Speaking at—and of—the GOP convention…
This article reminded me of something that hadn’t been in the forefront of my mind: the GOP convention will be held in three weeks.
Three weeks. That’s pretty soon.
So, who will come, and who will be speaking? Will it be the Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Jeff Sessions, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin festival? All the members of the GOP who have backed Trump enthusiastically could dance on the head of a pin, although they’re not angels.
The rest—even those who have reluctantly said they’d vote for him—are not exactly eager to be his shills and stand up and speak for him at the convention. Why would they be? They don’t want to go down with what they perceive at the moment to be a sinking ship.
And yet Trump seems to want to threaten them with the non-specter of their non-appearance:
Trump told The New York Times he wouldn’t invite Senator Cruz or Governor Kasich to speak at the convention unless they endorsed him.
The response from Cruz and Kasich? Go for it:
Ted Cruz and John Kasich have a message for Donald J. Trump: They don’t care if they are not invited to speak at his convention.
That is fine, both said on Monday. A spokeswoman for Mr. Cruz, Catherine Frazier, said the Texas senator did not have any expectation about receiving a speaking slot. A spokesman for Mr. Kasich, the governor of Ohio, was similarly indifferent.
“We have not sought nor are we expecting a speaking slot at the convention,” said the spokesman, Chris Schrimpf.
Speaking at the convention is ordinarily considered a primo opportunity to get exposure and earn points both with the party and the public. Donald Trump’s supporters love him for his attacks, but one of the many results of the candidacy of an outsider who has trashed the party and the other candidates, and yet is the nominee of that very same party, is that the convention might possibly be either a fracas or lonely embarrassment or both. Trump is showman enough to perhaps be able to surmount the difficulties, and the “burn it down” crowd is only too happy to see the GOP suffer—but, well, let’s just say the convention should be “interesting.”
Trump may have to get out of thinking that his defeated rivals are losers who he can fire like the apprentices on his show, the Apprentice.
For some guy in his 7th decade of American “youth”, guy has some habits he doesn’t want to break.
Nope, Politics is more like a military alliance, where enemies can become friends, friends can become rivals, and victory in war is pinpointed on how many vassals think you worthy to serve or help.
Smart gop candidates will not allow even a whiff of a suggestion that they support djt, no matter how timidly. Connections to the donald will taint any and all who kiss his hand.
I decided to formally renounce my lifetime membership with the NRA over the leadership’s endorsement of trump. IMO the NRA should have taken a position of neutrality; instead they embraced a person as anti 2nd Amendment as hrc. And it is not a question of demanding purity that neoneocon often mentions, its a matter of first principles.
Goes right along with campaigning on trashing the GOPe and its donor class, and then wanting the GOPe and its donors to help pay for his campaign. Tough sell there, Sir Donald. Actions do have consequences. Forethought might’a’ been a splendid idea.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Time for Trump to Put Up or Shut Up
Jonah Goldberg
National Review
June 24, 2016
Excerpt:
“That was back when Trump’s was the great self-funder. But he changed his mind a while ago. He wants help now, but it’s not forthcoming.
“It seems strange that all of those super-rich friends would be eager to donate during the primaries but now have empty pockets. Perhaps such offers never happened. Or, maybe, no one wants to hand money to a guy who insists he could easily self-fund the whole thing with a fraction of his alleged wealth.”
End Excerpt
O*U*C*H — Left off the link:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/437037/donald-trump-campaign-broke-trump-really-rich?target=author&tid=897
Why would anyone allow someone on the stage at the convention that has not endorsed them? That has consistently refused to do so and wants to use the platform at the convention to weaken the Republican candidate? What a dumb move that would be.
If Cruz and Kasich can’t get over themselves, then who wants them there? Not me.
I’d be perfectly satisfied with Palin, Christie, Carson, Sessions, Hunter, Gingrich, Giuliani, and others who are supporters of Trump.
Can’t wait for July’s convention!
K_E,
Its a two way street, not a dead end one way street that ends at trump tower where the donald shoots someone and loses not a single supporter. Djt was the self funding purist beholden to no one. Now he expects others to provide hundreds of millions for the general. He viciously attacked his primary opponents with boorish insults, slander, and weird conspiracy tall tales. Now he excepts them to kowtow to him and swallow any sense of principles or pride. In my experience that dog don’t hunt.
Enjoy the circus trump while it lasts. You earned it.
And oh,, K_E,
Cruz and milquetoast Kasich have already stated they have zero interest in a slot at the circus donald podium.
I expect the convention will be the debut of Vice President Apprentice.
“Why would anyone allow someone on the stage at the convention that has not endorsed them?”
Party unity
Optics
Networking
Assistance to lower-ticket candidates
Well Nick, all that goes out the window. Djt simply does not give a sh#t about unity, networking, and the down ticket. As far as optics are concerned, for the donald, he is the YUGE optic along with his daughter that he wants to _____.
There is no charted depth to how low he can go. His fan boys are in djt verbage sad. Those who believe they must reluctantly support him are whistling past the graveyard. They are burning bridges because there is no future beyond 11/16 Their energy would be better spent telling the delegates and gop office holders from their state, and the rnc, that trump must be dumped in Cleveland.
K_E:
I think you missed the point.
The point is not whether anyone wants them there. The point is that Trump threatened to not let them speak unless they endorsed him. They don’t want to endorse him and they don’t want to speak at the convention, so what kind of a threat is that?
IIRC, Trump didn’t want to agree to support the nominee of the Republican Party (unless it was him) because he did not believe the party would treat him “fairly”. Then he embarked on the most scurrilous, sleazy, vile campaign of dishonest, baseless smears, rumors and innuendo against any candidate he felt was a threat to him. I’ve never seen the likes of it before in my long lifetime.
Of course, the media loved it and supported him. He was assassinating the character of all the really strong conservatives that could have taken Hillary down.
The GOP should unite and put all their resources into keeping the House and especially the very vulnerable Senate. Let the “self-funded”, despicable blowhard fend for himself. He’s already boasted he doesn’t need conservatives and that women, blacks, Latinos, and the LGBTQWERTY all love him, so how can he lose?
Another interesting thing: there will have to be a VP choice in the next three weeks. Typically, conventions have a VP day, which features his first (and last) major speech. The VP choice is often the driver of a post-convention bump. Will that be diminished if Trump speaks every day, as he’s apparently said he will?