2016 GOP Primary Archives

The End of Political Pansies as We Know It

June 14, 2016 Buck Banks

We were getting to be kind of pansies in politics. People used to shoot each other on the Senate floor, you know.

— Jeff Roe, former strategist for Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) presidential campaign, quoted by the Huffington Post.

Indiana Poll Shows Cruz with Commanding Lead There

May 2, 2016 Buck Banks

45%

Ted Cruz’ lead in the Indiana GOP presidential race, followed by Donald Trump at 29% and John Kasich at 13%, according to a new Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics poll.

We all know by now that Donald Trump is not likeable,
And as a president we suspect he would not be capable.
But one thing’s for sure
As the GOP convention nears —
If there’s one thing Trump is, it’s inevitable.

172 Delegates Up for Grabs in GOP Primaries Today

April 26, 2016 Buck Banks

172

Number of Republican delegates up for grabs today, Reuters reports. As we discussed last week, he can’t clinch the nomination tonight. But the most competitive state tonight is Maryland, where Trump has a cozy 20 point lead. That’s the main reason we see Kasich and Ted Cruz trying to play nice with each other in Indiana, Oregon and New Mexico: to deny Trump the requisite 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination.

Why Trump’s “Rigged System” Meme Works

April 25, 2016 Buck Banks

It also helps that Trump’s system-is-rigged message is relatively simple and plays into the media’s master narrative of the Republican race as a conflict between the Republican base and the GOP establishment. The Republicans’ delegate selection rules, by contrast, require an attention to detail that narrative-driven stories about the Republican race can misconstrue.

— Nate Silver, Five Thirty Eight

Trump Leading in California

April 22, 2016April 23, 2016 Buck Banks

41%

Donald Trump’s lead in the GOP presidential race in California, followed by Ted Cruz at 23% and John Kasich at 21%, according to a new Capitol Weekly/Sextant Strategies poll. “California is worth 172 delegates when it votes on June 7 — with the winner of each of the state’s 53 congressional districts receiving three delegates. The statewide winner receives 13 delegates. The Capitol Weekly/Sextant Strategies poll shows Trump winning in almost every corner of the state.”

Trump Threatens GOP Leaders with a ‘Rough’ Convention

April 18, 2016 Buck Banks

The Republican National Committee, they’d better get going, because I’ll tell you what: You’re going to have a rough July at that convention. You’d better get going, and you’d better straighten out the system because the people want their vote. The people want their vote, and they want to be represented properly.

— Donald Trump, warning party leaders to reform GOP’s system for selecting a nominee or face a ‘rough July’ when it holds its convention in Cleveland,” the Washington Post reports.

A Denied Trump Will Not Go Quietly Into that Good Night

April 15, 2016 Buck Banks

Moreover, if Republicans think that denying Trump the nomination will solve their problems, they forget that the guy is neither a magnanimous winner nor a gracious loser. Forget about Trump running as an independent in the fall. He won’t have the organization or time to get on the ballot in most states. But, he’s got something more important than ballot access: Twitter and TV. He will be happy to continue his campaign against the GOP via social media. Do we really think that if Trump loses he’ll go underground never to utter his views again? Do you think that if he loses a floor fight he’ll warmly embrace Ted Cruz? I doubt it.

— Amy Walter, Cook Political Report

GOP’s Unfair Primary System Has Helped Trump

April 15, 2016 Buck Banks

Donald Trump has a point … After getting shut out at the Colorado conventions, Trump has been complaining that the Republican primary process is undemocratic and rigged. I don’t agree with the ‘rigged’ part, as the rules have been known for some time, but it’s true that some Republican votes are worth a lot more than others. ‘One person, one vote’ — or the idea that every voter should have equal say in an election — is not the rule in the GOP primary system. The irony, however, is that Trump has benefited from this imbalance.

“It’s a measure of the Republican Party’s current depravity that I think of the period when Marco Rubio was besmirching Donald Trump’s genitalia as the good old days.”

— Frank Bruni

We were getting to be kind of pansies in politics. People used to shoot each other on the Senate floor, you know.

— Jeff Roe, former strategist for Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) presidential campaign, quoted by the Huffington Post.

45%

Ted Cruz’ lead in the Indiana GOP presidential race, followed by Donald Trump at 29% and John Kasich at 13%, according to a new Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics poll.

172

— Nate Silver, Five Thirty Eight

41%

— Donald Trump, warning party leaders to reform GOP’s system for selecting a nominee or face a ‘rough July’ when it holds its convention in Cleveland,” the Washington Post reports.

— Amy Walter, Cook Political Report

— Harry Enten, Five Thirty Eight.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), accusing Democrats of creating Hurricane Helene for political purposes.

“Liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.”

— Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney finding that Georgia’s six-week abortion law violates Georgia’s Constitution, reports the AP.

“Maybe we’ll pay off the $35 trillion US debt in crypto. I’ll write on a little piece of paper ‘$35 trillion crypto we have no debt.’ That’s what I like.”

— Donald Trump, floating a plan to address the federal budget deficit and demonstrating his deep understanding of the crypto marketplace.

“To my friends in Nebraska, that one electoral vote could be the difference between Harris being president and not, and she’s a disaster for Nebraska and the world.”

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by Politico, on his trip to Nebraska to push for the state’s Republican leadership to change how it awards its electoral votes.

“I will if he does. That’s a trade-off I’d do.”

— George Clooney, on Jimmy Kimmel Live, responding to Donald Trump’s call for him “to get out of politics.”

Numerati

49% to 46%

Latest results from the New York Times-Siena College poll giving Vice Pres. Kamala Harris a 3-point lead over Donald Trump. This is a noteworthy change in the NYT poll results, which have generally favored Trump in contrast to reputable organizations.

254,000

“The pace of hiring picked up strongly in September and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1%, signs the economy had continued momentum in a month the Federal Reserve delivered its first interest-rate cut in four years,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

49% to 44%

A new Susquehanna poll finds Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump nationally among likely voters, 49% to 44%.

40 trillion

$55 million

Kamala Harris raised about $55 million in high-dollar events in California this weekend, a haul that pads her financial advantage over Donald Trump, Bloomberg reports.