Quote :

"Regarding that blow out win in PR for [not my guy]"

3/7/2016 9:14:29 AM

Mark Steyn filling in for Rush today currently discussing the possibility of a Trump/Cruz ticket based on current trajectory of the race - to avoid any type of convention fight. I can't imagine a bigger nightmare for McConnell and everyone at National Review.

3/7/2016 2:14:56 PM

... and also the american public

3/7/2016 2:15:41 PM

^^ you really are a loony tune if you think Trump would bring Cruz on his ticket....

3/7/2016 2:16:56 PM

^ It's Looney Tunes - plural.

3/7/2016 2:19:33 PM

I think Trump would bring on Kasich.

3/7/2016 2:43:21 PM

The real question is who would agree to join a Trump ticket. Four months of spinning one psychotic episode after another, followed by political exile on a remote island with Larry Craig. What is the upside?

3/7/2016 3:15:46 PM

The upside is being a heartbeat away from the presidency. And the boost that comes with running for president in 4-8 years after being VP. Didn't work out for Gore, and Cheney/Biden declined to run, but definitely a long history of VP's being elected.

3/7/2016 3:18:38 PM

You might have a couple of assumptions in there.

3/7/2016 3:25:00 PM

Looks like there is some talk within the Rubio campaign about dropping out before FL. Supposedly if he doesn't get the presidency he is planning on going into the private sector before returning to run for governor and it wouldn't exactly look so hot for that campaign if he lost FL to Trump. Would certainly be enormous for Cruz, I won't hold my breath though.

3/7/2016 9:21:37 PM

Libertarian debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS2Y8GYf-So

These fuckers are crazy.

3/7/2016 9:43:15 PM

^ no crazier than any Republican candidate.

3/8/2016 12:08:17 AM

Delegate count:

Trump 390 (43% of those allocated), Cruz 303, Rubio 154, Kasich 37, Carson 8, Bush 4, Paul 1, Fiorina 1, Huckabee 1, Uncommitted 7

From weekend contests:

Cruz 69, Trump 53, Rubio 41 (got all 23 in Puerto Rico), Kasich 10

Today: 150 total in Hawaii, Michigan, Mississippi, and Idaho.
Thursday: 9 in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Michigan polling: Trump 36, Cruz 23, Kasich 21, Rubio 13

3/8/2016 12:20:58 PM

Quote :

"no crazier than any Republican candidate."

No dude. I watched most of that and they were legit looney tunes...I mean one was John McAfee FFS. And "any Republican candidate" man? Come on.

3/8/2016 12:31:35 PM

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/the-republican-party-decides-to-settle/472668/

3/8/2016 12:53:59 PM

I'm rooting for Trump over the next week. We can't allow Cruz to keep chugging along...

3/8/2016 1:09:48 PM

[Edited on March 8, 2016 at 2:47 PM. Reason : .]

3/8/2016 2:45:04 PM

Quote :

"Not Found: /gmti/transmogrify/media/2016/03/04/PalmSprings/PalmSprings/635926975014861138-TDS-Edit-Cartoon-030516.jpG"

3/8/2016 2:46:04 PM

The Washington Post poll is a horror show for Trump.

Do you think Trump is honest and trustworthy? 27% yes, 69% no
Do you think Trump understands the problems of people like you? 26% yes, 72% no
Do you think Trump has the right kind of experience to be president? 26% yes, 73% no
Do you think Trump has the kind of personality and temperament it takes to serve effectively as president? 25% yes, 72% no

This is why the "establishment" is freaking out. The primary voters are about to send up a nutcase to lose the most winnable election in decades.

3/8/2016 3:14:10 PM

3/8/2016 3:25:46 PM

Quote :

"This is why the "establishment" is freaking out. The primary voters are about to send up a nutcase to lose the most winnable election in decades. "

Thank God! Otherwise we may be going into the social liberty dark ages under the Ted Cruz reign

3/8/2016 4:16:05 PM

Quote :

"Thank God! Otherwise we may be going into the social liberty dark ages under the Ted Cruz reign"

uh, er, he was talking about Drumpf.


[Edited on March 8, 2016 at 4:37 PM. Reason : and the establishment seems to be moving behind Cruz, albeit slowly ]

3/8/2016 4:36:14 PM

Cruz has come out speaking against a brokered convention saying it'd be an affront to democracy. A "close to Cruz campaign" source told a 538 journalist that was repeated in their podcast yesterday that "we know in a brokered convention they won't back us".

