This does not surprise me because I have known some very generous people. People who silently gave and I was only aware of their giving because I was either included in it, with them when they did it, or was told by someone who was.
Mama Ruth was one of the most generous people I have ever known. She always found a family at Christmas and provided for them. One of my best friend’s father was truly the millionaire next door. Not only did he keep up his tithe to his own church, but smaller churches benefited from his generous spirit. I know of at least one who had new windows delivered and never knew where they came from.
I am also not surprised that the top three states tend to be more conservative and for lack of a better word “religious”. It is a teaching of our faith to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Of course this doesn’t mean there aren’t extremely generous people in other states, it just means there aren’t as many of them because “liberals” love to give away other people’s money, just not their own.
“The problem will be out west,” (Sen. Bob Casey) said, where what used to be called Reagan Democrats live in large numbers in cities and towns that have never recovered from economic recession and off-shored industrial jobs – and where resentment of Washington and the coastal establishment is as much a part of the terrain as coal seams and forests.
“We’ve got to take Trump seriously,” said Casey. …
(Because … )
* It’s the economy, stupid
* Divided Democrats
* Republican weakness
* Journalistic weakness
* Hillary the “incumbent”
* Trump turns (playing to the social middle)
* The numbers (Trump is not all that far behind Clinton in the national polls)
(Trump would conceivably win every red state) (and) There are also at least five large blue states in which he could compete, especially for the votes of those former Reagan Democrats. Those states are Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin and, yes, Pennsylvania.
________________________________________
Strictly on strategy: I heard one political commentator last night suggest that Trump will likely wage largely a non-partisan style campaign — and that’s how he would be able to shake up the red/blue polarized fault lines in a general election (which is stacked against Republicans, who remain a minority party). It could put blue states in play for the first time.
Trump will be an unpredictable candidate when it comes to positions (left, right, and in between) and thus a challenge for Clinton to go up against.
Makes sense.
Well, it makes about as much sense as anything else does this year. 😦
Donna- You said last night you would stay home. One word: DON’T! We Conservatives may not have a horse in the big race, but there are all the down’ballot candidates and issues. If we stay home, not only does Hilary get the White House, but the Dems get both houses of Congress. Go and vote for whichever Presidential candidate you want, even the third party choices —Gary Johnson, the Libertarian, looks promising. He may be week on the social issues, but he sounds actuaqlly better than either Hilary or Trump on abortion. He is a strong economic Conservative, former governor of New Mexico. I am seriously considering voting for him. But I will definitely vote for the Conservative Republican that represents my part of Missouri, as well as the other state-wide races. If we stay home, the Republicans lose everything. Let’s give up the White House but keep a strong opposition in the other areas.
Here is what Gary Johnson had to say after the Indiana primary:
May 3, 2016, Santa Fe, NM — Gov. Gary Johnson released the following statement in response to Sen. Ted Cruz’s decision to withdraw from the Republican presidential nomination race:
“With the withdrawal of Senator Cruz from the Republican race, the table for November’s election is set. Sen. Cruz fought hard, and for that he deserves credit, regardless of whether one agreed with him on the issues or not. His departure from the race, along with the likely nomination of Hillary Clinton by the Democrats, makes it clear that neither of the two ‘major parties’ will offer voters in November a small government candidate. What they are offering voters are two of the most polarizing candidates in recent history.
“Polarizing as they may be, when the rhetoric is pushed aside, will either of those candidates shrink the government? Will either of them stop the military interventions that are not making us safer? Will either of them stop the government from spying on us citizens? And will either truly bring government spending under control, stop the deficits that are bankrupting us, and get the government off our backs so that Americans can find the jobs they want and put us back on a path to opportunity?
“In November, there will be three candidates on the ballot in all 50 states: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and the Libertarian Party nominee. I hope to be that nominee. With millions of Americans now feeling politically ‘homeless’, a two-term Governor who balanced budgets, cut taxes, cut regulations and truly reduced the size of government may offer the home they are seeking.”
