Except for Sasse, are any of these people truly anti-Trump or rats fleeing from a sinking ship?  McCain should be ashamed of himself more than anyone.   Mitt Romney and Sasse deserve some respect for being true never-trumpers.  The rest of these people would endorse their mother's killer if they thought it could help get them elected.

THIS

 

All the last 48 hours has shown is just how craven and pathetic the Republican Elite are and how utterly despicable/deplorable the base is. 

 

He basically admitted that he assaulted pretty women because he's a star who can't help himself. Just listening to the tapes I get the sense he would have assaulted poor Ari if not for the cameras and perhaps Billy. 

I saw a poll (pre-tape) that had Iowa 4 points ahead for Trump.

 

If he wins Iowa can this please be the death knell of the endless navel-gazing and masturbatory coverage over IA and NH voters and the endless, desperate parade of lousy candidates who camp out in those states for a year? I'm tired of the weird sense of entitlement doled out from voter bases that are more and more out of step with the country. 

It really is like rats fleeing a sinking ship but my guess self-preservation and trying to curb the contagion down the ballot is priority for Republicans right now.

 

I wonder whether there were any last minute changes made in regards to tonight's debate? It's town hall style right? Am I to assume all the questions have been culled by now or will there be a few more questions reflecting recent events?  

As I've said before, I only really look at polls once the debates have taken place, so I'll be keeping an eye out for what happens tonight as well as the aftermath. 

Interesting profile of Kellyanne Conway, done on the eve of Pussygate, only updated the night of. Insight into Trump's blinkered and myopic view of campaigning as nothing more than another PR tour - that is why his work ethic is nothing and why his ground game and preparation for November are nonexistent. Then there's Jared Kushner, the boy prince who past articles have indicated has developed a daddy/hero worship towards his father-in-law:

 

 

For almost three hours, Conway strolled around the Hofstra gym, spreading the message with a smile. Others in the Trump campaign thought his performance was catastrophic, and they blamed the Conway camp. (The Trump campaign has several power centers, and his advisers are quick to savage one another, though not always on the record.) “I view her as an enabler,” one Trump campaign official told me. “Right now, post-debate, I guarantee you there’s a fûcking Kool-Aid cooler the size of a fûcking wheat silo that they’re all drinking from. I guarantee you, because none of them can accept the blame for what they failed to do.”

 

[...]

 

Running Donald Trump’s campaign is like being the drummer in Spinal Tap: those who take the position tend to disappear in mysterious circumstances. First, there was Corey Lewandowski, an operative from New Hampshire, who oversaw Trump’s rise from reality-television star to Republican-primary front-runner, but who was seen as indulging his erratic behavior. “Corey was ideal for that first phase, because Trump just wanted someone who would follow orders,” a Trump adviser told me. “There was never any juncture during which Corey would ever say to him, ‘Well, wait a minute, Mr. Trump. Maybe that’s not a good idea.’ ”

 

Lewandowski had near-total control of the campaign, and he gradually alienated Trump’s eldest children, Donald, Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, and Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, the owner of the New York Observer.

 

“The Trump children didn’t like Corey, because they thought Corey was becoming too familiar,” the Trump adviser said. “He started regarding himself as another Trump child. Corey, who is from a relatively poor, working-class background, became quite mesmerized with the life style.”

 

In March, Trump hired Paul Manafort, a Republican lobbyist who was a partner in the firm Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly. His job was to make sure that Republican delegates would not be able to stage a coup against Trump at the Convention. The end for Lewandowski came when Manafort and Kushner allied against him. “When Manafort was brought on, Corey and Manafort basically went head to head,” the Trump campaign official said. “Jared, the son-in-law, who is a snaky little [!@#$%^&*], a horrible human being, hated Corey, so Jared sided with Paul to get rid of Corey.”

 

Manafort became the campaign chairman in May, and took full control when, a month later, Lewandowski was fired. But Manafort turned out to be too blunt to get Trump to do his bidding. “You have to know how to influence Trump’s thinking, and that takes a mix of diplomacy and psychiatry,” the Trump adviser told me. Manafort, he claimed, had “no chemistry with Donald.” Manafort wanted Trump to pay for polling and focus groups to test TV advertisements. “Donald went berserk,” a Republican close to Manafort said. Trump is known to disdain the traditional tools of politics. He thinks “this is all just a public-relations exercise,” the Trump adviser said, “and he’s a master of public relations, and the rest is all bullshit.” Kushner sided with Trump.

