Quotes of the Week

“I didn’t produce our show – I just showed up for the final speech on Thursday.”

-- Donald Trump, trying to distance himself from his Shit-Show in Ohio (also known as the Republican National Convention in Cleveland)

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"I don't think name calling has any place in public life."

-- Mike Pence, Donald Trump's running mate, criticizing Obama for indirectly referring to Trump as a demagogue (did I mention that Pence is Donald Trump's running mate?)

Obama's Convention Speech Reminded GOP Just How Radicalized It Has Become

President Obama's speech at the Democratic Convention last night was much more than simply an excellent valedictory address -- it was yet another example of the President adopting Republican ideas and making them his own.  Obama, in his speech, basically told Republicans, "Hell, if you are just going to abandon these ideas, then I'm going to pick them up and use them." 

Obama has been doing this his entire presidency.  As I have noted many times in this blog, the President -- knowing early on that McConnell and the rest of them would oppose him on everything -- repeatedly embraced Republican ideas over the course of his two terms in order to back the GOP into an ideological corner. The best example of this, of course, is Obamacare, which is basically Romneycare-warmed-over, but there are many other examples.

He did the same thing last night in his speech.  These two passages stood out for me:

[Hillary] has been accused of everything you can imagine and some things that you cannot. But she knows that's what happens when you're under a microscope for 40 years. She knows that sometimes during those 40 years she's made mistakes, just like I have, just like we all do. That's what happens when we try. That's what happens when you're the kind of citizen Teddy Roosevelt once described, not the timid souls who criticize from the sidelines, but someone "who is actually in the arena, who strives valiantly, who errs, but who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement." Hillary Clinton is that woman in the arena. She's been there for us, even if we haven't always noticed.

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Ronald Reagan called America "a shining city on a hill." Donald Trump calls it "a divided crime scene" that only he can fix. It doesn't matter to him that illegal immigration and the crime rate are as low as they've been in decades, because he's not actually offering any real solutions to those issues. He's just offering slogans, and he's offering fear. He's betting that if he scares enough people, he might score just enough votes to win this election.

At one point he referred to the GOP as "the Party of Lincoln." But the President did more than merely refer to famous Republicans.  Obama also brought up ideas one would normally find in a Republican speech, and this did not go unnoticed by conservatives. Rich Lowry tweeted after the speech:  "American exceptionalism and greatness, shining city on hill, founding documents, etc--they're trying to take all our stuff."  One conservative actually tweeted:

Still stunned. Feel like I'm in the twilight zone. Obama just defended America & conservative values from attacks by the Republican nominee.

Several times during his address I heard convention-goers yell, "Four More Years!"  Obama ignored those people, but it was pretty hard not to agree with them after hearing that speech.  I wish he could run again.  He'd win in a landslide.

UPDATE -- From Taegan Goddard:

“President Obama’s prime time speech lifted the Democratic convention to its third straight night of ratings wins over the Republican convention last week — and now the Trump campaign is exhorting supporters not to watch the Democrats’ final night,” CNN reports.

“Overnight Nielsen ratings indicate that Wednesday night’s DNC viewership was about 15% higher than last Wednesday night’s coverage of the RNC… The Democratic ratings advantage has come as something of a surprise, given Donald Trump’s reputation as a ratings magnet.”

I can't imagine anything that would infuriate Donald more than losing a ratings battle with the Democrats.

I Guess Trump Really Does Want To Turn The White House Into "Kremlin West"

Yesterday, I suggested that the Democrats really start pushing the Trump-Putin Connection, given that Trump went out of his way to make the GOP party platform as pro-Putin as possible and to signal to Putin that he might not back NATO countries if Russia attacked them. I argued that the lack of any direct evidence shouldn't stop the Democrats from taking the position that Trump would be a puppet of Putin.

Well, Donald just made it a lot easier for the Democrats to make that case:

Donald Trump on Wednesday asked Russia to help find the missing emails from Hillary Clinton's private server.

"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," Trump proposed from a podium at his Doral Resort. "I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press."

Trump faced questions about whether he endorses foreign governments meddling in America's election and domestic affairs, an allegation that he balked at despite issuing the above challenge just moments later. "What do I have to do with Putin?" Trump retorted when asked if he'd tell Putin to stay out of the election. "I'm not going to tell Putin what to do."

Of course, the shit should really be hitting the fan right now, but Donald will probably get a pass.  Steve Benen summed it up well:

Try to imagine – no, really, take a moment to think about – how significant a scandal it would be if Hillary Clinton publicly urged Russia to do her a favor, target a GOP rival, and help her win an election. How quickly would her career in public life end? How many congressional hearings and investigations would Republicans demand?

