Posted on 11/19/2015 10:02:45 AM PST by xzins
In the wake of the Paris attacks, Donald Trump's poll numbers are surging. You don't get the real hugeness of that from this article. I have seen polls ranging from 36% to 51%. He is literally overwhelming the field here. No one comes close. The Beltway Boys keep thinking he's peaked and that people will grow up and choose a real leader like RINO extraordinaire Jeb Bush. That's not going to happen. Now they are saying he got a brief bump from the French massacre, but that it will hurt him in the long run. Au contraire, as Ann Coulter pointed out, the attack may have just ensured him the presidency. If more happen (and they will) and/or they happen in America (and they will), Trump could very well just march off with the nomination. He has already said he wants Ted Cruz as his VP. That ticket would win in a monumental landslide and usher back in the Reagan coalition.
Trump Paris
From The Hill:
Donald Trump has gained political strength since the Paris terrorist attacks last Friday, according to most of the polls released in the aftermath.
Trump's gains show him once again confounding Beltway wisdom, where the widespread view was that such a grave event would lead voters to look toward White House candidates who are purportedly more mature and sophisticated than the erstwhile star of âThe Apprentice.â
Instead, it seems that Republican voters have found themselves drawn to Trump's emphatic rhetoric.
âYou have voters who are saying loudly and clearly that they want a strong leader to run our country, and that leader is Mr. Trump,â the business mogul's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, told The Hill. âSome of the other candidates didn't have that vision. ... They have not had the foresight to predict these problems.â
Trump's approach, which tends to be vigorous in tone but light on specifics, draws plenty of criticism even within the GOP.
âTrump makes up for his shortcomings with his force of personality,â said one Republican strategist in New Hampshire who did not want to be identified but is not working for any of Trump's presidential rivals. âI don't think that, on the global stage, you beat [Russian President Vladimir] Putin by offering up your own Putin, in terms of macho charisma. It's far more involved than that.â
But many Republican voters seem to welcome Trump's bravado after last week's assault on French civilians that left 129 people dead. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the massacre.
In a WBUR poll of Republican voters in New Hampshire conducted just after the attacks, Trump's support had risen 4 points from a similar poll released at the start of this month, and he was ahead of his closet rival, retired surgeon Ben Carson, by a 2-1 margin.
A poll conducted by Florida Atlantic University also found Trump way ahead of his Republican competitors in the Sunshine State. He scored 36 percent support, exactly twice the level of backing secured by second-placed Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
And Trump's strength isn't just showing up in state-level âhorse raceâ polls.
A Reuters poll on Tuesday asked voters which of the candidates was best-suited to deal with the threat of terrorism. Among Republican voters, 36 percent opted for Trump. The next most popular response was ânone,â at 17 percent. Rubio was again in second place in the survey among actual candidates, but he lagged Trump by 20 percentage points.
Voters' views may yet shift as they absorb the implications of the Paris atrocity. But for now, Trump's rhetoric seems to be striking a chord.
In an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel on Tuesday evening, the real estate mogul insisted that U.S. mosques would have to be closed in response to the threat of terrorism.
âYou're going to have to do something,â he said. âSome bad things are happening and a lot of them are happening in the mosque and you're going to have to do something.â
In radio ads released Wednesday in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina â which hold the first three contests in the presidential nomination process â Trump insists, âWe must address Islamic terrorism and protect our country first. I will lead by example, as I always have, by vowing to defeat ISIS, stop illegal immigration and the Syrian refugee program, secure our border and bring real change to Washington.â
At a rally Monday night in Knoxville, Tenn., he earned big cheers when he insisted, regarding ISIS that, âI'm going to bomb the sâ out of them.â
Even Trump skeptics acknowledge that this style has populist appeal at moments of public anxiety.
âIt's true that his supporters see him as strong and they are not paying a lot of attention to the specifics of what he is saying,â said GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak. âI think people are fearful. They don't know what to believe but they certainly want a stronger response than [President] Obama has offered.â
But Mackowiak, who writes for The Hill's Contributors blog, also argued that Trump and Carson would slide as the Paris attack, and possible dangers to the United States, remain in the headlines.
âMy sense is that it disadvantages Trump and Carson over the medium-to-long term. Trump â you see it at the debates â he's not even an inch deepâ on foreign policy,â Mackowiak said.
The next Republican debate is almost a month away â scheduled for Dec. 15 in Nevada â and beyond that, there is only one more clash set to take place before the Iowa caucuses at the start of February.
