Donald J. Trump, the New York billionaire, has the political world on a string. If he wins Ohio and Florida on March 15 (as I write, polls have him leading in both states), Trump will emerge as the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee. Typing that sentence six months ago was fantastical. Six years ago and […]
Archives
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Trump. How Did We Get Here?
09 Mar 2016
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GOP Debate Tweets
04 Mar 2016
Cruz–interesting attack against Trump. Does he know the principles that made American great first. He should be asked that. #GOPDebate — Mark Caleb Smith (@markcalebsmith) March 4, 2016 Cruz–we have beaten Donald Trump again and again. Weak sauce when Trump has him 10-4 in state victories. #GOPDebate — Mark Caleb Smith (@markcalebsmith) March 4, 2016 […]
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Trump: The Cultural Costs of the New Normal
23 Feb 2016
Donald Trump (R-NY) is working his way toward the Republican presidential nomination. His opponents may still derail him, of course, but his sustained performance–he has been the front-runner since August–suggests there is a sizable portion of the Republican electorate that sees Trump as not only tolerable, but preferable. Exit polls reveal several possible explanations. Voters […]
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Trump Wins SC, Now Clear Front-runner
20 Feb 2016
Donald Trump decisively won (33%) the South Carolina Republican presidential primary on Saturday, seizing the standard as the G.O.P.’s front-runner. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, as I write, are battling for second and third (with 22% each), while Jeb Bush (8%), John Kasich (8%) and Ben Carson (7%) rounded out the field. Given the results, […]
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Iowa Results: Why They Matter and Why They Don’t
02 Feb 2016
Iowa, a slice of the heartland, has spoken, but not in a single, predictable voice. Iowa’s exalted place as America’s first presidential nomination contest is more an accident of history than a badge of merit. But, every four years we gather, at the bottom of the mountain and await our tablets, carved upon by our […]
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Expect a Raucous Caucus in Iowa
01 Feb 2016
The Des Moines Register released its final poll on Saturday. For Republicans, Donald Trump still leads (28%) the horserace, with Ted Cruz close behind (23%). Marco Rubio has moved up to third (15%). The pollster, J. Ann Selzer has some caveats. She argues that while Trump leads, Cruz seems more consistently aligned with the electorate. […]
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Republicans on the Brink
22 Jan 2016
“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” H.L. Mencken Perhaps the moment will melt in the snows of Iowa and New Hampshire, dissolved for all but those obsessed with electoral trivia. Paul Tsongas, Phil Gramm, and Pat Robertson were major players for […]
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If only all news coverage resembled Wes Anderson films. Here is CNN's take on the #SOTU in Anderson's style. https://t.co/jpatTzm2Oo — Mark Caleb Smith (@markcalebsmith) January 13, 2016 #SOTU always strikes me as too monarchical as we practice it. Far too much adulation of the president–any president–in this setting. — Mark Caleb Smith (@markcalebsmith) January […]
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Seventeen Republicans have thrown their tam o’ shanters into the presidential ring and as we just passed Labor Day, the race is still in flux. Expect it to stay that way at least until January, and even then, there will be movement and surprises. The figure above is a rough sketch of average polling […]