Oh, I won’t stay home — I’ll vote, but maybe not for president. That said, all my choices are mostly Democrat vs. Democrat because of our primary set-up. All our congressional districts (where I am) are like 80% Blue. Republicans haven’t had a fighting chance here for years now.
😦
But I’ll “show up.” It remains to be seen — and will largely be based on how the general election unfolds — whether I’ll put a clothes pin on my nose (as Janice suggests) and vote for Trump or skip that big race altogether. I’ll vote for whom I can vote.
This is definitely one of those years where people (on both sides) will be voting “against” the other side more than “for” their own candidate for president.
From something I posted from a blog last night (and I’d tend to agree with this guy on the matter, I’m afraid).
In general, I’m simply not a fan of voting “3rd” parties unless they truly are viable to win.
____________________________
Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, is the likely nominee, and while he was a decent governor of New Mexico (or so I hear), have you seen him on the stump? He’s dreadful. If he seriously wants to make a race of it, he’d have to step up his political game by an order of magnitude, and I doubt he has it in him. But let’s see: if he can poll 10 percent or so, he might be included in the fall presidential debates. Then things will really get weird.
____________________________
As for Trump … If anything pushes me over the line to vote for him in November, it will be the specter of the Supreme Court vacancies. As Prager notes, the left legislates from the bench — not the way our system was set up at all, but it’s the way society and the culture are being manipulated and changed by the left at this point.
The idea of Clinton being in a position to appoint anywhere from 2-4 justices — who will potentially be in place for a generation or more, ensuring that the court is very liberal for the foreseeable future — is what scares me, frankly.
As for the rest of the November “down” ballot, I’ll vote for any Republican who is on it, though there will be very few in my area.
… A third-party candidate would need to get on the ballot in at least some states, but that’s a high hurdle now. For example, in Texas, the deadline for a third-party candidate to appear on that state’s ballot is Monday. The requirement: 80,000 signatures of Texas voters who didn’t vote in either party’s primary.
Though it wouldn’t be impossible for a group to launch a third-party bid—or an even more daunting write-in campaign—it would be a formidable task and require a highly organized team of advisers steeped in party rules and plugged into grassroots networks in most if not all states.
So far, it doesn’t appear such a group exists.
A conclave of conservative leaders reportedly will confer today to discuss the remaining options, but conservative radio host Erick Erickson—a staunch Trump critic—told Yahoo News he wasn’t hopeful: “My guess is the consensus is going to be, we can’t mobilize a third party to do much good.”
Others may disagree and attempt a last-ditch effort to give conservative voters an alternative, but another concern looms: If a large segment of Republicans choose not to vote for Trump, will they sit out the election entirely?
With a slate of U.S. House and Senate seats up for grabs, Republicans face the urgent task of pushing voter turnout to determine the congressional power that will provide the balance for whichever presidential candidate wins in November. …
…
It’s still right and critical for Christians to press for the cause of religious liberty during a tumultuous election season (and to advocate on other important issues as well), but it’s also helpful to remember Paul’s words to another set of Christians in the first century:
“For by [Christ], all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
______________________________________
This is a watershed moment. The U.S. has never before nominated two such completely amoral people. No one disagrees with Obama more than I do, as I oppose everything he supports from The Voting Rights Act to Medicare and Medicaid to virtually every action of his Justice Dept. However, his personal character is far superior to Hillary and Trump. He has never:
1. Abandoned his wife and children for a tart.
2. Been an accessory after the fact for a sexual predator.
3. Mocked the appearance of wives of other candidates.
4. Intentionally ignored National Security rules.
5. Cursed repeatedly in campaign speeches.
6. Attacked the victims of sexual assault.
7. Mocked POWs and handicapped reporters.
You get my drift. Obama was ultra-liberal, unqualified and sympathetic to Islam. However, we are about to elect one of the most despicable persons in the country. Trump has lowered the bar to ground level.
Hillary isn’t much better as a person, and may be worse on policy.
