The Donald’s rise continues post Carly flap
Local political tidbits of interest
The sound and fury in response only amplifies the underlying message
It is a phenomenon in part made possible by a sort of “carrier signal” that goes out with all Trump’s utterances and which people are locked onto. The carrier signal is that his persona is established, and it is not heard as mean, dismissive yes, but politicians are not held in high regard to start with so that part is not all that discordant. His comments remain interpretatively in tune with the frustration and even disgust people have with the political establishment, in Trumps case particularly the GOPE. That helps his numbers across the board, a summation of Republican conservatives that are disgusted with the GOPE, independents hear the anti-establishment message and are attracted and a percentage of blue-collar Democrats tired of the music from their party that does not resonate especially when it comes to immigration issues.
Here is an excerpt from Gary Bauer at Campaign for Working Families commenting on the most recent polls (bold emphasis ours):
The political season continues to astonish. Perhaps the least surprising thing that happened in recent days was Rick Perry dropping out of the race. In a statement late Friday afternoon, the former Texas governor said, “We have a tremendous field — the best in a generation — so I step aside knowing our party is in good hands.”
Meanwhile, polls out of early key states show that establishment candidates continue to struggle. For example, a new CBS poll finds Bernie Sanders leading Hillary Clinton by 10 points in Iowa and by 22 points in New Hampshire. No, that’s not a typo — Sanders leads Clinton 52% to 30% in the Granite State.
On the GOP side, the CBS poll finds Donald Trump leading in Iowa with 29%. Ben Carson is second with 25%, followed by Ted Cruz at 10%. No other candidate received double-digit support.
In New Hampshire, Trump has a huge lead — 40% to Ben Carson’s 12%. No other candidate received double-digit support. And the candidate many assumed would be the nominee, Jeb Bush, was tied for fifth place at 6%.
Is the GOP leadership getting the message about the mood of the Republican electorate? It doesn’t appear so.
The buzz among conservatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate is that the leadership appears to be headed toward a budget solution that raises the debt ceiling, busts spending caps and essentially funds everything, including Planned Parenthood and Obama’s illegal, quasi-amnesty.
Why? Because the GOP leadership is scared to death of being blamed for a government shutdown.
If the leadership caves yet again, it wouldn’t surprise me if Trump jumps five or six more points.
For her part Carly handled it pretty well (for the record we find Mrs Fiorina to be an attractive lady). In one clip soon after the press expressed their shock magnifying the matter everywhere, Carly suggested that The Donald probably has a school yard crush on her. She might have left it at that. But if not her, many of the lesser registrants in the polls, went after Trump in a way suggesting his supporters were knuckle- draggers. That is not the right message to send to win them to your side.
As we have suggested, in order to out Trump Trump, register with people with a dynamic persona of your own that demonstrates an understanding of the great concerns that are out there and your aggressive “make America great again” (or keep America great) solutions. They must be expressed simply and that there is no time for business as usual. Cruz has been doing that in his way. Carson seems to be benefiting from his own “not a politician” persona which registers well, and given Huckabee’s and Santorum’s lack of traction, a consolidation for now of evangelical support. All of this is early and Trump support could well dissipate for a host of reasons, but the key aspects to his support are not going to change, and the beneficiaries will be those who have learned to push the same buttons.
Knock us over with a feather
We see from a glance at the Scott County Republican Facebook page and Trump page that Elizabeth Davidson, adult daughter of the Scott County Republican Chair Judy Davidson, is working for the Trump campaign. Of interest in this is that a big part of Trump’s cache is being identified with the anti-GOP establishment and no more business-as-usual politics. The Scott County Chair is well identified with the GOPE, is happy to dump on the anti-GOPE and is good with business-as-usual R’s, as in: not being a change agent; rarely having anything to say about Democrats; thinks the platform means nothing; thinks special interest subsidies are grand. You get the idea. Certainly the acorn can roll away from the tree. We presume that is the situation.
Representative Linda Miller not seeking reelection
Word is Bettendorf’s Republican State Representative Linda Miller is not seeking reelection. She has been generally a conservative vote and we have been supportive although one of the votes that disappointed us was her vote to increase gas taxes. We wish her well in her retirement from the legislature.
The district, even in a presidential year, should be a hold for Republicans. Not ones to be as low-energy as the Scott County GOPE about finding candidates, the Democrats are scrambling for a candidate even in that district. The GOPE left virtually one-half of Davenport without a Republican on the state legislative ballot in 2014 (one senate district and two house districts). We know the Democrats have no interest in a conservative so let’s hope the Republican candidate and the Democrat candidate are not the same in spirit or otherwise.
R Mall
