2016 Republican Presidential Clown Car Begins!

The Libertarian candidate released this statement:

“Against that backdrop, I would like to address myself to all those in the electorate who remain torn between two so-called major party candidates whom they cannot enthusiastically support. I’m speaking particularly to those Republicans who feel that our President should exhibit commonly accepted standards of decency and discipline.

“I would not have stepped out of the swirl of the campaign to make this statement if I did not fear for our country, as I do.

“A President of the United States operates every day under a great deal of pressure — from all sides, and in furtherance of many different agendas. With that pressure comes constant criticism.

“After careful observation and reflection, I have come to believe that Donald Trump, if elected President of the United States, would not be able to stand up to this pressure and this criticism without becoming unhinged and unable to perform competently the duties of his office.

“Mr. Trump has some charisma and panache, and intellectual quickness. These qualities can be entertaining. Yet more than charisma, more even than intellectual ability, is required of a serious candidate for this country’s highest office. A serious candidate for the Presidency of the United States must be stable, and Donald Trump is not stable.

“Throughout this campaign, Mr. Trump has demonstrated an inability to handle criticism or blame well. His first instinct is to lash out at others. When challenged, he often responds as a child might. He makes a sour face, he calls people by insulting names, he waves his arms, he impatiently interrupts. Most families would not allow their children to remain at the dinner table if they behaved as Mr. Trump does. He has not exhibited the self-control, the discipline, or the emotional depth necessary to function credibly as a President of the United States.

“From the beginning of his campaign, Mr. Trump has conjured up enemies. First it was eleven million criminals in our midst, all bent on obtaining the benefits of citizenship, at our expense. Over time, the enemies became any trading partner of the United States. He says they are nothing but foreigners seeking to threaten our livelihoods. Now we have reached the point where his idea of America’s enemies includes almost anyone who talks or looks different from him. The goal of the Trump campaign, from the outset, has been to stir up envy, resentment, and group hatred.

“This is the worst of American politics. I fear for our cohesion as a nation, and for our place in the world, if this man who is unwilling to say he will abide by the result of our national election becomes our President.

“This great nation has weathered policy differences throughout our history, and we will do so again. Not in my lifetime, though, has there been a candidate for President who actually makes me fear for the ultimate well-being of the country, a candidate who might in fact put at risk the solid foundation of America that allows us to endure even ill-advised policies and the normal ebb and flow of politics.

“In the final days of this very close race, every citizen must be aware of the power and responsibility of each individual vote. This is not the time to cast a jocular or feel-good vote for a man whom you may have briefly found entertaining. Donald Trump should not, cannot, and must not be elected President of the United States.”

https://www.johnsonweld.com/statement_by_gov_bill_weld_regarding_the_final_weeks_election

 

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Update: The Ways of a Strong Campaigner

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You know me and narrative: Steve Benen↱ frames up:

A couple of weeks ago, the Republican Party faced crisis conditions. Donald Trump was reeling after a tape emerged of boasting about sexual assault; GOP lawmakers were distancing themselves from their party's presidential nominee; Trump backers held protests outside Republican National Committee headquarters; and party officials were generally at each other's throats. A former GOP senator noted, "It's every person for himself or herself right now."

As Election Day draws closer, that assessment is even more true now. As Rachel noted on last night's show, the Washington Post published a scoop↱ that's almost hard to believe.

Donald Trump's campaign said Tuesday that it has scheduled no more big-money fundraising events to benefit the Republican Party, another sign of the GOP nominee's struggling campaign and a serious blow to the party's get-out-the-vote operations with less than two weeks to go until Election Day.

The consequences of halting major fundraisers will compound the challenges facing a candidate and a party already straining to match Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's much larger and better-financed operation. Unlike Clinton, who has an extensive turnout operation of her own, Trump and many other GOP candidates down the ballot are relying heavily on the Republican National Committee to bring voters to the polls.​

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He mentioned a segment on Rachel's show↱, and that's also a pretty good way of putting it:

When we were setting up for this interview today, I said to Senator Kaine that from what I can tell from his public schedule, I kind of looked like today was maybe a down day for him, a day off. He's not doing any big rallies or any other public appearances that were listed on his schedule. So, I asked him if he was maybe doing a fund-raiser today since he wasn't doing any other public events, and he looked right at me and said, yes, try five of them. And I thought he was joking, but no, he was not being hyperbolic. A day off the campaign trail right now for Tim Kaine means that he actually did five fund-raisers today. I think he's still doing them right now. That's what counts as a day off the campaign trail at this point in the Clinton campaign national effort.

