Last night Trump won overwhelmingly in the GOP Nevada caucuses. Trump-45.9/5% to Rubio- 23.9% and Cruz-21.4%.
To date Trump has won in northeast New Hampshire, South Carolina and the wild west of Nevada. His support is clearly national, broad-based and he is attracting all segments of society- not just angry old men and women.
He has captured New Hampshire independents, South Carolina evangelicals and Nevada Mormons and rural activists. Trump even captured 45% of Hispanic vote in the Nevada caucus, notwithstanding his strong anti-immigrant position.Trump also did very well in Midwest Iowa, coming a strong second to Cruz.
In his victory speech last night, The Donald confirmed what I have been stating for weeks. Trump is winning the old, the young, the highly educated and as Trump so characteristically called, “ the poorly educated.” To which he ad-libbed, “I love the poorly educated. They are the smartest and the most loyal.” That is pure Trumpism. Brilliant. Honest. And that is why Trump is winning. He is connecting with people, like no one else in the Republican or Democratic races. Because Trump is being Trump; profane, crude, blunt, brash, controversial. Anti-establishment. And the American people love him.
Sixty per cent of people polled in Nevada support a candidate who is not part of the political establishment.
I suspect that is true of Democrats and independents as well in America.
American people are sick and tired of both the Democratic and Republican establishments.
They are equally sick and tired of the very tired and disappointing Obama Presidency. A president who is now being mocked and ridiculed in Europe, Asia, the Mideast and around the world for being a spineless wimp. For “leading from behind”. For failing to step up when Syria’s Assad crossed Obama’s “red line”, and for cutting and running in Benghazi and leaving Americans to be tortured and slaughtered. And for alienating America’s traditional allies.
Obama has also diminished America and Americans in the eyes of its enemies; through his inactivity, his indifference, and his overall weakness and spinelessness.
And who has the politically tone-deaf Hillary Clinton aligned herself with, but the failed and failing Obama presidency.
Hillary Clinton epitomizes the American political establishment. The tired, decaying and dying sclerotic status quo.
There is a revolution stirring in American politics. The angry American people are mad as hell and they are not taking it any more. And by electing Trump president, they want to send a message to Hillary heard around the world.
Get the frack out of Washington and politics, you tired, lying, corrupt, political hack!
The results are in from the most recent Republican primary in South Carolina. As predicted, Donald Trump won his second consecutive primary contest. Trump- 32% and the runners up- being Senator Cruz and Rubio, both at about at 22%.
I hate to the bearer of bad news to the Republican political establishment, the “Anyone But Trump” cabal of fat cat fossilized old fogies; those die-hard denizens of the National Review and the Weekly Standard- the sanctimonious keepers of the conservative flame; and of course, those hundreds of long-time wealthy and well-connected conservative politicos who have been backing Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.
But it is time to face the music and dance with Trump. Because Trump is going all the way in these Republican primaries—whether you myopic political hacks are on board- or not.And the more you bury your collective heads in the political sands, or tear your Brooks Brother threads in frustration and hunt around for the anti-Trump, no-name John Kasich or not-ready-for-prime-time Rubio—you further continue to marginalize yourselves and call into question your previously hard-earned good political judgment.
Despite being attacked from all sides in the debates, despite multi-million dollar attack ads from Bush-supporting PACs, and despite being attacked by many lame stream media columnists and commentators from the Washington Post, New York Times, the New Yorker, CNN and Fox, Trump and his core support have held firm.
We have seen this populist movie before here in good old Toronto, with Rob Ford and then his brother Doug.
I predict that Trump’s populist appeal is deeply emotional, visceral, personal and unshakeable. Broad as it is deep.
And his growing core supporters will stick with Trump through hell and high water.Trump’s critics could call Trump all kinds of names until they are blue and red in the face: bigot, racist, homophobic, sexist, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic, but they have had no impact on Trump. More importantly, these public epithets, this juvenile name-calling have had no impact on Trump’s core support. And will have no effect on this core group, going forward into the spring, summer and fall through the Republican primaries. And through the down and dirty, winner take all, race to the Presidency.
