On Behind the Lines Flanks From the Left

Two term Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) reluctantly announced his re-election effort for the 2018 election cycle. His candidacy is the strongest of the nine Democrat incumbents who are defending in states which voted for President Donald Trump.  But Machin's blunt talk to fellow Democrats reveals a rift in the Democrat party.  Manchin will likely have a challenger from the left, coming from the "Feel the Bern" wing of the party.

Even Democrats in the leadership are at risk from flanks from the left.  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who was the face of the "Schumer Shutdown" supposedly to advance the DACA Deal, had protests staged around his residence by leftists who thought the Democrats wimped out for only having a three day government shutdown. These are indications that the far left is asserting its authority over the Democrat Party and it is not just centrists like Senator Manchin who will be scorned if they do not dance their progressive tarantella. 

On the Meaning of Robin Hood to US

During a debate sponsored by CNN between Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (S-VT) and Conservative Senator Ted Cruz, the junior Senator from Texas demolished the Democrat conceit that progressives take from the rich to give to the poor. 

Bernie Sanders on Free Speech and UC Berkeley

Bernie Sanders on the Democrats

Jake Tapper on Political Infighting

Hillary Leaks Basement Dwelling Condescension--Feel the Bern

As Democrat Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (D-NY) wonders why she is not connecting with Millennial voters, she should consider her attitude behind the public mask.  Ex Secret Service Agent Ron Kessler points out the nasty way that she treats agents behind the scenes.  Similarly, audio leaked from a Hillary event in February 2016 which she denigrated youthful Bernie backers as being basement dwellers.



In this 2016 cycle, voters yearn for genuineness, even if it is unvarnished and uncomfortable ejaculations like Donald Trump on a roll.  People may think that Hillary Clinton won the first Presidential debate because of preparation, canned ham (e.g. "trumped up, trickle down economics") and pasting on a smiley face for a prolonged period. This pose, however, did not significantly move the needle up.

Millennials are loathe to run to a candidate who just plays the gender card.  Now that they know "Sneering Hillary" who speaks contemptuously of being a barista or believing in real change, are they going to go out in droves to support Democrats? Might some join "The Deplorables" Trump Team? The latter seems unlikely.

We'll see on November 8th.

Hillary Clinton's 9/11 Collapse Raises Dem Concerns

Democrat Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (D-NY) attended a 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero in New York, but left an hour and a half early. This might raise some eyebrows among news junkies and politicos in the throes of a General Election campaign in her home state at a solemn memorial.

However, as Mrs. Clinton was waiting for her transportation to arrive, videographers captured a medical episode.





Eyewitnesses reported that Hillary's knees buckled and had to be helped (carried) into the van. Reporters on the Hillary 2016 beat were not allowed to follow.  They were told, and most of the media dutifully reported that  Secretary Clinton  just "stumbled". Then the story shifted to Hillary was suffering from a minor case of heat exhaustion and was dehydrated on a 72 degree morning with low humity.

Hillary was taken to her daughter Chelseas's $10 Million flat in the Flatiron District.  After a spell, Hillary briefly appeared and claimed that she was fine on a beautiful New York late summer afternoon and was taken to her home in Chappuqua.

When this facile fabrications were not bought for long by the Lamestream Media, the campaign facilitated a statement from Dr. Lisa Beckett that Hillary has been diagnosed with a case of pneumonia related to her allergic cough. It is curious that Hillary's staffers neither presented the public with the truth (first calling the incident a stumble and then blaming it on heat exhaustion rather than the pneumonia diagnosed three days before) nor did they modify her schedule for more rest.  Hillary spoke at a New York fundraiser on Friday, in which she accused half of Donald Trump supporters to be a "Basket of Deplorables".  The Clinton campaign has postponed a September 13 Hollywood fundraiser to give Hillary more rest.

There are some reports that Democrat operatives are concerned about the whirlwind of Hillary concerns.  The dogged reports about Hillary's Health may prompt the DNC to hold an emergency meeting to "consider" a replacement in case Mrs. Clinton needs to drop out for health reasons.

Because Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist-VT) did not concede with acclamation, there is a strong case that the number two Democrat candidate should become the party's nominee. But there are a couple of problems with this scenario.

 Firstly, Sanders announced at the Democrat convention that he was again leaving the Democrat party to become an Independent (Socialist). Secondly, if the 68 year old Mrs. Clinton has to bow out of the Presidential race, it would be really bad optics to replace her with a 75 year old.  Then there is the problem of logistics.  Sanders ran as an outsider.  Having a substitute candidate would necessitate working in close cooperation with party insiders and big money donors to retool the Democrat ticket on the fly.

