Did Trump Just Sink the GOP?

Making it clear that he holds American democracy and wants to "crown himself king" to quote one headline at Politico, many are saying that Donald Trump has increased the chances for an electoral catastrophe up and down the GOP ticket.  Frankly, I hope the prediction proves accurate and that the GOP suffers horrific defeats.  For decades now, the Republican Party has been a festering swamp of insanity and rejection of objective reality and facts.  Lead by the Christofascists who live in a fantasy world, science has been rejected as has all respect for science and knowledge.  Donald Trump is but one example of where the embrace of ignorance and bigotry has taken the GOP.  A piece in Politico looks at the initial reactions to Trump's devastating performance during last night's debate.  Here are excerpts:

Donald Trump’s rocky performance on the final debate stage did little to allay his party’s concerns that the GOP is headed for an electoral catastrophe up and down the ticket.

In interviews with over a dozen senior Republican strategists, not one said Trump did anything to change the trajectory of a contest that is growing further out of reach. And many said they were deeply distressed by Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the Nov. 8 election, an eyebrow-raising moment already dominating headlines.

With Trump’s prospects for securing 270 electoral votes growing dimmer by the day, many Republicans have turned their focus to the gritty, unpleasant task of protecting the party’s congressional majorities. Trump, they said, did little to buttress the GOP ticket — and may have worsened its position by repeating his claim that the election is rigged, something congressional Republicans are sure to be pressed on in the days to come.

Immediately after Trump’s remark, several party higher-ups, including South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, took to Twitter to distance themselves from it.

“The biggest loser tonight was not Trump, the presidential race is over,” said Robert Blizzard, a GOP pollster who is working on a number of congressional races. “Instead, down-ticket Republicans lost tonight — they needed some help and got absolutely none.”

While many candidates have taken a hit since the release of the bombshell “Access Hollywood” tape, party operatives maintain that the bottom hasn’t completely fallen out and that a down-ballot landslide isn’t necessarily in the cards.

Yet many Republicans were eager to see Trump deliver a steady performance, something that would stabilize his poll numbers at a time when surveys show him losing ground in traditionally conservative states like Arizona, Georgia, and Utah.

Steve Schmidt, who guided John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, said that Trump’s refusal to commit to accepting election results would overshadow any other strong moments he had.

“It’s the one and only headline that matters coming out of the debate,” said Schmidt. “It’s absolutely unprecedented for any presidential candidate in the history of the country.”

To some, the performance represented what’s gone awry with the Trump campaign. After exhibiting moments of discipline early on, he squandered it later — with his remarks on the election, with his refusal to criticize Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, and with his comment that Hillary Clinton is a “nasty woman.”  That Trump would go so far as to criticize Ronald Reagan . . . on trade policy, left some Republicans aghast.

[T]he debate could have longer-term repercussions, potentially increasing the urgency with which down-ballot Republicans begin presenting themselves as a “check and balance” to a Clinton presidency. In doing so, they would all but concede that Trump is destined to fall short.

“Trump was already behind,” said Bill Kristol, a Trump critic and the editor-in-chief of the conservative publication The Weekly Standard. “He didn't help himself tonight, indeed he hurt himself. He's very likely to lose, and to lose badly. He'll drag the Senate and House down with him unless Senate and House candidates can make the case they're needed to check and balance Hillary.”

The moral?  Never nominate someone who is mentally ill to be your party's standard bearing.  The GOP deserves whatever catastrophes that may be the result of such irresponsible behavior and actions. 

VIRGINIA: Anti-Gay Norfolk Circuit Clerk Files Appeal with Supreme Court

George E. Schaefer III - the face of anti-gay hate

One thing the local Hampton Roads gay community needs to do is come up with a plan to make sure George E. Schaefer III, the clerk of the Norfolk Circuit Court, is defeated the next time he runs for re-election.  If the region is to prosper and move forward in a changing world, the last thing we need is a raging bigot in charge of the circuit court of the area's largest city.  The same holds true in Prince William County where reportedly Michele McQuigg stands for re-election next year.  Typically, circuit court clerk elections are low profile, but these two individuals demonstrate what can happen when the wrong individuals hold these positions.  I stand ready to write campaign contribution checks to any credible candidates who challenge these douche bags.

In his filing yesterday seeking an appeal from the ruling of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, Schaefer argues that the lower federal courts have “subverted” the Supreme Court’s decision last year in United States v. Windsor.  If anything is perverted, its religious extremists and bigots like Schaefer and McQuigg who want to subvert the U.S. Constitution and inflict their poisonous religious beliefs on all Virginians (and who have perverted Christianity into something hideous).  Adding to the hypocrisy is the fact that Schaefer is represented by the former law firm of former governor Bob McDonnell now under federal corruption charges who has shown the true face of GOP family values. The following is Schaefer's basic claim:

Contrary to these mistaken decisions, the Fourteenth Amendment does not override “

state sovereign choices” about whether to adopt same sex marriage.

