The Nuclear Option: Donald Trump Built a Juggernaut and Had the Media Pay for It

by CHARLES HURT10 Feb 2016

Why does the mainstream media heap such scorn and disbelief on Donald Trump over his promise to build a great wall along the border with Mexico — and make Mexico pay for it? After all, Donald Trump has built a winning presidential campaign — and made the media pay for it.

Mr. Trump’s second place finish in Iowa gave respite to the legions of media pundits and establishment flunkies who suffer the worst forms of Donald Trump Derangement Syndrome. They braced for a huge blow-out win in the Corn State. When it didn’t happen, it was like an executioner’s gun jamming. First they flinched, then they blinked a few times and then got up and ran like their hair was on fire.

Ever since, of course, they have been gloating and crowing — from a safe distance — that Donald Trump failed. King Midas had finally touched something and turned it into silver, instead of gold.

This, to be sure, is every bit as delusional as the derangement syndrome that has captivated their sanity for six months now. What Donald Trump pulled off in Iowa was nothing short of miraculous.

The last time a secular, loud, brash New Yorker who was leading in all the national polls faced Iowa Republican voters — former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 2008 — he got truly schlonged. Mr. Giuliani came in sixth place with only 4 percent of the vote.

Donald Trump came in second place with an astonishing 24 percent of the vote. He was just 3.3 percentage points behind Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) of Texas, who won the race by shamelessly pandering to the state’s huge evangelical population, which has determined the outcome of every Republican caucus there since at least 2000.

If Rudy Giuliani had done as well in Iowa as Trump did, the media would have declared him the winner and he very likely would rushed through New Hampshire and South Carolina on waves of positive press and his ultimate gambit of winning it all in Florida very likely could have worked. In other words, if Mr. Giuliani had done as well as Mr. Trump did in Iowa, we quite possibly would be referring to him now as former President Giuliani.

But the media hatred for Mr. Trump is so unrestrained that even a stellar accomplishment like he had in Iowa was dismissed as a shattering loss. And Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’s third place loss behind Mr. Trump was spun endlessly as some kind of huge victory. This propelled the Florida Republican, until his poor performance in last weekend’s robotic performance in the New Hampshire debate.

What is so amazing about Mr. Trump’s blowout in the nation’s first primary in the Granite State is not just the 2-to-1 win over the next-nearest competitor, but his performance among every demographic group on every single issue.

Among women, middle-aged voters, the elderly, the educated — all people the experts warned would flee from Donald Trump — Mr. Trump managed to win. And he won on every major issue, including the economy, foreign policy and immigration.

Perhaps the sweetest thing out of New Hampshire is how the media will be forced to spin the results. They will, of course, try to minimize Mr. Trump’s thumping.

Then they will be forced to breathe wind into Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s disappointing — but surprising — second-place finish. The Kasich campaign is hopeless going forward. And so the battle rages on for the so-called “establishment lane” with Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and even Ted Cruz piled up behind John Kasich’s hopeless campaign.

Live by the spin, die by the spin.

Charles Hurt can be reached at charleshurt@live.com. Follow him on Twitter at @charleshurt.

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The Nuclear Option: Donald Trump Built a Juggernaut and Had the Media Pay for It

by CHARLES HURT10 Feb 20163138

Why does the mainstream media heap such scorn and disbelief on Donald Trump over his promise to build a great wall along the border with Mexico — and make Mexico pay for it? After all, Donald Trump has built a winning presidential campaign — and made the media pay for it.

Mr. Trump’s second place finish in Iowa gave respite to the legions of media pundits and establishment flunkies who suffer the worst forms of Donald Trump Derangement Syndrome. They braced for a huge blow-out win in the Corn State. When it didn’t happen, it was like an executioner’s gun jamming. First they flinched, then they blinked a few times and then got up and ran like their hair was on fire.

Ever since, of course, they have been gloating and crowing — from a safe distance — that Donald Trump failed. King Midas had finally touched something and turned it into silver, instead of gold.

This, to be sure, is every bit as delusional as the derangement syndrome that has captivated their sanity for six months now. What Donald Trump pulled off in Iowa was nothing short of miraculous.

The last time a secular, loud, brash New Yorker who was leading in all the national polls faced Iowa Republican voters — former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 2008 — he got truly schlonged. Mr. Giuliani came in sixth place with only 4 percent of the vote.

