Saturday, October 15, 2016

Is the 'Trump Effect' damaging our psyches? - CNN

Is the 'Trump Effect' damaging our psyches? - CNN

1 Share

CNN

Is the 'Trump Effect' damaging our psyches?
CNN
This story includes a partisan survey and a non-scientific poll, also noted in the body of the story. (CNN) We have a bully in our midst, some therapists and school counselors say, traumatizing the most vulnerable of us. That bully is the 2016 ...

and more »

Ukraine Cease-Fire Threatened by US-Russia Syria Deal - Newsweek

1 Share

Newsweek

Ukraine Cease-Fire Threatened by US-Russia Syria Deal
Newsweek
The shaky cease-fire in eastern Ukraine has reached a “tipping point,” a high-level Ukrainian government official says. The official's comments underscore how geopolitical events—from the war in Syria to the rise of nationalist parties across Europe ...

and more »
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 7

Sean Hannity Speculates That The Clinton's "Have Something" On FBI Director James Comey - Media Matters for America

1 Share

Media Matters for America

Sean Hannity Speculates That The Clinton's "Have Something" On FBI Director James Comey
Media Matters for America
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): We got to slow down here because we've got collusion. We know that the State Department contacted Hillary's campaign, gave them a head's up. We know that the Justice Department gave Hillary's campaign a head's up. We know ...

Police release video of cop beaten by suspect she feared shooting - WLS-TV

1 Share

WLS-TV

Police release video of cop beaten by suspect she feared shooting
WLS-TV
The Chicago Police Department released two pieces of video from the arrest on Oct. 5. The video shows the incident near Roosevelt and Cicero, including officers struggling with 28-year-old Parta Huff. Huff, police said, was high on PCP and had just ...

and more »

Boston man who shot 2 cops pledged to 'revolutionize policing' - New York Daily News

1 Share

New York Daily News

Boston man who shot 2 cops pledged to 'revolutionize policing'
New York Daily News
The Boston man who critically wounded two cops before he was killed in a shootout with police incoherently bragged to his roommate about wanting to die exactly the way he ultimately did while vowing to "revolutionize policing." Kirk Figueroa, 33 ...
Police: Thermostat dispute may have triggered 911 call, copsshootingCBS News
East Boston shooting suspect wanted to 'revolutionize policing'The Boston Globe
Boston Cops Shot by Wannabe Cop With Fake Police GearDaily BeastBoston Herald -NECN-CBS Local-NBCNews.com
all 106 news articles »

The Republican Party after Donald Trump - Chicago Tribune

1 Share

Chicago Tribune

The Republican Party after Donald Trump
Chicago Tribune
When the history of the 2016 presidential campaign is written, one remarkable question will loom above all others: How did Republicans come to nominate Donald Trump, the most repugnant and reviled candidate in modern times? We have a good inkling of ...
Paul Ryan is already plotting the future of the Republican party when Trump losesWashington Post
Cut Ties to Donald Trump, Big Donors Urge RNCNew York Times 
Opinion: Donald Trump's downtrodden supporters have been abandoned by the Republican PartyMarketWatch
USA TODAY-
 Wall Street Journal-Fox News
 
all 3,275
 
CNBC
all 3,507 news articles »

SF police officer shot, critically injured; suspect in custody - SFGate

1 Share

SFGate

SF police officer shot, critically injured; suspect in custody
SFGate
A San Francisco police officer was critically injured in a shooting in the Sunset District on Friday night, and a suspect was in custody, officials said. The officer was injured near the Lakeshore Plaza shopping center at Sloat Boulevard and Everglade ...
San Francisco: Police officer injured in shootingThe Mercury News
SF police officer shot, wounded; suspect arrestedKCRA Sacramento
Manhunt underway in San Francisco's Sunset District after police officer grazed by bulletKGO-TV
KTVU San Francisco -KRON4.com -KABC-TV
all 10 news articles »

Russia envoy: Tensions with US are probably worst since 1973 - U.S. News & World Report

1 Share

Russia envoy: Tensions with US are probably worst since 1973
U.S. News & World Report
Ties between Washington and Moscow have deteriorated further in the past month after the collapse of a cease-fire in Syria and intensified bombing on Aleppo by Syrian and Russianaircraft, and U.S. accusations that Russia is meddling in the U.S. ...