Christ, we spent all those years and all those trillions of dollars winning the Cold War and Trump seems to be chomping on the bit to undo it all.  Does anyone still think it is a good idea to give this fucking traitor classified intelligence briefings under these circumstances?

The Democrats Need To Exploit the DNC Hack, Not Run From It

From The New York Times:

An unusual question is capturing the attention of cyberspecialists, Russia experts and Democratic Party leaders in Philadelphia: Is Vladimir V. Putin trying to meddle in the American presidential election?

Until Friday, that charge, with its eerie suggestion of a Kremlin conspiracy to aid Donald J. Trump, has been only whispered.  But the release on Friday of some 20,000 stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee’s computer servers, many of them embarrassing to Democratic leaders, has intensified discussion of the role of Russian intelligence agencies in disrupting the 2016 campaign.

Now I know that the Democrats want to take a positive tone during their Convention, particularly given the vitriolic GOP shit-show of a convention we witnessed last week. As the First Lady said last night: "[O]ur motto is, when they go low, we go high.”

But for Christ Sake, it's time for the Democrats to start making lemonade out of lemons when it comes to the DNC hack.  The talking points practically write themselves.  For example, the Democrats could say that Putin, by trying his best to get Trump elected, is going out of his way to turn the White House into "Kremlin West."

Trump is certainly making it easy for the Democrats to take this position, given that he went out of his way to make the GOP party platform as pro-Putin as he possibly could. And not long ago, Trump actually stated that he might not back NATO countries if Russia attacked them. If that isn't enough for the Democrats to make the argument that Putin will have a puppet in the White House if Trump gets elected, then their standards are way too high, particularly given that we are now living in the Post-Truth Era. The GOP milked the "Benghaaazi Scandal" for years on a lot less.

The Democrats could tie the Putin Connection in with the fact that Trump really doesn't want to be president.  As recently noted here, Trump's people told a staffer for John Kasich that Donald will want his vice-president to handle foreign and domestic affairs. In other words, he wants to be a do-nothing president and let others do the heavy lifting.  The Democrats could argue that Trump wants it that way so that his buddy Putin could have an easier time getting a foothold in the White House.

Anyway, the Dems need to grow a pair and start using the Russian hack of the DNC to their advantage.  Trump, as the GOP nominee, will soon begin receiving intelligence briefings.  The Democrats should openly suggest that Trump will share these briefings with his good friend in the Kremlin. Time to take the gloves off.

I Can't Say I'm Surprised By This . . . .

. . . but holy shit:

One day this past May, Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., reached out to a senior adviser to Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who left the presidential race just a few weeks before. As a candidate, Kasich declared in March that Trump was “really not prepared to be president of the United States,” and the following month he took the highly unusual step of coordinating with his rival Senator Ted Cruz in an effort to deny Trump the nomination. But according to the Kasich adviser (who spoke only under the condition that he not be named), Donald Jr. wanted to make him an offer nonetheless: Did he have any interest in being the most powerful vice president in history?

When Kasich’s adviser asked how this would be the case, Donald Jr. explained that his father’s vice president would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy.

Then what, the adviser asked, would Trump be in charge of?

“Making America great again” was the casual reply.

How is this not going to be a huge problem for Trump? The Democrats should have a field day with this information.

Quote Of The Week

“I’m worried that I will be the last Republican president.”

-- George W. Bush.

A View From Inside The GOP Bubble

Jeb Bush is blaming someone for the rise of Donald Trump, and it ain't anyone in the GOP.  Here is what Jeb wrote in a Washington Post Op/Ed last week:

Eight years of the divisive tactics of President Obama and his allies have undermined Americans’ faith in politics and government to accomplish anything constructive. The president has wielded his power — while often exceeding his authority — to punish his opponents, legislate from the White House and turn agency rulemaking into a weapon for liberal dogma. In turn, a few in the Republican Party responded by trying to out-polarize the president, making us seem anti-immigrant, anti-women, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-worker and anti-common-sense.

Here's what I remember from the last eight years: The Republicans decided -- literally on Day One of Obama's presidency -- to obstruct America's first Black president on everything he tried to do. They did it not simply because the GOP is full of racists, but also so they could undermine America's faith in government.

But Jeb is sort of right about one thing:  Obama is at least partially responsible for the rise of Trump.  Most of the credit, of course, must go to the GOP itself and to the Media, particularly given that the radicalization of the Republican Party is easily the most under-reported political story in the last three decades.  Had members of the American Media done their jobs and reported on just how extreme the GOP was becoming, maybe the rise of Trump could have been avoided.

But Obama gets credit too.  He knew early on that the GOP was going to obstruct him on everything, so what did he do?  He repeatedly embraced Republican ideas.  A great example of this is his support of the individual health care mandate, a Republican idea.  Once he did that, the GOP had no where else to go with regard to health care reform because they made a determination to oppose Obama on everything.