Donald Trump came in second place with an astonishing 24 percent of the vote. He was just 3.3 percentage points behind Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) of Texas, who won the race by shamelessly pandering to the state’s huge evangelical population, which has determined the outcome of every Republican caucus there since at least 2000.

If Rudy Giuliani had done as well in Iowa as Trump did, the media would have declared him the winner and he very likely would rushed through New Hampshire and South Carolina on waves of positive press and his ultimate gambit of winning it all in Florida very likely could have worked. In other words, if Mr. Giuliani had done as well as Mr. Trump did in Iowa, we quite possibly would be referring to him now as former President Giuliani.

But the media hatred for Mr. Trump is so unrestrained that even a stellar accomplishment like he had in Iowa was dismissed as a shattering loss. And Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’s third place loss behind Mr. Trump was spun endlessly as some kind of huge victory. This propelled the Florida Republican, until his poor performance in last weekend’s robotic performance in the New Hampshire debate.

What is so amazing about Mr. Trump’s blowout in the nation’s first primary in the Granite State is not just the 2-to-1 win over the next-nearest competitor, but his performance among every demographic group on every single issue.

Among women, middle-aged voters, the elderly, the educated — all people the experts warned would flee from Donald Trump — Mr. Trump managed to win. And he won on every major issue, including the economy, foreign policy and immigration.

Perhaps the sweetest thing out of New Hampshire is how the media will be forced to spin the results. They will, of course, try to minimize Mr. Trump’s thumping.

Then they will be forced to breathe wind into Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s disappointing — but surprising — second-place finish. The Kasich campaign is hopeless going forward. And so the battle rages on for the so-called “establishment lane” with Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and even Ted Cruz piled up behind John Kasich’s hopeless campaign.

Live by the spin, die by the spin.

Charles Hurt can be reached at charleshurt@live.com. Follow him on Twitter at @charleshurt.

Read More Stories About:

Big Government, Big Journalism, 2016 Presidential Race, Donald Trump,immigration, New Hampshire, John Kasich,rudy giuliani

The Nuclear Option: Donald Trump Built a Juggernaut and Had the Media Pay for It

by CHARLES HURT10 Feb 20163138

Why does the mainstream media heap such scorn and disbelief on Donald Trump over his promise to build a great wall along the border with Mexico — and make Mexico pay for it? After all, Donald Trump has built a winning presidential campaign — and made the media pay for it.

Mr. Trump’s second place finish in Iowa gave respite to the legions of media pundits and establishment flunkies who suffer the worst forms of Donald Trump Derangement Syndrome. They braced for a huge blow-out win in the Corn State. When it didn’t happen, it was like an executioner’s gun jamming. First they flinched, then they blinked a few times and then got up and ran like their hair was on fire.

Ever since, of course, they have been gloating and crowing — from a safe distance — that Donald Trump failed. King Midas had finally touched something and turned it into silver, instead of gold.

This, to be sure, is every bit as delusional as the derangement syndrome that has captivated their sanity for six months now. What Donald Trump pulled off in Iowa was nothing short of miraculous.

The last time a secular, loud, brash New Yorker who was leading in all the national polls faced Iowa Republican voters — former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 2008 — he got truly schlonged. Mr. Giuliani came in sixth place with only 4 percent of the vote.

Donald Trump came in second place with an astonishing 24 percent of the vote. He was just 3.3 percentage points behind Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) of Texas, who won the race by shamelessly pandering to the state’s huge evangelical population, which has determined the outcome of every Republican caucus there since at least 2000.

If Rudy Giuliani had done as well in Iowa as Trump did, the media would have declared him the winner and he very likely would rushed through New Hampshire and South Carolina on waves of positive press and his ultimate gambit of winning it all in Florida very likely could have worked. In other words, if Mr. Giuliani had done as well as Mr. Trump did in Iowa, we quite possibly would be referring to him now as former President Giuliani.

But the media hatred for Mr. Trump is so unrestrained that even a stellar accomplishment like he had in Iowa was dismissed as a shattering loss. And Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’s third place loss behind Mr. Trump was spun endlessly as some kind of huge victory. This propelled the Florida Republican, until his poor performance in last weekend’s robotic performance in the New Hampshire debate.

What is so amazing about Mr. Trump’s blowout in the nation’s first primary in the Granite State is not just the 2-to-1 win over the next-nearest competitor, but his performance among every demographic group on every single issue.

Among women, middle-aged voters, the elderly, the educated — all people the experts warned would flee from Donald Trump — Mr. Trump managed to win. And he won on every major issue, including the economy, foreign policy and immigration.

