to make this conversation about Hillary’s choice to stay married to a man who was a hound when they met…I think that opens the door for a very uncomfortable line of questioning.
Which of your marriages ended due to your infidelity, since you’re so firm that’s a deal breaker?
mike in dc
If they accept, and Trump loses, they have no political future to speak of. So it’s likely to be someone who has nothing to lose. Like Christie or LePage or Rubio.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: He represents the same group of pro-Putin groups in Ukraine as Manafort. Though Manafort was the bigger fish in that pond. But domestically I’ve only ever heard of him working for Democrats or being referred to on TV between gigs as a Democratic strategist/campaign strategist.
Adam L Silverman
@pseudonymous in nc: Yep. The only person down here I’ve hear of still supporting him is the car dealer magnate from the greater Miami area.
Adam L Silverman
@Anne Laurie: The Duggars may not be legally married. Apparently the Quiverfull folks standard operating procedure is to not get marriage licenses. Who knew?
rawstory.com/2016/05/revealed-founder-of-quiverfull-cult-pushed-his-son-into-an-illegal-marriage-wit…
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, that one is.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: I was not aware of his foreign work. Domestically, I knew he worked for Dems. Eastern Europe and Central Asia is not my bailiwick – I am an Atlanticist.
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
Independence for St. Pierre and Miquelon!
:)
Aleta
All these individual GOP announcements and horrified reactions are still hogging the spotlight. Trump spin-off.
ruemara
@schrodinger’s cat: Bernie math should be ignored as much as you’d ignore a story about a perpetual motion machine or Sasquatch coming out of the woods to take over the Harvard Classical Literature department. And for much the same reason.
Origuy
@Face: It sounded from what I read like he owned his own company. I wonder if he has a contract with AAA? He might not have it much longer.
Adam L Silverman
@Face: He owned the company, so unless he fired himself…
ruemara
@The Dangerman: IT’S A TWO MAN RACE! FOR CHRIST’S SAKE! At it’s fullest, the Democratic nominee pool had 6 people in it; the Republicans, 17. The two with the largest name recognition were Clinton and Sanders. Jesus H. Crispy Critter Christ on a Hickory Smoked Cross!
Adam L Silverman
@Anne Laurie: Cotton doesn’t get him very far. He’s not two years into his first term in the Senate. His military service ended at O3/captain with his last deployment assigned to a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan, which isn’t a glory posting. He’s not going to bring anything to Trump that Trump can’t get on his own.
I think the pick is going to be someone, most likely a woman, that fits Trump’s ideal of a woman. And the really big announcement will be that if (or as he’ll put it: when) elected he will nominate Senator Cruz to the vacancy that the Senate Republicans are keeping open on the Supreme Court. If you spend any time in the comments sections on the firearms and a bunch of other conservative websites when who should be the nominee would come up significant number of them argued that they’d be okay with Senator Cruz as a VP choice, but where they really want him is on the Supreme Court. Or even better eight years as President and then onto the Supreme Court.
Mnemosyne
@The Dangerman:
I’d like you to name one (1) Republican from this year’s field other than Kasich that you honestly think could have beaten Hillary. “All of them, Katie,” is not an actual answer.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: No worries. I didn’t know it until I went looking up exactly who Manafort worked for. I knew he’d worked for Yanukovych, but remembered seeing he was also tied more closely to Putin. Couldn’t find a source on that, but several of the articles detailing Manafort’s work in Ukraine also mentioned that, ironically, Devine was working for many of the same people in Ukraine at the same time.
Soylent Green
Forget TV ads. The party should hire a team of crack writers to compose tweets that bait Trump into firing off his ill-considered retorts. Then give them to Hillz and other Democrats to deliver. It won’t be hard to get him to lose his cool and say some really stupid shit.
Warren won’t need any help — she’s nailing it.
Peale
@ruemara: but it’s only a two person race because the Clinton Machine prevented true democrats from running. She was expecting a coronation. Why can’t she put him away in a two man contest in which delegates in each race are proportionately assigned, kind of, except when they aren’t.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus: You could always ask BiP, he’d be more than happy to fill you in.
ruemara
@Peale: I can’t even tell if it’s snark because I’ve heard that being passed around as “logic”.