Then there is the reality that rules don't really matter to Democrats when it gets in the way of winning.  Think about how ex-Senator Bob Torriccelli (D-NJ) in 1996, which he was replaced after substitute closing date by Senator Frank Lautenburg (D-NJ).  In 2000, Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan (D-MO) died in a plane crash three weeks before the general election.  In that instance, voters elected a dead person so his widow Jean Carnahan (D-MO) could assume the Senatte office by appointment from the Democrats. When Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) died in a plane crash in 2002 11 days before the general election, Minnesota Democrats inserted former Vice President Walter Mondale.  But Democrats seemed to have overplayed their hand when they turned the televised Wellstone memorial into a Democrat pep rally. Mondale lost to Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN).

In Presidential politics, the last major substitution was when it became public that Democrat Vice Presidential nominee  Senator Thomas Eagleton (D-MO) had been hospitalized for severe depression and supposedly undertook "shock therapy".  This embarrassed the Democrat nominee Senator George McGovern (D-SD).  So Eagleton withdraw at McGovern's request on August 1, 1972 and Kennedy inlaw Sargent Shriver was named to be the Democrat VP. Mc Govern/Shriver went on to lose 49 states.

If Hillary did bow out from what was supposed to be a sure coronation, who would realistically replace her?  Bernie backers would be ideologically appeased if a progressive like Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) were chosen. But Warren may not have the name recognition this cycle to be a successful short notice substitution.  Moreover, her anti-Wall Street message might well cause big moneyed backers to back off.

This would leave the affable but verbally blunder bound current Vice President Joe Biden. Biden refrained from running in 2016 because he was grief stricken at the death of his son Beau. He has national name recognition, the backing of the Obama Administration, a carefully cultivate image as "Lunch Bucket Joe", but he is not known for being strident against Wall Street. That being said, Biden would be 74 years old on Inauguration Day.

In an already extraordinary election year, Democrats may well find religion in the message of this church sign.

Rep. Hank Johnson Calls Jewish Settlers Termites at DNC Philly Event

In the run up to the opening of the Democrat National Convention in Philadelphia, Representative Hank Johnson spoke before the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, one of the primary motivators of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Johnson referred to Jewish Settlers as termites.

Johnson represents Georgia's 4th Congressional District, which has a history of electing Black Democrats  (as he was preceded by ex Rep. Cynthia McKinney) who make anti-semitic statements. 

Johnson also has a record of saying stupid things in Congress, like in 2010 when Rep. Hank J asked during Congressional Hearings in the Armed Services Committee if Guam would tip over and capsize by the United States sending over more personnel to the Pacific Island. Or when Rep. Johnson took to the House Floor to apologize to vertically challenged people who he labeled midgets But Johnson deliberately sought out the BDS movement to spew his anti-semitism. 

By the end of the afternoon, Johnson's minions  got the Congressman to put out a Tweet which put his biting comments into context.

It is dubious that Johnson's termite comment needed clarification--he just got caught and it had the potential of alienating Jewish voters at a turbulent Democrat National Convention, when the DNC leadership had been exposed by Wikileaks of using Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist-VT) Jewish roots against him in the contentious campaign versus Democrat Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

It did not take the Anti-Defamation League long to "appreciate" Rep. Hank Johnson's clarification of his anti-semitic statement.  Thus the ADL is either a very forgiving organization or a selectively quickly forgiving partisan Jewish organization.

What is stupifying is this controversy occurred on the same day the Democrat National Committee ran a video during the Convention which tried to associate Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump (R-NY) with anti-semitic groups. 

If Jewish voters were wise, they might deeply examine how each party treats them and where they stand on the issues. Regrettably, for most secular Jews, progressivism is their religiou and they revere their tradition of pulling the lever for donkeys. 

Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Delegates and the DNC Leaks Comeuppence

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL 23rd) thought that she could drive the Democrats to victory by coronating First Lady/Senator/Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton(D-NY) at the Democrat National Convention in Philadelphia.

However, Mrs Clinton faced a spirited progressive campaign by Socialist turned Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist-Vermont) and barely squeaked by for victory, mainly on the backs of Super-Delegates (elected Democrats pledging support to a candidate).

On the eve of the kick off of the Democrat National Convention, Wikileaks released 20,000 damning DNC emails, showing how the upper echelon of the party had the fix in for Hillary! to win. While this was not surprising, the DNC Leaks revelations were ugly and unfortunately timing for DWS.

