Trump Is Taking On Water

It was conceivable to see a realistic path for Trump not just to the Republican nomination but to the White House, but that situation is no longer operative.

Donald Trump has not had two weeks this bad since he got into the presidential stakes. His general election polling numbers tell the story: on January 31st, just two months ago, his RealClearPolitics polling average put Trump in a statistical dead heat with Hillary Clinton, trailing her 44-41 percent.

It was conceivable at that moment to see a realistic path for Trump not just to the Republican nomination but to the White House – that he redraws the map in challenging ways and would be a competitive campaigner at the least, even given the inevitable attacks of the Democratic machine. But that situation is no longer operative.

As it stands today, Trump is the only Republican who loses to Hillary Clinton by double digits. The two most recent polls, from Fox News and Bloomberg, find her up by 11 points and 18 points respectively. And a great deal of this has to do with Trump’s hardening opposition among women, particularly Republican women.

At the beginning of the Republican race, Trump was doing well among women, netting more than a third of their support. But a lot has changed since then – he peaked with Republican women in polling in December and has been declining ever since. His unnecessarily vulgar personal attacks – on Megyn Kelly, Carly Fiorina, and Heidi Cruz among others – almost certainly have something to do with that. But there’s something else going on recently which is hurting Trump: he’s not winning....

Not to butt in, but how can a “good trade war” be good for America?

Is there a distinction between a “good” and a “bad” trade war?

What are the positive anticipated outcomes from such a trade war, and with whom would it be fought? Are there any downsides that once might anticipate from a trade war, however that might be defined?

And I’m a bit fuzzy on how high tariffs are supposed to produce more American jobs, when one would most often expect a net decrease in economic activity (including job creation) from a real campaign of tariff barriers. How is that supposed to work, exactly?

Just not clear on this whole Trade protectionism thing that seems to have seized a lot of the Bernie Bros, and some of Mr. Trump’s supporters.

They seem to be on the very same message at the moment. Odd, that.

Like I said, the vast anti-Trump conspiracy. /sarc

Anything negative posted about Trump is quickly dismissed by his supporters, who usually attack the messenger and not the message.

However, the National Enquirer, that has had articles about earth women delivering space alien babies, publishes a smear piece on Cruz and the Trump supporters flail this fish wrap in the faces of all and scream, "Lyin Ted! Wife Cheater! Got the proof right here!!!!!"

It's pretty pathetic.

BTW, Hillary has been negative towards Cruz, as well. Does that mean that she and Trump are conspiring against Ted? After all, Trump has given her money.

The conclusion of this fine article: "The point at which Trump puts the House and Senate in play does not matter to him – he doesn’t give any indication that he cares about the prospects of the party or who he would be dealing with as president – but it matters a great deal to Republican donors, elected officials, and the class that guides the party. If they become convinced they could lose one or both houses because of Trump, they will throw out the rulebook to stop him, whatever the cost."

Now, those of us who have been paying attention know that Ben Domenech is the publisher of The Federalist, and the author of this fine piece. He was born on December 31, 1981, which makes him what is known as a "thirty something". Ben Domenech is an American conservative writer and blogger who co-founded the RedState group blog. He is also the managing editor for health care policy at The Heartland Institute and editor-in-chief of The City, and hosts a daily free market podcast, "Coffee and Markets", at BigGovernment. In addition, he authors a subscription-based daily email focused on politics and economics called The Transom. In 2006, he was involved in a plagiarism controversy. He is co-founder of the web magazine The Federalist.

So the question is properly asked, "Why should we care what this snot-nosed kid thinks?" However, I think it is useful to examine the nub of his conclusion because if illustrates the central question of this campaign.

"he doesn’t give any indication that he cares about the prospects of the party or who he would be dealing with as president"

These folks, like Ben, who have been living off the morsels that are spilled from the public trough, are worried that the folks who are actively feeding at the public trough will be injured when Donald J. Trump starts to cut back on the slop that the Federal Government doles out each day.

As Ben Franklin observed, and observed prophetically, “When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.” That started with the graft and profiteering during the War of Northern Aggression, was institutionalized with the great progressive takeover, e.g. The Federal Reserve, 16th and 17th Amendments, The New Deal, The Great Society, The War on Drugs, The Compassionate Conservatives and their War on Terror, and now the openly Communist regime of Barack Husein Obama.

So the ruling elites and their running dogs, as the Bolsheviks would say, are scared out of their mind that the proletariat has one last revolution in them, and that the leader of that revolution as been raised up to lead them in one last attempt to restore the Republic.

So, as requested, Oh Noes! Trump is done!

(corrected link)

Showing our bilateral trade with China was a whopping 365 billion dollars out of balance last. A brand new, all-time record poor trade balance, one again.

Just saying. We need a trade war. Yes we do.

Or at least we need a president who will address our trade balance from the viewpoint that he is an AMERICAN and promoting American products, for a change.

As in, the first time in a complete generation.

http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5700.html

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.