Presidential hopefuls Trump and Clinton shape up as they head for the November 8 showdown

[up2u2]

Interesting article Berkshire.

Republicans that can't stand to vote for Trump and are certainly not going to vote for a Democrat may just stay home and not bother voting at all. Democrats who wouldn't elect a Republican as a municipal dump truck driver will come out in force to make sure Trump doesn't get in.

If that happens it is a landslide to Hillary.

Who do the GOP pick for VP?

[Ulic]

The funny thing as far as I am concerned is, if the Donald looses I would put it squarely on

the GOP establishment for their Donald smear campaign, anyone but Trump campaign,

taking many things Trump says out of context headlines, all by the GOP establishment.

The problem with Trump as far as the GOP big money establishment is concerned has

nothing to do with conservative values, religion, abortion, supreme court appointments,

Obama care. It is all about influence, and making money. Weakening the EPA, easing

regulation and oversight, trade deals allowing corporations to move jobs offshore,

and then import the products back to the US duty free. The Donald has clearly come out

against this. This is truly threatening to them. The EU-US trade deal is a dead duck.

Not lame, dead. The big money GOP establishment is now truly conflicted. The Pant

Suit Queen who they have thrown s**t at for 20 years and smeared unmercifully but who

really is a military hawk, pro business, pro Wall Street moderate middle of the road

controllable candidate, or wild card uncontrollable Trump. If they don't coalesce truly and

fully behind Trump, HRC will wipe the floor with him, if the get fully behind Trump they

have a very good chance at winning. 8 years of one party is generally followed by a change.

I will continue to follow with great interest, no vote, no horse in the race, but everyone

has skin in the game in the US election as they are the gorilla in the world room.

Many shoes still to drop, (HRC indictment? Trump tax filings, is he really as rich as he

says or are we talking ego numbers)

[Linzz]

Publicus is there anyway the GOP can lose Trump?

If I had to pick the candidate the most easiest for Hillary to beat it would be Trump. No one liked Cruz. Kasich polled pretty well in a General Election so he worried me a little.

Women out (remember women don't forget. You say something like women should be punished. Your done), Hispanics out, Muslims out. Who has the Black vote at the moment Trump? Hillary?. Bernie voters are out. No way they are going to vote for Trump no matter how 'Socialist friendly' he gets.

This is good news for Dems.

Few men will vote for Hillary, despite what they say to pollsters, Hispanics don't vote and the ones that do are in Democratic States already, and there are few Muslims (thankfully) in the United States.

You've forgotten one demographic: rational, thinking people who don't want their country to fall into one catastrophe after another. They still make up the majority I think, and they will not vote for Trump.

Like these folks: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-02-29/the-die-hard-republicans-who-say-nevertrump

Even some Republicans have principles.

Yes undemocratic principles because the Rep politburo cosy positions are threatened by the people's vote.

[Linzz]

All the TVFers who said Donald Trump could not win a single primary. YOU were Wrong!!!

All the TVFers who said Donald Trump could not win over 50 percent of the vote in a primary. YOU were Wrong!!!

All the TVFers who said the Republicans would have a contested convention. YOU were Wrong.

And all the TVFers out there who still think Hillary has the slightest chance. YOU are Wrong. AGAIN.

I think you may be confusing the hope that Trump would not win a single primary etc with the prediction that he would not win a single primary.

I am no supporter of Hillary and I have never forgiven her husband for his support to repeal the Glass Stegal Act (which precipitated the banking crisis). But Trump, while very entertaining at times and sometimes hits the mark when it comes to the abandonment of the working middle class whose real income has fallen over the past couple of decades under all administrations, has no experience of high office, does not read history, is inconsistent and will be a destabilising force.

I will give you a prediction - Trump will win the election for Hilary. Never before will there be so many people voting for a candidate that they cannot stand, just to keep the other guy out of office! Old Democrats, left-wing democrats, old Republicans, followers of the Gun Lobby, libertarians and many more - all will be eating crow while they vote for Hiliary just to keep Trump out of office.

