Month: July 2015

This Quote Is Good for Trump

Buck Banks

Let me be clear: Trump will not be the president of the United States. But I firmly believe that Trump not only knows that, he doesn’t want to be president. Trump is brand-building. This is all free publicity for a salesman in the business of selling himself. … There is a cottage industry among some public people that is breathing new life into the adage ‘all press is good press.’ These people use ignobility as an elevator; they inflame their way to infamy. They get the country talking and their names trending, then they turn that cultural currency into hard currency. … Every minute Trump is on your television screen, it’s good for Trump. Every time Trump’s name is mentioned on social media, it’s good for Trump. Every time someone writes about Trump, it’s good for Trump. This column is good for Trump.

— Charles Blow, in the New York Times.

Cook Looks at a Post-Trump Election

Buck Banks

It’s still a great question how this Republican nomination race will sort out once this Trump nonsense ends. The GOP splits roughly 60-40 these days: 60 percent of its voters are pretty conventional, mainstream Republicans, while the other 40 percent are of a somewhat more exotic variety, up from just a third a decade ago. This latter group is made up of three subgroups: secular, anti-establishment, tea-party adherents; evangelical conservatives driven chiefly by cultural issues; and those who are just really conservative and more ideologically driven than your normal garden-variety Republicans. … Historically, this collection of less-conventional Republicans has loomed large in Iowa, then gradually given way to more-mainstream GOP voters in the final stretch, but the harder-edged Republicans have been on the ascendency and may play an even greater role in choosing the nominee this time around than in the past.

— Charlie Cook

A Map of the Biggest Companies in Each State

Trish

BVN-Largest-Companies-by-Revenue-20152

In line with the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which held that corporations have the right to buy as much free speech as they can afford, it might be time to consider changing the names of the 50 states. Here’s a handy map that will help, posted by Broadview Networks VoIP Blog.

The map shows the largest company in each state, based on revenue, and makes the distinction between size by revenue and size by market value. If market value were the metric, California would be Apple-fornia.

The map also answers a question that’s been popular for years: What’s the matter with Kansas?

Trump Has Officially Lost the Hispanic Vote

Buck Banks

79%

Of Hispanic voters polled find Donald Trump’s comments on immigration offensive, and 71% hold an unfavorable view of Trump himself, a new Univision poll finds. “While a majority of those polled say they don’t think Trump’s comments represent his party, Trump and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush trail Hillary Clinton badly among Hispanic voters.”

Trump Supporters Are Deeply Angry

Buck Banks

“Despite what you’ve read in the media, even some outposts of the conservative media, these Trump acolytes in general are not racist against Latinos and they have not been seized by madness. … They are, however, angry. Very angry. And many are agonizingly fearful about the future of the nation. They believe that vast changes to the country are being wrought in ways that are undemocratic, dishonest and perhaps even illegal. Trump, who seems perpetually angry, is an expression of the angst of conservatives who believe the United States has gotten so deep into a mess that a little extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. What they adore about Trump is that he is a pugilist who has emerged at a time when someone needs to start throwing punches.

— Keith Koffler, writing in Politico.