I see no way Trump can avoid a devastating loss.
But it does raise the question of how far to the right Clinton will have to go on foreign policy issues to hold this coalition together. With Trump's increasingly isolationist, noninterventionist rhetoric (literally -- build a wall around us, leave us alone), it will put some progressives in a tough spot. It's the one area in which he might tempt some Sandernistas to cross over in the other direction
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/05/03/steve_schmidt_the_candidate_most_like_bush_and_cheney_is_hillary_clinton.html
STEVE SCHMIDT: You're going to see a concerted and organized effort by the Hillary Clinton campaign to go after senior members of the Republican foreign policy establishment. Big names. I'm not trying to put a partisan imprint on David Petraeus. But names like Petraeus, retired General Odierno, Colin Powell, Brent Scowcroft. Men and women who served in senior positions, in national security positions, in Republican administrations. The Clinton campaign's going to go after them. . . . [read on]
More: https://politicalwire.com/2016/05/04/some-republicans-consider-clinton-over-trump/
Some Republicans Consider Clinton Over Trump
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/never-trump-republicans_us_57294b6de4b096e9f08fabe8
Before Trump took to the mics, many of the top conservative voices in the press, some of the party’s top operatives, and even elected officials were reaffirming that they simply won’t support the real estate tycoon. One even burned his Republican registration card. . . .
http://www.vox.com/2016/5/4/11590356/stop-donald-trump-republicans-vote-hillary-clinton
These key Republican figures say they are voting for Hillary Clinton instead of Donald Trump
A summary
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/05/donald_trump_isn_t_going_to_be_president.html
Donald Trump Isn’t Going to Be President
He's a UNITER (well, not really)
https://politicalwire.com/2016/05/04/bonus-quote-of-the-day-853/
“I am confident that I can unite much of it. There are parts of it I don’t want.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by NBC News, on whether he can unite the Republican party as its presidential nominee.
More: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/05/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-should-suffer.html
"I don’t think it’s imperative that the entire party come together," Trump told MSNBC's Morning Joe on Wednesday. "I don’t want everybody. I don’t even want certain people who were extraordinarily nasty. Let them wait eight years. Or let them wait 16 years or whatever." . . .
Here's the dangerous reality: Trump would rather destroy than lose. The real danger, as we saw during his rallies, is that he is perfectly prepared to incite the darkest inclinations among his supporters. This isn't a contest for him -- it's a battle to the death. With a female opponent, it is going to get very, very ugly
http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/trump-hillary-should-suffer-over-emails-679088707840
Trump: Hillary should 'suffer'
The fascination of the media with the "colorful" Trump helped boost him into the bizarre position of being taken seriously as a potential president. The basic journalism and fact checking that would have showed him for what he is have been pushed to the margins: Because he's good tee vee!
http://www.vox.com/2016/5/4/11587136/donald-trump-republican-racist-sexist-president
The media needs to clearly call out Donald Trump on his bigotry
Why they won't do it: http://www.vox.com/2016/5/5/11589262/2016-general-election-is-going-to-suck
How could this guy actually BE president?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/05/spies-worry-candidate-trump-will-spill-secrets.html
Spies Worry Candidate Trump Will Spill Secrets
More: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/05/republicans-have-tough-six-months-ahead-them
Every living Republican president has decided not to endorse Donald Trump . .
Trump's positions continue to "evolve" (i.e. he is starting to realize dumb stuff he said before won't fly). Here's his latest shape-shifting on the Middle East
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2016/05/trump-dove.html
And on the minimum wage (he wants those Bernie supporters)
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/05/04/donald-trump-says-hes-open-to-doing-something-on-minimum-wage/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Within 24 hours of becoming the de facto leader of the Republican Party, Donald J. Trump on Wednesday declared himself open to raising the minimum wage, a flip-flop from his statement during the primaries that the rate was already too high. . . .
Kevin Drum has a dilemma
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/05/readers-please-help-give-me-some-direction-next-six-months
The biggest problem with Donald Trump is that he's a charlatan and a demagogue who could do immense damage to the United States. But this is my blog, which means everything is about me me me. And my biggest problem with Trump is trying to figure out just how much to mock the guy. Given the amount of crap that spills out of his mouth daily, I could do nothing but mock Trump and easily keep this blog churning along for the next six months.