Hillary Clinton herself is doing fund-raisers tonight in South Florida. And even though, we're now only two weeks from the election, it's interesting. The fund-raiser pace is not letting up. The Washington Post reports tonight that between now and November 3rd, the Clinton campaign has 41 more fund-raisers scheduled.

Hello, 41 more fund-raisers between now and November 3rd. November 3rd isn't that far away. You might think that they would be starting to ease up, right? In terms of Clinton/Kaine, I mean, they've already outraised Trump 2-1. Right now, the New York Times projection as to who is likely to win the presidential election puts Hillary Clinton at a 93 percent chance of winning the presidential election. I mean, you might think just in terms of the fund-raising pace, they could afford to ease up a little bit, right?

And they might have done that if the fund-raiser were just for them, but it's not just for them. See, the Clinton campaign is not just running Clinton for president and Kaine for vice president. They're also the lead fundraising effort for all Democratic candidates, and every level of the Democratic Party from coast to coast.

So, they don't just want to win the White House. They want Democrats to win governorships and state legislative seats they want Democrats to win control of Congress or to get as close as they can. They obviously want Democrats to get control of the Senate. And so, for the Clinton/Kaine campaign, it is pedal to the metal through – from now until the end, right? Forty-one more fund-raisers from now until November 3rd. Tim Kaine had five fundraisers today alone. He squeezed me in between them.

That's on the Democratic side. On the Republican side, it's nothing like that at all. Matea Gold at the Washington Post reports tonight that the comparable fund-raiser effort on the Republican side is already over. In fact, it ended last Wednesday. The Washington Post reports tonight that Donald Trump did his last big dollar joint fund-raiser for his campaign in the Republican National Committee last Wednesday and he's not going to do any more. There are no further events planned.

According to the head of the Trump Victory Fund, quote, "We have kind of wound down. From here on out, quote, "There is virtually nothing planned."

([Video Link↱])​

And it all orbits Matea Gold's↱ WaPo article:

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has no further high-dollar fundraising events planned for the remainder of the campaign, dealing another serious blow to the GOP's effort to finance its get-out-the-vote operation before Election Day.

Steven Mnuchin, Trump's national finance chairman, said in an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday that Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee between the party and the campaign, held its last formal fundraiser on Oct. 19. The luncheon was in Las Vegas on the day of the final presidential debate.

"We've kind of wound down," Mnuchin said, referring to formal fundraisers. "But the online fundraising continues to be strong" ....

.... Trump's campaign is continuing to bring in donations that will boost the party, but the lack of a formal fundraising schedule effectively turns off one of the main spigots to the Republican National Committee. The national party collected $40 million through Trump Victory as of Sept. 30. The RNC has relied on the funds to help pay for hundreds of field staffers deployed across the country as part of its national ground operation, which is working to turn out voters to support the entire Republican ticket.

RNC officials said that party leaders, including Chairman Reince Priebus, are continuing to bring in resources for the party. "The RNC continues to fundraise for the entire GOP ticket," said spokeswoman Lindsay Walters.​

We might note that Lew Eisenberg, "the top fundraiser for the RNC and chairman of Trump Victory", he and Mnuchin will, "when the opportunity presents itself, have ad hoc fundraisers". Gold reports:

Mnuchin said the Trump campaign decided to keep the candidate's final weeks focused on taking his message to the voters in person rather than on raising money. The GOP candidate held a small Trump Victory event in Florida this week, and there may be a handful of more high-dollar fundraisers in coming days featuring Trump surrogates, including his son Donald Jr., according to people familiar with the internal discussions. But Mnuchin said "there is virtually nothing planned."

"We have minimized his fundraising schedule over the last month to emphasize his focus on political [events]," Mnuchin said. "Unlike Hillary, who has been fundraising and not out and about, he has constantly been out and about."​

Throughout the article it is clear that Team Trump cares only for Team Trump; while there is something apropos about the Party of machiavellian post-capitalism riven by an emblem of machiavellian post-capitalist individualism elevated to the most important job in the cooperative Party effort, the rest of the cooperative Party effort hasn't yet settled for cutting one another's throats. Alex Isenstadt↱ reports, for Politico:

Republicans, on the verge of losing the Senate, are plowing a mammoth $25 million into six races in a last-ditch attempt to stop Donald Trump from dragging the entire GOP down with him.

The investment from Senate Leadership Fund, a powerful super PAC with ties to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, comes as Democrats shift resources from Hillary Clinton's now almost certain victory to down-ballot contests in hopes of delivering her a congressional majority.

In an interview on Tuesday afternoon, Steven Law, Senate Leadership Fund's president and a close McConnell ally, acknowledged Republicans have a tough road to keep their majority―and said the spending push was designed to close a growing funding deficit. In numerous Senate battles, Democrats are outspending Republicans by millions of dollars.

