trump is serious!!!!!

[BoSoxGal]

Oh c'mon, we were the real villians in all that mess - especially you Gob, starting a new BBS and taking away all the fun!

[MajGenl.Meade]

I am Spartacus

[Lord Jim]

I am Spartacus

That surprises me...

I always figured you for more of a Gracchus type...

[Scooter]

Interesting, how the past two pages of this thread — which was ostensibly about The Hairpiece That Walks Like A Man — has been all about the bullshit that happened on a now-defunct BBS a long time ago.
Nice hijack, folks!

Quite correct. How's this?

[Lord Jim]

Well now here's a surprise...

Donald Trump is running a con... :

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Donald J. Trump’s newly installed campaign chief sought to assure members of the Republican National Committee on Thursday night that Mr. Trump recognized the need to reshape his persona and that his campaign would begin working with the political establishment that he has scorned to great effect.

Addressing about 100 committee members at the spring meeting here, many of them deeply skeptical about Mr. Trump’s candidacy, the campaign chief, Paul Manafort, bluntly suggested the candidate’s incendiary style amounted to an act.

“That’s what’s important for you to understand: That he gets it, and that the part he’s been playing is evolving,” Mr. Manafort said, suggesting that Mr. Trump was about to begin a more professional phase of his campaign.

Mr. Manafort, a longtime Republican strategist and lobbyist who in recent weeks has taken over control of much of the organization from Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, offered an olive branch to the party officials at the start of his remarks.

“Is Donald Trump running against the Republican National Committee?” asked Mr. Manafort, referring to the candidate’s unrelenting assault on what he calls the “crooked” nominating process. “The answer is he is not.”

But Mr. Manafort went further than simply placating committee members: He also openly said that Mr. Trump wanted to coordinate with the very forces he has spent much of his campaign attacking.

“He gave us the mandate to bring together a team of professionals that could finish the job for him, but could also then begin to link in with the establishment institutions that are part of our party, what you represent, what the state parties represent,” he said, also alluding to think tanks and members of Congress. “We’ve started all those conversations,” said Manafort, adding of Mr. Trump, “He cares about the united team.”

The remarks suggest Mr. Trump is conducting something of an inside-outside campaign simultaneously, railing against what he calls a “corrupt” process in public to win over anti-establishment Republicans while sending Mr. Manafort to assure party stalwarts of his true intentions.

As for Mr. Trump’s continual attacks on the nomination process, Mr. Manafort said he was largely focused on “transparency” and had no genuine desire to undermine the delegate-selection rules. “He is winning; he’s not interested in changing the rules,” he said.

Mr. Manafort acknowledged Mr. Trump’s deep unpopularity — his “negatives,” he called them — but invoked Ronald Reagan’s initial polling deficit in 1980 to claim Mr. Trump’s deficiencies were not permanent. Mr. Reagan’s unfavorability in 1980, however, was never as high as that of Mr. Trump now.

“You’ll start to see more depth to the person, the real person,” Mr. Manafort continued, referring to more Trump appearances in “formal settings.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/22/us/po ... s-gop.html

[Burning Petard]

PLEASE build that wall, when the real action in under.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/22/us/dr ... .html?_r=0

ONE TON of coke, and seven tons of mary jane. That has got to stop. I hurts the jobs of all those American farmers.

And I have a question based on that presentation for the party leaders in Florida--are real estate salesmen held in lower regard than used car salesmen? [with apologies to MG Mechanic]

snailgate

[RayThom]

Well now here's a surprise...
Donald Trump is running a con..."

Fake it until you make it.

[Scooter]

[Scooter]

[Econoline]

So...which one is the con? Is it the original "Ignorant Asshole" persona, or is it the new "More Reasonable" persona?

[oldr_n_wsr]

I remember all that CSB stuff. Glad to hear that they (Steve, Editec, gwen) are still on the top side of the soil.
The only one I had a problem with over there was mediator, but even he didn't get my panties in a bunch.

[Lord Jim]

They should have done this a month ago, (or at least before New York) but Cruz was too over-confident about his ability to still get a first ballot victory:

Ted Cruz and John Kasich to Coordinate Against Donald Trump

Senator Ted Cruz and Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio have agreed to coordinate in future primary contests in a last-ditch effort to deny Donald J. Trump the Republican presidential nomination, with each candidate standing aside in certain states amid growing concerns that Mr. Trump cannot otherwise be stopped.