As an added bonus, here is a conspiracy theory for you - Trump never expected to get past the first few debates but he was put there to destabilise the Republicans and divide the vote so that the more sane candidates would get lost in the shuffle. No one, not even Trump himself, even hoped to win the nomination. But the real reason he ran was because he is an addict to that drug called celebrity and he was put up to it by the Clintons.

Well I was impressed with your statement about Glass Steagall but to say the Clintons are capable of installing Trump to undermine the Reps is drawing a very long bow in conspiracy theory but I like your imagination

[dunroaming]

This is very good news that Trump has got the blessing of the republican party and that it is a straight contest between the polar opposites. It will give the world an opportunity to see what the US citizens really want. I, like most people outside of the US, still find it hard to believe that Trump has achieved the backing he has but I guess it just shows that we are planets apart in such matters.

Let the circus continue...

[arjunadawn]

Yes, there are many surprises in this past year. However, with Trump gaining there are many surprises for the year ahead. Like those unfortunate who always got their lunch money stolen in the playground, the US is punked and preyed upon throughout the world. At a certain point, its impossible to defend any longer. Weakness becomes an invitation (Russia, Turkey, Syria, North Korea, Iran, DAESH, China, etc). The possibility of Trump will be used as pretext for those abroad, and at home. Abroad the goal will be to quickly solidify gains made against an Obama America and at home Americans will be 'punished' just to demonstrate how choosing Trump brings about 'bad things.'

The calculation at home will be to make Trump supporters/everyone suffer because in choosing Trump these 'bad things' are now happening (an inferior reasoning typical of Progressives). If any thinks policy and agenda will not be used as a cudgel to change people's thinking, they are dreaming. Expect a long, hot summer at home, and foreign intrigue.

[Linzz]

The problem is that if Trump wins he will get the blame for the previous years of mismanagement

[Srikcir]

Thank you Indiana Republican primary voters...

A new Rand survey finds 53% of voters surveyed say they will vote for a Democrat for president this fall while 37.9% will vote for a Republican.

Just four months ago, a similar survey found 46.7% were planning to vote for a Democrat while 43.1% would vote for a Republican.

And thank you to all the rest of the Republican voters in the primaries and the caucuses this year for delivering Donald Trump to us over on this side.

It is a Blue Wave election year across the board coming up from this point forward. Several previously safe Republican senate seats are presently tied with their D party challengers and vulnerable R senators up for reelection are running away from Trump cause he'd already been sinking their chances to win.

Btw anyone who might think Sanders would join a ticket with Trump, or that Trump would even think of it has been out in the sun and the heat too long so they should seek professional help.

A new CNN/ORC Poll shows Clinton leads Trump 54% to 41% along with some other interesting results:

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/02/politics/2016-election-poll-results-cnn-orc/

[Publicus]

Publicus is there anyway the GOP can lose Trump?

If I had to pick the candidate the most easiest for Hillary to beat it would be Trump. No one liked Cruz. Kasich polled pretty well in a General Election so he worried me a little.

Women out (remember women don't forget. You say something like women should be punished. Your done), Hispanics out, Muslims out. Who has the Black vote at the moment Trump? Hillary?. Bernie voters are out. No way they are going to vote for Trump no matter how 'Socialist friendly' he gets.

This is good news for Dems.

Publicus, is there anyway the GOP can lose Trump?

I think you mean to shake Trump off, shed Trump, dump him?

Yes, the Republican National Committee could still stop Trump at the convention because it controls the rules. The convention is the RNC's convention, exclusively and in every proprietary sense.

The Committee could for instance rule that delegates are not bound on the first ballot and that convention delegates could vote their free will. No guarantees in that tack of course.

The Committee could also suspend the rules committee itself, which is made up of delegates with the chairperson and vice-chairperson appointed by the RNC chairman. The RNC could do this itself so it alone could make all the convention rules, exclusively.