If this reasoning is correct, then Loving v. Virginia was wrongly decided and the bigotry of the majority can strip minorities of their civil rights as American citizens.  It goes without saying that Schaefer is a Republican. I always find it amazing who the opponents of gay marriage continue to make the same arguments as their segregationist forefathers.  I also have to question how their legal counsel can file such disingenuous arguments.    SCOTUS Blog has details on the filing:

Arguing that lower federal courts have “subverted” the Supreme Court’s decision last year on same-sex marriage, a Virginia court clerk on Friday filed his own petition – the second filing seeking a ruling on the constitutionality of that state’s ban on such marriages and the fourth on the basic constitutional issue.  The filing may complicate the Court’s chances of promptly considering that issue.

The new document was filed by lawyers for George E. Schaefer III, who is the circuit court clerk for the city of Norfolk.  He has been taking part in the Virginia case since it began, and he is now defending the ban, after state officials opted not to do so.  Already pending at the Court are another petition from Virginia, one from Utah, and one from Oklahoma.  Another is expected soon from Virginia, to be filed by a different clerk.


On Wednesday, the Court blocked the issuance of licenses for same-sex marriages in Virginia pending the filing of a petition by the other clerk who is defending the ban, Michele B. McQuigg of Prince William County.  Her petition is being prepared now by her lawyers, who may file it within the next week or so.

In the other two Virginia filings, one by the state attorney general and now by the Norfolk clerk, each claimed that it was the proper vehicle for the Court to review the validity of the Virginia ban.  But the two are on slightly different procedural timetables within the Court, and that will be true as well for the McQuigg petition when it is filed.

The Windsor decision “taught that state citizens are free to make up their own minds about this issue by exercising their ‘historic and essential authority to define the marital relation,’” the filing said, quoting from that ruling.

Perhaps someone should buy Schaefer a set of KKK robes since he in making a KKK like argument and applying it to gays.  Just a thought.  As I said, Schaefer needs to be challenged and defeated if he runs for reelection. 

 

GOProud to Shut Down

Having once been a Republican activist and a precinct seat holder on the City Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia Beach I have always thought that the Log Cabin Republicans and GOProud were delusional if they seriously thought the GOP could be "changed from within."   To me, their entire relationship is akin to that of an abused spouse who continues to go back to the abusive spouse out of lack of self-esteem or some other psychological need that is detached from objective reality.  I have long maintained that the only way the GOP will change is through successive electoral defeats that force it into a permanent minority status.  A post at The Bilerico Project looks at GOProud's final succumbing to reality and disbanding.   Here are excerpts:

In 2004, GOProud was born when Jimmy LaSalvia and Chris Barron split from the Log Cabin Republicans. Fast forward to today: both have stepped down from the organization and it is shutting down for good.

GOProud has been mired by several controversies since the departure of their founders. The group has bled donors since the widely reported departure of Jimmy LaSalvia from the Republican Party earlier this year. His departure was so loud, but it focused primarily on his shift of ideology and thus projected a new image onto the organization that he helped found. 

Finding it difficult to continue without securing more funding, GOProud will be shutting down immediately - an homage to an era gone by. The shuttering is undoubtedly necessary as the organization's full effectiveness has been tarnished. 

The organization may rebrand and regroup later, but for now, the organization will no longer be functioning. Co-director Matthew Bechstein stated in an interview that the "brand is broken" and a rebrand is necessary. 

It will be interesting to see if this potential organization will be solely focused on the Republican Party or if it will start to appeal to a broader range of conservative ideologies, such as the Libertarian Party.

Tears and Denial In The Cuccinelli Camp

I truly do not want to appear mean spirited or even cruel, but I find it nearly impossible to feel any real sympathy for failed GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli.   So far, it appears that Cuccinelli wants  to blame anyone but himself - not to mention his extremism and obsession with controlling the sexual behavior of others.  Cooch has tried to say even in his concession speech that the vote in Virginia yesterday was a "referendum on Obamacare." Never mind that other than Medicaid expansion, there is nothing that a Virginia governor has any control over in the roll out of the Affordable Health Care Act.  A piece in The Daily Beast looks at the recriminations and self-delusion gripping the failed Cuccinelli organization.   Here are excerpts:

In a brutally negative campaign, McAuliffe pulled out his narrow victory with a massive financial advantage and by painting Cuccinelli as an extreme social conservative. The Democrat also took advantage of Cuccinelli’s refusal to condemn the Republican tactics that led to the government shutdown. The issue was particularly potent in Northern Virginia, where many residents work for the government or for government contractors.

By contrast, Cuccinelli sought to focus on McAuliffe’s business deals and to turn the race into a referendum on Obamacare, which Cuccinelli has steadily opposed. While the strategy rallied ardent Republicans to his banner, it also may have energized some Democrats. Carrie Thierry of Henrico told The Daily Beast that Obamacare was one of her strongest motivations for supporting McAuliffe. Although she has always had health insurance, she said, she knows many people who are not so fortunate and said it is important they be covered.

