I know Donald Trump would never consider pulling out of the next two debates, but I wonder if, after last night, that isn’t preciously what Trump should do. Governor Pence came to Virginia and savaged her Senator live on national television, handing Donald Trump the best night of his campaign. I’m not sure Donald Trump can improve on the electoral situation going forward. I am actually excited to vote for this Republican ticket and I don’t want Trump to take that away from me. Selfish, I know.
I suppose that if Trump did pull out of the next two debates, that the media narrative would be that he was afraid of Secretary Clinton after losing the first debate. I just think a simple statement from the Trump campaign could put that puppy to rest. “The American People have already seen enough to know that these two candidates couldn’t be further apart on the issues. If you support life, if you support growing the economy and if you support law and order in this country, then Donald Trump is your candidate. If you want four more years of President Obama’s policies and economy, if you want four more years of skyrocketing health care costs, then Secretary Clinton is your candidate”.
(Why isn’t health care front and center in this election? Can someone explain that to me?)
Governor Pence and Senator Kaine demonstrated last night that Republicans and Democrats have almost nothing in common. If Americans want America to look like Baltimore, Chicago and Detroit, then the Democrat Party should be running the show. If, however, we want to conserve capitalism, private property, gun rights and free trade, then the Republican Party is your party.
This is the first time this ticket has been recognized as having a thoughtful command of the issues, exceeding expectations and earning the respect of the American People. Truly, what does Donald Trump have to gain by showing up to the next two debates?
Governor Pence had to sit through line after line of Kaine trying to make Pence defend the statements of Donald Trump. Governor Pence handled these charges as best he could, better than just about anyone else could. Two more debates would only give Democrats, like Kaine, more ammunition.
Here again, Governor Pence masterfully deflected questions about Trump and focused on the failures of Secretary Clinton and President Obama. This is the kind of tactful debate we need from Donald Trump. If the Trump Campaign is smart, they’ll send Governor Pence anywhere and everywhere for the next month. He does nothing but elevate this ticket. He makes voters feel confident in his calm, thoughtful and knowledgeable demeanor and that’s exactly what the American People are looking for. After eight years of riots, economic uncertainty and Congressional gridlock, the American People want a President that they can trust to bring order and sanity back to the White House. Polls consistently show that Americans do not look at Donald Trump or Secretary Clinton this way, but after last night, I believe they do look at Governor Mike Pence as someone they can trust to run this government.
So, I’m just throwing this out there for nothing – Donald Trump should pull out of these next two debates. Seriously, what does he have to gain by participating? Clearly he has everything to lose. Frankly, if I was an adviser to Hillary Clinton, I wouldn’t want her on that stage either. She too has nothing to gain. The only way Hillary Clinton can win a debate is if Donald Trump finds a way to lose it. After the last debate, that isn’t outside of the realm of possibility.
That said, if Donald Trump doesn’t win in November, Governor Pence has positioned himself as the 2020 front runner. In fact, I’m not sure if there is much of a point in the Republicans running anybody else.
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[…] Should Trump pull out of the next two debates? […]
With all due respect, Kaine set a trap and Pence bit, hook, line and sinker. Kaine’s frenetic pace was set by his need to get as many Trump quotes on the record with Pence’s reaction. Disastrously, Pence lied about nearly every one of the Trump quotes Kaine asked him about.
Now, I concede, Kaine came off a little pushy at times, but ask yourself: how many people actually watched the debate? Now ask yourself, how many people will eventually see the countless attack ads that Pence gave up sound bytes for?
By keeping the focus on Trump and off Clinton, Kaine effectively protected Clinton and got Pence to cough up more than a dozen lies that are already being edited into side-by-side ads where Kaine asks Pence about X, Pence lies about X, and then cut to a shot of Trump saying X. It was like political Mad Libs; Kaine was given a list of Trump quotes the Clinton campaign had video of and told to get Pence to react to as many of them as possible. Pence proceeded to lie and lie and lie.
No one remembers almost anything about vice presidential debates except for the sound bytes like”you’re no Jack Kennedy” and “Malarkey!” Pence coughed up a gold mine of sound bytes that are going to fuel Clinton’s attack ads right up to the election.
