In a recent Rasmussen survey of 1,000 likely voters 65% believe it likely that Hillary broke the law when she used a private server to send and receive emails during her tenure as Secretary of State. Forty-three percent of voters think Hillary should immediately stop campaigning if she is charged with a felony but 50% think she should continue to run for President until a court determines guilt or innocence.
Even more surprising, 71% of Democrats think Hillary should continue running for President even if she is indicted. Only 30% of Republicans share that view and 46% of Independents.
Almost half of voters, 48%, say Hillary’s email issues will not effect their vote. Forty percent said the scandal would make them less likely to vote for Hillary and 8% inexplicably said it makes them more likely to vote for her.
More details on the poll here.
28 comments
I think 100% of Republicans would be pleased with a Hillary OR Bernie nominee. But I doubt the political gods will grant us that boon.
Ok, but 71% is a loser without massive Republican crossover.
I may really dislike the professional Republicans, but I would rather die before I ever vote dem. Our way of life and nation is at a crossroads and really hurting. Thus, I’ve concluded Trump is the right man at the right moment to be President. He also brings intangibles and other leadership qualities (like not putting up with the bs that other Republicans usually do), which is something I felt Cruz and the others didn’t possess.
Criticizing Democrats for turning a blind eye to Hillary Clinton’s transgressions, while turning a blind eye to Donald Trump’s transgressions, is hypocrisy. I expect this from paid GOP mouthpieces, but as a person who attempts to live a life with some shred of moral and ethical decency, I can’t get there from here. Three Trump transgressions, in case you had your eyes shut:
1. Misogyny: for crying out loud this is Virginia, a place where decency is supposed to mean something! Things Trump can’t un-say:
“There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
“If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, I’d be dating her.”
2. All individuals must assume their responsibilities as citizens in a free society (Republican Party of Virginia Creed.)
Things Trump can’t un-do: 4 draft deferrments
Things can’t un-say: that at his private prep school, he received more training militarily than a lot of guys that go into the military.
3. Fiscal responsibility must be exercised at all levels of government (Republican Party of Virginia Creed.)
Things Trump can’t un-do: 4-time declarer of bankruptcy
Things Trump can’t un-say: “I used the law four times and made a tremendous thing.”
If The Bull Elephant is a GOP website, I understand the position of its regular contributors. However, if it truly aspires to “give particular emphasis to those issues and concerns to conservative and libertarian grassroots Republicans,” its staff needs to realize that a substantial, election-changing number of grassroots conservatives won’t be wooed by the unthinking praise of a misogynist whose avoidance of military duty and fiscal irresponsibility are obvious, even through eyes squeezed shut.
Do you understand the difference between crude behavior and criminal behavior? This comparative meandering written comment doesn’t even make any sense. I understand you don’t care for Trump but this isn’t even a logical argument. You #NeverTrump gaggle are really grasping at straws having lost the argument, he is the nominee, and are just starting to look bitter and desperate. That you don’t like him is your right but to outrageously compare him to Hillary Clinton and her acts of open criminally is silly and stupid.
Lawrence thanks very much for trying to understand, when so many people are simply looking for an opportunity to rationalize their existing positions, post snarky rebuttals, and add a little insult along the way. Part and parcel with what is wrong in American politics.
If I understand your position, in grade terms, Hillary gets an F and fails while Trump gets a D and passes.
I, and other conservatives like me, hold that mere lack of a criminal record does not qualify one for the presidency. And here’s the kicker — there are enough of people of this mindset to change the election, and no amount of insult from true believers will change it. Only respectful conversation will.
If you don’t believe me, look at the results of the Wisconsin Republican primary. There, Trump lost to a candidate whose campaign had been suspended for three weeks! He pulled in only 35% of the votes by Republicans. So in Wisconsin, and elsewhere, a substantial percentage of the conservative vote feels that Trump does not pass simply because Hillary fails.
Sorry your argument still doesn’t hold much water but continue on and by the way your WI issue makes even less sense. You do realize that WI is the most liberal state in the Mid West. right? A substantial conservative vote is a non sequitur. As for the nature of previous Presidential candidates and actual elected officials I have a feeling most wouldn’t meet your personally imposed moral criteria. Politics has rarely been a profession for the morally pure and uncompromising, frankly, several of our recent and past presidents make Trump look like a choir boy in comparison.
