Friday, April 15, 2016

"The Donald" In His Own Words...



Donald J. Trump's WSJ Op-Ed

*  *  *

On Saturday, April 9, Colorado had an “election” without voters. Delegates were chosen on behalf of a presidential nominee, yet the people of Colorado were not able to cast their ballots to say which nominee they preferred.

A planned vote had been canceled. And one million Republicans in Colorado were sidelined.

* WELL...

(*SHRUGGING*)

* IT'S NOT REALLY THAT SIMPLE...

* BUT HIS LARGER POINT IS CORRECT, I BELIEVE; PRIMARIES ARE BEST; CLOSED PRIMARIES BETTER STILL; REGISTERED REPUBLICAN VOTERS GOING TO THE POLLS TO DIRECTLY CHOOSE THEIR CANDIDATES; REGISTERED DEMOCRATS GOING TO THE POLLS TO DIRECTLY CHOOSE THEIR CANDIDATES.

(*ANOTHER SHRUG*)

In recent days, something all too predictable has happened: Politicians furiously defended the system.

“These are the rules,” we were told over and over again.

If the “rules” can be used to block Coloradans from voting on whether they want better trade deals, or stronger borders, or an end to special-interest vote-buying in Congress — well, that’s just the system and we should embrace it.

* HE'S GOOD...

(*SHRUG*)

* NOT SURE WHETHER THE WSJ DEMOGRAPHIC IS GONNA BUY IT... BUT IF "SOUNDBITES" FROM THIS OP-ED GO VIRAL IT'S GONNA HELP HIM.

Let me ask America a question: How has the “system” been working out for you and your family?

* BINGO!

I, for one, am not interested in defending a system that for decades has served the interest of political parties at the expense of the people. Members of the club — the consultants, the pollsters, the politicians, the pundits and the special interests — grow rich and powerful while the American people grow poorer and more isolated.

(*NOD*)

No one forced anyone to cancel the vote in Colorado. Political insiders made a choice to cancel it. And it was the wrong choice.

* FUNDAMENTALLY... HE'S RIGHT. RATHER THAN ARGUE ABOUT THE WORD "CANCEL," ALLOW ME TO SIMPLY POINT TO THE FACT THAT TRUMP IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT IN HIS LARGER POINT THAT THE PARTIES AREN'T REALLY CONTROLLED BY REGISTERED PARTY MEMBERS BUT RATHER BY "COMMITTEE MEMBERS." AND, YES... THESE "COMMITTEE MEMBERS" ARE "ELECTED." IN THEORY AT LEAST. BUT IN REALITY... WHICH IS WHERE TRUMP IS FOCUSED... A TINY, TINY, TINY POOL OF "INSIDERS" CONTROLS HOW OUR PARTIES FUNCTION. AND HOW OUR PARTIES FUNCTION IMPACTS HOW OUR GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS.

Responsible leaders should be shocked by the idea that party officials can simply cancel elections in America if they don’t like what the voters may decide.

* I KNOW THAT ON TUESDAY I'LL GO TO MY NYS POLLING PLACE AND CAST MY BALLOT - FOR TRUMP. OTHERS WILL CAST THEIR BALLOT FOR CRUZ. STILL OTHERS WILL CAST THEIR BALLOT FOR KASICH. AT LEAST HERE IN NEW YORK I - AS A REPUBLICAN - HAVE SOME IMPACT. (AS FOR THE DEMOCRATS IN NEW YORK... THAT'S A DIFFERENT STORY; EVEN IF BERNIE CAN COME FROM BEHIND TO WIN... HE'LL STILL LOSE WHEN IT COMES TO ACTUAL DELEGATES BECAUSE OF THE "SUPER-DELEGATE" SCAM THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY RUNS.)

The only antidote to decades of ruinous rule by a small handful of elites is a bold infusion of popular will. On every major issue affecting this country, the people are right and the governing elite are wrong. The elites are wrong on taxes, on the size of government, on trade, on immigration, on foreign policy.

* YEP... PRETTY MUCH!

Why should we trust the people who have made every wrong decision to substitute their will for America’s will in this presidential election?

Here, I part ways with Sen. Ted Cruz.

Mr. Cruz has toured the country bragging about his voterless victory in Colorado.

For a man who styles himself as a warrior against the establishment (you wouldn’t know it from his list of donors and endorsers), you’d think he would be demanding a vote for Coloradans. Instead, Mr. Cruz is celebrating their disenfranchisement.

* LISTEN. THIS IS POLITICS. THIS IS A COMPETITION. OBVIOUSLY TRUMP'S CRITIQUE OF CRUZ IS "POLITICAL." THAT SAID... WERE I ADVISING CRUZ... I'D BE ADVISING HIM TO ECHO TRUMP!

* THIS IS CRUZ'S MAIN PROBLEM: HE DOESN'T ECHO TRUMP WHEN TRUMP IS RIGHT. HE SHOULD. (HE'D STILL HAVE THE COLORADO DELEGATES IF HE DID... PLUS... HE'D SHARE THE "MORAL HIGH GROUND" WITH TRUMP ON THE BASIC ISSUE OF "FAIRNESS" IN TERMS OF "PROCESS!")

Likewise, Mr. Cruz loudly boasts every time party insiders disenfranchise voters in a congressional district by appointing delegates who will vote the opposite of the expressed will of the people who live in that district.

