Can Trump wiggle out of this one?

[NyKnicks1714]

I just realize something and the Donald Trump effect will harm the GOP beyond this year. People like Ted Cruz, Rubio and Ryan that probably still has aspirations to the GOP candidate in 2020 will feel this effect. They didn't leave his bandwagon and when the next primaries comes around, every GOP candidate is going to grab as many women voters as they can. All they need to do is how Cruz, Rubio and/or Ryan supported Trump after the tapes came out.

GOP better find someone else and it better not be Chris Christie.

I really don't think this cycle will change much of anything. The GOP will have a Ryan/Haley or Ryan/Love ticket in 2020 and have a very good chance to win.

[Fat Kat]

I just realize something and the Donald Trump effect will harm the GOP beyond this year. People like Ted Cruz, Rubio and Ryan that probably still has aspirations to the GOP candidate in 2020 will feel this effect. They didn't leave his bandwagon and when the next primaries comes around, every GOP candidate is going to grab as many women voters as they can. All they need to do is how Cruz, Rubio and/or Ryan supported Trump after the tapes came out.

GOP better find someone else and it better not be Chris Christie.

Or Trump isn't an anomaly, but the natural progression of the party. While the GOP leadership might look for the perfect "Uncle Tomas" in response to the changing demographics, their base is looking for a candidate to marginalize said demographic. They want to make America great again for them....pre civil rights movement.

[Knicks_Fan2]

I'm not going to attack you, so you can relax. Globalism is a fact of life. Being against it is just an emotional stance, not a reasoned one for most people. It is like pissing in the wind. It has no concrete basis for policy construction other than isolationism, untenable tarriffs that kill us more than the target and fear mongering.

Saying she is just as dangerous is simply a vague, unsubtantiated assumption on your part because you've consumed the hate propaganda of right wing trolls that indoctrinated you into your vague political viewpoint.

As if every critical choice is only about the personality and not what that leads to. In Trump's case, his psyschological make-up is the most dangerous thing conceivable. Hers is nothing like that and what you despise about her is mostly a fiction constructed by right wing demagogues and then peddled by tens of millions of internet lemmings who regurgitate nonsense like Hillary laughed about a 12 year old girl being raped and other such hysterical, idiotic rubbish. Did you even know she was not responsible for the deletion of those emails and how that transpired? No you don't.

You don't hate Clinton because you actually know why you hate her. You hate her because you've swallowed the bait and you're too lazy to dig any further. She has definite flaws and she is not my ideal candidate, but saying she is just as dangerous as Trump shows you simply can't be bothered to educate yourself further. That's your choice though. I'm not going to hound you over it.

Since you will never vote in my book you have counted yourself out as an American citizen so I will neither hold you accountable for your views nor waste any additional effort on this.

QFT. The biggest pet peeve of mine this cycle is folks attempting to use long-standing unsubstantiated--yet fiercely pursued, rumors to drag Hillary down with Trump. It is completely disingenuous and frankly disheartens me that folks buy the nonsense hook, line, and sinker.

[Jeffrey]

I just realize something and the Donald Trump effect will harm the GOP beyond this year. People like Ted Cruz, Rubio and Ryan that probably still has aspirations to the GOP candidate in 2020 will feel this effect. They didn't leave his bandwagon and when the next primaries comes around, every GOP candidate is going to grab as many women voters as they can. All they need to do is how Cruz, Rubio and/or Ryan supported Trump after the tapes came out.

GOP better find someone else and it better not be Chris Christie.

Or Trump isn't an anomaly, but the natural progression of the party. While the GOP leadership might look for the perfect "Uncle Tomas" in response to the changing demographics, their base is looking for a candidate to marginalize said demographic. They want to make America great again for them....pre civil rights movement.

You might be right. They went from having Palin on the ticket and 8 years later its Trump for President. They might just go all in and thats what I'm truly afraid of. Clinton is not a popular candidate and I could see in 2020 winning the election.

