Posted on 01/21/2016 12:44:29 PM PST by Isara
One of the more bizarre things I hear about Trump, from people who support Trump, is that he attacks liberals with more gusto than anyone else in the field. It’s bizarre because every time I turn around, I hear Trump attacking a conservative Republican. On the infrequent occasions that he attacks liberals, he does so offhandedly and with little conviction. “I would love to run against Hillary because her policies are so bad” is basically all he ever says about Hillary, when he does mention her.
I decided, however, that maybe I was just being fed his attacks on Republicans by the media, and that maybe he really does attack liberals on the stump, and I am just not seeing it because the media won’t report it. So I decided to do an analysis of Trump’s stump speech, as compared to the stump speeches of Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who are the only other two candidates who matter at this point. I used as a reference the most recent full stump speech of each candidate that I could find online.
My reference speeches were: this Rubio speech in Iowa on January 18th, this Ted Cruz speech earlier this week in Fort Worth, and Trump’s speech in Myrtle Beach on Saturday. All were between 30-40 minutes long, and all occurred after the race has gotten contentious, sparked by Trump’s stirring of the Cruz birther issue.
Every stump speech during a primary contains four basic elements: 1) Self-promotion (this is not intended to be derogatory, all candidates must explain why they are the best choice and people should vote for them); 2) the policy laundry list (this doesn’t have to be detailed and in fact is generally very broad); 3) attacks against primary opponents; and 4) attacks against the other party. For each speech, I divided the speech into the four categories and noted the amount of time each candidate spent on each. Some other percent was spent on stuff that can’t be quantified (rhetorical fluff), and that’s why the percentages won’t add up to 100% in any case.
However, in order to fairly capture the extent to which the candidates attacked each other and/or the Democrats, I also kept a separate tally of the amount of times they leveled an attack against each other and/or the Democrats during the course of one of their other segments. For instance, one of Rubio’s favorite rhetorical devices is, when he is explaining his own policy to say “unlike Hillary Clinton, who has instead done [X],” where [X] is something very stupid. So I kept that tally as well, and I kept tally of every time the Republicans mentioned their primary opponents (instead of other Republicans in general). In order to count as a reference to primary opponents, they had to reference either the candidate’s name or a well known position they hold or thing they’ve said.
Here’s how the breakdown came out:
Cruz
Total speech length: 30:18
Total time spent attacking his primary opponents: 0:00 (0%)
Total time spent attacking Democrats: 3:52 (13%)
Total time spent on self-promotion: 13:11 (43%)
Total time spent on policy: (38%)
Additional notes: In the course of either the self-promotion and/or policy sections of his speech, Cruz attacked Hillary and/or Obama an additional 8 times, in addition to the 3:52 he spent on his uninterrupted attacks. Cruz made, by my count, one attack against his Republican rivals, which was very mild, essentially saying “The only thing I will say about the fine men I shared the debate stage with is that you know that when I say I will do something, I’m going to do it.” That’s not verbatim, but it’s close. Otherwise the other Republican contenders were not mentioned.
Rubio
Total speech length: 37:11
Total time spent attacking his primary opponents: 0:00 (0%)
Total time spent attacking Democrats: 3:53 (10%)
Total time spent on self-promotion: 11:34 (31%)
Total time spent on policy: 17:17 (46%)
Additional notes: In the course of either self-promotion and/or policy sections of his speech, Rubio made 15 attacks on either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, making his speech nearly as aggressive against Democrats as Cruz’s. Rubio did not mention any of his primary opponents even once, even obliquely. Given that Rubio has been the target of the overwhelming proportion of attack ads thus far this cycle, I found this to be surprising. Rubio’s policy section was also by far the most specific (and lengthiest) of the three candidates.
Trump
Total speech length: 43:43
Total time spent attacking his primary opponents: 4:43 (11%)
Total time spent attacking Democrats: 0 (0%)
Total time spent on self-promotion: 24:59 (57%)
Total time spent on policy: 13:32 (31%)
Additional notes: The sum total of Trump’s attacks on Democrats came in the opening seconds of his speech when he made an offhanded reference to “can you imagine if we had to have another 4 years of Obama? And Hillary might be even worse.” Later in the speech, he said “Obama is the worst negotiator I’ve ever seen, except when he’s negotiating with Republicans, and then he’s the best negotiator I’ve ever seen.” Those were the only negative comments Trump made about a Democrat during the course of his speech. He also is the only one of the three candidates who mentioned any of his primary opponents by name, engaging in a relatively lengthy diatribe about Jeb Bush (for some reason) and another about Ted Cruz.