In a statement late Sunday night, Mr. Cruz’s campaign manager, Jeff Roe, said that the campaign would “focus its time and resources in Indiana and in turn clear the path for Governor Kasich to compete in Oregon and New Mexico.”

Minutes after Mr. Roe’s statement, the Kasich campaign put out a similar message. The Ohio governor’s chief strategist, John Weaver, said that his campaign would shift its resources to states in the West and “give the Cruz campaign a clear path in Indiana.”

Both campaigns said they expected allies and third-party groups to follow their lead, and a representative from the “super PAC” supporting Mr. Kasich confirmed late Sunday that it would not advertise in Indiana.

The arrangement is a striking departure for Mr. Cruz, who has in the past rebuffed calls from some Republican leaders — including members of the Kasich campaign and Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee — to divvy up states in an effort to complicate Mr. Trump’s path.

The move also signals a major shift in tone from the Cruz campaign toward Mr. Kasich, whom Cruz aides have long cast as a spoiler in the race. Mr. Cruz has openly questioned whether Mr. Kasich was auditioning to be Mr. Trump’s vice president.

But Indiana, which votes on May 3, is seen as critical to Mr. Cruz’s chances of keeping Mr. Trump safely beneath the delegate count required for the nomination. In a signal of Indiana’s importance, Mr. Cruz has held several events in the state in recent days, giving relatively little attention to the five states that vote on Tuesday, when he is expected to lose more delegates to Mr. Trump.

Mr. Kasich’s team had hoped to coordinate in this manner much sooner. Last month, at a debate in Miami, Mr. Weaver broached the possibility with Mr. Roe of splitting the remaining states in an effort to minimize Mr. Trump’s delegate haul. Mr. Cruz’s team rejected the overture, in part because it would have meant ceding the spotlight in high-profile contests, such as New York, [how'd that work out for you Ted?] in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states. Mr. Weaver and Mr. Roe reached the accord this time and the two candidates did not discuss it, according to an adviser to Mr. Kasich.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/25/us/po ... trump.html

[oldr_n_wsr]

And the establishment Repub leaders will toss Cruz aside as soon as they gain an edge on denying Trump the candidacy. They have no love for Cruz either. I guess they have "less hate" for him than Trump.

[Bicycle Bill]

Ted Cruz and John Kasich to Coordinate Against Donald Trump

Senator Ted Cruz and Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio have agreed to coordinate in future primary contests in a last-ditch effort to deny Donald J. Trump the Republican presidential nomination, with each candidate standing aside in certain states amid growing concerns that Mr. Trump cannot otherwise be stopped.

If this is indeed true, the fact that both Cruz and Kasich would agree to this means that they automatically are going to be "less hated" by the GOP powers-that-be-behind-the-scenes than Donald 'Mighty Mouth' Trump.  Can you imagine, even for a split-second, that Trump (and his overblown ego) would agree to something like this?

For that matter, if Drumpf does get the nomination after a 'YUUUGE' floor fight at the Republican contention convention, can you imagine him accepting any kind of suggestions or recommendations from the party higher-ups to perhaps tone down the rhetoric a bit in order to be a bit more palatable to the Clinton supporters?  I still say that if Trump gets the nomination in Cleveland in July, Hillary can start moving her shit into the White House in August.

-"BB"-

[oldr_n_wsr]

accepting any kind of suggestions or recommendations from the party higher-ups to perhaps tone down the rhetoric

I think I heard something about his wife asking him to do that and him saying he wasn't ready to do that yet.

[Long Run]

Interesting that Cruz will not compete in New Mexico, right next to his home state, and Kasich will not compete in Indiana, next to his home state.

[Big RR]

They should have done this a month ago, (or at least before New York) but Cruz was too over-confident about his ability to still get a first ballot victory:

Ted Cruz and John Kasich to Coordinate Against Donald Trump

Senator Ted Cruz and Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio have agreed to coordinate in future primary contests in a last-ditch effort to deny Donald J. Trump the Republican presidential nomination, with each candidate standing aside in certain states amid growing concerns that Mr. Trump cannot otherwise be stopped.

