Tag: Ben Carson

Donald Trump Bandwagon Keeps Rolling

The Donald Trump bandwagon rolled through Nevada last night on the way to Super Tuesday I with a convincing win in the Republican Party caucuses.

Trump captured 45.9% of the vote, nearly doubling the 23.9% that went to second place Marco Rubio. Ted Cruz again finished in third place with 21.4% while Ben Carson and John Kasich were in the low single digits.

With each victory, Trump demonstrates the strength of his candidacy and further worries the Republican Party establishment.

And the Republican Party establishment has a right to be worried since only 27% of nationwide voters identify themselves as Republicans in 2016 and over 50% of those voters say they are dissatisfied with their party in exit polls.

Marco Rubio appears to be the only so-called Republican establishment candidate left with a chance to beat Trump, but being the choice of the establishment doesn’t appear to be a plus this year.

After real voting began, the quick exit from the race by Jeb Bush, the establishment’s first choice, shows how little voters pay attention to the Republican National Committee and political endorsements.

American voters are disgusted with government, especially the federal government, and Trump is capitalizing on that disgust.

The federal government has demonstrated little fiscal discipline since Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society legislation passed in the mid 1960’s. Our national debt is $19 trillion now. It was less than $1 trillion when Ronald Reagan took office in 1981.

Reagan swept into office in the 1980 election by proclaiming ‘government isn’t the solution to the problem, government is the problem.’ Of course, Reagan promised to reduce the deficit and balance the budget, neither of which he did.

Reagan swept into office in the 1980 election by proclaiming ‘government isn’t the solution to the problem, government is the problem.’ Of course, Reagan promised to reduce the deficit and balance the budget, neither of which he did.

Continue Reading →

Donald Trump Wins South Carolina Republican Primary

Donald Trump scored another resounding primary victory by being the choice of South Carolina Republican voters Saturday.

This is another nail in the coffin of the Republican establishment.

If the South Carolina vote proves one thing, it is the Republican establishment is in real trouble this election year. Fully 53% of voters in the Republican primary said, in exit polls, they felt betrayed by incumbent Republican politicians.

Trump, who is definitely an outsider, and Ted Cruz, who is considered an outsider by Republican politicos, garnered 54.8% of the total vote.

With 99% of the vote in, Trump had 32.6%, Marco Rubio, 22.4%, Ted Cruz 22.3%, Jeb Bush 7.9%, John Kasich 7.6% and Ben Carson 7.2%.

Trump also was the top vote getter in 44 of the 46 South Carolina counties. Only Richland and Charleston counties, both of which went to Rubio, kept Trump from a clean sweep.

Jeb Bush, the candidate most closely aligned with the Republican Party establishment, finished a poor fourth and announced he was suspending his campaign. Despite having both his brother, former president George W, and his mother in the state to stump for him, Jeb’s campaign went nowhere.

I guess we can conclude, even this most conservative Republican state is tired of the Bushes.

Another candidate who had a disappointing night was Ted Cruz who finished in third place. If Cruz, who loves to pander to the evangelical vote, can’t do better than third place in this heavily evangelical state, I would think his days are numbered.

Horry County led Trump support with fully 49% of the total vote going to Trump. This is another indication that it’s the year of the outsider in politics.

More than any other county in South Carolina, Horry County, with its large transplant and retired population, is indicative of the mood of voters in the nation. More than 50% of the population in Horry County is transplants from all over the eastern half of the United States.

Continue Reading →

Republican Presidential Primary Saturday

After nearly two weeks of non-stop mudslinging, Republican presidential primary candidates can sit back and see whose negative ads were most successful.

Or maybe not.

Voters will go to polls Saturday February 20 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to vote for the Republican of their choice. The Democratic presidential primary is Saturday February 27.

Those voters who cast a ballot in the Republican primary are not eligible to also vote in the Democratic primary.

Acceptable forms of ID to vote are driver’s license or other DMV ID, passport, military ID, or SC voter registration card.

I have spoken to several staunch Republicans in Horry County who plan to forego their own party’s primary in order to vote for Bernie Sanders in a week. As a group they support Donald Trump and feel confident in their favorite’s ability to win the South Carolina primary without their vote. Instead, they are in a “stop Hillary” frame of mind.

If polls are to be believed, Trump is on his way to a second straight primary victory. Ted Cruz is currently polling ahead of Marco Rubio for second with Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Ben Carson rounding out the field in that order.

Personally, I see Trump winning with Rubio scoring a surprise second and Cruz third. Rubio remains the choice of a majority of the Republican establishment while the Bush campaign continues to founder.

But, it looks more like a brokered convention is in the offing for the Republicans, the only hope that keeps the Bush candidacy alive.

Continue Reading →