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Behind closed doors with GOP elites, Trump campaign guru admits to the con

Behind closed doors with GOP elites, Trump campaign guru admits to the con

“When he’s out on the stage … he’s projecting an image that’s for that purpose”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqx3Zf-sOI8

I fully appreciate that support for Trump has become a cult of personality.

Nothing can sway those who refuse to see that Trump is conning them. He doesn’t respect you. He doesn’t like you. He is manipulating you to get what he wants.

It’s all a show.

And his new convention manager (and de facto campaign manager) Paul Manafort just admitted to the con in a closed door meeting with the RNC. The Associated Press obtained a recording, and reports, Trump team tells GOP he has been ‘projecting an image’ (emphasis added):

Trump’s newly hired senior aide, Paul Manafort, made the case to Republican National Committee members that Trump has two personalities: one in private and one onstage.

When he’s out on the stage, when he’s talking about the kinds of things he’s talking about on the stump, he’s projecting an image that’s for that purpose,” Manafort said in a private briefing.

“You’ll start to see more depth of the person, the real person. You’ll see a real different guy,” he said.

The Associated Press obtained a recording of the closed-door exchange.

“He gets it,” Manafort said of Trump’s need to moderate his personality. “The part that he’s been playing is evolving into the part that now you’ve been expecting, but he wasn’t ready for, because he had first to complete the first phase. The negatives will come down. The image is going to change.”

The message was welcomed by some party officials but criticized by others who suggested it raised doubts about his authenticity.

“He’s trying to moderate. He’s getting better,” said Ben Carson, a Trump ally who was part of the GOP’s front-runner’s RNC outreach team.

While Trump’s top advisers were promising Republican leaders that the GOP front-runner would moderate his message, the candidate was telling voters he wasn’t ready to act presidential.

“I just don’t know if I want to do it yet,” Trump said during a raucous rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Thursday that was frequently interrupted by protesters.

“At some point, I’m going to be so presidential that you people will be so bored,” he said, predicting that the size of his crowds would dwindle if he dialed back his rhetoric.

Trump is playing his core supporters, knows he can’t win a national election with his current message, and is planning to change characters mid-play to soothe the GOP elites he rails against to get you worked up.

This reminds me of how Trump once bragged that when a rally was not going well, he’d start screaming about the wall to get the crowd going:

“You know, if it gets a little boring, if I see people starting to sort of, maybe thinking about leaving, I can sort of tell the audience, I just say, ‘We will build the wall!’ and they go nuts.”

As if sucking up to the GOP elites in private wasn’t enough, he’s loading up on lobbyists and Republican insider operatives to run his campaign, including Manafort:

Manafort has made a decades-long career drifting between GOP presidential politics and lucrative lobbying and consulting work. The firm he helped found developed a niche representing a roster of controversial international clients that has been described as “the torturers’ lobby.” Clients included Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko, Angolan guerrilla Jonas Savimbi, a group accused of being a front for Pakistani intelligence, and — most recently — ousted Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. In fact, the last time Manafort was intricately involved in a presidential campaign was Bob Dole’s unsuccessful 1996 bid, and he has been largely absent from GOP politics and Washington for years.

Those of us who are not blinded by the light have tried to warn you.

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Comments

Gullible? obama elected then re-elected?

It takes a huge amount of gullibility or willful self-delusion to see Trump as a reliable champion of any values or principles aside from his own self-interest.

He’s given us plenty of reason to distrust him, but the Trumpistas resolutely avert their eyes. The will to believe in their superhero is stronger than their brains.

When he said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any voters, he wasn’t just boasting. He was observing that his fans are severely lacking in ethical and rational judgment. And his fans just said “He’s right! We really are gullible rubes!”

    conservative tarheel in reply to Radegunda. | April 21, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    He is a white “Obama”
    actually white should be in quotes
    as well since Obama is half white.
    and Trump is a Dem, gone in to
    cause havoc, and throw the election
    to the Dems. I wonder what Hillary
    promised him.

And Cruz is a straight shooter?

Or is his outsider status an act, fueled by ambition and opportunism?

Looking at the insider way he plays the political game, and his past and current connections, maybe his supporters are “blinded by the light” no less, despite warnings.

    The problem with this “insider” argument Trump supporters are making is that Trump may not be an insider, but he’s who the insiders pander to.

      UK Transplant in reply to malclave. | April 22, 2016 at 8:52 am

      Excuse me, but I believe the insiders have been on Cruz’ team now for a while. I don’t believe Jeb and Neil Bush have been financing Donald Trump.

    If Cruz were such an insider, he would have had the whole “establishment” lined up behind him long ago. You’re ignoring the plain fact that many in the Senate dislike him precisely because he actually did what he told the voters he would do.

    The reason he’s “playing the game” regarding delegates is because he studied the rules and got a competent team together and had them on the ground many months ago. Trump didn’t want to bother. He just wanted to soak up the adoration of crowds and then immediately get back on his jet.

    Cruz hasn’t changed his policy views every couple of days, or within the same interview. Trump has.

    Cruz doesn’t have a pattern of making patently absurd statements, like “I lost hundreds of friends on 9/11” (but can’t name one).

    Cruz won’t deny saying something that’s on tape from a couple of days earlier. Trump has.

    I don’t see Cruz as a demigod or a superhero. But he is vastly smarter and better informed and more conscientious and more consistent and more decent than Trump. Anyone who thinks the opposite really is blind.

      Well stated

      Yet he was an insider par excellence, was he not?

      Or is he beyond doing what he believes will get him elected?

      And are his supporters immune from being fooled?

      To act like only Trump supporters are subject to be blinded, to me, is nonsense.

      Aside from the fact that many who actually listen to Trump are fully aware of what his message is.

      And just as a candidate’s followers will tend to see the best, opponents will see the worst.

      Are any of them truly on the mark, or “blinded by the light” that reinforces their preexisting beliefs.

      Barry in reply to Radegunda. | April 22, 2016 at 10:35 pm

      “If Cruz were such an insider,”

      Oh, he’s an insider. The other insiders just don’t like him. Like you, for example. You don’t like cruz and never give him an iota of support, except to use him to stop trump.

      Who is your candidate again?

      That’s right, you will not tell us.

“You’ll start to see more depth of the person, the real person. You’ll see a real different guy,” he said.

I don’t think that’s ever been in question… we’re not Bernie supporters who feel threatened by little girls playing hopscotch.

The problem, IMO, is twofold:

1. It’s long past time, at this point, to drop the charade so we can see “the real person”.

2. I have no idea if “the real person” is someone with whom I share any positions. Granted he’s not as far left as Sanders… what differentiates him from Clinton?

    Acadgrad81 in reply to malclave. | April 21, 2016 at 11:01 pm

    Hillary’s handlers tried to sell a strategy a few months ago of rolling out a “new” (likable? personable? down-to-Earth?) Hillary, like an auto manufacturer unveiling a new model in the fall. A leopard cannot change its spots and anyone R or D running for office who thinks he or she in fact can change his/her spots is a fraud. It’s easy to envision Mr. Haney on Green Acres coming up with some other “new” product to foist on Mr. Douglas. Sadly, at least half of this goofy country is just as many posters have said -gullible- and the twice-elected incumbent is living proof. Don’t walk, RUN the other way from this shallow charlatan.

This is a surprise? Trump became what he had to become to tap into the anti-establishment feeling among the rank and file Republican electorate. I believe that I mentioned that was part of his strategy. At this point in his campaign, he is running against the Republican establishment before the Republican electorate. If he secures the nomination, he will then run against Hillary Clinton and the liberal Democrat party. This does not mean that his message will change, only that his delivery will.