Initially, Wasserman Schultz lost her speaking slot.  Then came word that she would ease out of the DNC chair at the end of the week to Democrat operative (and erstwhile CNN "political analyst") Donna Brazile and move to become an honorary chair of the Clinton/Kaine campaign. However it still seemed that DWS would gavel the convention and might even speak.

This changed on the morning of the start of the Democrat Convention when Wasserman Schultz was pointedly and persistently jeered when speaking before a breakfast of her home Florida state delegation.


Now it seems that Little Debbie will not be gaveling the start to the convention.  Things are getting ugly in the City of Brotherly Love, and Philly sports fans haven't even been riled.  Not to mention that "It's hot as hell in Phil-a-del-phi-a".

Peter Thiel at the Republican National Convention

Despite traditional values platform planks against same-sex marriage, Silcon Valley entrepreneur came out to support Donald Trump's nomination at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Campaign sources hyped this as the first openly gay person to speak at the RNC.

There was little controversy about Peter Thiel's declarations.  But Thiel later slighted those fighting about issues like transgendered bathrooms as being engaged in a phony culture war.  It was unclear whether this was to minimize the importance of the issue, if he rejected the wedge issue or whether he questioned the propriety in fighting for traditional values.

During his acceptance speech, Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump (R-NY) voiced strong support for the LGBTQ community.  It is rare to see Trump take a principled stand. Whether he his rewarded by gay rights groups for that position is about as dubious as expecting support from Bernie Sanders fans for a shout out at the RNC

Imam Objects to Possibility of Female POTUS

In the wake of the Pulse Orlando Shooting atrocity, Fox News Channel sought interview  Imam Abu Taubah  who is associated with an Orlando Mosque and also operates the online Islamic Timbuktu Seminary.

Van Susteran asked if  the Orlando Shooting killer Omar Mateem had contact with the imam,  as the Orlando killer was said to be enrolled in the Tibuktu institute. Then the Fox News anchor switched to politics.  Imam Abu Taubah indicated that as a Muslim, he objected to the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.





Indubitably, it was newsworthy to but Imam Abu Taubah on the record concerning alleged connections to the Pulse slaughters. But treating the Imam as a political pundit and airing his rantings seems suspect.

It would be helpful if Fox News stressed that the Imam was born as Marcus Robinson and had a long rap sheet as a career criminal, which could have had him sentenced for life. This imam claims to have been a  covert CIA operative .  This are pretty shady links to give a prolonged one on one interview for a national news outlet.


Let me go "On the Record" (sic).  Such sourcing and amplifying unrelated views accounts for less import placed on watching the Fox News Channel.

But in the spirit of "We'll report, you decide." -- What say you?

What do you think of the extended interview Fox News gave to "Imam Abu Taubah" (a.k.a. Marcus Robinson)?

A fascinating, newsworthy interview

Extraneous opinions meant to generate controversy

It is another guidepost in the credibility spiral of a once great news organization

Inclusion of the Presidential preference question Trumpets (sic) a populist political echo

Keeping the misogynist musing helps rally the womens' vote for Hillary

Keeping the Sanders support fostered the "feel the bern" with Hillary and Trump's trustworthiness

It is a pity to give a whack job a national platform to spew such antidiluvian opinions

Other

No Opinion/don't know

Other

Please Specify:

Survey Maker

Alas, there does not seem to be just one "right" answer.

A Future in Which We Should Believe?

Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist-VT) decisively won the Wisconsin Democrat Primary.  To claim victory in the land of Cheeseheads, the 74 year old Senator chose to have a bunch of young people in back of him on the dais.

During Sanders speech in Laramie, Wyoming, the candidate chose to rail against young people who are too busy with their video games.   At the same time, there was some vidiot around Sanders who was making faces on Snapchat or another video based social media.

In Sander's optimistic opinion, young people are idealistic thus progressives.  But Sander's chide about young people too busy with their video games may also reveal how there is a youthful expectation of little effort and high return.  There is also the cognitive dissonance of idealistic young 99%-ers advocating for socialism during Occupy Wall Street movement while camped out in the District of Calamity's Farragut Square or Manhattan's Zuccotti Park on their shiny new Apple i-Phones.

The question is what is the better future in which we should believe?

