Better than House of Cards

The Netflix series about the presidency - House of Cards - will be releasing its next season Friday.
Whatever they thought up for 13 episodes, will it match the Republican primary?
Doubtful.
Time to get some rest before Virginia polls open at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Why you dislike Trump

Lots of anti-Trump online this weekend.
Boil them down to three categories.

• You don't like the way he acts toward the Republican party.
• You don't like his style - too vulgar.
• You don't know what he'll do as president.

All good questions.
The trouble is, others don't share those concerns.
And there's more of them then there are of you.
Trump supporters look at Trump - then look at our current situation.
And they like his chances.
Many have been invested in him for months, so no amount of last minute attacks will sway them.
You've got to give Trump credit.
Sure, he started with a big headstart due to his dad's money. But he didn't waste that.
He built upon it in his business empire, enough to be ready for this election season.
And he found a way for his style to fit the current unhappiness of the electorate.
How will the next eight months go?
Likely a wild ride.

Scott Walker warned you

For those wailing and gnashing their teeth over Donald Trump's lead, you were warned.
In September.
When Scott Walker dropped out.
In September, you could have done something about Trump.
End of February is too late.
The Trump train is pulling out of the station.

Enjoying the Trump debate

Four days until Super Tuesday.
We have politicians starting to endorse Donald Trump.
Pundits upset with those politicians.
Posts and columns of why people shouldn't support Trump.
Along with columns explaining why many do.
There's much unknown about the next eight months.
But there's plenty we can learn from the last eight months.
Trump can never be as bad as though who disapprove of him now think.
And you have to weigh him - not against your ideal candidate - but the Democratic opponent.
We'll see what people do with that information.

Saturday song

Hey, Moe. Hey, Moe.

Facebook quote of the week

I hope legislation is enacted that requires the deportation of every idiot who proclaims that they are leaving the country if Donald Trump becomes president!

Last ditch effort

Here's news to shake up the Democratic primary race - Robert Reich has endorsed Bernie Sanders.
Just in time for Hillary Clinton to win a bunch of primaries and delegates.

Trump, Christie and Guilani

Eight years ago, former New York mayor Rudy Guiliani tried his luck at the Republican nomination.
Didn't last very long.
New Jersey governor Chris Christie tried his hand this time, and came up short.
The two elected candidates from the Big Apple struggled around the country, but not Donald Trump.
Now you can start to see Trump's team coming together.
If you thought Trump would be a lone wolf, it looks like he's pulling Northeastern Republican establishment figures into his campaign world.
Maybe he's not a loose cannon, but someone who knows how to play the game.
And play both parties.
How do you think Hillary feels watching these Big Apple heavyweights coming together against her.

