Posted on 03/02/2016 4:15:03 PM PST by drewh
The nomination race isn’t over yet but the possibility of Trump winning that race is something both sides are having to take more seriously after his Super Tuesday showing. On the Democratic side there is dawning awareness that, despite polls showing Clinton would beat him in a head-to-head matchup, Trump may turn into a more formidable general election candidate than expected. Politico reports on some of the advice Democrats are getting about the need to take Trump seriously:
“It’s fair to say there’s been a graveyard already out there of people underestimating him,” said Doug Sosnik, a former Bill Clinton White House adviser. “And I am old enough to remember the sort of Democratic intelligentsia that was hoping Ronald Reagan would be nominated by Republicans in 1980 because everyone knew he was a doddering old right winger who could never get elected president.”
[…]
“I think Trump could beat her like a tied-up billy goat,” said Mudcat Saunders, a rural Democratic strategist who’s supporting Bernie Sanders. “There are many areas in key swing states like Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania that look like Sherman went through and didn’t burn anything. Empty factories, empty buildings, few opportunities for young people. It’s sad. It should be no surprise to anybody that voters in those areas are gravitating to Trump.” Doug Rubin, an adviser to Elizabeth Warren, is worried about the record turnout Trump is getting:
“One thing that scares me the most about Trump is the fact that every one of these Republican primaries to date has record turnout. And I think a large part of that, though not all of that, but a large part of that is that Trump is bringing out people who don’t normally vote, and adding to the Republican mix on those things and so I worry that in the general election along with the traditional Republican voters that he has the opportunity to bring out a chunk of voters that don’t normally vote in those elections and in some elections that could tip the scales.” All of these people are paid to worry about things like this and there’s certainly an argument to be made that the record turnout could upset Democrats’ carefully laid plans, especially with an uninspiring candidate like Hillary Clinton. On the other hand, the Real Clear Politics average of head-to-head polls shows Trump as the weakest candidate against Hillary in a general election. RCP has Clinton at +3 vs. Trump whereas Cruz beats her by an average of +1.5 and Rubio by +5 based on polls conducted in the last month. Polls can be misleading of course but plenty of conservatives got carried away with their fallibility in 2012. Let’s not make that mistake again.
All that to say, Trump supporters who are hearing exactly what they want to hear from Democratic strategists should keep in mind the source and the possibility that there are ulterior motives involved. Maybe they are giving us the unvarnished truth about Trump’s chances, but one thing we know for sure: They are all Democratic strategists who would rather see Clinton (or possibly Sanders) win.
No doubt in my mind.
I don’t trust him. Likely failed reverse psychology on his part.
Trump will get the required 1,237 plus one delegates.
And the next day the GOP will say, “You’re fired!”
I would bet on it, and for whats its worth i will do anything to discredit their installed candidate, like Romney.
Trump could “I know you are, but what am I?” retort all night long towards the beast ... and get standing O’s for being strong and clever
I’m still predicting 40 states or more going Trump.
Hillary’s malfeasance in office and personally goes back 40+ years to when she was fired for unethical misconduct as a lawyer working for the Special Prosecutor investigating Nixon in the early 70’s. She has a long rap sheet up to the emails up to the Clinton Family Crime Syndicate. So, Trump has plenty to work with. Can anyone say, Vince Foster?
And I'm sure ol' Mudcat thinks that Bernie would beat Trump like a rented drum. Opinions are cheap.
If they pull this crap, then they will just guarantee a HIllary victory. Millions will stay home or crossover to vote for her out of revenge. This could get real ugly. God, why don’t hey just allow the process to work itself out?
Mr. Trump, have you stopped beating your tied up billy goat?
In the article:
Mr. Trump, will you tell us here and now flat out, that you will not beat up Hillary Clinton?
James Carville.
At least 35 states.
It’ll be an early call.
I look forward to all the exploding heads.
I would say Washington will get a lot of angry, enfuriated Americans, million plus, no several million, they will come to Washington DC and shut it down.
And Obama will declare martial law, and stay in office.
Deep in the bowels of the DNC they are terrified of what Trump will do to them. Their only solace is that the stupid party is too stupid to realize what it has and is trying to foist BusTed and Rubes on us long enough to bait and switch ol Yeb back in.
Trump will have a broad appeal through the Rust Belt, the northeast, Maine, possibly Oregon. Will he win CA? Probably not. But by the time it’s done, they will be comparing the electoral map more to that of 1984 and 1988 than to any other year.
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