Trump can not win the Presidency, in a two candidate race, unless he holds HIS constituency and picks up a significant portion of the Independent electorate. Some of these independents are former Republicans. Some are former Democrats. Some are libertarians and some are people with a single issue agenda. So, he will have to appeal to people who want more than just to “stick it to the man [aka the GOPe]”. So, his delivery will change and his message may moderate a little bit. Just as Democrats run as fire-breathing liberals, in that party’s primary, then run as a moderate in the general election, so will Trump moderate his rhetoric for the general election. And, because he needs the support of the Republican party during the general election campaign, he is signalling, to the leadership of the Republican Party, that his rhetorical style will change during that campaign. However, we have seen no indication that Trump’s basic policy positions are going to change. We will have to see what happens if he wins the nomination.

    However, we have seen no indication that Trump’s basic policy positions are going to change. We will have to see what happens if he wins the nomination.

    Yep that is the key.

    Trump really has Cruz and the Cruzettes all worked up. The Cruz campaign has been mathematically eliminated and they are all raging at the dying of their light.

    In their rage at the prospective loss of their pure angel and hampered by their collective failure to understand the issues that really matter in this campaign they are flailing around desperate to throw everything and anything against the wall to see if tgey can finally get something to stick.

    They don’t have the clarity and objectivity of thought to admit to themselves that they have been beaten by a better message for this time and beaten by a better messenger. So they invent theories and analyses that reinforce their beliefs that they are the smart ones and everyone else has been conned.

    Eventually the professor and the cruzettes will move past the anger stage into bargaining (cruz could be vp) to depression (wistful thinking of what might have been) to acceptance (best efforts to elect Trump so someday vp Cruz the pure can get his turn)

Trooper York | April 21, 2016 at 9:46 pm

Establishment insider hired to co-opt establishment and stifle resistance tells GOPe what they want to hear.

Dog bites man.

Film at eleven.

Umm, this is supposed to be news?

A politician’s public persona is mostly a show?

Yeah, that’s true for Trump, and for Hillary, and for Cruz, and for essentially every politician ever.

Why is this a surprise to *anyone*. It’s always been “a show” – all of them. Well, maybe not Bernie…

LOL, professor, I have a great deal of respect for you and the work you do.

You could substitute “cruz” for “trump” in what you wrote and be on the mark just as well.

They are politicians, all of them. Trump is the only one that agrees with and holds the positions of the average American. He’s the American candidate.

    Henry Hawkins in reply to Barry. | April 21, 2016 at 10:04 pm

    “You could substitute “cruz” for “trump” in what you wrote and be on the mark just as well.”

    Gee, Barry, did Cruz’s campaign manager admit on tape to the RNC leadership that Cruz is purposely duping his entire base, just telling them what they want to hear?

    Vote for Trump! He’s the American candidate. Sure, he’s lying, but they all lie, so vote for my guy!

      “Gee, Barry, did Cruz’s campaign manager admit on tape to the RNC leadership that Cruz is purposely duping his entire base, just telling them what they want to hear?”

      No, nor did I insinuate he did. Trumps campaign manager did not say that either. You just make up what makes you feel superior.

      “Vote for Trump! He’s the American candidate. Sure, he’s lying, but they all lie, so vote for my guy!”

      Are you suggesting some politicians don’t lie? Cruz for example?
      We both know that is false. So, we pick the lesser of the evils. Or don’t vote. Your choice. I voted for the only American running, and will vote the same again in the general election.

    Radegunda in reply to Barry. | April 21, 2016 at 10:40 pm

    Cruz espouses essentially the same principles and policy views he has held for decades. Allen Dershowitz will vouch for that.

    Trump has expressed a variety of views on practically everything and changed his party registration several times. Apparently he had never voted in a Republican primary before he voted for himself and declared that New Yorkers were thereby honored.

    Trump did a 180 on immigration shortly before running for president. All he had to do was say “I’ll build a wall,” and as he pointed out, people “go nuts” and they imagine that he’s a rock-solid border hawk, unlike the guy who actually did something to stop amnesty when Trump was openly favoring it.

    Anyone who can’t see that Cruz is incomparably more consistent than Trump is delusional.

    Radegunda in reply to Barry. | April 21, 2016 at 10:44 pm

    I’ve heard from people I trust that Cruz in private is the same as Cruz in public.

    Some Trump supporters, OTOH, have said that Trump is really very different in private, by which they basically mean he’s not as awful as he seems. Remember Carson saying “There are two Donald Trumps” — like that’s a good thing.

    malclave in reply to Barry. | April 21, 2016 at 10:46 pm

    Trump is the only one that agrees with and holds the positions of the average American.

    What are you basing that on? I have no idea WHAT Trump believes. There’s at least some sense from everyone else.

      Acadgrad81 in reply to malclave. | April 21, 2016 at 10:53 pm

      Trump has seen the incumbent (p)resident do these things so well and with no competence to hold the office. Philosophies of these two could apparently be exchanged and no one would perceive a difference.

    Radegunda in reply to Barry. | April 21, 2016 at 11:20 pm

    What happened to “He’s not a politician!”? For months, his fans have been saying that’s the main reason, a self-sufficient reason, to vote for him. It was supposed to mean he’s more honest than all the others, and that he would govern with the purest selfless altruism.

    Now that he’s “a politician” after all, the only thing left is that he tells you what you want to hear — except when he turns around and says the opposite. There is no good reason to think his campaign rhetoric is sincere, and plenty of reason not to.

good enough morgan | April 21, 2016 at 10:02 pm

Except that we don’t really know what positions he holds, which makes it hard to see whether he’s the American candidate. Or whether that’s what he’s been playing on a reality show.

    A few times when he is answering questions he is not prepared for, you can see which positions he holds because he hasn’t prepared an answer and is not smart enough to think on his feet to make one right away. And, in those moment, you see the true leftist under the facade of “right now I am catering to Republicans” candidate.

Reagan: Mr. Gorbachev, Tear down that wall!

Trump: North Carolina, Tear down that bathroom wall!

How humiliating it must be to awake every day obliged to adopt a new betrayal. What a bunch of dupes. Fleas they are.

Henry Hawkins | April 21, 2016 at 10:12 pm

This is Trump exposed. He’s also moving to the center under his new campaign manager’s direction. Trump just gave away at least NC by supporting the “rights” of the LGBT to enter the bathrooms and showers of their choice here. Expect that to get walked back tomorrow when somebody explains to Trump that’s not populist conservatism. It’s Trump real position, but uttered without permission and will have to be re-explained as a verbal typo, contextual issue, or maybe as an attack by the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy robbing him of the nomination. Yes, Trump does sound identical to Hillary a good deal of the time. The lying at their cores makes it so.

“I just say, ‘We will build the wall!’ and they go nuts.”

Yes indeed, they did go nuts, by the millions. But many of them were nuts to begin with.

Well, d’uh.

I seem to recall that someone with a novelty handle much like mine said exactly this months ago, when LI started to go all anti-Trump-bonkers. And there was something about Trump playing chess while everyone else is still reading the instructions on the bottom of the box. That was masked for a while by the chortling of the TDS crowd when they thought that dumb ol’ Trump, who’s obviously too dense to figure these crafty political maneuvers out, was having his pockets picked clean of delegates by that clever dick, Saint Cruz. Well, maybe Trump’s not as dumb as you’ve been hoping. In fact, you have absolutely no idea what Trump’s capabilities are. You see only what he wants you to see—another bloody obvious thing which was pointed out months ago.

