Polling continues to show a surge for anti-establishment candidates with Donald Trump holding a commanding lead in the GOP primary. Some experts are amazed at the billionaire’s ability to completely flip previously unfavorable ratings to favorable, all largely without relying on paid media. As The Wall Street Journal pointed out, Donald Trump dominated Sunday news shows last week without even appearing on any program . . .
Here are the theories on the rise of the Trump phenomenon:
Master of Persuasion
Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip calls Trump the “Clown Genius.” Adams argues Trump’s mastery skills at persuasion and branding are everywhere in his campaign . . .
Positive Thinker
Carmen Fowler LaBerge, president of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, says, “Trump is tapping into the spirit and power of positive thinking that pervades the teachings of modern cultural evangelists like Oprah Winfrey and Joel Osteen.” (Read more from “God’s Trumpet, Positive Persuader or Narcissistic Blowhard? 3 Theories on the Trump Phenomenon” HERE)
By B. Christopher Agee. After riding his tough stance on illegal immigration to a commanding lead among Republican presidential candidates, Donald Trump broached another crime-related topic at a recent campaign event in Tennessee.
In a message citing the need for and benefits of strong local law enforcement, Trump offered a direct promise to any gang members causing trouble under his administration.
“You know the gang members in Baltimore and Chicago,” he said, “and these are some tough dudes, they’re going to be out so fast.”
He told an enthusiastic crowd that a Trump White House would “get rid of those gang members so fast your head will spin.”
Though he did not give specifics regarding that plan, he did note the importance of allowing police to perform their duties unfettered by the demands of anti-cop activists.
“I know cities where people are afraid to even talk to people,” he said, “because they want to be able to retire and have their pension.” (Read more from “There’s a New Group of People Donald Trump Says He Wants to Remove From America’s Streets” HERE)
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Increase Taxes? Talk by Donald Trump Alarms G.O.P.
By Alan Rappeport. For years, Republicans have run for office on promises of cutting taxes and bolstering business to stimulate economic growth, pledging allegiance to a Reaganesque model of conservatism that has largely become the party’s orthodoxy.
But this election cycle, the Republican presidential candidate who currently leads in most polls is taking a different approach, and it is jangling the nerves of some of the party’s most traditional supporters.
The tendency of that candidate, the billionaire developer Donald J. Trump, to make provocative, headline-grabbing speeches has helped obscure an emerging set of beliefs: that he would raise taxes in certain areas, particularly on corporations that he believes do not act in the best interests of the United States.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on American companies that put their factories in other countries. He has suggested he would increase taxes on the compensation of hedge fund managers. And he has vowed to change laws that allow American companies to benefit from cheaper tax rates by using mergers to base their operations outside the United States.
Alarmed that those ideas might catch on with some of Mr. Trump’s Republican rivals — as his immigration policies have — the Club for Growth, an anti-tax think tank, is pulling together a team of economists to scrutinize his proposals and calculate the economic impact if he is elected. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-08-31 22:06:282015-08-31 22:06:28There’s a New Group of People Donald Trump Says He Wants to Remove From America’s Streets
By John McCormick. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has emerged as a leading Republican presidential candidate in Iowa and is closing in on frontrunner Donald Trump in the state that hosts the first 2016 nomination balloting contest.
The latest Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll shows billionaire Trump with the support of 23 percent of likely Republican caucus participants, followed by Carson at 18 percent. When first and second choices are combined, Carson is tied with Trump.
Trump finds himself in a vastly better position than when the previous Iowa Poll was taken. He has become a credible presidential candidate to many likely Republican caucus-goers. The real estate mogul is rated favorably by 61 percent and unfavorably by 35 percent, an almost complete reversal since the Iowa Poll in May. He finds his highest ratings among those planning to attend the caucuses for the first time (69 percent) and limited-government Tea Party activists (73 percent). Just 29 percent say they could never vote for him, a number cut in half since May.
Although he isn’t generating the headlines enjoyed by Trump, Carson has quietly built a dedicated network of supporters in Iowa. During the past month, he also aired more ads than any other presidential candidate in Iowa. Carson has the highest favorability rating among Republican candidates, with 79 percent of likely GOP caucus-goers seeing him positively.
Those glowing views of Carson, who has a compelling life story and is seeking to become the nation’s second black president, could make it hard for Trump or other rivals to attack him as the campaign heats up this fall. Christian conservatives, who represent nearly 40 percent of likely caucus participants in the poll, may be starting to coalesce around the former director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. (Read more from “Here’s the Candidate Edging Close to Front-Runner Trump in Latest Poll” HERE)
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Republican Candidates Address Donald Trump and Volatility in Polls
By Steve Eder. As the summer of Donald J. Trump winds down, some of the real estate mogul’s rivals took to the Sunday political talk shows, discussing plans for emerging from Mr. Trump’s shadow in the Republican field.