[CJackson]

I'm not going to attack you, so you can relax. Globalism is a fact of life. Being against it is just an emotional stance, not a reasoned one for most people. It is like pissing in the wind. It has no concrete basis for policy construction other than isolationism, untenable tarriffs that kill us more than the target and fear mongering.

Saying she is just as dangerous is simply a vague, unsubtantiated assumption on your part because you've consumed the hate propaganda of right wing trolls that indoctrinated you into your vague political viewpoint.

As if every critical choice is only about the personality and not what that leads to. In Trump's case, his psyschological make-up is the most dangerous thing conceivable. Hers is nothing like that and what you despise about her is mostly a fiction constructed by right wing demagogues and then peddled by tens of millions of internet lemmings who regurgitate nonsense like Hillary laughed about a 12 year old girl being raped and other such hysterical, idiotic rubbish. Did you even know she was not responsible for the deletion of those emails and how that transpired? No you don't.

You don't hate Clinton because you actually know why you hate her. You hate her because you've swallowed the bait and you're too lazy to dig any further. She has definite flaws and she is not my ideal candidate, but saying she is just as dangerous as Trump shows you simply can't be bothered to educate yourself further. That's your choice though. I'm not going to hound you over it.

Since you will never vote in my book you have counted yourself out as an American citizen so I will neither hold you accountable for your views nor waste any additional effort on this.

QFT. The biggest pet peeve of mine this cycle is folks attempting to use long-standing unsubstantiated--yet fiercely pursued, rumors to drag Hillary down with Trump. It is completely disingenuous and frankly disheartens me that folks buy the nonsense hook, line, and sinker.

After this election I am going to see what it is like to not read about politics for a year and focus on other activities. Too disheartened at this point. America has always had a very strong strain of anti-intellectuallism, but it has gone to a new low. With internet culture being the norm now I don't have the time to do this. There was a documentary on PBS last night about the battles between Wm. F. Buckley & Gore Vidal. They really crystallized the polarities of the trends we are seeing played out now. Lord they hated each other. But there is no vigor left and whereas they brought some literacy to the clash, effete maybe, but still sometimes rousing, now its just muddy nonsense. Buckley was a swine of course. A complete succubus to the most craven power interests in the country and Vidal was a diva, but essentially a brave man who was the first major novelist to address homosexuality and trans-gender issues. And he could write and was right about most of the issues. Those days are gone. There are few compelling progressive cultural icons left and I doubt we'll get many for a while because it is a more thankless duty than ever to contend with the moronic breitbart swill eagerly propagated by a million reddit trolls. Good night democracy, may the hanging chad be with you

[GONYK]

I just realize something and the Donald Trump effect will harm the GOP beyond this year. People like Ted Cruz, Rubio and Ryan that probably still has aspirations to the GOP candidate in 2020 will feel this effect. They didn't leave his bandwagon and when the next primaries comes around, every GOP candidate is going to grab as many women voters as they can. All they need to do is how Cruz, Rubio and/or Ryan supported Trump after the tapes came out.

GOP better find someone else and it better not be Chris Christie.

Or Trump isn't an anomaly, but the natural progression of the party. While the GOP leadership might look for the perfect "Uncle Tomas" in response to the changing demographics, their base is looking for a candidate to marginalize said demographic. They want to make America great again for them....pre civil rights movement.

You might be right. They went from having Palin on the ticket and 8 years later its Trump for President. They might just go all in and thats what I'm truly afraid of. Clinton is not a popular candidate and I could see in 2020 winning the election.

True, though it is really hard to topple an incumbent. If Bush can get 8 years, I wouldn't be so quick to count out Hillary.

Plus, she might actually do a good job since her strength is legislation and deal-making, and she's more conservative than she lets on. She might actually be able to find some common ground with traditional Repubs.

I'm more concerned about how the Bernie coalition responds to her Presidency.

[K_ick_God]

Basically this one wounded buffoon's late-life crisis has become a national spectacle.

