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.
Right Marco, that’s why I won’t vote for you . I just hope a great conservative runs for your Florida Senate seat and I hope you have a whatever as long as its off my TV.
Freegards
LEX
Trump is a business man. He knows its not the President who is the most important. It’s who he surrounds himself with
I watched very little of the APPRENTICE. But one think stood out he knows how to sort out the better/best. You’re Fire! Has more significance than just a TV meme !
The bluebloods want a Jeb/Rubio ticket because that would ensure a Florida win.
Rubio is a little man, a BEGGAR who does what his masters tell him to do so he can keep getting campaign contributions.
He is so confident that he will be the VP that he is giving up his Senate seat.
Nobody expected Trump.
I liked what Trump was saying in 2012, he only got in this time because the rest of the field are LOSERS and the one thing that the USA cannot afford is anymore LOSERS.
Beyond throwing out schoolyard taunts, there is one more comparison between Obama and Trump. More accurately it’s between the supporters of each who have bought the V-8 rhetoric without looking under the hood. O
Trump’s numbers have actually gotten stronger. Rubio is at 1%. What a stooge. And to think the Tea Party put this GOPe type in.
Trump has wiped the floor with him twice already.
Republican definition of class: “Don’t stand your ground”.
According to the Constitution if the president and vice presidential nominees are from the same state, one of them can't get the state's electoral vote.
So one thing we can predict is that if Bush gets the nomination Rubio won't be his running mate.
How do you maintain “class” when you are being called a racist? It’s not possible.
This proves Trumps point that Rubio aint that bright.
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Try to imagine Marco taking the 3:00 AM phone call. :=)
Yea right.
World leaders as a whole don’t seem to be all about decorum anyway, you’ve got all sorts of abuse spewing from the Iranian Ayatollah, Putin posing shirtless every chance he gets, remember Khadaffi? What was Khrushchev’s most iconic moment? Anyone??
Then you have the less than inspiring image of Rubio stuttering all over himself with reporters who are obviously trying to be nice to him.
I think he’s pretty quick as summing people up.
He seems to have the number of quite a few people these days.
We already have open borders, why would we want more it, Rubio?!
Well, we will see if your amnesty loving candidate does any good against classless Trump.Tell your guy any time he is ready he can start rising in the polls.He might want to hurry.
Rubio is right. Trump is a chump. He’s been married three times. He’s been a Democrat most of his life. He’s financed Democrats. He’ll be one again. He’s bamboozled some people by being rude without being principled or smart for his stinking vanity.
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