The rise and fall of the GOP’s “best chance to beat Hillary”.
Perhaps had he started earlier, it would have made a difference – or not. Republican conventional wisdom seemed to suggest that just like with Romney in 2012, the GOP would settle on an “electable” and somewhat moderate choice. The problem with that theory, says Luntz, is conventional wisdom in 2016 has proved utterly worthless, though it took the GOP months to accept it.
“Republicans didn’t listen,” says Luntz. “They didn’t hear the anger because they spent too much time in Washington and not enough in the rest of America. The Republican finance people, the donor class, they didn’t see it and didn’t hear it, and by the time they did, it was too late.” Luntz compared it to a horror film: “You know something’s out there, but you don’t see it until you’re getting stabbed.”
[…]
The chaos of the early months leading up to Iowa and New Hampshire landed D.C.’s Republican policy elite in a morass unlike they’d ever experienced. The big names in foreign policy – Michael Hayden, Paul Wolfowitz, George Shultz – had backed Jeb Bush, the presumptive nominee. Now they and many others looked on, shell-shocked by the unexpected collapse of Bush’s campaign, with the possibility of being out of a job. “If you’re part of the class of foreign-policy experts in D.C. who look at each four years as a prospect of being part of a new administration and new foreign-policy team, where do you go?” says a Washington think-tank expert. “They were hopeful Rubio could salvage what looked lost for Jeb. And they were horrified by Cruz and Trump.
Trump, in particular, was terrifying. Who was advising him? Was anyone? Because that was, ultimately, the point. “There’s a huge infrastructure of consultants, strategists, policy advisers, pollsters, direct-mail people…and normally they’d be looking forward to a huge payday when their candidate wins,” says Bruce Bartlett, a Republican consultant and veteran of the Reagan White House. “This has nothing to do with issues – it’s about power. Trump hasn’t hired any of those people. He can’t be controlled. That scares the shit out of them!”
Sure, it’s Rolling Stone. It’s still a great read.
I have a rascally soul, and the ticket that would delight me to no end would be Trump/Palin… 🙂 Partly because it would have politicos shaking in their boots all over the US and partly because I honestly believe they are exactly what the US needs right now to to clean house, box some ears, kick some asses and slap some folks upside the head. Sadly, I think Sarah will be busy helping Todd recover for the next quite a while.
I like Palin too much to want her on the ticket.
I’m still thinking Trump/Florina. Just to make sure there’s a special place in jail for Hillary.
Yes, it was a great “read” and portrayed the rise and fall of “little Marco” accurately. Many of the people on the right are angry and have had it with any and all RHINOs who do nothing about the incrementally slide to the left of the country and are upset that economically the US is becoming a second world country. Similarly, considering the support Sanders gets and the leftward drift of Shrillary there is a growing segment of the population that has been brainwashed by a leftist educational system that there can be a “free lunch” society. Sometime down the line there will be a clash between the two solitudes.
However, the article did not so covertly tout the Democrat ideology and the leftist thought that any Republican was out of step with the people.
I had the sense he was a career politician, but had no idea. Also watched a video on his money management issues. This is what identity politics has wrought. Hispanic and eloquent, therefore too valuable to punt back to the minor leagues.
the establishment just cannot stand one of their own not being the candidate. Trump scares them because they can’t buy him
No matter what position he took, it didn’t seem to be a principle for him. His lack of loyalty, which is brought out in the article, is the most telling part of it. His “personal story” really started to grate on me.
I think the Trump campaign has demonstrated that right and left, conservative and liberal, Republican and Democrat, black, white, Hispanic, evangelical, etcetera are not actually homogenous political demographics. There are politically-correct a-holes throughout, even on Fox News Network. Trump is the countervailing voice and the only chance for seriously normal people to beat back the insidious parasitic monster that is killing western culture.
All these autopsies and dissections miss the central point:
Li’l Marco went down in flames because of his “Gang of 8” betrayal of the Americian people.
Full. Stop.