Nothing short of Trump being criminally indicted will stop this powerful, seemingly indestructible Trump train.
After three hard-fought and contentious primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, we have a much better handle on who constitutes Trump’s core supporters.
The most recent South Carolina primary confirmed that Trump had retained the support of men, moderate conservatives, those without college degrees and older voters.
In addition—and this was a huge shock to Cruz supporters and mainstream Republicans—Trump also won the support of white evangelical voters by 8 percentage points over Senator Cruz.
This very powerful and influential Republican group in South Carolina made up approximately 70 percent of Republican voters in the state and had been the backbone of Senator Ted Cruz’s support. Obviously no longer.
Recall about a month ago, in an effort to bolster his support among socially conservative Republicans, while at the same time alienating Trump from this very same group, Cruz accused Trump of “embodying New York values”.
In other words, contrary to Republican socially conservative dogma, Trump was soft on abortion and gay marriage. Cruz further implicitly accused Trump, as a born and bred New Yorker, as being overly focused on money and the media.
Well, Senator Cruz- Duh!!! Donald Trump owes his very political and public appeal to being totally focused on success, money and the media. And Republicans—both social conservatives and moderates—appear to be fine with Trump’s positions.
Because Republicans, young and old, male and female, conservative and moderate, urban, suburban and rural, all appear to more concerned about the economy, the threat of terrorism and radical Islam, (both foreign and abroad), America’s broken immigration system, and the fact that America has lost its way.
And Trump, above all the other Republican contenders, has clearly tapped into these issues.
My view is that if Cruz could not beat Trump in evangelical-rich South Carolina, then I don’t like Cruz’s chances in delegate-rich and socially conservative states like Texas, Virginia and Florida.
Cruz’s chances become even worse as the primary fight shifts to more moderate Republican states in the northeast, Midwest and the west.
In addition, as Cruz falters more, I predict that Cruz’s natural conservative support will gravitate to Trump, followed by the remnants of Jeb Bush and Kasich supporters and not to the wishy washy Rubio, who has clearly failed to inspire and connect with the greater Republican electorate.
To me, Trump’s victory in the Republican primaries seems inevitable. To the clueless Republican political establishment – not so much.
Donald Trump. Photo: screenshot Facebook Donald Trump
New Hampshire voters handed stunning victories to the two outsiders: Trump and Sanders.
Donald Trump won 36% of the GOP vote, followed by Kasich at 16%, and then the three also-ran Amigos- Canadian-born Cruz, Bush Jr. and Robatic Rubio- all at 11%.
On the Democratic side, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders humiliated Hillary Clinton by defeating her 60% to 39%.
I love the fact that the majority of so-called political experts and pundits on both the left and right in both the US and Canada- are stumped and stupefied over the success of the Trumpster and the raging septuagenarian socialistic Sanders, the junior senator from small town-state Vermont. These elitist lame stream commentators and analysts and even the long time political Democratic and GOP hacks are positively verklempt over the unpredictable political success of these two characters.
Trump’s reality TV show run for the presidency was supposed to have fizzled months ago. The experts had the GOP coalescing behind the heavily-funded and favored Jeb Bush or the younger and more immigrant-friendly, youthful and telegenic Marco Rubio.
But the Jebster, the silver spoon-fed Waspy preppie since birth, the apple of Papa George’s eye, was ironically, just not and will never be ready for prime time. In the debates, the Jebster came across as boring, weak and indecisive, burdened down by his tight-assed New England upbringing and his brother George’s shoot from the hip, overly militaristic and economically unsustainable, deficit-ridden Texas cowboy presidency.
Rubio is just a poor man’s middle of the road Cuban Mitt Romney. Caught in the vortex of the Hobbesian GOP’s highly primal primary politics. Which is short, brutish, no holds-barred, and down and dirty. One day Rubio is for legitimizing the illegal immigrants. The next day, bowing to the anti-immigrant GOP right wing, he is for deporting most of them out of the country. In the most recent publicly televised New Hampshire debate, Rubio shot himself in both feet as he robotically repeated his talking points, twice in one pathetic response much to the distress of his followers.