So, is Trump a force for good, or evil? You haven’t a clue. All you really know is that he’s a force, and one which you’ve spectacularly underestimated right from the beginning.

I’m sure your Voices have told you that Trump is unadulterated evil. But imaginary messages from the Empyrean don’t determine reality.

    Radegunda in reply to tom swift. | April 21, 2016 at 10:55 pm

    Our eyes and ears and brains are telling us that Trump is an immature, self-serving narcissist; that he’s far from reliable on any principle; that he has no settled views on policy and governance; that he lies routinely and transparently; that he bullies people and threatens violence to get his way; that he admires dictators; that he doesn’t know much about policy issues or the Constitution and is too arrogant to think he needs to study anything.

    That isn’t saying he’s “unadulterated evil.” But there’s quite a lot of distance between “unadulterated evil” and “good presidential material.” And Trump is nowhere near the latter.

      Ragspierre in reply to Radegunda. | April 21, 2016 at 11:57 pm

      Yeeeup.

      What he mostly is is a very dangerous sick, scared little boy.

      When you understand that, you understand how he reacts to the world, and especially criticism of even his “people”. Any attack threatens a very fragile ego.

      This is why narcissist tend to see the world in “friends/enemies” terms.

    Zachary in reply to tom swift. | April 21, 2016 at 11:04 pm

    Psst. Your superiority complex is showing.

    My we’ve all been outsmarted.

    So you think the fact that he is a pathological liar is a good thing? God help you, and us. How utterly pathetic. And I thought it couldn’t get any worse than Barry Soetero.

So Trump and his inner circle are openly laughing at how easily the marks have swallowed the con? Goes to show you how un-serious these pricks have been all along. I quit laughing at his marks awhile back as funny transitioned to sad, then to painfully pathetic. Trump is just playing a part for the pissants in the cheap seats? Only his fellow elites get to meet the “real” Donald? Hard to believe so many people want this fraud to run the country.

William Jacobson you are not of the body!

You attacked the Body. You have heard the Word and disobeyed. You will be absorbed. 

You will be absorbed. The Good is all. Trump is gentle. You will come. 

It is the law. You must come. 

It is clear that you simply did not understand. I will re-phrase. You are ordered to accompany us to the absorption chambers. 
 
Out of order. You will obey. It is the word of Trump. 

You cannot. It is Trump. 

I don’t agree with the conclusions drawn in the post.
I can understand how they were drawn from a perspective of distrust.

Trump projects a rough and ready fighter in a gladiatorial arena totally foreign to him, heretofore.

This is not Don’s true nature. It is a side he can bring to bear when circumstances call.

The children he has fostered are not those of a ill-intended scoundrel.

That theory simply goes lacking…

Ummm…

Told you. Didn’t I tell you?

All is proceeding as I have foreseen…

(Rubs hands together, laughing manically)

    But it is, Rags.

    I have left a twitter trail a mile wide and a mile deep from the beginning when Cruz, then Trump, began their respective campaigns.

    I wrote often and early there was a triad. That transferred over to my favorite blog, Legal Insurrection, tracking in time with tweets.

    Sarah Palin & Cruz & Trump

    Predicted and supported both Cruz & Trump to wash out all establishment squishes from the race so that only they stood together at the top.

    I had to pick a 1st & 2nd… the same two I started with.

      Ragspierre in reply to VotingFemale. | April 22, 2016 at 7:47 am

      Oh, WHAT a load of BS!

      You must think you’re the Queen Of Gaslighting, or you’re completely insane.

      You’ve never fooled me for an instant, you daft old LYING Collectivist T-rump sucker. You’ve PLAYED a equable role a few times, but you’ve been a T-rump sucker all along.

        My tweeting and comment record is there for anyone to verify.

        You can say whatever you can dream up and it changes nothing because you are a provable liar.

        You are insane, Rags. That’s right, I’m calling you an insane liar; a provable lying liar of the highest liar magnitude.

        Lie away lying liar.

    MikeInCA in reply to Ragspierre. | April 22, 2016 at 5:36 am

    All is proceeding as I have foreseen…

    Must you steal from Instapundit?

    Try to have an original thought. Just one time.

Some of us have nothing to lose. I’ve spent my adult life living in your worlds. You’ve gone decade after decade building a comfortable life while the other world all around you deteriorated and you ignored it. You blame the people of that world for their condition when they didn’t have the advantages you enjoyed. You told bosses what they wanted to hear, thought & expressed the herd consensus, played to that common view of the sea you all swam in.
The game is rigged to assure the results all of you strive for. Quantitative easing & trillions of electronic digital dollars create a 17000 point, welfare stock market that artificially inflates your portfolio’s. Your high end homes increase in value in communities of like peoples to yourselves, connected to the web of support interwoven between all of you ensconced within the clubs of privilege open to those like yourselves. If your taxes go up they are offset by other compensation’s elsewhere. Much is negated by deficits & borrowed money financed at negligible interest rates. To the tune of between 1/2 to 1 trillion dollars every year. Consistent raises in the debt ceiling.
The problem is entitlement spending. I agree, spending on those who feel entitled like many of you who write & comment on this site & others like it.
Now, let the choir of feigned outrage commence.

A suspension of rational and critical thinking in blind, devoted support of an elevated leader who promises he (and only he) can solve all your problems for you while everyone else is a heretic who needs to be either avoided and/or dealt with at all costs lest they threaten the promised perfect existence…

…yep, its all a straight Cult and there is absolutely no getting around it.

Because of that, wont matter what he says to them – they will always believe whatever today’s delivered word is. He is their infallible leader, he is only looking out for them, and any contradiction is merely to fool the outsiders, of course – he cant possibly be unfaithful to them, afterall!

Its beyond scary, but it is what it is and we just sadly have to ride it out until they all finally snap out of it and join the other roughly 75% of the Country that recognizes hes an absolute buffoon with nothing more than empty (and usually incoherent, as well as often contradictory) rhetoric… oh, and pray they dont go all HeavensGate, Jonestown or worse on us when reality sinks in.

I poke a stick in the ape cage, & on cue the monkeys crap in their hands & start hurling their feces. I mentally own all of you & you’re to stupid to know it.
Bunch of slip & fall ambulance chasers. Proud practitioner’s of the “legal” profession.

    Obie1 in reply to secondwind. | April 22, 2016 at 7:45 am

    Wait a second–you don’t know the difference between “to” and “too” or between plurals and possessives and we are the stupid ones?

frontrunner Donald Trump won more than 50 percent of the Hispanic vote in New York City, according to exit polls.

Analysis of the New York Times‘ vote tracker shows Trump won 61 percent in areas with at least a 50 percent Hispanic population.

“It’s an unexpected victory to many political pundits and establishment Republicans who were sure Mr. Trump would [repel] the Hispanic vote through his bombastic statements and immigration plan,” the Washington Times’ Kelly Riddell reports.

http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/04/21/donald-trump-won-hispanic-vote-new-york-city/

    malclave in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 12:52 am

    I’m not familiar with New York demographics… how does the Hispanic population break down by the family’s country of origin?

    StotheOB in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 1:39 am

    See, that article you link to is the type of nonsense, mindless propaganda you would expect from a Cult. It doesnt actually say what it claims at all, and makes gigantic leaps of logic with no supporting evidence to back it up.

    Example of the problem, for instance:
    Mr. Trump won the Soundview, Castle Hill area in the Bronx with 100 percent of the vote, according to the New York Times vote tracker. That area has a relatively diverse population, primarily consisting of blacks and Latin Americans.