But when you look at the massive, concerted effort by, well, a whole lot of Republicans & conservatives to stop Trump … All the money that was poured into it, the cover of the National Review, the #NeverTrump movement. All to no avail.
It is what it is, folks.
I don’t know what replaces all of this but you can probably figure on conservatives being out of power for a while.
The culture has crumbled and the electorate seems not to be in a very (thoughtful) “conservative” state of mind anymore. Trump won.
I hate it and a lot of people hate it. But there it is.
But our Hope is in God. Not that He will restore what we have destroyed, but that He will be with us through it all. He gave America a good run. He may bring it back. He probably won’t.
I’m just not sure if there were practical/political things that could have been done to change the trajectory the nation has been on for the past few decades (or more). And I don’t think trying to deny him the nomination — assuming he has the delegates needed — will help. I think it would just make more of a mess. If that’s possible.
I don’t know too many people who like Trump. But my neighbors to the north do — handworking, blue collar Democrats.
Trump hit a note with folks who had grievances against “the system,” “the party,” whatever. And he has been, for now, unstoppable.
If there’s any blame, it should go to the electorate at large, I suppose. And, in a larger sense, the collapse of cultural morals pushed very successfully by the left.
Is Trump worse that Clinton? Is Clinton worse than Trump? I don’t know. My sense is Clinton is the more destructive of the two. But who knows.
I haven’t had a chance to read everyone else’s input yet.
I just had time to look at today’s Times-News
Staring at me is the headline
“NC LGBR law violates civil rights”
Lemme see now.
It is a violation of a civil right to return to a situation that was standard forever before some people created a law changing things.
It is the violation of civil rights pro prevent women from being subject to the leering eyes of perverted men.
Wandering Views 
http://yellowhammernews.com/faithandculture/alabamians-ranked-among-charitable-people-country/
This does not surprise me because I have known some very generous people. People who silently gave and I was only aware of their giving because I was either included in it, with them when they did it, or was told by someone who was.
Mama Ruth was one of the most generous people I have ever known. She always found a family at Christmas and provided for them. One of my best friend’s father was truly the millionaire next door. Not only did he keep up his tithe to his own church, but smaller churches benefited from his generous spirit. I know of at least one who had new windows delivered and never knew where they came from.
I am also not surprised that the top three states tend to be more conservative and for lack of a better word “religious”. It is a teaching of our faith to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Of course this doesn’t mean there aren’t extremely generous people in other states, it just means there aren’t as many of them because “liberals” love to give away other people’s money, just not their own.
LikeLiked by 1 person
7 reasons why Trump could win in November
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-general-election_us_57292c0ee4b0bc9cb0451202?
________________________________
“The problem will be out west,” (Sen. Bob Casey) said, where what used to be called Reagan Democrats live in large numbers in cities and towns that have never recovered from economic recession and off-shored industrial jobs – and where resentment of Washington and the coastal establishment is as much a part of the terrain as coal seams and forests.
“We’ve got to take Trump seriously,” said Casey. …
(Because … )
* It’s the economy, stupid
* Divided Democrats
* Republican weakness
* Journalistic weakness
* Hillary the “incumbent”
* Trump turns (playing to the social middle)
* The numbers (Trump is not all that far behind Clinton in the national polls)
(Trump would conceivably win every red state) (and) There are also at least five large blue states in which he could compete, especially for the votes of those former Reagan Democrats. Those states are Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin and, yes, Pennsylvania.
________________________________________
LikeLike
Strictly on strategy: I heard one political commentator last night suggest that Trump will likely wage largely a non-partisan style campaign — and that’s how he would be able to shake up the red/blue polarized fault lines in a general election (which is stacked against Republicans, who remain a minority party). It could put blue states in play for the first time.
Trump will be an unpredictable candidate when it comes to positions (left, right, and in between) and thus a challenge for Clinton to go up against.
Makes sense.