The problem for Rubio, Cruz, Christie and all the other pretenders to the GOP throne, is that none of these political dudes appear comfortable in their own skin. They all appear, weak, indecisive. Tacking one way, then the other, as the always shifting political winds.
Very much like the now reviled and weakened President Barack Obama. President Barry started with such “hope” and promise. But he has been exposed as the weakest, the most obsequious and the sorriest US president in the last century. He talks and talks and talks. But on the world stage, he carries a very limp stick.
Barry, the leader of the most powerful country in the world, is openly mocked by the thuggish Putin, Arab oil sheiks, and Iranian mullahs. To whom Prez Barry continually prostrates himself. Kissing their rings and their behinds. Constantly seeking their approval as he unsuccessfully sought, throughout his life, the approval of his distant Kenyan father, who had abandoned him at an early age.
Obama will be forever be associated with the pussy-whipped slogan, “leading from behind”.
His disappearing “red line in the Mideast sand on Syria”, was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. To mix Mideast metaphors.
From that time forth, Putin jumped in and overshadowed him. The Iranian mullahs mocked him. And Barry’s key allies in Europe, the Mideast (Israel), Asia ( Japan) and South Asia ( India) began distancing themselves from him and America.
The result- a horrible and embarrassing near fatal blow to America’s confidence and national self-esteem, both domestically and internationally.
On the domestic front, the economy has benefited the wealthy on Wall Street in New York in the east and the Silicon internet-based bazillionaires on the west coast. But the large American middle class of Middle America- not so much. And angry Middle Americans blame Obama and the political elites from both parties for their financially stagnant lives.
The pussy-whipping of Obama, both literally at home and abroad and American middle class economic stagnation are the major reasons for the rise of Trump and Sanders.
As the brilliant Ross Douthat , argued recently in Sunday’s New York Times, Americans- young, old, white, male, female and of color, want America to be great again. They are tired of settling for mediocrity. Of just getting by. They want to prosper. They want a better financial and economic future for themselves and their children. They want to have a shot at what Trump has- and is promising. A stronger and more competitive America. Which is not afraid to compete and beat China, Japan and Germany on the economic front. And is not afraid to stand up for American values both at home and abroad. And to exercise its military power and will against its enemies, ie Russia and Iran.
As for the Democrats. Sanders genuinely believes that government can be a force for good and can uplift all Americans, beyond mediocrity to greatness. Sanders has captured the youth vote, (both women and men) with his call for massive change. For a revolution. Free public college tuition. Universal, single-payer, publicly-run, affordable, government-controlled health care. The Canadian model.
And like Trump, Sanders has attacked the Wall Street and Silicon elites who appear to be prospering at the expense of hard-working average Americans.
The big story in New Hampshire and in these primaries in general, is that the under 45 year old Democratic men and women are flocking to Sanders and have abandoned the Hillary. And for many good reasons.
These young and middle-aged Democrats see Clinton as “Yesterday’s Woman”. A tired, old and fat congenital liar and prevaricator. Scandals, lies and deceptions are embedded in her DNA. “Whitewater, Benghazi, destruction of her national security/private emails, Slick Willy selling access to Secretary of State Hillary, for millions of dollars- Hillary sucking Wall Street’s teat- the list goes on and on and on- with no end in sight. Until Sanders drives a stake in the primaries- once and for all- through Clinton’s cold-hearted chest.
Young Democratic women also see Clinton as no advocate for women or women’s rights. Instead theyview her as a power-hungry Lady Macbeth, tainted by the blood of publicly humiliating and destroying scores of vulnerable and innocent women preyed on by her sexual predator of her husband.
I predict a Trump/Sanders fight to the death. And a Trump White House in 2017.
Posts are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any other content in them are presented solely by the authors, and CIJnews assumes no responsibility for them.
New Hampshire voters handed stunning victories to the two outsiders: Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.
Donald Trump won 36% of the GOP vote, followed by Kasich at 16%. Then the three also-ran amigos: Canadian-born Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and robotic Mario Rubio, all at 11%.