    The Bronx County as a whole had only 6,316 Republican voters. Compare that to the 99,886 on the Democrat side, and then think about the 1,438,159 total population for the County

    So the Republicans got 5.9% of the vote that day, and that represented a whopping 0.44% of the population overall. Trump himself got 4261 Votes in the Bronx, which is a mere 0.29% of the total population voting for him

    Oh, an the County is 45.5% White

    …so reality indicates his 0.29% of the populations vote could have come 100% from White Voters (in fact, odds are, it probably did)

    As I said, the article is just pure trash propaganda with no facts behind it. Or in other words, the article is nearly as empty as the candidate its trying to prop up

      Take it up with the Washington Times. No matter the analysis it is abundantly clear that Trump not Cruz or Kasich got the majority of hispanics voting in the repulican primary.

        StotheOB in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 10:49 am

        Seriously, huh?

        So I showed you where the “facts” you presented actually didnt have a single meaningful “fact” behind them, and for all we know Trump got 0% Hispanics while Cruz got 99% Hispanics out of NY … to which your reply is its “abundantly clear that Trump not Cruz or Kasich got the majority of hispanics”

        Im truly at a loss of words here. I guess all I can say is yep, you sure do prove beyond doubt youre a proud, devoted member of a Cult!

    Not in the least surprised, Gary.

    We saw it in Nevada as well.

By calling the delegate-selection process “rigged,” and arguing that Colorado had an election without voters, Trump turned a loss into a victory. Why? Because he put Cruz in the unenviable position of defending the status quo delegate-selection process.

Moreover, in attacking the delegate process, Trump was able to restore and even enhance his position as the anti-establishment outsider. The agent of change — that’s precisely what GOP voters favor.

And Trump expanded his critique into a full-blown issues platform. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, five days before the New York primary, Trump argued that the old order — the governing elite, the establishment and the special-interest donors, consultants, pollsters and pundits — are the same people who were “wrong on taxes, on the size of government, on trade, on immigration, on foreign policy.”

In very clear terms, Trump connected Cruz with exactly those establishmentarian elites, which have bred so much anger and resentment in Republicans everywhere.

Trump completely outflanked Cruz while turning a process issue into a policy issue. The more Cruz defended the delegate process, the more Trump hammered away at his new theme: Cruz is defending the elite old order. In that Wall Street Journal op-ed, Trump charged that Cruz is actually a member of the very “Washington cartel” that Cruz criticizes.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/04/22/how_trump_turned_cruz_into_the_establishment_candidate_130362.html

    StotheOB in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 1:44 am

    Hahahahaha!

    So by whining and crying like a little baby, and getting all the news agencies to point out just how incompetent his actual ground game was regarding Delegates, Trump really actually won!

    …yet another perfect sign that you might actually be in a Cult, right there, everyone

      That’s it? What you just said, Sto the Original Badass?

      Talk about having an intelligent rebuttal… yeez

      Britt just dropped a Trump-nuke on Cruz with citation.

      Hope that wasn’t your a-game.

        OB and Cruz still playing checkers.

        StotheOB in reply to VotingFemale. | April 22, 2016 at 10:57 am

        “Hes a Centrist Democrat. Who gave money to Democrats for years. He’s never been a Conservative. And…and… and thats not been a secrete to anybody” – Trumps good friend Joe Scarborough this morning

        VM, youre nothing but a mark. A poor, gullible sucker duped by a Cult into supporting someone who is doing nothing but take advantage of you.

        You know, Trump and Joe Scarborough and Mika and Cohen (another Democrat) and all these people get together often to hang out, and we all know that when they do they are literately laughing at people like yourself who are just flat out dupes being played like a fiddle

        …Its all plain as day, yet youre so devoted to your Cult you adamantly refuse to see the glaring obvious

    Ottis in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 6:10 am

    Cruz is GOPe all the way. His wife works for Goldman Sachs.

    Ragspierre in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 7:52 am

    Ah, yes, the old “brilliant loss and lie about it ploy”.

    A truly amazing LEVEL 10 suck by a cultist.

The Colorado state legislature is in the process of changing to a primary system.
Gee, I guess Trump sure played that one wrong!

Well I’m certainly shocked. Imagine a candidate “projecting an image.” Has this ever happened before in history? Sure glad I dropped by to benefit from such incisive insight.

This is really going to hit like a bombshell. Wow.

Wow.. this is just getting ridiculous. I’ve been reading LI for the longest time and respect the Professor Jacbonson’s opinion but the recent list of hit pieces on Trump are borderline juvenile… it’s beneath him and really just a bit *weird*.

What the hell is going on here?

    amwick in reply to Vince. | April 22, 2016 at 7:38 am

    The same thing that is going on in the real world. Political Earthquake, or a Tsunami, take your pick. It is human nature to pick sides, and Prof. Jacobson is doing just that. The big question is what will be left when the dust settles.

“TedCruz on Trump: “He is making fun of us right now, the American people. He thinks we’re gullible.””

Yep. That’s exactly what the Ruling Class does – condescend and exploit.

The Ruling Class is what you Trump cultists should be going after. Instead, you want to ensure that Ruling Class Trump becomes a permanent member with your veneration and your vote.

The Ruling Class cares more about upending your family values (as heard in yesterday’s Trump interview) than turning the economy in your favor.

For Ruling Class Trump (RCT) to increase his influence, his power base, his desired preferential treatment Trump has to love him some identity politic groups, as shown in the recent interview. He has already conned the economically hurting for that purpose.

Trump is using the exact same play book that the Ruling Class Dems and Republicans use to gather power unto themselves within the halls of Big Government Authority.

RCTrump does not have your best interests at heart. RCTrump has his own Ruling Class ambitions at heart.

“Nothing can sway those who refuse to see that Trump is conning them. He doesn’t respect you. He doesn’t like you. He is manipulating you to get what he wants.”

And how is that different from ANY of the others???

    Ragspierre in reply to Ottis. | April 22, 2016 at 7:59 am

    How? By quanta.

    Look at it this way…

    “Dating behavior” is real thing, and we all do it to some degree or another. It’s an effort to get someone we’re attracted to to like us.

    It can range from cleaning up and dressing a bit better than normal to complete psychopathic role-playing to hide a really dangerous personality.

    See now?

      Barry in reply to Ragspierre. | April 22, 2016 at 10:53 pm

      “See now?”

      You’re finally getting it. Cruz is hiding a dangerous personality. The thin veneer fooled many. Sunlight has the gift of exposure. Sunlight be named Trump.

      “It can range from cleaning up and dressing a bit better than normal to complete psychopathic role-playing to hide a really dangerous personality.”

holdingmynose | April 22, 2016 at 6:26 am

Prof. Jacobson I don’t think you understand that the support for Trump is not about his personality but about his message. He talks about things that ordinary Americans are concerned about: illegal immigration with an unguarded southern border, loss of American jobs, decimation of the American middle class, a bankrupt treasury, America being mocked by its enemies, our military weakened, rampant political correctness eroding our Constitutional rights.

Its not about a Conservative political agenda but about what is important to the average American.

Frankly I find your attitude condescending. Come down out of your ivory tower and spend some time with average Americans and find out what matters to them.

    Ragspierre in reply to holdingmynose. | April 22, 2016 at 8:04 am

    Read what the Prof. is trying to alert you to, dude.

    What he’s telling you is that Der Donald is playing you with his messaging.

    It isn’t real. He’s NOT sincerely interested in anything he projects to you as a good thing. It is all the most cynical boob bait for the boobs.

