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?
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Trump and the Republicans
Indiana Drops the Starting Flag on the Trump v. Clinton Race
Rarely have so many eyes been on Indiana this early in May. But the results from Tuesday’s presidential primary race will have far more impact than whoever wins the Indianapolis 500 later this month. Donald Trump lapped his closest rival, Ted Cruz, who emptied his tank in an effort to win in Indiana. The other Republican in the race, John Kasich, has now joined Cruz in idling their campaigns. With a win in Indiana, Bernie Sanders continues to try to push past Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. But short of a total Clinton collapse, Sanders will remain in her rear view mirror. Polling shows both Trump and Clinton would be the most unpopular presidential candidates in recent history. With so many feeling so negative about both candidates, are voters rooting for a clean race or one full or crashes?
Trump’s Foreign View
Foreign policy is one of few places where a U.S. president has wide latitude to make a strong imprint. It is the responsibility of the president to develop, and with the help of the secretary of state, execute the strategies to project and safeguard national interests. Hillary Clinton’s ideas and perspectives have been on display during the four years she served as Barack Obama’s Secretary of State. Wednesday we got our first glimpse of how Donald Trump would shape foreign policy if elected president. He’s dropped clues throughout the campaign, such as being tougher China regarding trade, making Mexico pay for a border wall, calling NATO “obsolete” and “bomb the (expletive)” out of Islamic State. His speech to the Center for the National Interest knitted many of these themes together into a more cohesive form. Supporters say Trump has changed his tone, laying out a vision for America that challenges the status quo. Critics say he’s re-packaged his ideas and question where he’s getting his foreign policy advice.
Campaign ‘Cuisine’ Isn’t Always Presidential
Political pundits have already decided the outcome of today’s five-state presidential primary contests. It goes something like this: Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton will widen their leads, leaving their competitors (Bernie Sanders, John Kasich and Ted Cruz) that much further from securing their party’s nomination. Election season in America is a taxing months-long, 24/7 exercise, requiring a lot of stamina, and fuel to keep on keeping on. Sampling corn dogs, milkshakes, burgers, five-alarm chili and apple pie in state after state is a campaign must for every candidate. Why? Because breaking bread with the locals, whether in a small Idaho town or the big city of New York, is a sure way to connect with the voters. Today, we offer you a glimpse of American campaign “cuisine.” We check in on the latest thinking about the candidates, and Trump’s alleged pivot away from his raw and rowdy campaign style.
How 2016 Will Shape the Future of American Politics
Imagine a different, more destabilizing, and (frankly) more likely scenario — which is that we’re living through the early stages of an ideological realignment of America’s two major political parties.
Trump & Hillary Solidify Frontrunner Status
As predicted, New York voters granted Trump, its “native son,” and Hillary, the state’s adoptee, electoral victories by wide margin. The takeaway? Trump confirmed that he is indeed a “winner.” And Hillary, who has the loyalty of New York Democrats, sent a strong message to her iconoclastic contender, Senator Bernie Sanders. The presidential ticket seems set for both parties, even if Trump is likely to arrive at the GOP convention without the necessary majority of delegates. The #StopTrump movement isn’t going away, but “The Donald’s” renewed momentum may mean establishment Republicans will not be able to #StopTrump no matter what.
New York State of Mind
It’s been more than a month since Democratic contenders Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders held a debate. Tonight’s faceoff in Brooklyn pits the New Yorker by birth versus the New Yorker by choice in what might be their final battle. The debate will be a chance for the candidates to respond to some recent incendiary rhetoric, most of which came from Sanders: calling Clinton “unqualified” to be president; questioning her taking money from Verizon for a speech as both candidates appeared at union picket lines to support striking Verizon workers; and the comment “corporate Democratic whores” by a speaker at a Sanders event to describe those who, like Clinton, support incremental progress in health care reform. After the debate, it’s all about numbers. Sanders may have won seven of the last eight Democratic contests, but he still trails Clinton by 251 pledged delegates — four more than the number at stake in Tuesday’s New York primary. The Democrats have no “winner-take-all” contests. Delegates are allocated proportionally to the popular vote. So, in order for Sanders to catch Clinton, he needs to win about 60% of the vote in New York and the 19 other remaining contests. It’s a high mountain to climb.
The GOP Must Stop Trump
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
Presidential Candidates Try to Prove How ‘New York’ They Are
It’s nice that New York has such a prominent place in the election, for once…. It would be nicer still if our people went out into the world and made us proud. Barring that, at least they’re entertaining.
To the Future President of the United States
We understand that perspective is hard to come by at this stage of the race, and you are obsessively watching the polls and attempting to shape your image to a media ready to pounce on every slip. But the world is watching at a time of great uncertainty
Trump Trips and Stumbles, Possibly Alienating Female Voters
In a matter of minutes, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump accomplished what no other politician has ever done: anger BOTH opponents and supporters of abortion rights in America. The “some kind of punishment” line about women who abort unborn fetuses he uttered on MSNBC Wednesday night was quickly reversed (or revised depending on where you stand) in a statement published on his website. Recent polls suggest Trump’s support among women voters is tenuous already. The abortion gaffe comes after a public fight with his nearest opponent Sen. Ted Cruz over their wives and his openly ugly comments aimed at FOX News anchor Megyn Kelly. Women, who make up more than half of the U.S. voting electorate, are a key voting block, one that political pundits say should not be alienated by either Republicans or Democrats.The next nominating contest takes place next week in Wisconsin, the results of which may indicate whether or not the often outrageous Trump has gone too far this time.
The Right to Vote
This November will be the first presidential election since a 2013 decision by the Supreme Court striking down a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As a result, new voting restrictions are in place in 16 states across America. The impact of that ruling (a 5 to 4 decision and highly controversial) has already been felt. Recently, thousands stood in line for hours (after polls closed) waiting to cast their primary ballots in Utah, Arizona, and Idaho. Some experts warn this is a sign of what’s to come in the general election and beyond: roadblocks to voting that disproportionately affect minorities and the most vulnerable American voters. The anxiety around access and ease of casting a vote, a cornerstone issue of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, has grown palpably. And with this election season’s combustible atmosphere and unpredictable twists and turns, there are fears that holes are being poked in the historic 1965 affirmation of all Americans right to participate in the nation’s voting system.
Terrorism – Not Climate Change – Dominates Campaign Trail
For the most part, the presidential hopefuls from both parties have skirted the threat of climate change – instead, lacing their stump speeches with biting criticism of the current U.S. strategy to defeat ISIS. Despite this week’s deadly reminder of the gravity of Islamic extremism in Brussels, scientists argue strongly that the effects of global warming far outweigh terrorist attacks. Science tells us that 2015 was the warmest year on record. On the same day that 31 people died in twin attacks in the Belgian capital, retired NASA scientist James E. Hansen published a paper stating that the catastrophic consequences of greenhouse gas emissions headed our way at a much faster rate than previously predicted. Both Republican candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump disregard the growing consensus that global warming is real. Even two Republican mayors in Florida urged both men to stop denying the disaster that awaits the Earth and start coming up with policies to address the crisis. Democrat Hillary Clinton is a believer, but it has been her opponent, Bernie Sanders, who has clearly articulated the dangers of global warming while on the stump.
Optimism Is the Third Rail of American Politics
More than twice as many Americans believe the country is on the wrong track as on the right track. That’s a subjective judgment, but it rests on facts people often get wrong.
The Risk I Will Not Take
[W]hen I look at the data, it’s clear to me that if I entered the race, I could not win. I believe I could win a number of diverse states — but not enough to win the 270 Electoral College votes necessary to win the presidency.