GOP Implosion Accelerates in Motor City Wreck

[Geee]

National Review:

Detroit — It was not immediately clear which of the four remaining candidates won Thursday’s Republican presidential debate here. But there was no shortage of losers.

 

Marco Rubio, needing a strong performance to reassure donors and persuade voters ahead of Florida’s do-or-die primary on March 15, spoke with a hoarse voice that rendered him incapable of topping Donald Trump in their frequent shouting contests. He looked and sounded fatigued, and was outshone by Ted Cruz in the race to ridicule Trump.

 

Trump, who in the debate’s opening minutes assured the American people of his sufficient genitalia, was on the defensive from start to finish. Cruz, Rubio, and Fox News’s moderators skewered him relentlessly on his shifting positions, his allegedly shady business dealings, and his fitness for the presidency. At one point Megyn Kelly, reunited with Trump for the first time since they feuded at the first debate in August, quoted an appeals-court ruling that said Trump had acted like a “con artist” in administering Trump University and compared his victims to those who fell for Bernie Madoff’s infamous Ponzi scheme.

[Geee]

Trump Backers Should Not Complain about How the Game Is Played

 

When losing to the star of a reality TV show, is it really so crazy to resort to reality-show tactics to defeat him?

 

I’m not referring to Marco Rubio’s decision to fight fire with fire with Donald Trump and return insult for insult. I, for one, thought it was wholly appropriate for Rubio to give the schoolyard bully a taste of his own medicine. The evidence shows that Rubio’s attacks, while tardy, paid off. Voters not already enraptured with Trump are open to persuasion, and late deciders broke disproportionately for Rubio on Super Tuesday in most races.

 

Indeed, once again, most voters voted against Trump, not for him, and that’s where reality-show tactics come in.

Not counting Top Chef and Naked and Afraid, I’m not a big fan of reality shows, but I’ve watched my share of Survivor, The Bachelor, and even Trump’s own personal propaganda series, The Apprentice. It seems to me that in many of these shows, the game is played the same way: Groups form alliances. Sometimes these alliances are formal, often they are tacit and voluntary — but they are all temporary.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/432335/donald-trump-supporters-2016-republican-convention

[Geee]

A GOOD NIGHT FOR TED CRUZ; A GOOD ENOUGH NIGHT FOR DONALD TRUMP

Tonight’s Republican presidential debate was not a game-changer. In fact, I’m not sure it will have any impact on the race.

Obviously, this is a bad outcome for those of us who are anti-Trump, so I wish I could report otherwise. But I just didn’t see anything that seems likely to (1) cause Trump to lose support or even (2) cause the considerable anti-Trump sentiment in the party to deepen.

Here are my impressions and grades of the four candidates and Megyn Kelly, the fifth debater, who attacked Trump more effectively than anyone else tonight.

Donald Trump: He was the Alpha Male once again. He dominated the stage. He was untruthful and nasty, but less nasty than usual. He bragged about his anatomy.

He insisted that members of our military will obey illegal orders if he issues them because he is a great leader. He exudes confidence.

When Trump struggled, it was usually due to the questioning of Megyn Kelly (see below). Kelly isn’t running for president, though.

 

Grade: B

 

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2016/03/a-good-night-for-ted-cruz-a-good-enough-night-for-donald-trump.php

[Geee]

Trump Gives Another Hint About Abandoning Supporters on All Things Immigration

 

Last week, I pointed out that Donald Trump is a bit too comfortable with standard Democrat talking points regarding illegal immigration.

 

In Thursday's debate, he tip-toed to the left a little more.

 

Republican front-runner Donald Trump said Thursday he is softening his stance on visas for highly-skilled workers.

“I’m changing. We need highly-skilled people in this country,” Trump said during the Fox News Republican debate in Detroit. “If we can’t do it, we will get them in.”

 

Trump’s stance toward awarding H1-B visas is different from the one he takes on his campaign website, which argues that more visas for highly-skilled foreigners would “decimate American workers.”

 

“One of the biggest problems we have is people go to the best colleges … as soon as they’re finished, they get shoved out. They want to stay in this country," Trump said at the debate. "They want to stay here desperately. They’re not able to stay here. For that purpose, we absolutely have to be able to keep the brainpower in this country.”

 

Trump said he was now in favor of the H1B-visa program - despite what his website still says.