Perhaps the sweetest thing out of New Hampshire is how the media will be forced to spin the results. They will, of course, try to minimize Mr. Trump’s thumping.

Then they will be forced to breathe wind into Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s disappointing — but surprising — second-place finish. The Kasich campaign is hopeless going forward. And so the battle rages on for the so-called “establishment lane” with Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and even Ted Cruz piled up behind John Kasich’s hopeless campaign.

Live by the spin, die by the spin.

Charles Hurt can be reached at charleshurt@live.com. Follow him on Twitter at @charleshurt.

Read More Stories About:

Big Government, Big Journalism, 2016 Presidential Race, Donald Trump,immigration, New Hampshire, John Kasich,rudy giuliani

Donald Trump Vows to Be ‘The Greatest Jobs President God Ever Created’

Joe/Raedle Getty

by ALEX SWOYER9 Feb 2016Manchester, NH226

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — GOP frontrunner Donald Trump entered his New Hampshire Primary Party along with his family, to a welcome from roughly a thousand supporters cheering his victory.

“Oh! Wow, wow, wow! So beautiful!” he said in response to the cheers.

“We are going to Make America Great Again,” Trump told his supporters after winning the New Hampshire GOP primary on Tuesday. The crowd cheered more.

“I want to thank everybody, but I really have to begin by paying homage to my parents,” Trump said.

Trump then thanked his wife Melania for her support, saying “She said right from the beginning, ‘You know, if you run, you know you’re going to win.” Trump went on to thank his children as well.

Following his family, Trump thanked his employees, first naming his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski.

“Does Corey have a ground game or what?” Trump said to the crowd. “We learned a lot about ground games in one week,” he added, referencing how he came in second in Iowa.

“We have to thank the candidates – we have some really talented people,” Trump said of the fellow GOP candidates. “A number of them called, and I just wanted to thank them.”

“We have some real talent in the Republican Party,” he added.

“We want to thank the people of New Hampshire,” the real estate mogul told his supporters. “We love you, we’re going to be back a lot.” Trump told them to remember, “You started it!”

The crowd responded chanting, “TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP!”

“I heard parts of Bernie’s speech,” Trump said of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) who won the New Hampshire Democrat primary, defeating Hillary Clinton. “He wants to give away our country, folks.”

Trump vowed to make America great again “the old fashioned way” by beating China, Japan, and Mexico on trade deals.

He said he believes the fact that he is “self-funding my campaign” really caught on with voters.

Trump said of the current politicians making deals for America, “They’re making them for their benefit,” but with Trump as president, “We’re going to make the deals for the American people.”

He vowed to be the “greatest jobs president that God ever created.”

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Big Government, 2016 Presidential Race,Donald Trump, New Hampshire

Donald Trump Vows to Be ‘The Greatest Jobs President God Ever Created’

Joe/Raedle Getty

by ALEX SWOYER9 Feb 2016Manchester, NH226

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — GOP frontrunner Donald Trump entered his New Hampshire Primary Party along with his family, to a welcome from roughly a thousand supporters cheering his victory.

“Oh! Wow, wow, wow! So beautiful!” he said in response to the cheers.

“We are going to Make America Great Again,” Trump told his supporters after winning the New Hampshire GOP primary on Tuesday. The crowd cheered more.

“I want to thank everybody, but I really have to begin by paying homage to my parents,” Trump said.

Trump then thanked his wife Melania for her support, saying “She said right from the beginning, ‘You know, if you run, you know you’re going to win.” Trump went on to thank his children as well.

Following his family, Trump thanked his employees, first naming his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski.

“Does Corey have a ground game or what?” Trump said to the crowd. “We learned a lot about ground games in one week,” he added, referencing how he came in second in Iowa.

“We have to thank the candidates – we have some really talented people,” Trump said of the fellow GOP candidates. “A number of them called, and I just wanted to thank them.”

“We have some real talent in the Republican Party,” he added.

“We want to thank the people of New Hampshire,” the real estate mogul told his supporters. “We love you, we’re going to be back a lot.” Trump told them to remember, “You started it!”

The crowd responded chanting, “TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP!”

“I heard parts of Bernie’s speech,” Trump said of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) who won the New Hampshire Democrat primary, defeating Hillary Clinton. “He wants to give away our country, folks.”

Trump vowed to make America great again “the old fashioned way” by beating China, Japan, and Mexico on trade deals.