    That is VERY dangerous.

    Very well said holdingmynose. This is just the lates con and disinformationbcampaign from the desperate Cruz camp.

    gospace in reply to holdingmynose. | April 22, 2016 at 4:01 pm

    “He {Trump} talks about things that ordinary Americans are concerned about: illegal immigration with an unguarded southern border, loss of American jobs, decimation of the American middle class, a bankrupt treasury, America being mocked by its enemies, our military weakened, rampant political correctness eroding our Constitutional rights.”

    And except for saying he is going to have the Mexicans pay for the wall, which anyone with half a brain knows he cannot do, how does he differ on any of those issues from Cruz, who has a consistent history of votes and statements backing him up? What are his plans? How is he going to implement them? Is he going to work with a Republican house and Senate to repeal Obamacare? (Quick answer- No. He’s already said that.) Is he going to offer any proposals to overhaul the tax system? Except for his concrete plan to get Mexico to pay for a border wall, which we all know he can’t do, what are his plans?

      Barry in reply to gospace. | April 22, 2016 at 10:56 pm

      “how does he differ on any of those issues from Cruz”

      Hmm, I got it. Trump doesn’t go down to the border with a certifiable lunatic named beck, handing out goodies to illegal aliens entering our country illegally.

      Yep, that’s a difference alright.

buckeyeminuteman | April 22, 2016 at 7:35 am

While Trump is ramming his checker pieces across the board brute force style, Cruz is strategically playing chess.

Nothing can sway those who refuse to see that Trump is conning them. He doesn’t respect you. He doesn’t like you. He is manipulating you to get what he wants. Until someone(besides a legal professor) is able to actually read minds, I will believe the candid cell phone videos that show him away from the media spot light. All politicians are manipulators in sense, it is their bread and butter.

I don’t have a problem with the comments from Trump’s Campaign “guru”.

Very soon, Trump is going to have to start giving Presidential style speeches. He has hired speechwriters, he is practicing with a teleprompter, and he is transitioning to the general election.

He has always wanted his rallies to be fun, entertaining, and enjoyable. Everyone recognizes that being president very rarely gives a person an opportunity to do that. Heck, look at Obama, he was “in your face” bombastic when he was running for President. Look at his rallies. Now look at him when he addresses the nation and reporters. It’s different.

I’m not going to sit here and try to over analyze every single thing that Trump/Trump’s campaign says just to try and twist it to how I feel. One thing we should have all learned by now? Trump knows what he is doing.

    inspectorudy in reply to Mr. Izz. | April 22, 2016 at 11:56 am

    “I’m not going to sit here and try to over analyze every single thing that Trump/Trump’s campaign says just to try and twist it to how I feel. One thing we should have all learned by now? Trump knows what he is doing.”

    Mr. Izz, you are not analyzing at all!. You have shut your mind completely and are not using any judgment. Trump knows what he is doing? Wow!

    Libbylu in reply to Mr. Izz. | April 22, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    Of course not, you don’t care about any of his positions, lies or temperament. That is what trumpanzees do, support anything he says or does and deny facts right in your face. Ten minutes of vetting and you would have had the truth about him. Only difference in Hill and Donnie is he is lying the best he can about his positions but his real ones still creep out, but blinded by his cult of personality the USA’s future means nothing to you. He is the most ignorant of policy and has the worst temperament of any candidate in the USA’s history.

    Arminius in reply to Mr. Izz. | April 22, 2016 at 3:04 pm

    Yes Mr. Izz, of course Trump knows what he’s doing. He’s been doing it his whole life. He knows how to spot the suckers from a mile away and defraud them of what they have that he wants.

    In the past that’s been their money. Now it’s their votes.

The flailing, lies and distortions from Cruz and his minions are laughable and expected as the reality of their losing the nomination fight continues to sink into their psyches.

Since Trump has the same consistent winning message and Cruz cannot win based on his message and delivery. Cruz’s only chance are to try and con voters into believing that they should settle for Cruz.

It is just a pitiful variation of Cruz’s original lies and con going back to Iowa when Cruz conned voters into believing Dr. Carson had dropped out of race. Only now the Cruz con has morphed into Trump has dropped out of the race by becoming something other than whom he has always been.

Its sad and pathetic to watch otherwise good and intelligent people participating in and trying to spread this latest con job from Cruz and his disinformation propaganda campaign of dirty tricks and lies.

    StotheOB in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 11:00 am

    “Hes a Centrist Democrat. Who gave money to Democrats for years. He’s never been a Conservative. And…and… and thats not been a secrete to anybody” – Trumps good friend Joe Scarborough this morning

    …theyre laughing at you. Trump and his buddies are flat out laughing at you blindly devoted suckers!

    Youre a mark. You got played like a fiddle. It was all a con. And your response is… well, double down on devotion

    Its pitiful man

    Under Trump’s regime will we still be allowed to say: “This is the pot is calling the kettle black”?

    Poor Gary. I think he momma done dropped him on his haid.

    Prob on purpose . . .

    Arminius in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 3:06 pm

    Shorter Gary Britt: “I deserve to be lied to.”

    When you put it that way Gary, I agree.

I see Trump supporters as the passengers on the Titanic. The crew keeps trying to tell the captain that danger lurks ahead but he won’t listen. Soon the campaign will hit the iceberg and they will find themselves in the water clinging to pieces of debris wondering where all of the promises about the unsinkable ship went. The only question left is when the crash will happen.

If the campaign poise of scaring people into voting for Trump is successful and gives Trump the nomination, why would he think that such a strategy would not work in the general election? Would he not attempt to scare voters away from voting for Clinton?

The campaign is going to get more grueling. Prolonged stress will expose the true character of the candidate. Hell, we’re already doing a bunch of tea leaf readings about Hillary cracking under the stress. It is difficult to get my head around the concept of The Donald being more gracious and more reasonable as the stresses on him mount.

Connecticut Quinnipiac poll out today. Trump +20% over Kasich and +30% over Cruz.

Likely Republican primary voters give Trump 48 percent, with 28 percent for Kasich and 19 percent for Cruz. Only 5 percent are undecided, but 25 percent of those who name a candidate say they might change their mind before the April 26 primary.

    Ragspierre in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 11:28 am

    Yes. The NE Collectivist T-rump will do well in deep-blue NE Collectivist states, which will vote overwhelmingly in the general for whatever Deemocrat is nominated.

    Duh.

      Trump also won all the south and came in a strong second in Cruz’s homestate of Texas. Cruz was distant 3rd. Cruz has won 3 states only because if Romney and mormons. And won two caucuses because GOPe handex it to him

      Milwaukee in reply to Ragspierre. | April 22, 2016 at 2:34 pm

      Voters will wonder, “Why vote for a pretend liberal, like McCain, Romney, or Trump, when they can vote for a real liberal, like Barrack Hussein Obama or Hilary Rodham Clinton? Or just not vote at all?”

      Part of the reason Romney lost is a huge lack of voter turn out. People were so disenchanted with him they couldn’t bother to vote, or couldn’t hold their nose long enough.

      The United States Council of Catholic Bishops has changed their position on voting and abortion. (I don’t understand how or why they had the first position at all.) Previously they had something like ‘if a candidate says they do some bad stuff, but over all are going to be ok, that is better than somebody who is totally bad.’ Now they have said something like ‘Abortion is intrinsically evil. Any vote for any candidate who supports abortion is supporting abortion, and is evil. Don’t.’ So, given that mr. trump thinks Planned Parenthood is good for women and does great deals on body parts, I can not in good conscience vote for him.

