U.S. Senate Candidate August Wolf Petitioning to Primary
Written by Juliana Simone
May 11th, 2016
Hartford, CT –
Arguably, for all of America, the best thing Trump and Sanders have done for the general public today, is awaken them to how the political insider system works and why their vote prior to Election Day, doesn’t matter in terms of who they want to see become the next President of the United States. I’ve been saying this for weeks.
For the newly informed Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders backers who have only recently learned about conventions, delegates and super-delegates, when it comes to who their nominee will be regardless of how people voted in state primaries, our own Connecticut Republican Party’s state convention held on Monday evening is a good example of the process.
Delegates who volunteer or who win by a majority vote usually through their party’s town committee, but less often through a popular vote as a town registered party member who does not sit on the committee, are by large, a group of party members who toe the line. In Connecticut, 79 of the super delegates are members of the republican caucus in the General Assembly and the rest are members of the State Central Committee.
This is because most delegates are affiliated in some way with the party leadership – whether it’s as an elected official serving a municipality, state house or state senate district, or as a town committee chair, officer, staff worker at the capitol, or seasonal campaign staff member. There is a minority who does not belong to this group, but for the opportunity to experience a state convention for the first time, perhaps, the appointed delegates usually agree to vote for who they are told to vote for by those appointing them. There may be a few renegades here and there, of course, but they won’t be asked back.
With the presumed Republican nominee New York businessman Donald Trump, beating out all of the other original seventeen challengers which included many respected sitting and former Governors and Senators, who were also seeking the title of the next President of the United States, as well as a retired brain surgeon and retired CEO who was the only female in the group, Trump learned a little late in the game that the party nomination was not just a matter of winning the most state primaries, vote totals cast or delegates.
Businessman and Republican Presidential candidate 2016 Donald Trump
On the Democrat front, Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, is the equal to Trump, as someone who entered his party’s race but was expected to go nowhere. As with Trump, he lit up his party on the campaign stump, bringing out huge crowds at his rallies and events. He was considered by his party leadership as someone who would just serve as a vehicle in debates for the presumed nominee, former First Lady, New York U.S. Senator and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to allow his opponent to make her comments look more moderate and put her in the middle. Sanders quickly showed among his voters, especially the millennials, he had the popularity and appeal Clinton has never been able to achieve.
Clinton was the presumptive nominee in 2008, but a new freshman Illinois U.S. Senator Barack Hussein Obama, quickly swept registered Democrat’s away, along with the unaffiliated and even some Republicans, who in casting their vote, despite feeling proud to help elect the first African American, just found him more likable.
As it stands today, Sanders has won 19 states in primaries to Mrs. Clinton’s 23 – something unimaginable to the Democrat leadership initially. Maybe more notably, Sanders has won the last ten of the fifteen primaries held in the U.S.
Sanders, a proclaimed socialist, actually resonates more with voters than Mrs. Clinton. Despite the resume full of titles, but thin on accomplishments made while holding these positions, she continues to showcase this paper a second time around, yet her connection to voters largely falls flat.
Donald Trump, despite any verbal gaffe according to the politically correct, which is then repeated ad nauseam by the mainstream media, has prevailed to outlast and out survive every opponent regardless of credentials, history or message. Voters have noticed finally how the many problems with Mrs. Clinton and her past with every title she’s worn, have been muted by the media, including her own consistent verbal gaffe’s that come out as regularly as Trump’s.
Back to Connecticut where its Republican State Convention was held Monday evening, and where it was quite clear how candidates get the nod at their conventions.
Dan Carter (R-2), a state representative in the Connecticut General Assembly, getting the nomination among delegates made up of a majority of party colleagues, is comparable to August Wolf, a former Olympian, getting the nomination among delegates made up of a majority of Olympic team members.
Though Wolf has been working for almost a year to earn the nomination, and has raised five hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars in his effort to beat incumbent U.S. Senator and former Connecticut Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, he’s also put in two hundred thousand dollars of his own money to show his commitment to this cause. Monday’s winning nominee, State Representative Dan Carter, had managed to raise six thousand dollars pre-convention and post announcement.
Wolf says, in his own words, he is not a rich man. Certainly, compared to many recent Republican federal candidates selected at the CT state conventions like World Wrestling Federation’s wife of Vince McMahon, in back to back U.S. Senate races the multi-millionaire lost both times by the same notable percentage points.
One of the most glaring examples of convention tinkering from the establishment is the Republican race for the U.S. Senate nomination between former U.S. Congressman and retired U.S. Army Colonel, Rob Simmons. Going into the 2010 convention, Simmons was assured of a win on the first ballot. Once McMahon achieved enough votes to primary, the “switching” began until the numbers for McMahon finally beat out the experienced and respectable Simmons.
Former U.S. Congressman Rob Simmons (CT-2), retired Army Colonel and First Selectman of Stonington.
If the right person had been nominated, many don’t doubt Simmons would have beaten Blumenthal in the Senate race, and for the first time since Congressman Chris Shays was voted out as the last Republican in all of New England still serving in D.C., a Republican would have been sent back to Washington. For the record, Shays was the opponent in the second race where McMahon hoped to become a United States Senator, and he fell victim to the same negative advertising and lack of support from the party as Simmons.
It is the same with the entire sitting federal democrat delegation in Washington that represents Connecticut. All five congressional districts are represented by democrats, Congressman Larson (serving since 1999) and Congresswoman DeLauro (serving since 1991) the most tenured, and both U.S. Senate seats are also represented by Democrats, former Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and former Congressman Chris Murphy.
The Republican Party leadership and establishment, clearly choose the wrong candidates time and time again at the state conventions time and time again. Whether it’s the money that motivates their bad decisions, as with McMahon, who spent 100 million dollars over two campaigns to lose to both Blumenthal and Murphy, but provided many jobs to Republicans, or whether it’s promoting one of their own in the General Assembly over an outsider, either choice remains ineffective. They can orchestrate the convention, and believe they’ve won once again with the choices they’ve made, but their record produces nothing more than one big zero with federal candidates. It’s not always the candidates fault. Many complain they received no help from the party once earning the nomination, but this is usually from the newcomers who have no affiliation with the party establishment.
For candidate August Wolf*, a proud father of four wonderful adult children, three in college and one about to enter her freshman year in college after finishing high school, he has personal priorities that take a toll on his income. Your children come first for most people, and Wolf’s are all achievers. But apparently this is not enough for the Connecticut leadership to endorse him. They cited dramatic issues with his campaign and even made condescending remarks about his qualifications, saying someone who just threw shot put in the Olympics, was hardly enough….maybe they prefer wrestling. Wolf, a business leader, after his Olympic career and a graduate of Princeton University, qualifies more than some of the candidates the CT GOP has promoted. He even received high approval ratings in the polls, a rarity for any Republican in CT.
August Wolf, CT U.S. Senate Candidate 2016
Arguments for not choosing Wolf, and throwing in Connecticut State Representative, Dan Carter one month before the convention, was the drama the Wolf campaign produced. One, was a personal relationship between staff members, that Wolf knew nothing about, and two, interestingly, came from someone party leadership themselves interjected into his campaign for a decent monthly fee. A State Senator suggested Wolf hire his friend as his Campaign Manager if he wanted to get anywhere with his candidacy.
Not knowing any better, or who any of these people were, as is often the case with all new entries into the political field, he did so, and this move also proved to be a problem. The referred hire left Wolf as soon as it seemed well-known CNBC conservative television host Larry Kudlow might enter the race for U.S. Senate in Connecticut. He told Wolf that he needed to move on to a race that could win.
As any true athlete would do, the former Olympian kept running, and hired reputable staff from resumes that included national winning campaigns. Together, they were all moving forward on the right track until running into the same wall as 2016 President of the United States candidates, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders find themselves.
Regardless of how voters vote on Primary Day, the delegates and party leaders will determine who their nominee is at their convention, and that is someone who is often one of their own or someone who has a great deal of money that will provide jobs to friends of the party and needed donations to GOP staff.
With Wolf earning the needed 15% to primary Monday evening, actually even originally having 17%, a third candidate whose run for two offices prior to this without success in 2004 and 2010, seventy-year old Jack Orchulli, had someone make a motion for him to take the stage to address the delegates, which was seconded with some inaudible grunt from the back row but accepted. Taking the stage, as if he was a party uniter and the man of the hour, he asked all of the delegates who casted votes for him this evening to give them now to State Representative Dan Carter.
State Rep. Dan Carter (l) and Jack Orchulli (r) CT State Convention 2016
Allegedly, it’s reported that he has said his sole goal in joining the race late and running was to prevent August Wolf from receiving the nomination. Those analyzing this now after the fact, wonder if Orchulli’s entrance in the race wasn’t a canard in the first place, and was a placement just to set up this whole event where knowing he’d never get the nomination, could take votes from Wolf and then throw them to Carter during the convention.
In case these votes weren’t enough to take away Wolf’s 17% to below the needed 15% to qualify for a primary, the famous “switching” or Act II at conventions took place, known now to those following Trump, as the second ballot.
The usual party loyalists ran up to the microphone to announce their delegations switches from Wolf to Carter. For the record, our delegation never “switches” and remains true to their original casted vote. In terms of election law, if anything should be looked into or stricken from the books, it’s “switching.” A totally false concept which either allows party members who temporarily strayed to move back into the fold for re-admittance, or for the rules committee or establishment to call the shots, and achieve the outcome they’ve planned all along.
This convention in itself was a first of a kind, in that under a newly elected state chair, the U.S. Senate candidate videos which used to be produced and shown to delegates before voting, were not allowed. More strikingly, the traditional projection screen that has always hung behind the stage to show the counts of delegates as they were announced for each candidate and what number their percentage was as the voting went on, was nowhere to be seen. Delegates were left in the dark as to which candidate had x amount of votes and what their percentage was as votes were cast.
The chair quickly offered to the convention that they could just load or click an app on their phone and follow along. If a delegate was a senior who didn’t use apps, or was someone who couldn’t afford an expensive mobile phone to provide this app, or was someone who didn’t have the app loaded going into the convention, among other possibilities, then a large portion of the delegation was blacked out. People just stared at the one or two people on stage who seemed able enough to punch in numbers on their laptops as they came in as reported from the five congressional districts.
Another change of note was where delegation Captains no longer were required to hand in a paper form that checked rows to show how many of their delegates were for which candidate. This paper record now no longer needed, apparently whatever was said in the microphone was fine. The party leadership keeping track got it. The only paper they did take was the “switching” forms at the end. Perhaps they believed this might be some cause of concern so hard copies were necessary.
With two congressional nominations that were contentious, in the Fifth, where an exceptional and conservative candidate Bill Stevens*, did not achieve enough to primary, and the win went to party-endorsed Sherman First Selectman Clay Cope. Stevens, who entered late, said in his words, when he saw who the choices were that would go up against incumbent Elizabeth Esty, he felt he had to enter the race. Negative literature about Stevens was even left on every Fifth District delegates chair prior to the vote, something normally not allowed. In the Second, conservative Daria Novak, the candidate who has run twice before and lost, squeaked out a win for a third try over newcomer and challenger Ann Brookes by 5 votes. First District Matthew Corey will run again against John Larson; Angel Cadena, Jr. will run against DeLauro in the Third; and John Shaban will take on incumbent Jim Himes in the Fourth.
