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Another day, another debate. If you've got any thoughts left on the subject, share them in our comments section!
Caricatures ofย Donald Trump, Ted Cruzย and Marco Rubioย by DonkeyHotey via Creative Commons license.
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Bemused commented
2016-02-28 13:25:26 -0500
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The Italian media are all abuzz: Trump just tweeted a very well known saying of Mussolini’s (Better to live a day as a lion than a hundred days as a sheep … sounds better in Italian, actually).
The Duce (aka Mussolini) said that at a time when his own people were starting to criticise him for a lot of things after a long history of cheers and praise.
The Duce (aka Mussolini) said that at a time when his own people were starting to criticise him for a lot of things after a long history of cheers and praise.
Bemused commented
2016-02-28 04:33:40 -0500
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@kevin: I agree (trust?) that the bullying may eventually start working against Trump and the rest of the GOP pack. During such a long race, even the angriest of angry will tend to run out of steam, if only to catch their breath. During which time, awareness of the silliness may seep in.
Typing the above brought up the long-forgotten memory of a chained dog that my brothers and I had taunted as pre-schoolers. The dog eventually stopped trying to get at us, took a deep, shuddering breath and went to his water dish. After that, he simply ignored us. But our mother didn’t.
Typing the above brought up the long-forgotten memory of a chained dog that my brothers and I had taunted as pre-schoolers. The dog eventually stopped trying to get at us, took a deep, shuddering breath and went to his water dish. After that, he simply ignored us. But our mother didn’t.
Kevin Koster commented
2016-02-27 19:45:56 -0500
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Ellen, I don’t know that Trump’s bullying tactics will help him that much in the general. They’ve done well for him in getting the attention of angry white GOP voters who don’t know where to place the blame for their current situations. But I don’t know how they get him the numbers he would need in non-white votes. Or in female votes. He’s also alienated an entire slew of left and right wing voters alike.
Granted, Hillary Clinton also has her own negatives, but I don’t believe they’re nearly as dire as Trump’s. It’s true that some Bernie Sanders supporters (namely the older ones) will refuse to vote for her in the general. But the younger ones are not as likely to sit on their hands, now that they’ve gotten involved. And again, Clinton will have a decisive majority of non-white votes at her back as well. She’ll also carry the female vote.
It’s certainly possible that Trump will somehow be able to convince enough GOP voters to stay with him, and somehow get enough independents to go his way as well, but I don’t know that constant bullying and insults will get him that result. He might try to pivot back to the center, but then he’ll lose a large portion of the GOP base, which cannot accept anything less than total obedience to their platform.
I could be proven wrong on this, but my instincts say that a Trump nomination not only loses the Presidency for the GOP yet again but also costs them the Senate, a chunk of the House and many state seats down the ticket. I think we could be looking at a historic electoral blowout. We’ll just have to see how the general population deals with Trump’s behavior when the situation is clearer this summer and fall. And I don’t believe all the desperate GOP smear attempts will succeed here. They’ve certainly worked to fool uninformed observers, but like all smear campaigns, they’ve fallen apart when examined.
Granted, Hillary Clinton also has her own negatives, but I don’t believe they’re nearly as dire as Trump’s. It’s true that some Bernie Sanders supporters (namely the older ones) will refuse to vote for her in the general. But the younger ones are not as likely to sit on their hands, now that they’ve gotten involved. And again, Clinton will have a decisive majority of non-white votes at her back as well. She’ll also carry the female vote.
It’s certainly possible that Trump will somehow be able to convince enough GOP voters to stay with him, and somehow get enough independents to go his way as well, but I don’t know that constant bullying and insults will get him that result. He might try to pivot back to the center, but then he’ll lose a large portion of the GOP base, which cannot accept anything less than total obedience to their platform.
I could be proven wrong on this, but my instincts say that a Trump nomination not only loses the Presidency for the GOP yet again but also costs them the Senate, a chunk of the House and many state seats down the ticket. I think we could be looking at a historic electoral blowout. We’ll just have to see how the general population deals with Trump’s behavior when the situation is clearer this summer and fall. And I don’t believe all the desperate GOP smear attempts will succeed here. They’ve certainly worked to fool uninformed observers, but like all smear campaigns, they’ve fallen apart when examined.
