What Voters Did NOT Vote for in South Carolina

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The minute the polls close following a contentious election, the first question on everyone’s mind is: who won? The question that is obviously never asked is: what won? That is because issues are never on the ballot; only personalities are on the ballot.

There are three indelible factors in politics that are often overlooked by those of us who live and breathe this stuff for a living. 1) Perception is reality, even if the reality is antithetical to the public perception of a candidate; 2) voters ultimately cast ballots for individuals based on persona, not a coherent set of principles; and 3) name ID is the single biggest determinant of success.

As a result, political commentators all too often think that because, in their minds, candidate A believes in one set of principles and candidate B believes in another set of principles, voters who chose candidate A desired those policies and principles over candidate B’s. Unfortunately, elections don’t work that way. Many voters have no idea where a candidate really stands on the issues and often think their candidate believes the very opposite of his real position.

Consider the following: By a margin of 70-20%, Trump supporters in South Carolina, according to a PPP poll, want the Confederate Flag to fly over the state capital. But here’s the kicker: Trump himself supported Nikki Haley’s decision to remove it! Again, perception is reality, even when the reality is antithetical to the perception.

More than 55% of South Carolina voters picked Trump and Rubio combined. But it’s quite evident from the exit polling and the mood of the electorate that voters did NOT vote for the following (positions taken by at least one of the aforementioned candidates):

Single-payer health care

Eminent domain

Women in combat

Being an “honest broker” between Israel and the Palestinians

Open borders

The homosexual agenda

Judicial supremacy

Abortion and funding Planned Parenthood

Raising taxes on the wealthy

Cutting deals with the Democrats and establishment Republicans

In fact, it’s quite evident that voters want the exact opposite. The GOP electorate is larger, more conservative, and more religious than ever. And the 800-pound gorilla in the room is immigration. You can’t have a party that ignores its base on such a critical issue for over 20 years and get away with it forever. Whether Trump is sincere or not will be determined in the future, but his initial decision to jump on this issue has forever cemented his perception as the anti-establishment candidate who will fight political correctness. Three-fourths of the voters support a temporary ban on Muslim immigration, an issue we were proud to spotlight early and often here at Conservative Review – long before Donald Trump ran for president.

In addition, among voters to whom “shared religious beliefs matter,” Trump won a plurality, despite the fact that, in reality, he is not very religious at all. But he still won in a record turnout among Evangelicals. Again, perception is reality. And although Cruz won a plurality among self-described “very conservative” voters, Donald Trump still placed a close second, which means he is clearly siphoning off large numbers of the core base in addition to non-ideological and new voters.

At this point, Donald Trump is the clear front-runner. But what is also the front-runner are the principles and issues we’ve spotlighted for so long and will continue to do so, irrespective of who wins the nomination. Men are fallible, but principles endure. (For more from the author of “What Voters Did NOT Vote for in South Carolina” please click HERE)

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Clinton: Two-State Solution, Support for Palestinians in ‘Best Interest’ of Israel [+video]

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By Aaron Kliegman. Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton reaffirmed her call for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Sunday and added it is in Israel’s best interest to provide greater support for the aspirations of the Palestinian people.

“I happen to think that moving toward a two-state solution, trying to provide for support for the aspirations of the Palestinian people is in the long-term best interest of Israel, as well as the region and, of course, the people themselves,” Clinton told Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union.

Tapper had asked Clinton to comment on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s recent statement that he would be neutral when it comes to negotiating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R., Texas) subsequent criticism of Trump’s comment.

Clinton told Tapper both men “missed the mark” with their comments because supporting Israel and working toward a two-state solution are not mutually exclusive. (Read more from “Clinton: Two-State Solution, Support for Palestinians in ‘Best Interest’ of Israel” HERE)

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Reid, Powerful Union Come to Clinton’s Aid

By Ben Kamisar. Harry Reid and the powerful Culinary Workers Union were huge players in Hillary Clinton’s victory Saturday in Nevada’s caucuses.

Clinton racked up big wins in caucuses held in six major casinos on the Las Vegas strip, which helped her roll out a big majority in Clark County, home to about three-quarters of the state’s registered Democratic voters.

Reid, the Senate minority leader and longtime Nevada Democratic political pro, encouraged the head of the Culinary Workers Union to get casino workers to turn up at the caucuses, according to The New York Times.

“He’s been extremely cooperative,” Reid told the Times about union head D. Taylor. “Probably 100 organizers will be at the caucus sites and in hotels to make sure people know what they’re doing.” (Read more from “Reid, Powerful Union Come to Clinton’s Aid” HERE)

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What Would Ronald Reagan Say About Bernie Sanders’ Socialism

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“We have so many people who can’t see a fat man standing beside a thin one without coming to the conclusion that the fat man got that way by taking advantage of the thin one.”