and more »
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 8

WHY IT MATTERS: Issues at stake in election - Washington Post

1 Share

Washington Post

WHY IT MATTERS: Issues at stake in election
Washington Post
He endorsed a former New York City police policy called “stop and frisk” after unrest in Charlotte, North Carolina, over the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. ___. ISLAMIC STATE. As Islamic ... Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have made clear ...
FULL SPEECH: Obama slams Trump's 'politics of fear' at rallyThe Hill (blog)
Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005Washington Post
Physically Attacked by Donald Trump – a PEOPLE Writer's Own Harrowing StoryPEOPLE.com

all 4,947 news articles »

US and Russia discuss Syria ceasefire in Switzerland - BBC News

1 Share

BBC News

US and Russia discuss Syria ceasefire in Switzerland
BBC News
New talks are set to start in Switzerland as the US and Russia try to broker another ceasefire inSyria. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's Sergei Lavrov are meeting delegates from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar in the city of Lausanne.
US broadens Syria talks after failure of truce deal with RussiaReuters
US, Russia attempt restart of efforts to quell Syria violenceCBS News 
Syria: US, Russia, regional powers hold talks on conflictCNN International
RT-
 The Guardian-The New Yorker
all 3,677
 
Fox News
all 3,654 
news articles »

Syria: US, Russia, regional powers hold talks on conflict - CNN International

1 Share

CNN International

Syria: US, Russia, regional powers hold talks on conflict
CNN International
Unlike others which have included Washington's Western allies, the Lausanne meeting is expected to include only regional powers with direct influence in Syria -- such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar -- alongside Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey ...
US and Russia discuss Syria ceasefire in SwitzerlandBBC News
US broadens Syria talks after failure of truce deal with RussiaReuters
US, Russia attempt restart of efforts to quell Syria violenceCBS News
RT -The Guardian -Sputnik International
all 3,786 news articles »

The Russian threat to US elections may look different than you're thinking - CNBC

1 Share

CNBC

The Russian threat to US elections may look different than you're thinking
CNBC
Much of this year's election cycle has centered around the relationship between the U.S. andRussia, especially U.S. allegations that Russia is using cyberattacks to disrupt the democratic process. But the true nature of the threat is a little ...
Why the US fears Russia is hacking its presidential electionBBC News
US Government Accuses Russia of Election HackingBankInfoSecurity.com
Trump Told Russia To Blame for Hacks Long Before DebateNBCNews.com
TechSpot -The Tech Portal -National Intelligence -Homeland Security
all 42 news articles »

Feds find evidence Florida election-systems vendor was hacked ... - CNN

1 Share

CNN

Feds find evidence Florida election-systems vendor was hacked ...
CNN
(CNN) Federal investigators believe Russian hackers were behind cyberattacks on a contractor for Florida's election system that may have exposed the personal ...
Russian Hacks Continue as States Prep for Election DaySeeker

all 9 news articles »

State Dept. Official Urges 'Strong' U.S. Response to Election ... - Foreign Policy (blog)

1 Share

Foreign Policy (blog)

State Dept. Official Urges 'Strong' U.S. Response to Election ...
Foreign Policy (blog)
State Dept. Official Urges 'Strong' U.S. Response to Election Hacking By Russia « | Foreign Policy | the Global Magazine of News and Ideas.

and more »
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 9

US finds growing evidence Russia feeding emails to WikiLeaks - CNN

1 Share

CNN

US finds growing evidence Russia feeding emails to WikiLeaks
CNN
Russia's highest officials are dismissing accusations that Moscow is trying to sway the USpresidential election with cyber attacks, speaking out before the latest accusation concerning WikiLeaks was shared with CNN on Thursday. President Vladimir ...
Putin to CNBC: Trump and Clinton can't exploit Russia to win US electionsCNBC
Russia's Putin: Moscow Is Not Meddling in US ElectionABC News
Putin ally tells Americans: vote Trump or face nuclear warReuters
Politico -RT
all 3,739 news articles »

Russia protests anti-Trump comments by top UN official - CNN.com - CNN

1 Share

CNN

Russia protests anti-Trump comments by top UN official - CNN.com
CNN
(CNN) Russia has filed a complaint with the United Nations over comments by a top UN official condemning Donald Trump and right-wing European politicians, ...

and more »

Ex-Trump adviser: US shows 'complete disregard for Russia's interests' - Politico

