The Pivot

 

shutterstock_390546703It looks to me that Trump will now turn on the naysayers in the party. It couldn’t be more deserved. He tried to play nice, but they are refusing to support him. After the 50 national security neo-cons penned a letter denouncing him, and other GOP stalwarts are playing games trying to undermine him, Trump will now use them to differentiate himself from failed Republican policies and attract a new coalition of voters.

From yesterday’s speech:

When we talk about the insider, who are we talking about? It’s the comfortable politicians looking out for their own interests. It’s the lobbyists who know how to insert that perfect loophole into every bill. It’s the financial industry that knows how to regulate their competition out of existence. The insiders also include the media executives, anchors and journalists in Washington, Los Angeles, and New York City, who are part of the same failed status quo and want nothing to change.

Every day you pick up a newspaper, or turn on the nightly news, and you hear about some self-interest banker or some discredited Washington insider says they oppose our campaign. Or some encrusted old politician says they oppose our campaign. Or some big time lobbyist says they oppose our campaign.

I wear their opposition as a badge of honor. Because it means I am fighting for REAL change, not just partisan change. I am fighting – all of us across the country are fighting – for peaceful regime change in our own country. The media-donor-political complex that’s bled this country dry has to be replaced with a new government of, by and for the people.

The leadership class in Washington D.C., of which Hillary Clinton has been a member for thirty years, has abandoned the people of this country.

I am going to give the people their voice back.

Think about it. The people opposing our campaign are the same people who have left our border open and let innocent people suffer as a result.

The people opposing our campaign are the same people who have led us into one disastrous foreign war after another.

The people opposing our campaign are the same people who lied to us about one trade deal after another.

Aren’t you tired of a system that gets rich at your expense?

Aren’t you tired of big media, big businesses, and big donors rigging the system to keep your voice from being heard?

Are you ready for change?

Are you ready for leadership that puts you, the American people, first? That puts your country first? That puts your family first?

Fasten your seat-belts.

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  1. Larry Koler Inactive
    Larry Koler
    @LarryKoler

    Man With the Axe:

    Front Seat Cat: How is this different than the powerhouse of Margaret Thatcher when England had gone to hell in a hand basket?

    It may be different in the sense that Margaret Thatcher liked the soldiers who were captured. She didn’t put out rumors that Edward Heath’s father was involved in the assassination of Lord Cavendish. She didn’t focus on the ethnicity of the judge in her court case in which she was accused of fraud. She didn’t accuse Winston Churchill of lying to get us into World War II. She didn’t brag about how rich she was. She didn’t call all of her opponents pejorative nicknames like a third grader. She didn’t blame the media for all of her own shortcomings. She didn’t refer to her genitalia during a debate in the House of Commons. (I’m not positive about that last one. Maybe she did.)

    In other words, it’s not all about the positions a candidate takes, crucial though they may be.

    Did she win, though? You got all the important things listed except the essential thing.

    • #91
  2. Larry Koler Inactive
    Larry Koler
    @LarryKoler

    Larry Koler:

    Franco:

    Herbert: Ms Conway is a pollster, surely she will be telling him that running a white nationalist campaign isn’t going to win the general election. I might have to revise my prediction that Trump will stay in the 8-10 point deficit mode til a couple weeks before elections..

    Pathetic.

    Yes, full blown left-wing tactics.

    Tactics are not ad hominem. Using the race card is a tactic of the left usually.

    • #92
  3. Mister D Inactive
    Mister D
    @MisterD

    Mike LaRoche:

    Marion Evans:

    Jager:

    Marion Evans:I know that many politicians don’t write their own speeches but this excerpt is so obviously not written by Trump it is actually quite comical to see him deliver it.

    As to your wishful thinking, in my view the only question left is whether Hillary wins all 50 states.

    How is that a question? I get you dislike Trump. I get that he is losing the election right now. The current RealClear map shows him winning 22 states. What is it that you think will happen in the next 80 some days that would cause all 22 of these states to choose Clinton?

    He is the least qualified nominee in a very very long time. I am thinking this will be evident to 50.1% of the electorate in every state.

    Wishful thinking.