Ronald Reagan powerfully stated this truism in 1964 while campaigning for Barry Goldwater. Reagan had Bernie Sanders pegged while he was a school boy reading Eugene Debs. Bernie Sanders would tell you that the fat man ate the thin man out of house and home, and that’s why he’s fat. In reality, the fat man freely bought food and ate it, and the thin man apparently did the same, just less of it. The Sanders solution is to assure none of us ever get fat again.

Reagan continued in his famous “A Time for Choosing” speech, “If government planning and welfare had the answer, shouldn’t we expect government to read the score to us once in a while? Shouldn’t they be telling us about the decline each year in the number of people needing help? But the reverse is true. Each year, the need grows great, the program grows greater.”

Government has worked so well, that the left campaigns every cycle like they’ve never failed the people. Bernie Sanders, like Barack Obama before him, pretend like they are at the dawn of the progressive era, when in fact, they’ve had all day.

Therein lies the rub: Bernie Sanders is nothing new, just the next installment in the series of steps to the workers’ paradise; progressivism was always socialism on layaway, and Bernie’s just here to make the final payment. (Read more from “What Would Ronald Reagan Say About Bernie Sanders’ Socialism” HERE)

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5,000 Islamic State Trained Jihadis Could Be on This Continent

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Up to 5,000 jihadis could be at large in Europe after returning from Islamic State training camps in the Middle East, the head of Europe’s police agency has warned.

Europol head Rob Wainwright said that between 3,000 and 5,000 jihadis could have re-entered the continent after training with the terror group in Syria and Iraq.

Speaking to German paper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, Mr Wainwright said the risk of a terror attack on the continent was now the highest for many years.

“Europe is currently facing the highest terror threat in more than ten years,” he said. “We can expect Isil or other religious terror groups to stage an attack somewhere in Europe with the aim of achieving mass casualties among the civilian population.”

Mr Wainwright, who previously served as head of Britain’s National Crime Intelligence Service (NCIS) and Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), added that the growing number of militants in Europe “presents EU member states with completely new challenges”. (Read more from “5,000 Islamic State Trained Jihadis Could Be in This Continent” HERE)

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Ex-NSA Chief Backs Apple on iPhone ‘Back Doors’

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By Susan Page. Retired four-star general Michael Hayden, who as director of the NSA installed and still defends the controversial surveillance program to collect telephone metadata on millions of Americans, says he opposes proposals to force Apple and other tech companies to install “back doors” in digital devices to help law enforcement.

In an emerging court battle over access to information on the iPhone owned by one of the San Bernardino attackers, Hayden says “the burden of proof is on Apple” to show that limited cooperation with investigators would open the door to broader privacy invasions. Apple is being asked not to decrypt information on the smartphone but rather to override the operating system so investigators could try an endless series of passwords to unlock it.

“In this specific case, I’m trending toward the government, but I’ve got to tell you in general I oppose the government’s effort, personified by FBI Director Jim Comey,” Hayden told Capital Download in an interview about his memoir, Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror. “Jim would like a back door available to American law enforcement in all devices globally. And, frankly, I think on balance that actually harms American safety and security, even though it might make Jim’s job a bit easier in some specific circumstances.”

In a statement released late Sunday, Comey said the San Bernardino litigation “isn’t about trying to set a precedent or send any kind of message. It is about the victims and justice. Fourteen people were slaughtered and many more had their lives and bodies ruined. We owe them a thorough and professional investigation under law. That’s what this is. The American people should expect nothing less from the FBI.” (Read more from “Ex-NSA Chief Backs Apple on iPhone ‘Back Doors'” HERE)

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Cruz: Apple Should Open San Bernardino Attacker’s Phone

By Ian Hanchett. GOP presidential candidate Texas Senator Sen. Ted Cruz argued that “Apple has the right side on the global don’t make us do this to every iPhone on the market. But I think law enforcement has the better argument” in unlocking the phone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists during CNN’s Republican Presidential Town Hall on Wednesday . . .

He added, “I think Apple has serious argument that they should not be forced to put a backdoor in every cell phone everyone has. … So I think Apple has the right side on the global don’t make us do this to every iPhone on the market. But I think law enforcement has the better argument, this concerns the phone of one of the San Bernardino hackers. And for law enforcement to get a judicial search order, that’s consistent with the Fourth Amendment. That’s how the Bill of Rights operates, to say Apple, open this phone, not Anderson’s phone, not everyone’s here, open this phone.” (Read more from “Cruz: Apple Should Open San Bernardino Attacker’s Phone” HERE)

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Leap Year 2016: Why Does February Have 29 Days Every Four Years?