Weekend watchdog

Last year, ESPN's College GameDay came to town.
A student hit a halfcourt shot during the show, but Virginia lost to Duke.
The Cavaliers would like this GameDay to end with a win, whether the student wins the money or not.
Virginia hosts conference leader North Carolina Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN, after the show packs John Paul Arena at 11 a.m.
The Cavaliers' hopes of winning the regular season title took a hit Monday with a loss at Miami. But they close the campaign with home contests with the Tar Heels and Louisville, leaving space for a spot in the top four.
Valparaiso meets Milwaukee Friday on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. then it's Rider-Monmouth.
On FoxSports1, it's Harvard taking on Yale Friday at 7 p.m.
CBS brings three contests Saturday, starting with Butler-Georgetown at noon. Texas takes on Oklahoma at 2 p.m. followed by Vanderbilt-Kentucky. Duke duels with Pittsburgh Sunday 2 p.m. and it's Iowa-Ohio State at 4 p.m.
Top-ranked Villanova visits Marquette on Fox Saturday at 2 p.m., then it's out west for UCLA against Stanford at 4:30 p.m.
The ACC network offers North Carolina State against Syracuse Saturday at 2 p.m. along with Louisville-Miami.
Kansas tangles with Texas Tech on ESPN Saturday at noon, then it's Arizona-Utah at 2 p.m. and Maryland meets Purdue at 4 p.m. Florida faces LSU at 8:30 p.m.
Seven games fill the slate on ESPN2, beginning at noon with Rhode Island-Dayton. Illinois State takes on Wichita State at 2 p.m. and it's Notre Dame-Florida State at 4 p.m. Iowa State hosts Kansas State at 6 p.m., followed by Gonzaga-BYU and Fresno State against New Mexico. The night closes at midnight with UC Davis taking on UC Irvine.
Georgia Tech battles Boston College on Comcast Saturday at noon. College of Charleston clashes with Hofstra at 4 p.m. and Richmond faces Duquesne at 6 p.m.
VCU faces George Washington on NBC Sports network Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and James Madison meets William & Mary at 2:30 p.m.
Liberty hosts Gardner-Webb on MASN Saturday at noon and Florida International faces Florida Atlantic at 2 p.m. St. Joseph's takes on St. Louis Sunday at 1 p.m., followed by Horizon League action between Illinois-Chicago and Milwaukee.
Western Kentucky battles Alabama-Birmingham Saturday at noon on MASN2.
There's a pair of Big East games on FoxSports1 Sunday, as Xavier travels to Seton Hall at 12:30 p.m. and St. John's battles Creighton at 2:30 p.m. Southern Cal takes on California at 8 p.m.
ESPN has the Bulls and Hawks Friday at 8 p.m. and Grizzlies against Lakers in the nightcap.
ABC has the Warriors' trip to Oklahoma City Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
Comcast brings Cavaliers-Wizards Sunday at 1 p.m.
On the women's court, Kentucky meets Texas A&M on ESPN Sunday at 4 p.m.
ESPN2 has a trio of games Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. with Georgia-Tennessee. Miami meets Florida State at 3 p.m. followed by Minnesota meeting Maryland.
Iowa State tangles with Oklahoma Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on MASN2. There's a pair of games Sunday, with Penn against Columbia at 3 p.m. and Rio Grand Valley against Chicago State at 5 p.m.
FoxSports1 brings Xavier-Villanova Friday at 9 p.m.
The NHL's Stadium Series heads to Colorado Saturday, as the Avalanche take on the Red Wings at Coors Field at 8 p.m.
The Capitals visit Chicago Sunday at 12:30 p.m. on NBC, after they host Minnesota Friday at 7 p.m. on Comcast.
NBC Sports network has two contests Sunday, as Tampa Bay visits Boston at 6:30 p.m. before the Kings and Ducks play at 9 p.m.
On the college ice, Notre Dame hosts Boston University Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m. on NBC Sports network. Vermont meets Merrimack on MASN Friday at 8:30 p.m.
The PGA tour heads to Florida and NBC, with the Honda Classic Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. NASCAR heads to Atlanta for the weekend, with the Sprint Cup race Sunday at 1 p.m. on Fox. FoxSports1 has the Xfinity Series Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and the Truck Series goes at 4:30 p.m.
NBC Sports network has West Ham United against Sunderland Saturday at 7:45 a.m., followed by Leicester City-Norwich City. Manchester United faces Arsenal Sunday at 9:05 a.m. NBC brings Crystal Palace against West Bromwich Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

TV stations hate him

Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free?
Donald Trump isn't buying TV ads in Super Tuesday states prior to the big day.
Doesn't need to.
He's got all the coverage he needs, and has since June.
New Hampshire TV stations got rich from Jeb Bush and his SuperPac friends.
No such luck for TV stations in Super Tuesday land.
UPDATE: Linked by Dustbury.

Flyover country

DaTech Guy looks at Nevada and beyond for the Republican field.
And how the calendar favors Donald Trump.
Myth #6 The Ground game

My Candidate is and remains Ted Cruz, I believe he is he best choice due to his record and he has built an impressive ground game, but when you are dealing with states where you don’t have months to campaign and voters who might not have been paying attention until the week of the primary or caucus a ground game of activists without a comparable media game is comparable to an army attacking without air cover, it’s just not enough.

 

Who can fly in and get plenty of support?
Trump, who's been doing it the whole campaign.