If you can’t support the parties’ legally elected nominee then you need to find a happier place to engage in your political beliefs. I’m not quite sure you have caught on yet that conservatism is not totally equated with the social conservative vote as this election has very clearly demonstrated with it’s complete rejection of Ted Cruz. Trump and the Republican Party will do just fine without you, especially since it doesn’t appear very difficult for you to self justify helping place leftist Hillary Clinton in the White House. I assume you have been granted one of those Ken Cuccinelli “conscience exceptions” for poor traumatized Cruz supporters unwilling to support the parties’ chosen candidate against the Clinton machine. Now that I do find morally repugnant.
Political junkies and lovers of American History should also remember, Wisconsin gave us the horrible prog, Robert La Follette. More recently, the Badger State blessed us with that fellow, russfeingold. Somehow, I wasn’t too upset Trump didn’t win Wiscy in light of that. I do, however, wish we had a solid Governor like Scott Walker here in the Old Dominion. Hell, Jeb Bush would be a huge improvement over the very corrupt Terry.
Trump gets a B. He also wins.
Personally I supported Cruz, as the most conservative candidate in the race, and have consistently supported him since before he was elected to the Senate. I had high hopes that he would catch fire in the presidential race, but it didn’t happen.
So now I support Trump, and I do so with great hope and enthusiasm that Trump can win. He must win to prevent Democrat corruption of all three branches of government that can never be undone in our remaining lifetimes. If the dems get four more years you can kiss your kids’ futures goodbye. Trump is our last hope now. He MUST win. I urge all good conservatives to face the reality that there is no alternative. Any support of a third party or alternate candidate is purely suicidal. The Democrats are always more united than Republicans, and therefore third parties will always hurt the Republicans more.
Considering the stakes, it really doesn’t matter that Trump uses insults or that he doesn’t always have conservative instincts. Those are relatively trivial issues that can be addressed and fixed down the road after he wins. If we don’t support him now and he doesn’t win…. we may look back on our actions at this last opportunity with very deep regrets.
what I saw over this past weekend made me not only confident Trump will win, I now expect a huge victory margin on Election Night. I have yet to meet in-person now , a nevertrumper. There are close friends, family members, and other such acquaintances I know who supported others in the primary. They had their own reasons to, and I respect that. But now if they didn’t support Trump beforehand, they do now. I am pleasantly surprised at how quickly he’s coalescing support from the base. He’s also growing his voting bloc. I expect this to be nothing but a remarkable election phenomenon and the dems will be in a full panic.
Frankunderword, I respect your concern over four more years of Democrats. Several of their policies are unnerving.
I’d love to be able to see Trump as a viable candidate for president. But so far the only fact his proponents use is that he is not Hillary. (Which is also true for 300 million other Americans) What I don’t understand is where anybody dreams him into being anything other than what he is — a mediocre businessman born with a silver spoon in his mouth, avoided military service, and behaves like a common bully.
You have to get your mind around this fact. Either Trump or Hillary is going to be President in just a few months. You can rail all day long about why neither is qualified, but that doesn’t make a hill of beans worth of difference in the real world. None of the other 300 million Americans is going to be president no matter how hard you wish it were possible.
You either vote for Trump, or you’ll be helping Hillary become president. You decide.
……The Wollman Rink………..
Exactly! Thank you for understanding the dilemma! We are being forced to choose between two totally unsatisfactory candidates. That, to me is a historic low that should frighten us all.
“A historic low”? Not at all. You will get a very limited choice, as we do in every single election since before you were born. There is nothing historic about a very limited choice.
“Two totally unsatisfactory candidates”? Wrong again. These two may be unacceptable to you, but I’ll guarantee there are 100 million Americans who completely disagree with you, and they will definitely vote for their preferred candidate. Few will have any doubt whatsoever about which one they prefer.
Again, you can complain about the awful choice we have; a short period of grieving over the loss of a preferred candidate in the primary is understandable. But if you are serious about this NeverTrump nonsense, you might as well admit that you don’t care if Hillary wins. If you don’t care if Hillary wins, why are you here?