 

 

https://pjmedia.com/election/2016/03/03/trump-gives-another-hint-about-abandoning-supporters-on-all-things-immigration/

[Geee]

Donald Trump, rivals trade insults as Republican debate turns nasty

 

With a party civil war breaking out around him, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump on Thursday forcefully rejected any ties to racist groups and declared himself a willing negotiator who would, within limits, work with politicians in Washington to strike deals on immigration or any other issue.

 

He showed his first signs of “flexibility” on immigration, announcing that he was dropping his opposition to guest-worker programs and now wants to try to keep more foreign highly skilled workers in the U.S.

 

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“I’m changing it, and I’m softening the position,” Mr. Trump said as the remaining four candidates squared off in a debate in Detroit, adding that voters should thank him for changing his stances when he learns something new.

 

 

“I’ve never seen a successful person who wasn’t flexible, who didn’t have a certain degree of flexibility,” he said.

 

But that opened new questions about how far the billionaire businessman is willing to go in altering his campaign promises, such as building the border fence or deporting illegal immigrants.

 

His opponents said he could help ease those worries if he gave permission to The New York Times to release the tape of an off-the-record session he had with the newspaper, where he reportedly said he would be flexible.

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/3/donald-trump-rivals-trade-insults-republican-debat/

[Geee]

Ted Cruz's 5 Best Moments in Thursday's Debate

 

Ted Cruz racked up a powerful victory during Thursday night's Republican presidential debate in Detroit, Mich. Both Cruz and Marco Rubio attacked front-runner Donald Trump, but Cruz proved more adept. In a debate which opened with Trump discussing the size of his hands (and perhaps something else?), Cruz was able to dominate the narrative and win the hearts of viewers in a focus group with Frank Luntz.

 

https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/03/03/ted-cruzs-5-best-moments-in-thursdays-debate/

[Geee]

Donald Trump gets dismantled in Detroit

 

Donald Trump was dismantled in Thursday night's debate in Detroit.

 

In the face of consistent fire from Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and a tough line of questioning from Fox moderators, Trump struggled more than he has at any debate thus far.

 

The debate raised a number of doubts about Trump's trustworthiness, business practices and readiness to take on Hillary Clinton in the general election.

 

On his signature issue, Trump was forced to confirm that he would be flexible on immigration policy, and that he was "softening" his position on high-skilled immigrants.

He took heat from Rubio for employing foreign workers at his Florida hotel and manufacturing his clothing line overseas — a contrast with his campaign rhetoric of protecting the American worker.

Rubio also pointed out that whenever Trump is asked a detailed policy question, he resorts to insults to avoid the question, an attack that was reinforced as Trump repeatedly referred to his opponent as "little Marco."

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-gets-dismantled-in-detroit/article/2584922

[Geee]

Trump to Rubio: 'I guarantee you there's no problem' with bodily size

 

Donald Trump told Sen. Marco Rubio that his hand size does not correspond to the the size of his genitalia, giving viewers a "guarantee" that there is "no problem" during Thursday's GOP debate.

 

Trump responded to Rubio directly after the Florida senator argued that if any candidate should be mocked, it should be Trump after he went after candidates on the debate stage and the "disabled." Trump pushed back, saying that he takes back calling Rubio a "lightweight" before delving into Sunday's attacks from Rubio while he was on the campaign trail in Virginia.

 

"This campaign, for the last year, Donald Trump has basically mocked everybody with personal attacks. He's done so to people sitting on the stage today. He's done so to people who are disabled. He's done it with every other candidate in this race," Rubio said. "So if there's any candidate that's deserved to be attacked that way, it's been Donald Trump for the way he's treated people for the last campaign.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-to-rubio-theres-no-problem-with-bodily-size/article/2584907

 

____________________________

This was an OMG moment

[Geee]

9/11 Commission proved Trump wrong on hijackers' wives

 

Donald Trump's previously stated claim that the wives of the 9/11 hijackers fled the U.S. prior to the terrorist attack has been debunked multiple times since he first shared it last fall. Yet the newly minted politician shared the story again in Thursday's GOP debate.

 

The party front-runner said the families of embedded terrorists returned to Saudi Arabia in the days and weeks before the attack on Manhattan and Washington, D.C., while they could still leave the country without raising alarm among federal officials.

 

While Trump was quick to link the story to a terrorism discussion at the Fox News-sponsored debate, he did not touch on a clarifying follow-up report by the 9/11 Commission that found "there is no support for Trump's claims, as the report states that virtually all of the hijackers were unmarried."

