Trump (Page 34)

First off, Feel the Johnson is the best campaign slogan ever. 

I didn't look at when convention dates, didn't realize the Libertarians were so much earlier. So you're right, that really doesn't work out well for Trump. On the other hand, it's getting pretty clear that the GOP are headed towards a contested convention and I don't see Trump coming out on top of that. He's already started his meltdown with the way Colorado and Louisiana played out. If he's going to want revenge for getting screwed out of the nomination, he can't wait around. Maybe he needs to get proactive and jump ship now. Unless (like I thought all through the fall until he actually started racking up delegates) he never wanted to be president and losing a contested convention is his ticket out while still saving face.

Maybe we've had it wrong all along.  He wasn't a Hillary plant, he was a Cruz plant.  Let Trump beat all the establishment folks to a pulp and then Cruz (who never would have gotten any traction) comes in and saves the day as the "at least he isn't Trump" candidate.  lol

Johnson actually said it in an interview the other day - cracked me up.

This article is applicable to both Bernie and Trump, but I'll throw it here:

2016: The Year Americans Found Out Their Elections Are Rigged

No matter what happens, I truly appreciate what Trump and Bernie have managed to do.  The first step of recovery is realizing there's a problem in the first place and I believe America is slowly waking up.

I swear Trump/Sanders should go independent if they both get knocked out.  I'd vote for that ticket in a heartbeat.  :-) 

Just want to pop into the thread to say that you were right, Tony, about Trump's staying power. I really thought that when the voting started he would wash out and go away.

I have no idea what his supporters see in him or what appeals to them. I find him odious. Different strokes ...

I honestly think it's more of a broad, but somewhat shallow appeal.  Meaning, he appeals to me because he's an outsider and self financed.  He appeals to a blue collar worker because of his opposition to outsourcing jobs.  He appeals to others because of his wall, etc.

There's no question he'll go into the convention as the majority delegate holder, but I don't think he'll get the magic number so there will be a vote.  I honestly have no idea how that will turn out because it's a first for me and it's a very unique situation.
If Trump or Cruz don't leave the convention as the nominee then the Republican party will cease to exist IMHO.

This is the year of the bad candidates.  You look and you have a Religious Zealot who no one likes, a tv personality who people don't like, a no name Gov. who no one can get excited about, a socialist who is actually an independent running as a Dem, and a lying crook who can't tell the truth even when it is good news.

Gotta love elections.  So with those 5 being the options, it's easy to see why some people stand by Trump, some by Cruz, some by Sanders and some by Hillary.  Each group is electing who they think is the least evil.  Sad but true.  I think for a lot of people, as Tony said, at least Trump doesn't appear to be bought off by the establishment.  Same with Sanders.  so they each have something going for them...

Thought you'd find this interesting Renee, I was surprised there wasn't a bigger percentage of lower income folks

http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2016/04/daily-chart-14

It's pretty interesting to say the least.

I was reading a few threads on some ultra conservative (big pro Ted) sites and they weren't responding very kindly.  Time will tell, but it "seems" as though Ted's desperation tactics of the past several weeks have really soured a big part of his base towards him.  Evangelicals can be crazy people, but they are for the most part very moral and fair people so when they see what appears as unfair tactics they don't respond kindly.

The mantra on most of the threads is not that Cruz is doing the #NeverTrump hashtag, it's that he's picked up #NeverVoters.  Cruz is doing everything he can to suppress the voters and manipulate the delegates and the process to win in a brokered convention.

Again a perfect example of not listening to the voters.  If it takes manipulation to win then you don't deserve to win.  And of course there are those who will say, it's within the rules.  Yes it is, but that doesn't make it right.

Bad form.  I fear soon I will be a man without a party.

At least then I can bag on both sides.

I thought this was a decent article about the potential problems with the Cruz/Kasich strategy.

Why the Kasich-Cruz alliance could backfire

(from the article)

...it’s not a sure thing that all of Kasich’s voters in Indiana will support Cruz. According to a Fox poll released over the weekend – which showed Trump leading Cruz in the Hoosier State by eight points, 41%-33% – 53% of Kasich voters said Cruz would be their second choice, while 22% said it would be Trump. So without Kasich in the equation, the Indiana contest becomes much closer. But it doesn’t guarantee a win for Cruz. What’s more, Kasich is STILL on the ballot, and he hasn’t instructed his supporters in Indiana to vote for Cruz; instead, he just said he won’t actively campaign in the state. And Indiana voters have been voting absentee since April 5, which means some Kasich supporters have already voted for the Ohio governor. In fact, that same Fox poll (conducted April 18-21) found that 4% of Indiana Republicans had already voted in the primary, and that sliver of the electorate could matter in a close contest.

I was expecting this to go to the convention, but with the developments of the past few weeks there seems to be quite a surge in Trumps favor in the polls (and results).  You're exactly right that Cruz is playing the "behind the scenes" game better than Trump, but unfortunately for him it's playing right into Trumps hand that Cruz is nothing more than a back room schmoozing establishment Republican.

I follow FreeRepublic which is one of the top conservative blogs and it was about 60/40 (my guess) in support of Cruz with a lot of Trump bashers.  If you look at it the past week it's hard to find any Cruz supporters, they've been falling off like crazy due to his new underhanded approach.  Obviously this is all just anecdotal and time will tell, so I'm not calling it by any means.

At least I admit my anecdotes, don't I get some credit for that?  

I read somewhere that California is like 50 different state elections due to the district makeup.  Should be interesting for sure.

Kind of funny how the media has been trying to show Trump as "fading" and losing support.  Yet his support has done nothing but grown throughout the campaign.  New all time high nationally in the NBC poll.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/poll-trump-reaches-50-percent-support-nationally-first-time-n562061

Should be a fun day watching the returns come in. (well, fun for those that find politics interesting)   

lol, aren't 18-29 year olds the lowest percentage of voters that actually vote?  This is a stupid poll.

Here's a better representation of head to head between Trump & Clinton (you'll notice the Harvard poll isn't on there)
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_clinton-5491.html

Clinton still has the edge, but the trend is in Trumps favor.  The GWU/Battleground poll even had him within 3% (oops).