Not a low in quantity, a low in quality. This isn’t about a good choice versus a bad choice, or even a bad choice and a not-as-bad choice. This is about worst and worst.
I am here because I hope that my county at least can have a conversation about what matters most to conservatives. So i have an alternative suggestion: since your opinion is set and you refuse to take part in discussions, why don’t you troll another web page, like http://www.facebook.com/donaldtrumpfanclub? And when you come back, try using a grown up name to go with what you say instead of a juvenile screen name.
Conversation? It’s clear that you are not going to support the Republican nominee. If you can’t see the difference between Hillary and Trump, there really is nothing further to talk about.
Lawrence — the criminal acts difference may yet evaporate if the fraud case from Trump University goes forward.
If I get your point that is layered in scorn, it’s that you don’t recognize the creed of the Republican Party of Virginia, whose standards Trump fails to meet.
I’m also saying that conservatives believe in absolutes. That’s why RPV has a creed. Conservatives hate one thing more than all others — moral relativists. They guarantee our nation will lose its way.
But your own angry defense of Trump that has no substance outside of being an attack on me. It is an act of moral relativism.
And that’s the problem in a nutshell. You buy the Trump party line so thoroughly that you will violate the core beliefs of conservatives to do it.
I don’t know you so would hardly care to attack you but much like other areas of general confusion you display expect others to point them out. And you have no grasp on my background or personal support for Trump. This is a blog of ideas, if you can’t handle that it’s not my problem.
Hey Parkyn, try getting on that high horse of morality in front of those that swear to defend this nation. I dare you. It takes a real thick skin, and lots of colorful language to defend and carry out military options. I bet those at the VFW post I went to for lunch–after I proudly watched my Father lay the Military Order of the Purple Heart Wreath at Virginia’s War Memorial–would laugh you out of the room. If you think that they don’t see great promise and the positives far outweighing the negatives with Trump, you, sir are greatly mistaken. I witnessed firsthand the enthusiasm or at least the pledged vote from many for Trump in that post. Or at the auto shop I had a tire patched recently. At a bar where I could have sworn this unkempt college student would support bernie. No, he was supporting Trump and saw what millions of other Americans have seen in The Donald. A Leader.
“804Hokie,” my father, a veteran, told me never to say things I wouldn’t stand by. That’s what I teach my children. That’s why I put my name on this account. Because I believe in accountability.
So why am I posting here? I don’t post comments because I have a yearning for the contempt of anonymous blowhards. I post because I fear the parties are about to serve the American voter two morally bankrupt candidates who know nothing but ambition. I post because I fear my fellow conservatives feel so betrayed and are so afraid of the future that they would elect anybody in an effort to beat Hillary Clinton. And I believe that will be a big mistake.
I also believe in looking for the merits in what other people say. I think you’re so mad at the Democrats you are seeing red. I understand completely.
To sum up your position, you feel my position lacks merit because the election is about loyalty, not morality. The President should not be required to possess any measure of moral character or professional competence. Right?
I obviously disagree. And those people at the VFW? They served to do the right thing, to better themselves, and to defend others. That’s what makes America the place it is. Not loyalty, but integrity. Not boasting, but humility. Not intimidation, but courage.
If you can convince me that no standard exists for the qualification of an American President, you won’t be able to object to Hillary. But a minimum standard does exist, in a professional sense and a moral sense, and that’s why you object to Hillary Clinton.
If you can convince me that Trump didn’t avoid military service, didn’t declare bankruptcy 4 times, and didn’t say things about women that would make any father’s skin crawl, I will vote for Trump.
If you can show me one instance of Trump leading any group through adversity while taking Any risk to himself, –ever–, I will believe he is a leader.
If you can show me one outright positive about Trump that can be verified and doesn’t have significant negative baggage, I will acknowledge he has some nonzero amount of virtue.
Can you?
Do any of the three in the next post and I will not only meet you at the VFW, I will buy the beer. However, I prefer the American Legion because they were gracious enough to name a post after my great uncle, who as you might guess, was also a veteran. But just for you, I submitted an application to the VFW today. Because yes, I’m a veteran, like so many other people in this county.