On the Politics of Punishing Aborting Mothers

While Donald Trump was on a MSNBC Hardball Townhall with Chris Matthews, made some extraordinary ejaculations about abortion.  Pro-Lifers have been chary about Trump's recent conversion to being against abortion, especially as the Manhattan mogul had labeled himself as being "very pro-choice" in the past.  Moreover, Trump continues to speak highly of Planned Parenthood's contributions to womens' health during Republican debates, even after the Center for Medical Progress' investigative videos implicating Planned Parenthood Clinics trafficking baby body parts for sale and altering abortions to get the most optimal harvest.

Well, Mr. Trump may have overcompensated to ingratiate  himself with pro-life Republican voters for the Wisconsin Primary.  When Chris Matthews pressed Trump about the consequences of banning abortions, Trump proposed that women having abortions should suffer some sort of legal penalty for incurring an illegal abortion (but men would be alright).



More than just wanting to punish women for having abortions, Trump seemed to acknowledge that women would still seek out illegal abortions in unmonitored clinics. 

The public reaction to Trump's "modest proposal" was a swift and stern firestorm. The Hillary 2016 and Sanders campaigns immediately jumped on Trump's bold bluster to condemn this ham handed handling of womens' issues.  On social media, a Dominican Friar indignity opined that those who wish to punish women for having abortions have no idea about their psychological or moral pain he hears about in the confessional.

The Trump campaign twice tried to walk their man from off the abortion ledge. At first, Trump spokesperson Hope Hicks tried to pawn decision making of penalties off to the states.  But several hours after uttering this incredible idea, Trump took the counsel of his advisers and did an about face, walked back the punishing aborting mothers' idea to a more conventional Republican pro-life position of punishing the doctor and seeing the woman as a victim.

CNN noted that Trump took three abortion positions in one afternoon.   Former 2016 Presidential rival and now Trump surrogate Dr. Ben Carson explained away Trump's peculiar position on punishing abortion women.  Carson claimed that Trump (like himself) is not a professional politician and that he had been ambushed with the question. Judging from the three positions in a span of hours, Trump either had not thought much about the issue or needed to have some political sense knocked into him for the primary face offs.

This Trump gaffe created an opening for his Republican rival Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) to issue a statement on the sanctity of human life and on affirming women.


In addition, Cruz had a previously scheduled rally to honor women on the same day of the abortion kerfluffle.

While Presidential candidates should not pick their positions on weighty moral issues on the weather vane of popular opinion, it is dubious if Trump's flip flops on abortion will help him with women voters.  According to the recent Marquette Law poll, Trump's support from women lagged 11% behind men.  Threatening to punish women for abortions will obviously alienate him with progressive voters who are pro-choice.  However, flip flopping on anti-abortion views within hours of each other impeaches his newly formed pro-life positions too.

Hot Tempered Hustings

During the Miami Republican Presidential Debate, Donald Trump was asked about violence associated with some of his campaign appearances.  Trump deflected any responsibility for rowdiness at rallies. However, Trump seemed to justify supporters "swinging back" at political protesters at his events.

These assertions come at the heels of an assault alleged by Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields by Trump spokesman Corey Lewendowski.   Breitbart News corporately refused to stand by their conservative reporter concerning the Trump spokesman incident.  And Trump social media warriors sought to savage the credibility of Fields. But CSPAN videotape documents Lewindowski's thuggery. 

The Breitbart News' lackluster support of Fields prompted Breitbart News spokesman Kurt Bardela to resign.   Bardella blames an ugly cycle of behavior which seems to follow the Trump campaign and Breitbart News seems to minimize. It should be noted that some Breitbart News staffers think that an infusion of cash during the summer of 2015 might pay for favorable coverage of the Trump campaign.

Another Trump rally in North Carolina was infamous for a Trump supporter sucker punching a protester as he was being escorted from the venue.

 

The 78 year old assailant later was quoted as saying: "The next time we see him, we might have to kill him. We don't know who he is, he might be with a terrorist organization." He has been charged and given a $25,000 bond.

A Trump rally at the University of Illinois- Chicago had to be cancelled for security reasons because of a riotous atmosphere. As is typical in campaigns, Trump issued far too many tickets, leaving a bunch of supporters out on the streets.  There were protesters outside the venue. But a number of Black Lives Matter activists and Bernie Sanders partisans agitated inside the event causing chaos.

Although Trump did not get the optics of a mass rally in the Windy City, Fox News Channel gave Trump a friendly twenty minute phone interview while airing the chaos on the streets and the hall. Trump claimed that everyone was angry about no jobs, despite indications that protesters were socialists and social justice agitators.

Much to Trump's credit, he spoke in calming tones and did not further insult the opposition. But Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson followed by claiming these were examples of Alinsky-like tactics and giving justification to push back on organized chaos.