Veteran CNBC host Larry Kudlow addressing delegates at the Connecticut Republican State Convention 2016
The only highlight of the evening was Larry Kudlow’s speech to the convention. People had been asked to pay to hear him at a fundraising event before the gavel at 4PM not knowing he was going to address the whole delegation for free later where he addressed the entire delegation from the stage. Nevertheless, despite this ruse, Kudlow gave a sincere and passionate speech which left him so emotional in closing, he fought tears to stress his love for his country and concern for its future.
Post-convention, August Wolf, made the decision to petition his way on to the ballot and collect the needed signatures to primary. If party members respect the process, they should not slander Wolf now for this choice. In terms of election law, and the process, this is something any candidate can decide to do. It’s their choice and their campaign.
CT Republican’s should also remember their current party Chair also chose the petition option for a former U.S. Senate candidate he was the campaign manager for in 2010.
Knowledgeable political veterans say a primary is the best thing for two new candidates facing the public – it gives them extra publicity and more name recognition. As an outsider and congressional candidate has always maintained with insight and conviction, “let the people decide.”
With what appears to be a disingenuous convention which left delegates not in the wink or in the fist-bump crowd totally disenfranchised, this convention could very well be a prelude to what lies ahead in Ohio for both Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders, despite their numbers, money and popularity.
Donald Trump? Bernie Sanders? Take note.
http://www.ctv13.net/ – tab Watch Online; search “Conservative Chat” episodes #105 to watch half-hour interview with Bill Stevens; episode #106 to watch half-hour interview with August Wolf.
The upcoming Connecticut primary in a poll released today by Emerson College, showed 50% of state Republicans likely to vote for businessman Donald J. Trump. Ohio Governor John Kasich, who has one won state (Ohio) comes in second with 26% with the highest favorable rate among all candidates. Texas U.S. Senator is placed third at 17%. Six percent remain undecided.
Former SOS Hillary Clinton still leads Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders with a 49% lead over his 46%. Sanders holds a higher favorable view among voters, however.
Businessman and Republican Presidential candidate 2016 Donald TrumpTexas U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate 2016 Ted Cruz
Written by Juliana Simone
The reason one state counts this far into the game comes down to two words: Second ballot.
Most readers probably thought they would see the words ‘contested convention.’ Also important in that one leads to the other.
But for those in the know, where things get tricky at a state or national convention, is when a candidate well into the lead and has been told by numerous delegates they were the sure winner by a healthy percentage, suddenly find themselves short enough to have to go into a second ballot.*
Wisconsin’s numbers tonight award the winner 18 delegates. Three delegates for each of the eight congressional districts within the state are then distributed. With polls showing Texas U.S. Senator well in the lead over businessman Donald Trump on the Republican side, strategists show no matter how it’s cut up, Trump won’t come out with enough to call it a win heading into the national convention after tonight.
This is good news for Cruz supporters, or the ‘I’ll-vote-for-Hillary’ group before Trump, despite their patriotic stance presented to the public. Anyone who has served on the municipal level, no matter how small a town, can tell you how every vote matters. Town board seats and State House seats have been won by one vote. One vote. Something sadly much of America, whose citizens have the privilege to vote, does not recognize each Election Day.
The Kasich camp, still believes somehow somewhere the Ohio Governor can become the nominee, even with only winning one state to date, his own, out of thirty-two primaries/caucuses held to date. Many people believe he should have left the stage some time ago. Arguably, if there was a third man (or woman) still standing, the list is long in terms of exceptional candidates who were presented to us originally back in late 2015.
Both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz voiced their opinions pre-Wisconsin vote that Kasich should drop out with only one state under his belt. But the long-serving Republican Party candidate says he is staying in until the convention. He has noted in public comments that no one outside of Ohio even knew who he was before running for President of the United States, so perhaps this achievement accompanies his view of what America would be under his leadership.
“Up until now, no one knew who I was. They thought my name was ‘Governor of Ohio.’ Finally I’m getting some attention! People can hear my message!” This may be true in some circles, but most people didn’t even know he was the Governor of Ohio. Other Governor’s had more national media attention going into this competition. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and former Texas Governor Rick Perry.
Understandably, this is a shining moment for John Kasich, the current Ohio Governor. Considered a moderate who has made statements of note during his campaign, including the idea he would perhaps pick a democrat to be his Vice President on the ticket.
Also, like Republican Party nominee veteran John McCain, (who lost to Illinois U.S. Senator Barack Hussein Obama in 2008), Kasich says he will work with both sides of the aisle, and is described as a big government legislator. For these reasons, Kasich is not popular with conservatives, libertarians, right-sided Republicans and some of the blue-collar demographic who support Trump.
New York businessman Donald Trump has connected with voters from a vast amount of demographics and appears to be the only Republican who currently can assure cross-over votes. Kasich’s camp would disagree with this assessment and argue because of his moderate stance, he will appeal to these groups, as well. But this is old strategy from the current GOP establishment which continues to believe, if we’re more like them they’ll vote for us. Election results have not proven this to be case in terms of who wins the highest office politically. (McCain 08; Romney 12.)
Federal offices hold Republican majorities in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Congress with a mix, depending on the state, but notably with the addition of new conservative faces. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is one of those. Endorsed by former Alaska Governor and 2008 Vice President Candidate Sarah Palin, he won his U.S. Senate seat in 2012. Governor Palin now has endorsed Donald Trump for the party nomination for president, but either way, she clearly stands by candidates who are anti-establishment.
Cruz has made this reputation by his actions as a constitutionalist in Washington D.C., who stands firmly on the Founder’s principles and his, while Trump presents this status as a businessman who has never held public office but has made major achievements over his lifetime. Both men have Ivy League degrees (Cruz: Princeton/Harvard; Trump: Wharton Schol of Business, University of Pennsylvania) and are happily married with children.
They each have their critics, too.
Cruz, has people who staunchly insist he is not qualified to run for the office of President of the United States since he was born in Canada. His mother, an American, married a Cuban native. He also is said to have few allies among his colleagues in the U.S. Senate for his strong approach in fighting the insiders and business as usual.
Trump, the media has pulled out all stops to try and bury every day, as both the never-perceived front-runner, and due to personal vendettas apparently from some of the media’s upper tier. A blunt man, who speaks plainly with no apology, receives constant criticism from the commentators and politically correct crowd who does not believe any lets-cut-to-the-chase speak, should ever be allowed (regardless of how they talk amongst themselves privately with no cameras rolling.)
But both of these aforementioned things the two men bring to the table, who presumably will be the nominee coming out of the national convention in July, are what brings them their devout fans.
Interestingly, the location of the convention is in the home state of Governor Kasich, where the third man hoping to somehow grab a seat in this game of musical chairs, still hopes for some miracle that can happen with the arm-twisting and madness of the super-delegates.
On the democrat front, things are even bleaker for Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders who has won the last states over presumed former First Lady/NY Senator/SOS Hillary Clinton despite her serious woes with the FBI in re her email server scandal. For this party, primaries have just been an expense for taxpayers, as Clinton already had sewn up all her caucus’s super-delegates before even starting the process. It must be a concern to those who immediately ushered her in to this front-line position and ignored her pockmarked veneer that the massive youth turnout for Sanders would not take kindly to learning their vote never mattered due to these party logistics.
Sanders who has out-performed her in many states throughout the county, has left the democrat party in a dilemma. With large wins in Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, and one really close win in Michigan, he has outperformed what any pundit conceived after his announcement. His supporters maybe at best can hope for a FBI arrest for Clinton, which is far more deserved than what General Patraeus was found guilty of – but even he made recent comments Clinton under the Obama administration and the current Department of Justice will sweep under the rug to keep their liberal agenda for the country going.
On the Republican front, somehow this group needs to form an alliance whoever the nominee is after the convention. The country continues to diminish as Democrats are elected or re-elected due to stubborn Republican voter divide.
*{Ask former Congressman and retired U.S. Army Colonel Rob Simmons, (CT-2), who was assured he would beat the democrat nominee, Connecticut’s long-serving Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, once becoming the official nominee in 2010, but a second ballot flipped the vote for newcomer WWE co-owner Linda McMahon.}
GOP candidates for President 2016 (l-r) U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (FL-R), Businessman Donald Trump, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (TX-R) and Ohio Governor John Kasich {photo: ABC/AP}
FINAL Update II:
Missouri’s update today, March 17th, has the delegate counts with 99% reporting for Trump at 25, and Cruz at 5. A newer post by CNN within the hour, has just changed this total, that the numbers now from pledged delegates give Trump 25 to Cruz’s 15, out of 52 delegate’s total.
Missouri, the fifth and last state to report the Republican winner with numbers between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz just about even, announced Donald Trump as the winner with 40.9% of the total votes, and Ted Cruz right behind him at 40.7%. The amount of votes that gave Trump the win was 1,726. At this time, Trump earned Missouri’s 15 delegates, as well, and Cruz none.
Kasich came in with 9.9%. Despite Ohio being the only state Kasich has won so far, he maintains he is staying in the race until the national convention where the RNC delegates will choose who the nominee is going to be.
Delegate totals with this finish leave three out of the four participating candidates Tuesday night with these numbers:
Trump: 661 Cruz: 406 Kasich: 142.
Trump’s four-state win Tuesday night broadened the amount of delegate votes between the businessman and second-place candidate Texas Senator Cruz. Going into Tuesday, Trump led Cruz by 99 votes. Now his lead over Cruz is 255.
However, there are still 1,079 delegate votes to be gained for the needed 1,237 to secure the nomination assuming the convention remains uncontested. If contested, the rules committee, super-delegates and delegates can make changes that allow them to deliver a different outcome of who the Republican nominee will be, regardless of how many states and votes a candidate won from the people as their choice.
In the Democrat primary, the race between former N.Y. U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, which was also too close to call and nearly a tie, gave Clinton the win when all votes were counted by a very small margin, as with Trump and Cruz. Clinton received 49.6% to Sander’s 49.4%. Clinton came out on top with only 1,531 votes more than Sanders. They each picked up the same number of Missouri delegates with 32 each. Still, Clinton’s win of all five states is a poor sign for Sanders, but he plans to remain in the race as the democrat candidate strongly popular with the under-thirty voters.
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Update: With Missouri still undeclared at 99%, and Trump winning by a hair, here are the delegate totals as of tonight:
Trump: 619 Cruz: 394 Rubio: 167 Kasich: 136
Update: Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz takes the stage tonight in Houston, still waiting for a close race in Missouri to give him a win tonight. It is too close to call now. Former fellow Republican Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, gave opening remarks as a campaign endorser.
Ted Cruz said if elected, he will take away welfare benefits from those here illegally, improve the economy and get rid of the cronyism in Washington surmising “less government is more freedom.” Cruz also said he would uphold the Second Amendment and gun owner rights, uphold the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, and stand by the nation of Israel. Unlike Trump, he pointed out he won’t try to negotiate the nuclear deal Obama made with Iran, but will “rip it to shreds.”
He added as President he will pass a flat tax, get rid of amnesty, and abolish the IRS. Cruz told supporters “enough with the Washington corruption,” and projected, “Together, we can turn things around.” He encouraged viewers to remember the Constitutional liberties that turned America around, and asked voters to come together and stand as one.
Cruz told supporters “enough with the Washington corruption,” and suggested, “Together, we can turn things around.” He told viewers to remember the Constitutional liberties that turned America around, and asked voters to come together and stand as one.
