Posted on 07/22/2015 12:05:46 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Via Mediaite, his strategy here is obvious. What I didn’t realize until Benjy Sarlin reminded me on Twitter was that Rubio’s not the first Republican to draw this comparison. Jeb Bush did it last week:
Mr. Bush, the former governor of Florida, told an audience in Iowa on Tuesday that voters ought to forget about tiny little things like “race and ethnicity and income.” And he attacked two people who he said were trying to scare and divide Americans – Mr. Trump and, incredibly, President Obama.
“There are people that prey on people’s fears and angst as well,” Mr. Bush said. “Whether it’s Donald Trump or Barack Obama, their rhetoric of divisiveness is wrong.”
If you want a much, much fuller treatment of the analogy, see Victor Davis Hanson’s latest piece for NRO, “Obama and Trump: Two of a Kind.” For the past month, the CW among establishment Republicans was that Trumpmania would burn itself out quickly and had to be endured with patience until it did. (Rand Paul made that very point as recently as yesterday.) Now, with Trump in the mid-20s in national polling and getting saturation media coverage, people like Bush and Rubio are grasping for ways to pop the balloon so that it’ll deflate more quickly. You can call him a RINO, truthfully, but he’ll just call you one back. You can say he’s vulgar, but his fans like that about him. You can say that he wouldn’t stand a chance against Hillary, also truthfully, but no one cares about electability 16 months out and Trump can always retort that his polling is better than theirs right now.
The quickest way, in theory, to breed contempt for Trump among his admirers is to compare him to the most contemptible figure in the GOP’s political cosmology. He’s another Obama. It won’t work — their styles are too different, even if the sizes of their egos aren’t, and Trump’s birtherism established him squarely as an Obama antagonist — but you can see why Bush and Rubio might think it’s worth a shot. The odd thing about what Rubio says here isn’t the analogy itself but how superficial it is. The key similarity between Obama and a guy who’s supported all sorts of left-wing policies in the past, and who told CNN in 2004 that he probably identifies more as a Democrat, is that they’re both … not classy? C’mon. If you’re not going to hit him on policy, at least hit him on the fact that he and O are, in different ways, the consummate “celebrity” candidates. As one GOP strategist said to the Hill, “He’s the Kardashian of the Republican primary.”
What makes the “no class” attack especially weak is that, per today’s new Morning Consult poll, Trump has paid no price among voters for his classless moment over the weekend goofing on McCain. Trump fans don’t care about that. Why would they? He put the boots to a RINO. That’s what matters.
A new Morning Consult poll finds Trump leading the Republican field with 22 percent of the vote, well ahead of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who clocks in with 15 percent, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, in third place with 12 percent…
There is no evidence that Trump’s numbers have slumped after comments he made questioning Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) war record. Though most of the rest of the Republican field — and even the Republican National Committee — loudly criticized Trump after he made the comments on Saturday morning at an event in Iowa, voters interviewed afterward weren’t any less likely to say they support him.
In fact, Trump has gained ground since a Morning Consult poll earlier this month, when he trailed Bush by a 19 percent to 17 percent margin. This week Trump is the second choice of 12 percent of voters, behind Bush’s 18 percent.
Criticizing Trump for his lack of decorum is like criticizing Bernie Sanders for being radically left-wing. It’s why their fans love them. It’s evidence that they haven’t been coopted by D.C.’s political culture. Really odd that Rubio thinks this would cost him votes, even if it’s dressed up in an Obama analogy.
Urban myth.
Neither the Constitution nor the Electoral College prevents a presidential candidate from picking a fellow-state resident or any candidate from his same state as a Veep running-mate.
Again, there is NO law or regulation preventing a P & VP ticket consisting of two individuals from the same state.
(Source: The Tampa Bay Times (Pundit Fact Truth-O-Meter Column), or any internet search engine.
Leni
I'm for Cruz but Rubio may have stronger citizenship cred in that a lot of citizens had parents as legal immigrants without the anchor baby tag. Rubio's parents were legal immigrants and their children (born in the USA) are US citizens. My grandparents immigrated from Europe and there was never any question about my mother's (born in the USA) citizenship. Assigning Rubio as an anchor baby when his parents were legal immigrants is disingenuous.
Why isn’t he attacking Hillary?
SHE has no class.
Remember that Trump is heading to the border today. He is going to bring a great deal forward that those pushing amnesty and the media they control do not want we crazies to know.
He fearlessly is seeking out the truth and exposing it. If some candidates are uncomfortable with that it’s their problem. They won’t fight the facts but are going after messenger whose message is also exposing them
Rubio is at 1%...care to prove that?
Rooooooobio made everyone think he was all in with the tea party and as politicians who are caught in a honey trap will do the bidding of their handlers.
Tell me, it has been mentioned several times before...
Who is my guy, genius?
My point is that Rubio’s parents were foreign nationals, not US citizens, at the time of his birth. Whether they were in the country legally or not is a non-issue. They owed allegiance to Cuba. If little Marco was born before they had time to become US Citizens, that’s just too bad.
Ole jebber is my bet.
LOL...
Wow, then you haven’t been paying attention. Why doesn’t that surprise me?
try again, sherlock...you’ll get it soon.
There are a great many of us that can't trace our heritage on both sides to the Mayflower. If you can great. People born in the US to legal immigrants whether they have become citizens or not are unquestionably citizens. Knowing the law is important. "If(paraphrasing a Mark Twain quote) you don't know the law It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."
Trump does give a down to earth speech. Not unlike Palin. He does use the word “hell” a lot, though. Needs to vary that.
Remember how many threads had a count of the times Obummer used the word “I”? How about doing a comparison to Trump? Did Reagan use the word “I” in every other sentence?
How about those who poke at Trump’s hair? There sure is a lot of hypocrisy out there.
Nothing stealth about Rubberio if you pay attention.
He’s still for
“Comprehensively Screwing Americans Out Of Their Country”
LOL..
There is, but if Trump is the man you say he is, then it shouldn’t bother him, right? Nor, should be stoop to their level.
FU Marco...you are so stupid you actually thought Chuckie Scmuckie Schumer was a good man to “work with”. Idiot. You got played.
I'll withhold my opinion and let the MSM do their job in destroying them..........
IMO pandering to the illegal/non US citizen is classless.
As predicted, the MSM is throwing out the feed and letting us devour ourselves.............LOL!
When was the last time you ever heard the term "The Maverick" John McCain?..........
Answer: After eight straight years under the Bush administration, it was the night before he lost the 2008 presidential election........No Mas Maverick!
With all due respect to your point, in years past, I would write Trump off. But, this is no ordinary election. The future of our country is at stake, and we have not had in the past 2 election cycles, a candidate who was willing or able to take it to the opposition. So, we ended up with a dictator in the WH. This cycle is different, and we need someone who fights back. No more Mr. Nice Guy, no more taking the high road - how has that worked out for us? It hasn’t. So, if people want to attack Trump - they better expect to get it back, because Americans are fed up with the nice guy routine.
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.