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How the Republican elite turned a blind eye to the rise and rise of Donald Trump
Reuters ^ | March 2, 2016 | By Emily Flitter and Luciana Lopez

Posted on 03/02/2016 8:47:14 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

... The story of Trump's rise has played out day after day on television and on social media, but the conversations behind closed doors among members of the Republican elite during this period have been less well documented.

Many of the conversations had one thing in common: a stubborn refusal to take Trump seriously, even as fans packed sports stadiums to see him in the summer months, as he dominated media coverage of the election, and as polls showed him winning wide support among young and old, men and women.

Many in the Republican establishment believed he would eventually self-destruct or that Americans would lose patience with his bombast, his free-wheeling insults and lack of firm policies to back up his promises to "Make America Great Again."

They were wrong.

Trump's rise seemed to take place entirely outside the structures of the normal nomination process within the Republican party.

Early in his run, Trump was a source of puzzlement for rich Republicans, such as those who gathered one Sunday in early August in the Hamptons, New York's gilded summer retreat destination, to discuss the 2016 race.

The attendees discussed Trump's rise and observed he had struck a chord with many Americans, the source said. They fretted over whether his presence would force other candidates to go negative. They hoped he wouldn't hijack the first Republican presidential debate, then less than a week away.

But they decided, however it had begun, Trump's reign atop the polls wouldn't last.

"I think it's literally just a matter of time before his NASCAR careens into the wall - and hopefully not into the other drivers," the source said in an interview on Aug. 6.

Trump has not crashed.

And on Monday, the CEO of NASCAR, Brian France, endorsed him.

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: election2016; trump
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1 posted on 03/02/2016 8:47:14 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

2 posted on 03/02/2016 8:49:05 AM PST by SubMareener (Save us from Quarterly Freepathons! Become a MONTHLY DONOR!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The wrongly view the opposition as Trump. The opposition is we the people and it does NOT a end with Trump


3 posted on 03/02/2016 8:49:59 AM PST by hoosiermama (Make America Great Again by uniting Great Americans)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Trump's Hostile Takeover of the GOPe is almost complete
4 posted on 03/02/2016 8:50:05 AM PST by HangnJudge (Cthulhu for President, why vote for a lesser Evil)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
To call it a "blind eye" infers the GOPe would have considered it a failure for Hillary to win the general.

HF

5 posted on 03/02/2016 8:50:38 AM PST by holden
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The smartest people in the room are the most stupid.

They bring to mind Pauline Kael’s famous observation after Nixon’s 1972 landslide win: “I didn’t know any one who voted for him.”

The GOP elite probably doesn’t know any one who voted for Trump.

No one in their club would be in their right mind to vote for the vulgarian.

But in America, people have a completely different view.


6 posted on 03/02/2016 8:51:09 AM PST by goldstategop ((In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever))
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

They have not been turning a blind eye to the desire of the citizens to have the laws and borders enforced.

They have been actively working against us.

They have made sure we have had no one but an amnesty candidate since the last amnesty.

It was not accidental.

The most important thing to the RNC/GOP is preventing us from stopping The Cheap Labor Express.


7 posted on 03/02/2016 8:52:05 AM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Know Islam, No peace - No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

They turned a blind eye way before Trump came on the scene.


8 posted on 03/02/2016 8:52:44 AM PST by Lorianne
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To: hoosiermama

Trump is merely the 1st wave. His job is to shatter the defense and open the road for the follow up waves.


9 posted on 03/02/2016 8:52:56 AM PST by MNJohnnie ( Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered)
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To: hoosiermama

Precisely what they do not understand.
Even without Trump, the opposition would still be there.
They refuse to get this.


10 posted on 03/02/2016 8:54:35 AM PST by Lorianne
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To: MNJohnnie

Am suspecting they will be out flanked !


11 posted on 03/02/2016 8:54:53 AM PST by hoosiermama (Make America Great Again by uniting Great Americans)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I remember Trump going on Jimmy Fallon early on...Fallon would ask him some trollish question, and he would deem Trump’s response as so outrageous that he could hardly stay in his chair, due to laughing so loudly.

But Trump ignored that - and I could tell he was connecting with viewers like me.

To me it illustrates perfectly what the media, pundits, illuminati, whoever just don’t understand. They think he’s absurd...but it really just shows their disdain for the average American.


12 posted on 03/02/2016 8:59:25 AM PST by lacrew
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To: hoosiermama

exactly right.

as i was explaining to someone yesterday, Trump is not the problem. the GOP is the problem.


13 posted on 03/02/2016 8:59:43 AM PST by ConservativeDude
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Here’s the bigger question— how could they have been so blind as to not even consider Trump was a serious player?
Utter idiots or just flat out in denial? Perhaps a combo of both.


14 posted on 03/02/2016 9:03:49 AM PST by tflabo (res about them)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Not just the Rep elites, here’s the words from the dem front: It’s time to stop pointing and laughing at the Republican primary. For all the GOP front-runner’s flaws, many veteran Democrats are beginning to conclude, Donald Trump is a canny operator who just might end up in the White House if they’re not careful.

He appears to be cracking the code with white working-class voters who could help him put blue Rust Belt states in play against Hillary Clinton. He’s helping to fuel record turnout in GOP primaries and he’s mastered the media like no candidate in recent memory, with his constant feeding of catnip to cable TV and his 140-character missiles on Twitter.


15 posted on 03/02/2016 9:06:25 AM PST by Harpotoo
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Republicans have gone crazy. Trump can not win the general election. Dump him.


16 posted on 03/02/2016 9:09:22 AM PST by I want the USA back (The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it. Orwell.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The GOPe’s Lib-like elitism and snobbishness would not allow them to believe a rough character like Trump could ever best them.


17 posted on 03/02/2016 9:11:30 AM PST by moovova
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To: I want the USA back

Find your stones man! Trump is winning because h is riding the tide of voter anger. It it wasn’t Trump it would be Cruz, If it was neither it would be someone else.


18 posted on 03/02/2016 9:17:38 AM PST by WMarshal (Trump 2016 (and 2020)!)
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To: WMarshal

If Trump wasn’t in the race, I would say Christie would have been that “anger” candidate

Just my opinion


19 posted on 03/02/2016 9:25:37 AM PST by arl295
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To: Harpotoo

140-character missiles on Twitter


I think i will steal that!


20 posted on 03/02/2016 9:37:43 AM PST by chasio649 (Trump=140-character missiles on Twitter!)
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