Trump doom and gloom

Donald Trump leads the polls.
Leads the delegate race.
Looks to take control of the race on Super Tuesday.
And it unleashes a flood of columns about how Trump will doom Republicans.
And how can you support him anyway?
Trump plays the game differently than the rest.
It doesn't mean he's doomed.
Right now, he has to beat the remaining Republican candidates.
He's done that.
In November, he'll have to beat Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.
Good chance he'll do that.
The world will be different with Trump in charge.
From his businesses, he knows how to work with people.
Will political people learn how to work with him?

Problem with the theory

Before the first votes were cast in Iowa, the thought about Donald Trump was simple - he will struggle when he starts to lose.
Hasn't struggled.
Has won three of four.
Looking like lots of winning on Super Tuesday and beyond.
The theory could be tested if the voters would play along.

Be like Strom

NBC News had an interesting report on the Nightly News Wednesday.
Who should Democrats' follow in the battle to get someone on the Supreme Court?
Strom Thurmond.
That old racist.

Meep meep

DaTech Guy likes Don Surber's thoughts after Nevada.
I’m just finishing up my lead post for tomorrow on the myths that the GOP Nevada results have demolished but if you want to get down to the meat and potatoes of what’s going on in the GOP primary, you can’t do better than Don Surber post titled OK, Wile, what is your next plan to stop Trump? which concludes thus:

It is not over. He has a ceiling, right? He will lose Texas to Cruz, Florida to Rubio, Ohio to Kasich, and Mars to Carson. Trust the Establishment. All Rubio needs is $100 million more and another 100 political endorsements and everything will be just dandy. Acme Company has this guaranteed Trump Runner Elimination Ray Gun.
Meep Meep

Next

The next Republican contests are Super Tuesday, including Virginia.
I guess I'd better decide on a candidate.
I liked Scott Walker going into 2015.
When he dropped out, I didn't pick anyone.
I just knew I didn't want Jeb, because I didn't see anyway he'd beat Hillary.
Who can beat Hillary?
Trump for sure.
Cruz and Rubio would be good choices as well.
I'm on the Cruz team right now, but expect to vote for Trump in November.
2016 and 2020.

Reducing Trump's ick factor

It's going to be fun to watch Democrats panic over the rise of Donald Trump.
Look, here's two KKK guys.
You don't want to be connected with people like that, do you?
How else do you convince people to stop supporting Trump?
The more wins, the more people feel better about their Trump support.
Using political arguments hasn't worked.
The ick factor might be the only one left for Trump opponents.

What did Hillary say in her speeches

Hillary Clinton continues to withhold the transcripts of her speeches to Wall Street firms.
She thinks she's being held to a higher standard.
Okay.
All speeches were you received more than $200,000 should be released.
I will gladly provide the transcript of any speech I gave where I earned that much.
I'd probably recite the whole thing for you if you asked.
She gets the question because she's the only candidate who received so much from so few.
We'll just have to guess what she said back then.
Maybe things like -

• Wall Street is great.
• You guys make the country run.
• My party may not like business, but I sure do.

Any other ideas?
Maybe you can get six figures for a talk also.

She's just a lousy candidate

Scott Adams has a small bit of praise for Hillary Clinton - she's broken the glass ceiling.
Any doubts that people have about Clinton are related to her character and track record. Her gender isn’t even in the conversation as a potential negative.
Clinton made that happen.
She wants being a woman to boost her chances.
It's a hard boost from being such a lousy candidate.

Free college - after you graduate

Current college students are excited about Bernie Sanders talking about free college.
They need a lesson in political math.
Even if Sanders gets the nomination, gets elected and gets his plan passed by this time next year, there's no free college for what you're doing right now.
If you are a junior or senior, you will have to pay what you borrow now.
If you're a freshman or sophomore, then political reality means any plan would be phased in.
After you graduate.
And pay more of the taxes from your first job to cover Sanders' promises.
Do you think you should get your college debts forgiven?
Why?
Those of us who went to college in the 1980s didn't expect college to be free.
We counted the costs and made our college decisions based on the money we had.
Not our wishes.
So college students, work hard for Bernie.
Your younger siblings will take the free stuff.
And make you work harder.