The Committee could also remove the rule that says all delegates on the convention floor vote to approve the rules of the convention. There's a lot more fun and games the RNCommittee could do, cause it owns the Party....always has. True across the isle for the Democratic National Committee as well.

But none of this will happen.

RNC Chairman Reince Preibus Blunder-Buss made it clear last night there'll be no fight(s) in Cleveland. When Preibus Twittered last night Donald Trump is the Party's presumptive nominee, he and the Committee ran up the white flag.

Each party national committee turns its convention over to the control of its respective presumptive nominee, which is nothing new. All the same, one can suspect the RNC in Washington will shadow Trump & Co fairly closely in this one and in this particular election cycle.

Edited May 4, 2016 by Publicus

[Morch]

Yes, there are many surprises in this past year. However, with Trump gaining there are many surprises for the year ahead. Like those unfortunate who always got their lunch money stolen in the playground, the US is punked and preyed upon throughout the world. At a certain point, its impossible to defend any longer. Weakness becomes an invitation (Russia, Turkey, Syria, North Korea, Iran, DAESH, China, etc). The possibility of Trump will be used as pretext for those abroad, and at home. Abroad the goal will be to quickly solidify gains made against an Obama America and at home Americans will be 'punished' just to demonstrate how choosing Trump brings about 'bad things.'

The calculation at home will be to make Trump supporters/everyone suffer because in choosing Trump these 'bad things' are now happening (an inferior reasoning typical of Progressives). If any thinks policy and agenda will not be used as a cudgel to change people's thinking, they are dreaming. Expect a long, hot summer at home, and foreign intrigue.

How Donald Trump became the Kremlin’s candidate

http://www.politico.eu/article/the-kremlin-candidate-donald-trump-us-presidential-election-2016-america-president-vladimir-putin-russia/

[Trouble]

All the comments here make me wonder if anyone has watched what has taken place. Six months ago no one would have predicted this outcome. Bernie shows that there is a lot of dissatisfaction with Hillary and establishment Democrats. Trump's place shows that there is a lot of dissatisfaction with establishment Republicans. No one can predict how this will eventually go. There is still 6 months before the election and no telling what will happen. Polls mean little and opinions can change overnight. It is going to be interesting when Trump starts in on Hillary. This is going to be a no holds barred fight. Should be interesting.

[Trouble]

Publicus is there anyway the GOP can lose Trump?

If I had to pick the candidate the most easiest for Hillary to beat it would be Trump. No one liked Cruz. Kasich polled pretty well in a General Election so he worried me a little.

Women out (remember women don't forget. You say something like women should be punished. Your done), Hispanics out, Muslims out. Who has the Black vote at the moment Trump? Hillary?. Bernie voters are out. No way they are going to vote for Trump no matter how 'Socialist friendly' he gets.

This is good news for Dems.

Few men will vote for Hillary, despite what they say to pollsters, Hispanics don't vote and the ones that do are in Democratic States already, and there are few Muslims (thankfully) in the United States.

You've forgotten one demographic: rational, thinking people who don't want their country to fall into one catastrophe after another. They still make up the majority I think, and they will not vote for Trump.

Kind of assuming you are the rational thinker, aren't you? Maybe people are just fed up with the status quo which hasn't worked out that well in the last 8 years.

[thaihome]

It is going to be a long interesting summer and fall as this campaign plays out.

In many ways there as not been such a stark difference in candidates since Johnson and Goldwater in 1964. It is the classic case of the perceived lessor of two evils. My parents were both 3rd generation [progressive ]republicans that found themselves having to vote democrat 1964. It almost killed them.

I suspect that many current republicans, particularly the college educated suburban types are going to find themselves in the same position this year.

No prediction from me at this point, too many variables and too much can happen in 7 months (maybe an indictment for Trump University?). I always thought that Trump's demagoguery would win out for the nomination. The stage has been set for that by the Conservative Entertainment Industry for 8 years now, and the RNC was more then willing to reap the benefits. Now they can pay the piper.

Luckily, the Constitution was written specifically to keep demagogues from being able to wreck to much havoc, even if they manage to win elections.

