“If in 96 days Trump loses this election, I am pointing the finger directly at people like Paul Ryan.”
— Sean Hannity, quoted by Yahoo News.
Ryan’s Challenger Suggests Deporting All Muslims
Paul Nehlen (R), who is running against Speaker Paul Ryan (R) in a Wisconsin primary and has been praised by Donald Trump, told a radio station that the United States should have a “discussion” about deporting all Muslims from the United States.
Said Nehlen: “The question is, why do we have Muslims in the country?”
Clinton Surges to Huge National Lead
A new McClatchy-Marist poll finds Hillary Clinton has surged to a 15-point lead over “reeling, gaffe-plagued” Donald Trump, 48% to 35%.
Said pollster Lee Miringoff: “This is coming off the Democratic convention, where a bounce is expected. What you don’t want is to have the worst week of your campaign.”
A new WSJ/NBC poll shows Clinton leading by 9-point lead, 47% to 38%.
Trump Won’t Name Any Women for Cabinet Except Ivanka
In an interview with First Coast News, Donald Trump declined to name any possible women he would name to his cabinet, instead naming his daughter Ivanka and the woman interviewing him as possible cabinet members.
Said Trump: “I can tell you everybody would say, ‘Put Ivanka in, put Ivanka in,’ you know that, right? She’s very popular, she’s done very well, and you know Ivanka very well. But there really are so many that are really talented people — like you, you’re so talented, but I don’t know if your viewers know that.”
Pence Won’t Endorse McCain or Ayotte Either
Gov. Mike Pence declined to endorse Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) or Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) in their re-election bids while talking to reporters en route to a campaign stop in Virginia, NBC News reports.
Said Pence: “I look forward to supporting Republican candidates in the days and weeks ahead all over the country, and so does Donald Trump. But the stakes in this election are so high. To restore our country and home and abroad, we need new leadership, and I’m looking forward to standing should to shoulder with Donald Trump to drive that new leadership forward.”
Pence also said that he sees “eye to eye” with Donald Trump on their views of the Khan family, the current iteration of the Muslim ban and Russia’s alleged role in the hacking of DNC emails.
Graham Says Trump Is Campaigning Against Himself
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that Donald Trump main rival is himself, Politico reports.
Said Graham: “From what I can tell, they don’t have a strategy to effectively exploit Hillary Clinton’s weaknesses. If you really focused on Hillary Clinton’s weaknesses and the Obama economy’s weaknesses, you would change these numbers. That means you have to focus on your opponent and your opponent is not John McCain, Kelly Ayotte, Paul Ryan. Your opponent right now, Mr. Trump, is yourself.”
Trump Repeats Claim He Saw Non-Existent Video
“Despite Donald Trump’s claim of having seen video footage of the $400 million cash delivery to Iran having been acknowledge as false by his own campaign, the Manhattan billionaire kicked off a rally Thursday afternoon by repeating the tall tale,” Politico reports.
Ryan Won’t Rescind Endorsement of Trump
Speaker Paul Ryan declined to rescind his endorsement of Donald Trump, making his first comments on his latest flare-up with the Republican candidate since Trump refused to back the Wisconsin congressman in his re-election race, the New York Times reports.
Ryan said Mr. Trump won the party’s nomination “fair and square” and deserved the support of Republican elected leaders.
Said Ryan: “We are a party where the grass-roots Republican primary voter selects our nominee. And I think there’s something to be said about respecting those voters.”
What Really Holds Republicans Together
Jonathan Chait: “As careful studies of the tea-party movement revealed, what animated Republican voters was a fear of cultural change. Their anti-statism was confined to programs that seemed to benefit people other than themselves. Racial resentment and ethnocentrism, not passion for limited government, drove the conservative base.”
“Almost alone within the party, Trump understood this. That is why his comically long list of ideological deviations never hurt him. Trump’s racism demonstrated to most Republican voters that he stood with them on the essential divide that ordered their political world — one defined by identity more than ideology.”
“In the conservative elite’s imagination, the romanticized history of the tea-party revolt — a story of liberty-loving Americans rising up against Big Government excess — still prevails. It is a story that attributes the party’s extraordinary opposition to the president’s policies, not to the primal fears he aroused. Trump has not only disproven the conservative movement’s theory of its own base. He’s disproven its history of the Obama presidency.”