    He will struggle to pass 50% in any state. That Hillary, arguably the most corrupt nominee in memory, is his enemy is about the only thing that will let him win a paucity of states. But it is clear from the polling the electorate at large views him as unqualified.

    • #93
  4. Ball Diamond Ball Member
    Ball Diamond Ball
    @BallDiamondBall

    Marion Evans:

    BrentB67:

    Marion Evans:I know that many politicians don’t write their own speeches but this excerpt is so obviously not written by Trump it is actually quite comical to see him deliver it.

    As to your wishful thinking, in my view the only question left is whether Hillary wins all 50 states.

    I think Trump takes Texas unless we get some momentum to write in Cruz just to stir up trouble.

    Didn’t a major Texas paper choose the Dem for the first time, just recently? Seriously doubt it by the way, given the percent of hispanics and his New York pedigree.

    Racist.

    • #94
  5. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Marion Evans:I know that many politicians don’t write their own speeches but this excerpt is so obviously not written by Trump it is actually quite comical to see him deliver it.

    As to your wishful thinking, in my view the only question left is whether Hillary wins all 50 states.

    I’ve never listened to Trump speak, but I did once listen to a George W. Bush speech shortly after 911.  He made it all the way through without stepping on his tongue, so people called him a great man.

    • #95
  6. Ball Diamond Ball Member
    Ball Diamond Ball
    @BallDiamondBall

    Mr. Dart:Since the Main Feed has is a podcast from Murph about Trump’s pivot I hereby upvote this post in the spirit of balance.

    FTFY.

    • #96
  7. Mister D Inactive
    Mister D
    @MisterD

    Tom Meyer, Ed.:

    Franco:

    But this election should have been easily winnable. Instead, it looks like the center-Right party is going to lose to Hillary Clinton (!!) because a significant number of people decided that 2016 was the right time to throw the panic switch and nominate Donald Trump.

    Well then, you have chosen the least effective method to redress the situation. This is like blaming clouds for rain. By the time voters vote on something it’s too late. Then, what do you do? Tell them they were wrong? Tell them they were/are stupid?

    Wrong, yes; stupid, no.

    Franco:

    I’m not so sure this election was so easily winnable. I know that Jeb would never have beaten Hillary, Cruz, as much as I supported him, may have had a hard time too. Marco? Not sure he had it in him either. Trump can still win.

    I’m confident Rubio would have won and I think either Walker or Perry (my first choices) would have; I agree Cruz would have been an uphill fight and that Jeb would almost assuredly have lost (among the many reasons I never supported him).

    Not completely convinced Jeb! would have lost – he is at least likable – but I would never have chanced it. Cruz doesn’t come across well on TV, and I could see him alienating those who didn’t already agree with him. I also think his theory of the election was fundamentally flawed.  But he wasn’t Hillary.

    • #97
  8. Ball Diamond Ball Member
    Ball Diamond Ball
    @BallDiamondBall

    RyanM:

    Mike LaRoche:Damn the RINOs, full speed ahead.

    ? I am past annoyance and on to full amusement at the way we all seem to be losing our heads over this. People who only disagree with you a little, instead of a great deal, are fake republicans or traitors… either candidate will send this country to hell … the republican party is dead, conservatism is dead, the republic itself is dead…

    Somehow, I think we’ll all wake up one morning in 2018 or 2019 with the same old problems, very little having changed in either direction. Back on Ricochet, we’ll be asking one another: “which of us was the RINO, again?” and “when is this conspiracy finally going to play out?”

    This is just begging the question.  You argue that there is no meaningful division.  To support this, you assert that there is no meaningful division.

    Even if you and I agree completely on the goal, if your proposal is one in which I get wiped out and you saunter through the opening, we’re going to have our own fight right here.

    • #98
  9. Ball Diamond Ball Member
    Ball Diamond Ball
    @BallDiamondBall

    Johnny Dubya:Event – Trump enters the presidential race.

    Trump Supporter: “He will gain widespread support, and he’s the only one who can beat Hillary.”

    Event – Trump wins the nomination.

    Trump Supporter: “Woo-hoo! On to victory!”