Prescott Cactus
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
He missed two: Day after Superbowl is a holiday and a pony for everyone.
PhoenixRising
@Peale:… because the Democratic Party is infested by a minority of purity trolls who are all Marxists (would never join a club that would have me) with an inalienable right to a circular firing squad and a defeatist complex?
Or is that too straightforward an explanation?
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Prescott Cactus: I’d like a safe bike lane to work, too, but that’s not happening anytime soon either.
Bernie’s a true believer. That’s fine, but he and his campaign shouldn’t trash his actual allies in pursuit of policies that cannot get enacted without their support…
Cheers,
Scott.
Guam guy
Voted for Hillary today in our caucus. Looks like turnout may be pretty good; if Hillary wins, she could send a thank you note to Tim Robbins?
divF
@Soylent Green:
Unleash Al Franken !
Or at least get him to recruit the best of the SNL writer alums.
catclub
Uday and Qusay
Usay was his speech coach.
SoupCatcher
@Elie:
Reminds me of a line from Raymond Chandler, “There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. … [W]ives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks.”
Prescott Cactus
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
Agree 100%. What Bernie wants and seeks is to pull Hill further to the left. With BankTrumpt it doesn’t matter. He’s not right or left, just nuts, as are his rabid fans.
The question I ask myself is who would I rather be, a Dem or Repub… Makes it easy to sleep at night.
Peale
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: they want no allies. As I learned today on Salon, Trump is the logical conclusion of Bill Clintons policies. And Democrats and SJWs have used cultural issues and arcane academic disputes to divide the country on the behalf of their Republican allies. And what Bernie’s supporters want is jobs. I had no idea about that. But now I’m convinced. Or I’m confused. It’s hard to tell these days.
cokane
this is going to be hard for Trump, I’m sure a lot of R’s rightfully see his ticket as a big loser. No career politician would want to risk being associated with the probable megaloss his campaign will create.
Aaron
I hope Bernie gets the dem vp slot. even though he’s damn old…
As for the republicans, Monkey with a box of handgrenades still seems like a big improvement over any of the other potential candidates. The death toll in American lives would be less and the poo flinging will be much more dignified coming from a monkey…
Brachiator
@cokane: Republicans who earlier proclaimed that they would not vote for Trump are now dutifully falling in line. And Trump is openly mocking those like Lindsey Graham who have not come over.
There is a crazy GOP plan to create a third party and try to get the election thrown to the House where the Republicans would then vote for a mainstream candidate. Could this be Ryan or the return of Mitt? Trump will make an appeal to the GOP on Thursday.
The local news notes that both candidates have the highest negatives ever. And Sanders is using this to continue to press his case as the most electable.
The drama continues.
Brachiator
@Adam L Silverman: I can’t see Cruz as VP. It would add another unlikable to the ticket. I can see the Senate approving Cruz as a Supreme Court Justice to get rid of him, but he would likely oppose Trump if a case involving controversial Trump actions came before the Court. The Republicans might see if Trump would fall for this since it would theoretically give them some additional veto power over Trump.
One logical choice for Trump would be to select Marco Rubio. This would revive Rubik’s career and please many Republicans. It would also be an attempt to play to Latinos. And other Republican Latinos would not have to risk their current jobs should the GOP lose in November.
Calouste
@Aaron: Sanders has talked himself out of the VP slot. You don’t want to give the opposition a freebie to run ads consisting of the VP candidate attacking the presidential candidate. Same goes for Cruz.
Villago Delenda Est
@Calouste: Two, um, OLD people on the ticket is a bad idea, anyway, on the Dem side. Bernie will be 75 in November, Hillary 69. Need someone younger…40s or 50s, as the running mate. Continuity, yadda yadda.
On the Rethug side, it’s anyone’s guess what Drumpf will do. He’s about as mercurial as Alex Jones.