On the Democrat side, former First Lady Hillary Clinton, appears to have won all five states over her competitor Bernie Sanders, who has a lock on the under-thirty vote. Numbers were close between the two, in Illinois and Missouri. At this time, Sanders has a slight lead over Clinton in Missouri.
Regardless, as noted in this blog before, how many states or votes the Vermont U.S. Senator acquires, he will never get his party’s nomination. With Democrat super-delegates in a large majority, if not total, casting their votes for the previous Secretary of State in their national convention, they will assure her of the nomination she could not achieve when she competed with Barack Obama in 2008.
Update: Trump is the easily projected winner of Illinois and maintains a lead in North Carolina over Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.
Kasich wins Ohio, the state he governs, with 47% currently to Trump’s 35.9%, 95% reporting. An important win for the former Lehman Brothers’ investment banker (2001-2008), who has not won a state yet in all of the preceding primaries.
Update: Marco Rubio loses Florida to Trump
Marco Rubio loses Florida to Donald Trump except for Rubio’s own Miami-Dade county at 62%. Trump, with latest numbers showing his returns at 45% to Rubio’s 27%, won considerably in this important contest. Florida, Trump’s second home when not in New York, has created many jobs and businesses in Florida compared to the U.S. Senator who like all members of the Legislative Branch and their staff, are compensated through taxpayer money. Whether this was a factor or not, Rubio did make some notable comments before suspending his campaign tonight.
With opening remarks, he congratulated Trump for his win this evening. An audience participant yelled repeatedly at Rubio, and the Senator told him {Ed. Paraphrasing at this time} it was okay, he wouldn’t call the police and he didn’t have to worry about any violence here. His voters gave a strong chorus of support after this, chanting, “Marco! Marco! Marco!”
Reminding his audience of his upbringing, where his two parents fled communist Cuba to find freedom in Florida, and worked as a bartender and maid to give him the opportunity to one day, as an American born son, the opportunity to run for the office of President of the United States, he was proud his eighty-five year old mother could cast a ballot for him today for America’s highest office.
He commented on the economic state of the country, that since 2007, 2008, there has been a horrible downturn that has left many voters upset. He said he knew what it was like to live paycheck to paycheck, and grew up that way, where if the air conditioner broke, money had to be found somehow to fix it.
Rubio also noted that people are tired of hearing if they’re anti-illegal immigration, they’re bigots, and are tired of hearing from the self-called establishment elites who tell them what they should think.
Observing former esteemed President Ronald Reagan’s eleventh commandment that premised no republican should speak ill of any other republican, Rubio maintained this rule by not mentioning Trump directly, but by using sentences that started with the words “what we don’t need” and then referring to things that Trump has said throughout his campaign.
On policy, Rubio told the crowd that America needs a vibrant conservative movement, a strong military, and to keep its Judeo-Christian values that founded our country. He reflected that we were a country formed by descendants, from settlers, to pioneers who ventured west, and to slaves, and we should not lose this, or America won’t be special anymore. He observed, “When America doesn’t lead, it leaves a vacuum.” This vacuum, leads to chaos.
The results that will come in tonight from five big states will either determine the current front-runner in the Republican race, who is to become the party’s nominee by the people, which at this time is businessman Donald Trump, or the second place winner, Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, who is still not far behind in popularity. It will also validate why Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and Ohio Governor John Kasich, should not suspend their campaigns, in their view, if they each manage to win their own states.
Both Florida and Ohio are delegate-take-all states, so a win for any candidate here would be a hefty boost, whether you’re in the upper numbers among delegate counts, like Trump and Cruz, or in the lower numbers, like Rubio or Kasich. The remaining three states, Missouri, North Carolina and Illinois have divided delegates, so portions of those counts can be distributed among any of the four candidates.
Going into today’s vote, Trump has the most delegates with 469; Ted Cruz about a hundred behind Trump has 370; Marco Rubio holds 163; and John Kasich comes in last with 63.
Of the five states up for grabs tonight, Florida has the most delegates at 99. North Carolina, which hasn’t had as much attention from the press, comes in second with 72. Illinois has 69, Ohio has 66 and Missouri has 52.
For the candidates who aren’t in first place, and two who need to win their states to maintain respectability among their constituents, Rubio said today on the stump, “We’re going to get the 99 delegates that we need…,”and remained positive that he will win his home state. Cruz said, “If Trump wins, it’s a disaster.” Cruz, who did not receive as much attention this cycle, due to two legislators needs to win their home states, still hopes to do well.
Kasich also said he believed he would win his state of Ohio, and in his view, would then go on to win many states and ultimately the party nomination. Even with a gain of 66 delegates, and the only state won so far under his belt, he would still be in last place.
Kasich also received some help going into this primary, from Republican Party nominee for President in 2012, Mitt Romney, who paid for two advertisements that were anti-Trump. He also made appearances on behalf of the Ohio Governor, in hopes to secure the win for anyone-but-Trump, and in this instance, John Kasich. As commentators have noted, myself included, if perhaps Mitt Romney had put this much energy into beating incumbent President Obama, America would be in a much better place today without four more years under the Obama administration and its failed policies.
Trump noted today at an event speech that as the nominee, we would win states no one ever thought would be possible to win. Traditional states that run blue, or Democrat, have shown a trend of cross-over party votes for Trump, which any Republican candidate will need to win the White House in 2016. However, he has not been performing well in the Midwest, which may give an edge to his competitors. This may or may not reflect on Trump solely as a candidate, as the bulk of the U.S. has never truly embraced a candidate from the Northeast.
What’s different this election, is Trump himself and his “Make America Great Again” message that is resonating with voters beyond party lines. This theme crosses state lines and appeals to many Americans today.
March 8th Republican primary candidates (l-r) Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio {photo: Fox News}
Written by Juliana Simone
March 9th, 2016
With three states in the United States holding primaries March 8th, and a fourth, Hawaii, holding a caucus, more delegates were up for grabs among the remaining four Republican candidates for President: Businessman Donald J. Trump, Texas U.S. Senator Rafael Edward (Ted) Cruz, Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and Ohio Governor John Kasich. The state of Michigan had the largest delegate count at 59; Mississippi came in second at 40 delegates; Idaho, had 32 delegates. Hawaii, holding a caucus this evening, had 19 delegates for the Republican winner.
The Idaho primary was only for the Republican Party today. Democrat’s primary in Idaho will be held later. Statistically, less than one in ten voters are Democrat’s in the very red state of Idaho. Rubio visited Idaho three times, Cruz and Kasich twice. Trump did not visit Idaho to talk to their constituents.
After the results came in, Trump once again was the big winner. Michigan, the largest prize in terms of delegate counts for the candidates, voted strongly with 37.5% for Trump. A close second place went to Cruz who came away with 24.9%, while Kasich was edged out and placed third with 24.3% of the vote. Rubio placed fourth and last with 8.5%. Kasich had hoped to win his neighboring state of Michigan, for a much needed boost in a campaign that’s produced little results.
On the Democrat side, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton soundly, earning 50% to Clinton’s 17%, giving him his one win for the night. Michigan made it clear, regardless of party affiliation, they prefer the anti-establishment candidates to be the nominees.
Mississippi also preferred entrepreneur Donald Trump, with the highest total return of any Republican candidate in all four states, by achieving almost half the voters nod with 47.3%. Ted Cruz, again placed second, with a respectable 36.3%, almost the amount that won Michigan for Trump. Rubio finished at 5% and Kasich with 9%.
Idaho was the one state won by Senator Cruz, who got the second largest return after Trump’s win in Mississippi, at 45.4%. Trump, though second, had his lowest return at 28.1%. Still, even so, that’s a favorable outcome for the one candidate who did not make a campaign stop in this state. Senator Rubio, who visited Idaho three times, still came in well behind at third, with 15.9% of the vote, which was his only double digit return in the three primaries. Kasich, who made two trips here, as did Cruz, came in with 7%.
Why Trump didn’t visit Idaho, could be for a couple of reasons. One, either his campaign believed with Idaho being such a red state, they would vote for Trump as the frontrunner whether he visited or not, or two, intel told his campaign Idaho was so strongly for Cruz, it wasn’t worth a campaign stop on this tour.
The Hawaii caucus was the third win for Trump Tuesday evening out of the four voting states with delegates up for grab. Trump, with a big percentage of caucus members choosing him to be their choice for President, got 42.4%, the third highest return for any Republican seeking the nomination. Cruz, repeating the pattern of the evening, placed second with a respectable 32.9%. Rubio, came in third with 13.1%, the second time he was able to get above ten percent. Kasich received 11%.
Still, despite the popularity of Donald Trump with the voters, he did not sweep the delegate counts as easily. As a result, the delegate rewards were split more evenly, which brought Senator Cruz closer to Trump in terms of total delegate counts to date.
Michigan, the most sought after reward for the evening that went to Trump, had split results among the delegates, giving the winner twenty-five delegate votes, but then seventeen votes also went to both Cruz and Kasich, with none for Rubio.
Mississippi, with the largest percentage for Trump out of the four states participating, delegates divided their results between Trump and Cruz. Twenty-five went to Trump; fifteen went to Cruz. Kasich and Rubio did not receive any.
Idaho, Cruz’s big win, received the majority of delegate votes at twenty, but twelve still went to Trump. Again, despite the campaign stops both Kasich and Rubio made here, they both failed to earn one delegate.
Hawaii delegates – Trump – 10; Cruz- 6; Rubio and Kasich – 0.
Going into yesterday’s primaries, Trump had the most delegates at a total of 384. Ted Cruz, who did well on Super Tuesday, was now is a closer second, at 300 delegates. Marco Rubio had a count of 151 and John Kasich held 37.
Last night’s returns leave the four Republican candidates with these current totals:
Trump: 458; Cruz: 359; Rubio: 151; and Kasich: 54. Cruz, now is 99 delegates behind Trump. Before Tuesdays four state returns, Cruz was 84 votes behind Trump. The numbers remain close between the New York businessman and the Texas Senator.
Today, former businesswoman, Carly Fiorina, who was one of the original seventeen Republicans seeking the party nomination, endorsed U.S. Senator Cruz. No surprise she would choose Cruz over Trump, after the ill feelings that grew between Trump and Fiorina in the early debates.
Speaking of ill feelings, former candidate Jeb Bush, who went into this race from the beginning with the largest amount of money raised and an important family behind him, with his loss in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa in February 2016, and low polling numbers for months, Bush suspended his campaign. It was announced yesterday, that now Jeb’s brother Neil, will be raising money for Ted Cruz, to help Cruz beat Trump.
There are 1,435 delegates left for the four candidates to win in their column, assuming all four candidates stay in the race, and Rubio and/or Kasich don’t suspend their campaigns. 1,237 are needed to win the national convention that is being held in Ohio.
Daily news reveals more facts that the Republican establishment continues to discuss how they can unseat Trump as the probable party nominee, and speak outwardly to the press against him. Former Massachusetts Governor and previous Republican Presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, who lauded the endorsement he received from Donald Trump when he was running against Democrat incumbent Barack Obama in 2012, came out last week in a press conference saying Trump was a fraud, a phony, and the worst choice for the 2016 nominee as a man he did not perceive to be a true conservative.
