It's a very Trump Christmas

The Hill ^ | December 24, 2015 | Lisa Hagen

[maggief]

Donald Trump may be getting the best gift of all this holiday season, as he enters 2016 firmly on top in the Republican race for the White House.

The GOP presidential hopeful has proved the doubters wrong, solidifying a double-digit lead in national polls while running one of the most unorthodox campaigns in history.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) - who has seen his support plunge amid Trump's rise - predicted at a private Dallas fundraiser in mid-November that Trump would falter by the next GOP debate.

"Come December 15, Trump will be in decline," Bush reportedly said.

But on the eve of Christmas, Trump still tops the Republican field by 17 points, even as Bush lags behind in the single digits.

"He's obviously been able to defy political gravity for much of this campaign," GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak said, noting Trump's advantages of being a celebrity and attracting heavy media coverage.

The latest national polls confirm that Trump's momentum isn't slowing down. Within the past week, Trump:

Topped the field in a post-debate survey from Public Policy Polling, increasing his lead by 8 points

Bested the second-place finisher by 4 points in a Quinnipiac University poll

And opened up a 21-point lead in a CNN/ORC International poll

[TexasFreeper2009]

I have seen Rubio’s lame commerical a few times.

[Flick Lives]

What is stopping other candidates from holding multiple rallies and townhall meetings where they fire up the crowds with straight from the heart speeches, thus attracting media and free publicity?

---

Nothing, except most ranch-raised politicians have been so scripted, buffed, and polished by their handlers and consultants that they don’t have any idea what they believe. And with enough input from enough consultants you end up with a candidate designed by a committee, full of bland inoffensive mush, with all the personality of oatmeal.

[JPG]

--I have seen Rubio's lame commercial a few times.

Me, too. I change the channel when it comes on. Bleh! The only thing worse than no sincerity is fake sincerity.

[GOPJ]

What is stopping other candidates from holding multiple rallies and townhall meetings where they fire up the crowds with straight from the heart speeches, thus attracting media and free publicity?

They have nothing to say beyond a standard stump speech that's been focus-group tested to be as unoffensive as possible. Also, most of our elites don't like 'the people' they would rather be sitting in some DC drawing room with upscale 'talkers' buttering them up for favors. Our elites are better than liberal elites.. but not as much 'better' as we'd like to think...

[Albion Wilde]

Ping!

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* * *

A merry, holy and blessed Christmas
to all MAGA pinglist readers!
--A.W.

Selected Trump articles on FR, from 12:00 AM to 11:30 AM, 12/24/15:
It's a very Trump Christmas
Chris Cuomo Echoes Trump: Hillary 'Very Low Energy' In Newspaper Interview
Trump's latest treatise deploys subliminally sinister attack on Clinton
How Anti-Trump Republicans Are Blowing Their Chance in New Hampshire
Music Video - In support of TRUMP
Republicans Need to Pick Their Anti-Trump ASAP (And it can't be Cruz) [HuffPo]
Why are evangelicals supporting Ted Cruz and Donald Trump?
Ipsos/Reuters Poll (December 23): Core Political Approval [Trump 39% Cruz 13% Carson 10%]
POLITICO Caucus: Trump is terrible for America!

[oldvirginian]

Rubio is waiting to be anointed by the party insiders, much the same way jeb was before his numbers headed south like the Lusitania.
I believe he has been told by the RNC that he is the Great Hispanic Hope and they will take care of him at the convention.
Rubio has shown himself to be lazy in the Senate and he will be just as lazy a campaigner.

Huckabee and the also rans are just wasting our time and jockeying for future employment.

Trump, the media savy real estate billionaire is running a very different type of campaign than the dullard RNC is capable of comprehending.
He is using the new media to connect with the average person much the same way Reagan used TV to make a connection to the America of his day. Trump uses the language of the New York boroughs instead of the college campus.
His thirty some years of promoting his business brand and investments in the tough New York City media give him a leg up in the type of campaign he has chosen to run.

Cruz is the most conservative candidate in the race. A true Constitutional conservative, he is able to break down a complex legal question so that the average person understands it.
Yes, he sometimes sounds like a lawyer, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
Not as good at running the media as Trump, he is a quick study and knows how to run a campaign.

I expect Cruz and Trump to be the last two standing.
At some point I think some of Rubio’s support will gravitate to Cruz because they will refuse to support Trump.
Will it be enough to carry Cruz to the nomination?
Stay tuned sports fans.

[georgiegirl]

Trump has breached the Berlin wall of Political Correctness and the American people are following him through it, taking down the collapsing wall. Merry Christmas is on media’s lips— unprecendented! Trump is a leader, he has a stampede of patriots behind him.

[Cheerio]

If Trump wins the nomination, prepare for the end of the conservative party

Obviously I don't agree with this at all, BUT this is what 'true Conservatives' are up against. George Will writes this as though the GOP is one in the same with conservatives, Will is no 'conservative' nor are most of the elite 2016 GOP Presidential candidates.

[gogeo]

Great analysis.

[entropy12]

See post #30. Cruz is nowhere close to Trump.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Merry Christmas to all Freepers great and small.

[Company Man]

Quinnipiac is an out-liar.

LOL, I see what you did there.

[knarf]

and there never WAS a democrat !

[oldvirginian]

Thank you.
Just calling it as I see it.

Really looking forward to the actual primary voting. I am tired of polls, polls, polls.

[oldvirginian]

And no one has cast the first primary vote, have they?

In sports they say that there is a reason for actually playing the game.
Seems the same would hold true in political primaries and elections.
Or would you rather have a candidate have a hollow coronation because, well,....the polls.

I am looking forward to the primary voting. I want to see how deep each candidates support actually is.

If pre-primary polls were the be all, end all Howard Dean would have won the democrats nomination.
He didn’t because the polls were wrong. He didn’t have the support.

[entropy12]

Right, and Santorum won Iowa. And Huckabee won Iowa. Lately Iowa has been a lousy indicator of future primary results.

The winner is usually decided by the larger, more expensive states, which are mostly blue states. That is where Romney made his move.

[ExTexasRedhead]

Trump 2016 Campaign Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg22rjzYo4w&app=desktop

[oldvirginian]

Iowa, just like the rest of the country, ain’t what it was 40 or 50 years ago when all the hoopla started.

Both parties have learned to massage polls and the pollsters work for whoever pays them the most.

This is not a typical election because the democrats bench is so thin it’s invisible.
Because Hillary is a tone deaf witch who no one can stand.
Because the Magic Negro destroyed a generation of democrat office holders.

Because Trump is running a campaign the media can’t stop. Hey, they can’t even comprehend it. It amazes them that he is as sick of Political Correctness as they are in love with it.
There is not one thing about Donald Trump the media and talking heads understand enough to hurt him.
The only person who can hurt Trump is Trump.
His New York personality may wear on the rest of the country.

Because Cruz is a politician who understands the little things in a political campaign.
He can talk to dozens in some pizza shop in a little town in the middle of nowhere or he can address thousands at a college, he connects with them all.
He understands the Constitution better than any candidate, possibly since the Founders themselves.

The democrats shambling around like Dr Frankenstein’s monster.
The media totally befuddled and clueless.
The GOP with two candidates they hate, one of which will be the nominee.

Definitely not the typical election.

[Lumper20]

Trump’s Christmas card is very nice.