The Chronicles of Narcissist

[Ryujin]

Someone correct me if I am incorrect, but I don't think anyone "let" Trump run. There are some technical requirements/bureaucratic steps he has to take, but if he meets them, he's allowed, and that's it. The party leaders don't get to say, "No, you can't," just because they don't like him.

No, no one has to let him run, but not having the support of the organization itself also has consequences. Think of the dust-up over how Ron Paul was perceived (quite likely did) to get a raw deal when running for the leadership.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

It seems calling Mexicans "rapists" wasn't enough. Let's now make fun of the handicapped:

After slamming his other critics, Trump appeared to invoke Krauthammer's use of a wheelchair.

"And then I get called by a guy that can't buy a pair of pants, I get called names? Give me a break," he said.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Classy, tRUMP.

I don't need a president who is like me. I don't need to like my president. I don't need the world to like my president.

But I need a president who is likable enough to be able to get things done. One who won't be stuck in the White House because he is so profoundly undiplomatic and out of control that he can't stop insulting people, faiths, and/or nations.

 

[Ryujin]

Classy, tRUMP.

I don't need a president who is like me. I don't need to like my president. I don't need the world to like my president.

But I need a president who is likable enough to be able to get things done. One who won't be stuck in the White House because he is so profoundly undiplomatic and out of control that he can't stop insulting people, faiths, and/or nations.

So many people seem to put a premium on the leader "you could see yourself having a beer with." I don't want a buddy as my political leader. I want someone who I can admire and look up to, thinking how great it would be to have things that together.

.... but I still haven't found what I'm looking foooooooor.

 

[billd91]

The one GOP candidate that surprised me most in his reaction- or lack thereof- to Trump's statement was Jeb Bush. Y'know, what with his wife being a Mexican and all. I can understand the others making statements that are politically calculated & measured, but Trump essentially made a personal attack on Bush the candidate's WIFE. There should have been the political equivalent of the events of Lynyrd Skynard's "Gimme Three Steps" going on.

Does Jeb have a backbone?

Aside from his tepid criticism, I assume Jeb is laying low. Why put himself out there too far when he can just let the crazies be themselves, alienate supporters, and then he can just mop up as the sane looking candidate.

I'm not sure that'll work too well though. The Citizen's United decision may enable these crazies to stay in the race with sufficient funding as long as they have a financial backer. It's about the only chance Scott Walker has given his constant weaseling around here. As long as they have sugar daddies out there, a surprisingly large number of them may make it to the convention.

 

[billd91]

So many people seem to put a premium on the leader "you could see yourself having a beer with." I don't want a buddy as my political leader. I want someone who I can admire and look up to, thinking how great it would be to have things that together.

.... but I still haven't found what I'm looking foooooooor.

I'm not sure all voters see things that way. There's a reason Tip O'Neill said "All politics is local."

 

[Ryujin]

I'm not sure all voters see things that way. There's a reason Tip O'Neill said "All politics is local."

That may be the case in the US, where the President has little real power. In Canada the Prime Minister is also the leader of the party and if you don't tow the line, you're out. Unless my local Member of Parliament is going to be a Cabinet Minister, it's meaningless to vote based on anything but the party leader.

 

[Kramodlog]

I think pulling Romney harder to the right may have been a strategic miscalculation - they under-estimated Obama or the nation's enthusiasm for him at the time, they over-estimated their ability to distance themselves from the primaries, they under-estimated the turnout of groups that tend not to vote in the last two elections, etc., etc. Romeny had to work hard to get the conservative base on board (being a Mormon from New England who promoted Health Care after all), which made him lean out from his center.

They have to pull to the right. If you do not, you do not get pass the primaries. Santorum, with little money and credibility won more states than he should have had. It is the conundrum Reps face nowadays. Go to the far right to get pass the primaries or be electable to the general public. This is one of the reasons why the Republicans only won the popular vote once in the last six presidential elections.

Against Hillary - who definitely does not have that enthusiasm - and with a candidate with more conservative cred (which Jeb, forex, has in spades!), they might be able to NOT pull their guy farther right, and just make his already-right-wing stuff seem more centrist.

Their calculation this year seems to be more: "Let the idiots run and make our draft picks look more reasonable." I think that in seeing candidates like Rubio basically say "Trump's a dink," you're seeing that in action: "I'm not as extreme as THIS guy!" and "Hillary/Bernie is clearly more extreme the OTHER way!" walk pretty nicely hand-in-hand. It's not like the Left can trot out a candidate who would espouse single-payer healthcare, nationwide decirminalization of marajuana, laws empowering labor unions, de-funding the military and pouring the money into education, establishing a tax on stock investments, stricter financial controls on markets, or any of the more progressive wish-list items that Hillary or Bernie can point to and be like "at least I'm not THAT extreme!"

I do not buy this calculation. The establishment and other candidates do not want Trump in the race. There is nothing beneficial with him there. Reps need the "Hispanic" vote and their brand isn't great with that demographics. Trump didn't help one bit and other candidates barely distance themselves from when they didn't just agree with him. And this is just the start. He will only pull them further to the right to win the primaries and hurt their electability in the presidential elections. http://www.redstate.com/2015/06/16/why-donald-trump-matters/

If they distance themselves from his positions, it is the Republican base that will not support them. There is an ugly fact here: what Trump said about Mexicans is what a lot of Republicans think to various degrees. Primaries are low turn out high enthousiasm elections, to paraphrase David Frum. If candidates distance themselve too much from the concept of "evil immigrants" that need to be stopped, they lose the enthousiasm they need to get people out to vote for them.

 

[Umbran]

That may be the case in the US, where the President has little real power.

Depends on what you call "real power". The veto winds up being a *major* point - that which the President does not like, does not become law unless you have serious support in the legislature. This forces the system to have a whole lot of negotiation, and puts the President in a solid position to lead that negotiation - thus, a lot of effective power.

 

[Umbran]

Classy, tRUMP.

Yeah. I'd like to see him say that in the face of a disabled Veteran.

I don't need a president who is like me. I don't need to like my president. I don't need the world to like my president.

We probably need a President we and others can, on some level, respect. Trump is not showing signs that he deserves much respect.