He also recorded a taped message for robo calls to be sent to voter’s phones in all four states Tuesday, which encouraged them to vote for any of the other three candidates than Trump, particularly Rubio. With the heavy losses Senator Rubio saw last night, Romney’s message didn’t show much influence. Romney keeps swinging though on his public campaign against Trump. He appeared on the night time talk show with host Jimmy Kimmel, to read some of the insulting tweets Trump had made about the former presidential candidate over Twitter. Though Romney kept his appearance light and took the remarks with a sense of humor and some fair rebuttal, it’s clear the democrats and competing Republican candidates, can count on Romney to keep hitting the frontrunner for them in any venue, given the opportunity.
Apparently, secret meetings are being held, as well, among Republican leadership where they discuss, one, how it can have happened that Trump is so popular and be the preferred nominee, and two, what can they do to take a perceived endorsement away from him. Some of these Republicans have said they will vote for former First Lady, N.Y. Senator and SOS Hillary Clinton before voting for Trump. (It should be noted Clinton was never a New York resident until she chose to run for the U.S. Senate after leaving the White House as First Lady…with quite a bit of furniture, and other White House antiques the Clinton’s felt fine with taking on their exit.)
Fox News Anchor, Megyn Kelly, still wore her personal distaste for Trump on her sleeve, (if she wore one) repeating comments Trump made in his press conference after the results from Mississippi and Michigan came in, with a sneer and a laugh.
Anyone over forty recognizes objective journalism is a thing of the past. Anchors have interjected themselves into a whole new persona, where in their minds, their remarks are more important than the people covered in their lead stories. Despite trying to lead the narrative for at least two decades, and sway the opinion of Americans who don’t follow politics 24/7, it must be frustrating to them to see they haven’t been able to dispose of successful businessman Donald Trump this far into the process.
From Florida, taking the podium to address his supporters last night, in a lengthy appearance, Trump took a higher road and said kinder comments about those who have said derogatory things about him over the past few weeks, including Romney and Kelly.
Plainly answering Mitt Romney’s attacks in his press conference the other day, he rebutted the negatives about some of his brand name spin-offs, such as Trump steaks, Trump water, Trump magazine and Trump University. {In re the latter, he explained in detail that Trump University was still in a lawsuit and explained he had been taught that when one was in a lawsuit, one never settled, because if one did, everyone then could sue.} He assured once the lawsuit was settled, Trump University would start up again and go on to be a success. He cited numbers from participants at TU, that were high up in the ninety percentile, that there was no reason to settle when that many people said it was a good experience.
He also mentioned in regards to his product, Trump Vodka, for the press to please check the records on how well it was doing. He added he owns two thousand acres in Virginia, close to the Jefferson estate, that produces the finest wines.
On the positive, Trump said statistics were showing people who had never voted before for a Republican, voted tonight for the first time. He then thanked the lobbyists for their influence on getting out the vote from this group. He also noted turnout was tremendous – 102% over a year ago.
He thanked golfer Jack Nicholas for his support and Ohio native former Yankee player Paul O’Neill, who endorsed Trump and was in the crowd. Trump is popular with other famous athletes, as well. New England Patriot Quarterback Tom Brady is a Trump supporter, as well as Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz. Brady even wears Trump’s baseball cap with the Trump slogan “Make America Great Again.”
He said he would like to congratulate all of the candidates – “it’s not easy stuff.” Trump said he hoped all of the House Representatives and Senators are re-elected despite whether they supported him or not. He thanked House Speaker Paul Ryan, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for his endorsement, as well as Arizona’s Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio. Arpaio is another advocate for stopping the influx of illegal immigrants into the United States. Former Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer, has also endorsed Trump.
Arizona, a southwestern state, greatly affected by illegal immigration that bears the weight of this invasion every day, in terms of jobs, state assistance, education, crime, incarceration and drug cartels, would naturally support a candidate tough on securing America’s borders.
Donald Trump told the crowd and reporters that tonight’s primary results show, “advertising is not as important as competence.” In talking about U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, he said “he’s a nasty guy.” “Hostility works for some people; not for everybody” he noted when asked about Rubio and others who have recently attacked him. Looking back at his campaign, the billionaire remarked that every person who has attacked him is gone, and that out of seventeen candidates, we’re now down to four.
The victor also noted there’s never been more money spent than what is being spent now to take him down.
With big wins in Mississippi and Michigan, Trump said even Kelly and Charles Krauthammer said I did well tonight; he’s been waiting a long time to hear Charles say this. With Florida voting next, it’s an important last breath for Florida’s Senator Rubio to win, but with Florida being Donald Trump’s second home, and as a businessman whose provided many jobs there, it will be a tough challenge.
As for the second place winner, the Cruz campaign released the fact they only spent one thousand one hundred in advertising dollars in Michigan to come in second, while Rubio and Kasich spent the most. Rubio’s Conservative Solutions Super PAC spent 1.2 million to walk away with zero delegates. Kasich’s PAC spent $770,000. For the record, Trump spent far less at $184,000. for the win.
Cruz also has his sights on Florida, opening ten campaign offices there to get out the vote hoping to come in second over Senate colleague Rubio. The Florida primary will take place on March 15th and has 99 delegate votes. Rubio trailing Trump in the polls in his home state, could get a boost from former competitor for the nomination for President, and former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush, with his endorsement, but it is not expected for Bush to endorse his former colleague Rubio at this time.
Other states voting on March 15th, will be Kasich’s Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri. The five states together have 358 delegates for the four candidates to earn. After this primary, it would be surprising to still see four candidates in the Republican race.
Businessman Donald Trump won seven states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia. The numbers vary, but according to the New York Times, Trump now has 319 delegates, gaining 237 Tuesday night. He was in the lead before Super Tuesday with 81 delegates from wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Iowa.
Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz won three: Alaska, Oklahoma and Texas. He now has 226 delgates, with a gain of 209. The state of Texas on Super Tuesday, had the largest amount of delegates to award at 155. Cruz, like Rubio, going into Super Tuesday were tied with 17 delegates each. It’s interesting Alaska went for Cruz, when their former Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, had just endorsed Trump for President. But Cruz was also endorsed by Palin, and she stumped for his Senate win in Texas.
Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio finally won one something with a win in Minnesota, which was a caucus and not a primary. He also was able to inflate his flagging delegate numbers from 17 to 110 with Tuesday returns. He came in second in Virginia, losing to frontrunner Trump by 3%.
Kasich came in second in Vermont with 30% of the votes tallied after Trumps 33%. He gained six votes yesterday, coming into this important primary day with 19 delegate votes. He now has 25.
Revered Dr. Ben Carson did not win a state and with Super Tuesday had eight delegates, and gained three at the final count for a total of eleven delegates. These results produced a statement from his campaign released this afternoon:
I have decided not to attend the Fox News GOP Presidential Debate tomorrow night in Detroit. Even though I will not be in my hometown of Detroit on Thursday, I remain deeply committed to my home nation, America. I do not see a political path forward in light of last evening’s Super Tuesday primary results. However, this grassroots movement on behalf of “We the People” will continue. Along with millions of patriots who have supported my campaign for President, I remain committed to Saving America for Future Generations. We must not depart from our goals to restore what God and our Founders intended for this exceptional nation.
I appreciate the support, financial and otherwise, from all corners of America. Gratefully, my campaign decisions are not constrained by finances; rather by what is in the best interests of the American people.
I will discuss more about the future of this movement during my speech on Friday at CPAC in Washington, D.C.
So what do these results mean? For starters, the assault on Donald Trump by the RNC and its leadership, in addition to the state party leaders who quickly tow the line, is really a disgrace and more proof the Republican Party will never be able to pick the candidate who can actually win an election when it comes to our nations’ highest office. It’s more important to them to control the choice, regardless of what their actual registered voters believe, so they can maintain power and essentially keep their jobs.
This history with party leadership, is what has led the public to casting so many votes for any anti-establishment candidate. For those U.S. citizens paying attention, they are choosing Trump, to yes, as his campaign slogan states, “make America great again.” Tired of politics as usual, with the elected officials driving around in their limos, flying to events in chartered jets, staying safe with their security details, and living the high life on taxpayer’s dimes attending cocktail parties and cutting occasional ribbons at some local event to keep it real with their actual constituents, the general public is sick of this decades old pattern, and want someone from the outside who does not drink from this well.
The media has blatantly been against Trump from the beginning, way back to the first Republican Presidential primetime debate in August of 2015, with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly foaming at the mouth on her first question to Trump. She addressed him believing she was still a prosecutor, not mentally making the transition she was now simply a debate moderator and journalist, who should not appear biased. Thinking their daily diatribe could quickly eliminate him that evening, or soon after time, they’ve dug deeper as his popularity has grown.
The only Republican candidate they perhaps despise more than Trump, is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who dropped out of the race for the nomination more recently. Christie, a strong, bright alpha-male who made it clear to the media on assuming office during his press conferences, he was not going to address their questions that bore only progressive agenda for a daily soundbite. As a result, they made a mountain out of a mole hill on a non-story, that involved a Christie staffer who organized two lanes on the Tappan Zee Bridge being closed for a short while during rush hour, when in the media’s view, the Mayor of Fort Lee, a Democrat, did not endorse Christie for President.
This high profile story dictated by the media, actually makes no sense since no Republican, or few and far between, would expect any Democrat to endorse the Republican candidate over their own party’s candidate for any office. Nevertheless, the staffer was fired, and Christie, who always maintained he knew nothing of the call to the DOT, was cleared of all charges in this small incident. The mainstreammedia, however, dragged it out for weeks as a top news story.
Guns still aimed at Christie, his endorsement of Trump couldn’t have been better news for the media’s narrative…it kept him in their sights while they were lamenting his pulling out of the race, so he could no longer be daily fodder for their vitriol.
To their delight, Christie stood behind Trump on stage Tuesday evening, which oddly allowed collective hours of commentary ensued on how Christie even appeared in the background. Totally bizarre. Rush Limbaugh noted this today, as well, during his nationally syndicated talk radio show, and asked, well, what was he supposed to do?
To anyone normal watching, obviously not jumping jacks. I suppose like so many anchors on network shows, the botox could have kicked in, and he could have worn a frozen smile or stern frown.
Voters should see what the media has done to Christie over his years in service as a Governor, a candidate for the President of the United States, and now colleague of Donald Trump, that this is what they will continue to do to anyone anytime unless things change in Washington. More importantly, voters should notice how there is hardly any equal time given to Democrat President nominee Hillary Clinton, who is laden with so many scandals, the dedicated broadcast time could fill at least a year of discussion.
Moving on to Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, who is placing second in the Republican challenge, and like Trump, is controversial in that his party does not want him to get the nomination either, as someone who bucks the status quo of how things get done in Washington. Cruz, has his devoted fans and an education a minority of Americans will achieve. Most reading this piece know his history, as Canadian born to an American mother and Cuban father, a Harvard Law graduate who went on to be the captain of the Harvard debate team, earning the highest of praise from even Professor Alan Dershowitz, a staunch liberal,who publicly acknowledges Cruz is one of the best debaters he’s ever seen.
The negatives with Cruz today, are some foul play outcries from competing campaigns that say he has used social media, robo calls and public remarks to mislead voters prior to primary dates in hopes of switching their votes. His likability is also considered, as D.C. colleagues argue he does not get along with any of his fellow legislators and has few allies there. Cruz supporters would say this is a good thing. How this resonates with voters and delegates is a more serious concern.
Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, as of Super Tuesday, had the one state of Minnesota under his belt, interestingly the only state Ronald Reagan did not win in his landslide victory in 1984. For someone perceived by party insiders and Rubio himself, as the candidate most like Reagan, this is an odd note. Minnesota also chose Democrat candidate Bernie Sanders over the presumed nominee Hillary Clinton. Rubio is under-performing among voters despite the push he’s getting from Washington and party supporters. His answer to this, he told the press as polls closed, was it did not matter as only the delegate count at the Republican convention mattered, so he was staying in the race because it was up to the delegates to pronounce the nominee, not the people.
This comment, illustrates how voters in terms of party nominees, have little to do with who the nominee is that appears on the ballot. In published stories weeks ago, former First Lady, New York State Senator and SOS Hillary Clinton, already had the Democrat superdelegates sewn up in the bag, so it ultimately didn’t matter how much of the youth vote competitor Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders had, or how many states he eventually wins during the primary process. He will not win the nomination at the National Democrat Convention. The fix is in for Hillary and had been before Bernie even knew that much about the process.
The question is, will Sanders supporters roll over in the traditional democrat way regardless of outcome, and just say, ‘okay, not happy it’s not Bernie, but we’ll just vote for Hillary instead.’
1,237 delegate votes are needed at the Republican Convention. Although even higher numbers were expected for Trump on Super Tuesday, he still was way ahead of any contender even with the RNC and their state leaders nipping at his heels.
In terms of funding, anyone who has ever worked or volunteered for a campaign, or their state party, a primary argument for choosing a nominee is always the money – who has the most funds or can raise the most funds to use them to get elected?
Many unqualified candidates have been given the nod because they could bankroll their campaign regardless of outcome. Additionally, the usual party insiders with multiple lost races on their resumes, can be rehired or business contracts can be signed that will leverage support and votes.
With Trump, within the Republican Party, has anyone heard mention of how much money he has to spend? How he could even top the Clinton’s with all of their questionable donations to their foundation and typical donators like George Soros and other liberals? The only large treasure chest the public ever heard about on the Republican side was former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s, who spent over one hundred million dollars for naught.
He had the Bush family influence behind him, but in regards to the so-called political wizards backing him, they somehow failed to recognize what the general public did. In a Bush vs. Clinton race, Clinton would win – no matter how damaged a candidate she is, for two reasons.
One, the mainstream media hammered the Bush name for years, tarnishing it among the younger generations and uniformed voters, however wrongful the message was, and two, the mainstream media will never hammer the Clinton’s on the innumerable crimes, lies and corruption under any elected office they’ve held, or Hillary alone on anything unethical that’s plagued her throughout her career even before ever going to Washington.
For once, the Republican Party establishment needs to stop meddling with the nominee and start endorsing the candidate favored by the public. Their current excuse for not standing behind Trump is because if he wins the nomination, the U.S. Senate and Congress will lose the majority’s they hold today. But to anyone who follows politics, we’ve seen the majority gifted to these legislators in the past two elections, has amounted to little to nothing.
The power they were bestowed they did not act upon, and left them lamely and publicly shrugging their shoulders, basically asking, what can we do? So, this argument holds no water at all. Ultimately, it just sounds like they’re worried about keeping their jobs and the luxurious lifestyle that goes along with it. So much for “We the people…”
The momentum from the GOP establishment to stop Trump is in full swing.
Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, competition for the nomination for President with Trump, spent every moment speaking in public up to Super Tuesday, insulting Donald Trump with words and comments that made him look anything but Presidential. With catty remarks about Trump’s bad spray tan and small hands, he also continually calls the successful businessman and Wharton Business School grad, a con-artist. Rubio, is not problem free and should have taken a higher road to appeal to the public.
On Super Tuesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan, came out publicly to pick up the media’s latest anti-Trump message that former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke had endorsed him, and basically say the Republican Party could not have anyone as their nominee who did not reject any group that is built on bigotry, as the party of Lincoln. The story turned out to be false, like so many mainstream media attack pieces, with Duke himself saying he’d never even endorsed Trump. Regardless, Trump said innumerable times in every venue, including a press conference he disavows any endorsement from Duke.
This Thursday morning, 2012 Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, also took a turn at trying to tear Trump down from becoming the nominee, and urged voters to vote for three good candidates still in the race: Rubio, Cruz or Kasich. “Dishonesty is Donald Trump’s homework,” Romney said, giving examples of contradicting statements the front-runner has made on what he’s supported over the years. Romney scolded Trump for his insults, conduct, use of profanity, and lack of conservatism.
Donald Trump greets Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, after announcing his endorsement of Romney during a news conference, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Romney has demanded Trump release his tax returns. Romney said it’s an issue to him personally, since he was repeatedly asked to produce his tax returns when he was running. In tweets on Twitter, Romney has called Trump a phony and a fraud and claims his domestic policies would put the nation into recession. One tweet included this: “He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president. And his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill.”
Critics of Romney making these tweets and calling for this press conference today, wonder why Romney never came out this strongly against his Democrat opponent in 2012, Barack Obama, and if he had, maybe he’d be President today and would have spared the country of four more years of Obama’s bad policies.
Remember when Romney was running for President, he was happy to receive Donald Trump’s endorsement and had completely contrary things to say about Trump at that time, in that they were all positive. For me, Romney is just another Republican doing the Democrat’s work for them and another who failed to honor Reagan’s eleventh commandment where no Republican should speak ill or another Republican.
We’ll have to see what else Washington will pull out of their hat next as they continue to attack the popular front-runner. An older argument the GOP maintains today, is that Trump’s background is a problem. I’ll take his background over Hillary Clinton’s any day.
Lastly, “likability.” A very important component to anyone who knows or works in politics and something that still holds fast and true. If you don’t have it, it does not matter how long your resume is, how many colleagues you have in D.C., how much money you have, or how hard you try…the public either likes you or they don’t. True, Trump has his haters, but Clinton certainly does, too. As the only Republican candidate bringing in cross-over votes from democrats and independents, which are unquestionably needed to win the general election in November, clearly he has many more supporters than adversaries.
Republican presidential candidates (L-R) Ohio Governor John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Donald Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ben Carson, February 13, 2016 observe a moment of silence for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in Greenville, South Carolina (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Greenville, S.C.
Written by Juliana Simone
Appearing Saturday evening in a debate broadcast by CBS, were six candidates still seeking the Republican nomination to compete against the next Democrat nominee for the important role of becoming the next President of the United States. Participating on stage were: Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
It seemed at times more like theater than a debate. Exchanges between the men could be described as hitting below the belt whenever necessary. All alpha males, understandably, as the field narrows, verbal fisticuffs have to come out to mark the differences between policies and experience among these men still in the running with the highest polling numbers. Fortunately, more good notes came out than bad in terms of overall exchange of ideas.
It seemed five of the six candidates mostly abided by former President Ronald Reagan’s eleventh commandment, which was that no Republican shall speak ill of another Republican, unless they were directly attacked by the sixth candidate, Donald Trump, whose derogatory comments and accusations flowed freely throughout the entire debate. Perhaps the other men still seeking their Party’s nomination do not see Trump as a fellow Republican, so the eleventh commandment did not apply to him.
Trump has switched his party affiliation as a voter a few times in the state of New York and has been a registered Democrat for many years throughout his adult lifetime. However, his years as a registered Republican from voter registration records back in the mid to late eighties, exceed the amount of years he was a Democrat. He also was registered with the Independent Party for less than two years. Now a registered Republican once again, he explained soon after announcing his candidacy, he made this switch because he wanted to serve as President of the United States as a Republican.
In writing my articles, I make a point not to listen to or read other commentary until I’m finished so my own perspective isn’t tainted. Watching only the first few minutes after the South Carolina debate to get the gist of who the usual analysts would target for negative or any positive commentary, it seemed this debate their primary focus was on Jeb Bush.
Mainstream media talking points and post-debate analysis always follow the same page, so one of their items tonight was the negative view of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and his using debate response time to defend his brother, father and mother. Is there anyone else with family in the game? No. It is rare in this country when elected Presidents come from prior office-holding bloodlines, but this should not have to make the former Governor spend any of his time as a candidate taking insults about his father or brother who both served previous terms as Commander In Chief in the White House. He had every right to say he was proud of his father and brother and how they served as Presidents of the United States. Bush said Trump had the gall to bring up his mother, Barbara Bush, and that she is the strongest woman he knows. Trump said, “She should be running.”
The media and social media commentators on Twitter and Facebook who clearly don’t like the Bush family, also found his defending his family amusing, weak and childish as some apparently wrote. The audience in South Carolina did not agree with the media pundits or the jeering tweeters, and they applauded and cheered loudly when Jeb stood up for his family. I agree. It would look odder to let some loud outspoken guy insult them and say nothing, in my view. Back in colonial times, Bush could have walked across the stage and slapped Trumps face with a glove, and called for pistols at dawn. But trashy remarks are the trend these days, and gentlemanly behavior is unknown or unembraced.
The mainstream media always prefers to use these Republican debates as venues where they can pit upstanding candidates against one another, and make them announce in a televised forum their rival’s weak points, rather than address their opposing party’s weaknesses.
There is no question that both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders don’t hold a candle to any of the original sixteen announced candidates for the Republican Party nomination, or to the last six standing, but the liberal media gives Barbara Walters style questions to the Democrats during their debates asking softball questions such as who someone’s favorite President is or coming up soon what is their favorite tree.
If the media doesn’t have the nerve to ask Democrat candidates these questions directly, why then are none of these informed and vocal Republican candidates asked serious questions about their Democrat opponents? Why were they never asked about former First Lady, New York U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s current email scandal that is under intense investigation by the FBI? Or about her inability to answer an Ambassadors plea for help in Benghazi which he sent thirteen times with no answer from our government who should have given an immediate response? Why were they not asked about Senator Bernie Sanders socialist agenda for America today if he is elected in November? The usual censorship of any negative portrayals of the Democrat candidates presided in this ninth debate now.
Who won? Opinions always vary on this, but in trying to remain objective, Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio had a good night as did his fellow state colleague, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Rubio did a good job at illustrating how conservative he is, to counter those who feel he’s a closet moderate and establishment choice; Bush did a polished job of showing his knowledge about many of the issues covered in these two hours, even while being engaged constantly by Trump’s negative comments; Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz also performed well, making it very clear he was the strongest Constitutionalist on the stage who would stand by this document as President and also was the true conservative.
Dr. Ben Carson still had a few unique perspectives he’s delivered throughout this run, as well as getting out some endorsements he’s achieved since his campaign began from respectable sources. Ohio Governor, John Kasich, who given some new life with a second place finish in the previous New Hampshire primary, also did well if the message a voter is looking for is safe and congenial. Kasich seems the most even-toned in delivery. Frontrunner businessman Donald Trump, did not have his best showing, by being too belligerent while reciting some common liberal talking points as someone running for the Republican nomination.
One of the most significant things that occurred during this debate, was the moment of silence dedicated to Supreme Court Justice Scalia who passed away suddenly at the age of 79. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 he was the longest serving Justice for thirty years. A fine conservative, who was pro-life on abortion arguments, upholding of the Constitution and what the Founders intended, and admired for his intelligence, he is considered irreplaceable.
Some highlights from the forum: (for those who missed this debate, a full transcript can be found on-line as well as the entire video on CBS)
When the Candidates were asked if President Barack Obama in his final year of holding office as a lame duck President should have the right to appoint his replacement, Rubio and all other candidates on stage agreed that no, it should be up to the next President of the United States to make this important decision.