Kevin Koster commented
2016-02-26 13:42:19 -0500
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I think the only word that could accurately describe last night’s discussion would be “trainwreck.” It was obvious that both Cruz and Rubio had decided that their only means of survival now was to take every shot they could at Trump. And Trump never looked fazed by them for a second. If anything, he looked like the taller bully at school who puts his hand on top of the head of the smaller kid trying to punch him so that the smaller kid just flails around uselessly while the bully laughs.
Kasich looked desperate, which is understandable but not helpful if he wanted anyone to think he had any gravitas. Carson frankly looked worse than desperate – the moment where he begged the others to attack him was unintentionally hilarious. It’s telling that Trump was not attacking Carson – all he did was use Carson as a prop for attacking Cruz.
Not a single one of these people looked in any way presidential.
Unless something drastically changes, it now appears that Trump will go straight up the middle and grab the GOP nomination, which means that they’re looking at potentially the most humiliating defeat in the history of their party. And frankly, I don’t see a single candidate up there that can change that math.
I did enjoy the cheek of the Kasich people yesterday encouraging Rubio to drop out of the race and do the right thing. That actually made me laugh out loud. Personally, I think the best option at this point would be for Rubio to actually do this before he gets beaten in Florida on Tuesday. And it’s clear that the best option for Ted Cruz is to drop out also, and do so as fast as he can, admitting publicly that he cannot win this campaign. Then those two could throw their support behind Kasich and let him consolidate all the non-Trump votes. (Carson’s votes at this point are pretty much irrelevant – useful only for siphoning from Cruz, which is why everyone ignored him last night.)
Barring that, it’s pretty clear that Trump will run the table on Super Tuesday, possibly even taking Texas. Rubio will be mathematically too far back to make much difference, and Cruz will be a distant third. If Cruz loses Texas, that would be both hilarious and instructive – I’d expect him to drop out quickly at that point. If he wins Texas, I’d expect him to stay in until the 15th and THEN drop out. It now appears that Cruz will not only fail in his presidential ambitions but also in the real motivator for his run – his wish for a national TV show to bring him attention and money. This race was supposed to either make him the darling of the right or get him Huckabee’s lucrative weekend show on Fox News. Instead, he will get neither – it now appears Cruz will be faced with a tough re-election situation for his Senate seat (he will undoubtedly be primaried if he runs) or the option of a low-paid slot in Glenn Beck’s dying operation.
Kasich looked desperate, which is understandable but not helpful if he wanted anyone to think he had any gravitas. Carson frankly looked worse than desperate – the moment where he begged the others to attack him was unintentionally hilarious. It’s telling that Trump was not attacking Carson – all he did was use Carson as a prop for attacking Cruz.
Not a single one of these people looked in any way presidential.
Unless something drastically changes, it now appears that Trump will go straight up the middle and grab the GOP nomination, which means that they’re looking at potentially the most humiliating defeat in the history of their party. And frankly, I don’t see a single candidate up there that can change that math.
I did enjoy the cheek of the Kasich people yesterday encouraging Rubio to drop out of the race and do the right thing. That actually made me laugh out loud. Personally, I think the best option at this point would be for Rubio to actually do this before he gets beaten in Florida on Tuesday. And it’s clear that the best option for Ted Cruz is to drop out also, and do so as fast as he can, admitting publicly that he cannot win this campaign. Then those two could throw their support behind Kasich and let him consolidate all the non-Trump votes. (Carson’s votes at this point are pretty much irrelevant – useful only for siphoning from Cruz, which is why everyone ignored him last night.)
Barring that, it’s pretty clear that Trump will run the table on Super Tuesday, possibly even taking Texas. Rubio will be mathematically too far back to make much difference, and Cruz will be a distant third. If Cruz loses Texas, that would be both hilarious and instructive – I’d expect him to drop out quickly at that point. If he wins Texas, I’d expect him to stay in until the 15th and THEN drop out. It now appears that Cruz will not only fail in his presidential ambitions but also in the real motivator for his run – his wish for a national TV show to bring him attention and money. This race was supposed to either make him the darling of the right or get him Huckabee’s lucrative weekend show on Fox News. Instead, he will get neither – it now appears Cruz will be faced with a tough re-election situation for his Senate seat (he will undoubtedly be primaried if he runs) or the option of a low-paid slot in Glenn Beck’s dying operation.
Anne-claire Souza commented
2016-02-26 11:10:36 -0500
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Embarrasing and painful to think any of that bunch could be our next President . Its like watching a horror movie.
