Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Jeff Buchanan]

....... That basically means it's Trump or nobody.

Pretty much simplifies the Presidential candidate for the Republican Party you'd think.

Unless were hearing nothing more than wind from what appears to be a movement to insure Trump isn't going to be the Republican's Presidential Candidate, and that is entirely possible, I think there is going to be a brokered convention and its going to be ugly.

A good case has been made here that Trump, while he may have a plurality, isn't going to have a slam dunk majority of convention delegates. He won't win on the first ballot and his chances diminish after that.

[Mike]

I don't think this Romney speech will have the effect that the establishment hopes it will. He didn't exactly fire up the base in 2012. His nomination was a product of resignation among the party that he was the most electable of the candidates. I never got the sense that he really excited anybody. I saw it reported that he's going to make a case as to why Trump isn't a good candidate siting a bunch of stuff we already know.

[Ghengis Jon]

I think Romney's speech is an attempt to kick start the political class's public repudiation of Trump. Whether it (the attempt) works, backfires, or has any effect at all, remains to be seen. They have to be careful what they wish for. The man the repub establish dislikes almost as much as Trump is Cruz.

Here’s a thought. Why not mandate that all major parties (those that garner 5% or more) be responsible for a $20 payment to each registered voter that votes. Once you deposit your ballot into the receptacle, you’re handed 20 bucks. First, this would (I think) substantially improve voter turnout. Second, if the Repub and Dem parties were responsible for this bounty, the $500m they spend on asinine attack ads should diminish radically. Political parties, which try to buy your vote through media bombardment anyway, had to pony up, I think you’d see a great reduction in party encouraged super PACs. If parties have access to that kind of stupid money, let them return it to the bloc they care most about – their constituents (yeah right).

[lineygoblue]

Why not mandate that all major parties (those that garner 5% or more) be responsible for a $20 payment to each registered voter that votes. Once you deposit your ballot into the receptacle, you’re handed 20 bucks. First, this would (I think) substantially improve voter turnout.

Exactly. In places like Chicago, people that haven't voted in over 100 years would be voting ... // but then again, that wouldn't be much of a change ... :-P

[hack]

The GOP would hate incentivizing people to vote who would most likely vote against them.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I don't think this Romney speech will have the effect that the establishment hopes it will. He didn't exactly fire up the base in 2012. His nomination was a product of resignation among the party that he was the most electable of the candidates. I never got the sense that he really excited anybody. I saw it reported that he's going to make a case as to why Trump isn't a good candidate siting a bunch of stuff we already know.

Yeah, it was a nothing burger but the point is that there is a movement to discredit Trump coming from somewhere, supposedly the "establishment" whoever that is.

[Hannibal]

There are some rumblings here and there that the Kock Brothers are going to stop oppposing Trump and that Fox might stop trying to prop up Rubio.

[Ghengis Jon]

The GOP would hate incentivizing people to vote who would most likely vote against them.

Then I would suggest that the party platforms be more reflective of the overall citizenry - you know, the people they're supposed to represent. (That goes for the Dems too.)

[CGVT]

If Trump does nothing other than make the religious right and the tea party less relevant to the Republican Party, he will have done the nation a great service.

Ted Cruz is a very scary man.

[froot loops]

I'd be shocked if there was a brokered convention. Right now Trump is on track to get enough delegates. Cruz currently has the best chance to do it but his favorable states are in the rearview.

They will stand behind Trump. It's pretty much over. I don't see a lot of the party actors being enthused about it but they will fall in line. Some of the neoconservatives will stay home or in some cases support Hillary Clinton. But a brokered convention would make everything down ticket worse.

I am wondering how much they get behind it in get out the vote efforts.

[lineygoblue]

If Trump does nothing other than make the religious right and the tea party less relevant to the Republican Party, he will have done the nation a great service.

Ted Cruz is a very scary man.

Right now, Trump is embracing the religious right, and I don't think he's turning aside any potential votes from the tea party folks. Trump has made pals with the President(?) of Liberty University, which we may recall, was founded by Jerry Falwell.

He's pandering to the religious right the same as Hillary is pandering to African-American church leaders. Tomato, tomahto...

At least he hasn't spoken at the hated Bob Jones University yet ..... but then, he's already won South Carolina, so maybe he'll skip that.

[CGVT]

Right now, Trump is embracing the religious right, and I don't think he's turning aside any potential votes from the tea party folks. Trump has made pals with the President(?) of Liberty University, which we may recall, was founded by Jerry Falwell.

He's pandering to the religious right the same as Hillary is pandering to African-American church leaders. Tomato, tomahto...

At least he hasn't spoken at the hated Bob Jones University yet ..... but then, he's already won South Carolina, so maybe he'll skip that.

Pandering (for now) yes. Embracing and being beholden to? No.

Cruz is the Tea Party golden boy. For them, after Cruz, Trump is the lesser of the evils.

I think he is really going to piss off the party if/when he gets the nomination and he goes middle left on most social issues.

[Hannibal]

Trump is getting a lot of the Tea Party vote. The religious right -- less so, but he's getting those votes too. Trump is the Tea Party's protest vote.

[hack]

Then I would suggest that the party platforms be more reflective of the overall citizenry - you know, the people they're supposed to represent. (That goes for the Dems too.)

GOP to Ghengis Jon: ``Interesting! We hadn't thought of that.''

[hack]

I read a headline saying the Kochs wouldn't spend against Trump, FWIW. Who knows? Here's the GOP military establishment defecting to Hillary: http://warontherocks.com/2016/03/ope...urity-leaders/.

As far as I can tell it was sent through War on the Rocks, which is a fairly new outlet, so that speaks to the importance of it as a source of security/foreign policy information.