Donald Trump said Scalia’s passing was a tremendous blow to conservatives, and that Obama will try to appoint someone to replace Justice Scalia whether he was okay with it or not, but he hopes the Republican Majority Leaders in the House and the Senate will stop it, even if it’s just delay, delay, delay.
Kasich said if he were President we wouldn’t have the divisions we do in our country today. He wished it wasn’t partisan, and wished that President Obama would put the country first for once, but since he didn’t believe this would be case, then yes, the next President elect should appoint the new Supreme Court Justice.
Dr. Carson pointed out the constitution doesn’t address this particular situation and reminded viewers that when the constitution was written the average age of men at the time of their death was fifty, so he feels this needs to be looked at again. He added he saw people making nasty remarks and felt it was a shame. He fully agreed a new judge should not be appointed at this time under Barack Obama.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (FL-R) said, “Scalia understood the Constitution better than anyone.” He said it has been over eighty years since a lame duck President appointed a Supreme Court Justice. (cheers from the audience) He continued (Senate Minority Leader) Reid and Obama would ram down our throat a liberal Justice as they have already.
Former Gov. Bush said we will nominate someone with a proven record. He regretted too many Judges are appointed without established records and thought more time had to put into who was nominated. He said he is a lover of liberty and limited government and he will fight for that nomination.
“I’m an Article II guy in terms of the Constitution,” he declared. In his view, Obama will not have a consensus pick when he nominates someone.
Texas Senator Cruz said, “Justice Scalia was a legal giant. He was somebody I knew for twenty years. He was a brilliant man. He was faithful to the Constitution. He changed the arc of American legal history.” His concerns were that we are now one Justice away from rulings on abortion, reversing the Heller decision on the second amendment, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_v._Heller and religious liberties of millions of Americans. He told the South Carolina people they needed to decide who to nominate and confirm as the most principled Constitutionalist to the court as the next President of the United States.
Moving on to National security, the panel started with front runner in the polls, businessman Donald Trump. He was reminded he said if elected he’d get up to speed very quickly on foreign policy, so what three questions would he ask of his appointed leaders.
Trump answers, “What we want to do; when we want to do it; and how hard do we want to hit.” He replied we’re going to have to work very hard to knock out ISIS and learn who our real allies are. He said we are spending billions of dollars in Syria and maybe that should be moved to Russia. The Iran deal was the worst deal he’d even seen. (Applause) He reminds viewers and the audience he was always against attacking Iraq and was for keeping the oil.
Rubio replied his three questions would be, number one, what are we doing in the Asian-Pacific region, where both North Korea and China pose threats to the national security of the United States. Number two is what are we doing in the Middle East and the growing threat of ISIS, and the third is rebuilding NATO in Central and Eastern Europe in regards to Russian President Putin, who is now threatening the territory of multiple countries.
Rubio is asked by the panel what the hardest thing he has had to decide that shows he’s been tested in a crisis and can respond as President.
Rubio reflects, “One of the hardest decisions you’ll ever make in Congress is when you are asked by the president to authorize the use of force in a conflict. You’re now putting your name behind a military action where Americans in uniform could lose their life.
In 2014, Obama said he would not take military action against Assad unless it was authorized by the Senate beginning on the Committee of Foreign Relations, where I am one of its members. it was hard, because you looked at the pictures. As the father of children, I saw the images of these little children– gassed and poisoned by their own leaders.
We were angry. There was the sense that we needed to seek retribution. I looked at Obama’s plan. Barack Obama’s plan, which John Kerry later described as “unbelievably small,” – I concluded that that attack would not only not help the situation, it would make it actually worse.
It would allow Assad to stand up to the United States of America, survive a strike, stay in power, and actually strengthen its grip. And so it was a difficult decision to make. When we only had a few days to look at it, I voted against Obama’s plan to use force; it was the right decision.”
To Ben Carson, the panel asks the retired neurosurgeon about his belief he’s had to answer more 2AM emergency calls than anyone else, so to explain how we would respond to a crisis as someone who’s done amazing political work but has no political foundations.
Dr. Carson asks to go back to the issue of appointing a Supreme Court Justice nominee. He observes that there’s some left-wing media they will try to make hay on that and then jests, “thank you for including me – two questions already.” (cheers) He then says that we are in a situation we’ve never been in before in terms of danger and that’s where judgement comes in.
Kasich said we need to arm the people in Ukraine who are fighting for their freedom and that any attack against NATO countries were against us. In an idealistic view, he observes “I think we have an opportunity as America to put something really great together again. The Egyptians, the Saudis, the Jordanians, the Gulf States, it’s– they all know they’re at risk.” Saying we need to look into the attacks being made in Europe, France, Belgium, Germany and Britain they’re all being threatened by radical Islam. “The world is desperate for leadership.”
Bush says we need to destroy ISIS and dispose of Assad and create a stable Syria so four million refugees aren’t a breeding ground for Islamic jihadists. He differs with Trump, saying Trump believes Putin is helping take out ISIS, but Putin is attacking the team we’ve been training and supporting. He says as President he would restore the military and not allow Iran to move towards a nuclear weapon.
“You’ll get along with Putin” he says to Donald Trump.
Trump states how wrong Jeb Bush is and says, “You have to fight ISIS first…they’re chopping off heads…these are animals…you have to knock them out.” Trump notes the boos coming from the audience when he speaks are coming from Bush lobbyists. He continues, “We’ve been in the Middle East for fifteen years and haven’t won anything.” He mentions former competitor for the 2016 Republican nomination for President, Senator Lindsey Graham, in prior debates used to always talk about going back in and spending more. He scoffs and says he had a zero in the polls. Rebuild our country, he sums up.
Short barbs continued to pepper the debate dialogue between Trump and Bush with Bush remarking, “This is a man who thinks Hillary Clinton was a great negotiator in Iran; we’re living in dangerous times.” Trump answers, “New Hampshire” and “thirty-four million”…
Senator Cruz explains the three greatest threats to our security is a Nuclear Iran, so he would shred the Iranian nuclear deal on day one; as CIC he’d utterly defeat ISIS through air power and arming the Kurds who can be boots on the ground, and not allowing politicians to decide what needs to be done but military expert judgement who will carry out the objectives of the CIC.
The panel notes to Cruz that the Kurds can only do so much with their territory and it’s small and if they make it to big it starts war with the Arabs. Cruz responds we have Kurds in both Iraq and Syria fighting ISIS now and winning. ISIS is using American weapons they seized in Iraq, and Obama refuses to arm the Kurds. We need to arm them. Cruz points out in the first Persian Gulf War we would be doing 1,100 air attacks a day and now we’re only doing 15-30 a day because the Commander in Chief isn’t focused on beating the enemy.
Trump is reminded former President George W. Bush will be helping his brother Jeb Bush campaign in South Carolina this week. You’ve often said you were opposed to the Iraq War and in an interview in 2008 you told Wolf Blitzer you didn’t know why Nancy Pelosi didn’t impeach him, which you thought would have been a wonderful thing, because he lied, and lied to get us into the war.
Trump responds saying he is a businessman and self-funded, and that all he has tonight in the audience is his wife and son. (Cheers) He says he gets along with everyone, but the war in Iraq was a big fat mistake. He complains when Jeb Bush announced his candidacy for President, he was asked if the war in Iraq should have been fought, and that it took him five days to respond and say it was mistake, it wasn’t a mistake, finally deciding it was a mistake. Trump says the war in Iraq cost two trillion dollars, thousands of lives and we don’t even have it. Iran is taking over Iraq with the second largest oil reserves. So George Bush made a mistake. We can make mistakes, “but that one was a beauty.” We should have been in Iraq. We have destabilized the Middle East.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush tries to get in saying it’s his turn. Trump gets in one last liberal mantra and belief despite evidence to the contrary, and says, “They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none. And they knew they were none.” (Booing)
The moderator agrees when a member of the debate’s brother is named he can rebut – Bush says he should be able to five or six times then.
Jeb Bush says, “Here’s the deal. I’m sick and tired of Barack Obama blaming my brother for all the problems that he’s had.” (Applause and cheering) He says he doesn’t care about what Trump says about him, its blood sport to him and he’s happy he enjoys it. “But I am sick and tired of him going after my family. My Dad is the greatest man alive in my mind. (Cheering and Applause) While Donald Trump was building a reality TV Show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe. I’m proud of what he did. (Cheering and applause)
Trump interjects the World Trade Center came down…more bantering between the two with the audience booing Trump and Jeb concluding this isn’t about my family or his family but who South Carolina families that need a Commander In Chief who can lead.
Kasich joins in and says in regards to the in-fighting on stage, “This is just crazy. This is just nuts.” He continues with his thoughts on foreign policy andstates that Colin Powell, who is one of our most distinguished Generals in modern times thought there were weapons of mass destruction there. (Applause) Kasich says he doesn’t believe the U.S. should involve itself in civil wars and reminds viewers he served on the defense committee for 18 years and was called to the Pentagon by defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on 9/11 to deal with serious problems we were facing. He summed up saying we should not be the policeman of the world, but when we go, we mean business, do our job, and tell our soldiers once they’ve done their job to come home.
Marco Rubio with another great statement this debate states, “I thank God on behalf of my family, George W. Bush was President of the United States on 9/11 and not Al Gore.” (Cheering and applause) He said President Bush kept us safe, and not only did he keep us safe, no matter what you want to say about weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein was in violation of the U.N. resolutions, in open violation, and the world wouldn’t do anything about it. George W. Bush enforced what the international community refused to do, and again he kept us safe. I am forever grateful for this.
Trump continues with blaming Bush in another burst. “How did he keep us safe with the World Trade Center? (Cheers and applause) I lost hundreds of friends. The World Trade Center came down under his reign. He kept us safe? That’s not safe.”
Rubio rebuts and says, “The World Trade Center came down because (President) Bill Clinton didn’t kill Osama Bin Laden when he had the chance.” (Cheers)
Jeb Bush rescinds his invitation to Donald Trump to be a guest at the rally Monday. Trump doesn’t care and says he doesn’t want to go.
Dr. Carson is asked if he’s too nice to be tough on terrorists and about his calling on the loosening the rules of engagement for the military which could lead to more civilian casualties.
Carson says he wasn’t particularly in favor of Iraq because he’s studied the Middle East and their countries are run by dictators and have been for thousands of years. And when you go in and remove one of them, you’re going to have chaos. “We were able to stabilize the situation. It’s the current administration that turned tail and ran and destabilized the situation.” (Cheers and applause)
Carson says in terms of the rules of engagement, “Obama’s said we shouldn’t bomb tanks because there may be people in there or the environment might be hurt. That’s just asinine thinking.” He suggests we have to be able to assess what is acceptable and what is not.
Before cutting to commercials, a quick and heated exchange followed but all were good points:
Donald Trump: “The Iran deal, it’s one of the worst deals I’ve ever seen negotiated in my entire life. It’s a disgrace.” Senator Marco Rubio adds, “The constitution is not a living and breathing document. It is to be interpreted as originally meant.” Governor Jeb Bush: “We need to destroy ISIS and dispose of Assad.”
Governor Kasich and Jeb Bush then get into a banter about their policies on Medicaid and large government. Bush refers to the Cato Institute, the libertarian public policy research organization, who makes lists that show the standings of candidates on their voting records and/or policies and place them by rank who in their view does the best or worst, and brings up Cato has Kasich on the bottom of the list on these issues and he is on the top.
