Trump still on top in Iowa after debate drama that was supposed to sink him.
I’ve been meaning to write more about the on-going farce which is the opposition to the world powers deal to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. But I just came across a hilarious story which really brings together the tragic, tendentious and hysterical (yes, both meanings) nature of this drama. I just learned that Joe Lieberman, storied Middle East hawk, has joined United Against Nuclear Iran as its new Chairman. UANI is one of several pressure groups now rolling out massive ad campaigns against the deal bankrolled by assorted billionaires.
16 Republicans make the cut for the September Republican debate on CNN. Only one ‘candidate’, former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, failed even to make the kids’ table debate.
Remember back during the Baltimore protests over the death of Freddie Gray there was that viral video of an African-American woman smacking around her protesting son? We talked to her and a fascinating discussion unfolded about police violence, parenting, fear and corporal punishment. Give this a read.
We now have a handful of national and state polls out after Thursday night’s Fox/GOP debate. And they all tell the same story: Donald Trump either maintained or expanded his lead in the GOP primary race. Hats off to the sage commentators who predicted this turn of events. But there’s another part of the story that is actually more important for the eventual outcome of the nomination process.
I take it as a given that for any variety of reasons Donald Trump will not be the Republican nominee. So someone else will need to be. But look at the numbers that came after Trump’s. Bush, Walker and possibly Rubio – the candidates who actually represent plausible national candidates – are actually falling as Trump rises. Along with him, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina are moving up.
We were told it was a fight Trump could never win – a picked battle with the most trust institution in conservative America: Fox News. The numbers made it clear. Trump was done. It was only a matter of time.
And yet here we have it: Fox’s unconditional surrender. Fox Capo Roger Ailes was forced to choose between star anchor Megyn Kelly and Trump. And he made his choice: Beg Trump for forgiveness, mend fences and welcome Trump back into the fold.
Here’s another example of the Trump pattern, how his candidacy has this uncanny ability to trigger explosions in virtually every part of the conservative ecosystem it touches.
How Donald Trump has modeled his campaign around professional wrestling. Really.
It started as a dispute over the AP American history curriculum, but a Colorado school board recall is shaping up as a proxy fight for national groups, including the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity, over a whole range of contemporary public education flash points.