1 Share

Politico

Ex-Trump adviser: US shows 'complete disregard for Russia's interests'
Politico
Carter Page, a businessman whom Donald Trump named as a foreign policy adviser in March but distanced himself from following reports of scrutiny into Page's ties with Russia, published an op-ed on Thursday arguing that the U.S. shows “complete ...
Trump adviser accuses US of disregarding Russia's interestsReuters
Trump adviser says that the US has 'shown a complete disregard for Russia'sinterests'Business Insider

all 8 news articles »

Platform Check: Clinton, Trump Sharply Divided On Approach To Russia - NPR

1 Share

Platform Check: Clinton, Trump Sharply Divided On Approach To Russia
NPR
NPR's Audie Cornish talks to Kimberly Marten, a professor at Columbia University, about the presidential candidates' approach toward the U.S. relationship with Russia. AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: The presidential race this year has been extremely personal, ...

Top Democrats Call on FBI to Investigate Trump Ties to Russia Over Hacking - NBCNews.com

1 Share

NBCNews.com

Top Democrats Call on FBI to Investigate Trump Ties to Russia Over Hacking
NBCNews.com
Top Democrats on four House committees that oversee national security on Friday called on the FBI to investigate Donald Trump's purported ties to the Russian government and its alleged hacking of Democratic groups and operatives. "Troubling new ...
Top House Democrats Demand FBI Inquiry Into Trump Team's ...Huffington Post
Top House Dems Insist FBI Probe Trump Ties to 'Russia Hacks'Antiwar.com
Dems request FBI investigation of Trump campaign links to hacksPolitico

all 11 news articles »

US Earns Top Approval Rating of Five Major Powers – Trump's Russia is Last - PoliticusUSA

1 Share

PoliticusUSA

US Earns Top Approval Rating of Five Major Powers – Trump's Russia is Last
PoliticusUSA
U.S. Earns Top Approval Rating of Five Major Powers – Trump's Russia is Last. By Hrafnkell Haraldsson on Fri, Oct 14th, 2016 at 10:26 pm. "For the third consecutive year, the leadership of the U.S. earns the highest approval ratings among five major ...

and more »
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 10

Trump refusal to accept government assessments on Russian hacks dismays former officials - Washington Post

1 Share

Washington Post

Trump refusal to accept government assessments on Russian hacks dismays former officials
Washington Post
Former senior U.S. national security officials are dismayed at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's repeated refusal to accept the judgment of intelligence professionals that Russiastole files from the Democratic National Committee ...
CIA Prepping for Possible Cyber Strike Against RussiaNBCNews.com

all 19 news articles »

Western foreign ministers to meet in London to discuss Syria intervention

1 Share

 