Conclusion:
It’s pretty obvious that the media is actually capturing Trump’s schtick pretty accurately, which is that he spends most of the time talking about himself, some smaller portion of the time talking about “policy” in vague ways, and the remainder of the time attacking his fellow Republicans. I have been watching Republican stump speeches my entire life and it was jarring to see one that included so little material about Democrats at all.
It’s especially bizarre since Trump is the unquestioned frontrunner. Any other candidate at this point in the race would be pretending that his Republican rivals did not exist, and gearing up his general election attack against Hillary and/or Bernie. This not only would help for the general election, but also would cement an air of inevitability about Trump as the nominee.
I don’t know what Trump’s motives are for engaging in this tactic (although I have my theories) but it’s just patently false that he’s out there leveling the most effective attacks against liberals you’ve ever seen. Not only is he not leveling effective attacks, he’s not leveling attacks at all. The only people Trump is interested in attacking right now is other Republicans.
Red State...Nuf said.
What surprises me a great deal, is that you folks still haven’t found out if he likes Jelly Beans or not.
Now there’s something folks are dying to know.
That would be yuge!
To demonstrate he’s the best one for the job of going against them, maybe? Is’t that kinda what the Primay is for? To pick an opponent for their pick in the general?
Win the primary by scorched earth tactics to a degree you lose the consultation support of you primary opponent’s supporters is a good way to lose the general.
Trump is not fighting anyone. Trump just spoke the truth and the politicians self destructed.
Trump: I don’t know what Hillary’s policies are, but I know they’re horrible. Really horrible, believe me.
Interesting insight.
Ummm..it’s the primaries. His opponents are Republicans. And it’s working because he’s polling much better. When his opponent is a Democrat he will ONLY attack democrats. I don’t understand why anyone is surprised that in a primary fight that people point out the faults of their primary opponents.
As for his fellow candidates only after they attacked him first. Contrary to what the post alleges, yes, he has attacked hillary here and there, especially about her pending indictment. Attacking the gope and budget deal requires no explanation.
Trump is great at #2 and #4. Not so great at #3.
If you hired a contractor to build a house to keep you sheltered from the rain, you’d make him put up the roof before the foundation or frame?
First things first. Beat the GOPe.
Trump for President. Finally a real fighter and American.
Donald Trump: "He's a smart guy that knows what's going on really big league and I think he is not going to want to destroy New York."
Voice Over: That was Donald Trump a little over two years ago, endorsing PC Socialist Bill de Blasio for New York Mayor.
Donald Trump: "I think pretty strongly that he'll end up being a good mayor, maybe a very good mayor."
Voice Over: De Blasio ran on class warfare, sanctuary cities and ending stop and frisk. De Blasio's sided with looters and cop killers against the police, with teachers unions against schoolchildren and with PC liberals to let the homeless run wild on city streets.
Donald Trump: "I think he is going to want to make New York great. ..."
http://www.redstate.com/2016/01/19/trump-endorsed-bill-de-blasio/
_______________________________________
Described by CNN as the "unabashed liberal," de Blasio is actually to the left of Barack Obama, in the sense that de Blasio didn't disavow his communist background once it came to light. At least Obama tried to cover up his ties to communist Frank Marshall Davis.
De Blasio had scrubbed the Marxist connections from his campaign website, an omission that momentarily captured the attention of The New York Times. But once these connections and controversies came to light, he embraced his sordid history. He still embraces [communist] liberation theology and his work for the communist Sandinistas in Nicaragua.
Nobody believed the purpose of his "honeymoon" to Cuba was actually a honeymoon, but the media didn't even bother to check into how he made the illegal trip and whether the FBI had developed a file on the candidate.
De Blasio was so open about his Marxism that on Sunday, he campaigned with Harry Belafonte, who during the Cold War sang at a "Concert for Peace" in communist East Germany, where he attacked President Reagan's anti-communist foreign policy. A long-time supporter of the Castro dictatorship, Belafonte was also an ally of the late Venezuelan Marxist ruler Hugo Chavez. ..."
-snip-
De Blasio can be expected to side with Soros and his "progressive base," rather than the police.
De Blasio can also do a lot of damage in the area of surveillance of potential Muslim terrorists. He made a campaign promise to a Muslim group that he would stop the practice of sending informants into mosques and Muslim student organizations.
Going further, if he moves to dismantle the NYPD's counter-terrorism programs, the city and nation could suffer through another 9/11.
Pamela Geller, a New Yorker, comments that the kind of journalism that we saw in the mayoral contest "is not just irresponsible; it endangers us all."
more at:
http://www.aim.org/aim-column/americas-first-openly-marxist-big-city-mayor/
________________________________________
A Better Deal with Cuba, says Donald Trump
Humberto Fontova | Jan 16, 2016:
Meanwhile...
