When you’re a Republican candidate for President, the last thing you expect of yourself or voters expect of you is a practical reason why you deserve the nomination.
Of the roughly 43% of the GOP that supports Trump, most seem unconcerned that there is no poll that shows he can win against either Democrat. That is an overriding argument against voting for Trump, if voting for him may assure a Democrat winning the White House, why do it? But then Republican voters are accustomed to voting against their best interests (and we thank them in this case). Of course, many are voting for him just as a way of giving the finger to the establishment, both Democrats and Republicans but making “vindictiveness” your top issue for voting isn’t exactly going to result in an invitation to join Mensa.
The GOP Elite are so worried about having a nominee they can’t control who will lose the General Election…that they are supporting a Stop Trump movement which would result in handing the nomination to a candidate they think they can control who has proven to be a failure with voters in the Republican Primaries. So, replace the person who looks to be a big loser…with an even bigger loser. But at least he would be “their” loser. Less likely, they’re even considering drafting a Republican who was too afraid to run for the nomination (there weren’t many), delivering a slap in the face to all their voters by disregarding all their votes and every candidate they voted for.
Building on this brilliant strategy, Ted Cruz and John Kasich agreed over the weekend to tag team against Trump, with each bowing out of campaigning in the states the other is stronger in. The “plan” is that each of their supporters will join the others to boost either Kasich or Cruz against Trump and help them siphon off enough delegates to prevent Trump from reaching the 1,237 required to clinch the nomination.
Unfortunately, since making deals requires good faith, like typical Republicans, Cruz and Kasich have had a rough time keeping their deal for even a day. Even so, the goal here is still to try and prevent any Republican from being a winner in the primaries. That is, to make them all losers (no doubt they hold the belief that this would actually be a change of status).
Their hope is that the GOP will choose one of the losers of their primary at the convention to be their nominee for President. In Kasich’s case, he’s hoping that as the biggest loser of them all, he would be the natural choice foor the Republican nomination (what some call the Completion Backwards Theory). One might see this kind of reasoning ridiculous until one remembers that this is the GOP we’re talking about.
They may howl about how much they respect the Constitution…but only when it comes to arming everyone with guns. Or how the only reason they’ve championed Voter ID is because they cherish democracy…but when democracy elects a black Democrat as President or elevates an egotistical, bigoted phony as the most popular Republican candidate for President, they will do all they can to override democracy.
The math of this Cruz-Kasich alignment would be marked as incorrect by any elementary school math teacher:
0 + 0 = 1
Adding together two zeroes like Cruz and Kasich who are already mathematically eliminated from being able to win the nomination in the primaries does not equal a nominee that the Republican voters as a whole will accept, let alone be enthusiastic about when it’s time to vote.
There are already Republican voters commenting that they see Cruz more negatively now, not as the outsider he’s campaigned to be but as a typical insider politician who will make the kinds of unprincipled deals they abhor. And others are criticizing Kasich for abandoning his alleged principles to team up with someone he’s attacked as unethical and wh0 has thrived on the kind of negative politics he claims to oppose.
This is not an addition problem, it’s a subtraction problem…for both Kasich and Cruz. Each has dented their image through this, Trump is still anticipated to win big in the primaries tonight and if this doesn’t result in Cruz preventing a Trump win in Indiana next week, it will leave a legacy for both of them as desperate, unprincipled losers.
As for Trump, since he is running as an outsider, this insider team up making it two against one, could increase support for him as the true outsider that the GOP Establishment is trying to destroy. Trump could win even bigger because of this.
Adding to that possibility is that Trump is the second choice candidate for many Cruz and Kasich voters so if they’re convinced not to vote for one…instead of supporting the other, they may support Trump.
From the beginning, the GOP Primary was a contest about who could win by making the others look like bigger losers. There never has been a positive reason to vote for any of them, it’s just been Lord of the Flies, only about anger and insults and who could do it best. That’s what the GOP has devolved to and no amount of interference at this point by party elites will change that image because it’s been burned into the minds of the public by the Trump-obsessed, greedy media.
