Donald Trump has clinched…
…the GOP nomination—which is not really news, is it? We’ve known this was pretty much inevitable ever since Indiana.
What a long strange trip it’s been.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton’s email troubles seem to be deepening. The weaker she becomes as a candidate, the more it is likely that (a) she will be replaced (although I’ve always said this almost certainly won’t happen, I could be wrong); or, if she is not replaced, that (b) Trump will be the victor in November. The latter possibility is one I’ve always seen as a longshot, too, with the caveat unless Clinton significantly weakens.
Which she is doing.
However, the Hillary-supporters I know (some are reluctant supporters), would never vote for Trump no matter what she was found to have done. I don’t know how typical they are, but there doesn’t seem to be anything all that unusual about them.
What a long strange trip is it likely to remain.
Strange as it seems, when I read this news this morning I also thought, pretty much first thought,
“What a long strange trip it’s been. ”
Looked up the lyrics;
“Truckin’, like the do-dah man. Once told me you’ve got to play your hand
Sometimes your cards ain’t worth a dime, if you don’t lay’em down
Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me
Other times I can barely see
Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it’s been”
Neo, have you seen Charles Murray’s article at NRO?
What’s actually really weird is that a couple of my real-life Bernie-or-bust friends have recently made statements to the effect that they may vote for Trump instead of Hillary. This is somewhat unexpected (by me at least), given the months of abuse they – as a group – have heaped on Trump and, by association, all conservatives/Republicans/people to the political right of Stalin. But it does serve to illustrate the unusual level of dislike Hillary generates in her own party.
I still suspect that the #NeverHillary crowd will go third party, independent or abstain when Hillary gets nomination, rather than vote for Trump. Remember, they’re doing the same thing over there that we’re doing over here – “no matter what, no matter how bad our candidate is, you can’t vote for the Evil Party. The fate of the universe depends on it.”
” you can’t vote for the Evil Party. The fate of the universe depends on it.””
But even if you don’t, you do. Especially when it comes to the Evil Party.
If Hillary loses California it may be a whole new ballgame.
Starring Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren!
Hrc is such a terrible candidate, her inevitabilty campaign is sputtering and I imagine many at the DNC are looking for a way out. Djt has imploded the gop for at least this election cycle, if not beyond. This might be a banner November for the Greens and Libertarians. A too long, strange trip indeed.
The announcement today that sanders and trump may debate without Clinton could be the coup de grace. Brilliant move by both candidates to eliminate her.
Biden/Warren is by far the democrat’s best ticket. A Biden/ Warren ticket picks up both Hillary and Sander’s supporters.
Democrat political strategists have to by now, know that;
If Hillary, through the superdelegates, wins the nomination, Sander’s supporters will be enraged and they will remember come November. So Hillary will not get the most dedicated of Sander’s voters and the democrats cannot risk losing the swing states, where the Sanders voters could be critical.
But Sanders can’t win the nomination, as Sanders can’t win establishment and blue collar democrats.
Nor is Hillary going to step down for him.
But if Hillary drops out after getting the nomination, for whatever the reason (criminal prosecution or presidential pardon?), Biden has “a clear shot at the title”.
‘Uncle Joe’ is the democrats only hope and, after 4 years of Biden (a party condition to back him) with Warren as VP, the Far Left positions itself for another 8 years of ‘progressive’ leadership, since America will not fire the FIRST WOMAN President.
12 more years of progressive ‘leadership’ should just about do it…
When I was a boy growing up in Massachusetts there was, IIRC, a state representative reelected while serving time in prison. Massachusetts Democrats are too mature to let minor things like that influence their vote 😉
I now rate Trump as a 20:1 underdog.
Why?
The MSM attack machine is sitting on its arsenal of venom — until Trump is consecrated the nominee.
They KNOW that the average Joe is not paying attention to any of this.
Trump’s super strength with Millennials is as bogus as the rest of the stats cranked out by tendentious polling firms.
Most pollsters hail from Leftist ranks — and just can’t stop themselves from saving America from making ‘mistakes.’
Biden/Warren, really? Do you think that Sanders supporters would stand for that? Do you think Sanders would accept that? Sanders charge that the nomination is fixed and the party corrupt would get instant validation. Hello third party.
blert:
I have never read any indications whatsoever that Trump has any strength with millennials. My understanding is that the young voters constitute his weakest group.
Paul,
Under the right conditions, I absolutely think that Sander’s supporters would support a Biden/Warren ticket. Warren is one of their ilk, yes? Biden has supported Obama right down the line, yes?
So, it comes down to a question of what conditions would be convincing and, Hillary dropping out of the race, perhaps a month after having won the nomination with Sanders insisting that he lost the nomination… that being the real price he paid to get real influence in forming the party platform… and Biden ‘reluctingly’ agreeing to be drafted… is arguably, the conditions that would result in enough of Sander’s supporters seeing their way clear to voting for a Biden-Warren ticket.
And, Hillary’s supporters get the implicit promise of a woman President sitting in the wings.
I not only think this possible, I suspect it may have been Obama’s game plan all along.