We have simply had ENOUGH of having illegal aliens shoved down our throats, decade after decade.
Trump knew this. It was the first position he staked out and he has, rightfully, made that the central tennent of his campaign.
We love him for it!
Although I haven’t been following the US election/primaries very closely, this article on an investment blog caught my eye:
Pitchfork Time? “Elites Have Lost Their Healthy Fear Of The Masses”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-03/pitchfork-time-elites-have-lost-their-healthy-fear-masses
The original story is from FT (paywall). Now, of course, no one knows what the future holds. The donor class and most journalists have convinced themselves that Trump is an aberration, once he fails his supporters will fall back into line. Sure, maybe. But what if the peasants are actually signalling a revolt in progress. The aristocrats certainly have been taking too many liberties : blatant corruption and lying, pay to play/corporate cronyism, an increase in meddling in every aspect of life, failing to better hide their disdain or outright disgust of regular people, outsourcing decisions to international bodies and the business class who also dislike the masses, perverting the law to create one system for them and their friends and another, harsher one for the rest of us. There’s many things to be angry about but since 2008 I think things like a taxpayer supported safety net for the business class and big, expensive benefits for the union courtiers has create animosity between them and those who are not in the favoured classes.
The anger might fizzle but, if not, then hopefully they have considered actually addressing the issues that have created this backlash. In case calling the peasants racist and stupid losers stops working.
“This has nothing to do with issues – it’s about power. Trump hasn’t hired any of those people. He can’t be controlled. That scares the shit out of them!”
—————
Says it all!
North of the border, Justin hired all of the hangers on and now plays the part of the charismatic stooge.
Hey guess what? Rubio looks young and he’s not actually perfect. Aside from the fear of the GOP insiders over Trump, what a bunch of crap. A left wing hatchet job in Rolling Stone on a promising Republican who might be Clinton’s main challenger in four years.
“Trump hasn’t hired any of those people. He can’t be controlled.”
As if the Military-Indistrial Complex will relinquish control!
Agree 100% Dirtman 11:56AM, The turmoil within the GOP is all about power and the (jobs). Thing is, is that there isn’t another whole field or set of admin-o-crats for Trump to hire. There’s the GOP admin-o-crats and there are the Dem admin-o-crats, so I can understand the concern some what. Maybe the scariest thing though would be if Trump tries to run the administration using his own skeleton crew along with the bureaucrats, because we all know they’re certainly political(Lois Learner)
Ken (Kulak), “Many of the people on the right are angry and have had it with any and all RHINOs who do nothing”
Ken, I don’t think a lot of the rightwing are even voting for trump yet. I think most are still in the Cruz camp, but if Cruz can’t win, I hope they come over to Trump. Despite how the media tries to portray Trump as a far rightwinger, I don’t believe he is.(for good or for bad) With Cruz in the race, and both Dems drifting to the left has left a lot of real estate for Trump to occupy in the center. The Dems are worried about Donald creating a big tent, because they can’t be seen by their activist, moving back to(what people used to think of as) the center.
I don’t think that Trump saying he wants to control the border and deal with the illegal alien problem is being rightwing. As a conservative, I don’t ask and I don’t want the government involved in nearly as many things it is, here or down there. But one thing everyone views as a responsibility of the federal government is securing and controlling the borders and protecting the citizens from attacks. I believe voters left, center and right believe that. It’s only the elite and the left establishment the view illegals as a good thing, so as way to continue their control of government. The avg. Dem voter(blacks, students and poor whites) are actually hurt by illegals through job completion and lowering the wages.(that’s the reason for the push for higher minimum wage hikes) Trump will get Dems to vote for him, including blacks.(despite or maybe even because of BLM)
Marco was done when Chuck Schumer pushed the shiv in. That photo is worth a thousand words! He knew right then that the Dems had halted the Reps attempt to bring Latinos to the political right. Marco tried to say he joined the “Gang” to bring it down from the inside, but no one believed him other than Lindsey Grahamnesty!