[Jeffrey]

Or Trump isn't an anomaly, but the natural progression of the party. While the GOP leadership might look for the perfect "Uncle Tomas" in response to the changing demographics, their base is looking for a candidate to marginalize said demographic. They want to make America great again for them....pre civil rights movement.

You might be right. They went from having Palin on the ticket and 8 years later its Trump for President. They might just go all in and thats what I'm truly afraid of. Clinton is not a popular candidate and I could see in 2020 winning the election.

True, though it is really hard to topple an incumbent. If Bush can get 8 years, I wouldn't be so quick to count out Hillary.

Plus, she might actually do a good job since her strength is legislation and deal-making, and she's more conservative than she lets on. She might actually be able to find some common ground with traditional Repubs.

I'm more concerned about how the Bernie coalition responds to her Presidency.

You are right about Hillary. She is more conservative than she lets on. She is willing to compromise to get things done which is something current Republicans would rather have. Republicans probably saw Trump as too risky and he does have liberal policies that liberals probably said, no effing way.

Yes, Bush got 8 years. But Americans is going to get 12 years of a Democratic President and if she doesn't get Republicans to move forward then voters will look elsewhere. 12 years to get things done and seriously move the economy, add a significant amount of jobs and try to end ISIS. That is a tough job to finish in 4 years and thats why 2020 is scary. GOP can probably put a Sarah Palin type and people will just eat it up because they want change.

[CJackson]

Or Trump isn't an anomaly, but the natural progression of the party. While the GOP leadership might look for the perfect "Uncle Tomas" in response to the changing demographics, their base is looking for a candidate to marginalize said demographic. They want to make America great again for them....pre civil rights movement.

You might be right. They went from having Palin on the ticket and 8 years later its Trump for President. They might just go all in and thats what I'm truly afraid of. Clinton is not a popular candidate and I could see in 2020 winning the election.

True, though it is really hard to topple an incumbent. If Bush can get 8 years, I wouldn't be so quick to count out Hillary.

Plus, she might actually do a good job since her strength is legislation and deal-making, and she's more conservative than she lets on. She might actually be able to find some common ground with traditional Repubs.

I'm more concerned about how the Bernie coalition responds to her Presidency.

A good example of that is if she can modify Obamacare and institute single payer there are tens of millions of people who would be grateful as hell and it would save many of them significant money that is felt directly in their own pocketbooks. That is not an abstraction and it could happen. That kind of thing can win many people over, because there are many people who are frustrated by lack of results and care more about what affects their lives directly than ideologies.

[GONYK]

You might be right. They went from having Palin on the ticket and 8 years later its Trump for President. They might just go all in and thats what I'm truly afraid of. Clinton is not a popular candidate and I could see in 2020 winning the election.

True, though it is really hard to topple an incumbent. If Bush can get 8 years, I wouldn't be so quick to count out Hillary.

Plus, she might actually do a good job since her strength is legislation and deal-making, and she's more conservative than she lets on. She might actually be able to find some common ground with traditional Repubs.

I'm more concerned about how the Bernie coalition responds to her Presidency.

You are right about Hillary. She is more conservative than she lets on. She is willing to compromise to get things done which is something current Republicans would rather have. Republicans probably saw Trump as too risky and he does have liberal policies that liberals probably said, no effing way.

Yes, Bush got 8 years. But Americans is going to get 12 years of a Democratic President and if she doesn't get Republicans to move forward then voters will look elsewhere. 12 years to get things done and seriously move the economy, add a significant amount of jobs and try to end ISIS. That is a tough job to finish in 4 years and thats why 2020 is scary. GOP can probably put a Sarah Palin type and people will just eat it up because they want change.

Perhaps, but I don't think a Sarah Palin type really appeals to 51% of the country. Even Trump hasn't really gotten more the 37-42% of the vote.

Now, if they ran Paul Ryan, then we've got a race on our hands. By then though, she probably would have installed 1-3 new SC Justices though, which is as lasting of a legacy as any President can have, and can keep the Right in check.