      How about “mrt. rump”?

        Voters aren’t wondering about why to vote for Trump the reasons are plainly obvious. The cruzettes just don’t pay attention.

        Build Wall, a real wall.

        Deport Illegals

        Enforce our laws

        Bring jobs back to USA and stop stupid trade deal terms and provisions

        Rebuild our military and support our vets.

        America First in all we do and in all our policies.

        Make America Great Again.

        Its really quite simple. Only the very very smart can’t understand it.

          gmac124 in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 5:54 pm

          “Voters aren’t wondering about why to vote for Trump”

          This would be one of the few truthful statements that you have made. You just don’t realize why it is true. Let me clue you in, people months ago decided they would vote for Trump and checked out of the process, turning up to vote in a primary and going home. Many are starting to wake up and realize they were snookered. Trump turning Romney for the General will cause more bleeding from the group of people that pushed him to the nomination insuring he loses to the Democrat, whomever it is. But no worries, just keep sailing full speed ahead.

          Barry in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 11:03 pm

          “Many are starting to wake up and realize they were snookered.”

          Sure they are GMAC. That is why he continues to win, has the nomination locked up, is millions of votes ahead of cruz, and…

          His poll numbers just keep going up.

          Make up some more BS. I’m sure it will make you feel better. The left lives in the land of non reality. Try not to emulate them.

    Arminius in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 3:08 pm

    Gary Britt wants the world to know that he still has blind faith in his con man.

cristoiglesia | April 22, 2016 at 11:27 am

I think people are very confused and deceived by the Trump campaign. To some of us it is very obvious what is his plan.

I have come to believe that Trump is a Trojan Horse candidate and is still a far left wing liberal getting his kicks by pretending to be a conservative Republican and being deceitful. He only registered as a Republican a little more than two years ago just in time to enter the Presidential race. His actions and his words to most of us reveal his true attempt at deceit. I do not believe that he has suddenly had an epiphany and saw the light that the Republicans were right after all. Recently he has revealed in the debates, by accident, that he is still a far left wing liberal as he has been his entire life. He showed the hand he was holding when he said that he would be funding his own campaign. Trump is a business man and such an action is totally and completely foreign to his character. So the intelligent among us that are not deceived by his ploys and realize that his candidacy is about making money and not just spending it except to make even more money and enrich himself. Trump has made a deal with the devil which is the Democratic party that he will run as a conservative and Republican and insure that no Republican will run if he wins the nomination. If not he will run as a 3rd party candidate and divide the Republican vote to get Hillary elected. How can anyone be proud of a deceitful, lying pretender like Trump? A good number of Republican conservatives, acting out of gullibility, have believed the ruse. As a result his candidacy will insure that a Sanders or Hillary will be elected. Now, some may ask how will he profit from that scenario and it is simple, the Democrat that he helped to get elected will make sure that he is awarded with government contracts that will make him the richest man in the world. So Donald has not deceived everyone but only the gullible and no true Republican conservative will vote for him because we have followed the money and understand his practice of greed. I sickened every time I see him and his despicable lack of civility and dignity illustrates that he is one of the worst of humanity and an American intent in deceiving those that support him.
I have become convinced that He and Bill thought up this scheme to get Hillary elected during one of their regular golf games together. Obviously, after the deceit, atrocious leadership and malaise of the Obama administration it had become obvious that unless something was done that Hillary would have no chance to get elected as POTUS or any other Democrat for that matter. This was a brilliant scheme that has fooled many who do not have the ability or desire to connect the dots.

What I find very interesting, in the Republican Primary, is the extreme vitriol of many Cruz supporters. The vitriol in the personal attacks upon Trump and Trump supporters is down right scary.

I realize that Donald Trump came along and not only co-opted Rafael Cruz’s campaign strategy but made it even more effective than Cruz was able to do. I realize that the Trump phenomenon is essentially the American Political Establishment version of the French Revolution. But, the over-reaction among the “not Trump” crowd, including many Cruz supporters, is so extreme that it beginning to border on the psychotic.

Look, when a known socialist, who had been a practicing Muslim of foreign citizenship, was running for President and became President, in the middle of the Western-Islam War, people were nowhere near this deranged. After 8 years of this man’s tenure, we do not hear this level of vitriol. So, why do we hear it where Trump is concerned?

We hear it from those who realize that THEIR applecart, within the GOP, might be overturned by Trump. And, we hear it from those on the left who fear relinquishing control of their segment of the populous. After all, Congress can rein-in a President, if it chooses to do so. There are more than sufficient safeguards built into our Constitution and political system to control an elected administrator. But, there is no way to control the masses, if they “revolt”. This is the reason for the vitriol. people are scared that they will lose THEIR positions and privileges, to the common people. This is what drives politics and politicians. This is why they pay lip service to their constituent’s wishes. This is why they pander to certain groups which can foment unrest among segments of the population. And, this why group which can foment unrest, within certain segments of the population, exist. This is all about the status quo and maintaining it at any cost. For, a change in the status quo might just affect the leaders of “establishment” and the “anti-establishment” in ways that would prove detrimental to them. A popular uprising would negatively affect nearly every single established political group, including the established grievance groups. That is the source of the fear here. The peasants are revolting.

“If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell.”
–Carl Sandburg

Lots of yellin’ and poundin’ going on here, since Trump is winning hands-down over the lawyer Cruz, no matter what dirty tricks he & his Establishment cronies pull. The really sad part is, if the Dirty Tricks dept. manages to derail the Trump Train, there are two chances that Ted Cruz will get the nomination: slim and fat.

Hope this blog comes back to sanity after President Trump takes office!

    genes in reply to Eskyman. | April 22, 2016 at 1:36 pm

    Trump’s whole campaign is nothing but pounding the table and insulting everyone. There is no there there.

      Only the very very smartest and most elite and pure of the conservative republicans are able to look at the plethora of GREAT policies and objectives laid out by Mr. Trump on the political landscape and see absolutely nothing.

When is it going to sink in, Trumpanzees, that the reason Donny is sucking up to the RNC is that he knows he’s not going to get to 1237 delegates.

He’s not going to win on the first ballot and then on the second and third ballot he’s going to bleed delegates to Cruz unless the RNC steps in and rigs the convention for him.

Trump is used to paying good money to rig things in his favor. This is his first time competing in a race he can’t rig. So now he’s begging for help.

    Barry in reply to Arminius. | April 22, 2016 at 10:18 pm

    As is typical of you cultists, you have it completely backasswards.

    The GOP, having seen the failure of the using cruz to stop trump, are now sucking up to the winner. They failed, and have now decided best to be on the winning bandwagon than be completely shutout.

    There are, of course, a few holdouts. They will continue to use cruz in the failed hope it will harm trump, and at least damage trump in the general, as they would prefer shrillary.

    And cruz will do whatever the paymasters tell him to do.

    Ragspierre in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 5:06 pm

    bsNBC, huh?

    Well, that’s MAGINALLY better than you citing to Mother Jones or Talk Points Mau-maus…

    as Collectivist rags go.

Trump has two personalities, is also a double agent. Don’t forget the phone conversation he made with Clinton just before he entered the presidential race. One of Trump’s face is to “Make America Great Again”, another one is to “Make Clinton President Again”.

Rut Row,

Speaking of Trump’s path to 1237:

New Fox Polls Out Today:

Indiana

Trump +8% Trump 41% Cruz 33% If Trump wins Indiana his path to 1237 becomes almost assured and easy.