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A leap year, where an extra day is added to the end of February every four years, is down to the solar system’s disparity with the Gregorian calendar.

A complete orbit of the earth around the sun takes exactly 365.2422 days to complete, but the Gregorian calendar uses 365 days. So leap seconds – and leap years – are added as means of keeping our clocks (and calendars) in sync with the Earth and its seasons . . .

Under his predecessor Julius Caesar, February had 30 days and the month named after him – July – had 31. August had only 29 days.

When Caesar Augustus became Emperor he added two days to ‘his’ month to make August the same as July.

So February lost out to August in the battle of the extra days. (Read more from “Leap Year 2016: Why Does February Have 29 Days Every Four Years?” HERE)

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Wow: Discovered Interview of Antonin Scalia Reveals Who He Wanted to Replace Him

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Photo Credit: The Higgs BosonBy Marisa Schultz. Republicans clamoring for the next Supreme Court justice to follow in the ideological footsteps of Justice Antonin Scalia may have just found their road map.

In a newly unearthed 2012 interview on C-SPAN, Scalia revealed his preferred successor: Judge Frank Easterbrook, of the Chicago-based Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

“If I had to pick somebody to replace me on the Supreme Court, it would be Frank,” Scalia said. (Read more from “Wow: Discovered Interview of Antonin Scalia Reveals Who He Wanted to Replace Him” HERE)

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What Wikipedia Says About Judge Easterbrook:

Frank Hoover Easterbrook (born September 3, 1948) is a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He was Chief Judge from November 2006 to October 2013, and has been a judge on the court since 1985. Easterbrook is noted for his use of economic analysis of law, his legalist approach to judicial interpretation, for his clear writing style, and for being one of the most prolific judges of his generation. Easterbrook is one of the most cited appellate judges in America

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Supreme Court Family Pays Respects to Justice Antonin Scalia

By Richard Wolf. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia made one final visit Friday to the marble palace he dominated for the past three decades.

His baritone voice silenced and his mighty pen relinquished, Scalia was carried in a flag-draped casket into the court’s Great Hall and placed on the Lincoln Catafalque, which first supported President Abraham Lincoln’s casket across the street in the U.S. Capitol after his assassination in 1865.

There he was honored by the remaining eight justices and 98 of his former law clerks, all of whom stood as one of Scalia’s nine children, Rev. Paul Scalia, recited a brief prayer. The justice’s widow, Maureen and his eight other children sat before the casket, with dozens of grandchildren standing behind them.

“You have called your servant Antonin out of this world,” Rev. Scalia said. “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. May he rest in peace.” (Read more from “Supreme Court Family Pays Respects to Justice Antonin Scalia” HERE)

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Nation’s ICE Officers Detail How Marco Rubio Betrayed Them

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In an exclusive Q&A with Breitbart News, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Council President Chris Crane provides never-before-heard details about the 2013 Gang of Eight immigration fight that are likely to shake up an already tumultuous presidential race.

ICE Council President, Crane represents the nation’s approximately 5,800 frontline ICE officers, agents and personnel who are responsible for enforcing America’s immigration laws in all 50 states and U.S. territories. For the first time ever, Crane details his behind-the-scenes interactions with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as Crane sought to protect the nation’s ICE officers and national security . . .

In his responses, Crane addresses an incident—first detailed by Breitbart News— in which Marco Rubio stood idly by as Crane was ejected from a Gang of Eight press conference for trying to ask a question on behalf of law enforcement . . .

BREITBART NEWS: It is well known that the Gang of Eight reached out to big business groups and amnesty groups in the process of writing the bill. When Sen. Rubio started writing his bill, did he reach out to you and other ICE officers for your ideas and input?

CRANE: Sen. Rubio never reached out to us. He surrounded himself with big business and amnesty groups, most of which were more interested in cheap labor and their own political agendas, and had no real concern for the welfare of immigrants, public safety, or the security of our nation. This while he ignored boots on the ground law enforcement officers who work within our broken immigration system every day and know better than any what’s needed to fix it. Common sense dictates that law enforcement be at the table when creating a bill like this. I think Sen. Rubio knew that, but actively chose to exclude us because of his own personal agenda. (Read more from “Nation’s ICE Officers Detail How Marco Rubio Betrayed Them” HERE)

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Dr. James Dobson Just Endorsed This Candidate for President – 2 Big Reasons Why [+video]

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Another presidential endorsement has come in, this time from a leading Christian figurehead, Dr. James Dobson. Dr. Dobson is an evangelical radio talk show host and psychologist who has been active in the political arena for over thirty years. On Wednesday, Dobson reiterated his December endorsement for Senator Cruz of the Republican party.