V.P., not Palin! I’d rather see her running the EPA or Sec of Energy
It’s getting ugly now, but was hoping Cruz could be V.P. or maybe on the supreme court, wouldn’t that be sweet.
It’s gonna be Hillary for the Dems, Trump can beat Hillary. He’d also bring good down ballot voting too. Don’t they have about the same percentage of dislikes. She has more in her party that won’t trust her!???
Trump might make a terrible president, but at this point what else do Americans have to lose? Republicans control the congress and the senate, and the dems still do whatever they want anyway. American politics now is like Canadian Politics was in the days of the “Progressive Conservatives”. It really didn’t matter what party won because they were both the same anyway. If the Republicans win the presidency with a candidate who believes in open borders, it really doesn’t matter which party gets in.
The great unwashed saw what the beltway brains missed – Trump’s appeal, with few of the of the public taking, save the self-interested hysterics, cut a wide swatch because he is a media figure already, and his main tenets to “make American great again” of proper border security, “unfair” trade deals, and enabling our enemies, has broad appeal (even amongst non-racists apparently). One doesn’t have to agree with Trump on all his issues to see this appeal and not feel disgust with the political class.
The public discontent is widespread, across the national spectrum. With Obama’s disapproval recovering to about 47 to 50%, Congress’ disapproval is at 67% or worse. Hence the panic amongst all the political intelligentsia. with Romney trying to blow it all up, this time from the sidelines. He cuts a pathetic figure; Dems everywhere smile and can’t believe their luck as Hillary lands herself in serious trouble.
Hillary’s “fighting for us” is hopeless. There’s an optimistic message; sounds familiar from my Canuck perch. At dinner with a friend last night I mentioned she puts that on her podium. At first he didn’t think I was serious. My wife, who is no Trump fan, has a big problem with Hillary, that she “tries” to tell the truth. Sure she’s shielded from prosecution, but her misdeeds are being leaked daily, that will soon turn into a storm. IOW the GOP would have to not try to win to lose this election.
That’s exactly what the GOP as whole is doing, as they did in 2012 losing to a moribund Obama, easily given the Crowley sleight and back of hand by the media, without protest. Here we go again, Trump says “racist things” rather than having racist policies, so cannot be POTUS. Tone is the new tome, except for the profanity laced musings of the pampered student class, their provocateurs get a free pass.
IOW situation normal in US politics. The tone is different alright; the public is tuning for up a kick the bums out election, and we know in Canada the irrational power of that, so we indeed are in a for hot summer.
speaking of Republicans, watched ‘The Seventies’ on CNN last nite.
I forgot when Ford won the ’75 GOP convention, Reagan’s supporters demonstrated on the convention floor for a sustained period of time.
Leaving undecided voters to conclude if *that* party can’t even get along with their own, won’t LISTEN to their OWN people call for unanimous support for the WINNER of the convention, how could one expect them to LISTEN to the people once they got in office?
so they put Carter in the White House instead. just one more example of bull headed conservatists shooting themselves in the nuts and losing the game trying to push their personal agendas.
still happening now in 2016.
“…Trump might make a terrible president, but at this point what else do Americans have to lose?”
They have everything else to lose, but Trump presents their best chance to achieve the one thing that is most necessary and most urgent in their politics. It is aptly said that if something cannot go on, it won’t, and the U.S.A. cannot carry on indefinitely as it is. Trump will upset, derail, overthrow the “two party one party state”. If they don’t achieve that, they will eventually lose everything else they have. (I’m really not expecting anything else from him as an American President, if he is good in any other aspect of the job, bonus.)
And like it or don’t, we need them to sort themselves out. After two terms of Obama’s example there our own idiocracy has finally overthrown the grown-up regime of PM Harper and installed our own empty shirt who promises us government can give us what not even God will give us, a life filled with fluffy bunnies and chocolate cake.
unless the future comes with a totally chaotic morass when not a blessed thing can be trusted including repeatedly revised history, I’m sure the gazzillion dollar taxpayer funded bank bailout {followed by those huge bonuses and ‘shopping trips’) will be pointed out as a major factor in the roots of the ‘rebellion’, whatever form that takes.