In a statement late Sunday night, Mr. Cruz’s campaign manager, Jeff Roe, said that the campaign would “focus its time and resources in Indiana and in turn clear the path for Governor Kasich to compete in Oregon and New Mexico.”

Minutes after Mr. Roe’s statement, the Kasich campaign put out a similar message. The Ohio governor’s chief strategist, John Weaver, said that his campaign would shift its resources to states in the West and “give the Cruz campaign a clear path in Indiana.”

Both campaigns said they expected allies and third-party groups to follow their lead, and a representative from the “super PAC” supporting Mr. Kasich confirmed late Sunday that it would not advertise in Indiana.

The arrangement is a striking departure for Mr. Cruz, who has in the past rebuffed calls from some Republican leaders — including members of the Kasich campaign and Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee — to divvy up states in an effort to complicate Mr. Trump’s path.

The move also signals a major shift in tone from the Cruz campaign toward Mr. Kasich, whom Cruz aides have long cast as a spoiler in the race. Mr. Cruz has openly questioned whether Mr. Kasich was auditioning to be Mr. Trump’s vice president.

But Indiana, which votes on May 3, is seen as critical to Mr. Cruz’s chances of keeping Mr. Trump safely beneath the delegate count required for the nomination. In a signal of Indiana’s importance, Mr. Cruz has held several events in the state in recent days, giving relatively little attention to the five states that vote on Tuesday, when he is expected to lose more delegates to Mr. Trump.

Mr. Kasich’s team had hoped to coordinate in this manner much sooner. Last month, at a debate in Miami, Mr. Weaver broached the possibility with Mr. Roe of splitting the remaining states in an effort to minimize Mr. Trump’s delegate haul. Mr. Cruz’s team rejected the overture, in part because it would have meant ceding the spotlight in high-profile contests, such as New York, [how'd that work out for you Ted?] in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states. Mr. Weaver and Mr. Roe reached the accord this time and the two candidates did not discuss it, according to an adviser to Mr. Kasich.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/25/us/po ... trump.html

while I think it is a workable strategy to deny him a first ballot victory, I hope it doesn't backfire and get even more people to vote for Trump rather than accept the interference with the will of the people. This is a pretty extraordinary act on the part of both Cruz and Kasich.

[MajGenl.Meade]

"Will of the people"? What has that got to do with selecting a party candidate?

[Gob]

What has your election system got to do with the "will of the people"?

Superdelgates?

[Lord Jim]

while I think it is a workable strategy to deny him a first ballot victory, I hope it doesn't backfire and get even more people to vote for Trump

That's a risk...

But allowing things to go forward on the current delegate selection trajectory, creates an even greater risk for a first ballot Trump victory...

"Will of the people"? What has that got to do with selecting a party candidate?

That's an excellent point...

The political parties are not governmental institutions; they are private sector operations, and they can set any rules they choose for the selection of their nominees..."will of the people" don't enter into it...

If a party wanted to pass a rule that said, "anyone who can't hop on one foot for two minutes is prohibited from being the nominee"...they could do so...

And if the voters don't care for the rules the parties adopt, the voters are free to reject their candidates in the general election...

The way this nominating process has evolved for both major parties since the fifties,has been for the party "establishment" to give greater voice to voters in primaries and caucuses for the purpose of creating greater support and motivation for the party's nominees...

But it remains a "top down" process...

What both parties over time have decided was in their best is interest, is that whoever has the majority of the delegates from the caucus and primary process on a first ballot, gets the nomination...

And this has happened so frequently within the living memory of so many people, that they have lost sight of the fact that this "will of the people" thing is not a requirement...Party nominations are not the same thing as general elections...

Both major parties, (the Democrats with their "Super Delegates", and the GOP with the fact that 70% of the delegates are chosen without any input from the campaigns...and therefore will be party regulars) have decided that in the unlikely event (though certainly possible on the GOP side) that no one should go into the Convention with a first ballot majority, it will be up to the party delegates to select the nominee...

Without regard to whatever votes took place in primaries or caucuses...

There's nothing "undemocratic" about this, because there's no requirement for the parties to be "democratic" in the first place...