And with today’s news, let’s face it Trump is done.
Big Whoopi.
Pence “savaged” Kaine? What planet do you live on?
Kaine seemed over-rehearsed but dominated on the substance of issues.
Pence was polished but lied repeatedly and kept accusing Kaine of insulting Donald Trump when all Kaine did was quote Trump.
Should Trump pull out of the next two debates? Who cares. Let him go. He’s trailing in most of the “battleground” states and Clinton’s lead there grows with every poll.
Pence had one mission in the debate: Set the stage so that, on November 9, when Hillary Clinton is President-elect, the Republican Party can pretend Donald Trump never happened.
All Kaine did was repeat stupid things Donald Trump has said. Pence did a great job distancing his ticket from Trump and that is exactly what he had to do. You can’t defend Trump, but you can lay out the case for why the Clinton/Kaine ticket is such a train wreck and Pence did that beautifully. Kaine looked nervous, agitated, anxious and petulant. He received overwhelming disapprove across social and new media. Kaine looked weak and feckless, while Pence appeared calm, rational and experienced.
The point is that Pence reflects the kind of thoughtful people that Trump will have in his administration while Kaine represents the kind of rabid dogs that Hillary will have in hers.
Exactly.
“Thoughtful people?”
Pence did nothing but repeat the same tired old talking points you rightwingnuts have been touting for 20 years.
I’ll tell you what Pence did. He set the stage so that, on the morning of November 9, in the wake of Trump being trounced, the Republican Party can say “Donald Trump? Never heard of him.”
You can have the right demeanor in a debate, give off all of the right appearances and emotional cues, beautifully and artfully lie and dodge, and still not be the right guy for VP. That was Mike Pence, whose game is obviously to remain calm while drumming up fear. Tim Kaine stuck to his guns: he stuck to the facts, and on substance, absolutely dominated. It’s just a shame he tried to act as though he’d already won the entire time he was on the stage.
Kaine didn’t focus on facts or policy or substance. All he did was quote Trump all night. I get it, Trump is a loose cannon. I think everyone in America understands this. Pence nailed Kaine down repeatedly over Hillary’s record and Kaine never had a response or explanation.
More Americans reinforced that they still don’t like Hillary and her little dog too!
Insults are not facts.
I think they are saying paraphrasing Trump is a reference to a fact – but it’s really only a reference to a candidate and not to anything real in the world. Trump is an easy target. I’m unimpressed by attempts to point out the obvious. Kaine failed miserably.
Pence accomplished, with the aide of Tim Kaine, striking two mortal blows: 1) destroying the argument that, upon Hillary’s imminent discorporation — a dem grownup is next in line. And 2) insuring that Virginia will get Senator Pete Snyder.
With regard to #2 – how so?
Kaine just became extremely vulnerable at re-election.
Why Snyder?
Because he will be the nominee.
Kaine opened by bashing the area for things that happened during the Civil Rights era and making a race card play. Typical Democratic banter when current issues aren’t working in their favor.
Interesting that you suggest “the best night of his campaign” was one where Trump did not speak. This was a better night for him then even the night he got nominated? That seems to suggest that the best days on his potential presidency will be those when he does not speak, act, or make any decisions. Not much of an endorsement, it is?
No. No it’s not much of an endorsement. My support of Trump is entirely predicated on the need for Republicans to support the nominee, regardless, and the need to ensure that Hillary Clinton never again sets foot in the White House.
the funny thing is that is the same thing people are saying about Trump. Only, the democrats telegraphed Clinton as the nominee 8 years ago and the republicans squander those 8 years without a finding a decent candidate that appeals more than the alt right and the ultra-anti-Clinton folks
Yeah – maybe 17 candidates in one primary was pretty stupid.
Actually, 17 people gave we the gop base a choice rather than the hand picked losers of the past few decades. Maybe Trump will lose but it will be the fault of the Republican leadership as much as Trump’s supposed temperament. Imagine if we had Jeb Bush – he would have chosen another Ryan prototype.
There were too many choices and there was no clear pick. Trump constantly struggles to put together majority support. He may win, but he won’t win with 50% of the popular vote. Of course, the same is true of Hillary Clinton.
