Trump was positioning himself for the general election.
We’ve lost two elections to the community organizer - the 2nd after America witnessed the worst presidency since Jimmy Carter - to Democrats because of George W.
George W. bailed out the rich with corporate welfare and got us into Iraq.
ANY Republican nominee will have that baggage going into the general. It weighted down both McCain and Romney.
Trump has inoculated his candidacy of the Bush blunders.
It was a smart strategic move.
Trump isn’t running a a neo-con. Why conservatives now praise the Bushes is beyond me.
He’s running against Clinton/Bush/NAFTA/Iraq and appealing to independents, blue collar workers, the Nixon ‘silent majority’ hard hats that will cross over, those that never voted or haven’t voted in years, and it turns out that 35-40% voter base will show up for him consistently.
When National Review and Fox attack Trump it helps Trump prove he’s independent. When the MSNBC and leftists attack trump it helps Trump prove he’s independent.
He’s staking out ground candidates usually ignore. His support among blacks (25%) scares the heck out of Democrats. He pulls that off in a general, or anywhere close to that, and he will win.
You’re playing chess, these guys are still trying to figure out tic-tac-toe.
Trump could have inoculated himself in a more reasoned fashion without making it so personal. His performance was over the top - even for Trump.
Outside of the echo chamber that is FR - two of my co-workers (likely GOP voters) said they would not vote for him after the last debate. Both are veterans like me. I did not even attempt to defend him again - they have to make up their own minds. I am sure a few really liked it so maybe he gained as much as he lost - time will tell, but the real test of a great President is to win people over. If you win a few and lose a few you are in the same spot and I can’t help but wonder if he will ever learn the necessary art of politics that each great President has to master.
He is either going to win big or go down in flames with the rest of us screaming in the cheap seats. Not much middle ground with the man.
I have voted in every national election since 1976. If Donald Trump is the nominee of the Republican Party then I will not be voting for any presidential candidate in 2016. The man is a farce. I am sure their are a lot of folks like me out in the country.
exactly right !
most Republicans and swing voters see Obama as a failure.
But they don’t want to go completely back to the Bush years, as there were some major mistakes there, as well as accomplishments.
Trump is distancing himself from the Bush baggage.
Are you talking about TARP? You do realize Trump supported TARP, right? He even went as far as being open to nationalizing the banks.