I certainly hope so. revolutions happen when the ruling class have stolen everything, the peasantry mindset being, well, shyt, maybe try to get some of it back, but if not, well let’s just kill as many as we can; got NUTHIN, so, NUTHIN to lose.
glasnost, well said. The Republic and for what it stands for is at a crossroads in history. It can degenerate like Rome after Caesar and Tiberius or be rejuvenated.
LC Bennett, lets hope the anger does not subside.
Carl, “I don’t think that Trump saying he wants to control the border and deal with the illegal alien problem is being rightwing.” Agreed, it is just prudent to protect the citizens of a nation. It is only the radical left that wants open borders and this is designed to destroy 800 years of western liberal democracy. I also agree with your hopes about Cruz.
minuteman, “Trump might make a terrible president, but at this point what else do Americans have to lose?” BINGO! PUNCHLINE!
Did anyone else notice the black anarchist flags at the anti-Trump rally in New York City this morning?
I just listened to an interview with Roger Stone who published a book that gives hard evidence that Hilliary Clinton was and is a pathological liar and her husband Bill a serial rapist. What he did to women was very disturbing and how Hilliary protected him even more disturbing. Why Americans support this horrible couple that has defrauded the American public and gathered great wealth as a result, committed despicable acts that most of us would be jailed for, and still remain untouchable is beyond me. I feel sorry for the American people if Hilliary becomes the next president and more sorry if her husband is in the White House again although he’s pretty decrepit now thank heaven. At least Trump and Cruz don’t seem to have this baggage. It should be an interesting election but most likely the voting public will be duped like Canadians were in the last election.
Political change is accomplished by a series of boxes.
The Tea Party was the first. This was the soap box. People were standing up and speaking out against corruption, cronyism, abuse of power, and betrayal of traditional American values.
The Trumpist movement is the second. The ballot box. People stood up but were ignored or betrayed by their representatives. Now they are throwing their weight, and votes, behind an angry populist. They aren’t electing a knight in shining armor,a squeaky clean paladin with a white washed past and a party stamp of approval. They want a hatchet man, a vandal. They want someone to crush their enemies, drive them from the halls of power, and laugh at the lamentations of the media and party elites. Trump is an ogre, but they hope that he will be their ogre.
We should hope it works. The third box is worse, more decisive, and more brutal. No one has had to use a fourth box, but the progression of boxes is such that each one is more extreme than the one that preceded it.
Gee whillikers! the commenters below appear to want the Clinton Foundation to be in a postion to double the Foreign Lobby Two (2) Billion $ donation during the Clinton Foundation’s Stint as Secretary of State.——- D’yall think a single Term of Clinton Foundation Presidency will bring in double (4) times or quatruple the amount (8) times. Wait a minute is (8) times 16 Billion or do the Donations compound over the Four Years.——–Just imagine what it can be over TWO Terms. ——-My goodness after eight years Chelsea will be eligible won’t she.——-Just think after!——-Chelsea Clinton will be able to self fund similar to Donald Trump.—– Probably she will be able to self fund only using New Foreign Funding and not have to touch the compounded Clinton Foundation Capital.———————Come on you mossy-backed Rolling Stone funding class “Get-it-Together” with the Stop Trump G.O.P funding PAC’s between the Democrat & G.O.P. Plus side Bets by Clinton Cronys —–Y’all will be able to gain back The Senate; The House and firmly place Princess on track for the Continuation of The Clinton Dynasty.——-After all isn’t CLINTON the most plentiful name of American Communities?——As I said earlier!——There are more Clinton Towns etal than Washington and what did “Old” George know about setting up Dynasties.—–Good Grief George Washington did not even want to be called “King” when He was offered the Job.
The Roman Republic started degenerating with the Social Wars, where populists promised payouts to the poor in exchange for mob rule to get them elected. Assasisnation became the norm.
She would destroy Hillary.