On the Democratic side, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders humiliated Hillary Clinton by defeating her 60% to 39%.
I love the fact that the majority of so-called political experts and pundits on both the left and right in the US and Canada are stumped by the success of the Trumpster and the raging septuagenarian socialistic Sanders, the junior senator from small town-state Vermont.
Trump’s reality TV show run for the presidency was supposed to have fizzled months ago. The experts had the GOP coalescing behind the heavily-funded and favored Jeb Bushm or the more immigrant-friendly, youthful and telegenic Marco Rubio.
Except, unlike Trump, none of these other candidates appear comfortable in their own skins.
Jebster will never be ready for prime time. In the debates, he came across as boring and indecisive, burdened by his tight-assed New England upbringing and the collective memory of his brother George’s shoot from the hip, overly militaristic and economically unsustainable presidency.
Meanwhile, Rubio is just a poor man’s middle of the road Cuban Mitt Romney, caught in the vortex of the GOP’s highly primal primary politics. In the most recent New Hampshire debate, Rubio shot himself in both feet as he robotically repeated his talking points. One day Rubio is all for legitimizing the illegal immigrants. The next day, bowing to the anti-immigrant GOP right wing, he is all for deporting them.
In this sense, he and the other Republican contenders are much like the now reviled President Barack Obama.
President Barry started with such “hope” and promise. But he has been exposed as the sorriest US president in the last century. He talks and talks and talks. But on the world stage, he carries a very limp stick.
Barry, the leader of the most powerful country in the world, is openly mocked by the thuggish Putin, Arab oil sheiks and Iranian mullahs, to whom he continually prostrates himself. He constantly seeks their approval, just as he unsuccessfully sought, throughout his life, the approval of his distant Kenyan father, who had abandoned him at an early age.
Obama will be forever associated with the pussy-whipped slogan, “leading from behind.” His disappearing “red line in the Mideast sand on Syria,” was the final straw that broke the camel’s back (to mix Mideast metaphors.)
From that time forth, Putin jumped in and overshadowed him. The Iranian mullahs mocked him. And Barry’s key allies in Europe, the Mideast (Israel), Asia (Japan) and South Asia (India) began distancing themselves from him and America.
The result?
An embarrassing near-fatal blow to America’s confidence and national self-esteem, both domestically and internationally.
On the domestic front, the economy has benefited the wealthy on Wall Street and Silicon Valley — but the middle class of Middle America? Not so much. And these angry Americans blame Obama and the political elites from both parties for their financially stagnant lives.
All this accounts for the rise of both Trump and Sanders.
Americans — young, old, white, male, female and of color — want America to be great again. They are tired of settling for mediocrity. Of just getting by. They want to prosper. They want a better financial and economic future for themselves and their children. They want to have a shot at what Trump has — and is promising.
They want to live in a stronger and more competitive America which is not afraid to beat China, Japan and Germany on the economic front. A nation that is not afraid to stand up for American values both at home and abroad, one that will exercise its military power against its enemies.
As for the Democrats, Sanders genuinely believes that government can be a force for good and can uplift all Americans, beyond mediocrity to greatness. Sanders has captured the youth vote (both male and female) with his call for massive change. For a revolution: Free public college tuition. Universal, single-payer, publicly-run, affordable, government-controlled health care. That is, The Canadian model.
And like Trump, Sanders has attacked the Wall Street and Silicon Valley elites who appear to be prospering at the expense of hard-working average Americans.
The big story in New Hampshire and in these primaries in general is that Democratic men and women under 45 are flocking to Sanders and have abandoned the Hillary, and for many good reasons.
These young and middle-aged Democrats see Clinton as “yesterday’s woman,” a tired, old, fat congenital liar and prevaricator. Scandals, lies and deceptions are embedded in her DNA: Whitewater; Benghazi; the destruction of her national security/private emails; Slick Willy selling access to Secretary of State Hillary for millions — the list goes on.
Young Democratic women also see Clinton as no advocate for women’s rights. Instead they view her as a power-hungry Lady Macbeth who humiliated and destroyed scores of vulnerable women who’d been preyed upon by her sexual predator of her husband.