Yes Trump became an early winner when there were 17 candidates. And also when there only 8 candidates, and also when there were only 4 candidates, and even when there were only 2 candidates.
Suppose there were only three candidates from the very beginning, say Trump, Bush, and Cruz. What evidence is there that Trump would lose to either of them? Bush was going to be crushed anyway, because he was not a good candidate and because he was Bush. He got knocked out early. Cruz finally got a head-to-head match near the end, and he still didn’t make any progress against Trump. So who is this mythical candidate that could beat Trump if only there wasn’t such a large field?
I think the real reason that Trump has trouble with Republican unity has nothing to do with the number of candidates in the primary. It has everything to do with rebellion within the Republican party which is still underway. You can blame the number of candidates if you want, but you seem to be ignoring the biggest reason, i.e., Republicans voters are refusing to coronate another establishment candidate. Trump won the ‘change’ vote, because he seemed so willing to get in there and fight for change, which is pretty unusual for a Republican.
the big question is where were the good candidates hiding this year? Why did the leadership not bring someone else to the race?
The Dems brought Clinton, just because it’s her turn. The Republican leadership brought Bush. It was supposed to be his turn too. Plenty of good people ran in the Republican race. For a while I thought Scott Walker had a chance. He is a very good man and is tough enough to win. Cruz has anti-establishment credentials, is extremely smart and willing to fight too, but he has few friends. Neither of these candidates got significant support from party leadership. Bush raised over $100m from Republican donors but it didn’t help him one bit because he is so totally out of sync with voters on the big issues, and he was quickly rejected. Trump got more hostility than support from the party, initially. But he didn’t need startup money. He knew how to talk to frustrated Americans, who then supported him with millions in small donations. There is a good lesson in the Trump story which is not fully appreciated on either side.
His ability to reach out to the average voter was quite remarkable. I think we’ve all learned a series of lessons from his example.
Wait, we got leadership? Why am I always the last to know?
“There’s an old Vulcan proverb…. ‘Only Nixon could go to China.'”
The current analogue is that only Trump could win in 2016.
Frank, I absolutely understand that and it is an excellent point to bring up. I was merely focusing on how it was that Trump (as opposed to Rubio, Cruz, Carson etc.) was victorious.
Bet you a coke he will!
A Coke that Trump will get 50% of the popular vote? You’re on. However, I don’t drink soda. It’s Reed’s Ginger Brew for me. Pineapple, Lemon, Ginger… delicious. It’s a bit more expensive than a coke. About a $1.29 a bottle. I hope that is acceptable. 🙂
Sorry, should have realized Coke was too populist for you.
No it gave us a candidate who was supported by only 38% of Republicans, nowhere near a majority.
And what support did Romney get? I knew he would lose because virtually every primary opponent beat him until the end.
And each of the others had what percent? In Virginia we had a primary contest, he won the primary contest, none of the others did.
Why bother having elections or parties if you’re not going to respect the will of the electorate? Republican means something.
I’m just happy Trump has identified the party branches requiring pruning — got my loppers right here.
“. . . 17 people gave . . . the gop base a choice?”
Who is your supplier? I’d like to roll a fat boy with the same stuff you are smoking.
“Frothy Mix” Rick Snaotrum”
Marco Romney? (Or, is it Mitt Rubio?)
Rafael Cruz?
The woman who destroyed Hewlitt-Packard?
The choice was between cancer and suicide.
No, it clearly shows the spectrum of the GOP and Trump smoked them. He beat them separately, he beat them aggregated. He showed how, where, and why the party was full of crap.
Can we, will we learn our lesson?
I’ll oppose any nationalist, progressive populist that runs in the future with my money, my time, my energy and my words. That’s the lesson I’ve learned.
Better lesson is that you can’t beat a somebody with a nobody. And ‘respect the electorate.’
The ‘Trump is an ass that shoots his mouth off’ dog don’t hunt.
Trump truly was the best the GOP could do and is probably single-handedly saving the party from itself.
Of course I don’t expect the Republicans to be a willing accomplice and continue to be proven right.