Well, it makes about as much sense as anything else does this year. 😦
LikeLike
Donna- You said last night you would stay home. One word: DON’T! We Conservatives may not have a horse in the big race, but there are all the down’ballot candidates and issues. If we stay home, not only does Hilary get the White House, but the Dems get both houses of Congress. Go and vote for whichever Presidential candidate you want, even the third party choices —Gary Johnson, the Libertarian, looks promising. He may be week on the social issues, but he sounds actuaqlly better than either Hilary or Trump on abortion. He is a strong economic Conservative, former governor of New Mexico. I am seriously considering voting for him. But I will definitely vote for the Conservative Republican that represents my part of Missouri, as well as the other state-wide races. If we stay home, the Republicans lose everything. Let’s give up the White House but keep a strong opposition in the other areas.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Here is what Gary Johnson had to say after the Indiana primary:
https://garyjohnson2016.com/gov-gary-johnson-responds-to-the-indiana-primary-and-the-withdrawal-of-sen-cruz/
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Oh, I won’t stay home — I’ll vote, but maybe not for president. That said, all my choices are mostly Democrat vs. Democrat because of our primary set-up. All our congressional districts (where I am) are like 80% Blue. Republicans haven’t had a fighting chance here for years now.
😦
But I’ll “show up.” It remains to be seen — and will largely be based on how the general election unfolds — whether I’ll put a clothes pin on my nose (as Janice suggests) and vote for Trump or skip that big race altogether. I’ll vote for whom I can vote.
LikeLike
I’ll probably not vote for a 3rd party candidate, I really don’t see the point & don’t care for Libertarianism anyway.
LikeLike
BTW, we have 12 — TWELVE — “Libertarians” running for president in our California primary.
Sheesh.
I guess there is a wide range of so-called “libertarian” viewpoints these days. …
LikeLike
I’ll vote for Ben Carson in the primary, he remains on our ballot.
LikeLike
This is definitely one of those years where people (on both sides) will be voting “against” the other side more than “for” their own candidate for president.
LikeLike
From something I posted from a blog last night (and I’d tend to agree with this guy on the matter, I’m afraid).
In general, I’m simply not a fan of voting “3rd” parties unless they truly are viable to win.
____________________________
Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, is the likely nominee, and while he was a decent governor of New Mexico (or so I hear), have you seen him on the stump? He’s dreadful. If he seriously wants to make a race of it, he’d have to step up his political game by an order of magnitude, and I doubt he has it in him. But let’s see: if he can poll 10 percent or so, he might be included in the fall presidential debates. Then things will really get weird.
____________________________
LikeLiked by 1 person
As for Trump … If anything pushes me over the line to vote for him in November, it will be the specter of the Supreme Court vacancies. As Prager notes, the left legislates from the bench — not the way our system was set up at all, but it’s the way society and the culture are being manipulated and changed by the left at this point.
The idea of Clinton being in a position to appoint anywhere from 2-4 justices — who will potentially be in place for a generation or more, ensuring that the court is very liberal for the foreseeable future — is what scares me, frankly.
As for the rest of the November “down” ballot, I’ll vote for any Republican who is on it, though there will be very few in my area.
LikeLike
World Magazine’s take on where we go from here:
__________________________________
… A third-party candidate would need to get on the ballot in at least some states, but that’s a high hurdle now. For example, in Texas, the deadline for a third-party candidate to appear on that state’s ballot is Monday. The requirement: 80,000 signatures of Texas voters who didn’t vote in either party’s primary.
Though it wouldn’t be impossible for a group to launch a third-party bid—or an even more daunting write-in campaign—it would be a formidable task and require a highly organized team of advisers steeped in party rules and plugged into grassroots networks in most if not all states.
So far, it doesn’t appear such a group exists.
A conclave of conservative leaders reportedly will confer today to discuss the remaining options, but conservative radio host Erick Erickson—a staunch Trump critic—told Yahoo News he wasn’t hopeful: “My guess is the consensus is going to be, we can’t mobilize a third party to do much good.”