I love the fact that the majority of so-called political experts andpundits on both the left and right in both the US and Canada- are stumped and stupefied over the success of the Trumpster and the raging septuagenarian socialistic Sanders, the junior senator from small town-state Vermont.
These elitist lame stream commentators and analysts and even the long time political Democratic and GOP hacks are positively verklempt (speechless, overwrought with emotion) over the unpredictable political success of these two characters.
Trump’s amateur reality TV show run for the presidency was supposed to have fizzled months ago. The experts had the GOP coalescing behind the heavily-funded and favored Jeb Bush or the younger and more immigrant-friendly, youthful and telegenic Marco Rubio.
But the Jebster, the silver spoon-fed Waspy preppie since birth, the apple of Papa George’s eye, was ironically, just not and will never be ready for prime time. In the debates, the Jebster came across as boring, weak and indecisive, burdened down by his tight-assed New England upbringing and his brother George’s shoot from the hip,overly militaristic and economically unsustainable, deficit-ridden Texas cowboy presidency.
Rubio is just a poor man’s middle of the road Cuban Mitt Romney. Caught in the vortex of the Hobbesian GOP’s highly primal primary politics. Which is short, brutish, no holds-barred, and down and dirty. One day Rubio is for legitimizing illegal immigrants. The next day, bowing to the anti-immigrant GOP right wing, he is for deporting most of them out of the country.
The problem for Rubio, Cruz, Christie and all the other pretenders to the GOP throne, is that none of these political dudes appear comfortable in their own skin. They all appear, weak, indecisive. Tacking one way, then the other, as the always shifting political winds.
Very much like the now reviled and weakened President Barack Obama. President Barry started with such “hope” and promise. But he has been exposed as the weakest, the most obsequious and the sorriest US president in the last century. He talks and talks and talks. But on the world stage, he carries a very limp stick.
Barry, the leader of the most powerful country in the world, is openly mocked by the thuggish Putin, Arab oil sheiks, and Iranian mullahs. To whom Prez Barry continually prostrates himself. Kissing their rings and their behinds. Constantly seeking their approval as he unsuccessfully sought, throughout his life, the approval of his distant Kenyan father, who had abandoned him at an early age.
Obama will be forever be associated with the pussy-whipped slogan, “leading from behind”.
His disappearing “red line in the Mideast sand on Syria”, was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. To mix Mideast metaphors.
From that time forth, Putin jumped in and overshadowed him. The Iranian mullahs mocked him. And Barry’s key allies in Europe, the Mideast (Israel), Asia ( Japan) and South Asia ( India) began distancing themselves from him and America.
The result- a horrible and embarrassing near fatal blow to America’s confidence and national self-esteem, both domestically and internationally.
The pussy-whipping of Obama, both literally at home and abroad, is the reason for the rise of Trump and Sanders.
As the brilliant Ross Douthat , argues in Sunday’s New York Times, (click here) Americans- young, old, white, male, female and of color, want American to be great again. They are tired of settling for mediocrity. Of just getting by. They want to prosper. They want a better future for themselves and their children. They want to have a shot at what Trump has- and is offering.
As for the Democrats. Sanders genuinely believes that government can be a force for good and can uplift all Americans, beyond mediocrity to greatness.
For the Democrats, Sanders is the change agent. Hillary Clinton is “Yesterday’s Woman”. A congenital liar and prevaricator. Scandals, lies and deceptions are embedded in her DNA. “Whitewater, Benghazi, destruction of her national security/private emails, Slick Willy selling access to Secretary of State Hillary, for millions of dollars- the list goes on and on and on- with no end in sight. Until Sanders drives a stake in the primaries- once and for all- through Clinton’s cold-hearted chest.
Clinton is no advocate for women or women’s rights. She is a power-hungry Lady Macbeth, tainted by the blood of publicly humiliating and destroying scores of vulnerable women preyed on by her sexual predator of her husband.
I predict a Trump/Sanders fight to the death. And a Trump White House in 2017.
Posts are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any other content in them are presented solely by the authors, and CIJnews assumes no responsibility for them.
