[Zelandakh]

Think about it Barry, there are not many groups less popular than politicians out there. I actually think Rubio's approach here is a little desperate. For me it would be better to connect Trump with one of the other extremely unpopular groups such as used car salesmen and estate agents. It is essentially the same thing, pointing out his crooked dealings and failures but the punchline seems to me more likely to resonate with voters. Time will tell.

In the meantime, one of the UK's top weekly political programmes had a piece on Trump last night and the general consensus was that he is pretty much unstoppable for the Republican nomination and stands a very strong chance against Hilary. I think the optimism here that he will have no chance against a "real" political operator is too early. It is extremely easy for him to tap into voters' mistrust of Washington against such a clearly establishment figure and she comes across extremely wooden next to him. He will promise how he will sort the whole place out just like the boardroom and, sadly, voters will believe him. It would not surprise me if the final race ends up a lot closer than most here currently think.

[Winstonm]

voided

[kenberg]

PassedOut, on 2016-February-26, 10:39, said:

Your message got through: Rubio labels Trump a ‘con artist’

Well done, Ken!

Thank you
I have sent in my bill for services rendered!

The problem of course is that the reaction to Rubio's comments might well be "Trump is a con artist? You just noticed?" But better late than never.

Again from something on NPR today. Apparently Trump University had to renamed because it in no way resembled a university, and there are multiple lawsuits from former students. Of course finding out that these for profit educational enterprises are frequently (but very definitely not in all cases) running very close to the legal edge is hardly news, but the people running them do not usually get taken seriously as presidential candidates.

The whole thing is a national embarrassment.

[y66]

Lindsey Graham: "My party has gone batshit crazy." Was just thinking the same thing. Even bats have more pride, self-respect and vision than these guys.

[helene_t]

The Danish newspaper Information asked a number of experts to comment on Trumps foreign policies. The concensus was that his policies are quite sensible. With the exception of his trade policies which will bring disaster on the us economy but will be good for Europe because we will take over some of the US trade with China.

[hrothgar]

helene_t, on 2016-February-27, 05:33, said:

The Danish newspaper Information asked a number of experts to comment on Trumps foreign policies. The concensus was that his policies are quite sensible. With the exception of his trade policies which will bring disaster on the us economy but will be good for Europe because we will take over some of the US trade with China.

Which policies would these be?

Carpet bombing Iraq and seizing all their oil?
Starting a trade war with everyone?
Forcibly deporting 12M Mexicans and placing a tarrif on them until they built a wall?
Going to war with China?
Bringing peace to the Middle East through "The Art of the Deal"?

[kenberg]

helene_t, on 2016-February-27, 05:33, said:

The Danish newspaper Information asked a number of experts to comment on Trumps foreign policies. The concensus was that his policies are quite sensible. With the exception of his trade policies which will bring disaster on the us economy but will be good for Europe because we will take over some of the US trade with China.

We saw a Swedish movie yesterday, The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. A very strange movie. Enjoyable, but weird. As we were leaving I commented to a friend "I'm Norwegian, not Swedish". Perhaps, based on the cited Danish expert opinion, I should also note "I am Norwegian, not Danish".

I see Chris Christie has endorsed Trump. Maybe CC can get the vice-presidential slot on the ticket. They could run as the Atlantic City duo. Slogan: Reality be damned, play the slots, we're having fun.

Disclaimer: I do in fact have Norwegian genes but I don't let that go to my head. In a back to my roots moment I once bought and cooked some lutefisk. I am not saying that I bought, cooked and ate some lutefisk. Perhaps it is an acquired taste. I haven't acquired it.

From the Wikipedia:

Quote

When cooking and eating lutefisk, it is important to clean the lutefisk and its residue off pans, plates, and utensils immediately. Lutefisk left overnight becomes nearly impossible to remove. Sterling silver should never be used in the cooking, serving or eating of lutefisk, which will permanently ruin silver. Stainless steel utensils are recommended instead.

Sounds as if lutefisk and Donald Trump have their similarities.

[helene_t]

hrothgar, on 2016-February-27, 06:02, said:

Which policies would these be?

Apparently they think that his "real" policies are the ones he expresses in his more dowish moments, and the hawkish moments are just campaign nonsense.

They may be too optimistic. But I think that while electing president Cruz is suicide, electing president Trump is more like Russian roulette.

[barmar]

Zelandakh, on 2016-February-26, 11:57, said:

I think the optimism here that he will have no chance against a "real" political operator is too early.

I have a feeling you're right. Many thought the same thing when he was first running for the nomination, and we've been proved wrong. At this point, I have no idea what the public is thinking, except that they see this as the closest thing to a "throw the bums out" vote.

[kenberg]

Perhaps Trump should be seen as the white man's version of a rap artist, only without the rhythmic structure. There is emotion, resentment, belligerence. Slap the ho or slap the Mexican. It's BWA, billionaires with attitude.