About a Joe Biden—Elizabeth Warren ticket — Warren, at least, is certainly becoming very strong in her anti-Trump rhetoric. If you haven’t seen her rant from a few days ago, it’s here: A taste:
That “What kind of man does that?” may be the winning line against Trump.
vanderleun, above, May 26th, 2016 at 2:22 pm:
My boldface. (Of course, both the Heffalumps and the Jackasses consider the other the Evil Party.)
vanderleun made the same point, including his or her reasoning, a few days ago:
http://neoneocon.com/2016/05/18/reflections-on-the-primaries-and-the-2016-election/#comment-1175045
*Which is why the parties find it important to publicize their lead-so-far, in the hope of discouraging voters for the Evil Party’s candidate.
The observation was highly pertinent and important, as I noted:
http://neoneocon.com/2016/05/18/reflections-on-the-primaries-and-the-2016-election/#comment-1174479
It is also very important to note the likely differences between the Supreme Court nominees picked by Trump and those picked by just about anybody from the Jackass Party. With the former there’s a chance he might pick one or two more-or-less Constitutionalists, even if by mistake; with the latter, almost a non-starter IMO. And the philosophies and natural bents of the Justices do make a difference. At least J. Thomas and J. Scalia couldn’t reasonably be counted as SJWS, nor as being among those who find the Constitution a “flawed document” which needs to be shredded, embalmed in amber, and salted away somewhere in some cavernous museum where nobody will ever find it, so that it can’t hurt anyone.
For these reasons, even voting LP is a bad idea for those in swing states. Your vote does matter: ALL votes matter. And as vanderleun points out, your vote matters even if you’re in guaranteed-blue or -red (if anything were ever guaranteed, that is) states, because of its effect on the balance of weight of the voting electorate.
. . .
I hope this isn’t too far off-topic. I know it’s the second or third time I’ve yammered about this, but all the garbage about “your vote doesn’t matter” “why bother” “your vote only has a 1-in-64,000,000 chance of making a difference” (as Ilya Somin is quoted as saying in an utterly ignorant piece from Cato — and I surely hope he said no such thing) is to me beyond the pale. I still think our country has a chance. I would really really really like it if we don’t make the worst of a bad deal, any number of Great And Wise Pundits to the contrary.
By the way, if I were going to vote LP (and re-thinking is still available to me for six months) I would go for Mr. Petersen.
Trump went out of his way to attack Gov. Susana Martinez in a speech in New Mexico a couple of days ago. Paul Mirengoff at Powerline sums it up this way:
There’s been more talk about Romney running third party the last several days. He and Martinez should talk — maybe a Romney-Martinez ticket could actually win.
Ann: “That “What kind of man does that?” may be the winning line against Trump.”
Trump’s response – She does it too.
Yep, Fauxcahontas is not above flipping houses for profit or charging above market rates on real estate loans. See more:
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Elizabeth-Warren-flip-foreclosed-houses/2015/05/27/id/647096/
Buying low and selling high is as American as apple pie. No real issue there.
Warren is acting as the attack dog for Hillary so Hillary can look sweet and demure. The better to act the victim of that mean bully, Trump. Warren may also be auditioning for the VP slot.
So should I leave the Republican Party now, or wait until after the convention?????
I’m not leaving. I was here before Trump, I’ll be here after Trump. Bullies don’t scare me. This thing, if it gets fixed, it’s getting fixed from the inside.
Tom,
The time is now to make a 3rd party run.
J.J….
In my estimation, Trump never touched retail house flipping.
He couldn’t possibly be bothered with it.
And because of his status — tax status — he could never achieve long term capital gains with such holdings.
{ He’s TOO ACTIVE — and would be instantly deemed a dealer in real estate – – the very same status that put Carlton Sheets on the speaking circuit. }
So, what we have, is Warren accusing Trump of her own very acts.
Indeed, Trump has LONG HELD to a strategy of NEVER touching truly distressed real estate.
By his own words, every attempt in that direction proved a bust.
His aces have always been purchasing premier properties — and upping the rents even further.
THAT’S Trump’s real estate formula.
He doesn’t know — or care to know — how to turn around real estate properties… not withstanding his oratory at the lectern.
Back when the FFs were talking about necessary evils in the new gov, I wonder if they meant that all political power was evil. Yet it was necessary for human organizations and defense from other political humans.
This is an I told you so moment… I predicted Biden/Warren 9 months ago. Next, djt is through the rules committee shot down at the convention and we get a rino ticket. (Djt is not a rino, he is just another democrat.)
Eric, we should be BFF’s!
Ymarsakar – There was no single political philosophy that everyone believed back then. St. Thomas Aquinas held that there was a proper role for government, and St. Robert Bellarmine along with him. Bellarmine framed the arguments against an all-powerful monarchy that the Enlightenment philosophers built upon. Then again, some of the Founding Fathers wanted a way more powerful theocratic government, just closer.
Buying low and selling high is as American as apple pie. No real issue there.
That’s not what Warren was referring to — it was Trump’s “rooting” for bad stuff to happen in the market that led to her “what kind of man does that” refrain.