For example, a few weeks ago Trump was asked if women who get abortions should be punished. "The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment," he said. "Yes, there has to be some form." Today, Jonah Goldberg passes along Trump's follow-up on Morning Joe:
WILLIE GEIST: What about what you told Chris Matthews a few weeks ago, which is that women who get abortions should be punished? Do you still believe that to be true?
TRUMP: No, he was asking me a theoretical, or just a question in theory, and I talked about it only from that standpoint. Of course not. And that was done, he said, you know, I guess it was theoretically, but he was asking a rhetorical question, and I gave an answer. And by the way, people thought from an academic standpoint, and, asked rhetorically, people said that answer was an unbelievable academic answer! But of course not, and I said that afterwards.
Wow. The Trump spokesperson they roll out when they REALLY want some shameless heavy-duty b.s. shoveling now says that Clinton ‘Has Never Been Truly Vetted Before'
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/katrina-pierson-clinton-never-vetted
Will the Repubs launch a third party candidate?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/plan-c-republican-establishment-chattering-about-a-third-party-run_us_57295dcbe4b016f378941d68?heeutafvfarnh1if6r
Will the Repubs lose the Senate?
https://politicalwire.com/2016/05/04/how-bad-is-the-outlook-for-senate-republicans/
“Republicans can afford to lose only a net of three Senate seats to hold their majority, and the party is already defending seven states — Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Florida, and Iowa — that President Barack Obama won twice.” “With Trump, though, many Republicans become despondent. One Senate campaign veteran last month estimated that the party had a 75 percent chance of losing the majority. Another put the odds at 80 percent.”
More: https://politicalwire.com/2016/05/04/big-gop-donors-wont-give-to-trump/
Washington Examiner: “Repelled by Trump and convinced he can’t beat Hillary Clinton, wealthy GOP contributors are abandoning the presidential contest and directing their lucrative networks to spend to invest in protecting vulnerable Republican majorities in the House and Senate. . . . But on policy and fitness for the presidency, the party’s most active contributors and bundlers simply can’t bring themselves to support their front-runner, reluctantly preferring a Clinton administration that is checked by a GOP congress.”
Now the Repubs face an interesting choice on Merrick Garland, Obama's Supreme Court choice. With Trump as the GOP nominee, they have to know that their likelihood of having a Republican president to nominate a replacement next year is virtually nil -- and they might even lose their majority, which means little to no leverage on the selection of the next nominee at all. What do they do now?
https://politicalwire.com/2016/05/04/conservatives-now-back-confirming-garland/
More: http://www.vox.com/2016/5/4/11591178/merrick-garland-supreme-court-trump
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/05/trump-merrick-garland-and-the-gops-catch-22.html
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2016_05/bernies_math_problem060455.php
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/sanders-campaign-indiana-offers-good-news-and-bad
More: http://www.vox.com/2016/5/4/11582940/hillary-clinton-sanders-national-polling
Hillary Clinton has regained her clear lead over Bernie Sanders in national polls
In other news . . .
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/05/04/1523056/-Kansas-strips-Planned-Parenthood-of-state-Medicaid-funding-in-violation-of-federal-law
Kansas strips Planned Parenthood of state Medicaid funding, in violation of federal law
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/05/doj-ncs-bathroom-bill-violates-civil-rights.html
North Carolina’s Anti-Transgender ‘Bathroom Bill’ Violates the Civil Rights Act, Justice Department Says
Obama is more popular than Reagan
http://www.salon.com/2016/05/04/more_popular_than_reagan_the_press_refuses_to_give_obama_his_due_partner/
If I could place this afterthought any further down the page, I would
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/05/us/politics/john-kasich.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
John Kasich Drops Out of Presidential Race
Bonus item: Oh. this is going to be fun. The Clinton campaign puts out a compilation of the strongest anti-Trump arguments . . . all from Republicans
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/05/04/1523184/-Republicans-really-do-hate-Trump-Good-luck-walking-all-this-back
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/05/04/1523184/-Republicans-really-do-hate-Trump-Good-luck-walking-all-this-back
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