    Event – Hillary Rodham wins the election.

    Trump Supporter: “It’s the fault of all you who didn’t get on board the Trump train!”

    Sounds familiar.  Sounds like the last two GOP losses.  Your point?

    • #99
  10. Mister D Inactive
    Mister D
    @MisterD

    The Question: We did not pick the wrong nominee in 2012, given the choices we had.

    Agreed. I’ll even go so far as to say that McCain was one of the more acceptable choices.  In the end, it is hard to imagine any of the candidates that year winning over either Hillary or Obama. Better to burn the McCain candidacy in a no win year.

    • #100
  11. Mister D Inactive
    Mister D
    @MisterD

    Ball Diamond Ball:

    Johnny Dubya:

    Trump Supporter: “It’s the fault of all you who didn’t get on board the Trump train!”

    Sounds familiar. Sounds like the last two GOP losses. Your point?

    Not remotely, though let us concede that everyone’s election is won or lost based on how many people get on each train.

    We lost 2008 because it was a Democrat year. Bush fatigue was awful. The Iraq war cost the GOP in ’06, prompting a too-late tactical change from W. By the time the surge turned things around, the economy was on the verge of collapsing. McCain was given a bad hand, and played it badly. However, the odds were he was going to lose regardless.

    2012 the GOP had a shot, though Obama had the advantages of incumbency.  I am convinced Mitt could have been a very good president, but he was a poor candidate. He was not comfortable supporting the party line, but felt the need to appease the purists, which led him into lines like “47%” and “severe conservative.” Superstorm Sandy didn’t help, but in the end his high-tech “Orca” turnout machined turned out to be a beached whale. The notion that he lost because he failed to turn out the base is wrong – where he underperformed with the base was in red states that he won anyway. What he needed was to reach out and bring in single women and minorities in swing states.

    • #101
  12. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Mister D:

    The Question: We did not pick the wrong nominee in 2012, given the choices we had.

    Agreed. I’ll even go so far as to say that McCain was one of the more acceptable choices. In the end, it is hard to imagine any of the candidates that year winning over either Hillary or Obama. Better to burn the McCain candidacy in a no win year.

    Perry would have been a better choice in 2012.

    • #102
  13. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    The Reticulator:

    Mister D:

    The Question: We did not pick the wrong nominee in 2012, given the choices we had.

    Agreed. I’ll even go so far as to say that McCain was one of the more acceptable choices. In the end, it is hard to imagine any of the candidates that year winning over either Hillary or Obama. Better to burn the McCain candidacy in a no win year.

    Perry would have been a better choice in 2012.

    You are correct. But now that you’ve mentioned Perry, all of the Texasux trolls will be coming out of the woodwork.

    • #103
  14. MSJL Thatcher
    MSJL
    @MSJL

    He tried to play nice, but they are refusing to support him.

    When did Trump try to play nice?  When?  How?  Was it when he said that McCain’s not a hero for being taken prisoner?  When he was trashing the Bush family?  When he was peddling conspiracy theories from the National Enquirer?  Do we want to run the tapes from the debates with his rambling stream of insults?

    Trump got a good bounce coming out of the convention, with the overwhelming support of the party.

    He then proceeds to squander his advantage with one act of stupidity after another.  The naysayers in the party have every right to take the positions they hold because they are correct – and every day he proves them to be correct.

    It is long past due for Trump to start campaigning against the Democrats and demonstrate how his unconventional campaign will win.

    It is long past due for Trump to start earning the support of the independents who are essential to win a victory.

    Trump is the first candidate who apparently never has to earn the respect and support of the voters.  I guess it is supposed to be the other way around when it comes to him.

    • #104
  15. EB Thatcher
    EB
    @EB

    Tom Meyer, Ed.: Instead, it looks like the center-Right party is going to lose to Hillary Clinton (!!) because a significant number of people decided that 2016 was the right time to throw the panic switch and nominate Donald Trump.

    Very similar to:

    The house has termites!  Burn it down!

    I don’t like some of my neighbors in the apartment building!  Burn it down!

    People aren’t doing exactly what I want them to!  Set fire to the neighborhood!