There are more examples of this, but the result was that the Republicans -- with the help of Obama -- backed themselves in a political corner and the GOP is now fully radicalized as a result.  And that is why Donald Trump was able to so easily secure the Republican nomination.

Interesting Exchange On 60 Minutes Last Night

Lesley Stahl was asking Donald Trump about the fact that Trump's running mate -- Gov. Mike Pence -- was a big supporter of the War in Iraq. Hilarity ensued:

Trump: *** [T]hat was a war that we shouldn't have entered because Iraq did not knock down--excuse me

Stahl: Your running mate voted for it.

Trump: I don't care.

Stahl: What do you mean you don't care that he voted for?

Trump: It's a long time ago. And he voted that way and they were also misled. A lot of information was given to people.

Stahl: But you've harped on this.

Trump: But I was against the war in Iraq from the beginning.

Stahl: Yeah, but you've used that vote of Hillary's that was the same as Governor Pence as the example of her bad judgment.

Trump: Many people have, and frankly, I'm one of the few that was right on Iraq.

Stahl: Yeah, but what about he--

Trump: He's entitled to make a mistake every once in a while.

Stahl: But she's not? OK, come on--

Trump: But she's not--

Stahl: She's not?

Trump: No. She's not.

Stahl: Got it.

The most hilarious part of all this? Trump supported the Iraq War!  In fact, he didn't start opposing it until it became clear that the whole thing was turning into a debacle.

Maybe Trump should have picked a running mate who opposed the Iraq War from the start, as Trump falsely claims he did.  The problem is that finding a Republican who did so would've been difficult at best.  As this article points out, the only Republican to oppose the war was Lincoln Chaffee, who is now a Democrat.

Paul Ryan Really Needs To Work On His Timing

Poor Paul Ryan. He just can't seem to get his timing right.  A little over a month ago, this happened:

One day after endorsing presumptive nominee Donald Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said the businessman’s attacks on a federal judge for his ethnicity have been “totally out of left field” and he “completely” degrees with Trump’s reasoning.

Yeah, that's right -- Ryan endorsed Trump, and then not long after, Trump launched his racist attack on Judge Curiel.

Flash forward to this month: A mere few hours before a shooter in Dallas killed five cops, Ryan stated that he was considering ways to punish Democrats for their recent gun-control sit-in on the floor of the House:

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday “all options” were being considered over the possible discipline of House Democrats for protests they held on the House floor to call for action on gun-control measures.

I hope someone in the Media asks Ryan if he is still planning to go through with his punishment of Democrats in the wake of the Dallas Massacre.  I'd love to hear his answer to that question.

What A Year!

What Republicans Are Thinking: "My God -- we are running against the most unpopular Democratic presumptive presidential nominee in history -- a candidate whom the head of the FBI just excoriated over her cavalier use of email -- and who do we have as our standard bearer? Donald Trump."

What Democrats Are Thinking:  "My God -- we are running against the most unpopular presumptive presidential nominee ever put out there by a major political party -- a demagogue who goes out of his way to demonstrate his over-the-top racism, his love of dictators, and his neo-fascist tendencies -- and who do we have as our standard bearer?  Hillary Clinton."

UPDATE -- From Democratic pollster Mark Mellman:

On the fundamentals, this should be at best a very close race, with at least a slight Republican lean. But candidates can make a difference, and surely are in this instance. Trump’s concerted efforts to alienate large swaths of America have consequences. His repeated dishonesty matters. The fact that most voters believe his character and temperament disqualify him from the highest office in the land is significant.

He is the most unpopular major party candidate for president in the history of polling, by far. Models tell us what happens on the average, in the main. But Donald Trump has ensured that this is not an “average” election. He has turned what could have been an opportunity for Republicans into not just an uphill but an up-mountain climb.

Amen

Democrats should bring up the GOP's Kansas Catastrophe at every opportunity during the run-up to the General Election. You can read more about it here.

Quote of the Week

“We can get into the fact that he accused my best friend’s father of conspiring to kill JFK. We can go through the fact that he’s made statements that some have identified correctly as religiously intolerant. We can get into the fact that he’s wildly unpopular in my state, in part because my state consists of people who are members of a religious minority church. A people who were ordered exterminated by the governor of Missouri in 1838. And, statements like that make them nervous.”

-- Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), explaining to NewsMax exactly why he has not yet endorsed Donald Trump.

A couple weeks ago, Survey USA conducted a poll in Utah and discovered that Trump and Hillary are tied there at 35 percent, with Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson at 13 percent.  To give you some perspective on this, John McCain won Utah by 28 points in 2008 (62% to 34%) and Mitt Romney won there by 48 points in 2012 (73% to 25%).