[seren]

I am not going to equate Clinton with Trump. That is nonsense. But listening to Clinton on Syria, I am scared. She is talking about starting a proxy war against Russia and Iran. Clinton plus a Republican controlled house might be quite dangerous when it comes to foreign policy. I hope she wins big and takes the congress with her. Hopefully with enough progressives who oppose another major war.

[CrazyKnicks]

Plus, she might actually do a good job since her strength is legislation and deal-making, and she's more conservative than she lets on. She might actually be able to find some common ground with traditional Repubs.

I'm more concerned about how the Bernie coalition responds to her Presidency.

I am not a fan of either candidate and won't be voting but that's the reason I dislike Hillary. She always says the "right thing", like what people want to hear regardless if it has substance to it. She's Mrs. Nice basically and it's irritating.

Now Trump on the other hand says a lot of things with no substance but at least he speaks his mind and takes a stance on issues depending on how he feels about them instead of what most people want to hear. Problem with him is that he's not that intelligent.


So it's basically a phony vs an idiot and this country will suffer. I feel like we need a strong personality leader who's aggressive (in an intelligent way, not wars or with Trump's hatred). Someone who holds other countries we deal with accountable which Trump wants to do but he's not the person that will have the right approach. And Trump's tax policy is completely stupid as I don't think lowering taxes on corporations will help keep jobs, jobs are leaving because labor is a lot cheaper in other countries. And there's nothing we can really do about that unless it's to force Americans to take crappy salaries so those companies to stay.

Trump has a good point about this country acting like it can afford giving other countries money like the old days. Times have changed and the world economy has shifted and it's less favorable towards us. We need to be getting all the money we can and be a lot less generous. And I don't trust Hilary doing that.

So either way, I hope the next 4 years aren't too damaging for our country. And hopefully we have better candidates next election.

[HarthorneWingo]

I just realize something and the Donald Trump effect will harm the GOP beyond this year. People like Ted Cruz, Rubio and Ryan that probably still has aspirations to the GOP candidate in 2020 will feel this effect. They didn't leave his bandwagon and when the next primaries comes around, every GOP candidate is going to grab as many women voters as they can. All they need to do is how Cruz, Rubio and/or Ryan supported Trump after the tapes came out.

GOP better find someone else and it better not be Chris Christie.

Or Trump isn't an anomaly, but the natural progression of the party. While the GOP leadership might look for the perfect "Uncle Tomas" in response to the changing demographics, their base is looking for a candidate to marginalize said demographic. They want to make America great again for them....pre civil rights movement.

Yep. Trump and his supporters are the republican party now. And, yes, this is the natural progression ever since LBJ signed into law the Civil Rights act of 1964 after which the Dixiecrats went republican. Then Reagan gave his "states rights" speech down in Alabama.

[thebuzzardman]

Or Trump isn't an anomaly, but the natural progression of the party. While the GOP leadership might look for the perfect "Uncle Tomas" in response to the changing demographics, their base is looking for a candidate to marginalize said demographic. They want to make America great again for them....pre civil rights movement.

You might be right. They went from having Palin on the ticket and 8 years later its Trump for President. They might just go all in and thats what I'm truly afraid of. Clinton is not a popular candidate and I could see in 2020 winning the election.

True, though it is really hard to topple an incumbent. If Bush can get 8 years, I wouldn't be so quick to count out Hillary.

Plus, she might actually do a good job since her strength is legislation and deal-making, and she's more conservative than she lets on. She might actually be able to find some common ground with traditional Repubs.

I'm more concerned about how the Bernie coalition responds to her Presidency.

She'll do what Obama did to them, freeze them the f*ck out ASAP.

[thebuzzardman]

I am not going to equate Clinton with Trump. That is nonsense. But listening to Clinton on Syria, I am scared. She is talking about starting a proxy war against Russia and Iran. Clinton plus a Republican controlled house might be quite dangerous when it comes to foreign policy. I hope she wins big and takes the congress with her. Hopefully with enough progressives who oppose another major war.