It’s been clearer along the way that the winner in a competition over who can be the best at insulting others would always be the egotistical, billionaire, reality show performer. It’s no secret that reality shows rely on denigration in large or small part, someone who’s been successful in that genre is the ideal candidate for such a shallow contest.
Sorry Ted and John, sorry GOP but the winner of your political reality show will of course be the reality show candidate, Donald Trump.
And with that being the case, perhaps the GOP should agree to participate in a reality show with Trump when it comes to the General Election…they could try to buy licensing rights from another show to title it, “The Biggest Loser”.
Oops! Looks like he won them all. 😳
Enjoyed the article, AdLib. it is hard to understand how this party can continue to be so dumb as to completely destroy itself and now blame Trump for everything that has been so wrong about the gop for decades. Even if they dump trump, they have lost. Now that’s really dumb. The movie title of 2016 starring the gop.
“The Unbearable Lightness of being (dumb)”
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Trump wins two East Coast states, according to exit polls
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/five-states-expected-to-help-front-runners-trump-and-clinton-widen-their-leads/2016/04/25/ff1e6df0-0b2c-11e6-8ab8-9ad050f76d7d_story.html
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Btw. Oh, soooo presidential!
Trump University fraud case could go to trial during presidential campaign
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/26/trump-university-fraud-case-could-go-to-trial-during-presidentia/
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Trump University Hired Motivational Speakers and a Felon as Faculty
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/08/trump-university-s-shady-faculty.html
Kalima, it’s interesting to consider how the GOP started leaning harder and harder on bigotry, fear and ignorance to rally voters to support their plutocratic agenda and ended up being fully taken over by them, nothing more now than a vehicle for those terrible traits.
Nowadays, GOP voters don’t really vote on issues because the issues don’t matter to them, they vote to voice their hatreds and resentments.
So of course, the decisions they make aren’t sensible or logical, it truly has become the party of the emotionally overwhelmed. Of course there are Repubs who are still with it for their pro-greed/pro-plutocracy agenda but it sure seems like the base sees the party like a vehicle for vengeance against all those they blame for the disappointing and difficult lives they live (ironically brought about by the destructive policies and gridlock they’ve helped put in place by voting against their own interests as loyal Republicans).
For many Americans, Hillary is very unappealing as a candidate, she is a quintessential machine politician whose credibility and commitment to campaign promises are questioned. She represents the continuation of corporate and establishment government that has driven so many to vote for Bernie Sanders and unfortunately, Donald Trump.
That said, she is incredibly lucky that if she is the Dem nominee as appears most likely now, she would be facing the only candidate with higher negatives than her who would be on the GOP side, Trump.
IMO, Hillary would unquestionably beat Trump in a GE but for many, it will not be the kind of change that much of the country is really enthusiastic about or looking for.
It seems like both political parties have been so locked into their own bubbles, so separated from the real growing sentiment among the people that they fail to see that a political revolution is building. It really seems like A Tale of Two Realities.
Hillary comes off to me as an archaic type of politician who doesn’t realize she’s archaic. Unfortunately, it appears that the growing movement for change in our politics won’t quite be dominant until after this year’s election so if Hillary does become President, she risks losing re-election especially if the Repubs nominate anyone without high negatives and especially someone viewed as an agent of change (even though such a claim would probably be bogus).
It’s kind of an Emperor’s New Clothes situation, many of us can see that the games of the old style politicians have become far too obvious and offensive, they don’t work anymore and represent the failure of our politicians to support the people over the wealthy and powerful.
Especially in this corrupt economic environment, when most Americans scramble harder and harder to make ends meet while the wealthy drain them and the country of more money and power.
It’s not a coincidence that membership in both parties is dwindling and those identifying as Independents are growing. I really do see a political revolution (not a literal revolution) continuing to grow and that it is in the process of overtaking both parties. But the elite in both parties won’t just roll over, it will be a fight.