    • #105
  16. Man With the Axe Inactive
    Man With the Axe
    @ManWiththeAxe

    Larry Koler:

    Did she win, though? You got all the important things listed except the essential thing.

    Yes, she did. She was in office 11 and a half years. Which possibly shows that character matters.

    • #106
  17. Mister D Inactive
    Mister D
    @MisterD

    The Reticulator:

    Mister D:

    The Question: We did not pick the wrong nominee in 2012, given the choices we had.

    Agreed. I’ll even go so far as to say that McCain was one of the more acceptable choices. In the end, it is hard to imagine any of the candidates that year winning over either Hillary or Obama. Better to burn the McCain candidacy in a no win year.

    Perry would have been a better choice in 2012.

    He put his foot in the bucket and couldn’t get it out. And as I recall even Perry has since said he was not really prepared for the last race. It was a good learning experience for him, and I’m sorry he wasn’t able to capitalize on it this time.

    • #107
  18. MSJL Thatcher
    MSJL
    @MSJL

    Franco:I’m not so sure this election was so easily winnable. I know that Jeb would never have beaten Hillary, Cruz, as much as I supported him, may have had a hard time too. Marco? Not sure he had it in him either. Trump can still win.

    I can’t believe that Bush would be rambling like an idiot from statement to statement.

    I can’t believe that Cruz would have such an undisciplined campaign and not be able to control his communications better than this.

    I can’t believe Perry would have written off Hispanics and not attempted to reach out to other minorities.

    I can’t believe that Rubio would be incapable of providing a positive message for independents and conservatives to rally to.

    And I sure as hell can’t believe that Fiorina wouldn’t be taking the fight to Hillary day and night as opposed to focusing fire on the voters she needs to win.

    The electorate is more than eager for any credible alternative to Hillary.  Any one of those skills would be enough for the candidate to pass the test to be viewed as credible and qualified to be President.  Trump has none of them.  Let’s stop making excuses for him.

    • #108
  19. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Mister D:

    The Reticulator:

    Mister D:

    The Question: We did not pick the wrong nominee in 2012, given the choices we had.

    Agreed. I’ll even go so far as to say that McCain was one of the more acceptable choices. In the end, it is hard to imagine any of the candidates that year winning over either Hillary or Obama. Better to burn the McCain candidacy in a no win year.

    Perry would have been a better choice in 2012.

    He put his foot in the bucket and couldn’t get it out. And as I recall even Perry has since said he was not really prepared for the last race. It was a good learning experience for him, and I’m sorry he wasn’t able to capitalize on it this time.

    That’s just letting the MSM yank our chains.   Who cares if he couldn’t remember three departments we don’t need?  It takes pretty shallow people to think that’s important, and our MSM are nothing if not shallow.

    • #109
  20. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    Mike LaRoche:

    Johnny Dubya:Event – Trump enters the presidential race.

    Trump Supporter: “He will gain widespread support, and he’s the only one who can beat Hillary.”

    Event – Trump wins the nomination.

    Trump Supporter: “Woo-hoo! On to victory!”

    Event – Hillary Rodham wins the election.

    Trump Supporter: “It’s the fault of all you who didn’t get onboard the Trump train!”

    You can replace Trump with Romney and Hillary with Obama and it’s just as true.

    False, pretty much everyone blamed Romney for being too soft and his campaign manager for running a poor campaign.  They were blamed for any lack of turnout, not the voters they failed to inspire.  In 2016, nothing is Trump’s fault

    • #110
  21. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    MSJL: I can’t believe that Bush would be rambling like an idiot from statement to statement.

    And Bush sets a pretty low standard when it comes to coherence.

    • #111
  22. MSJL Thatcher
    MSJL
    @MSJL

    The Reticulator:

    MSJL: I can’t believe that Bush would be rambling like an idiot from statement to statement.

    And Bush sets a pretty low standard when it comes to coherence.

    Well, Jeb’s actually a pretty good speaker.  But I know you are meaning W.