Scott Walker
The Wisconsin governor denied that his campaign has been forced to shift course by the potency of Mr. Trump’s candidacy . . .
Chris Christie
As his own campaign struggles to take hold, the New Jersey governor told Fox News Sunday that he plans to be on the main stage for the second Republican debate Sept. 16 in Simi Valley, Calif., even though several polls show he no longer ranks in the top 10 of the Republican field. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-08-30 21:49:322015-08-30 21:49:32Here’s the Candidate Edging Close to Front-Runner Trump in Latest Poll
She’s nothing if not provocative — some would say profane. The former teen idol who got her big break on the Disney Channel, pop music sensation Miley Cyrus has just said something that may further roil the already agitated waters of presidential politics. And the candidate about whom Cyrus made the surprising comment is, himself, well known for stirring things up quite a bit.
In an interview with The New York Times, Cyrus reflected on the explosive reaction to her ‘twerking’ performance on the MTV Video Music Awards show a couple of years ago. The singer is getting ready to host the 2015 version of the MTV awards show.
The Times’ description of those few shocking moments on stage in 2013 notes that even MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski slammed Cyrus’ more-than-suggestive gyrations as “raunchy porn that’s disgusting and disturbing.”
“The last time Ms. Cyrus took the stage at the Video Music Awards, two years ago, she performed, tongue unleashed, with giant teddy bears (stepping out of one, into her new reality), a phallic foam finger and a pre-crash Robin Thicke [her partner in the twerking performance] — prompting a thousand think pieces about slut-shaming, racial appropriation for her use of black female dancers and the meaning of twerking,” according to the piece in The New York Times.
Buried in the Times article, as almost a throw-away tidbit, is the claim by Miley Cyrus that she got a surprise phone call the day after her daring display of “talent” on the MTV broadcast — a call from the man whose name was on the hotel where she was staying. Times reporter Joe Coscarelli quotes Cyrus as saying:
I was staying at the Trump Hotel and Donald Trump literally called and said, basically, “I know everyone’s talking about it, but I loved it.”
(Read more from “Miley Cyrus Just Said That Donald Trump Called Her to Tell Her This…Unbelievable” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00kathleenhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngkathleen2015-08-29 00:44:192015-08-29 00:44:19Miley Cyrus Just Said That Donald Trump Called Her to Tell Her This…Unbelievable
Hillary Clinton’s lead in the Democratic presidential race is the slimmest it’s been in years, as Donald Trump keeps a stranglehold on the GOP race, a new poll found Friday.
Clinton maintains 45 percent support among Democrats, but Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is up to 25 percent, according to a Reuters/Ipsos tracking survey released Friday.
It’s Clinton’s smallest lead since Reuters started polling Democratic voters on her candidacy in 2012, the news service noted.
Vice President Biden, who is rumored to be mulling a White House bid, drew 16 percent. The remaining people polled were undecided or voting for other candidates.
Trump received 33 percent support among Republicans, crushing his closest rival, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, at 12 percent. (Read more from “Poll: Clinton’s Lead Shrinks as Trump Maintains Dominance” HERE)
Donald Trump told Mark Halperin yesterday that his sister, a federal judge, would be a “phenomenal” Supreme Court justice. He also said that “we will have to rule that out now, at least.”
If he ever becomes president, let’s hope he rules it out permanently. Maryanne Trump Barry came up in my book The Party of Death for writing one of those heated judicial decisions in favor of giving constitutional protection to partial-birth abortion. She called a New Jersey law against it a “desperate attempt” to undermine Roe v. Wade. It was, she wrote, “based on semantic machinations, irrational line-drawing, and an obvious attempt to inflame public opinion instead of logic or medical evidence.” It made no difference where the fetus was when it “expired.”
So: The right of abortionists to make a child “expire” by partially extracting her from the womb, sticking scissors in the back of her head, vacuuming out her brain, and crushing her skull to complete her extraction, is right there in the Constitution. But let’s please not have any “semantic machinations.” (Read more from “Donald Trump PRAISES His Sister, a Pro-Abortion Extremist Judge” HERE)
That was the near-unanimous view of some of the nation’s wealthiest and most influential Republicans Saturday night as they gathered for a political briefing at billionaire Wilbur Ross’ Southampton estate with national GOP Chairman Reince Priebus.
Trump’s rise as the front-running GOP candidate for president was expected to dominate talk at the gathering of about 60 Republican bigwigs and high rollers, including builder/developer Earl Mack, Gristedes owner and biofuels magnate John Catsimatidis, the Tiger Fund’s Julian Robertson, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and state GOP Chairman Ed Cox.