I love the fact that the majority of so-called political experts and pundits on both the left and right in both the US and Canada- are stumped and stupefied over the success of the Trumpster and the raging septuagenarian socialistic Sanders, the junior senator from small town-state Vermont. These elitist lame stream commentators and analysts and even the long time political Democratic and GOP hacks are positively verklempt (speechless, overwrought with emotion) over the unpredictable political success of these two characters.
Trump’s amateur reality TV show run for the presidency was supposed to have fizzled months ago. The experts had the GOP coalescing behind the heavily-funded and favored Jeb Bush or the younger and more immigrant-friendly, youthful and telegenic Marco Rubio.
But the Jebster, the silver spoon-fed Waspy preppie since birth, the apple of Papa George’s eye, was ironically, just not and will never be ready for prime time. In the debates, the Jebster came across as boring, weak and indecisive, burdened down by his up-tight New England upbringing and his brother George’s shoot from the hip,overly militaristic and economically unsustainable, deficit-ridden Texas cowboy presidency.
Rubio is just a poor man’s middle of the road Cuban Mitt Romney. Caught in the vortex of the Hobbesian GOP’s highly primal primary politics. Which is short, brutish, no holds-barred, and down and dirty. One day Rubio is for legitimizing illegal immigrants. The next day, bowing to the anti-immigrant GOP right wing, he is for deporting most of them out of the country.
The problem for Rubio, Cruz, Christie and all the other pretenders to the GOP throne, is that none of these political dudes appear comfortable in their own skin. They all appear, weak, indecisive. Tacking one way, then the other, as the always shifting political winds.
Very much like the now reviled and weakened President Barack Obama. President Barry started with such “hope” and promise. But he has been exposed as the weakest, the most obsequious and the sorriest US president in the last century. He talks and talks and talks. But on the world stage, he carries a very limp stick.
Barry, the leader of the most powerful country in the world, is openly mocked by the thuggish Putin, Arab oil sheiks, and Iranian mullahs. To whom Prez Barry continually prostrates himself. Kissing their rings and their behinds. Constantly seeking their approval as he unsuccessfully sought, throughout his life, the approval of his distant Kenyan father, who had abandoned him at an early age.
Obama will forever be associated with the effeminate slogan, “leading from behind”.
His disappearing “red line in the Mideast sand on Syria”, was the final straw that broke the camel’s back, to mix Mideast metaphors.
From that time forth, Putin jumped in and overshadowed him. The Iranian mullahs mocked him. And Barry’s key allies in Europe, the Mideast (Israel), Asia ( Japan) and South Asia ( India) began distancing themselves from him and America.
The result- a horrible and embarrassing near fatal blow to America’s confidence and national self-esteem, both domestically and internationally.
The feminization of Obama, both literally at home and abroad, is the reason for the rise of Trump and Sanders.
As the brilliant Ross Douthat , argues in Sunday’s New York Times, (see article) Americans- young, old, white, male, female and of color, want American to be great again. They are tired of settling for mediocrity. Of just getting by. They want to prosper. They want a better future for themselves and their children. They want to have a shot at what Trump has- and is offering.
As for the Democrats. Sanders genuinely believes that government can be a force for good and can uplift all Americans, beyond mediocrity to greatness.
For the Democrats, Sanders is the change agent. Hillary Clinton is “Yesterday’s Woman”. A congenital liar and prevaricator. Scandals, lies and deceptions are embedded in her DNA. “Whitewater, Benghazi, destruction of her national security/private emails, Slick Willy selling access to Secretary of State Hillary, for millions of dollars- the list goes on and on and on- with no end in sight. Until Sanders drives a stake in the primaries- once and for all- through Clinton’s cold-hearted chest.
Clinton is no advocate for women or women’s rights. She is a power-hungry Lady Macbeth, tainted by the blood of publicly humiliating and destroying scores of vulnerable women preyed on by her sexual predator of her husband.
I predict a Trump/Sanders fight to the death. And a Trump White House in 2017.
Mitch Wolfe: The Playful Contrarian 