[Winstonm]

With the conservative brain wired to place security as a priority, it makes sense that Trump has made inroads because he taps into the growing tribalism the separates rather than mends, segregates rather than blends, and isolates rather than leads.

[barmar]

Jimmy Kimmel did a great spoof on last night's "After the Oscars" special. Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick recreated their roles from "The Producers", but this time they decide to promote a candidate who couldn't possibly last (Trump), so they could pocket in all the contributions when he drops out.

http://www.thedailyb...ers-parody.html

[barmar]

And John Oliver, who has mostly been trying to avoid covering the Trump candidacy, spent most of his show refuting all the reasons Trump supporters give when asked why they like him.

http://www.huffingto...4b0bf0dab32a73c

[gwnn]

If you're using Chrome, this extension is a must!
https://chrome.googl...ofbdlhjcmjopilp

[diana_eva]

gwnn, on 2016-February-29, 11:08, said:

If you're using Chrome, this extension is a must!
https://chrome.googl...ofbdlhjcmjopilp

Not really following politics, but this extension has improved my bridge enjoyment a lot:

[kenberg]

A couple of quick questions about data.

1. On the Diane Rehm show this morning the guests were discussing the economy, particularity how the recovery is uneven across the nation. One of the guests stated that 1 out of 7 prime age men is neither working nor going to school. "Prime age" was defined as 25-54, I don't think "not working" was defined. I looked around a bit on the web for the source and for clarification. Anyone know anything about this number? At first thought it seemed high for "prime age men", translating into 14+ percent. But then I started thinking and I suppose it could be right. It probably depends a lot on what "not working" means. 25 or so hours a week of doing this and that, here and there, for a bit of pay is working or not working?

2. It is often noted, or claimed, that Trump and Sanders are tapping into "the same anger". Not really, I think. I was driving to a hospital to visit a friend so I had time to listen to the dr show and to think a bit. Trump is getting a lot of support from people who have modest skills and poor or unsteady jobs. You don't much hear of that group going for Sanders. Visiting my friend. I suggested that Sanders' support from the young is more the young idealist vote rather than the young economically struggling vote. He, a Sanders supporter, agreed. [Of course I had him in a weakened condition, and we soon went back to the more congenial subject of mathematics.]
Are there figures to support or refute my thought that it is more the young idealist rather than the young and struggling who is in the Sanders camp? There must be, there are figures for everything. In SC, apparently HC got 95% of the over 65 African-American vote. The age of the individual is over, we are all demographic data points.

[barmar]

kenberg, on 2016-March-01, 14:37, said:

The age of the individual is over, we are all demographic data points.

I think that's quite a cynical way to view it.

Of course we're all individuals, but no one can mount a campaign that tries to address each individual's needs. If you're going to make a speech or put out an ad, you're communicating to large groups, so you need to assess the demographics of the people you're trying to reach.

I think Trump's support comes mostly from people who are scared, and he feeds that fear. They're scared of terrorists trying to kill us, they're scared of immigrants coming to take our jobs, and they're also worried about cultural changes.

Sanders does seem to get much of his support from the young idealists. You almost have to be like that to favor the major changes his democratic socialist plan would entail.

[PhantomSac]

barmar, on 2016-March-01, 16:47, said:

I think Trump's support comes mostly from people who are scared, and he feeds that fear. They're scared of terrorists trying to kill us, they're scared of immigrants coming to take our jobs, and they're also worried about cultural changes.

True, racism comes from irrational fear.

[Cyberyeti]

PhantomSac, on 2016-March-01, 16:56, said:

True, racism comes from irrational fear.

It usually comes from almost but not totally irrational fear.

Often of people who've been treated so badly, they can't live the normal lives we'd like them to because we won't let them, then they get caned for not doing so.

[kenberg]

barmar, on 2016-March-01, 16:47, said:

I think that's quite a cynical way to view it.

Of course we're all individuals, but no one can mount a campaign that tries to address each individual's needs. If you're going to make a speech or put out an ad, you're communicating to large groups, so you need to assess the demographics of the people you're trying to reach.

I think Trump's support comes mostly from people who are scared, and he feeds that fear. They're scared of terrorists trying to kill us, they're scared of immigrants coming to take our jobs, and they're also worried about cultural changes.

Sanders does seem to get much of his support from the young idealists. You almost have to be like that to favor the major changes his democratic socialist plan would entail.

I suppose that it is a bit cynical. But I envision a candidate appearing before the AARP, pulling his speech out of his briefcase, and going into a panic when he sees that it is his speech for the college campus. Who knows, I might like it. [Becky signed me up for the AARP, I am not a joiner.]

Anyway, I must soon screw up my courage and turn on the news.