30 thoughts on “News/Politics 2-2-16

  1. Cruz defeated the monster but his speech started late and went way too long. Rubio’s speech was Reaganesque. There is more work to do as the monster is not dead. Then comes the socialist or the sexual predator’s accomplice.

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  2. I like Carson. He was originally my second choice.
    I think e would be like a steady hand at the wheel. And we need that.
    But I don’t think he has a chance.
    We’ll see.
    Bush thinks he’s still in it.

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  3. Bush needs to go home for the same reason Clinton does. We have been there, done that. Your name does not entitle you to become the president. I would have liked Bush a long time ago and I turn a hopeful eye to his son George Prescott Bush.

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  4. Go Rubio.

    🙂

    Yeah, I didn’t make it through Cruz’s very-long speech. Yawn.

    This isn’t the end of Trump, but I’m hoping it’s the beginning of the end. It certainly put a chink in his armor.

    And interesting that it was a virtual tie with Clinton & Sanders. I’m hoping Clinton gets the nomination — and she still most likely will — as she’s the easier one to beat. But a good GOP nominee could beat either of them. I think. I hope.

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  5. From Ed Rollins:

    http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/02/02/cruz-trump-and-rubio-win-in-iowa-and-now-know-who-losers-are-too.html

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    ….Iowa doesn’t always produce the eventual winners but it does eliminate the losers. With 17 Republican candidates starting this process, there are really only three or four real candidates now with voter support and sufficient monies to go on to the remaining contests. …

    The biggest losers are Bush, Christie and Huckabee. Bush spent the most money and dropped like a rock. …

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  6. Are you following the story in Ireland, where, though homosexuality is illegal there, a bakery was fined for not making them a cake and writing “support gay marriage” on the cake? Bizarre.

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  7. And among several post-election analyses posts on powerline today:

    http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2016/02/after-last-night-8.php

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    … Cruz’s victory was all the more impressive given his principled opposition to federal subsidies for ethanol. It provoked the opposition of Iowa’s popular Republican governor. Cruz, however, didn’t back down. Given how much he had staked on an Iowa win, that is doubly impressive.

    Having said that, I think Cruz flubbed the opportunity presented by his victory speech. Rubio went first, while the viewing audience must have been near its peak during prime time, and gave a winning speech. I thought it effectively advertised Rubio’s strengths as a potential general election candidate. …

    Rubio’s speech was powerful; it was hard-hitting; it had the additional advantage of being true. By contrast, Cruz’s victory speech was overlong and flat. It seemed to me to advertise his weaknesses as a potential general election candidate. …

    The flop of Jeb Bush’s campaign in Iowa was heartening for those of us who think the role of money in politics is somewhat overrated. What a pathetic outcome for Bush, though this particular result was entirely expected (by us and others).

    … Perhaps most heartening (to me anyway) was the turnout on the Republican side. …

    … The Republicans have emerged with a three-man race. With the multiplicity of candidates beneath the top three, one wonders about the second choice of their supporters. … South Carolina Senator Tim Scott is set to endorse Rubio today. That may be a big deal in this context.

    …. The outcome on the Democratic side suggests to me that Clinton’s death march to the Democratic nomination will continue more or less as anticipated. It’s a joyless slog that should be diverted to the Big House rather than ending in the White House.

    On to New Hampshire.
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  8. As far as which of them are Presidential: Carson followed by Rubio, and that is it. Carson knows what he believes about God and about politics and about how America can and should be. He would firmly yet gently lead through service. Rubio is young and could learn it or could go the angry raging way of Cruz and Trump. On the other side, I haven’t noticed any real Presidential appeal. Though, just on the surface, Sanders has a whole lot more of it than Clinton.

    We don’t need another President who wants to be seen as just another one of the guys. He needs to be a leader with direction. And one who desires nothing more than to serve the people through the office.

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  9. And from RedState. A good night for conservatives.

    http://www.redstate.com/neil_stevens/2016/02/02/love-marco-rubio-started-post-caucus-speech-iowa/

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    … I’m enjoying reading Rubio’s optimism, for a change. Rubio’s New American Century is today’s version of Morning in America. …

    This man would be the best nominee we’ve had, by far, since Ronald Reagan. I’d be thrilled to vote for either Rubio or Ted Cruz. Last night was good news for conservatives, no doubt about it. The establishment wanted Trump vs Bush, but the conservatives just aren’t going away. …
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  10. From Michael Barone:

    http://www.aei.org/publication/some-observations-on-iowa-caucus-night/

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    I suspect, but am not certain, that Rubio set himself up in New Hampshire as the chief alternative to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, and in the process swept aside the hopes of John Kasich, Chris Christie and Jeb Bush ….