By Robert Stevens
15 October 2016
UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson has called a meeting of European Union foreign ministers Sunday to discuss the “military options” of the imperialist powers in Syria’s civil war. Also attending will be US Secretary of State John Kerry, who travels to London after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Switzerland.
Johnson confirmed the London meeting when questioned Thursday by parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee. He said it would also discuss plans for the planned military assault on Mosul that is being prepared by the imperialist powers. Mosul is the main Iraqi city controlled by the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) militia.
On Syria Johnson said, “It is right now that we should be looking again at the more kinetic options, the military options.”
Sunday’s meeting is extraordinary given that Johnson was amongst the leading proponents of quitting the EU in the June referendum on UK membership. But the surprise 52 percent vote to leave has only intensified the efforts by Britain’s ruling elite to convince Washington that it can still play a lead role in bringing the European powers into line. “Certainly you can’t do anything without a coalition with the Americans,” Johnson stated. “I think we are still a pretty long day’s march from getting that, but that doesn’t mean that discussions aren[t going on, because they certainly are.”
Before the Brexit vote, Johnson was speaking in favour of a US-Russian brokered alliance to bring about a ceasefire in Syria. Now he is bellicose in condemning Moscow for “war crimes”. Backing US efforts to isolate Russia and its ally—the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad—he told the parliamentary committee that the US and its allies were preparing to end participation in the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), which currently includes Russia and Iran.
“It [the ISSG] has not worked. The last session was extremely acrimonious. It turned into a slanging match in which the Iranians came to the assistance of the Russians. The conversation got nowhere,” said Johnson.
However, Johnson did not openly support demands for imposing a no-fly zone in Syria. A spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said that all options under discussion came with “lots of issues... There are no plans for military action.”
For such plans to be openly tabled requires a major political effort to shift public opinion from the present overwhelming hostility to what would involve a direct confrontation with a nuclear power.
How close such a confrontation is was confirmed by two related admissions this week. The Ministry of Defence said it had conducted 1,066 strikes against ISIS in Iraq over the past two years and in Syria since December, while an anonymous source from the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters told the Sunday Times that UK Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots over Syria have been instructed to shoot down “hostile” Russian warplanes if necessary. “If a pilot is fired on or believes he is about to be fired on [by a Russian jet], he can defend himself,” the source said. “We now have a situation where a single pilot, irrespective of nationality, can have a strategic impact on future events.”
Johnson said the British parliament took a “big step backwards from intervention when it voted against military action in 2013. We vacated the space that has been occupied by the Russians.” That vote was taken under conditions of huge opposition to war in Syria and warnings by senior military figures as to its efficacy, which scuppered plans by the US for direct military intervention against the Assad government.
The 2013 decision had to be reversed, said Johnson, stating, “Most people—I think including John Kerry—feel that the process of discussion with the Russians has basically run out of road... The mood of the House of Commons has changed from 2013. Whether that means we can get a coalition for a more kinetic action now I cannot prophesy.”
Johnson’s statement was intended as an appeal to Labour’s right wing. Following their unsuccessful putsch against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his anti-militarist stance, Johnson was demanding that they play the lead role in whipping up support for military intervention in Syria.
This was the occasion for a carefully choreographed exchange between Johnson and Labour Party MP Ann Clwyd in parliament. Clwyd was among the staunchest advocates of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In 2011, she voted for the enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya, which was utilised by the imperialist powers to topple the government of Muammar Gaddafi, culminating in his brutal murder. She is now calling for protest demonstrations to be held outside the Russian Embassy in London on the basis that Moscow is responsible for the Syrian crisis.
In response to one question from Clwyd, Johnson said that Assad, Russia and Iran were perpetrating a “gross crime against humanity,” in Aleppo. Asked by Clwyd which “policy options” were open to the UK in Syria, Johnson invoked the “humanitarian” crisis in Aleppo, saying it was necessary to “intensify actions on some of the key players in the Assad regime and on the Russian as well.”
Labour’s right wing has lined up to condemn Corbyn for his failure to sanction military action against Assad. This is despite Corbyn authorising a free vote on British military air strikes on Syria last December, with 66 Labour MPs voting with the government. Last week Corbyn described the actions of Russia in Syria as “war crimes”.
However, on Tuesday Corbyn’s closest adviser, Seamus Milne, stated, “The focus on Russian atrocities or Syrian army atrocities, which is absolutely correct, sometimes diverts attention from other atrocities that are taking place. Independent assessments are that there have been very large scale civilian casualties as a result of US-led coalition bombing.” He added, “There are several cases of large numbers of civilian deaths in single attacks and there hasn’t been so much attention on those atrocities.”
In response, the Blairites and government representatives denounced Milne and Corbyn. Labour MP Kevan Jones, a former shadow defence minister and supporter of the Iraq War, said, “Corbyn should completely distance himself from this,” adding that Milne was “clearly an apologist for Putin and his regime.”
John Woodcock, another Blairite and a leading figure in the recent attempted coup against Corbyn, said, “This absurdity seems like a deliberate provocation, unworthy of our leader and our party.”
It is under these conditions that a broad swath of the pseudo-left has moved to demand that Corbyn reverse his opposition to stepped up military action. Around 180 members of the Corbyn-supporting Momentum activist network, other Labour members, trade union officials and the Alliance for Workers Liberty group issued an open letter demanding that the Labour leader “say clearly and unequivocally that the actions of Assad and Russia in Syria are barbaric war crimes, and that you will seek to end them, and to hold their perpetrators to account.”
The letter demands that Corbyn “lend your wholehearted support to practical measures to support civilians and pressure the regime to end its attacks, such as airdrops of aid to besieged civilians by British military forces... ‘Food not bombs’ should be the rallying cry, not ‘Hands off Syria’.”
Read the whole story
 
· · · · ·

Despite what Trump and Clinton say, Americans want the U.S. to be a global leader

1 Share

Putin, Modi Hold Talks to Remove...

1 Share

BRICS Face Their Own Challenges While Meeting As A Bloc

CNBC - ‎4 hours ago‎
At a summit this weekend, the BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - will be looking for ways to boost trade between their developing economies, representing nearly half of the world's population. But while they face similar ...

