Monday, August 10, 2015
From: Gary L. Bauer
Debate Fallout
Ripples from the GOP’s Cleveland debate continue to hit the political shores. Late Sunday, NBC News released the first post-debate poll. There is some controversy about the poll’s methodology and we’ll have to wait and see if other polls confirm the results. But when voters were asked who they would support if the election were held today, the results were:
Donald Trump 23%
Ted Cruz 13%
Ben Carson 11%
Carly Fiorina 8%
Marco Rubio 8%
Jeb Bush 7%
Scott Walker 7%
Mike Huckabee 5%
Rand Paul 5%
No other candidate received at least 5% support.
Political analysts were puzzled by the results, but I think I see a pattern. Let’s see if you agree.
Trump is the epitome of the anti-politician. He doesn’t waiver, he isn’t politically correct. He erupted on the scene a few weeks ago on two issues: illegal immigration and his disdain for the political class of both parties.
In second place is Sen. Ted Cruz, widely despised by the GOP leadership for forcing a government shutdown and for recently taking to the Senate floor to accuse Senator Mitch McConnell of lying to him and other senators. Cruz, too, is angry at the avalanche of illegal immigration.
Next is Dr. Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon with zero elective experience. He is unambiguously pro-life, but clearly not taken seriously by Washington’s political class.
Tied for fourth place are Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio. Fiorina catapulted into “prime time” from the “happy hour” second-tier debate.
So what do these candidates have in common? None of them are the choice of the GOP establishment. Yet, combined they are pulling more than half of the Republican vote because of each of them, in their own way, reflect the rejection of “business as usual.”
Even Senator Rubio has a record of defying the establishment. He is in the Senate because he challenged the establishment’s choice of former Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who is now a Democrat. Rubio overcame a 31-point deficit in the primary polling and won a three-way general election by double digits.
Obama’s Legacy: Division
Washington Post columnist Charles Lane made an excellent observation yesterday on Fox News Sunday regarding President Obama’s legacy:
“I just want to emphasize that as we look at the cost and benefits of this Iran deal, whatever they are, I think we now have to add to the cost side tremendous division within American politics about an issue where in the past there used to be consensus, namely our posture toward Iran.
“The Iranians have achieved, I think, something very important by dividing the United States from Israel, possibly in a lasting way. They have divided Republicans from Democrats and now with the Schumer thing, they are dividing Democrats from Democrats. The opposition to this, obviously, spreads across party lines. . . . So, in an area where we used to have some consensus in this country [U.S. policy toward Iran], we now have nothing, but division.”
Lane is right.
As you know, Senator Charles Schumer of New York, widely expected to succeed Harry Reid as Senate Democratic Leader, came out against Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran Thursday night. And, according to Politico, Schumer and the White House are now “at war over Iran.”
After Schumer made his decision to oppose the deal, he made a courtesy call to the White House to inform the president of his opposition. Schumer made one request: “to give him until Friday to put word out about his decision.” A source close to Schumer told Politico that “Obama was the only person Schumer told of his decision before the news started to leak out.”
The White House, the New York Times and left-wing groups are now threatening Schumer’s future in the party. MoveOn.org denounced Schumer’s decision as “outrageous and unacceptable.”
But former Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) defended Schumer. Webb also opposes the deal and said, “I think we need to put country ahead of party.”
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