Others may disagree and attempt a last-ditch effort to give conservative voters an alternative, but another concern looms: If a large segment of Republicans choose not to vote for Trump, will they sit out the election entirely?
With a slate of U.S. House and Senate seats up for grabs, Republicans face the urgent task of pushing voter turnout to determine the congressional power that will provide the balance for whichever presidential candidate wins in November. …
…
It’s still right and critical for Christians to press for the cause of religious liberty during a tumultuous election season (and to advocate on other important issues as well), but it’s also helpful to remember Paul’s words to another set of Christians in the first century:
“For by [Christ], all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
______________________________________
LikeLike
Oops, forgot the link:
http://www.worldmag.com/2016/05/ballot_boxing_what_s_next_for_anti_trump_republicans/page1
Stay calm
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And go buy some clothes pins
LikeLike
This is a watershed moment. The U.S. has never before nominated two such completely amoral people. No one disagrees with Obama more than I do, as I oppose everything he supports from The Voting Rights Act to Medicare and Medicaid to virtually every action of his Justice Dept. However, his personal character is far superior to Hillary and Trump. He has never:
1. Abandoned his wife and children for a tart.
2. Been an accessory after the fact for a sexual predator.
3. Mocked the appearance of wives of other candidates.
4. Intentionally ignored National Security rules.
5. Cursed repeatedly in campaign speeches.
6. Attacked the victims of sexual assault.
7. Mocked POWs and handicapped reporters.
You get my drift. Obama was ultra-liberal, unqualified and sympathetic to Islam. However, we are about to elect one of the most despicable persons in the country. Trump has lowered the bar to ground level.
Hillary isn’t much better as a person, and may be worse on policy.
LikeLike
Here’s a piece from the Washington Post that tells how the GOP could still stop Trump: Don’t give up the fight against Trump
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Matt Walsh is as mad as I am, but he is funnier and a better writer:
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/goodbye-republican-party-and-good-riddance/
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OK, we’re all outraged.
But when you look at the massive, concerted effort by, well, a whole lot of Republicans & conservatives to stop Trump … All the money that was poured into it, the cover of the National Review, the #NeverTrump movement. All to no avail.
It is what it is, folks.
I don’t know what replaces all of this but you can probably figure on conservatives being out of power for a while.
The culture has crumbled and the electorate seems not to be in a very (thoughtful) “conservative” state of mind anymore. Trump won.
I hate it and a lot of people hate it. But there it is.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Unfortunately, conservatives have been out of power since 1988. Before that they were out of power from 1928-1980.
LikeLike
But our Hope is in God. Not that He will restore what we have destroyed, but that He will be with us through it all. He gave America a good run. He may bring it back. He probably won’t.
LikeLiked by 2 people
mumsee’s, of course.
I’m just not sure if there were practical/political things that could have been done to change the trajectory the nation has been on for the past few decades (or more). And I don’t think trying to deny him the nomination — assuming he has the delegates needed — will help. I think it would just make more of a mess. If that’s possible.
I don’t know too many people who like Trump. But my neighbors to the north do — handworking, blue collar Democrats.
Trump hit a note with folks who had grievances against “the system,” “the party,” whatever. And he has been, for now, unstoppable.
If there’s any blame, it should go to the electorate at large, I suppose. And, in a larger sense, the collapse of cultural morals pushed very successfully by the left.
Is Trump worse that Clinton? Is Clinton worse than Trump? I don’t know. My sense is Clinton is the more destructive of the two. But who knows.
God knows.
On we go.
LikeLike
I left out the word “right” when talking about mumsee.
But mumsee also just “is.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
I haven’t had a chance to read everyone else’s input yet.
I just had time to look at today’s Times-News
Staring at me is the headline
“NC LGBR law violates civil rights”
Lemme see now.
It is a violation of a civil right to return to a situation that was standard forever before some people created a law changing things.
It is the violation of civil rights pro prevent women from being subject to the leering eyes of perverted men.
Blithering idiots.
The world is full of idiots.
LikeLike