Posted on 08/06/2015 3:42:36 AM PDT by Oklahoma
Here’s a thought experiment: Suppose during tomorrow’s GOP presidential debate, Megyn Kelly asks each candidate to name the American politician or politicians whom he respects and trusts sufficiently to seek political advice from. What would the nomination prospects be for a candidate who answered: Bill Clinton?
Non-existent, I say. And the answer would go down as among the worst gaffes in the long history of presidential debates.
It turns out, though, that Donald Trump did turn to Bill Clinton for political advice as he was deciding whether to run for president. The Washington Post reports, and sources in the Clinton and Trump camps confirm, that Trump talked to Bill Clinton about the political landscape shortly before entering the race for the GOP nomination.
(Excerpt) Read more at powerlineblog.com ...
Non-existent, I say. And the answer would go down as among the worst gaffes in the long history of presidential debates.
It turns out, though, that Donald Trump did turn to Bill Clinton for political advice as he was deciding whether to run for president. The Washington Post reports, and sources in the Clinton and Trump camps confirm, that Trump talked to Bill Clinton about the political landscape shortly before entering the race for the GOP nomination.
We shouldn’t be surprised. It’s no secret — though it’s not well known yet — that Donald Trump has a solid personal relationship with Bill and Hillary Clinton. Hillary sat in the front row at Trump’s 2005 wedding, and Bill participated in the subsequent festivities. In addition, Trump has donated to Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaigns and has contributed to the Clinton Foundation.
Given his obvious respect for the Clintons, it was natural that Trump wanted Bill Clinton’s candid, disinterested assessment of the political landscape before deciding whether to run for president. What seems unnatural is Trump’s faith that the husband of the (then) runaway Democratic frontrunner would provide a candid, disinterested assessment.
As the for the details of the call, it apparently came from Bill Clinton. However, a source in the Clinton camp said the former president was returning several calls Trump had made to him.
The Clinton camp insists that the two men didn’t discuss the presidential race, per se. But, as sources describe the conversation, the discussion certainly pertained to that race.
Trump was “candid about his political ambitions and his potential interest in seeking the White House during the talk,” according to his “allies.” As for Bill, he “listened intently and then analyzed Trump’s prospects and his desire to rouse the GOP base.”
Clinton never urged Trump to run, but he was “upbeat and encouraging.” He reportedly told Trump that the billionaire was striking a chord with frustrated conservatives and was a rising force on the right.
Clinton turned out to be right, which I suppose will be a big part of Trump’s defense if called upon to explain why he turned to Clinton for advice. Whether Clinton fully believed what he told Trump or was spinning on behalf of Hillary’s interests is not clear. At a minimum, though, Bill must have known that Trump had the potential to complicate significantly the GOP race. I don’t know whether Trump appreciated the irony, but I’m pretty sure Slick Willie drew amusement from the fact that this “rising force on the right” was seeking political advice from the one-time (and possibly future) bane of conservatives. I find it pretty amusing myself.
At the time of this discussion, Hillary had recently formally entered the race. This must have made it all the more fun for Bill to encourage the tossing of a stink bomb into the GOP camp.
And stink, it does.
That’s because Bill has to stay wit da beotch if she wins.
He can’t rape the CF for ho money, Gulfstreams, Cabo, Aruba or wherever the hell he goes off to whore around.
What stinks are the sources for this crap.
The stench is horrible indeed.
Of course he did.
Bill Clinton never lies. /sarc
So first ask & answer one question:
Does anyone believe the Washington Post or Bill Clinton would be telling this story if Trump was actually a Democrat/Clinton mole whose presence in the presidential race was meant to insure Democrat victory?The author's (Mirengoff) history includes writing articles for WaPo, but when he later wrote for Powerline he was very distrustful & critical of them. What undislosed loyalty has him now so trustful of them?
What is Trump’s version of this ‘story?’
Another headline, that turns out to be a non story.
IF Trump is asked, he’ll probably tell the truth. “Yeah, I asked a lot of people about running for president, and why not get the advice from someone who was president?” DuuuuH
LIke the headline yesterday about Trump wanting preferential treatment during the debate by Kelly. A non story, that makes you wonder if Fox News is throwing this stuff out there.
If Bill was “upbeat and encouraging” wasn’t that tantamount to encouraging him to run?
Is there a single credible source for BC’s supposed reaction?
Bubba is always looking for money and women
Trump has money
Well, Trump certainly likes to report when some pol called him, looking for something, so it seems only right that Ol’ Bill report that Trump called him several times before Bill got back to him for this discussion.
But interesting that Bill chose to report this call now.
Trump has been calling Hillary the “worst Secretary of State ever” really from the day he ran. If he has this sort of relationship with the Clintons I could see him explaining how and why he thinks he has to do so—such as building credibility on the right, before an eventual independent (Perot redux) run.
But why is Bill bringing it up now?
Even if it’s not credible (e.g., only coming from Bill) — why is he telling this story now?
Bill and Hill are rolling in money.
I’m thinking Bill wants to make the Dems think that the Clintons, together with Trump, have the election well in hand for the Dems—so they won’t kneecap Hill’s run.
Fox and Friends showed a clip of a Frank Luntz “panel” of “supposed voters” that aired on Hannity last night. I was disgusted because it was actually verry biased against Trump.
I didn’t see anything from the “panel” about opinion on Jebbie.
I get the feeling that FOX is out to get Trump, not just have a debate. Knowing Luntz is involved, I have no doubt.
Oh, so what? Bill Clinton is the ultimate overgrown adolescent. He schmoozed the Donald for his proximity to Mandy and its trappings
That’s the essence of Clinton. He was never anything more
The guy who comes over because you guys have the good junk food. He uses people for use of their pool
He Is immature and unprincipled about everything in life that would fit a grown up individual
Of course he would schmooze trump.
Interesting to see the Trump haters adopting the leftists’ favorite form of ‘journalism.’ I.e.: poorly or unsourced smear and innuendo. And then there’s the hallmark of leftist ‘journalism,’—that the Republican being smeared is not allowed to give their version, or certainly not allowed a flat denial. It wouldn’t be leftist ‘journalism’ if it were fair to the other side.
Cruz should be able to attract a higher quality of supporter.
Murdoch despises Trump, wants the Yebster.
The second question is, “What is the motivation for a “conservative” to post this article here”?
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