I didn't mean what I said

Poor Joe Biden.
Someone found what he said in 1992 - an election year.
George H.W. Bush, if you have a chance to send a nominee for a Supreme Court seat, don't.
Now Biden says that doesn't mean what it sounds like.
Guess he was just flapping his gums.
Like he's been doing all his political career.

I ain't on Twitter

The Other McCain's Twitter woes continue.
Somebody thinks he was mean to them (or they lost their blanket).
If you like Twitter, their leaders are taking the fun out of it.
If it's not fun, why use it?
It's not like no one else can find a way around Twitter and get attention.

We want to stomp Hillary

Why Trump?
Why a guy who switches his opinions, and seems more liberal than conservative at times?
Because we want him to stomp Hillary and the Democrats like he did the Republican field.
Hillary's plan to win in November is simple.

• I'm a woman.
• I'll protect you from evil Republicans.

What Republican can stand up to the media and Hillary on their attacks?
Someone who's not a lockstep Republican.
How can Hillary attack Trump?
Won't be any better than the Republican field.
Hillary has switched positions over the years. If Trump has too, so what?
Where do they stand now?
What failures of Obama will Hillary try to defend?
Trump will stomp her on that.
He's led the field for seven months.
It's just over eight months until Election Day.
Did Trump give money to the Clintons and their causes through the years?
Who does that hurt in the campaign - Hillary.

Who asked Trump for money?

With Donald Trump as the Republican frontrunner, the rules have changed.
Last week, it was reported that Jeb Bush was on the phone asking for a $1 million to keep his campaign running.
Trump is a person politicians usually asked for financial help.
Who?
Will he name names?
Trump will probably keep quiet on this, to use later when the need arises.
Which Democrats will feel pressure to announce they asked him for money?
Or will they keep quiet about his candidacy, afraid he'll use their money seeking against them?

Jeb's Maginot Line

Jeb Bush is out of the race.
Unleash the flood of stories telling us why.
Politico has its piece on the blame game.
Let's go to the playbook.
On page after page kept safe in a binder, the playbook laid out a strategy for a race his advisers were certain would be played on Bush’s terms—an updated, if familiar version of previous Bush family campaigns where cash, organization and a Republican electorate ultimately committed to an electable center-right candidate would prevail.
Except the playbook had nothing to say about Trump.Those pivotal days in late August were one of the most critical inflection points for Bush’s troubled presidential campaign—the moments when Bradshaw, Kochel and Diaz might have reconsidered the assumptions made months earlier and redirected their candidate. They didn’t, because that redirection wasn’t part of the playbook.
“You cannot run a political campaign and not have the ability to adapt, to pivot,” one longtime Bush donor who has supported all five of the family’s presidential campaigns. “To sit there and say, ‘We have a book,’ just shows the immaturity."
In 1940, the French had a plan for defending against Germany.
They weren't ready for the reality of Germany's plan.
Jeb's team wasn't ready for the reality of 2016.

A stick of dynamite in Washington

Byron York talks with Trump supporters to find out their desires going forward.
"I think we need a stick of dynamite in Washington," one of Trump's supporters told me a few days ago at an event in Walterboro. "I think he's it."
Get ready for the boom.

Where we stand this morning

Jeb's run is done.
All that super PAC money went to TV ads that didn't produce votes.
Mark Steyn looks at how the outsiders stand this morning.
The difference between Trump's hijacking of the GOP primary and Sanders' attempt to do likewise to the Democrats is the difference between a fellow who means it and a guy who lacks the killer instinct.

Down memory lane

Concord University honored the men's basketball team that won its conference 25 years ago.
That team won the West Virginia Conference and advanced to the NAIA national tournament.
The current team, which won Saturday, plays in the Mountain East Conference in Division II.
As the local sports reporter, I traveled with the 1991 team in a bus to Kansas City.
Today, those players returned to their college gym with wives and children - men who did well in sports and are doing well in their lives.
It's good to relive memories of 25 years ago, and watch people making new memories.

#FreeStacy

Stacy McCain is in trouble with Twitter again.
Account suspended without notice why?
Will it quiet the Other McCain?
Not when his friends rise up in support.

Saturday song

Have the time of your life with Jennifer Warner and Bill Medley.