Starting? It's already in progress.

What's most disappointing for me for all the conservatives who yell BENGHAZI!!!! is it's pretty obvious the whole situation in Libya with that revolved around Clandestine/Covert Ops and plausible deniability for the USA/president - both to deal with the Libyan situation (collect up stray arms, specifically surface to air missiles) plus run arms to Syrian rebels, to include, yes, some not very savory ones. Oooo, what a shocking development in clandestine ops. I really don't want to get into whether or not she hung people out to dry or not - I don't think anyone has the facts, but those are things that absolutely happen in those kinds of operations. I'm no expert here, but had enough military service and enough friends with this sort of military service, plus have read enough books (the ones that discuss operations 30+ years old as well as newer ones so some info gets revealed) to see that was the case here. You'd think Repubs/Conservatives, who like to be strong on defense and understand these sorts of things go on in the realpolitik/ugly part of the world would understand this, but instead had to turn into a bunch of shrieking "Bill The Cats" over it. "AKKKKKKKK!!!!!!! BENGHAZI!!!!!! AKKKKK!!!!!!!" It's frustrating how big a dumbasses some people are and even more that some people I know should know this, based on background, but just decided to join the shriek show.

Funny, Conservatives had no issue with this sort of thing during Iran/Contra, but it was very similar. And possibly just as ill conceived, because although that rerouted money DID help to (illegally) fund the contras, we were giving TOW missiles to IRAN, who, you know, had seized the embassy and held US citizens hostages for over a year, what, 3 or 4 years earlier and who we considered a "terrorist nation". You know, because it was Hezbollah who were giving $ to in exchange for hostages and TOW missiles to Iran were part of the deal, Iran being Hezbollah's handlers. Oh, btw, all expert CIA and clandestine ops people agree that this operation turned Lebanon into more of hostage taking bazaar, as we'd keep giving $ for them, so Hezbollah just keep getting more hostages.

I too, will be glad when the election is over, because the dumbassery is over the top.

[thebuzzardman]

I mean, anyone with a shred of common sense/understanding of politics sees we decided to try and topple the Syrian regime. I get there are various reasons to want to do this, but maybe ultimately it wasn't the best time or worth the cost.

Syria harbored Bathists during the war with Iraq and lots of insurgents were allowed to come out of Syria into Iraq. Payback is a bitch.
Syria is Iran's ally. Syria and Iran are Hezbollah's ally. Both are not our friends, both are enemies of Israel.
Maybe we feared Iran's getting a nuke was inevitable, short of major shooting war, so decided to eliminate one of their proxies before they had it together.
Russia clearly would get involved as thier major base and port is in the country. How this wasn't anticipated by intelligence experts, I have no idea, unless the play here isn't to topple Syria, but just destabilize the crap out of it to piss off Iran, gain some sort of leverage. I don't know.
I guess there are enough Neocons kicking around who still want to redraw the mid east map back to totally aligned to western interests, US in particular.

Again, I don't have an axe to grind either way, liberal or conservative, just it seems pretty obvious we fomented the entire situation in Syria or certainly decided to light the fuse. Which is why I could understand some desire to provide humanitarian assistance and let some of those people come to the US, besides normal human decency, the knowledge we started it.

[KingDavid]

GOP is on fire. Trump firing off on twitter. Woosh.

[K_ick_God]

Heard interesting benchmarks from people who are tracking the House election: If Hillary wins by 7, the House should be pretty close in terms of who has control. If she wins by 8, Dems will have an advantage in the House. If she wins by 10 or more, likely Dems win back the House.

[mrcalzone]

Watch on YouTube

why isn't HRC in jail again?

[GONYK]

Watch on YouTube

why isn't HRC in jail again?

This one is easy.

Because she was investigated over many months by Congress and the FBI and they found that nothing she did rose to the level of prosecution.