"Over the last two weeks, we've seen every liberal Democratic group descend on these races," Law said. "Democrats feel like the presidential race is in the bag for them and are looking for fresh game in the Senate."

With just two weeks to go until Election Day, the Democratic cash advantage, Law said, was starting to have an effect, hurting Republican prospects across the board. He said the $25 million expenditure would narrow the GOP deficit but wouldn't erase it. He also said he expected to make additional investments in the days to come, but he declined to provide further details.​

 

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Notes for #982↑ Above

Benen, Steve. "Trump undermines Republican Party with controversial strategy". msnbc. 26 October 2016. msnbc.com. 26 October 2016. http://on.msnbc.com/2dW32U3

Gold, Matea. "Trump stops holding high-dollar fundraisers that were raising big cash for the GOP". The Washington Post. 25 October 2016. WashingtonPost.com. 26 October 2016. http://wapo.st/2dLI0UZ

Isenstadt, Alex. "Panicking GOP makes major last-minute Senate investment". Politico. 25 October 2016. Politico.com. 26 October 2016. http://politi.co/2eSnFzv

Maddow, Rachel. "Clinton in full sprint, Trump out of energy as campaigns close". The Rachel Maddow Show. msnbc. 25 October 2016. msnbc.com. 26 October 2016.

Transcript: http://on.msnbc.com/2f9a22P
Video: http://on.msnbc.com/2eDukjo ​

 

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Is Donald the Ridiculous starting to get bored with campaigning?

Is it now all about what he can salvage in terms of his brand, sullied as it now is to the extent rich people don't want to have anything to do with it lest they also be tainted?

Is the business genius about to lose his empire, has he done his dash, is he that stupid that he thinks the way he's been campaigning won't make people think carefully about doing any business with him? Will he emigrate to Russia?
Watch this space.

 

As I understand it, Mr. Trump is a strong campaigner; I presume, then, this will all make sense once the election is over.

Or, more usefully ... er ... ah ... yeah. Bored isn't quite the word. Facing the worst failure of his life, Donald Trump is not actually psychiatrically prepared for the damage assessment. It's one thing to countenance failure on a massive scale, especially with such humiliating implications, but this guy is near to megalomaniac. If he stays upset with this too long, it could kill him. I have no doubt the man is furious beyond my human comprehension, or at the very least well on his way. The damage he has done to himself would be funny but for the damage he has done to society at large, and most particularly the people who compose it.

 

One can only hope that, once this farce of an election is over, The Donald will have a reputation so damaged and sullied that, yes, his empire will crumble. It is an empire built on lies and scapegoating the "everyday man"; between the scams of his "university", the numerous bankruptcies he's filed (that net him millions but cost tens of thousands of people their jobs), and his consistent use of various loopholes to enable him to use mostly foreign labor and avoid paying much (if anything) in taxes... oh, and there's the "charity" he runs, which has received next to none of his own money, yet grants him huge tax breaks even while he uses money from said charity to buy things for himself via his various fringe businesses...

Yeah, I wouldn't be sad to see his empire crash and burn. It is a festering disease that needs to be routed before it can spread even further...

That said, I wouldn't object to seeing a third party candidate get elected this year (I don't hold much hope on it, but I don't feel Hillary is much better a choice than Trump... the "lesser of two evils" is still evil, after all)

 

I wrote about this before and now it's getting a little bit of press. I have to believe Trump has severely damaged his brand and his business with his campaign. Trump's business is private so he doesn't release much information about his businesses, but from what is publicly available you have to believe his businesses are in dire straits. It's known his overseas golf courses haven't turned a profit.

Trump's much vaunted Trump International is now renting luxury suites for 560 dollars a night. A few weeks ago, Trump was asking over 800 dollars for the same room. That's a huge price reduction. Comparable rooms in comparable hotels in Washington are renting for over 800 dollars a night. Trump wouldn't be discounting his hotel rooms so dramatically if business was booming.

Here is Trump's problem, his demographic, Joe Six Pack, cannot afford to spend 800+ dollars a night for Trump's hotel rooms. He can't even afford the discounted 500 dollars a night. Trump cannot make money on 500 dollars a night. Trump has done what he has always done. He has over spent. It's difficult how this ends well for Trump. I wouldn't at all be surprised if we see another Trump bankruptcy in the near future.

The bulk of Trump's wealth is tied up in his golf courses, hotels, and licensing. Trump has made a lot of money licencing his name to building developers and he campaign has severely damaged his brand. There is ample evidence his licencees want to dump the Trump brand. The most merciful thing that could happen to Trump and his businesses is to lose the election.