But it became clear early on that that wasn’t going to be the case because so many of those at the event see Trump as a fatally flawed candidate, much as they’ve seen him as a flawed and often off-putting businessman over the past three decades, a source who was present told The Post.
“These are people who know Trump well, people who have known Trump for years as part of the social and financial fabric of the city,” the source said. (Read more from “GOP Big Shots Aren’t Taking Donald Trump Seriously” HERE)
By B. Christopher Agee. Owen Wilson, a predominantly comedic actor showing off his dramatic chops in the new film No Escape, ventured into the political realm recently when describing Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Wilson – described as a “staunch liberal” – acknowledged he is at least intrigued by Trump’s brash approach to politics.
“You can’t help but get a kick out of him,” he admitted, “and I think part of it is we’re so used to politicians on both sides sounding like actors at press junkets. It’s sort of by rote, and they say all the right things.”
Trump, by comparison, does not follow “that script,” Wilson said.
“It’s like when Charlie Sheen was doing that stuff,” he continued, apparently referring to the actor’s infamous public meltdown in 2011. “Like, wow! He’s answering a question completely honestly, and in an entertaining way.”
When it comes to Trump’s ideology, however, Wilson is less compelled. Either way, he said it is far too early in the process to declare Trump the Republican nominee – much less a general election winner. (Read more from “Hollywood Megastar Owen Wilson Just Sounded off on Trump – and What He Said Was Shocking” HERE)
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Donald Trump Trounces GOP Field, Biden Leads General Election Match-Ups
By Theodore Schleifer. Vice President Joe Biden fares better against top GOP candidates in hypothetical general election match-ups than Hillary Clinton, according to a new national survey.
The Quinnipiac University poll, released Thursday, also shows Donald Trump smashing the GOP presidential competition garnering 28% support from registered Republican voters in the 17-member field. The real estate mogul’s closest competitor is retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who tallies 12%.
Just 7% said they would vote for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a record low since November 2013.
Those results show just how far both Trump — now the Republican front-runner — and Bush — the old one — have come. Bush led national polls for much of the first half of 2015, but was quickly dislodged by Trump, after he announced his presidential ambitions this June.
Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida both are tied with Bush at 7%, the polls shows, with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at 6% and former tech CEO Carly Fiorina and Ohio Gov. John Kasich tied at 5%. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-08-27 21:45:242015-08-27 21:45:24Hollywood Megastar Just Sounded off on Trump – and What He Said Was Shocking
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump may not be as much of the political outsider as purported in interviews and campaign stomps. He is actually related to royalty – and is a distant cousin of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
As it turns out, both are related to John of Gaunt, a 14th century royal. Gaunt, who was the 1st Duke of Lancaster, was the son of King Edward III. According to MyHeritage, Trump is related through his mother, Mary Anne Macleod, back to his 17th great-grandfather, John Beaufort, while Clinton is related through her father and the Rodham family, back to her 17th great-grandmother, Joan Beaufort. The two candidates are 19th cousins. Neither has commented on this fact . . .
Having two presidential candidates who are related isn’t new. The website We Are All Related shows that all of the U.S. presidents, except for one, are related. The common ancestor was John “Lackland” Plantagenet, who was the King of England in 1166. The project, completed by 10-year-old BridgeAnne d’Avignon, showed the only president who does not share the royal ancestry with the other presidents was President Martin Van Buren. (Read more from “Trump Has a Very Surprising Distant Relative Who Happens to Be a Presidential Candidate” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-08-27 21:38:442015-08-27 21:38:44Trump Has a Very Surprising Distant Relative Who Happens to Be a Presidential Candidate
Fellow 2016 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush tried to steal Donald Trump’s thunder in Mobile, Alabama, on Friday, but the move proved to be full of hot air.
As Trump electrified the largest crowd of the presidential campaign season to date, the pro-Bush Right to Rise super-PAC launched a banner message to fly over the event on a small plane.
The message read “Trump 4 Higher Taxes, Jeb 4 Prez.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-08-27 21:29:062015-08-27 21:29:06Pro-Jeb Plane Flies Anti-Trump Banner Across Trump’s Bama Rally and It BACKFIRES Big Time
Polling continues to show a surge for anti-establishment candidates with Donald Trump holding a commanding lead in the GOP primary. Some experts are amazed at the billionaire’s ability to completely flip previously unfavorable ratings to favorable, all largely without relying on paid media. As The Wall Street Journal pointed out, Donald Trump dominated Sunday news shows last week without even appearing on any program . . .