 

Giving examples of other issues Trump has admitted to "changing his tune on," moderator Megyn Kelly asked Trump if he believed changing his mind was a flag to voters who sought consistency. Trump defended his changes of mind on other issues, but did not say why he continued to share the 9/11 story.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/911-commission-proved-trump-wrong-on-hijackers-wives/article/2584917

 

________________________________

 

This was another OMG moment!!!

[Geee]

Trump: 'I'm Changing' on Visas for Highly Skilled Workers

 

CNSNews.com) - Republican Donald Trump nows says "we need highly skilled people in this country," so he's "changing" and "softening" his position on H1-B visas.

 

At Thursday night's debate hosted by Fox News, moderator Megyn Kelly noted that Trump's campaign website says that more visas for highly skilled workers would "decimate American workers." But at one of the Republican debates, Trump "spoke enthusiastically in favor of these visas. So, which is it?" Kelly asked.

 

"I'm changing. I'm changing," Trump responded. "We need highly skilled people in this country, and if we can't do it, we'll get them in. But, and we do need in Silicon Valley, we absolutely have to have.

 

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/trump-im-changing-visas-highly-skilled-workers

[Geee]

People Are Freaking Out That Donald Trump Talked About His Manhood During The Debate

 

http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/03/people-are-freaking-out-that-donald-trump-talked-about-his-manhood-during-the-debate/

[Geee]

The Donald Turns Into a Pumpkin

 

The spectacle made me ill. On screen I watched decades of work by conservative institutions, activists, and elected officials being lit aflame not only by the New York demagogue but by his enablers who waited until the last possible moment to criticize and try to stop him. And even then it may be too late.

 

http://freebeacon.com/columns/the-donald-turns-into-a-pumpkin/

[Geee]

Trump won’t release the off-the-record tapes

 

Donald Trump says he will not consider releasing the tapes from his off-the-record conversation with The New York Times.

 

News outlets have speculated that the tape features Trump partially disavowing his stated immigration plan.

 

“I may have discussed something like that with The New York Times, but I would never release off-the-record conversations,” Trump told Fox News’s Megyn Kelly in their first on-stage interaction since their infamous August debate face-off. “I don’t think it’s fair.”

 

Trump compared his own ability to make deals to rival Ted Cruz’s day-and-a-half-long filibuster of ObamaCare in 2013.

 

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/271744-trump-wont-release-the-off-the-record-tapes

[Geee]

Trump and Cruz argue over who's a bigger liar

 

Ted Cruz and Donald Trump got into an extended argument during Thursday night's Republican debate over who is the bigger liar.

 

"You know, Donald has a tenuous relationship with the truth," Cruz said, after the GOP front-runner accused him of being the biggest supporter of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who upheld Obamacare twice.

 

Trump had just argued that Cruz was the prime mover behind Roberts's nomination. Cruz did in fact write an op-ed supporting Roberts after he was nominated by then-President George W. Bush, but the Texas senator said he wouldn't have made the nomination himself.

 

"That's not what you said in the op-ed," Trump said before adding his nickname for Cruz: "Lying Ted."

 

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/271755-trump-and-cruz-argue-over-whos-a-bigger-liar

[Valin]

Question for the T-Bots

Let me see if I've got this straight. You are are mad at the RINO's, Crony Capitalist, The Establishment, Illegal Immigration, so in order to punish them you support someone who is not a Republican, someone who engages in Crony Capitalism, hires Illegal Immigrants, claims here's a Deal Maker, but then insults everyone who we needs to make a deal with? Have I got this correct?

 

 

And people wonder why I call you idiots.

[nickydog]

:

Detroit — It was not immediately clear which of the four remaining candidates won Thursday’s Republican presidential debate here. But there was no shortage of losers.

 

Marco Rubio, needing a strong performance to reassure donors and persuade voters ahead of Florida’s do-or-die primary on March 15, spoke with a hoarse voice that rendered him incapable of topping Donald Trump in their frequent shouting contests. He looked and sounded fatigued, and was outshone by Ted Cruz in the race to ridicule Trump.

 

Trump, who in the debate’s opening minutes assured the American people of his sufficient genitalia, was on the defensive from start to finish. Cruz, Rubio, and Fox News’s moderators skewered him relentlessly on his shifting positions, his allegedly shady business dealings, and his fitness for the presidency. At one point Megyn Kelly, reunited with Trump for the first time since they feuded at the first debate in August, quoted an appeals-court ruling that said Trump had acted like a “con artist” in administering Trump University and compared his victims to those who fell for Bernie Madoff’s infamous Ponzi scheme.

 

 

This is a very accurate synopsis of how it was. Painful to watch last night and painful to read this morning.