Kasich responds by first noting Medicaid grew twice as fast under former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s first term as his, and that President Ronald Reagan also expanded Medicaid five times to give people an opportunity to get a job.
Jeb Bush is asked about his proposed tax on hedge fund managers. It’s noted The Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative tax group you’re probably aware of, has said, “No Republican should be for higher taxes on capital gains.” many conservatives wonder if this proposal of yours would undermine that philosophy but undercut your projection of 4% economic growth annually under your presidency.
Bush replies: It won’t have an impact on hedge fund managers paying ordinary income. It’s not just hedge fund people but people that are doing the business of investing other people’s money. Getting capital gains treatment is not appropriate. They should be paying ordinary income. That’s their business. They’re grateful to be able to make a lot of money. We lower the rates. It’s not the end of the world that private equity people and hedge fund folks are getting capital gains treatment for the income they earn pay ordinary income like everybody else in this room. That’s not a problem at all.
What we need to do is to reform the tax code to simplify the rates to shift power away from Washington, D.C. and that’s what I did as governor of the state of Florida. $19 billion of tax cuts. Seven out of the eight years Florida led the nation in job growth.
Moderator Major Garrett: Very good. (Cheers)
Dr. Carson says in regards to the Cato Institute, Cato said he had the most pro-growth tax plan as did WSJ and it’s based on real fairness for everyone. He specifies it starts at the 150% poverty level, but even the people below that have to pay something. Everyone has to have skin in the game. (applause) He adds his plan deals with the corporate tax rate and it makes it the same for everyone else. But in terms of Medicare and Medicaid, his main goal is to get rid of Obamacare.
On immigration, Donald Trump is asked for a humane solution for those who “remain in the shadows.” Trump says, “We have no borders. People are flooding across. Five don’t have borders. We don’t have a country.”
Senator Rubio says you have to go back to 1986, after legalizing three million people and saying that was it and now they would secure the border, it didn’t happen. People lost trust in the government. They want to see the wall built, additional border agents, E-verify, and entry-exit tracking…Americans are reasonable people, but want to see who passes background checks, who pays a fine and taxes if they want a work permit. This can’t be done until illegal immigration is under control once and for all.
The panel asks Senator Ted Cruz if he would deport people. Cruz sites, “Everyone’s against illegal immigration in a Republican primary, but they don’t walk the walk. He reminds the audience of his record and says he stood with Senator Sessions and was against the Rubio/Schumer plan. Addressing Rubio’s record, Cruz says Marco supports citizenship for twelve million people here illegally, he was for in-state tuition, and on Univision, the Spanish speaking network television station, he said he would not rescind Barack Obama’s amnesty plan. (Cheering and Boos)
Rubio and Cruz got into a spat, where Rubio chided Cruz, saying I don’t know how he even knows what I said on Univision because he doesn’t even speak Spanish… Cruz replies to Rubio brazenly in Spanish to counter. Regardless, everyone knows Rubio said this on Univision because it was reported and translated after the fact. Cruz gets back on point and says without him and Jeff Sessions the bill would have passed.
Bush says somewhat amused, he has to find his inner (Governor) Christie, listening to two U.S. Senators argue over two bills that don’t pass.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said in prior debates as a fellow candidate that U.S. Senators did nothing but talk all of the time and got little done, unlike Governors who have to lead and make decisions every day.
Bush said, in regards to illegal immigrants, the reason people come here is because they’re unhappy about their countries and where they come from. They’re not all rapists like you know who said…
Trump rebuts Bush and says he never agrees with Rubio or Cruz but here he does. “Bush is so weak on illegal immigration and everyone knows it.” Bush makes a return remark. Trump tells him to go spend more money on commercials. Bush says to Trump, “It’s weak to disparage women and minorities…”
Kasich steps in and says this is the ninth debate and some of these attacks are personal. He suggests they just talk about what we’re here for. He says, in terms of his position of illegal immigration, he’s for sealing the borders, a guest-worker program, make them pay a fine for staying. It’s too hard to track eleven and a half million and get them out of their homes.
Carson adds, “Please read my immigration policy on my website because it makes sense.” He feels too many government agencies consider how much they cost. Two trillion. Twenty-four thousand per family – same money as poverty level of a family of four.
Senator Cruz asks, who’s been hurt the most? He says under Obama it’s been our most vulnerable and that we have the lowest amount of workers since 1977. Young people, Hispanics, African-Americans and single moms. Two-thirds of jobs come from small businesses. Lift the burdens on small business so you have jobs, and we need welfare reform to get people off of welfare and back to work.
Donald Trump is asked to comment on taxes in South Carolina. He responds that he does not like the idea of using Executive Orders, China bought the Chicago Stock Exchange, refers to the air conditioning business Carrier is moving to Mexico, and concludes, “We’re killing ourselves with trade pacts.”
Trump is again addressed by the panel, and is told Presidents have to be firm but flexible, and that he has been flexible on issues like Hillary Clinton and abortion, but his response is Ronald Reagan changed his mind, too. He’s asked why when he changes his mind he’s like Ronald Reagan and when Senator Cruz changes his mind on immigration, he has a huge character flaw? (laughter)
Trump agrees you have to be flexible in life, even when fighting a war because plans change. He says Ronald Reagan was a “somewhat liberal Democrat” who became a “somewhat pretty strong conservative.” He said older and wiser now, he feels he’s a “common sense conservative” because he doesn’t agree with all conservative views. He thinks people agree with him based on the response he’s getting.
Trump is asked which conservative idea does he not agree with.
Donald Trump replies these people hit me on Eminent Domain. He said he doesn’t love it but it’s strongly needed. He makes an example of Jeb Bush saying he was using eminent domain to build a parking lot, but it was going to be a small office tower that would have employed people. This was private eminent domain. He says they used private eminent domain to build a stadium in Texas.
The moderator says to Bush, he must mean your brother. Bush, says, yes, and this is something I don’t agree on with my brother. I don’t think eminent domain should be used for stadiums of parking lots for limos. Short spat between Trump and Bush again. Bush continues that he thinks eminent domain is okay for transmission line, pipelines, highways and bridges – to Trump: not to try and steal an old ladies home for a parking lot for high rollers at a failed casino. (Cheers)
Senator Cruz says flexibility is a good thing but not on core principles. He says, he likes Donald Trump, he is a good entertainer, but his policies for most of his life have been very very liberal. Cruz says most of his life he was pro-choice, supported partial-birth abortion and even now said he would keep funding for Planned Parenthood.
Trump yells at Cruz and calls him a liar, worse than Jeb Bush. He lied about taking votes from Ben Carson in Iowa, (Cheers) and today we got robo calls saying I’m not going to run in South Carolina, so to vote for Ted Cruz. He’ll say anything. He’s a nasty guy. “Now I know why he doesn’t have one endorsement from any of his colleagues.”
Cruz is asked to respond to Trump’s remarks. He says he’s surprised to see Trump defending Carson now after he called him pathological and compared him to a child molester, both of which were wrong. Trump says, he just quoted from his (Carson’s) book. The two then argue over where and when Trump said he was going to continue Planned Parenthood. Cruz says he can watch it on the video on his website. Cruz says if Donald Trump is the President of the United States he’ll support liberal’s to the Supreme Court.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush says, “Reagan didn’t tear down people like Trump, he tore down the Berlin Wall.”
Ted Cruz remarks nobody who cares about judges will vote for Donald Trump who supported Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and Jimmy Carter.
Senator Marco Rubio smartly changes topic and speaks about ending poverty and believes Governor Niki Haley would do a better job. Back to immigration, he says people want to see the wall, e-verify and enforce the law – then we’ll talk about what to do. He finished his time saying “anyone here on stage is better than what’s on the other side. We should not tear each other down.”
Dr. Carson is asked to please tell people something not politically correct. He talks about the economic collapse and how our country is nineteen trillion dollars in debt, the Feds have to keep rates low, and Sanders and Clinton think taking the rich’s money will solve everything.
To John Kasich: You’re the Democrat’s favorite Republican. Why?
Kasich says because he can grow the economy and believes in a trained workforce. Blue-collar Democrats have been left by the liberal Democrats – they see hope in me.
Donald Trump is asked who is someone why can tell him he is wrong? Donald says, “My wife.” He adds he does listen to people – experts. I’ve spent three million dollars on my campaign and Bush has spent forty-two million – special interest money.
The moderator tells Donald they wish he wouldn’t use profanity as often as he does. Donald says sometimes I use profanity…you all said I said something the other week. I did not. I’m trying not to.
Of note here, as someone who lived in Manhattan for nine years, that is just how people talk there. Maybe not as much now as the city’s been cleaned up a great deal and is only affordable to those with very high incomes for the most part – but pre-2000, every sentence spoken has a profanity in it. Just like the southerners have their expressions and lyrical twang, in New York City and its surrounding Burroughs, just about everyone swears. Everyone is so used to it, no one notices. I had to retrain myself how to speak without using profanity when I moved away.
Jeb Bush interjects for another heated interaction between the two and announces that we need a proven leader, someone who doesn’t cut and run, who’s been bankrupt four times!
Trump rebuts I have never been bankrupt four times. I never went bankrupt. Never. Let’s talk about Florida. He puts so much debt on Florida, it crashed as soon as he left as Governor. It’s my second home. He was not a good Governor.
Bush argues back while he was Governor Florida was one of only two states with a triple bond rating, that personal income was up by four percent, and they had one of the best economies.
Rubio takes a turn and gives another excellent statement in this debate, and says, “The President of the United States I grew up under was Ronald Reagan. This is the worst President of the United State we’ve had in thirty-five years. Before that, it would have been Jimmy Carter. Reagan was able to turn our country around. I hope our next President of the United States is even half of what Ronald Reagan was.”
In closing remarks, where all six candidates tried to use this last camera time and opportunity to specifically address South Carolina voters, Ohio Governor John Kasich was called on first.
Kasich gave a positive speech saying he was going to send a lot of power and influence to every town. “I believe we’re all part of the big mosaic.”
Dr. Ben Carson tells viewers “This is the first generation not expected to do better than our parents.” He talked about spiritualism and politics and how to tear down the United States based on Stalin-like policies. He reminded voters “don’t let the media pick your candidates.”
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush asked, “Who do you want sitting behind the big desk?” He promised he would unite this country around current purposes, and would not focus on polls but keeping you safe.
Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio gave a very conservative and sincere closing statement. Domestically, he warned our culture is in trouble and he believes that life begins at conception and marriage is between a man and a woman. Internationally, he observed our allies don’t trust us, and our adversary’s don’t fears us.
Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz asked if voters wanted another business as usual legislator. He proclaimed he would repeal Obamacare, abolish the IRS, establish a flat tax and secure our borders.
Businessman Donald Trump closed with his final remarks that politicians are all talk and no action. He reminded the audience that we’re nineteen trillion dollars in debt – and that they all voted for it. He surmised how as a country we don’t win with health care, ISIS, anything. Using his campaign slogan, he promised we will make America great again. He reminded South Carolinians he has no lobbyists or special interest groups contributing to his campaign. “I’m working for you, not anyone else.”
Governor Christie and Businesswoman Carly Fiorina suspend campaigns in the aftermath
Written by Juliana Simone
New Hampshire –
“Republican’s win when people are demoralized and turnout is low.”