Trump recently remarked he would spend an additional 40 million dollars in the next two weeks to support his campaign. I sincerely doubt he will. While Trump maybe that foolish, I doubt he has the financial wherewithal to do so.

http://www.salon.com/2016/10/21/has...ominee-stands-to-lose-more-than-the-election/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blog...-reputation-will-last/?utm_term=.25ae0a41eae2

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/donald-trump-brand-229768

 

Here is the thing, the 3rd party candidates aren't any better. Regardless of their rhetoric they aren't any less fiscally irresponsible or radical. But Trump's not only fiscally dangerous, he's a whole new scale of danger. His erratic behaviour is a direct threat to our democracy and security.

 

Aye, they may not necessarily be any "better" this time around (though admittedly, I think that Jill Stein may be better than our other choices - not by much, but eh), the thought of a "third party" candidate winning would be incredible, if only for the fact that it would lend credibility to an aspect of politics that has, as far as I'm aware, always been in the realm of "well, voting for them is just throwing it away!" Seeing a third party candidate win would (hopefully) make future third party candidates more viable... and honestly, we need some options, because this whole "choose between pile of shit A and pile of shit B" just isn't working anymore...

 

What we need is to change the way we vote. We need better informed voters. Unfortunately, thanks in no small part to the Republican entertainment industry we have many very uninformed voters. That's our biggest problem - ourselves. The Republicans entertainment industry crated Trump. Thirty years ago Trump would have been laughed off the stage. He wouldn't be the nominee of a major US party.

Any serious change begins with us. We need to ensure voters are better informed and there are a number of things that can be done to achieve that end. We need to bring back the Fairness Doctrine. A voter package with both objective and partisan feedback mailed to every voter would help educate voters. Then we need to eliminate the influence of special interest money. We need to go to publicly funded elections rather than privately funded elections. That diminishes the influence of money on our elected officials.

Then we need some serious ethics reforms. Our elected and appointed officials and their families must not have interests which conflict or could conflict with those of the American people. Disclosures should be required of all elected and appointed officials. Trump hasn't made any such disclosure. Public officials shouldn't be sleeping with lobbyists, e.g. Justice Thomas. Public officials should not be allowed to hold office if they or their families have interests which conflict with those of the American people.

And finally, I think elected officials should be required to undergo a psychological examination with the intent of identifying any underlying pathology which would adversely affect their ability go hold public office and if a pathology is identified it should be made public and the candidate should be disqualified, e.g. The Donald.

If we don't do those thinks nothing will change. You can impose term limits. You can turn the system inside out, but if you don't do those things, nothing will change.

 

Aye... we are an apathetic and overall uninformed lot. I'm only partially better... I don't know a lot of the people in the local and state elections; granted, a large part of that is the fact that I do work an average of 16 hours a day... so by the time I get home I have enough umph in me to eat, brush my teeth, shower, and generally collapse into bed. The few days I don't work both jobs I generally spend my "free time" helping my wife with various housework (she works full time as well) and/or other such tasks... but most of these assholes, I have no idea who they are, and you can only trust what they say about as far as you can throw em.

I'd wager repealing/reversing Citizens United and corporate personhood would be a great step in that direction - a corporation should not be able to channel millions of dollars into an election in order to "buy" political favors. But, until it is illegal, it will continue to happen.

I want to respond more, but I need to head out - I'll try to hop on later and finish my thought!

 

Yeah, starting from name recognition and no political experience, capturing a major Party nomination for the Presidency, nailing down upwards of 40% of the national vote, and getting hold of a quarter of a billion dollars of slush fund money along with an army of millions of rabid supporters at his personal fingertips is, y'know, failure.

FYI: there's a guy out there who has authority to tweet on Trump's account - some of Trump's tweets are from one Mr. Parscale:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-27/inside-the-trump-bunker-with-12-days-to-go

OK, this is Bloomberg - wrong a lot. But not always.

 

Who would have thought the fate of the world rests on a Weiner?

 

I dunno Joe... The fate of mankind always rests on the issuance of a Weiner and a Bush. (Billy in this case, for the politically challenged)

 

“I tried fighting him off, while yelling at him to stop, but instead of stopping, he began squeezing my neck attempting to force my head onto his crotch,” Ms. Nelson said in a statement she issued at the news conference. She said Mr. Moore warned her that “no one will believe you” if she told anyone about the encounter in his car.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/us/politics/roy-moore-alabama-senate.html

From a future interview with Roy Moore:

"And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the neck and shove their face into your crotch. You can do anything."