He said he believes the fact that he is “self-funding my campaign” really caught on with voters.

Trump said of the current politicians making deals for America, “They’re making them for their benefit,” but with Trump as president, “We’re going to make the deals for the American people.”

He vowed to be the “greatest jobs president that God ever created.”

Read More Stories About:

Big Government, 2016 Presidential Race,Donald Trump, New Hampshire

Second Place Remains Wide Open in New Hampshire Polls, with Donald Trump in First

Associated Press

by JORDAN SCHACHTEL7 Feb 2016117

Five different polls have been published Sunday indicating that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is the heavy favorite to win Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.

However, full-scale battle for second place has emerged, with establishment candidatesSen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jeb Bush, and Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) consistently polling in the double-digits, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), an anti-establishment conservative, also polling favorably.

Meanwhile, support in the Granite State for outsider candidates Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson continue to fall, as the two candidates continue to poll in the single digits, along with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

The poll results do not reflect the outcome of Saturday night’s ABC News debate, as the surveys were gathered beforehand.

In the five polls, Trump averaged 32 percent. Kasich averaged 12 percent, Rubio averaged 15 percent, Bush averaged 10 percent, Christie averaged 5 percent, Fiorina averages 3.5 percent, and Carson averaged 2.5 percent.

Trump leads all the polls. But Rubio gets three second-places and two third-place scores, including tied scores. Kasich gets two second-place finishes, Bush gets one third-place score.

Below is a summary of where the Republican candidates placed in the five polls released Sunday, ranked by their finish in the following polls in order:Monmouth, CNN/WMUR, Boston Herald/FPU, Umass/7News, ARG.

Donald Trump: 1(+16); 1(+17); 1(+15); 1(+22); 1(+14)

Sen. Marco Rubio: T3; 2; 3; 2; T2

Sen. Ted Cruz: 4; 3; 2; 3; 5

Gov. John Kasich: 2; 4; 4; 5; T2

Jeb Bush: T3; 5; 5; 4; T4

Gov. Chris Christie: 6; 7; 6; T6; 6

Carly Fiorina: 7; 6; 7; 7; 7

Dr. Ben Carson: 8; 8; 8; 8; 8

On the Democratic side, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) maintains his lead in New Hampshire. However, a Boston Herald/FPU poll among likely voters said his lead is down to only 7 percentage points. A loss in New Hampshire would be a devastating blow to the Vermont Senator, who has, since early January, been a favorite to win the state’s delegates.

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Donald Trump: ‘I Am a Unifier’ for a Fractured Nation

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

by ALEX SWOYER5 Feb 2016Washington, DC244

Donald Trump said that he is a “unifier” who will bring the fractured nation together.

“I bring people together,” Trump stated. “I am a unifier … You will see our country is going to come together,” he vowed.

Trump suggested that President Barack Obama is a divider, adding that right now in the country, “Everybody hates everybody.”

The GOP frontrunner spoke at a campaign rally in Florence, South Carolina on Friday night. “It’s a movement,” Trump said about attendance at his large rallies. He said his supporters can take the country back, adding “We’re going to run our country intelligently.”

Trump referred to politicians as “blood suckers” who take money from donors and special interests. He said he is the only candidate on the Democrat or Republican side who is self-funding his own campaign.

Trump talked about the incoming migrants from the Middle East, saying it could be a “Trojan horse” for terrorism, because the refugees cannot be vetted properly. He also said Christianity is under siege and stressed the threat of radical Islamic terrorism.

Trump focused on his ability to make great deals for the country, said that “not the right people [are] negotiating our deals.”

He said the Second Amendment is “vital to protect.” He touched on illegal immigration, promising, “We’re going to have strong borders again. We’re going to have the wall.”

Trump referenced the recent Iowa caucus where he placed second to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). “I think we did great. The people of Iowa are tremendous,” Trump said. “I think we should have come in first … a lot of things happened there,” he added, referencing the controversy between Dr. Ben Carson and the Cruz campaign telling caucus goers that Carson was “suspending campaigning” ahead of the votes.

“Isn’t it funny, I came in a strong, strong second. Third was quite a distance away,” Trump said of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who placed third, losing to Trump by roughly 2,000 votes.

“I think I came in first, I’ll be honest,” Trump said about coming in second in Iowa, “But honestly it doesn’t matter. We got a lot of delegates.”

Trump said this week he is focused on New Hampshire, and then next week he will focus on South Carolina.

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