A friend of mine-- a wise friend of mine-- told me she thinks Bernie's going to win the primary in a walk... but will lose to Trumpf, Cruz or Rubio because the Clintons will utterly destroy the Democratic Party, just as their dear friend Trumpf is destroying the Republican Party. Interesting proposition. The constitution purposely left out any mention of parties and the Founding Fathers were disdainful of their influence. Today we can see why; neither party deserves to exist. Both are so riven with corrupttion and each has become primarily a vehicle for pure and unadulterated evil, that the nation would be a billion times better off if they both disappeared, along with the party bosses who run their little fiefdoms-- whether a Karl Rove or a Chuck Schumer. So I'm happy as a clam when we see an eruption like the one at the Greenville, South Carolina GOP debate. David Lightman, writing for McClathchy, went so far as to wonder aloud if the GOP can clean up all the mud that was flung in time to compete in November. He described the debate as "an unusually personal, vicious grudge match between candidates who clearly can’t stand one another, feuds that seriously threaten party prospects this fall." The tone was nasty, hostile and the brawling couldn't be controlled by the moderator. The audience loved it and boo-ed and shouted along like animals. But don't think for a moment the Clintons are any less personal, vicious or willing to destroy the Democratic Party if they are rejected by the grassroots again.Still, as the debate unfolded-- particularly Ted Cruz's truly ugly, hateful role-- it became clear to anyone with a functioning brain exactly why DC is so riven with dysfunction and obstruction. The desperate nastiness of Rubio and Cruz are inadvertently exposing with the GOP-- and the entire political class-- is all about.
The image of candidates as children in a back seat dogfight was hardly one Republicans want as they seek the most powerful office in the world.Nor are they likely to savor Gov. John Kasich of Ohio’s take when he finally got a word in. "This is just nuts, okay? Jeez, oh, man. I’m sorry, John," he said... "I think we’re fixing to lose the election to Hillary Clinton if we don’t stop this."The debate spotlighted two evils Republicans confront as the campaign unfolds: More voter alienation, and less party unity.If the candidates’ own devoted fans relish the broadsides against anyone else, the broader electorate has sent strong signals they’re tired of Washington in-fighting that stalls meaningful legislation. They want politicians who are reasoned, collegial and presidential.
Sunday, the Washington Post's Robert Costa and Phil Rucker reported that the GOP is "at risk of tearing itself apart." Awesome! Herr Trumpf has dragged them into the mud and exposed their ugly, petty, desperate sick and maniacal lusts for power.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, S.C., a supporter of Bush, said of Trump: "This man accused George W. Bush of being a liar and suggested he should be impeached. This man embraces (Russian President Vladimir) Putin as a friend. The market in the Republican primary for people who believe that Putin's a good guy and W. is a liar is pretty damn small."
A CNN wag today: "The Grand Old Party is sounding more like the Donner Party"As confident as the Republican establishment is that voters will eventually turn against Trump for his apostasies and controversies, there is little evidence that they will. Still, other contenders are making their most concerted effort yet to stop him here, even as top party officials and financiers remain on the sidelines, and previous attempts to take down Trump have yielded little for his opponents.If the real estate magnate is able to win convincingly in South Carolina, he would enter the Super Tuesday states on March 1 with considerable strength and having endured a sustained assault. Despite the polls, Trump's competitors and their allies view South Carolina as perhaps their best opportunity to slow or stop Trump's march to the nomination.Bush, the former Florida governor, hopes to capitalize on the argument over his brother's legacy here, where polling suggests George W. Bush's popularity is extremely high among Republicans. The Bush brothers will appear together at a rally on Monday night in North Charleston, where Graham predicted the crowd would cheer so wildly that the Richter scale would break.The escalating quarreling may increase the likelihood of a long, expensive and potentially futile effort to unite Republicans around the eventual nominee. The barbs at Saturday's debate were ferocious and personal: Trump made fun of Bush's mother and bickered with him over whether Bush had threatened to drop his pants and moon people, which he had; Rubio jabbed Cruz for not being fluent in Spanish; and they all seemed to call one another liars.Pollster Frank Luntz, who for years has helped Republicans carefully calibrate their language to appeal to a broad range of voters, was aghast."If 10-year-old kids spoke to their teachers the way those candidates spoke to each other, those kids would be suspended," he said. "There is no way that any independent observer can say the Republicans gained a single vote against the Democrats because of last night. If you're honest and unbiased, the GOP lost votes last night."
Late yesterday Herr sent a statement-- too long for Twitter-- hinting, in a whiney bitch/braggart sort of way, that he might run as a third party candidate if the RNC doesn't give Cruz a time out and make him sit in the corner. Trumpf's utterly fatuous, pre-adolescent statement:
Ted Cruz is a totally unstable individual. He is the single biggest liar I’ve ever come across, in politics or otherwise, and I have seen some of the best of them. His statements are totally untrue and completely outrageous. It is hard to believe a person who proclaims to be a Christian could be so dishonest and lie so much.Cruz said I would be appointing a liberal judge when in fact I will appoint a great conservative and I am the only candidate who has gone so far, at the debate, as to suggest two individuals I feel would best represent the conservative values we need to protect: William “Bill” Pryor Jr. and Diane Sykes.Cruz says I am pro-choice, when in fact I am staunchly pro-life and have been for a long time. Like Ronald Reagan, on many issues, I have evolved.Cruz says I am in favor of ObamaCare, when in fact I have spoken about repealing and replacing this disaster of a system at every speech throughout my campaign and since it’s inception. Meanwhile, Cruz was responsible for getting Bush to put in the judge that failed to vote against ObamaCare twice.Cruz says I will try to take away your second amendment rights, when I am one of the strongest proponents of the right to bear arms and I say so in every speech that I have made for years. I am a proud member of the NRA and so are my sons.Cruz has become unhinged and is lying with the hopes that his statements will go unchecked until after the election and he will save his failing campaign.In Iowa, Cruz told thousands of Ben Carson voters that Dr. Carson had left the race and to instead vote for Ted Cruz. He apologized when the race was over. Likewise, his fraudulent voter violation form sent to Iowa voters. If Ted is going to continue to lie with such desperation, I have no choice but to fight back.One of the ways I can fight back is to bring a lawsuit against him relative to the fact that he was born in Canada and therefore cannot be President. If he doesn’t take down his false ads and retract his lies, I will do so immediately. Additionally, the RNC should intervene and if they don’t they are in default of their pledge to me.I am the strongest on the borders and I will build a wall, and it will be a real wall. I am strongest on illegal immigration, strongest on ISIS, strongest on the military and I will take care of our Vets. I will end common core and preserve the second amendment. I will renegotiate our trade deals and bring our jobs back to our country. I am the only person who will Make America Great Again.
Luntz has been waddling around New York telling his cronies that he's done with these assholes and is trying to persuade Bloomberg-- who needs little persuading-- that unless one of the establishment candidates win, whether Hillary or Rubio/Jeb/Kasich, he should run. No polling shows him able to win, although there have been rumblings that he's willing to spend a billion dollars of his own money and that the bulk of the defeated Hillary and Jeb teams would wind up in his camp. Then it would come down to who he hurts more, fellow sometime Republican billionaire Trumpf or the people's anti-establishment reform candidate, Bernie.The good ole days-- banished forever by Herr Trumpf?