    One point I’ll make about W’s coherence:  Bill Clinton was pretty glib, but ultimately he could never convince people to do anything other than what they were already inclined to do.  For all of his eight years’ of blather, I can’t recall any speech of lasting merit.  Barack Obama gave dozens of speeches on Obamacare and only managed to increase opposition.  W could actually convince people to change their minds.

    In his stem cell address in the Summer of 2001, W gave perhaps the most cogent and effective public policy speech we have gotten in two decades and basically settled the issue until the Dems revived it as a campaign pitch in 2004.

    The NHL cancelled the remainder of Flyers-Ranger game because the audience wanted to watch W complete his address to the nation on September 20, 2001.

    What exactly is your benchmark for coherence anyway?

    • #112
  23. Claire Berlinski, Ed. Member
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.
    @Claire

    Man With the Axe: (I’m not positive about that last one. Maybe she did.)

    She did not.

    Happy to be of service!

    • #113
  24. RyanM Inactive
    RyanM
    @RyanM

    Ball Diamond Ball:

    RyanM:

    Mike LaRoche:Damn the RINOs, full speed ahead.

    Somehow, I think we’ll all wake up one morning in 2018 or 2019 with the same old problems, very little having changed in either direction. Back on Ricochet, we’ll be asking one another: “which of us was the RINO, again?” and “when is this conspiracy finally going to play out?”

    This is just begging the question. You argue that there is no meaningful division. To support this, you assert that there is no meaningful division.

    Even if you and I agree completely on the goal, if your proposal is one in which I get wiped out and you saunter through the opening, we’re going to have our own fight right here.

    Ball, as usual, I don’t even know what you are trying to say. I don’t know your ideology, but for whatever reason, you have adopted the role of resident shrieking anarchist. Mike and I disagree about Trump, and the division between us is not all that great. You and I disagree about Trump, and if our division is larger, it is the same distance that separates you from anyone else whose head is not wrapped in tin foil… trust me, if you get wiped out, that is one opening through which very few people will wish to saunter.

    • #114
  25. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    Concretevol:

    Mike LaRoche:

    Johnny Dubya:Event – Trump enters the presidential race.

    Trump Supporter: “He will gain widespread support, and he’s the only one who can beat Hillary.”

    Event – Trump wins the nomination.

    Trump Supporter: “Woo-hoo! On to victory!”

    Event – Hillary Rodham wins the election.

    Trump Supporter: “It’s the fault of all you who didn’t get onboard the Trump train!”

    You can replace Trump with Romney and Hillary with Obama and it’s just as true.

    False, pretty much everyone blamed Romney for being too soft and his campaign manager for running a poor campaign. They were blamed for any lack of turnout, not the voters they failed to inspire. In 2016, nothing is Trump’s fault

    There were many Romneyites (especially on this site) who found no fault with their candidate. It’s a role-reversal, nothing more.

    trump-dealwithit

    • #115
  26. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    MSJL:

    The Reticulator:

    Well, Jeb’s actually a pretty good speaker. But I know you are meaning W.

    One point I’ll make about W’s coherence: Bill Clinton was pretty glib, but ultimately he could never convince people to do anything other than what they were already inclined to do. For all of his eight years’ of blather, I can’t recall any speech of lasting merit. Barack Obama gave dozens of speeches on Obamacare and only managed to increase opposition. W could actually convince people to change their minds.

    In his stem cell address in the Summer of 2001, W gave perhaps the most cogent and effective public policy speech we have gotten in two decades and basically settled the issue until the Dems revived it as a campaign pitch in 2004.

    The NHL cancelled the remainder of Flyers-Ranger game because the audience wanted to watch W complete his address to the nation on September 20, 2001.

    What exactly is your benchmark for coherence anyway?

    Carter was incoherent.  Bill Clinton was glib, but he was coherent.  Not only that, but he took every defeat that was inflicted on him and used it to position himself for eventually turnaround in his favor.   This is unlike GWB and so many Republicans, who when their programs were defeated, welded the casket shut so their program would never have a chance to rise again.