When we are done talking at the VFW or the American Legion post, if you still feel the same way, you get the first swing. Or the first laugh. Or whatever you want to threaten me with. But you’ll have to put your name behind whatever you say and do.
Until then, I will continue to post facts where people post fiction. And I invite you to disagree with facts. But please stop wrapping yourself in the flag to defend a guy who avoided serving his country while questioning the morality and courage of veterans.
I answer you with this: I (my time-in was 2.5-years due to a freak lower back injury suffered at Fort Pickett), my combat-wounded-in-1970-Father, and other vets we know feel that Trump will serve our nation with distinction. This is because he will offer it the badly-needed leadership at the top. This is because he has the trademarks we believe that he most-certainly will advance a Pro-American, and pragmatic right wing agenda. To go further, his legacy could very well make us fondly appreciate that he wasn’t among those over 58,307 Americans inscribed on the Wall. . The same wall that had me witness my strong and high-character father (who is the best man I will ever know) work himself up, to pay his respects to those who served in his platoon. My father told me how unpopular Vietnam was becoming during his time at VMI (Class of ’68). As far as he and others like him have expressed, in-country one grunt was only there for the men he served with. Nothing more, and they weren’t allowed to achieve an ultimate military victory.
Bankruptcies aren’t a total rarity all the time, it’s who rebounds from them that makes one stand out. Trump has rebounded. We’ve prospered as a society, because of the risks entrepreneurs have taken here throughout the ages. Lord knows, I’ve taken risks with investments and such. You can’t get out bed each day, without facing risks.
In fact, Trump’s successful business acumen helped see the opportunity to win. He recognized the leadership void in the field, and knew he could meet the voters’ demand (not unlike his past experience meeting consumer demand with his Trump Organization). Maybe Trump has the unique intangible qualities, “it factor” or something else; but it has to mean something significant that he was able to achieve victory over all those opponents. These were candidates who had plenty of experience winning elections.
I really am excited with the economic team he’s bringing aboard. This will be Reaganomics for the 21st-century.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s either now or never we get back on the right course. We make a stand at the ballot box, or accept the decline of anything resembling the US I and those that came before came to know and love.
I respect your service. You don’t owe me any apologies or amends. I often wonder why more Americans, particularly from my generation, don’t even consider joining the Armed Forces. The perspective alone on life it gives one, makes me never regret swearing in; even with my lower back that will probably never fully recover. Would do it again, as I know what a great privilege it is to be an American. That our citizens and Way of Life are second-to-none, and worth risking all to serve and defend. That is why I ultimately vote what I believe are in the interests of the US, and not just my right wing core beliefs.
I just hope you CAREFULLY reconsider your nevertrump stance. Take care and all the best.
Abraham Lincoln on assumptions: “If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.”
Lincoln is referring to confirmation bias — tendency to make biased judgements and interpret selected evidence that confirms that bias. It also applies to the halo effect, in which 71% of Democrats appear to have ignored accusations pertaining to Clinton’s violation of the Official Secrets Act. Do we see it in Trump supporters?
Here are some examples from this discussion thread:
*Asserting the Wisconsin Republican primary results were an anomaly, because Wisconsin is a liberal state.
*Asserting Trump is a capable leader, without one instance of it on record
*Describing Trump is a patriot, when he avoided the draft four times
*Asserting Trump’s repeated use of bankruptcy is a sign of a capable businessman
*Choosing to believe that Trump’s revolting comments about women are only a sign of coarse messaging, but no cause for concern
*Asserting that criticism of Trump could not come from a conservative who served in combat
Virginia’s first political leaders were thought leaders in this nation’s formation. Lincoln and other early Republicans had a firm grasp on the power of bias to distort judgement. We should be mindful of both in the coming days.
You go with mindful, myself and the rest of the sane Party will go with Trump to buy the Republic ideally 4 years.
Hillary is Obama plus corruption…
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4923820581001/gingrich-the-trump-experience-is-totally-unique/?intcmp=hpvid1#sp=show-clips
Newt explains things so that even a dumb Rino can understand..
I think the issue is that it is still better than the alternative.
Having worked in the security field for nearly 40 years, I have often suspected that Democrats did not take national security seriously. Now I am convinced. The Democratic rank and file is as dangerous and their leaders – and the media makes them even more so.