” [sic] My job stopping Cruz is over, so I’m suspending my campaign”. Kasich’s sole purpose was to stop Cruz, nothing else makes any sense.
What the Indiana results really mean is a yuge Establishment win, and also a knock-down blow to the TEA Party. It is about Trump, but that is really just the tip of the ice-berg. The RINOs are laughing with glee that they forced out Cruz, and defeated many patriot candidates in the process. The GOP establishment knows that they can “work with” Trump, not so much with Cruz.
McConnell and his national Republican senate campaign fund swooped into several states, recruited reliable hacks and actively fought against constitutional conservatives and TEA Party candidates. Indiana is a good example of that, they recruited and ran Todd Young against a proven conservative, Marlin Stutzman. Young’s establishment bona-fides are without question: he is a former aide to Dick Lugar, whom we primaried out years ago. The ad campaign was brutal, and predictably was filled with nothing but lies. Somehow they convinced voters that Stutzman was the establishment pick, and a “career Politician”. Stutzman was a two-term Congressman. He is also a farmer who owns a small ag-oriented trucking fleet, and a true Patriot.
The pattern is like shampoo: lather, rinse, repeat. Conservative TEA Party activists gave Republicans the House, and later the Senate, who repaid them by spitting on them. The RINOs have shown that they are not really interested in the issues and platforms which they claim to support. When a real Constitutional conservative comes along who wants to limit the federal government, and get back to what made our country exceptional in the beginning, they do everything in their power to defeat them. Cruz and Stutzman are only the latest victims to fall to RINOs, McDaniel in LA, and Bevin in KY are two other recent high-profile examples.
Trump demanding that we must fall in line is ridiculous. It is Trump’s job to unite the party, and I don’t see that happening any time soon. At this point, I don’t think that an apology will be enough.
Even though I am under the impression that Donald Trump has been a Democrat for most of his adult life, his first allegiance is to the Donald, and the Trump Empire. He is a showman of the highest order, perhaps the finest since P.T. Barnum. He is also his own biggest admirer who seemingly can do no wrong. He has surprised everyone in political circles by his rapid rise to the top of the very crowded Republican Primary field, and he has done it by defying all accepted political conventions by just being himself. Trump has not spent any significant money at this point. He is reminiscent of the lead bull at Pamplona during theRunning of the Bullsevent each spring. This political model can not be sustained, he will need to evolve his game if he wants to maintain his current lead in the polls.
The Republicans and the rest of the candidates are at least partially to blame for the Trump phenomena, while at the same time should be giving thanks to Donald Trump. There are several lessons that can be learned from Trump’s campaign to date, some of which are:
He recognizes that political correctness stifles free speech, and refuses to bow to what is ultimately a liberal demand.
In contrast to Silicon Valley, Wall street, the Chamber of Commerce, and current Obama policy, Trump recognizes what we all know: liberal immigration policies, both legal and illegal, are hurting Americans. Building the fence and stopping the invasion is the number one reason why he has shot to the top of the polls early in the race.
Bringing jobs back to America. He promised this, and I have no doubt he could do it. On the other hand, I could do it, as most any candidate could. But I recognize that it would be a huge fight requiring major repeals and reforms along the way. This is something that would take years, perhaps decades to accomplish. It would not happen overnight, and would require extensive over-hauls to the EPA, the Department of Energy, the tax code, and other major stumbling blocks, like repealing Obamacare and Dodd-Frank. Trump has not offered any specifics, other than he knows how to make or walk away from a “deal”.
His willingness to take ISIS out, starting with bombing the oil-fields and sending in the Marines to clean up the mess with no pretty-please restrictions.
Why should the Republicans be thankful for the Donald’s entry into the race? That is very simple, he brought excitement, chatter, and exposure to the first primary debate, and thus to all candidates. 24 million households watched it, with close to 40 million people, while the first debate 4 years ago brought maybe 6 million households. Exposure is always a good thing.
To be clear, I am not on the Trump band-wagon just yet, he has a lot of convincing to go for my tastes. Even though he has generated a lot of excitement so far, it’s still early, and I’d be surprised if we are still talking about him as a viable candidate this time next year. Here are a few negatives which he needs to grow out of, and some of his past positions simply are not conservative at all.
Past statements indicated support for increased gun-control, bank bail-outs, the Stimulus, Planned Parenthood, and yes, even single-payer health plans.
A life-time of name-calling of anyone who offers any criticism. We’ve seen this on three or four occasions already. But the Donald is a “nice guy”, as he’s reminded us already way too many times. He only strikes out at those who attack him, in his opinion.
Admits that he was to the left of Hillary in 2004 by being against the war in Iraq.
Trump is getting some surprising support. Mark Levin also was very critical of Fox News for the way they handled the first debate, but first, here is the Viewers View take:
Mark Levin may disagree with me. Thanks to Bob Parks for the upload, above.
Other first debate observations:
Another Megan Kelly question launched some Rand Paul – Chris Christie fireworks over mass collection of digital meta-data by the NSA. While many pundits claimed that this was a win for Christie, I predict that he will be one of the first to drop out. Paul may have looked impatient, but he is correct. Get a warrant. The original Patriot Act was meant to track US communications across our borders, not every communication of every citizen or resident, as author Jim Sensenbrenner from Wisconsin will attest. Paul is not going anywhere for the time being, and he has a role to play if the R’s are serious about pitching a big tent.
Marco Rubio had a good performance, as did Ted Cruz and Scott Walker. Jeb failed to impress, let alone dazzle. Dr Ben Carson had a good night with perhaps the best closing statement, but perhaps the biggest surprise was Carly Fiorina’s performance in the early debate. The pundits said she was the clear winner, overall.
I like Carly, she has clearly done her homework, and I was impressed with her at CPAC last winter. She was working it hard from start to finish every day. Yet, she seems to have some issues as well.
It will be a long, winding road to the RNC in Cleveland about one year from now. This is quickly shaping up to be one of the most entertaining primary run-ups in my lifetime. For that we can all thank Mr. Trump