    • #116
  27. Podkayne of Israel Inactive
    Podkayne of Israel
    @PodkayneofIsrael

    The Question:The only solution to the problem of “insiders” is smaller government. As long as you have a big government that has its hands in everything, it will pay to be an insider and get special favors from the government. The argument for Trump, if I’m understanding it right, is that he is an insider who will use his insider status to fight for you and me, in some unique way that Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Rick Perry, Rand Paul, etc. would not. I don’t get that. I don’t see what is magically different about him that would make him a “good” insider. If Trump emphasized making government smaller, as opposed to making it smarter (which is what Democrats do), I’d feel a lot better about him. He has talked about cutting regulation, and that’s a good thing.

    Trump has deep problems as a candidate, and it’s not like people wouldn’t have noticed this without the NeverTrumpers pointing it out. The NeverTrumpers are not the problem with Trump. Trump is the problem with Trump. Hillary probably would have lost this year, but because the Republicans nominated Trump, she will probably win. That’s not the NeverTrumpers problem.

    Very well put. May I quote you?

    • #117
  28. RyanM Inactive
    RyanM
    @RyanM

    Mike LaRoche:

    Concretevol:

    Mike LaRoche:

    Johnny Dubya:Event – Trump enters the presidential race.

    Trump Supporter: “He will gain widespread support, and he’s the only one who can beat Hillary.”

    Event – Trump wins the nomination.

    Trump Supporter: “Woo-hoo! On to victory!”

    Event – Hillary Rodham wins the election.

    Trump Supporter: “It’s the fault of all you who didn’t get onboard the Trump train!”

    You can replace Trump with Romney and Hillary with Obama and it’s just as true.

    False, pretty much everyone blamed Romney for being too soft and his campaign manager for running a poor campaign. They were blamed for any lack of turnout, not the voters they failed to inspire. In 2016, nothing is Trump’s fault

    There were many Romneyites (especially on this site) who found no fault with their candidate. It’s a role-reversal, nothing more.

    no, no… it is analogous, certainly, but it is very different.

    • #118
  29. Mister D Inactive
    Mister D
    @MisterD

    The Reticulator:

    Mister D:

    The Reticulator:

    Mister D:

    The Question: We did not pick the wrong nominee in 2012, given the choices we had.

    Agreed. I’ll even go so far as to say that McCain was one of the more acceptable choices. In the end, it is hard to imagine any of the candidates that year winning over either Hillary or Obama. Better to burn the McCain candidacy in a no win year.

    Perry would have been a better choice in 2012.

    He put his foot in the bucket and couldn’t get it out. And as I recall even Perry has since said he was not really prepared for the last race. It was a good learning experience for him, and I’m sorry he wasn’t able to capitalize on it this time.

    That’s just letting the MSM yank our chains. Who cares if he couldn’t remember three departments we don’t need? It takes pretty shallow people to think that’s important, and our MSM are nothing if not shallow.

    And there are plenty of shallow voters.

    • #119
  30. MSJL Thatcher
    MSJL
    @MSJL

    The Reticulator:

    MSJL:

    The Reticulator:

    Well, Jeb’s actually a pretty good speaker. But I know you are meaning W.

    One point I’ll make about W’s coherence: Bill Clinton was pretty glib, but ultimately he could never convince people to do anything other than what they were already inclined to do. For all of his eight years’ of blather, I can’t recall any speech of lasting merit. Barack Obama gave dozens of speeches on Obamacare and only managed to increase opposition. W could actually convince people to change their minds.

    In his stem cell address in the Summer of 2001, W gave perhaps the most cogent and effective public policy speech we have gotten in two decades and basically settled the issue until the Dems revived it as a campaign pitch in 2004.

    The NHL cancelled the remainder of Flyers-Ranger game because the audience wanted to watch W complete his address to the nation on September 20, 2001.

    What exactly is your benchmark for coherence anyway?

    Carter was incoherent. Bill Clinton was glib, but he was coherent. Not only that, but he took every defeat that was inflicted on him and used it to position himself for eventually turnaround in his favor. This is unlike GWB and so many Republicans, who when their programs were defeated, welded the casket shut so their program would never have a chance to rise again.

    You’re correct; Republicans do stop making the case when they win or lose an issue.  But we’re now discussing a different point then.  This is not coherence; it’s tactics.

    • #120
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