by I wonder if we have just witnessed a turning point in the presidential election. The turning point I refer to is Donald Trump’s cancelled rally in Chicago, the attendant organized street violence by leftist groups, and the mealy-mouthed reactions by Republicans Kasich, Rubio, and, most disappointingly, Cruz. The mainstream media, Hillary, and Bernie reacted as expected.
I should stop here and say that I’ve already voted for Ted Cruz in the North Carolina Republican primary and would do it again. I don’t like the stuff The Donald says but I’ll defend his right to say it no matter how absurd or offensive I find it.
Nonetheless, listening to people at a local gun show plus the comments of people that I respect within the gun culture are leading me to believe the events may have just pushed Trump over the top towards the Republican nomination. This is just a feeling, a gut reaction, that these events will drive much more support towards Trump than it drives away. Call it the reaction of the Silent Majority to use a term from political yesteryear.
I think there is a significant proportion of voters who are sick and tired of seeing the suppression of the free speech rights of conservatives being condoned even by other erstwhile conservatives. By contrast, every assorted leftist group imaginable can indulge in the most inflammatory speech and behavior with the tacit acceptance and perhaps even approval of the mainstream media. Moreover, they demand the right to suppress free speech when either the message or the messenger does not meet with their approval.
These are just some musings on a Sunday evening as I’ve been thinking about it most of the weekend. Time will tell if it is just a point in time or a turning point.
I vote on Tuesday, and had planned on voting for Cruz. His reaction on Saturday that you describe stunned me, and my initial reaction was close to switching to Trump out of disgust.
Trump being attacked by MoveOn, Bill Ayres, Black Lives Matter and the rest is a point in his favor. "It's better to be despised by the despicable than admired by the admirable", right?
I'm back to about 80% sure I'll vote for Cruz, but the reaction of the entire "clown car" (as Michael Bane put it) was wrong. Kasich reacting that way seems in character, but not Ted Cruz.
Reactionary voting will only lead to electing Hitlery. These protesters are disrupting and stealing the mic at every campaign they can- including Bernie and Hitlery. The Donald's campaign is where they get the most attention.
Unfortunately, The Donald's playbook is that any publicity is good publicity. He said to Don Lemon Friday after the cancellation that he had not regrets because the news coverage was all about the Donald. That is a great way to run a reality T.V. show, not a campaign. Frankly, I am just as disgusted with the social justice warriors as the Donald's campaign, both feed on negative energy. I hope that they each annihilate each other. If not and Trump becomes the nominee, there will be a large calling for a third party disgusted by both Hitlery and DChumpf. Hard to say how that works out.
Cruz – who would be great for 2A and RKBA in my opinion is reacting based on what his staff tells him will get him votes / points. Although I don’t blame him for this, and I understand why he’s doing it, it struck me as a move made out of weakness. That is a character trait we certainly don’t need. I’ve already voted, but I firmly believe that all but Kasich would be a better option than losing to Clinton. As Michael Bane pointed out today, Kasich has already knifed us in the back once, and he’ll do it again. I am not fond of Trump on a personal level, but I do respect that he has upset the campaign apple cart significantly, leaving every other candidate fighting a “last cycle” campaign, while he dictates the media narrative. He is actually using Obama’s strategy for campaigning quite effectively – no specifics, heavy on social media, playing to the fame, crowd and popularity and staying on the make America great again theme. This message resonates well in the last year of a 2 term presidency – except for perhaps Washington – because the poll numbers trend downward as the Executive spends more time in office. We are long past the Obama honeymoon and way late for the 7 year itch. Obama did exactly the same thing with GWB as the 2 term Pres.
So Trump’s campaign has a precedent, but none of the other Republican candidates were able to pick up on this and exploit it. In addition, the Republican establishment – aka “The squish brigade”, are moving to thwart Trump. 4 years ago when the field whittled down to Mittens, you had all these so called conservatives who had vehemently opposed Mittens in the primary telling us “YOU HAVE TO SUPPORT ROMNEY”. NO, we didn’t and …. we didn’t. Now, some of the same cadre of squishes are attacking Trump because their preferred squish candidate is either losing or has already lost. There is one thing that I truly like about Trump and that is thus far he has almost completely frustrated the mainstream media at every turn.
Although Cruz is running an older style campaign, I don’t think he’s out of it yet. I think he lacks the charisma Trump is illustrating, but he also has tons more civility than Trump most of the time and to be honest Trump can be a bit of an ass.
If you still have to vote, do so for the candidate you think best represents your interests.