Month: August 2016

Right Winger Loesch on Trump’s New Racist Campaign Chair: ‘One of the Worst People on God’s Green Earth’

Jon Ponder

All I know is one of the worst people on God’s green earth was just instituted as the chairman and CEO of the Trump campaign. And if you are, as I am, not wanting to see Hillary Clinton in the White House, you need to seriously, seriously be concerned about that.

– Dana Loesch, right-wing radio host, referring to Stephen Bannon, head of the racist website Brietbart.com and now chair of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

Number of Registered Lobbyists Continues to Drop

Buck Banks

9,276

With 325 fewer lobbyists registered in the second quarter of 2016 than in the first, this marks the biggest single-quarter drop in four years and puts the number of registered lobbyists at the lowest point OpenSecrets has ever recorded. Since 1998, the total number of lobbyists has never dipped below 10,000, but that figure has been falling ever since it peaked at nearly 15,000 in 2007 and this quarter’s decrease puts it at just more than 9,700.

Trump: To Pivot Would Be Ungenuine

Buck Banks

Well, possibly I do, but, you know, I am who I am. It’s me. I don’t wanna change. Everybody talks about, ‘Oh, well you’re gonna pivot, you’re gonna’ — I don’t wanna pivot. I mean, you have to be you. If you start pivoting, you’re not being honest with people.

— Donald Trump, in an interview with WKBT-TV, on whether he needs to change after facing an onslaught of bad polls.

Real Trump Supporters Vet Fake Trump Ads

Buck Banks

It’s become clear by this point in the presidential campaign that voters who support Donald Trump are inured to his most outrageous proposals and ridiculous policy positions. But how inured are they? Triumph the Insult Comic Dog explores that question in a series of focus groups testing potential TV ads.

Of course, to date, Trump has spent $00.00 on television advertising while the networks have given him $2 billion worth of free coverage, so it’s unlikely he’ll shell out for these ads — unless he has another week like the last one …

Is Clinton Just a Field Goal Away from Winning?

Buck Banks

88%

Hillary Clinton’s chance of winning, according to the Upshot’s model: “It’s about the same probability of hitting a field goal from the 20-yard line. … That’s a pretty good way to think about it. If Mrs. Clinton ultimately wins, we will probably look back and say she had more or less already won it by this point. If she loses, these next two months will be talked about for decades. … The game-winning field-goal analogy has one big weakness: She may win this by a lot more than a field goal.” — Nate Cohn

It’s No Time for Complacency, Democrats

Buck Banks

At some point, complacency could become an issue, although it’s probably too early to worry about that. In the nearer term, I’d be worried that the race has been so volatile. Sure, things look good now. But conditions in May, and then again in July, produced a close race. Is there anything inherently preventing those conditions from arising again? I suppose I’d wonder about what Wikileaks has up its sleeve and what sort of geopolitical events could work in Trump’s favor.

— Nate Silver