Ex-GOP Senator Will Back Clinton
Former Sen. Gordon Humphrey (R-NH) tells NBC News that he will vote for Hillary Clinton if that’s what it takes to prevent his own party’s nominee, Donald Trump, from winning the White House.
Said Humphrey: “I am ever more confirmed in my belief that Trump is a sociopath, without a conscience or feelings of guilt, shame or remorse. And he is pathologically insecure, recklessly attacking anyone who does not confirm him as the best there is.”
He added: “To imagine Trump in charge of our armed forces at a moment of crisis is frightening.”
Google Gets It
Quote of the Day
“We just came out our convention, and yeah he’s had a pretty strange run since the convention. You would think you oughta be focusing on Hillary Clinton, on all of her deficiencies. She is such a weak candidate that one would think we’d be on offense against Hillary Clinton, and it is distressing that that’s not what we’re talking about these days.
— Speaker Paul Ryan, in an interview with WTAQ.
State Poll Roundup: Thursday
Here are some of the latest state polls of the presidential race:
Florida: Clinton 48%, Trump 42% (Suffolk)
Michigan: Clinton 41%, Trump 32% (Detroit News)
New Hampshire: Clinton 47%, Trump 32% (WBUR/MassInc)
Pennsylvania: Clinton 49%, Trump 38% (Franklin & Marshall)
This post will be updated throughout the day and occasionally bumped up to the top of the news feed.
GOP Lawmaker Runs Against Trump
Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) has released a new television commercial in which he promises to “stand up” to Donald Trump, his party’s presidential nominee.
The Election Is Slipping Away from Trump
Karl Rove: “No one on Team Trump—especially not the principal—appears to have a plan for what messages to emphasize and when. No one seems charged with watching what Mrs. Clinton says so the candidate can quickly volley back. No one restrains Mr. Trump before he activates his Twitter account. Ad hoc may be freewheeling and fun, but it often leads to defeat.”
“The White House is not out of reach for Mr. Trump, who now trails by 4.5% in the Real Clear average. But victory is slipping away. If he has more weeks like the dreadful past two, the gap between him and Mrs. Clinton is likely to widen and never close again.”
One Less Battleground State
Politico: “With a clear lead in the polls, demographic advantages, and a rival who is out of sync with local GOP leaders, Hillary Clinton is beginning to put some distance between her campaign and Donald Trump, raising the prospect that Colorado, a pivotal swing state, is too far gone for Trump to catch up.”
“No one close to the Clinton team is ready to say the state’s nine electoral votes are in their column. But with just over three months until Election Day, Clinton and her allies are showing outward signs of self-assurance here by all-but cutting Colorado out their recent ad buys.”
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “We are moving Colorado from Leans Democratic to Likely Democratic.”
A Precipice Awaits Trump on Current Path
Sean Trende: “In short, it does feel like the wheels are coming off of the Trump train. I can’t help but remind myself that we’ve been here before, but we’re entering the heart of the campaign, when people are finally tuning in. This time really is different, and Trump doesn’t seem to understand (or care) that if the campaign is about him, he has a very good chance of losing…”
“In the end, we do have to remember that it is only August, that the “fundamentals” of elections – the economy, presidential job approval, incumbency, and so forth – do not give Democrats much, if any, advantage, and that there are plenty of events that could derail either campaign. While it certainly feels as though the Trump campaign is approaching a precipice, in reality that probably still lies a bit down the road. With that said, however, a precipice probably is what awaits him on his current path.”
Not Built for Speed
In an interview with the Washington Post, former Mitt Romney strategist Stuart Stevens compared Donald Trump’s campaign to a jalopy:
Most cars do fine at 40 or 50 miles an hour. But the test comes when you take it up to 100 mph and run it all day and night. That’s when problems emerge and things start to fall off. Conventions and post conventions is when campaigns must start to hit the high speeds necessary to compete in a general election. I don’t think Trump or the campaign is any worse or better than a couple of months ago. They were just driving slower. As the speed increases, they can’t keep it out of the ditch.
I often hear conversations in the Republican Party that are like being in a car needing to drive 100 miles with only 20 miles of gas left while debating the merits of stopping for gas. The car doesn’t care. It will go 20 miles and stop.