That means Trump's rivals may need to find other ways to knock him off his perch. On Wednesday, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush delivered a defense-focused speech at The Citadel in South Carolina.
Bush did not name Trump, but the reality TV star was clearly in his sights when he said that the Paris attacks âremind us ... that we are living in serious times that require serious leadership.â
But such claims will need to resonate more powerfully than they have thus far if Bush is to have any chance. In the WBUR New Hampshire poll, the former governor was mired at 7 percent support, less than one-third of Trump's 22 percent.
Little wonder, then, that Trump aides evince such confidence.
âIf you look at the public polling as to who is strongest when it comes to defeating ISIS, Mr. Trump is the clear winner,â said Lewandowski. âThese are not my assertions. These are what the polls say time and time again. People want a person who is strong leader.â
Americans love a bad boy... they love a successful businessman...... they love a strong leader... they love a patriot... and they love to be entertained. Trump has all of that and more. As to his foreign policy, these pundits keep saying he has a shallow policy. Not true. Trump has provided more concrete plans than any other candidate and he and Ted Cruz see eye to eye on just about everything. He knows exactly what he would do in the Middle East and beyond. Trump has surrounded himself with the best and brightest military minds out there. He's done that in every field, you just don't hear about it. So keep on wishing Trump away. He's not going anywhere and at this rate, he will win the nomination. It's worth it just to see the politicos come unglued. No other candidate is speaking so forcefully to what Americans are concerned with. Bush is apathetic and not a leader. Rubio is Bush lite. Carson is a nice guy, but not as president. Ted Cruz is perfect, but may wind up on a ticket with Trump. On the Left's side, you've got an old, corrupt Marxist and don't even get me started on commie Sanders. Huge news for Donald Trump is huge news for America.
What? You don't like condoms on Christmas Trees?
Could be because it was a different question asked from the one I posted above.
Or..this one was directed to registered GOP voters, the other poll could have covered any type of voters, GOP or DEM....or non-registered mingled in with registered, or 10 different variations on a theme.
At any rate, the results of the poll I commented on above stunk to high heaven. No details of the polls mechanics were given by the Fox News commentators which was suspicious to me right away. And, of course, I didn't buy the graph the minute I saw Trump's name dead last on the list. He's quite popular in New Hampshire.
Plain and simple....it was a quickie drive-by shooting by Fox.....and that's exactly what it was.
Thanks for posting the current Fox poll which I believe to be scouts' honor truth!
Maybe the Fox producers heard some pointed noises from those ticked off in the viewing audience like me.
Leni
What? You don't like condoms on Christmas Trees?
The hideous muslim coloring scheme in the White Hut is an abomination.
I want to see it returned to the American red, white, and blue.
I don’t worship Trump, really.
Someone posted a picture of it above. It appears to be asking how each candidate would do against Hillary, and like you suggest, it was of the entire group of respondents, democrat and republican.
So, democrats are better with Rubio and Bush and Kasich than they are with Trump. And evidently, some supporters of Rubio, Bush, and Kasich would say Hillary before they’d say Trump.
Now that’s about what I thought of them, too.
I’m a Cruz donor, but the facts are the facts.
He has, indeed, become a juggernaut.
Thank you for decoding that dumb poll question.
“Beltway wisdom”? You mean like Rove, and Kraut?
They still think Bush has got it in the shade.
The Beltway Boys have missed it every time we’ve had an election. Even W only won the first time by a few hanging “chads”.
All they do is look at the polls, when its in their favor, they smile and run a victory lap. When it’s not, they bust a gut trying to spin it into their favor and demean the opponents.
I love Cruz, but he needs to visit Trump’s Tailor.
Looks just like the Cover of Trump’s new Book. LOL
That assumes nobody walks in the door with enough committed delegates to win on the first ballot.
That won't happen. The system is designed against that. It's FAR more likely in the Democrats with Super Delegates.
That last paragraph says it all and says it well.
Trump appeals to people and I think Cruz would accept the Veep job.
What a dream ticket.
Kicking Hillary’s butt every day. It would be a joy to behold.
Some folks are still stuck in single “Won’t vote” territory.
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We have our share of them right here at F.R.
That's gotta sting.
The article is totally jumping the gun that Trump said he “wants Cruz for V.P.” Totally. Trump never said that.
He didn’t say it. He said he was ok with it....something like that.
And, I agree that Trump/Cruz would be an awesome ticket. So would Cruz/Trump.
Interesting.
I saw a comment earlier on another site that indicated that Trump was already the de facto President.
He should go ahead and take the reins. Bam bam is already irrelevant.
Yup. He’s already the de facto President.
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