* ON SECOND... OR THIRD OR FORTH... BALLOT; NOT ON THE FIRST BALLOT. AGAIN... IF TRUMP CAN'T REACH 1,237 THEN I BELIEVE A RUN-OFF BETWEEN THE TWO LEADERS IS PERFECTLY IN KEEPING WITH NOT ONLY "FAIRNESS," BUT, CLEARLY, AMERICAN TRADITION.

That’s because Mr. Cruz has no democratic path to the nomination. He has been mathematically eliminated by the voters.

* TRUE. BUT, AGAIN... THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 1,237. TRUMP SHOULD BE LESS CONCERNED WITH CRUZ'S "MATHEMATICAL PATH" THAN WITH HIS OWN.

(*SHRUG*)

While I am self-funding, Mr. Cruz rakes in millions from special interests. Yet despite his financial advantage, Mr. Cruz has won only three primaries outside his home state and trails me by two million votes — a gap that will soon explode even wider.

Mr. Cruz loses when people actually get to cast ballots.

* WELL... WE'D HAVE TO DO THE MATH ON THE STATES WHERE THERE ARE CLOSED PRIMARIES vs. OPEN PRIMARIES AND CAUCUSES.

Voter disenfranchisement is not merely part of the Cruz strategy — it is the Cruz strategy.

* TRUMP GOES TOO FAR HERE. THAT SAID... THIS IS A COMPETITION; A NASTY ONE AT THIS POINT. NEITHER MAN IS A SAINT. EITHER MAN WOULD MAKE A GOOD PRESIDENT... CERTAINLY A BETTER PRESIDENT THAN ANY OTHER CANDIDATE... CERTAINLY BETTER THAN CLINTON OR SANDERS.

The great irony of this campaign is that the “Washington cartel” that Mr. Cruz rails against is the very group he is relying upon in his voter-nullification scheme.

* BOTH OF YOU WILL "ALIGN" WITH WHOMEVER YOU FEEL YOU HAVE TO FOR REAL-TIME ADVANTAGE. (AGAIN... TRUMP IS SIMPLY WAGING A CAMPAIGN WITH THESE CRITIQUES OF CRUZ.)

My campaign strategy is to win with the voters. Ted Cruz’s campaign strategy is to win despite them.

* AGAIN... JUST AS AN AMERICAN WHO WANTS THIS COUNTRY SAVED FROM BOTH THE LEFTISTS AND THE RINOs... I DON'T BELIEVE TRUMP'S RHETORIC HERE IS HELPFUL TO THE GREATER CAUSE.

What we are seeing now is not a proper use of the rules, but a flagrant abuse of the rules.

* HE'S RIGHT! BUT... THE FULL TRUTH IS... THIS "ABUSE" WAS ORIGINALLY ENGENDERED AS A MEANS OF SUPPORTING THE BUSH CANDIDACY BACK IN AUGUST OF 2015. THE "RIGGING" OF COLORADO HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH CRUZ.

(*SHRUG*)

Delegates are supposed to reflect the decisions of voters, but the system is being rigged by party operatives with “double-agent” delegates who reject the decision of voters.

* AGAIN... I SEPARATE THE "1,237" FIRST BALLOT MAJORITY (WHICH IS NECESSARY FOR A FIRST BALLOT WIN) FROM WHAT HAPPENS IF NO CANDIDATE CAN REACH THAT "MAGIC NUMBER."

The American people can have no faith in such a system. It must be reformed.

Just as I have said that I will reform our unfair trade, immigration and economic policies that have also been rigged against Americans, so too will I work closely with the chairman of the Republican National Committee and top GOP officials to reform our election policies. Together, we will restore the faith — and the franchise — of the American people.

* HEY... IT'S A GOOD LINE! AND "BIG PICTURE"... I SUPPORT HIM IN THIS! (JUST AS I'D BE SUPPORTING CRUZ WERE HE THE ONE SAYING THE SAME THING!)

We must leave no doubt that voters, not donors, choose the nominee.

(*NOD*)

How have we gotten to the point where politicians defend a rigged delegate-selection process with more passion than they have ever defended America’s borders?

* AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH...!!!

Perhaps it is because politicians care more about securing their private club than about securing their country.

* AGAIN... TRUTH...!!!

My campaign will, of course, battle for every last delegate. We will work within the system that exists now, while fighting to have it reformed in the future. But we will do it the right way. My campaign will seek maximum transparency, maximum representation and maximum voter participation. We will run a campaign based on empowering voters, not sidelining them.

Let us take inspiration from patriotic Colorado citizens who have banded together in protest. Let us make Colorado a rallying cry on behalf of all the forgotten people whose desperate pleas have for decades fallen on the deaf ears and closed eyes of our rulers in Washington, D.C.

* WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU IN AUGUST OF 2015?

(*SMIRK*)

* FOLKS... FELLOW TRUMP SUPPORTERS... LET'S GET REAL: TRUMP SCREWED UP IN COLORADO. (UNLESS... UNLESS... HE DELIBERATELY ALLOWED THIS TO HAPPEN JUST SO HE'D HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO RAIL AGAINST IT...)

The political insiders have had their way for a long time. Let 2016 be remembered as the year the American people finally got theirs.


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