Homer Votes 2016 | Season 28 | THE SIMPSONS - YouTube

1 Share
Published on Oct 14, 2016
The citizens of Springfield head to their polling stations to vote and Homer discovers Russia's President Vladimir Putin in disguise.

2016 Elections: Did Trump Kill the GOP?

1 Share
Nothing like Donald Trump has ever hit a major American political party: A blow-dried celebrity gleefully smashing one modern Republican certainty after the other. As he defies his own party on tax orthodoxy, on healthcare and on bending a knee to Roger Ailes, he’s exposed the GOP establishment as virtually powerless over its own nominating process.
His rise has now created a split so deep that it’s not clear how the party is going to recover. Some conservatives are trying to crush his candidacy, others are finally embracing him, and they're all lobbing grenades at each other. So is this the end of the GOP as we know it? And what’s next?
Story Continued Below
National Interest editor Jacob Heilbrunn sees Trump's disruption as just the reboot the party needs; Republican strategist Rick Wilson sees a possible “murder-suicide” between Trump and Cruz that opens the door for moderates. Former Senate operative Jim Manley sees a party civil war that will sow chaos far beyond the GOP.
Here, for Politico Magazine, 12 political gurus put their minds to the most unexpectedly urgent big-picture question in American politics.
***
Did Trump kill the GOP? He might have saved it.
Jacob Heilbrunn is editor of the National Interest
Donald Trump definitely represents a dire threat to the future of the GOP elite, but not to the Republican Party. In fact, he may be the only candidate who can save the faltering contraption from itself. Far from being an outlier, he offers a chance for the party to rebrand itself. His most recent tiff with Fox News, where he refused to heed its debate ukase that he submit himself to the questioning of Megyn Kelly, is simply his latest swipe at the Politburo that has come to control the GOP. Probably only Trump can break with the political correctness that surrounds the GOP and return it to older, mainstream Republican traditions in the mold of Theodore Roosevelt or Richard Nixon. Whether it’s foreign or domestic policy, the establishment candidates are retreads who piously mouth the shibboleths of the discredited George W. Bush administration: A return to a crusading foreign policy. Stepped up national surveillance at home. Massive increases in defense spending. And an even more punitive approach to social issues, including a ban on abortion in the case of rape or incest. This is supposed to be mainstream moderation?
Trump’s detractors on the right fear his unpredictability: The Wall Street Journal editorial page complained on Thursday that “on politics and policy he is a leap into the known unknown.” Well, yes. It’s precisely Trump’s lubricity that is allowing him to transcend the GOP’s parochial ideological battles that would almost certainly lead the party to defeat in November. With his penchant for making a deal, Trump might well veer toward the middle once the primaries are over—or even before then. There’s no real evidence that he’s a true-blue conservative—or much of anything other than a shrewdly calculating and pragmatic opportunist. Ted Cruz, by contrast, would take the party to the right and also pursue a more realpolitik foreign policy, but he wouldn’t smash the crockery like Trump.
Here, as Trump might say, is the deal: Looked at as a business, the GOP is an enterprise that has been so badly managed that it needs to go into receivership before its current management team drives it into Chapter 11. And if Trump does win the nomination, don’t expect the party to rebel or engage in civil war. Instead, most of his critics will docilely line up and say they’ve been there all along.
***
Trump has no fans outside his fan club.
Rick Wilson is a national Republican message and media strategist.
The “establishment” is more fearsome when it’s a talk-radio and Trumpbart bogeyman than it is in practice. The party doesn’t pick the candidate, contrary to popular myth. The party is legally and politically bound not to put their finger on the scale in the primary. It has to be won. Trump is splitting off the Troll Party faction from the GOP, but at the end of the day, the process of a shock like this will bring about political equilibrium. It’s under-appreciated that what folks wanted from RNC chairman Reince Preibus when they elected him was for him to be an honest broker, and he has been. The Party will survive. What’s the alternative? A constellation of venal, kleptocratic scamPACs conning granny of her $10 and keeping $9 it for “consulting”?
Trump’s status is less that of an outsider than a celebrity game-show host who’s been lofted on the winds of gushing, constant, media coverage. Ted Cruz has staked his campaign in Iowa, and the sudden turn by some in talk radio from cheerleading for Trump to cheerleading for Cruz hasn’t hurt his prospects. Neither man has fans outside their fan clubs, and I expect the winds to blow in Marco Rubio’s favor hard and fast if the Trump-Cruz bromance ends in the political version of a murder-suicide.
***
It’s the end of an era, not the end of the party.
Margaret O’Mara, associate professor of history at the University of Washington
