The Politics Thread

[Vee]

Hillary is leading Trump by 3 in Arizona. Romney won it in '12.

 

Newsweek runs a cover story on Trump's business failures.

Edited August 2, 2016 by Vee

[ReddFoxx]

Arizona has a lot of Mormons and they do not like Trump, plus it's also full of college educated whites who aren't big on Trump either. And last, but not least, you have Hispanics and they are obviously anti-Trump. Roll it all together and you have a recipe for Trump to lose Arizona.

[Ms. Quartermaine]

I thought this was an interesting read... How Hillary was most admired by Americans more than any other woman in the world (December 2015, Gallup), and then broke down what happened...

 

http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/08/01/analysis/whats-written-scars-hillary-clinton

 

It also seems to go with what I read about her numbers being low while running for Senate and then up again as a Senator. 

[Vee]

Leaked Trump memo is desperate for 'urgent pivot' away from the Khans.

 

Meanwhile: Irate that they have praised the Khans while somehow managing to avoid disavowing him, Trump is officially supporting primary challengers for both Paul Ryan and McCain.

Edited August 2, 2016 by Vee

[Vee]

Joe Scarborough declared the White House lost this morning and said he is desperate to save the Senate, because Trump is "insane".

 

Meanwhile, there's this:

 

 

[marceline]

It's interesting to watch people finally realize that Trump is a unique enough threat to this country that desperate times call for desperate measures. First it was Ruth Bader Ginsberg even though she walked it back a bit. Then there's all those members of the military at the DNC, various billionaires (Bloomberg, Buffet, Cuban) piling on, now Obama calling Trump unfit, the VFW weighing in, etc... I saw on one news article someone complained that they'd like to see someone go after Hillary this way but Hillary isn't doing anything nearly this twisted. Hillary is a politician. Trump is a mentally ill sociopath who is tied to Putin. He's a genuine threat to the Republic. He's the equivalent of that security briefing Bush got that said "Bin Laden determined to strike in United States" and I'm happy to see that more and more people are taking him seriously as such.

[Ms. Quartermaine]

And the media already went after Hillary, and FOX news itself goes after her every 15 minutes. Okay, so the FOX news comment might be an exaggeration, but according to a Harvard study from June, 84% of her media coverage from news networks was negative, compared to Trump's 43%. Gallup has the woman at higher approval ratings as Secretary of State than Obama and Biden. It also has her as the most admired woman by Americans IN THE WORLD in December 2015. Election coverage began, and she’s now at her lowest approval rating ever in her entire political career. 

[Vee]

I can't even say 'today in Trump' because every few minutes there is a new disaster or implosion. So, this hour in Trump:

 

• Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson blames Obama and Hillary for Humayun Khan's death in the Iraq war. Humayun Khan died in 2004.
• Meanwhile, on FOX News right now:

 

 

[Khan]

I think the baby started crying again.

[Vee]

 

Meanwhile:

 

 

 

It's widely reported that Manafort - never Trump's choice, brought in by his kids to end what they felt was the disastrous management of Corey Lewandowski - has never had Trump's ear the way that his longtime friend Roger Stone does. Stone manufactured both the failed Khan smear and the new claims of future 'election rigging,' both of which Trump publicly parroted shortly after Stone first said them. Trump supposedly keeps both Stone and the fired Lewandowski close to his counsel.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Vee

[Khan]

Ah, yes, Roger Stone.  Good old Roger Stone.  I wonder if he ever recovered from that tabloid scandal.

[DRW50]

Sometimes I worry that we have bottomed out and anything Trump does after this will be seen as a comeback, or as people crying wolf. Of course this has been going on for a year now, so maybe he just can't keep digging. 

 

I saw an article by Michael Moore claiming that Trump will win in part because a lot of people will vote for him because they aren't supposed to, they're told how it's wrong to support him, so they do for a thrill. He said this would be like Jesse Ventura. I don't really buy that, but I can't discount how many will vote for him as a "I hate all of them" protest vote.

 

I laughed when I saw that he is endorsing the primary opponents of McCain and Paul Ryan. He really is such a child. Paul Ryan's anguished elder statesman posturing will get another rehearsal.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[DRW50]

Tim Huelskamp, one of the leaders of the odious "Freedom Caucus" who repeatedly hold the country hostage for purity contests, has been ousted in his primary. Some are saying this is bad for Democrats, but I don't even care - I'm glad that people in Kansas, which has been razed and gutted over and over by these types (their horrific governor being the "best" example), have had their fill. People like this should not have power. 

 

https://twitter.com/Redistrict?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^news|twgr^author

[Vee]

 

He's done great things, but ever since Bush left the building Michael Moore often prefers to be a provocative idiot while calling it a GOTV effort. And he is wrong. He said similar nonsense about the last two elections. "Get ready for McCain! Get ready for President Romney!"

 

And no, there is no comeback coming. From Ali Vitali re: the Manafort anon quote from John Harwood -

 

 

 

Trump spokesperson Jason Miller responds to these allegations with Trumpian big league word salad:

 

 

 

Meg Whitman, of all people, calls Trump a demagogue and says she will be supporting Clinton.

 

Dana Bash on CNN is also backing up the Harwood/Vitali scoop, says everyone in the Trump campaign is 'frustrated' with the inability to run a normal campaign and 'feel like they're wasting their time.' Implies it goes all the way up to Manafort. Manafort, for his part, denies all of course. Publicly, at least.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Vee