 While Trump should not be held accountable for the actions of every crazy supporter, he sets the tone for the campaign.  New Trump surrogate Dr. Ben Carson vexed that it might be a long hot summer. As seems that such anarchy and unrest only seems to be attaching to Trump's campaign, these hot tempered hustings and mixed messages may eventually boil over into violence, which  sullies the  American political hot stove. 

Bernie Sanders on Being Poor

At the Democrat Debate in Flint, Michigan, Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist/D- VT) commented about racial blind spots, opining that white people can not understand what it's like to be poor. 

This earned observation tells you about identity politics and embodies the soft bigotry of low expectations. 

Bernie Sanders on Being an Honorary Feminist

Duck Dynasty Commander Phil Robertson on Burnt Out Hippies

One Day More to the Iowa Caucuses

One day more until the Iowa Caucuses.  It will be good to have voters start actually participating in the primary process rather than hype the horse-race based on sketchy scouting reports.

Donald Trump is the presumptive front-runner.  He is always anxious to point to the polls and his huuuge crowds. Trump scored a couple of prominent endorsers, including former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) and Jerry Falwell, Jr.  Trump was also aided by left handed compliments from current Governor Terry Branstad (R-IA), who is anxious to bolster ethanol mandates.

Trump eschewed the only Iowa debate supposedly because of a tiff with Fox News and Megyn Kelly.  But Trump’s post-debate excited utterances at how Trump was glad to have missed the pummeling questions may be an admission against interest.  Iowa voters expect to be courted and this cycle have remain undecided until the last minute.  Will the Manhattan mogul’s reticence towards Iowa retail politics hurt him in the caucuses or will it be another one of many things his fanatics will forgive him?

Time will tell if celebrity campaigning draws in many first time caucus goers.  In the 2012 cycle, only 125,000 people parcipated in the GOP Iowa Caucus.  Patrick Murphy, the director of Mamouth University’s Polling Institute, opined: Trump’s victory hinges on having a high number of self-motivated, lone wolf caucus-goers show up Monday night.”.  Add in the factor that many Trump-eteers are non-traditional first time caucus goers who have to be trained, motivated and ripe to turn out in Iowa, not just through social media or at a rally. If 150,000 or more Republicans actually participate (rather than just register) in this year’s Hawkeye Cauci, then it will be a good night for Trump.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) established an excellent ground game in Iowa while making pointed appeals to evangelical voters and Tea Party types (under the banner of being a consistent  Conservative).  Cruz claims to have 12,000 volunteers in Iowa.  Even political operatives who do not support Cruz, such as Alex Castellanos, concede that Cruz has established a formidable social media operation.

Organization is key to driving caucus goers to the polls.  Sometimes campaigns must literally drive their supporters there.  Also having representative to speak at each caucus   To aid in the retail campaigning, they rented college former dormitories and dubbed them “Camp Cruz” to house hundreds of door knocking volunteers. There has been some controversy over an 11th hour targeted voter mailer from the Cruz campaign which was intended to shame people into caucusing. Cruz dismisses such complaints claiming that the mailer was routine and he favored using every tool to get voters out to the Iowa Caucuses 

Rather than pander to Iowa voters, Cruz advocated the elimination of ethanol mandates, and compromised by phasing them out over five years.  But Cruz’ opponents and those supporting the ethanol lobby labeled that a “flip-flop”.

Cruz did score some significant endorsements for Iowans, including Tea Party favorite  Representative Steve King (R-IA 4th), former Governor Rick Perry (R-TX), evangelical leaders Bob van der Plaats, and Tony Perkins, Duck Dynasty Commander Phil Robertson and radio personality Glenn Beck.

Cruz has barnstormed the Hawkeye State.  By the time the caucuses start, Cruz claims that he will have done the full Grassley (referring to Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley) by having events in all 99 Iowa counties.  This type of retail politics was rewarded in 2012, when former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) won a narrow victory against former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA). The Cruz campaign has also outreached to twice the number of likely caucus-goers than Trump.

However, since Cruz rose towards the top of the Iowa polls in mid-December, he has been targeted by Trump over dubious “birther” (and now even “anchor baby”) attacks.  Of late, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has been joining the fray to claim that Cruz is running a “disingenuous” campaign.  This has lead some political observers to conclude that Cruz peaked too early.