TH

Edited May 4, 2016 by thaihome

[OMGImInPattaya]

Thank you Indiana Republican primary voters...

A new Rand survey finds 53% of voters surveyed say they will vote for a Democrat for president this fall while 37.9% will vote for a Republican.

Just four months ago, a similar survey found 46.7% were planning to vote for a Democrat while 43.1% would vote for a Republican.

And thank you to all the rest of the Republican voters in the primaries and the caucuses this year for delivering Donald Trump to us over on this side.

It is a Blue Wave election year across the board coming up from this point forward. Several previously safe Republican senate seats are presently tied with their D party challengers and vulnerable R senators up for reelection are running away from Trump cause he'd already been sinking their chances to win.

Btw anyone who might think Sanders would join a ticket with Trump, or that Trump would even think of it has been out in the sun and the heat too long so they should seek professional help.

A new CNN/ORC Poll shows Clinton leads Trump 54% to 41% along with some other interesting results:

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/02/politics/2016-election-poll-results-cnn-orc/

The election isn't today though is it...we have this thing called a campaign.

Ronald Reagan was behind Carter at the start of the general campaign...I seem to recall he did pretty well. So was Clinton in his first Bush run...so I wouldn't put much stock in any of your polls.

[jomtienpattaya]

Hope Mr Trump wins as he is probably the most straightforward person for the job, all the other presidents have caused Trillions worth.of debt Wars world wide etc ? What can he do that will hurt the world

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[keemapoot]

Hope Mr Trump wins as he is probably the most straightforward person for the job, all the other presidents have caused Trillions worth.of debt Wars world wide etc ? What can he do that will hurt the world

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Reminds me of a De Niro (Sam) line from the movie Ronin:

Spence: You ever kill anybody?

Sam: I hurt somebody's feelings once.

What can he do that will hurt the world?

[jomtienpattaya]

I could be wrong and probably am but as I said what worse could be do ? Also regarding his comments regarding certain types of people coming into the USA that was so good , the word "Racist" had killed the word "freedom of speech" and he gave back the word "freedom of speech" many are against this man as he is not in anybodies pockets as he has his own wealth

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[DrTuner]

Countdown for spilling the beans on the Clintons starts now. I bet Trump lets the good stuff out in the last couple of weeks. This will be highly entertaining.

[mrwebb8825]

Publicus is there anyway the GOP can lose Trump?

If I had to pick the candidate the most easiest for Hillary to beat it would be Trump. No one liked Cruz. Kasich polled pretty well in a General Election so he worried me a little.

Women out (remember women don't forget. You say something like women should be punished. Your done), Hispanics out, Muslims out. Who has the Black vote at the moment Trump? Hillary?. Bernie voters are out. No way they are going to vote for Trump no matter how 'Socialist friendly' he gets.

This is good news for Dems.

Some of you folks are worse than Fox News: He shoots down a couple of specific women for bad mouthing him and it turns into hatred for all women. He's pushing to reduce federal aid for the baby making machine types and it turns into punishment for all women. (personally, I think the entire welfare system needs to be revamped. All people on welfare between 17-30 should be enlisted into the military to learn a trade and help the country instead of sucking it dry. Score 1 for Thailand) He says he wants to get rid of all the ILLEGAL aliens and it turns into he hates all hispanics. He wants to ban Muslims from sending terrorists to America and it turns into he hates all American-Muslims.

WAY too many people are so politically correct and don't even realize it. It's become a hard, cruel world out there and we need someone who won't take any more crap from it. This ain't the 50s and 60s any more. There are no clear cut bad guys like the "Nazies" and the "Russkies" from that bygone era.

As for Bernie; he's been an independant his entire political career so it wouldn't be unimaginable for him to either make an independent run or join Trump as VP.

To paraphrase that famous coach that has endorsed Trump: "I'm sick and tired of doing what's best for the parties. We need to come together and do what's best for the American people". I got news for some of you, HRC ain't it.