Presidential race 2016

[Duchess]

Do y'all think this means much of anything?

Dozens of the nation’s most senior Republican national security officials, many of them former top aides or cabinet members for President George W. Bush, have signed a letter saying they will not vote for Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee.

Letter

[HairOfTheDog]

It's quite something to see so many Republican national security officials formally denouncing the Republican nominee. I don't think it will cost Trump any of his avid supporters, but I think it will likely sway some Undecideds, Independents, and moderate Republicans to Clinton.

Trump's already in bad shape. He has thus far been unable to grow his support base beyond those who voted for him in the primaries, but Clinton is doing so effectively. Trump's unfavorable ratings have worsened in recent weeks, while Clinton's have improved. Trump was unsuccessful in his attempts to attract Bernie Sanders' supporters. His numbers with minorities and women are still abysmal. And, he's lost ground with white voters.

It'll be interesting to see next week's national poll averages, given the national security denouncement, the recent Republican politicians' defections, and this week's dueling economic policy speeches.

[HairOfTheDog]

This might be something Trump can capitalize upon; I'm sure he'll try.

Snip:
Hillary Clinton is being sued by the parents of two Americans who were killed in the 2012 Benghazi attack.

The lawsuit alleges the former Secretary of State was directly responsible for the deaths of Sean Smith, a State Department communications specialist, and CIA contractor Tyrone Woods, two of four men who died on the night of September 11, 2012.

Smith's mother Patricia Smith and Woods' father Charles Woods are suing Clinton for wrongful death and negligence, but also for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The suit accuses Clinton of making defamatory statements to the media by saying the plaintiffs were lying when they said that she told them the attack was motivated by an anti-Muslim YouTube video.

In the complaint, Larry Klayman, an attorney for the families, wrote: 'During her campaign for President, Defendant Clinton has negligently, recklessly, and/or maliciously defamed Plaintiffs by either directly calling them liars, or by strongly implying that they are liars, in order to protect and enhance her public image and intimidate and emotionally harm and silence them not to speak up about the Benghazi attack on at least four separate occasions.'

The suit references the Democratic presidential nominees infamous email scandal multiple times, alleging that her 'reckless' use of a private server to handle classified information meant it was compromised.

More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...z4GoZEo7Fv
-----------------------------------

None of the allegations are new; Patricia Smith has been all over the media condemning Hillary Clinton for years, and she did the same at the Republican Convention last month.

I don't think the suit will go anywhere given the men were working in a military capacity and the attempt to link the email server controversy to the deaths is really reaching.

But, it's sad for the families, Trump will definitely be all over it, and I think Clinton is going to have to address the allegations outside the courtroom.

[Donovan]

Trump's gonna lose because all the big money is pulling away from him. Koch brothers etc. They know he's an albatross and will drag the party down with him, so the PTB on that side are cutting away. You'll see more of a stream of desertions in coming weeks. Wouldn't be surprised to see him abandon it on his own because it's hitting his pocket hard now. And some moderate Republican will swoop in to "save the party" at the last minute, like McCain or Romney.

Think Boehner is laughing his ass off right now?

[HairOfTheDog]

In response to the suit (^ post 2763), Nick Merrill, a Clinton campaign spokesman, said "While no one can imagine the pain of the families of the brave Americans we lost at Benghazi, there have been nine different investigations into this attack and none found any evidence whatsoever of any wrongdoing on the part of Hillary Clinton."

The attorney representing Mrs. Smith and Mr. Woods, Mr. Klayman, is the founder or "Freedom Watch," a conservative group that has been attacking the Clintons for decades.

Anytime I've heard Clinton address the allegations by Patricia Smith and Smith's supporters, Clinton has expressed sympathy for their loss and never called Mrs. Smith or Mr. Woods 'liars'. Clinton claims she doesn't have the same recollection of what was stated at the victims' briefing a few days after the terror attack as Smith and Woods (and the families of the other victims also don't have the same recollections as Mrs. Smith and Mr. Woods). http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/...nton-and-/

I hope this goes away soon. There's no evidence that terrorists (or anybody else) accessed Clinton's email and used information therein to launch the attack on the Benghazi outpost and there's nothing that any court would consider defamation against the families by Clinton, in my opinion. This looks like a politically-motivated suit.

[HairOfTheDog]

Trump's gonna lose because all the big money is pulling away from him. Koch brothers etc. They know he's an albatross and will drag the party down with him, so the PTB on that side are cutting away. You'll see more of a stream of desertions in coming weeks. Wouldn't be surprised to see him abandon it on his own because it's hitting his pocket hard now. And some moderate Republican will swoop in to "save the party" at the last minute, like McCain or Romney.