As the Iowa Caucuses approached, Cruz closed warning crowd of the dangers of voting for Trump and jabbed at Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).  This may evidence a lack of confidence of decisively winning the Iowa Caucuses as planned.  However, weather forecasts project a major snowstorm starting just before the Caucus begin.  While Haweyes are heartier than denizens in the District of Calamity, a lower turnout may be the key to victory for Cruz, as his organization gets dedicated supporters to turn out on a snowy February evening.

Senator Marco Rubio has been coming on strong in Iowa, seemingly from good debate performances and wholesale politics via the airwaves. The Rubio campaign bet on de-emphasizing boots on the ground campaigning.  In fact, Rubio deputy campaign manager Rich Beeson proclaimed:  "The days of having to have 50 field staffers and 25 offices are done. We can have a field office and staff set up in a Starbucks with wireless and get just as much done as we can in a brick-and-mortar office with land lines." Perhaps. But does that compensate for the paucity of events in Iowa?

Rubio’s Super PAC ran half hour informercials on the Saturday night before the Caucuses on 12 TV stations in five media markets.  Will this work or just be noise as one flips channels on a Saturday night?

It would seem that Rubio is positioning himself for the third ticket out of Iowa, as the Caucuses tend to winnow the top tier winners from the campaign chaff. The strategy would be to frame the media story to be the Comeback Kid who comes out of no-where.

Iowa should have been the ideal launchpad for the Presidential aspiration of Dr. Ben Carson, as a Constitutional Conservative to appeal to Tea Partiers and a man of strong faith to appeal to evangelical voters, who make up 45% of Republican caucus goers.  But Dr. Carson’s campaign has precipitously receded since being in the number two chair for the early December GOP debate. For the Iowa Debate, Carson only was allotted six minutes.

The Carson campaign has been bleeding top advisors for the last month in the run up to the Iowa Caucuses. Carson himself has admitted that if he does not do well in Iowa or New Hampshire that he might have to do an agonizing reappraisal.  Senator Rand Paul’s (R-KY) campaign brags that they have 1,000 libertarian leaning collegiate supporters.  If they turn out to the Caucuses, that might help lift Paul’s campaign from the primary doldrums. But if Dr. Carson were to be edged out of fourth place in Iowa by a surprise surge from Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) or Senator Rand Paul , discernment time might come sooner.

As counter-programming to the Republican Debate which Donald Trump boycotted, he held an event to help veterans and wounded warriors, which raised $6 million for largess via the Donald J. Tump Foundation. Also appearing at the Trump for the Troops event were the two prior winners of the Iowa Caucuses former Sen. Rick Santorum (2012) and former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR). Both claimed that they wanted to support veterans but Santorum was more candid as he had nothing to do after participating in the under-card debate.

[L] Ex Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), [C] Donald Trump {R] Ex. Gov. Mike Huckabee

Cynics see auditions to a prospective Trump Administration thus they seem like vassals for The Donald. Is it telling that Donald Trump will give his post Iowa Caucus “winning” speech in Little Rock, Arkansas.

It will be interesting to see how Big Mo goes after the Iowa Caucuses.  Typically, the top three candidates get a rush of publicity and funding after Iowa.  But Big Mo does not always translate into winning the next contest, as New Hampshire primary voters are contrarian.  In the 2016 cycle, Trump is comfortably in the lead and Governor John Kasich (R-OH) is surging into second in the Granite State.

In this cycle, some campaigns have raised significant campaign contributions so they are unlikely to quickly fold after Iowa.  Former Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL) seems resigned to garner better showings after Iowa and New Hampshire and Jeb!'s campaign has the money to make it there.  Rubio’s campaign is well funded and can survive not winning in the Caucuses or the First in the Nation primary.  Cruz has been conservative in spending his large campaign coffers and will probably concentrate on South Carolina and the SEC primaries on March 1st.

With all of this attention on the Grand Old Party, it is easy to overlook the Democrats. It is expected that 140,000 Hawkeye Democrats will participate in the Caucus and they skew very white and liberal. It would not be surprising if Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist- VT) won both the Iowa and New Hampshire contests.  Pro arguendo, Sanders momentum combined with the maelstrom of the Clinton Email Scandal, might cause the Democrat establishment to scramble for substitutes instead of the Hillary coronation, akin to 2004 after the Dean scream.

The fun begins in earnest on February 1st.

Impeaching the Inevitable

Maybe the Democrats in Iowa and New Hampshire are still not ready for Hillary in 2016.

Cruz-ing to Spoil Star Wars?

When Republican Presidential hopeful Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) closed a press availability, he came close to spoiling a salient detail from Star Wars episode 7  The Force Awakens.