McAuliffe’s key advantage lay in social issues such as abortion and birth control. He capitalized on Cuccinelli’s record of taking deeply conservative positions on those issues, most notably his defense of Virginia’s ban on sodomy laws. McAuliffe’s ads emphasized Cuccinelli’s absolute opposition to abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, and described him as anti-birth control.

But Steve Waters, a prominent Republican strategist in Virginia, said Cuccinelli was simply stabbed in the back by his own party. Waters said the narrow loss was the result of fellow Republicans who jumped ship to back McAuliffe or, in the case of Bill Bolling, the state’s GOP lieutenant governor, simply sat on their hands. Bolling’s actions were emblematic of moderate establishment Republicans trying to undermine conservatives in the party, Waters said, comparing the lieutenant governor to the Washington Republicans who didn’t stand by Ted Cruz and Mike Lee in the government shutdown. 

The defection of many Republicans, particularly those in the donor class, helped McAuliffe put together a whopping financial advantage. He outspent Cuccinelli by $15 million before taking outside groups such as the League of Conservative Voters and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Independence PAC into account. McAuliffe also put together a far more effective ground operation than Cuccinelli, led by veteran Democratic organizer Robby Mook.

One silver lining for the GOP in Jackson’s shambolic campaign was the optimism that the Republicans could pick off Northam’s state Senate seat in a special election. But that paled in comparison to the costs of a statewide campaign with an outlandish, gaffe-prone candidate. By contrast, the tightly matched race for attorney general between Republican Mark Obenshain and Democrat Mark Herring was too close to call on Election Night and was poised for a recount.

The contrast between the two gubernatorial candidates was never more clear than in their Election Night speeches. Both cited Thomas Jefferson and the importance of principle. Cuccinelli expressed his awe at the possibility that he might have succeeded the third president as governor of Virginia. He then went on to emphasize the importance of “first principles” of constitutional government and said his philosophy when he first ran for attorney general was “if there are enough people in Virginia who share our commitment to those first principles, we can’t lose and if there aren’t...we can’t win.”.

McAuliffe, meanwhile, cited Thomas Jefferson’s first inaugural speech in 1800, saying his own differences with Cuccinelli and the GOP were “differences of opinion, not differences of principle.”

I honestly believe that Cuccinelli needs a mental health care intervention.  It will be most telling to see how he deals with defeat and whether or not he will go even more fully over the edge.  

How Out of Touch is Today's GOP?

As a former Republican I shake my head in dismay almost daily when I see the den of insanity and bigotry that the GOP has become.  And the transformation of the GOP, in my view, traces directly back to the rise of the conservative Christians - those I call the Christofascists - who have brought their unique forms of hate and bigotry to the GOP.  Adding to the problem is the fact that these folks are not only hostile to the rights of other Americans, but also utterly detached from objective reality.  The result has been a Republican Party that increasingly lives in its own bubble/fantasy world and which is increasing out of touch with mainstream America.  A column in the Washington Post looks at the results of a new survey that finds the GOP increasingly in la la land vis-a-vis the majority of Americans.  Here are highlights:

I already touched on today’s new Post poll this morning, but there are a bunch of numbers in here that really deserve their own post..

To wit: It finds that only 23 percent of Americans — that would be fewer than one in four — believe the Republican Party is “in touch with the concerns of most people in the United States today,” while 70 percent believe that it is “out of touch.” Among independents, those numbers are 23-70. Among moderates they’re 20-75.

By contrast, Americans say by 51-46 that Obama is in touch. Among moderates that’s 56-42 (he fares worse among independents, 44-53, though far better than Republicans).

At the same time, the poll finds the public siding with Obama and Democrats on many major issues surveyed. Americans disapprove of the sequester cuts, 57-35 — cuts that Republicans are describing as a “victory” for them. Americans support a path to legality for illegal immigrants by 64-32. In fairness, the poll doesn’t test citizenship specifically, so this finding is somewhat inconclusive, but a new CNN poll finds that 84 percent back a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who have a job and pay back taxes.

Meanwhile, on guns, the new Post poll finds that Americans support a law requiring background checks on gun sales at gun shows or online by 86-13. A majority, 55 percent, believes it’s possible to make new gun control laws without interfering with gun rights.

At what point does failure to support proposals designed to address the problems facing the country — ones backed by majorities — create a serious enough general problem for the GOP, by contributing to an overall sense that the party has simply ceased being capable of compromising on solutions to the major challenges we face? The GOP’s awful “in touch, out of touch” numbers would seem to get at this.

But is there any point at which the party’s overall image — and its unpopular stances on specific issues — actually do begin to matter in some concrete way? Is there any point at which it becomes clear that the current GOP strategy — make a deal with Democrats on immigration, but nothing else — is insufficient?

Obviously, what needs to happen is that many who have continued to vote for the GOP out of habit or support for one specific issue need to realize that they are beginning to actively harm the country by empowering an insane and dysfunctional party.  The GOP needs to be punished at the ballot box for its wrong headed policies.