Think Boehner is laughing his ass off right now?

I do think Boehner is probably smiling for having exited stage left before the collapse of the establishment.

But, I don't think lack of big establishment donors is the reason Donald Trump is currently trailing Clinton. Trump beat out some very heavily funded GOP competitors in the primaries. And, his campaign took in a surprising $80 million in July, primarily from small individual donors. The more establishment politicians and donors reject him, the more his loyal base supports him (in my opinion).

From my perspective, Trump's losing because of his own words and behavior, not because of finances. The media coverage that he cultivates and relies upon instead of traditional campaign ads helped him gain a loyal base of like-minded supporters in the Republican primaries. But, that media exposure cuts both ways. The majority of people in the general population disapprove of Trump's views, inconsistencies, false claims, and temperament -- which he keeps putting on full display.

[Donovan]

I agree fully that he is his own worst enemy, but it's more than that. He hasn't changed his message or his plan of attack, "say stupid shit, get free press" that worked so well for him in the primaries. The difference between then and now is that he has targeted the press, and now they're holding his feet to the fire. They propped him up, now they're taking him apart. It isn't the Koch's money he need fear so much as their media influence.

[Duchess]

Hey, Trump supporters, are you interested in hearing what your candidate was up to over the weekend?

[Donovan]

What did he do this time, I have been trying to avoid political stuff. It's making me crazy.

[Duchess]

What did he do this time, I have been trying to avoid political stuff. It's making me crazy.

I can't get enough of it. It's like crack to me.

He spent the entire weekend crying about the unfair media. He insists time & again that what is being reported are lies and fabrications YET, he hasn't asked for any retractions nor has he threatened to sue and for a man who has instigated thousands of lawsuits this is very telling, at least to me it is.

He has squandered so many chances to nail Hillary's ass to the wall, he'd rather tweet about the media treating him badly. I put my bias aside to see if there is anything to his statements and as far as I can tell the media is only reporting on things that he has said, the truth hasn't been stretched and of course there are no lies.

[Maggot]

Like I've said before, each person stands alone in that booth. You just never know and many people are afraid he may win. It shows.

[Duchess]

I'll be glad when this crap is over so I can go back to being oblivious.

[Carsman]

I gotta vote, I gotta vote, I gotta vote, I gotta vote, I gotta vote, I gotta vote, wait, what?

[HairOfTheDog]

Like I've said before, each person stands alone in that booth. You just never know and many people are afraid he may win. It shows.

Many people do fear a Trump presidency and it does show. Many, many people.

It shows in the number of Republican defections and the double digit margin Clinton now holds in the polls, despite the continuing accusations related to her email server, the Clinton Foundation overlap with State Dept business, and her health.

Maybe Trump's anti-terror speech today will win some people over. I didn't disagree with everything he said, but I know much of it was in direct contrast to what he's previously said and proposed. I'd guess many, many voters don't know or care about those self-serving inconsistencies though and he might get a bump in the next polls if he doesn't go off script again before then.

[Duchess]

It shows in the number of Republican defections

If I leave Trump out of the equation, that ^^^^ has been the most amazing thing to me. It's been stunning to see some of the support she has received from Republicans, particularly some of the more high profile ones.

Trump said he was going to change the map. He sure has. He's changing red to blue. Go, fuckface!

As an aside, I've figured out why the Trump campaign uses Katrina as a surrogate. It's because no one with any credibility is willing to risk their good name defending Trump and his comments.

[Duchess]

Trump gets his first classified briefing today. He's asked to bring Chris Christie & Michael Flynn with him.

[BigMark]

Fuck face had a great speech last night.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/fu...-on-227095

[Duchess]

Fuck face had a great speech last night.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/fu...-on-227095

I watched quite a bit of it. I love it when he uses the teleprompters. Hahaha!

I read someone say that now that he's got the Breitbart guy we'll see him go from the fire straight to Chernobyl. I can hardly wait!

[pyropappy]

the slow suicide by stupidity continues hahaha

Manafort resigns

this clown changes senior advisors more often than I change underwear

[Duchess]

the slow suicide by stupidity continues hahaha

Manafort resigns

this clown changes senior advisors more often than I change underwear

...aaaaaand Mitt Romney's former Finance Chair has just formally endorsed Hillary. How many Republicans does that make who have choose to endorse her rather than their own nominee? Ahahaha!