The GOP has reached that point first, the “revolutionaries” in their base now outnumber the status quo which is why Trump is likely to become their nominee. Fortunately, the GOP revolutionaries aren’t so bright and have been easily conned by Trump as their agent of change who can win in a GE…both of which aren’t the case.
The fact that Bernie Sanders, who was not a well known politician nationally and got in the race simply hoping to get some national exposure on the debate stage for his positions on economic inequality and corruption, could be such a strong competitor against such a Dem establishment powerhouse as Hillary Clinton, is proof that the revolution is coming to the Dem party as well. It’s just not quite big enough yet in 2016.
I must say, the prospect of a Hillary/Trump battle for the Presidency kind of takes away my appetite. It will be irresistible to watch but more like a car wreck is than a heroic battle.
I would of course support Hillary and I think Trump’s horribleness will make her the most sympathetic and Presidential-looking candidate but due to her persona as a calculating, old school politician, I think there will not be the enthusiasm for her that there would be if it was Obama or Bernie running against Trump.
As I say, that may not stand in the way of her winning an election against Trump but re-election could be a very different story…especially if she swings back to the center-right in her Presidency as Bill did.
Wonderful reply, AdLib. You covered so many issues that I fear the most for America, the top one being going back to the status quo.
During this election season, the only candidate I have seen and heard who I can believe feels passionately about change, is Bernie Sanders. No point in talking about the gop because their passion is about destruction by stripping Americans of their rights. Any stupid third world dictator can do that with armed henchmen, and the gop do that with their insane state level legislation.
Like you, I don’t believe that Hillary will be reelected for a second term as many will be experiencing buyers remorse once promises are not honoured.
As you say, Bernie joined the race wanting to put the issues important to a majority of Americans on the front burner, and came away being a formidable contender. He has opened the door to discussion about so many important issues, including Israel and their treatment of the Palestinian people. Now that those doors have opened, they won’t close as before, and I admire him for that.
Yesterday was quite depressing, and I could literally feel the enthusiasm about better times for many American friends, drain from me at the thought of yet another establishment nominee for president.
As much as I don’t like or trust Hillary and Bill, not voting for her if she wins could be a disaster, and if life has taught me anything, it is that sometimes to get what we want, we have to do things that we don’t want or like to do. The alternative could be something straight from Hell.
The idea of “buy one and get one for free” in the WH, sends shudders down my spine. I hope there is a special soundproofed room where Bill can freely insult people without being heard.
I will have no trouble voting for Clinton; I will not hold my nose doing it.
I understand that some people dislike/despise Clinton and think that she is some sort of corrupt __________.
I actually respect the woman. Wonders never cease.
Quite a 180 degree turn-around from your first comments about not liking or respecting either Sanders or Clinton, agrippa. You are right, wonders will never cease, and sometimes anything is possible.
I was referring to this comment and following comments where you stated the same opinion. I remembered this because we had a conversation about it.
Anyone can change their mind, but I am curious as to what Hillary Clinton has done to change yours. As far as I can see, she has managed to push away more voters with her fabrications and lies about Sanders.
» Posted By agrippa On 02/21/2016 @ 6:57 PM
“I cannot say that I care for any of those people running for President, whether they be GOP or Democratic. We have a two party system, with first past the post.
I have very little respect for any of them; I have little respect for their knowledge, wisdom or integrity. They are the epitome of the least common denominator.
But, we do have to pick one. Drat. I prefer Seinfeld; with him, the fatuity is taken pure without the corruption of cant.
I do wish that we had a multi party system with proportional representation. Such a system would have the possibility of including the actual diversity of opinion in the USA. If that results of that cause “government instability” ( “musical chair cabinets”),so be it. I prefer that to government by gridlock and the resultant political cowardice. And, the animosity would be overt rather than covert.
It seems that this election season will say little about foreign policy; owing to the fact that we have the candidates that we have and the politicians that we have and the media that we have, it would be naive to expect an adult debate about foreign policy from those people.”