- Trump, for all his facility with manipulating the media, is at bottom an impulsive and profoundly ignorant racist bully. But the reaction from establishment Republicans is equally damning. With a few exceptions, they have squirmed and rationalized past Trump's comments. It's a portrait of a party in utter moral and intellectual freefall.
Yep. Although I think the "significant chance" might apply if we're defining significance in a very liberal way. I can't imagine Trump winning more than, say, 100-150 electoral votes, and every second McCain tolerates him the Dems chances of winning that state and other red ones become greater.It would be deeply satisfying to watch if there weren't a significant chance that Trump could actually win.
The interesting question is what tack the democrats should take. If I were a political strategist I'd probably advise them to take the safe route and seize the center. The DNC was awash in flag waving, pro-military BS, so I guess what they're choosing to do is to co-opt the centrists who might normally vote GOP. On the other hand, I wonder if they took a hard line and went Bernie style lefty if they could put a nail in the coffin of this dying party. Part of me is skeptical of co-opting republicans as a strategy, because then what you're left with when you win is a coalition that stands for nothing other then "not Trump."
I mean, we're talking about the 10-15% of the electorate that hasn't made up their mind yet. And we're talking about a more than 8:1 fundraising disparity, based on latest figures. The democrats can afford to take every tack. Especially when you consider that the Trump campaign's approach seems to be "get in the news as much as possible" and they're currently succeeding admirably. It remains to be seen if the wind has shifted from "look at this outrageous thing that maverick Trump said" to "look at this outrageous thing that jackass Trump said" but the maverick/jackass balance has been tipped, at least temporarily.
Let's hope it stays that way. What's been lost in the news cycle of the last couple days is that his only response to Bloomberg's shredding is saying that Mike's a lousy golfer. That's our presidential nominee. All insult, no policy. I think the scale has tipped to the point where he must be hurting GOP senators' reelection bids. Obviously they have the internal polling that says otherwise, but I can't imagine that will stay true forever. McCain's granddaughter broke with the party. She's not exactly an insider, but that's getting closer. At least one Congressman, albeit a retiring one, tore him apart and admitted he's voting Clinton. I'm really looking forward to Hillary shredding him in a debate (that he tried to get out of by saying that they scheduled them against the NFL; can you imagine a president no showing to an emergency National Security Council meeting because Monday Night Football is almost on?)....the maverick/jackass balance has been tipped, at least temporarily.
I'm hearing that a lot of active and prior service military people are pissed. I think I even read that the VFW and other military organizations have openly supported the Kahn family. I could very easily see Trump in particular and the Republican party in general lose votes over this.
Donald J Trump 725 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10022 Mr. Trump, We are all Gold Star Families, who have lost those we love the most in war. Ours is a sacrifice you will never know. Ours is a sacrifice we would never want you to know. Your recent comments regarding the Khan family were repugnant, and personally offensive to us. When you question a mother's pain, by implying that her religion, not her grief, kept her from addressing an arena of people, you are attacking us. When you say your job building buildings is akin to our sacrifice, you are attacking our sacrifice. You are not just attacking us, you are cheapening the sacrifice made by those we lost. You are minimizing the risk our service members make for all of us. This goes beyond politics. It is about a sense of decency. That kind decency you mock as "political correctness." We feel we must speak out and demand you apologize to the Khans, to all Gold Star families, and to all Americans for your offensive, and frankly anti-American, comments. We hope you will hear us. Sincerely, Diane and Neil Santoriello, Mother and Father of 1LT Neil Santoriello, KIA, Iraq Summer Lipford-Mickelson, Mother, Frederick Sirko, Father, Kirby Mickelson, Stepfather, Laura Sirko Samimy and Bridget Sirko Gentle, Sisters of PFC Steven Sirko, KIA, Iraq. Sue and Randy Loudon, Mother and Father of 2ndLt. Christopher Loudon, KIA, Iraq Melanie House, Widow of HM3 John Daniel House, KIA, Iraq Derek and Lorene Davey, Mother and Father of Cpl. Seamus M. Davey, KIA, Iraq Celeste Zappala, Mother of SGT. Sherwood Baker, KIA, Iraq Sue Niederer, Mother of 2LT Seth Dvorin, KIA, Iraq Fulvio and Gilda Carbonaro, Father and Mother of Sgt. Alessandro Carbonaro, KIA, Iraq Karen Meredith, Mother of 1LT Ken Ballard, KIA, Iraq Sergio Torres, Father, Lupe Torres, Mother and Beatriz Saldivar, Aunt of SGT Daniel Torres, KIA, Iraq MG (Ret.) Paul D. Eaton, and Frank Eaton, sons of Col. Norman Eaton, KIA, Vietnam Stephanie Fisher, mother of SSG Thomas Fogarty, KIA Afghanistan Norma and Oscar Aviles, parents of Lcpl. Andrew J. Aviles, KIA Iraq Cheryl Lankford, widow of CSM Jonathan"Miles"Lankford Sr., KIAIraq Carlos and Melida Arredondo Father & Step-Mother to Lcpl. Alexander Arredondo, KIA, Iraq Florence Sandra Penn , sister of 1 LT Charles Penn Jr , KIA Korea Nadia McCaffrey, mother of SGT Patrick McCaffrey, KIA Iraq Xiomara Mena, Mother of CPL Andy D Anderson KIA, Iraq Annette Pritchard, Aunt of PFC William Ramirez, KIA Iraq Paula Davis, Mother of PFC Justin R. Davis , KIA Afghanistan Nooshin Razani, Sister of SPC Omead Razani, KIA Iraq Christina and James Ayube, Mother and Father of Sgt James Anthony Ayube II, KIA Afghanistan Keavin Duffy, Brother of SGT Shane Duffy KIA Iraq Tracy Miller, Mother of Cpl. Nicholas Lee Ziolkowski, KIA , Iraq Pam Baragona, Sister and Dominic and Vilma Baragona, Parents of LTC. Dominic (Rocky) Baragona, Iraq Marianne Cleary, Mother of 1Lt Michael Cleary, KIA, Iraq Fernando Suarez del Solar, Father of Lcpl Jesus Suarez del Solar, KIA IraqAugust 1, 2016