US Opinion and Commentary

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Trump and the Republicans

Posted May 9th, 2016 at 4:02 pm (UTC-4)
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Mainstream Republicans have had 11 months to defeat Donald Trump. 16 candidates, 12 debates and 47 primaries or caucuses later, Trump is on the precipice of winning the party’s nomination. And the Republican Party is facing an identity crisis.
Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham are among Trump’s former presidential rivals who say they will not vote for him. Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Bobby Jindal are among the former candidates who are backing Trump because they say the option of voting for Hillary Clinton is worse. We have yet to hear directly from the last of the vanquished, John Kasich and Ted Cruz.
Both living Republican former presidents of the United States, George H.W. Bush and his son, George W. Bush, reportedly will not endorse Trump. Nor will the most recent Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney.
The top elected Republican, House Speaker Paul Ryan says he could not support Trump…yet. The two will meet this Thursday, and the outcome may determine whether the ideological fault line that is Donald Trump will continue to split the Republican party. Or, can enough common ground be found to bring together the leaders of the Grand Old Party and the man who would be its new standard bearer?

The GOP Must Stop Trump

Posted April 11th, 2016 at 8:51 am (UTC-4)
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The Republican Party’s standard deserves to be hoisted by an honorable and decent man, like Romney or Ryan, elected on the convention floor. It is better to lose with principle than to accept a dangerous deal from a demagogue

Paul Ryan: Quietly Aiming for the Presidency?

Posted March 21st, 2016 at 2:36 pm (UTC-4)
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Paul Ryan seems to find power and stature without truly seeking it. In 2012, Mitt Romney chose Ryan as his presidential running-mate to help energize the Republican Party’s base who were drawn to Ryan’s fiscal conservative ideas. In 2015, House of Representatives Republicans turned to Ryan as a compromise candidate for Speaker after the Tea Party wing revolted against the establishment leadership. Ryan’s name is once again being floated, this time as a to bail out a Republican Party faced with the possibility of Donald Trump as its standard-bearer. Ryan has publicly said he is not interested in being drafted by a contested convention as a presidential nominee. But can the highest-elected Republican resist taking a shot at being the highest elected American?

Why This Budget Deal Won’t Save Us

Posted October 30th, 2015 at 10:31 am (UTC-4)
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The Freedom Caucus will be waiting to provoke another crisis in 2017.

By George, This Might Be the Answer to Washington’s Party Problems

Posted October 27th, 2015 at 10:31 am (UTC-4)
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George Washington was not a fan of political parties…. Our first president said the spirit of party “agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another,” and occasionally leads to “riot and insurrection” as well as “heartburnings.”

Be Careful What You Wish For, Paul Ryan

Posted October 23rd, 2015 at 4:02 pm (UTC-4)
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If he gave it more thought, perhaps Ryan would realize that the job’s not for him either. As outgoing Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) can attest, being in the majority isn’t as fun as it might seem.

Why Even Paul Ryan Cannot Save Republicans

Posted October 15th, 2015 at 2:21 pm (UTC-4)
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Ideo­lo­gic­ally, there may be little space between Ry­an and con­ser­vat­ives, but there are deep di­vi­sions between Ry­an and the con­fer­ence on tac­tics.