This is the view of the twenty-somethings give or take a few years who primarily support Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who won the New Hampshire caucus with 60.4% of the votes and 15 delegates. Other statements made by Sanders in his speech after being pronounced the winner of the Democrat caucus were: “Now it’s Wall Street’s time to help the middle class” after which he rambled on for a lengthy thirty minutes reiterating his usual talking points of unfair income distribution, raising taxes on the rich, and free this and free that for all.
Ironically, what Sanders fails to see in his vision of America today, is how the people became demoralized and why now a Republican would win. As a sitting U.S. Senator, he somehow does not see Americans have slipped into this negative state of mind after seven years of President Barack H. Obama, and living with the “change” Obama promised if elected in 2008, is change they now see for the worse not the better. This Democrat President has been a virtual wrecking ball to the country most Americans know, past present and future.
Democrats will say they are not entirely to blame for the mess we’re in right now, noting correctly that the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Senate have Republican majorities, so they are equally at fault. Yes and no. Yes, the Republican leadership has frittered away its advantage by remaining lax in any effort to stop the Democrat agenda, and by failing to support any of their brave and vocal colleagues when they attempted to block bad bills and policies. But, no, Obama had his phone and his pen, as he always liked to remind the people, and when the Republicans didn’t cave, he would just push through his agenda through executive orders.
Former First Lady, New York Senator, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who expects to be the Democrat Party’s nominee no matter how well her popular challenger does, came in second to Sanders with 38% of the vote and nine delegates out of twenty four. There is a news story being reported about how the New Hampshire delegates will ultimately be awarded to Sanders and Clinton, due to super-delegates votes that move her from nine to fifteen votes. For those familiar with the state party conventions, this portion of the story won’t be new. To read more on this: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/268935-clinton-likely-to-leave-nh-with-same-number-of-delegates
Barely “winning” the preceding Iowa caucus as she and Sanders basically tied, a series of coin tosses repeatedly called in Clinton’s favor, deemed her the winner of certain precinct delegates. Heading into New Hampshire, with Sanders showing huge leads in the polls, her campaign told the media throughout the day they would be happy if she at least kept Sanders winning percentage in the single-digits.
She was trounced by Senator Sanders by 22 points – an enormous spread. Adding insult to injury, she also failed to win the women’s vote over challenger Sanders. She is expected to do better in South Carolina, the next primary on the calendar, due to what analysts say is her popularity with minorities.
Others too point out that the Clinton’s, long known as a force to be dealt with, will pull out all of the stops now to assure Hillary wins upcoming primaries and the nomination. Behind the scenes in her second attempt to become the first female President of the United States, is her email scandal which apparently is being reviewed quite seriously by the FBI owing to her breach of top secret documents and classified information meant for her-eyes-only while serving as Secretary of State. The mainstream media rarely addresses this growing scandal, and wouldn’t be heard at all were it not for talk-radio and political blogs.
General David Petraeus was forced to resign his position in an earlier case similar to this but not as severe. Petraeus received two years’ probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor crime, and paying a hundred thousand dollar fine.
What lies ahead for Hillary Clinton both in terms of her campaign which does not seem to be resonating with voters, and in terms of the email and other scandals, should keep this election season interesting in itself.
What is clear from the New Hampshire results last night, is that voters regardless of party, recognize Washington is broken, a common political phrase for years now. Both men who won big on Tuesday, are considered anti-establishment choices.
Taking the stage as the Republican Party’s winner of the caucus with 35.3%, twenty points above the second place winner, and ten delegates, businessman Donald Trump thanked New Hampshire for the support which brought him this huge win. He also thanked Democrat winner Bernie Sanders for winning on his message that ‘we’re going to give America away.’ Trump said his goal was different – in that he wants to ‘make America great again’.
Trump made it clear he wants to rebuild our military, take care of our veterans, establish strong borders where people can only enter the U.S. legally, build the wall that will keep out illegal migration, and he addressed the drug problem New Hampshire and other states are dealing with in terms of heroin addiction. Other goals Trump announced with his usual use of superlatives that resonates with his voters, were if he’s elected “Obamacare will be gone; Common Core will also be gone.” The second amendment will be upheld under his Presidency, he said. “We’ll knock the hell out of Isis,” he asserted with zeal. “We’ll take care of unemployment…” He reminded people our country is 19 trillion dollars in debt… “We don’t win as a country anymore,” he told supporters and under a Trump Presidency, using his campaign slogan, he proclaimed “We’ll make America great again!” He told everyone he loved them, thanked them and said it was now on to South Carolina for another win.
Ohio Governor John Kasich pumped some life into his otherwise floundering campaign by coming in a surprising second to Mr. Trump with 15.8% and four delegates. One source http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/soros-adviser-gave-200k-to-boost-kasich/?utm_content=bufferb13d7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=lifezette_buffer reports that a long-time associate of George Soros, Scott Bessent, was the third largest donator to Kasich contributing over two hundred thousand dollars. Kasich’s moderate stances and establishment ties make him stand out to Democrats and donor’s that contribute to both parties, as the Republican who,if elected, would be the easiest to work with – or to use democrat language, would be the most easily manipulated and influenced, unlike some of the other formidable contenders. Bessent has donated to candidates from both parties, 65% to Democrats as well as a few Republicans running in 2016, such as Jeb Bush’s Super Pac and Senator Lindsey Graham, as well as other Republicans in prior elections. But none received anywhere near the amount Kasich did this campaign.
Still, Kasich had a good ground game in New Hampshire holding the most town halls with voters in more intimate venues for Q and A, and made many appearances as a nice guy who left people feeling good about voting for him; money alone didn’t get him to second place. It will be interesting to see if this continues for him in South Carolina and Florida.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, winner of the Iowa caucus, came in third with New Hampshire voters with 11.7% and three delegates. He also is perceived to be anti-establishment even though he is a sitting Senator in Washington. But this is because he has shown himself to be one of the few elected officials in D.C. who bucks the system and goes against his party’s leadership. In the New Hampshire debate, Cruz summed up his goals if elected President: he would repeal Obamacare, establish a flat tax, and abolish the IRS. His detractors point out he may not be qualified to run for President, having been born in Canada, though his mother was American. Well-known for his debating skills, he doesn’t seem too worried about this topic when it’s been brought up in various venues.
Interestingly, Senator Cruz spent the least amount of money in New Hampshire, and was still able to earn the number three spot, showing that a candidate’s message and appeal can beat the campaign with the largest treasure chest.
It’s worth a small digression here to go over some of the amounts campaigns spent in New Hampshire, according to data given out during Rush Limbaugh’s radio show this afternoon. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush spent thirty-six million dollars and finished in fourth place, with 11.0% over Marco Rubio in fifth with 10.6%, comes out to $1,200. a vote. Governor Christie spent eighteen million and came in sixth around $850. a vote; Governor Kasich spent twelve million to come in second; Rubio spent just over $500. a vote. Trump and Cruz were the most fiscally conservative, Trump spending about $40. a vote and Cruz $20.
Early returns showed Florida Senator Marco Rubio as coming in fourth, but with final tallies recorded, he placed fifth. His mentor and fellow Florida Republican, former Governor Jeb Bush, who appeared to be in fifth until late last night, edged out his protégé after 100% of the polling places have reported today. Each received three delegates. Delegates totaled 23, and after the top five finishes no other candidates received a delegate vote.
Though the two have bantered between each other during some of the debates, it’s not clear what these New Hampshire results show other than Rubio came ahead of Bush in Iowa and behind Bush by a small margin in New Hampshire. Rubio, who gets static for his original participation as one of the ‘Gang of Eight’ immigration legislation, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) Bill, maintains he has now changed his position on this issue, and feels stricter laws need to be passed in regards to illegal immigration.
He points out Bush, in comparison, is much softer on all immigration policies and future goals for those illegally already here and those who want to immigrate to America. Bush does not deny this and steadfastly maintains his initial position that some who have gained illegal entry into the United States, should be allowed to remain here if they meet certain conditions.
Coming in sixth was New Jersey Governor Chris Christie with 7.4%, after spending more time than any other Presidential candidate here and garnering the endorsement of the states oldest newspaper; Christie hoped to do better. The Mainstream Media seemed unusually excited by his poor showing; his results were almost as big a news story last night as Trump and Sanders big wins. Remember it was the Mainstream Media who sought Christie’s demise when he first appeared in polls as being the only Republican potential Presidential candidate that would soundly beat media darling former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State Democrat Hillary Clinton. Featuring a non-story in the fall of 2013, about a bridge lane closing at commuter time in New Jersey causing traffic jams – dubbed “Bridgegate” – the Main Stream Media made this a top news story for weeks to tarnish the popular Governor’s reputation and bring his polling numbers down.
Cleared in an investigation of the scandal, Christie suffered irreparable harm from the coverage. After calls all night from the media for him to drop out, after his formal announcement suspending his campaign, high-fives must have flied around all the newsrooms across the country. Governor Christie, in his announcement said, “he has no regrets” in terms of his run and he shouldn’t – he would make a fine Attorney General if a Republican is elected this November.
Following his announcement, Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO whose story about starting out as a receptionist and working all the way up the ladder to be the CEO of one of the largest companies touched many, came in seventh with 4.1%, also announced she was suspending her campaign. She chose to do this on Facebook. In her press release, Carly said, “This campaign was always about citizenship—taking back our country from a political class that only serves the big, the powerful, the wealthy, and the well connected. Election after election, the same empty promises are made and the same poll-tested stump speeches are given, but nothing changes…. While I suspend my candidacy today, I will continue to travel this country and fight for those Americans who refuse to settle for the way things are and a status quo that no longer works for them.”
To young girls and women she said, “Do not let others define you. Do not listen to anyone who says you have to vote a certain way or for a certain candidate because you’re a woman. That is not feminism. Feminism doesn’t shut down conversations or threaten women. It is not about ideology. It is not a weapon to wield against your political opponent. A feminist is a woman who lives the life she chooses and uses all her God-given gifts. And always remember that a leader is not born, but made. Choose leadership.”
The Mainstream Media, in this instance network ABC, which the Fiorina campaign amusingly dubbed “Anybody but Carly” refused to let her partake in the New Hampshire debate. Appeals to the Republican National Party and leadership to help get her on stage apparently went unheeded. The Mainstream Media did their best to keep the only other female running for our highest political office out of view. Those who watched the preliminary debates that took place two or three hours before the prime time debates, all were impressed with Fiorina’s debating skills.
Clear on policy, always with a plan, familiar with all world leaders names and having even met with many of them when working as the CEO for HP, she stood out among her colleagues as someone who was well-researched, focused and quick on her feet. If the United States of America were to have a first-female President in our history voted into office this November, Carly Fiorina would have been a far better choice than the scandal riddled Hillary Clinton, so intent on stressing her gender in order to capture the female vote. The debates between the two women would have been enlightening entertainment and there is little doubt Carly would have run circles around Hillary. Let’s hope there is a cabinet position for this fine lady, under a Republican President.
Last, but certainly not least, in New Hampshire last night, was Dr. Ben Carson with 2.3% of the vote. The media didn’t even mention him in their analysis as results came in, which was the case with Fiorina, as well. Again, they were much more interested in calling for Christie to drop out. Dr. Ben Carson deserves way more respect than what was given him in this run. He is an amazing man with one of the most impressive stories out there in terms of making your life into all that it can be trusting in God, hard work and dedication. Carson says he’s in it until the end. Fine with me.
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