TRUMP: Vladimir Putin's praise is 'a great honor'
Business Insider ^ | December 17, 2015 | By Maxwell Tani
Republican US presidential front-runner Donald Trump is apparently "honored" that Russian President Vladimir Putin considers the real-estate magnate a "flamboyant" and "very talented" man.
"It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond," Trump said in a statement, according to Politico.
He continued: "I have always felt that Russia and the United States should be able to work well with each other towards defeating terrorism and restoring world peace, not to mention trade and all of the other benefits derived from mutual respect."
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
________________________________________
"I think that I would probably get along with him [Putin] very well."
--Donald Trump, CBS' Face The Nation, Oct 2015
*******************************************************************
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Russia's push into Ukraine has put many on edge. But less known is that Russia is also strengthening its military links south of the Rio Grande and re-establishing itself as a power in the region.
Vladimir Putin has been strengthening military links here, and Russia is now the largest arms dealer to governments in Latin America, surpassing the United States.
Russia has even floated the possibility of building new military bases in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, and putting its warships permanently in the Caribbean.
In the midst of the Ukraine crisis, Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov recently visited Cuba, Peru, Chile, and Nicaragua, where he announced that Russia would also pour money into the new Central American canal project. ..."
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/140508/russian-arms-military-trade-latin-america
_______________________________________________________________________
BY: Bill Gertz
February 20, 2015
Russia agreed to provide military training for three leftist regimes in Latin America and increase military visits and exercises following a visit last week to the region by Moscow's Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu, Pentagon officials said.
Shoygu met with defense and military leaders in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua and signed several agreements on warship visits and military training during the visit, which ran from Feb. 11 to 14. It is not clear whether any new arms deals were completed during the visit.
Defense officials said the Russian leader is seeking bases in the region for strategic bomber flights that Shoygu recently promised would include flights over the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/russia-boosts-arms-training-for-leftist-latin-militaries/
*******************************************************************
"Trump's relationship with Russia goes far back. In 1987, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was meeting with Soviet officials and negotiating the building of "luxury hotels" in Moscow and Leningrad .
A story at the time said Trump had met Soviet Ambassador Yuri Dubinin, who mentioned how much his daughter had admired the "opulent" Trump Tower in New York City. This led to an invitation to Trump to visit the USSR. The story said Dubinin wrote a letter to Trump, who hosted a meeting with Soviet officials in New York.
The invitation to Moscow was issued by Intourist, the giant Soviet in-country travel organization which operated all the hotels for foreigners in the Soviet Union.
Intourist was created in 1929 by Joseph Stalin and run by KGB officials. Intourist hotels were designed for wealthy foreigners, and virtually all the Intourist guides were KGB informers. In fact, one aspect of their jobs was the recruitment of foreigners. ..."
"...we are left thinking [whether] Trump understands the aggressive intentions of Vladimir Putin.
"...when Trump was asked about the nuclear balance with Russia during the most recent Republican presidential debate, he displayed ignorance of the decaying nature of the U.S. nuclear triad, which constitutes our ability to deter and survive a Russian nuclear first strike.
"Putin has just presided over a ceremony honoring the KGB's successor agencies, and the Russia Today (RT) propaganda channel has announced the grand opening of a "cultural center" dedicated to mass murderer Joseph Stalin.
It looks like Putin has outmaneuvered Obama and Trump. It is an opening for Trump's opponents, especially Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marco Rubio (R-FL). But do they have the courage to "follow the money" and hold Trump accountable for doing business with a criminal regime that threatens the survival of the United States? At the end of this money trail, they may find an explanation of why Trump is so reluctant to hold Putin responsible for his crimes.
Follow Trump's Money to Moscow
Renew America ^ | December 25, 2015 | Cliff Kincaid
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/kincaid/151225
In continuing his "New York values" line of attack, Ted Cruz brought up an interview Donald Trump gave years ago in which he himself emphasized his New York background as being important to his political philosophy. And now we have that interview.
Cruz's campaign posted the video earlier today of Trump with Tim Russert on Meet the Press in 1999.
Russert asked Trump about gay marriage. Trump didn't want to comment on it, but said he has no problem with gays in the military.
He explained, "I've lived in New York City and Manhattan all my life, okay? So my views are a little bit different than if I lived in Iowa."
When Russert asked Trump about abortion, he said he's "pro-choice in every respect" and again cited his New York background, which he said has a "different attitude" from most of the country.
The game is rigged no matter who “wins.”
Progressives OWN the political machine in America.
http://www.cfr.org/canada/building-north-american-community/p8102
Note Heidi Cruz’ role.
Cruz is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Trump is a wolf in wolf’s clothing. Rubio is a sheep in cheap clothing.
And, to quote a long-ago third party “spoiler” “There ain’t a dime’s bit of differene between ‘em.”
Interesting info.
Nice that you can read it in Spanish with just a click.
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