Delaware Liberal

Monday Open Thread [8.22.16]

Delaware Dem

OHIO–PRESIDENT–CBS/YouGov–Clinton 46, Trump 40
IOWA–PRESIDENT–CBS/YouGov–Clinton 40, Trump 40
SOUTH CAROLINA–PRESIDENT–Brietbart/Gravis–Trump 41, Clinton 37
SOUTH CAROLINA–PRESIDENT–Brietbart/Gravis–Trump 39, Clinton 38

Ruth Marcus on the disgusting ploy from Trump that is still in its early stages.

Donald Trump — he who likes to fly home at night in the comfort of his own plane to sleep in the comfort of his own bed — is at it again on the question of Hillary Clinton’s stamina, or alleged lack thereof.

“To defeat crime and radical Islamic terrorism in our country, to win trade in our country, you need tremendous physical and mental strength and stamina,” he said in Wisconsin. “Hillary Clinton doesn’t have that strength and stamina.”

And a day earlier, in case you missed it, “Importantly, she also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS, and all the many adversaries we face.”

It’s obvious what’s going on here. The strength-stamina combo is a gender-age twofer, a double whack at Clinton for the price of one. Strength, what men have and women lack; stamina, with its intimations of go-all-night virility. Clinton, in this depiction, is both a weak girl and a dried-up old crone.

“Fewer than a third of Republican members of the Politico Caucus — a panel of activists, strategists and operatives in 11 key battleground states — believe Trump’s reshuffling will move the campaign in the right direction. Just as many, 31 percent, say the installation of Breitbart News executive Stephen Bannon as campaign CEO and pollster Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager, represent a turn for the worse.”

New York Times: “Since 2010, Republican governors and Republican-held state legislatures have fought for stricter voter identification laws, which Democrats argue are intended to hinder turnout by the poorest voters, many of them black and Hispanic, who tend to vote Democratic.”

“But Mr. Trump’s language has moved beyond his party’s call for rigid identification requirements and the unfounded claims that polls are “skewed” to predictions of outright theft of the November election. And his warnings have been cast in increasingly urgent and racially suggestive language, hinting that the only legitimate outcome in certain states would be his victory.”

A New York Times investigation published on Saturday reveals that U.S.-based real estate companies owned by Trump are at least $650 million in debt. Only half this amount was disclosed in the public F.E.C. filings Trump completed in order to run for president.

Donald Trump “is leaning heavily on Republican Party organizations to provide crucial campaign functions like getting out the vote, digital outreach and fund-raising, at a time when some leading Republicans have called for party officials to cut off Mr. Trump and focus instead on maintaining control of Congress,” the New York Times reports.

“Despite an influx of campaign cash from small donors in July, Mr. Trump’s operation still largely resembles the bare-bones outfit that he rode to victory during the primary season, more concert tour than presidential campaign, according to interviews and documents filed with the Federal Election Commission through Saturday night. And some Republicans believe he is effectively out of time to invest in the kind of large-scale infrastructure that the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, will bring to the polls in November.”

Matt Taibbi: “Like the old adage about quarterbacks – if you think you have two good ones, you probably have none – this basically means we have no credible news media left. Apart from a few brave islands of resistance, virtually all the major news organizations are now fully in the tank for one side or the other.”

“The last month or so of Trump-Hillary coverage may have been the worst stretch of pure journo-shilling we’ve seen since the run-up to the Iraq war. In terms of political media, there’s basically nothing left on the air except Trump-bashing or Hillary-bashing.”

Politico: “Donald Trump campaign’s boasts of a formidable fundraising month in July spooked Democrats who feared their financial advantage could be slipping. But a closer inspection of the campaign finance report filed just before Saturday’s midnight deadline indicates the haul came at a steep price, and the campaign was still not dedicating resources to catching up on building the staff and field organization that all previous presidential efforts have required.”

“The money that the Trump campaign raised also didn’t come cheap. The campaign more than doubled its spending from the previous month to $18.5 million in July, far more than in any other period of the campaign. But most of that money went toward expanding the campaign’s online fundraising operation.”

“Hillary Clinton has reserved nearly $80 million in additional television advertising across eight key states in coming months… offering both a window into how the Democrat sees the presidential contest shaping up and a reminder of her dominance on the airwaves in the the race against Republican Donald Trump,” the Washington Post reports.

“The campaign is targeting Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In addition, Clinton is continuing to advertise in the Omaha market in Nebraska, one of only two states that awards its electoral votes based on performance in congressional districts.”

“The Trump campaign, by contrast, launched its first general-election TV ad last week, saying it planned to spend $4.8 million on a 10-day buy in four states: Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.”

Donald Trump “began preparing on Sunday for his first general election debate against Hillary Clinton, with a meeting at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J.,” the New York Times reports.

“Roger Ailes, the former Fox News chairman who helped prepare George Bush to debate Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential race, is advising Mr. Trump as he begins to focus on the debate, scheduled for Sept. 26 at Hofstra University on Long Island.”

Jim Rutenberg in the New York Times says Sean Hannity is officially advising the Trump campaign:

“But Mr. Hannity is not only Mr. Trump’s biggest media booster; he also veers into the role of adviser. Several people I’ve spoken with over the last couple of weeks said Mr. Hannity had for months peppered Mr. Trump, his family members and advisers with suggestions on strategy and messaging.”

“So involved is Mr. Hannity that three separate denizens of the hall of mirrors that is Trump World told me they believed Mr. Hannity was behaving as if he wanted a role in a possible Trump administration — something he denied to me as laughable and contractually prohibitive in an interview on Friday.”

Bye Felicia.

“It’s very hard to find someone to mimic the reckless temperament and the hateful instincts and divisive instincts of Donald Trump.” — Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook, quoted by Politico, on not yet finding someone to play Trump for debate preparation.

Just have someone stand there and read the comments sections of right wing websites.

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