Gvg
It was discussed at the beginning of the campaign season and it was obvious then that Hillary and Sanders could not be each other’s VP because of age. Frankly both are older than many people including myself would prefer. Both will have to pick someone younger in order to reassure worriers like myself. So I was opposed to Sanders as VP before I heard a word out of him. I think he is too old for President too, in fact I am not that happy about Hillary’s age. I also spare some worry about Bill who doesn’t look well because his health will impact her.
karen marie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: May look good on paper but I doubt Gingrich could (possibly) save civilization from a Trump presidency.
karen marie
@JordanRules: Trump has had media people/journalists asking him whether he thought he should run for president since the ’90s. I think Trump became a public birther to work up a potential audience. If the WHCD remarks had any effect, it was to demonstrate to He, Trump that he was (in his mind) on the same playing field with the big boys. Here, Obama himself acknowledged him as important/a threat on national television! Trump’s ego has been toying with this idea for decades. It’s an idea whose time had come.
Barry
@The Dangerman: “ETA: I see this hasn’t been a popular position, but, sorry, Hillary is a weak candidate. Get over it.”
IIRC, in the primaries more people voted for her than Trump, so I’ll take that ‘weak’.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
I can’t believe, after his crazed attempted debunking of belt-buckle-gate, Ben Carson’s attempted stabbing story, that he’d pick the guy to choose his VP candidate. And the guys in Washington are the ones that don’t know what they’re doing? Yeah, right.
zzyzx
@Smiling Mortician: Why did you bother voting for the meaningless primary? I don’t understand why it still exists.
trnc
@karen marie:
Jim can correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think he means that Newt would actually save civilization, just that Newt is delusional enough to think he can in between bouts of marital infidelity. Personally, I see it more like, “Hey, I know just what we need for the mile high flames of this country. Hand me that big, red can.”
HelloRochester
@jeannedalbret: Hillary supporters like to echo her main trope that they’re the only grownups in the room. Hey, Hillbots, I’ve got a great idea: let’s alienate everyone under the age of menopause in the Democratic party because low voter turnout is a winning strategy for Democrats is some universe I’m unaware of. Also, too, Hillary Hatred is not at all a unifying force on the right so let’s please ignore it.
chopper
@HelloRochester:
it’s a hell of a unifying force on the left. most of the talk about “don’t hurt our fee-fees!” is just cover for it. just more post-hoc rationalization.
El Caganer
@Rick Taylor: Naw, he ain’t Caligula – he wants to reach out to more traditional Republicans. That’s why he’s going with Rafalca.
EBT
I am still hoping for drama involving faithless electors.
Matt McIrvin
@Face: I’ve been noticing more work vans with giant Trump signs on them, sometimes handmade from sticky letters. Heating/air conditioning guys, landscapers, dump trucks, etc. The same guys who were famously way into Scott Brown.
This is not majority-Trump territory on the whole, though Rockingham County just over the border probably is. I do still wonder if these guys think the Trump stickers are getting them more affinity business than they lose, or if they just feel so strongly about Donald Trump that they’re willing to take the hit for him.
karen marie
@trnc: No, it’s a paraphrase of something Newt said once, about himself. See, Pierce, Charlie.
Formerly disgruntled Clinton supporter
@HelloRochester: Now show us on the doll where the Hillbot hurt your feelings…
Formerly disgruntled Clinton supporter
@Brachiator: In order for that crazy “take it to the House” scheme to work, Mitt (or whomever) has to actually win a bundle of Electoral Votes. It’s all about protecting down-ticket Rs.
Turgidson
@The Dangerman:
Ha. The only GOP candidate who might have had a decent chance against Hillary was Kasich, and even he would have probably blown it by being the insufferable ass that he is. Rubio would have fallen apart on first contact with general election oppo and attack ads, Cruz is the most unpleasant, unlikable piece of shit on the entire planet, no one likes Christie anymore for obvious reasons, Jeb was everything that sucked about his brother but without that obnoxious cowboy swagger some people liked. Scott Walker has the charisma of spoiled milk. Ben Carson was, well, Ben Carson. One big reason Donald f’ing Trump steamrolled the field was because the field was full of charlatans, frauds, has-beens, and clowns. And many were some or all of the above (edited to add – like Rand Paul, who I almost forgot was even a candidate)