California

+27% Trump 49% Cruz 22% The biggest prize of all and Trump is up 27%. Also talk about Trump’s support ceiling. Doesn’t seem to exist now does it.

    Ragspierre in reply to Gary Britt. | April 22, 2016 at 10:15 pm

    I seem to recall a capon attempting to crow in Iowa…

    “Checkmate Trump”, it croaked.

    But Donelle got Cruzed.

      Barry in reply to Ragspierre. | April 22, 2016 at 10:23 pm

      Iowa?

      You mean, that state where the winner is never the nominee? That Iowa?

      Maybe someday (or today) you can tell your grandchildren about the great day ted won iowa.

      Iowa? Isn’t that the state Cruz won by stealing 40 Carson votes per precinct with his lies about Carson dropping out of race?

regarding the general election, Cruz, and the Cruz cult:

You cruz cultists keep telling us trump cannot beat the liberal Hillary.

You keep telling us trump is a liberal.

Cruz cannot beat the “liberal” trump, but somehow he is going to beat Hillary?

LOL.

    Ragspierre in reply to Barry. | April 22, 2016 at 10:17 pm

    The polls and the yuge distaste for Donelle T-rump are telling you that.

    Not that reality matters to a cultist…

      Barry in reply to Ragspierre. | April 22, 2016 at 10:25 pm

      “and the yuge distaste for Donelle T-rump ”

      topped by the apparently larger distaste for cruz, who is millions of votes behind trump.

      hey, but he won Iowa…

Ted Cruz Faces Backlash After Transgender Teen Ejected From Rally
Cruz’s staffers ‘grabbed’ and ‘pushed’ the teen out, reports claim.

Video at link

http://radaronline.com/videos/ted-cruz-transgender-teen-rally-backlash/

Trump is a clown and a liar.

Meanwhile, ted’s getting lessons in likeability…

“In that effort, Cruz’s campaign sees Obama as someone to emulate.”

“And when focus group participants were asked what animal best described Cruz, some said a “mosquito” or a “hornet.”

“You just want to bat it away,” one woman said.”

http://bigstory.ap.org/urn:publicid:ap.org:b7b8c7ba78ed40d5ac418317b60a92e8

It shouldn’t come as such a surprise, but it amazes me how conservatives self destruct during every election cycle. Supporters claiming their candidate is the only ‘true’ conservative… But now, the name calling and insults. It’s like dealing with liberals. The funny thing is, you don’t see Hillary supporters bashing Bernie supporters in the same way.
What the pure, true, elitist conservatives don’t understand about the Trump supporter’s point of view, they already know he’s not a true conservative! Count me as one of them. I knew it from day one. But I have my priorities straight. Economy and border security. The only candidate that was talking about it on day 1 was Trump. It’s as simple as that. Especially when the alternative is a senator. I like Cruz, but I will never vote for someone who’s job has been to compromise and bargain. Why not aim for majority leader and fix the damn senate?! Trump talks about stupid deals that are brokered against our own interests, and it’s the truth. We can build a wall, and the changes in Mexico trade policy will pay for it. Our economy is priority number one and we don’t need some politician’s dopey plan of empty promises. Why the Trump haters think Cruz or anyone else is the image of honesty seems like total ignorance.
Trump supporters have heard it all, we simply disagree with you. We need a leader. I don’t care what ‘persona’ is on stage talking at events. His success is proof of leadership.

    Well said !

    And when Trump talked about illegal immigration and building a wall last June he did so in accurate non PC terms that everyone in media and GOPe and all the democrats immediately condemned as racist. They all said and all believed his campaign was doomed for it. Only a plain spoken person who believed what he was saying would have said what Trump said. Nobody at that time in the political class believed such things would be popular. That is how we know it is what Trump truly believes. He didn’t say it because he thought it would be popular. He said it because it was the truth.

      Ragspierre in reply to Gary Britt. | April 23, 2016 at 10:28 am

      Bullshit. T-rump is a Collectivist fraud.

      Oh, and I’d be REAL interested in someone trying to explain the idea of a “conservative elite”, because that’s as close to a pure oxymoron as I can imagine.

    Ragspierre in reply to Piablo. | April 23, 2016 at 10:48 am

    “Economy and border security. The only candidate that was talking about it on day 1 was Trump.”

    This is either completely, thumpingly stupid or a deliberate lie.

    First, the idea there WAS a “day 1”. T-rump has a history that a lot of idiots insist has to be ignored in favor of “starting from zero”, or “day 1”. (Which is a Collectivist notion, btw).

    Cruz has been WORKING on the economy and immigration for YEARS, and serving the principles of the Constitution all his life.

    “I like Cruz, but I will never vote for someone who’s job has been to compromise and bargain.”

    Urm…. Who was it who CO-WROTE “The Art Of the Deal” and has promised to be a deal-maker if elected?

    That would be Mr. Establishment, the Collectivist fraud, pathological narcissist, and stinking liar, Donald J. Trump.

      Barry in reply to Ragspierre. | April 23, 2016 at 11:11 am

      “Cruz has been WORKING on the economy and immigration for YEARS…”

      Some job he has done. In favor of TPP, and hanging out on the border with the insane beck, handing out goodies to those breaking into the country.

http://victorygirlsblog.com/43402-2/#

The vet’s money is still MIA, lost somewhere in T-rump-0-verse.

Ragspierre – A couple things here. 1. Conservative Elite, defined; just like a liberal elite but supposedly espousing conservative values. So your values are what truly matter, your values are what truly defines conservatism, and anything less is “thumpingly” stupid. It’s your quickness to insult and dismiss.
2. There is indeed a “day one”. Day one is the announcement of Trumps campaign. Day one for any candidate is the announcement of their campaign. On day one, Trump called for a border between Mexico and the United States and stated Mexico would pay for it. He stated many things on day one and I will spare you the full review. The point is from “day one” Donald Trump has had the same message.

What I don’t get about you angry elitist conservatives is how you quickly you lose sight of the real mission. I honestly question whether or not some of you would rather have Hillary than Trump! Get over his stage persona. Take a step back, a deep breath, and remember the real mission here. The ultimate irony is so-called Republican conservatives getting their panties in a bunch over how “mean” Donald Trump is yet this article clearly explains the two sides to his persona. If you can get over his stage persona and listen to some of the things he talks about, do you not agree with them? Anyone thinking Cruz is going to uphold every one of his promises, show me a politician who has done that thus far.
I don’t think Donald Trump is a saint or a savior, but as a very successful businessman I think he is better than any Senator. Donald Trump has my vote.

    Ragspierre in reply to Piablo. | April 23, 2016 at 12:55 pm

    Wow. Nice T-rumpian word salad!

    I can readily see how you “think”, and why you’d be a T-rump supporter!

    My values are Conservative, and those don’t accommodate any form of “elite”, unless, of course, you count the fact that some of us are more gifted than others, like a good Collectivist, and that is “unfair”.

    Critical thinking using rational observations is not “elitist”, nor is reaching well-founded RATIONAL conclusions on those tools “getting panties in a bunch”. T-rump is a dangerous, pathological personality who is a Collectivist at his core.

    I have no patience for irrational people who come here to talk down to me or others who ARE conservatives.

    I won’t pretend any patience with stupid arguments like those you’ve made above.

    Der Donald is NOT what he has pretended. His positions are fraud. OF COURSE there are some of his POSITIONS that seem fine, until you look at the FACT the man is a liar and you cannot trust anything he’s said.

    Because it was all boob bait for the boobs. Boob.