Boston Globe article on it that was pretty good: https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/03/07/the-republicans-last-stand-brokered-convention/uoo2Swr9RDCI2Vop9kFNrJ/story.html

There's also in the RNC rules something that was determined for the 2016 process at the 2012 Convention. A Rule 40 (which can be changed of course) but in order to be put onto the floor for a roll call vote you need the majority (not plurality but majority) of 8 delegations attending. Right now it's Trump 5, Cruz 3, Rubio 1.

[Edited on March 8, 2016 at 6:00 PM. Reason : /]

3/8/2016 5:55:29 PM

Cruz is hard right, no doubt. His tax plan would have to change for a general election. He probably needs to tamp down on the religiosity as well.

But that's more or less a policy debate. Trump is a loose cannon ignoramus whom I suspect is suffering from early dementia. The guy was nasty before and now has no filter.

If they keep il duce from winning Ohio, I bet it goes to the convention, where the delegates will have endured another four months of trumpertantrums. Then they vote for one of the other three (maybe Cruz to keep the trump rednecks in the fold and Kasich VP for the establishment wing).

3/8/2016 6:17:04 PM

I think you under-estimate the the conniving uncompromising nature of Ted Cruz. The man is ruthless, calculating, and a scoundrel. There will be no accommodating for other ideas and alternatives. Ted has proved time and time again on the senate floor that it is his way or the high way.


I prefer taking a risk of the unpredictable Trump who will likely never win the general to the greater odds of Cruz who is aligned with everything I hate about in "Conservatives"

3/8/2016 7:13:53 PM

Quote :

"This is why the "establishment" is freaking out. The primary voters are about to send up a nutcase to lose the most winnable election in decades."

I don't think it matters. Our society is becoming more and more liberal. It is only a matter of time before someone like Sanders gets in and passes all sorts of laws like free college and higher taxes that put a strain on the economy. McCain was pretty liberal and had no chance because Bush was unpopular in the end. A good republican candidate would have lost that year. I think Romney is a much better economist than Obama, but being half black made Obama popular with minorities. A lot of minorities who had never voted before went out and voted for him. He also did a great job of using Romney's success against him just like the liberals are doing with Trump. The liberals love to villainize rich people and tell all of their followers how they are going to take everything from them. Their class warfare tactic has worked great for winning votes. I don't think any election is winnable for Republicans anymore. A lot of people don't have those values anymore.

3/8/2016 7:22:15 PM

For real though, you're not a college graduate are you? Like, you aren't claiming to be an alumnus of any institution of higher education, right?

3/8/2016 8:24:00 PM

If Cruz was aligned with everything "Conservative", he wouldn't have been a one-man island in the Senate and would've gotten along with the other Republican Senators. Am I supposed to believe Mitch McConnell is not conservative?

Mississippi latest results (1%...early days blah blah blah):

Trump 51, Cruz 35, Kasich 7

Per the excellent thegreenpapers.com site, which if you're not reading you should, the threshold for receiving statewide delegates is 15%, so only Trump and Cruz will get anything here.

Michigan latest results (19%):

Trump 38, Kasich 28, Cruz 22

15% threshold here as well.

How Rubio became less credible than Kasich at this point in the game will be something for the game theorists to explore.

[Edited on March 8, 2016 at 8:57 PM. Reason : /]

3/8/2016 8:51:10 PM

The idea of Rubio dropping out before Florida seems more like a reality after today. What a fall, I wonder what would have happened if he didn't screw up the NH debate so bad.

3/8/2016 9:09:24 PM

^I agree, Christie sunk Rubio that night.

3/8/2016 9:44:59 PM

Big4 - I agree the demographics have made it more difficult to win on a small government platform. But the more conservative party does own congress, most of the state houses, and legislatures. It appears this will make three consecutive presidential elections where the primary voters have chosen poorly. McCain in his own words did not understand economics. And he was eager to invade other countries at a time when the public was tired of war. If they were going to send up Romney, 2008 would have been a better time. In 2012 he could not attack Obama on his biggest weakness (Obamacare). And now to counter a dishonest and unpopular elderly woman, they are choosing and even more dishonest and unpopular mysogynist, who also happens to be a charicature of everything Republicans have been labeled over the years. I don't understand the thought process. Maybe Obama has driven them out of their minds.

3/8/2016 10:12:37 PM

GET OUT RUBIO

3/8/2016 10:47:41 PM

Jebus this thread got dumb quick.