What’s happening to the GOP right now reminds me of what happened to the Democrats in 1968: The party establishment had lost credibility because of Vietnam, and a relatively obscure senator named Eugene McCarthy had grabbed headlines and passionate support because of his antiwar stance. McCarthy nearly beat incumbent LBJ in the New Hampshire primary, and days later the president had announced he wouldn’t run again, throwing the race open to the antiwar outsiders (including most notably former insider Robert Kennedy). By the time the Democrats got to the convention, all hell had broken loose. RFK was dead, Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies were levitating the Pentagon and nominating a pig for president, and protesters out in the streets of Chicago got brutally beat back by Mayor Daley’s police. The disintegration of the Dems, inside and outside the convention hall, all was captured by the hour on TV.
That was the end of an era for the Democratic Party, but not for the Democratic Party itself. So that may be a sign for us when we look at the GOP. The Trump insurgency is the Pentagon-levitation test of the Republican Party. Out of this may come a reinvention on par with what happened to the Democrats after ’68, where outsiders (like Jimmy Carter) take center stage, and a new generation of politicians willing to take on the sacred cows of party dogma (like Bill Clinton and the New Democrats) bring the party back to the White House.
***
Ready for Bloomberg.
Douglas Schoen, founding partner and principal strategist for Penn, Schoen and Berland, and a former pollster for Bill Clinton.
The Republican Party has clearly lost its direction, and I dare say its soul. Anything Republican elites want, the base of the party instinctively opposes, as the rise of Trump and Cruz clearly demonstrates. Trump and Cruz have won support specifically because of the antipathy of the party establishment to both of them. The party dominates nationally with the exception of the presidency, yet is in danger of suffering an implosion and a possible (though not certain) historically large national loss.
That being said, one of the GOP’s great assets is a similar, though less extreme, process playing out in the Democratic Party. A large percentage of the Democratic base has rejected free market capitalism, which is at the core of how we organize our society and arguably guarantee and enhance our core values of freedom and liberty. The two leading Democratic presidential candidates are competing with one another to see who can demonstrate a greater commitment to redistributive politics and policies, instead of articulating a forward-looking vision for America.
I believe both parties are in a state of flux and fundamentally out of touch with what the broad mass of the American people wants: an inclusive pro-growth agenda and a cost effective social safety net, along with a politics built on results-oriented policies, instead of partisanship or ideology. Hence my strong commitment to prospective independent candidate Mike Bloomberg making a bid for the presidency.
***
Trump’s status is less that of an outsider than a celebrity game-show host who’s been lofted on the winds of gushing, constant, media coverage.
A page from Trump’s playbook.
Ron Bonjean is a Republican strategist and a founding partner of the public affairs firm Rokk Solutions
Trump has caught the GOP establishment by surprise, and while many in the party disagree with his stances on immigration and religious litmus tests, they know he has tapped into the anger and frustration of many Americans in a way that no one has been able to do thus far. He will likely have trouble at this point building a broader coalition of voters that Obama achieved to win the presidency unless he morphs into a candidate more appealing to centrist voters.
The Republican Party is going to survive all of this, but it is moving through a transformational process in the primaries that could leave it split. Trump’s nomination could lead to a brokered convention: Many establishment Republicans could stand on the sidelines and refuse to help Trump, while others will reluctantly support him under the GOP banner. Their refusal to back him may not matter at all in the end if he is able to move to the center and succeed in getting broader appeal. However, a brokered convention is still a very real possibility because of the GOP fear that Trump would lose a general election because he has broadly alienated a wide variety of voters.
In any case Republicans of all stripes are taking lessons from Trump on how to dump the political cookie-cutter campaigns and directly connect with Americans in a way no else can. GOP Presidential races in the future will learn from the successes and mistakes of this cycle. One immediate is lesson is that only candidates that are aggressive in posture and tone without the manners of a politician will have an opportunity to rise above the rest and have a shot at the Oval Office.
***
Read the whole story
 
· · · · · · ·
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 11

Melania Trump’s demand for a retraction by People magazine is simply amazing

1 Share

Russia: Syria meeting aims to isolate Nusra extremists

1 Share
Russia’s U.N. ambassador says a key aim of a high-level meeting on Syria is to get countries that support moderate opposition groups to use their influence to work for a new cease-fire.

No comments:

Post a Comment