Friday Open Thread [7.17.15]

Filed in National by on July 17, 2015

After his father and his brother, Jeb Bush said his favorite president was James K. Polk (D), the Des Moines Register reports.

Said Bush: “One of the presidents that I really admire, and he’s not — I think people rank him pretty good, the historians who look at this — is James K. Polk… He said what he was going to do and he did what he said he was going to do, and then he left.”

“Although Bush didn’t mention it, Polk is perhaps best known for presiding over the Mexican-American War, in which U.S. forces battled all the way to Mexico City and won control of what is now New Mexico and California. The territorial expansion seen under Polk is now seen as fueling the fight over slavery of the mid-1800s. Polk himself was a slaveowner.”

Why did anyone ever think that Jeb was the smart one? The skilled politician in contrast to George W., who was just lucky? Maybe George’s idiocy just rubbed off on Jeb, and dumbed him down to W’s level. Or maybe Jeb is just a clueless rich prick who is a horrible campaigner.

Paul Waldman on why this 20-candidate clown car scrum has been so nice so far:

“It’s been said before that Democrats hate their base while Republicans fear their base, and the second part seems to be more true now than ever. The Tea Party experience of the last six years, which helped them win off-year elections and also produced rebellions against incumbent Republicans, has left them living in abject terror of their own voters.”

“While I haven’t yet seen any detailed analysis of who’s supporting Trump, it’s probably safe to assume that the typical Trump supporter is a tea partier — not just extremely conservative, but extremely angry as well, not to mention contemptuous of elected Republicans who are too timid to really tell it like it is… It’s somewhat ironic that the response of Republican politicians to these voters’ disgust with timidity is to be inordinately timid about offending them.”

“It’s possible that also has something to do with why the race has been so generally well-mannered. The candidates aren’t just worried about offending Trump’s supporters, they’re worried about offending anybody on their side of the aisle. Far be it from me to demand that the race get more negative, but by now you’d think there would be barbs flying back and forth in all directions.”

There is a “lovefest” on the Democratic side too, but for different reasons. Betsy Woodruff:

The combative Vermont senator, who’s currently polling in second place (very distant second place, but hey, second place nonetheless) behind Clinton in the contest to be Democrats’ 2016 presidential nominee, rubbed shoulders with her Tuesday on Capitol Hill when she made a quick pit stop there to shmooze with old congressional pals.

…Several senators said Sanders joined his fellow liberals to stand and applaud the former secretary of state when she entered the room and indicated that the exchange between the two former colleagues was complimentary.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said Clinton name-checked the Vermont senator early in her remarks, giving him “real praise for carrying the Democratic flag high with a lot of excited supporters, some comment like that that was real positive right at the start of her comments.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said Sanders appeared to appreciate the acknowledgement. “I think he smiled, that’s the best way of putting it,” Blumenthal said. The lovefest was sort of mutual.

Sanders left the lunch to hold a media availability with reporters […] and promised to run a civil campaign. “I don’t like negative campaigns, I’ve never run a negative ad in my life,” he said. “I believe the American people are entitled to serious discussion about serious issues.”

Despite their differences, adds Woodruff, “the interactions between Sanders and Clinton in the Capitol on Tuesday indicate the pair may not campaign in the knock-down, drag-out slugfest style that dominated the 2008 Democratic primaries.” Woodruff quotes Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill’s summation of the luncheon meeting: “We were all grown-ups, we all like each other, we’re all in the same party,” We all want the same result.”

We’re grown-ups. They’re fearful.

Nate Silver recalls a famous Bill Clinton quote: “You know the difference in Democrats and Republicans? In every presidential election, Democrats want to fall in love. Republicans just fall in line.” May not so this time.

“But this year, the historical trend has reversed itself. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is the only candidate with any endorsements from current governors or U.S. senators and representatives. And she has a boatload of them: 88 representatives, 27 senators and two governors have endorsed Clinton, giving her 243 endorsement points, the highest figure ever at this stage of the race for a Democrat.”

“Republicans, however, haven’t fallen in line behind anyone. Jeb Bush is the nominal endorsement front-runner, but his 18 endorsement points are the lowest total for any leader at this point in the campaign since Tsongas in 1992. Only two Republican governors and three Republican senators have endorsed any candidate at all. Endorsements also came slowly in the 2012 Republican nomination contest. As of June 17, 2011 — 200 days before the Iowa caucuses — Mitt Romney was the leader, but with only 19 endorsement points.”

Keith Koffler writes that “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.”

Chris Matthews echoed this on MSNBC recently. That Voters are Angry!!! Well first, which voters? I am not angry. No one I know is angry. People need to clarify that racist Tea Bagger voters are angry. And yes, they are losing “their” country. That is a good thing. No longer will there be discrimination. We are a multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious country now, where there is equality for all and tolerance of all. And if they don’t like that, they can go fuck themselves. I really really do not care if their feelings are hurt or if they are angry. In fact, I enjoy it. Their tears are delicious.

And if they want to throw punches, I will throw them right back.

Amy Walter on the Trump Summer. Every summer there is something.

“I promised myself that I would not write about Donald Trump. There is approximately zero percent chance that he will be the GOP nominee. Moreover, the odds are incredibly small that his candidacy survives much into 2016. He’s a blowhard who is desperate for attention and will do anything to get it. But, like the oppressive humidity of a DC summer, he has become unavoidable.”

“Trump is a performer and politics is theater. The guy has universal name ID and knows how to use it. But, keeping up the act will be tough. And, there are plenty of opportunities to flop, starting with the GOP debates. As my friends at NBC remind us, there are plenty of skeletons in Trump’s, ahem, tower, that will not sit well with the GOP base on everything from abortion, to health care, to his relationship with the Clintons.”

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  1. fightingbluehen says:

    If the popular left wing narrative that Cuba and the Castros are so wonderful is true, then why did five players from the Cuban national football team just defect?
    Come to think of it, there has been a rash of Cuban defections lately in sports.
    Nothing really to see here, right?

  2. cassandra m says:

    If the popular left wing narrative that Cuba and the Castros are so wonderful is true

    This isn’t a left wing narrative. This a Castro narrative. But thanks for playing anyway.

  3. mouse says:

    Non sequitur. Our re-establishing ties will make things better for the Cuban people. And you republicans should be glad that corporate America will have another nation to exploit