    …. Ted Cruz gave a hard-edged and perhaps too lengthy victory speech, with a touch of humility and also some moving personal testimonials, but also a certain aggressiveness which some may not find entirely attractive. “Crawling under broken glass with knives in their teeth,” as he described some of his campaign’s leaders, may not be an entirely attractive image to voters not as strongly committed to Cruz’s issue positions as the people cheering him on in Iowa.
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  11. NY Times

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    ……… Over the weekend, (Clinton’s) campaign had exuded confidence, with some advisers predicting she would win the Iowa caucuses by several percentage points, and by Monday evening, they were urging news outlets to call the race in her favor. Mrs. Clinton prepared a victory speech in which she virtually ignored her rival, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and attacked the Republican candidates.

    Then the caucus results started rolling in. And everything changed.

    The outcome in Iowa — which at least until Tuesday afternoon appeared to be effectively a tie with a far left senator from a small New England state — dealt a jolting psychological blow to the Clinton campaign, leaving volunteers, donors and aides confused throughout the night, and then crestfallen. They had hoped that the former secretary of state would garner a decisive victory here and put to rest any doubts about her strength as a candidate. ….
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  12. From Cal Thomas / World Magazine:

    http://www.worldmag.com/2016/02/the_united_states_of_trump

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    … If Ronald Reagan was the “Teflon president,” Donald Trump is the man of steel. Is there a substance equal to kryptonite that could bring Trump down? (Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio slowed him down in Iowa last night, but the business mogul and reality TV star is up more than 20 percentage points in New Hampshire.) Trump’s language, lifestyle, morals, religious vacuum, and viciousness against people he doesn’t like—along with numerous other character flaws—might very well lead to an expansion of the Seven Deadly Sins.

    Electing a celebrity/businessman president would be the final verdict on what the Scripture Trump claims to love, but apparently doesn’t read, calls a “evil and adulterous generation.”

    If, as the cliché says, we get the leadership we deserve, the fault lies within us, not him.

    Trump is right about one thing. The public is sick of traditional politicians who make promises but don’t deliver, while driving up the debt and lining their pockets. But whose fault is that? Ultimately it’s the voters’ fault, because they are the ones who put them in office, demanding more from government than it can, or should, deliver and demanding too little of themselves.

    Welcome to the United States of Trump.

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  13. I know some dyed in the wool Republican Christians who would vote for a Democrat over Trump. They called Trump a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” claiming it was better to deal directly with the wolf because you KNOW it’s wolf

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  14. Sigh.

    http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/rubios-establishment-rivals-sharpen-their-knives-in-new-hampshire-218620

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    Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and John Kasich now have a clear goal for their long-shot efforts in New Hampshire: Stop Marco Rubio.

    Since the 44-year-old Florida senator entered the presidential race, his rivals for the support of establishment Republicans have spoken of him as a candidate running more on his youthful potential and personal story as the son of Cuban immigrants than on any record of accomplishment. …

    Separately, the three camps are plotting a barrage of criticism in the days to come, largely to accuse Rubio of failing to put in the one-to-one courtship with New Hampshire voters and then attempting to waltz in late and walk away with their hearts. …

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  15. Kim- I’ve heard that George P. Bush might be a good choice for the future. But I think he should wait 20 years or so until the Bush name is not as well known. After all, Benjamin Harrison was president 40 years or so after his grandfather, William Henry Harrison. Of course, the only thing WHH is known for is dying a month after inauguration, having spent his entire term sick with pneumonia.

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  16. Interesting night to say the least. I find it interesting that everyone except the DNC and NYT realizes Bernie Sanders is a better general election candidate than Clinton. Clinton declaring victory on the basis of a coin toss is amusing. She will still probably win but Sanders will make her work harder than she wished.

    While Sanders proved that a message of hope on the margins can draw in voters, Trump’s message of hate and decisiveness doesn’t motivate people to actually vote only to watch TV. Rubio looks to emerge as the serious candidate. I still think Kaisch is the better general election bet but Rubio will do better than Cruz or Trump. Cruz will only motivate people to actually vote for Clinton — something independents appear quite lukewarm to do.

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