Bemused commented
2016-02-26 10:25:55 -0500
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Just saw the whole rerun and words fail me. Only Kasich seemed to be older than three and nobody’s listening to him. That debate was not the best example of American-style democracy for the rest of the world. Embarrassing, totally embarrasing.
Wolf Blitzer was basically the bath-mat for the three stooges, all three of whom actually told him to shut up.
Wolf Blitzer was basically the bath-mat for the three stooges, all three of whom actually told him to shut up.
David Lindsay commented
2016-02-26 08:10:08 -0500
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The Cuban sandwich. Grilled pork bracketed by two slices of white bread.
Erich Pomfret commented
2016-02-26 07:38:24 -0500
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Serious question (fear)? Trump is having some real success deflecting conversation from his lack of any substantive plans by repeatedly attacking his rivals, and the resulting media domination seems to be gaining him increasingly large percentages of support. With so many places that Hillary is open to semi-gratuitous attack, and her lack of personal charisma, won’t he be able to dominate the general campaign and win the support of casual independent voters using the same tactics?
truman commented
2016-02-25 23:55:12 -0500
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Robot Rubio memorized his one-liners and recited them all night. A trained seal in an expensive suit.
Carnival Cruz has run aground. There are just not enough teanut evangelicals to keep him afloat.
Donald T. Rump blithers on and nobody really cares. He gets the votes and will get the nomination.
Uncle Ben runs on arrogance. Kasich must be a masochist.
Carnival Cruz has run aground. There are just not enough teanut evangelicals to keep him afloat.
Donald T. Rump blithers on and nobody really cares. He gets the votes and will get the nomination.
Uncle Ben runs on arrogance. Kasich must be a masochist.
Eyes On Fox commented
2016-02-25 22:54:24 -0500
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If any of these asshats become President they’ll have to build border walls for sure. To keep any American with more than a single digit IQ from fleeing! ๐
Eyes On Fox commented
2016-02-25 22:50:27 -0500
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On a more serious note, I assume everyone noticed The Donald’s bigot bait that the wrong people are coming in from Mexico so we need a wall down there. Canada not so much. Huge shock Der Furor is getting white supremacist robo call support in Texas.
Eyes On Fox commented
2016-02-25 22:46:25 -0500
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But, Donald, is your wall going to be yuiuuuuuuge? ๐
Eyes On Fox commented
2016-02-25 22:39:24 -0500
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It’s obvious robot Rubio and Teddy Cruz boned up on Trump opposition research. It’s a WWE tag team pile on Der Furor. ๐
Poor lonely Ben Carson is begging to be attacked to get some attention. Gets passed over after his whine. Poetic.
Confused Kasich complains Hillary and Obama interfered in Libya, a power vacuum was created when strong man Kaddafi fell, now it’s a cesspool. Then ignores Dubya did the same in Iraq. Begs for more intervention. Huh? ๐
Oh my, Wolf, the ‘Iron Man of Journalism’, just lost control. Trump and Cruz in a mud fight. Where’s my popcorn?
Poor lonely Ben Carson is begging to be attacked to get some attention. Gets passed over after his whine. Poetic.
Confused Kasich complains Hillary and Obama interfered in Libya, a power vacuum was created when strong man Kaddafi fell, now it’s a cesspool. Then ignores Dubya did the same in Iraq. Begs for more intervention. Huh? ๐
Oh my, Wolf, the ‘Iron Man of Journalism’, just lost control. Trump and Cruz in a mud fight. Where’s my popcorn?
Ellen commented
2016-02-25 22:33:29 -0500
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This is like watching a car wreck. It’s horrible but I can’t stop watching and reading my Twitter feed.
Jan Hall commented
2016-02-25 22:31:45 -0500
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“Can somebody attack me please?”—— Uncle Ben even converted the rice with that gem.
Eyes On Fox commented
2016-02-25 22:25:46 -0500
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Is it true Ben Carson was a brain surgeon? Be afraid. Be very afraid. ๐
Eyes On Fox commented
2016-02-25 22:07:27 -0500
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Rubio and Trunp are like 2 cats dropped into a bag. Hilarious! ๐
Jan Hall commented
2016-02-25 22:07:08 -0500
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Donald T. Rump is being made into an Orange Roughy Sandwich on Pan Cubano Cuban Bread!
Ellen commented
2016-02-25 21:09:44 -0500
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Rubio threw his oppo book at Trump: hit him on using illegal labor to build Trump tower, making his ties in Mexico and saying that if he hadn’t inherited his fortune, “You’d be selling watches in Manhattan.”