All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Not anymore. There are a few who come close, but none can get past the McConnel/Ryan bulwark that protects Trump.

Once upon a time, I might've said John McCain, but he vacillates too much between being a so-called "maverick" and a loyal drone who dutifully toes the party line. Jeff Flake from Arizona has been steadfast in his opposition of Orange Foolius, but he's quitting, beyond him, I can't think of too many who have the gravitas in the GOP, not to mention the balls to stand up to Trump without getting trounced by Turtle Boy and Eddie Munster, not to mention Faux News.

[JBatmanFan05]

I can't think of too many who have the gravitas in the GOP, not to mention the balls to stand up to Trump without getting trounced by Turtle Boy and Eddie Munster, not to mention Faux News.

If Ted Cruz wanted an all out assault on Trump, he could maybe find some success. He'll always have passionate base supporters. Flake, McCain, Romney, Graham, Kasich, etc...really unpopular with the GOP base. You saw polls where some were more popular with Dems than Repubs.

[Ship]

Now who is going to win the ontario general election? Everyone seems to dislike Wynne and i decided to check some polls and the PC were winning in ontario

The PCs aren't out of it yet. If they can find the right leader they may be able to pull it off. Brown never polled very well with women so they now have the chance to find someone with broader appeal. Christine Elliott and Caroline Mulroney are two names that have been mentioned. Elliott is a former leadership candidate for the party but lost to Brown despite having the support of most of caucus. Mulroney is the daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney and is due to be a candidate in the upcoming election, but has no political experience so probably not her.

[JCAll]

If Ted Cruz wanted an all out assault on Trump, he could maybe find some success. He'll always have passionate base supporters. Flake, McCain, Romney, Graham, Kasich, etc...really unpopular with the GOP base. You saw polls where some were more popular with Dems than Repubs.

I thought that's what was going to happen during the primary, instead Cruz immediately folded and reverted to boot-licking toady mode the second someone wiggled their fingers where his spine was supposed to be.

[ZombieHavoc]

If Ted Cruz wanted an all out assault on Trump, he could maybe find some success.

I'm pretty sure I'd rather have Trump. Maybe. Almost. Not really sure.

I do remember Seth Meyers saying that he really liked Ted Cruz when he interviewed him and was really surprised by that. Who knows.

[ZombieHavoc]

I thought that's what was going to happen during the primary, instead Cruz immediately folded and reverted to boot-licking toady mode the second someone wiggled their fingers where his spine was supposed to be.

A fleeting moment of almost having guts?:

[JBatmanFan05]

I thought that's what was going to happen during the primary, instead Cruz immediately folded and reverted to boot-licking toady mode the second someone wiggled their fingers where his spine was supposed to be.

The ultimate problem for Cruz was/is too much overlap with his base vs Trump's. Cruz and a few others are basically the Senate versions of House Freedom Caucusers and they stick close to Trump (and have won more influence by doing so).

A fleeting moment of almost having guts?:

Any Cruz supporters hearing that and interpreting it to mean don't vote for Trump vs Hillary....many were probably bothered by that suggestion/inference and many didn't do that, which would have hurt their opinion of Cruz. Cruz supporters by and large took defeating Hillary very seriously. They realized she needed to lose. Again, overlap in bases and base policies/priorities.

I'm pretty sure I'd rather have Trump. Maybe. Almost. Not really sure.

I shall count this as your "Vote Trump 2020" endorsement.

[worstblogever]

I thought that's what was going to happen during the primary, instead Cruz immediately folded and reverted to boot-licking toady mode the second someone wiggled their fingers where his spine was supposed to be.

Ted Cruz, if he were to jump into a 2020 GOP Primary, would attack Trump for banging a porn star behind his wife's back.
Trump would argue why that was smart, and the GOP would have a war between the Evangelical wing and anyone too sexist or dug in on Trump. It would be an unqualified disaster for both.

I'm for this.

[JBatmanFan05]

Ted Cruz, if he were to jump into a 2020 GOP Primary, would attack Trump for banging a porn star behind his wife's back.

I tend to think Ted might look past 2020 to 2024 (assuming he still has those ambitions). If he tries 2020, I think he and many will try to take different less confrontational or subtler approaches to Trump than we saw in 2015/2016. Things have changed, people have been humbled, lessons learned. I think Ted might try more a Kasich approach to Trump if he ever tries to run against Trump again. What didn't work with Kasich (whose policies were unpopular with the base) might work with Cruz.

[ZombieHavoc]

I tend to think Ted might look past 2020 to 2024 (assuming he still has those ambitions). If he tries 2020, I think he and many will try to take different less confrontational or subtler approaches to Trump than we saw in 2015/2016. Things have changed, people have been humbled, lessons learned.

I don't know about Cruz, but I would not bet any money on Trump in the primaries being humbled. I'm pretty sure the lesson he learned was make fun of everyone endlessly. If a republican does primary Trump, I assume it will be waaaaay more confrontational on Trump's part than last time. The other candidate, whoever it might be, might take a different approach though, given Trump's low approval and how they would be essentially trying to court the non-Trump or the...voted Trump just bc he was the R candidate...wing of the right.

[PaulBullion]

Good for McGahn, the White House counsel,
.

If Trump had persisted, McGahn would have been McGone!

[PaulBullion]

We're hearing that McGrath would have followed example of Nixon's AG Elliott Richardson and resigned.

Sugar Ray was an extremely popular band for a while, but I doubt that Mark McGrath wield that kind of power.

[TheInvisibleMan]

Sugar Ray was an extremely popular band for a while, but I doubt that Mark McGrath wield that kind of power.

frosted tips wield much influence

[Malvolio]

Donald Trump prepared to apologise for UK far-right video retweets

Anyone actually believes he either didn't know when he made the retweets? More like either way he just didn't care.

If you re-tweet someone else's words, without comment, you are implying that you agree with their words. If you disagree, SAY SO IN THE RE-TWEET!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I thought that's what was going to happen during the primary, instead Cruz immediately folded and reverted to boot-licking toady mode the second someone wiggled their fingers where his spine was supposed to be.

And that was after Trump insulted Cruz's wife and intimated (via an article from the goddamn National Enquirer) that his daddy was mixed up in the JFK assassination. Any man with a backbone would've gone nuclear on Trump and waxed his bulbous orange ass, but what did Teddy Holy Roller do? He put his lips on said ass and supported Cheeto Jesus after he became the GOP's candidate. Endlessly pathetic!