What You May Not Have Considered!
My old boss used to say, give me the bottom line up front. He used the acronym BLUF all the time.
With that in mind, I know there are many people who won't need the detail in this piece. So I will sate my case here. In this election, much more important than who we make president is who we send to the DC and state legislatures. No matter who goes to the White House we need to send them with a huge Republican majority. You can noodle that out for yourself, take it on faith or read on to understand why this is critical for voters in ANY party.
As of last night, 3/1/16, we need to get our heads around only two possible scenarios for the remaining election season. One is Donald Trump getting the nomination. No one has been harder on Trump than I have. Some have called him more names, but those people tend to ride on pure emotion, lacking documentation or argument. I'd like to think my remarks carry a bit more heft. I do not apologize for a syllable of those remarks.
I will continue to pound away on him unless and until he is nominated. That said, I will support him in the general election. In such a case, I would be asked to choose between a narcissistic populist and a felon. As potentially dangerous as Trump's personality disorder might be to the nation, we already know that Clinton is a criminal. People who think they are clever usually correct me on this point and like a college professor put a finger in the air and say, "alleged criminal."
At the risk of breaking progressive hearts everywhere, the words alleged and allegation are restrictions placed upon the police and the courts who are required by law to treat everyone as innocent as a matter of gaining a clear disposition of a case. I have no such burden. We KNOW Clinton had highly classified material on an illegal server (that is not legal theory) in her home. We KNOW she had cut and pasted some classified material to unmarked documents to facilitate the transmission of those documents across her illegal server (again, not legal theory). We know she convinced a low-level IT tech to install the illegal server, yet another crime. And these were just the latest string of offenses in a career blanketed with criminal or unethical activity.
We don't KNOW Trump will act intentionally against the citizens. So that low bar persuades me that if what I am about to discuss does not happen and Trump becomes the Republican of record, I will vote for him. But to make sending Trump to the White House a responsible move, we must send him with HUGE coattails. Most people haven't even considered this yet. We get fascinated with all the hype surrounding presidential politics and forget there are more important things to consider. I'll explain in a bit.
There is only one scenario that would spare me this unpleasantness of voting for the huckster. Glenn Beck - yeah, I know, drama queen - outlined a suggestion on his radio show today that I have favored for a while now. It's likelihood of occurring is minimal considering the mindset and egos of the players. Eric Bolling[1. totally in the bag for Trump] used very sound figures this evening to demonstrate that the suggestion I am about to offer is the only sound option.
The Five, Fox News, 2 March 16
In an effort to show the Trump is inevitable, Bolling laid out the likely impact of the next several states. I found it so useful I took a shot right off the TV. WTA = Winner take all.
If you examine what the polls say about the upcoming states, many of which are WTA, you must admit that a three-way match up of Trump, Cruz and Rubio, almost guarantees a Trump lock in just a few weeks. If Kasich figures at all, he just accelerates that outcome.
So what to do? Well, as Beck suggested, Rubio should drop out and Cruz should name him now as a running mate. Beck went on to say the two should name cabinet members and their pick for Supreme Court justices as well, but that isn't necessary.
For all the Rubio folks out there, take a moment to catch your breath and I'll explain. With all three men in the race, Rubio will never see the nomination unless Trump drops dead of a heart attack. The polls, very accurate this year, say Rubio will not even win in Florida. Just to get out before facing that humiliation would be a smart move. But here is the kicker. If Cruz quits, a vast majority of his people will either go to Trump or walk away entirely. Rubio is too much tarred with McConnell and a business-as-usual congress. But if Rubio drops, and this must happen VERY soon, his folks will gravitate toward Cruz as a rebel type but not as crude as Trump. With the way Rubio is finally characterizing Trump, there is no way his supporters jump to Trump.
If Rubio can swallow his pride and see being Vice President as a better deal than going home after spending ALL his money and losing, then it is more than likely the Donald will be sidelined. And Rubio is still young enough to run as a sitting vice president later.
I have said the Hermanos Cubanos have been too clever by a half for several months in their decision-making. This concept cannot be faced with the same ineptitude. Egos must be set aside. Cruz needs to reach out to Rubio NOW! Rubio needs to take a day, buck up and accept. If we see Florida before this happens, Trump will have likely gained enough of a lead and momentum that he will be unstoppable.
Marco Rubio's supporters can wish all they want. Marco will not win the nomination this year. It would be irresponsible to drag this out and lose the White House to Trump. It would be treasonous to hand BJ Bill's wife the victory.
In my BLUF, I mentioned coattails. With the choices we have, we must have a backstop for the two crazies or real support for Cruz.
Starting with Cruz; he is the only one of the three that has a real agenda to pursue. He wants to create an environment where the economy can be cut loose to perform at the optimum.
In the case of Clinton, I know there are more than a few Democrats out there who won't switch parties, but have real trepidation about sending someone who is clearly a felon to the White House. But since the FBI and DOJ are clearly slow-walking the investigations into her criminal activity, the Dems may get stuck with her as a nominee. The only way to control her corrupt impulses is through the use of the legislature. Everyone knows that the leadership of both parties is presently lazy and corrupt. But with a veto-proof Republican majority in congress, both sides would be forced to work together while controlling the felon.
As for Trump; this is a man who announces which journalists media outlets should fire. Their crime? Not praising Trump. He makes policy pronouncements based on who likes him and agrees with him. He has an ego infinitely larger than Obama's, and BHO's ego has been a huge problem. Where BHO fails, he simply weakens the rule of law and the Constitution. He feels entitled. Trump already talks of the White House as if it would be his throne. He is more likely to try to RULE by executive orders than BHO ever dreamed of doing. We also don't know, to this day, if he isn't just an alternative to Hillary who was asked to run (as a "Republican") just in case she gets busted. The left would kiss his ass and get Supreme Court nominees and support for laws more to their liking. But the reality is, you don't know if it ends there. With his ego and inability to understand nuance, he could be very dangerous. Anything he screwed up would be good news for Dems in 2018 and 2020. But they could also be catastrophic for the country. To prevent him from ordering the construction of a border wall, or changing of banking regulation, or an attack on Lithuania by presidential fiat, we would need a veto-proof Republican majority. Trump says he'll repeal Obama's executive orders. What idiot doesn't know he'll just undue the ones he doesn't like and keep the rest to maintain his power. Congress will have to do it.
In 16 20 24:, I said that in order to wrest this country from the direction it is headed, the next president must execute that greatest surrender of power since Washington turned his sword over to congress. Neither Clinton nor Trump have it in them to do such a thing. Cruz might. But a huge Republican majority can simply demand it. The more fresh blood we get in there, the more determined the real rebels will be for such a showdown.
Matt Jordan is a travel writer, political commentator and author of 16 20 24. Get your SIGNED copy here!
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