Dr. Dobson is the president of Family Talk, a nonprofit program which focuses on the “preservation of family”, as well as the former president of Focus on the Family. He has also authored over 30 books on the topic, advised three President’s, worked as an associate clinical professor at the University of Southern California, and earned his Ph.D. in child development, as well as numerous honorary doctoral degrees.

Dr. Dobson is viewed by some as an “expert” in family affairs. He dispenses mainly biblical advice focused on Christian marriages through his Family Talk radio program.

In a recent video, Dobson explains why Senator Cruz has his endorsement. “For us, the sanctity of human life and traditional marriage are non-negotiable. Ted has been relentless in defending the institution of marriage.” Furthermore adding, “after Donald Trump and Marco Rubio announced that they would accept the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage we knew we could not support them. Our decision was confirmed when they opposed Senator Cruz’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.” (Read more from “Dr. James Dobson Just Endorsed This Candidate for President – 2 Big Reasons Why” HERE)

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Something Huge Is Coming Back to Haunt Rubio, Cruz (and it’s way worse for Trump)

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By Cheryl Chumley. Rich Beeson, a deputy campaign manager for Sen. Marco Rubio, is causing a bit of a stir among the conservative evangelical crowd after reports surfaced he signed a petition pressing the U.S. Supreme Court to side with the pro-“gay” marriage plaintiffs in the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges.

Rubio didn’t sign the brief, which staffers with other Republican presidential campaigns, both past and present, have also signed. But Rubio, according to LifeSite News, has other ties to homosexual activists that, when combined with his campaign staffer’s signature, could prove problematic for the public-relations image he’s worked to create as a supporter of traditional marriage.

And Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, raised this point, while tweeting a reaction to the report: “Troubling if true. Would top advisors in a Rubio administration be the same?”

Eric Teetsel, Rubio’s director of faith outreach, was quick to counter that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s legal counsel, Chris Gober, also signed the brief . . .

The Christian Post reported Friday that Ted Cruz for President paid over $245,000 to the campaign strategy firm Targeted Victory in 2015. The president and senior director of the firm, Zac Moffat and Abe Adams, were also signatories. (Read more from “Something Huge Is Coming Back to Haunt Rubio, Cruz” HERE)
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Cruz Failed to Argue Pivotal Gay Rights Case, Lawrence v. Texas. Why?

By K. Eleveld. It appears that the champion of all that is sacred and true about “traditional marriage” has a teeny weeny hole in his resume: Ted Cruz ducked when faced with the opportunity to argue against LGBT rights in the 2003 Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas, which ultimately struck down sodomy laws and paved the way for future LGBT legal advances. . .

Maybe Cruz didn’t want to take on sodomy laws back in the day because he knew LGBT donors could be a real asset to his candidacies. Sure enough, Cruz’s turn with gay donors last [year] wasn’t the first time he’s taken money from gays or people who support LGBT causes:

He accepted $250,000 [in 2009] from gay donor Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, who is also a top contributor to the national gay conservative group GOProud. Thiel also gave $2 million to Club for Growth, a super political action committee that put $705,657 toward Cruz’s Senate run.

Paul Singer, a hedge fund billionaire whose son married his partner and who pushed for legalization of same-sex marriage in New York, gave Cruz $25,000 in 2009.

(Read more from this story HERE)

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Trump is the Most Gay-Friendly GOP Candidate Ever

By Emma Margolin. With his penchant for name-calling and plans to deport every undocumented immigrant living in the United States, Donald Trump hasn’t exactly established a reputation for tolerance. Yet the real estate mogul and reality TV host might nevertheless be the most LGBT-friendly Republican running for president.

Asked whether private companies should be able to fire employees simply because they’re gay, Trump told “Meet The Press” host Chuck Todd on Sunday that he didn’t think sexual orientation “should be a reason” for letting workers go.

The question is a significant one for any White House hopeful – currently, 31 states lack employment protections for LGBT Americans, by the Human Rights Campaign’s count, and there are no federal barriers to discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Trump’s response, however, marked a significant departure from the rest of the crowded GOP presidential pack, many of whom have pledged to expand protections for those wishing to turn away LGBT people on religious grounds. (Read more from this story HERE)

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