 

By early August, Manafort was further weakened, by scandals related to political work that he had done in Ukraine. After the Times reported that he might have received millions of dollars in cash payments from a party aligned with Vladimir Putin, there was open speculation about how long he could keep his job. “When the Ukraine stuff comes to pass, Jared now is holding the axe over Paul’s head,” the campaign official said. The Trump adviser added, “The real campaign manager, in fact, the entire time, has been Jared Kushner, who is still the real campaign manager, even today.”

Edited October 9, 20169 yr by Vee

Deep down I wonder how Ivanka feels about all of this. 

 

The article you linked to a page or two ago mentioned that Conway's only real debate plans for Trump are to attack the Clintons, while other people wanted him to talk about policy or show contrition or what have you. Of course there's no point in trying to get Trump to do anything beyond ego and bile. He can't handle it. 

The big takeaway here for me also is the anonymous adviser griping that Conway lies about budgeting and such to appease super-cheap Trump. I think she is skilled at polling and talking fast and soothsaying Trump who has the mentality of a toddler, but it's clear she was way out of her depth trying to run a major campaign. Many have said it, there's no grown-up in the room.

 

I expect Trump to attack with everything from Juanita Broadderick to Monica tonight. He's too stupid to realize that this is not another dominance ritual, that doing that will kill him with a live audience, women and independents, and as the evening gets worse he will only get angrier and crazier. We've never seen anything like what's coming before and God willing we never will again.

I still wonder if he may pull a fakeout and be low-key, but I'm not sure he's capable, unless he's pumped full of tranquilizers. 

 

Apparently the GOP higher-ups are waiting for the debate to decide whether to support him. Craven to the end...

I still wonder if he may pull a fakeout and be low-key, but I'm not sure he's capable, unless he's pumped full of tranquilizers.

Someone needs to be waiting offstage with one of those tranquilizer dart guns.  Just in case.

A look at the loons supporting him:

 

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/10/donald-trump-supporters-trump-tower-214335?lo=ap_c1

https://mobile.twitter.com/danmericaCNN/status/785135613800488960?p=p

 

First question is about the tape. 

Edited October 9, 20169 yr by Ms. Quartermaine

So more republican defections

"Reince Priebus cancels TV appearances, advises RNC staffers to "do what's best for them." It's every man for himself in the Republican party."

 

Carl I know you are a pessimist but this implosion of the GOP is a thing of beauty to watch. Sadly it had to come at the expense of putting the American people through one of the worst political stretches in history.

They're cockroaches. I mostly just hope this is enough to lose the Senate. That's the best for me. 

One would've thought that the David Duke set, the white supremacists and the neo-Nazis would've been enough to turn this group of but I guess this is what it took. Sigh.

 

The GOP’s Jewish Donors Are Abandoning Trump

So it looks like the moderators came up with question and Hillary won coin toss and is answering first... 

 

I know the GOP is imploding and that is good for Hillary supporters. But... *pessimism alert*... Trump is in a position now where he can't sink much deeper. Hillary, on the other hand, is so close to the top, she can only fall from here.

 

Any responses to Bill's past and what she may or may not have done need to be calm, not defensive, and to the point. I'm sure her team is all over this and has a plan, but in the end, it comes down to her reaction and words in that particular moment.

 

His affairs aren't the issue for her. If history repeats itself, that will actually help her. It's the rumors that she tried to silence the women that I think she needs to be careful with. I want to believe that only hard core Trump supporters buy into that, but if someone is undecided, leaning Hillary, that stuff tonight could make a difference. 

 

I expect Trump to attack with everything from Juanita Broadderick to Monica tonight. He's too stupid to realize that this is not another dominance ritual, that doing that will kill him with a live audience, women and independents, and as the evening gets worse he will only get angrier and crazier. We've never seen anything like what's coming before and God willing we never will again.

I have a feeling it's going to be very ugly. It will probably have more drama than any soap has had in years.

 

Trump is in a position now where he can't sink much deeper.

 

I disagree! It can get much worse for Trump tonight. It all depends on what he does.

I still wonder if he may pull a fakeout and be low-key, but I'm not sure he's capable, unless he's pumped full of tranquilizers.

 

Someone needs to be waiting offstage with one of those tranquilizer dart guns.  Just in case.

Reminds me of an Incredible Hulk episode where they plug David with tranquilizers only for the Hulk to appear anyways....LOL...much like what Trump will do tonight...implode more!

 

 

Former Apprentice producer....There are far more worse tapes out there

Cruz is complaining on why the tapes of Trump werent released sooner. Such an idiot for endorsing him....LOL