    I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around your assertion that people on the right who don’t support Trump are “elitists.” How does that work exactly? Trump is the elite; he’s been buying and selling politicians at all levels for decades . . . sometimes for small favors (using local government muscle to support eminent domain for his limo parking lot), but favors nonetheless. He brags about it publicly, once even during a GOP debate. He’s proud to be an influence peddler; he’s proud to hold the puppet strings of the very pols you claim he will drain from the swamp. Geesh, he recently implied that he ordered Hillary and Bill Clinton to come to his wedding based on his “yuge” contributions to their political campaigns and to the Clinton Foundation. How is it a good thing that he can order a former president and a former Secretary of State to attend his private functions? That doesn’t give you pause?

    Trump has said over and over that he thinks the people who support him are stupid and that he’s playing them like a fiddle. Well, he didn’t say that, but he did tell Romney back in 2012 to run on Obama birtherism to fire up the “right wing crazies.”

    If you think for one minute that Trump respects his followers, you are not paying attention. He is not one of you; he is one of the political elite . . . not a politician until recently, but the exact sort of person who buys political favors that you all claim to hate and want to tear down. How are you planning to tear down influence peddling when you put a long-time influence peddler in the White House? “That’s just business” doesn’t cut it because that IS just business, the business of Washington D. C. that keeps influence peddlers like Trump and politicians locked in a quagmire of corruption. If you really want to put the fox in the hen house that is your right; however, don’t keep pretending that you don’t know that Trump is a man who craves power and influence, that he takes joy and great pride in owning politicians, and that he is at least as unscrupulous and untrustworthy as any GOPe leader.

      Ragspierre in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | April 23, 2016 at 1:18 pm

      …AND a history of supporting BOTH Collectivist pols AND their causes for DECADES (including BOTH Hellary AND The Clinton Foundation) PRIOR to “day 1”.

      Just this week, he’s told everyone AGAIN that…

      1. he’s all for higher taxes

      2. PLANS amnesty for illegals

      3. is OK with the LGBT agenda

      So, how ’bout we count Monday as “day 1″…???

        It’s mind-boggling to me that anyone who thinks of him or herself as a conservative would dream, in a million years, of supporting Trump.

        I get the anger, I get the blah blah blah, but I don’t get the complete sell-out of one’s principles and values to support someone who is clearly possessed of neither principles nor values.

        It’s probably getting old to make this comparison, but I truly had never seen anything like it until Obama. To see it now, the same blind faith and venomous defense, coming from our side leaves me gob-smacked. Trump’s the same narcissistic, mantra chanting moron that Obama was, and the fervent devotion of Trump’s followers is just a bit too Stepford wife for me to comprehend.

        I do wonder how many of these Trump fans were taken in by Obama . . . at least in ’08. It takes a special kind of person to be that gullible and to be so happily swept up in hype and hyperbole while willfully ignoring any facts that might shake their faith.

          Trump supporters aren’t conservative, and have no desire to be so. They are cynical burnouts who think Trump is a vehicle for revenge.

You pathetic Cruz zombies
have somehow mastered
the HIVE INSTINCT
of Scientologists and The Borg.

You can no longer distinguish between
Trump changing his STYLE
(as Manafort referenced)
and NOT his POLICIES.

    So, Kauf, you honestly believe that Trump will run around American spewing the blatant lies he spews now? If you do, you are in for a yuge surprise when Trump starts regaling the nation with how two of the primary responsibilities of federal government are education and health care and how, to the latter end, he’s all for repealing ObamaCare and replacing it with “something better, so much better.” Newsflash, that is going to be centralized (he’s been saying that since HillaryCare), it will be TrumpCare.

    He’s already hinting at where he’s going . . . if you listen.

    He’ll also be pushing for legalizing pot across the nation and be neutral on Israel, while cozying up to Putin as a like-minded, bombastic alpha male.

    He’s also stated that he supports “fair trade,” a globalist, communist social justice movement headed up by his good buddy George Soros.

    Impose his will on American businesses, unilaterally. i.e. forcing companies to make cookies (Oreo), computers (Apple), and cars (Ford) in America (seriously, he said that he intends to wield his presidential power to bully American businesses).

    Continue to allow visas for immigrants who do jobs he claims Americans won’t like pick grapes and wait tables in restaurants (yes, he said that, too).

    If all of that sounds good to you, why not just vote for Hillary? Or Bernie? Trump is more like them than he is like almost any Republican (I qualify that because of progressive Republicans like John McCain, et al.).

      Ragspierre in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | April 23, 2016 at 4:40 pm

      “He’s also stated that he supports “fair trade,” a globalist, communist social justice movement headed up by his good buddy George Soros.”

      In fairness, I don’t think that’s what Der Donald means by “fair trade”. He thinks that “fair trade” is simply “fair” by his economically moronic standards of “fairness”. Not what the “fair trade” movement means, which is that consumer nations automatically “oppress” producers in other places.

    genes in reply to Kauf Buch. | April 23, 2016 at 9:57 pm

    Trump has policies? Why can’t he ever state what they are when asked? His “policies” this week are not the same as last week, last year or last decade.
    You didn’t read what was said. Trump says what YOU want to hear, not what he believes or will do.

Well since Trump talked about how he ramps it up for his rally appearances months ago, this is not new news. It’s just another thing to twist about Trump.

I get the flailing that is going on here. The TedHeads are hanging on to the hope that the polling is wrong and that Lyin Ted will somehow make a comeback. Interesting to watch. It’s not going to change the inevitable however. After Tuesday, the calls for Ted to drop out will pick up again.

    Ragspierre in reply to PhillyGuy. | April 24, 2016 at 10:37 am

    So just who is the real Donald?

    For starters, there is no “real Trump.” There’s simply an egotist with progressive tendencies that he’ll gladly abandon along with anyone who gets in the way of his quest for self-actualization. Whether you’re his (ex) wife, employee, customer, or supporter, you’re there to serve him and his interests.

    It is never the other way around. Dare to defy that stipulation and you’re out on your ear faster than you can say “Mr. Trump.”

    Because that’s what Washington needs – another feckless old white guy who thinks he’s the center of the universe.

    You can always tell what a politician ultimately stands for based on two things: how he/she instinctively reacts when cornered, and what hills they are/aren’t willing to die on. And in recent days, Trump has made it abundantly clear he’s not dying on any of ours.

    For example:

    Higher taxes? Check.
    More debt? Check.
    More baby killing? Check.
    Creepy cross-dressing dudes sharing bathrooms with our daughters? Check.

    These are all headlines Trump has generated in just the past few days. All of them documented and linked right here so you can check them out for yourselves.

    Maybe Trump is right after all, and he’s not like the typical Republican who has let us down in the past. Unlike them, Trump isn’t waiting until after the primary or after he gets elected to sell us out. He’s doing it at this moment. Before he’s even won the primary.

    This is the part when I’m supposed to write “don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Except I don’t have to warn you about who Trump really is, for he’s shamelessly shoving it in your face in the belief that you’re too gullible and/or prideful to turn back now.

    Let those who have ears to hear, let them hear.

    – See more at: https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/04/trump-the-wolf-removes-the-sheepskin#sthash.hUKzzJEE.dpuf

    T-rump is a stinking, lying, Collectivist fraud.

    THAT is not news, either. It’s been evident for months.

    What IS news is Monofart coming out an saying it.

      conservative tarheel in reply to Ragspierre. | April 24, 2016 at 8:10 pm

      this is awesome … wish I could give u more then 1 thumps up
      and it should be published in newspapers and political blogs.
      of course put this up in lots of blogs would get u banned.