3/8/2016 11:32:08 PM

^^^Congress is a little different though. Some districts within a state are very conservative while others are very liberal, but overall the state may go the same direction most of the time in a presidential election. With the way our society is starting to think, I just see it being very hard for Republicans to win the White House no matter who is running against each other.

3/9/2016 12:19:05 AM

you can't gerrymander your way to the presidency.

3/9/2016 12:23:49 AM

^Exactly!

3/9/2016 12:35:42 AM

Majority minority districts also ensure more diverse membership of Congress, but also are Republicans' best friends for winning other districts in the state. There's 2 outrageous gerrymanders in N.C. that if made more normal looking would improve Democrats' chances of winning seats and would result in more moderate Republicans winning and getting nominated.

This is also nothing new. The House was solidly Democratic for 40 years until 1994 in an era when the presidency was normally Republican.

[Edited on March 9, 2016 at 11:03 AM. Reason : .]

3/9/2016 10:59:05 AM

House Republicans took 50.7% of the vote, compared to 44.9% for Democrats. They have 57% of the seats. Gerrymandering helped to some extent, but they probably would have the majority after the 2014 elections. 2012 could have gone either way.

No you can't gerrymander a presidential election. But how do you rig a statewide race? They have 54% of the senate and 62% of governorships.

My point was that, despite the broader trends, Hillary is a weak candidate. She has been losing badly to Kasich and Rubio in polling. What do Republicans do? Rally around the most absurd candidate in history.

3/9/2016 11:48:26 AM

Maybe I give him too much credit but I still think all the as shit trump says is exaggeration of his beliefs or rhetoric to appeal to the "base" and we are way better off with trump over having Ted Cruz as the supreme spiritual leader of America

3/9/2016 11:57:47 AM

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/03/09/marco_rubio_florida_polls_bad.html

mostly posting that for the dumb URL

3/9/2016 12:28:00 PM

^^ from a policy standpoint I agree with you... but Trumps rhetoric is far more dangerous.

3/9/2016 1:08:24 PM

A lot of crazy rhetoric around the world nowadays...

3/9/2016 2:00:44 PM

Quote :

"Maybe I give him too much credit but I still think all the as shit trump says is exaggeration of his beliefs or rhetoric to appeal to the "base" and we are way better off with trump over having Ted Cruz as the supreme spiritual leader of America"

I totally agree. I think he wants a wall, but you don't have to be too smart to know his comments about Mexico paying for it aren't too serious. I honestly hope he is the next president even though he is a jackass. He's the one person who I think would work with both sides in Washington. All of the others with the exception of maybe Rubio will just stick with their party. Someone needs to get in there, stir things up a little bit, and get both sides working together.

3/9/2016 4:52:29 PM

Quote :

"and get both sides working together."

This always sounds good, but to what end? Working together on what?

3/9/2016 5:03:02 PM

Governing the country?

Just a thought.

3/9/2016 5:23:48 PM

Ah, sorry, governing the country is clearly more specific than working together. Agreed then, why don't we all just work together to govern the country and hope we all agree on what that means.

3/9/2016 5:38:49 PM

Quote :

"his always sounds good, but to what end? Working together on what?"

I would hate for anyone to actually you know, bridge the partisan divide that continues to grow.....

Sometime I wonder if we would be truly better off dividing the nation. What is right for Texas will never be what's right for the west coast

3/9/2016 5:50:28 PM

Quote :

"Ah, sorry, governing the country is clearly more specific than working together. Agreed then, why don't we all just work together to govern the country and hope we all agree on what that means."

It means a functioning congress you dolt.

3/9/2016 5:58:03 PM

People, despite being a fanatical Ted Cruz supporter, I am rather deep in my thinking and understand what is generally meant by working together. But what do we want a functioning Congress to work together to accomplish?

3/9/2016 6:11:35 PM

Quote :

"I totally agree. I think he wants a wall, but you don't have to be too smart to know his comments about Mexico paying for it aren't too serious. "

http://www.fairus.org/publications/the-fiscal-burden-of-illegal-immigration-on-united-states-taxpayers

According to this site, the US spends $113 billion each year on illegal immigrants. We can build a Bremer wall for ~$10 billion. If we spend another $100 billion on rounding up the illegals and sending them back, we will have the total cost of this project paid off in the first year. Mexico will then be stuck with paying for the education and social programs of the people they had pawned off on the US, so in effect they will be paying for the wall, over and over again.

3/9/2016 6:23:20 PM