Trump: I don't know if Obama was born in US

[Mr. Morden]

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/247473-trump-i-dont-know-if-obama-was-born-in-us

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Meanwhile, Trump is continuing to curry favor with the RNC by, uh, accusing the Priebus of "probably" leaking a phone call they had:

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/247467-trump-rnc-chairman-probably-leaked-call

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[Morning in Atlas]

He also seems to be blatantly pandering to the racist vote.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

He made a comment about Cruz not being born in the US. If Cruz was the frontrunner, you can bet he'd be full birther there, too.

[pbrower2a]

Does a heavily-viewed document from the State of Hawaii showing "Barack Obama, Jr." born to "Barack Hussein, Sr.", race "African" and Stanley Ann Dunham, race "Caucasian" mean anything to these people? Or are all official documents suspect?

How do I know that Donald Trump was not born in the Netherlands?

[Mr. Morden]

And here's the latest round of Trump attacks on his competitors for the nomination:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-leads-2016-republican-presidential-candidates-new-poll-finds/

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[Vega]

And here's the latest round of Trump attacks on his competitors for the nomination:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-leads-2016-republican-presidential-candidates-new-poll-finds/

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Isn't that what Trump wants to do?

[WVdemocrat]

And here's the latest round of Trump attacks on his competitors for the nomination:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-leads-2016-republican-presidential-candidates-new-poll-finds/

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Isn't that what Trump wants to do?

No, he wants to bomb everybody's oil, you see.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Trump needs to somehow be trumped.  He could singlehandedly give Hillary Clinton the keys to the White House if he doesn't shut up.  The Republicans don't need any help at sabotaging their own campaigns.  That, and there's talk of him considering running as an Indy in the general if he doesn't win the GOP nomination.

[Tender Branson]

"Donald, du bist ein gscheita Mann mit Hausverstand. Du verstehst wos von da Wüatschaft und hast 1000e Jobs g'schaffn. Und des olles mit dein Göjd und nit mit "taxpayer money". Lass di ned unterkriegn von de Gewerkschafter und de Parteifunktionääääre und bleib da selber treu. Your friend FRANK."

[Simfan34]

...who is that, and what is he saying?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Trump needs to somehow be trumped.  He could singlehandedly give Hillary Clinton the keys to the White House if he doesn't shut up.  The Republicans don't need any help at sabotaging their own campaigns.  That, and there's talk of him considering running as an Indy in the general if he doesn't win the GOP nomination.

Delicious, delicious blowback. Were Republican leaders truly so stupid they thought that embracing the worst parts of American society was something they could flip a switch on?

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

I can't wait until the August Republican debate featuring Trump.

[CountryClassSF]

Trump needs to somehow be trumped.  He could singlehandedly give Hillary Clinton the keys to the White House if he doesn't shut up.  The Republicans don't need any help at sabotaging their own campaigns.  That, and there's talk of him considering running as an Indy in the general if he doesn't win the GOP nomination.

Might do well for the establishment to stop attacking him then and setting him off.  He's speaking a real truth about immigration, I couldn't care less what his opinion on the birth certificate is.

The press, in this case, invited him to talk about the birth certificate, and he's not making it a focus of the campaign this time, and he's said that 100 times at least.

Trump probably won't get the nomination, but if it helps move the field in the right direction on amnesty, I'm all for him staying in the race as long as possible.

If he pulls a Perot, it will be the establishment's own fault for abusing conservatives.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I can't wait until the August Republican debate featuring Trump.

That will be quite the spectacle.  I envy those in the audience that evening.

[Incipimus iterum]

I'll just Post this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdEiCGyLlGk

[Leinad]

I don't care if Obama was born on the moon. His mother was a citizen at the time of his birth, so he is, too, even if those very official-looking documents were a clever forgery. Even if he wasn't, it doesn't really matter as much as his policies and actions. The whole birther argument is a diversion (even by political media standards, where most stories are diversions and sensationalism), for both Obama and Cruz.

Trump has absolutely zero chance. He's doing well in some polls, yes, but he's hit his ceiling. The majority of people, even in the Republican party, wouldn't vote for him. It's just disaffected people who want a non-politician and hate Mexicans. Also, he's not socially conservative, so the anti-establishment voters who want a socially conservative candidate will go to someone like Cruz after the Donald's announcement bump fizzles out.

But I agree it would be very fun to see him in the debates.

Trump needs to somehow be trumped.  He could singlehandedly give Hillary Clinton the keys to the White House if he doesn't shut up.  The Republicans don't need any help at sabotaging their own campaigns.  That, and there's talk of him considering running as an Indy in the general if he doesn't win the GOP nomination.

If he runs as an independent, I agree, that would be a big help for Hillary. But I don't see how his primary run makes the Republicans look bad. If they consistently oppose his more extreme views, he'll actually make them look saner and more mainstream to moderate independent swing-voters.

Donald Trump's out calling Mexican's "rapists." Ted Cruz doesn't look as crazy as he did to some before.

And here's the latest round of Trump attacks on his competitors for the nomination:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-leads-2016-republican-presidential-candidates-new-poll-finds/

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I love how Trump is running. He's always good for some headlines and narrative that no other candidate would produce.

[Senator Cris]

LOL this guy.
And the fact that this guy is in the lead in the recent polls is really depressing.

[Fuzzy Bear]

LOL this guy.
And the fact that this guy is in the lead in the recent polls is really depressing.

I think people need to consider WHY Trump is in the lead.  It's the same reason why Bernie Sanders is posing a real threat to Hillary Clinton.

http://buchanan.org/blog/trump-and-the-gop-border-war-16224

Pat Buchanan is right on this.  Trump, and his unlikely soul-mate, Bernie Sanders, are the two candidates in the race who, each in their way, are posing challenges to the Political Class that has produced two Bushes and is trying for a third Bush or a second Clinton in a 24 year period.  This is unprecedented; one family raised to the level of a dynasty and another family raised up as a foil, each to embody one of the two parties. 

Trump and Sanders represent a rebellion of people, left, right, and center, who note that the will of the people is rarely manifested by the actions of government.  The will of the people is to build a border fence; it's still not there.  The will of the people is to control the amount of corporate interest in the political process; we now have CITIZENS UNITED.  The will of the people is for our nation to stay out of foreign involvements that don't constitute a threat to our REAL national security; we've had Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  The people want manufacturing jobs in America; we have NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, and TPP.  Some of this is simplistic, but the Beltway Political class has, time and again, frustrated popular legislation and initiatives because it's against THEIR interests, and the interests of their corporate sponsors. 

We may, in the end, have Jeb v. Hillary.  That will be a disheartening election for me in that both of them are greed-tested, corporate-approved, and I'll have to choose between the lesser of two evils and not enjoy either choice.  Trump and Sanders are offering real choices.  It's why they have people's attention.

[Leinad]

LOL this guy.
And the fact that this guy is in the lead in the recent polls is really depressing.

I think people need to consider WHY Trump is in the lead.  It's the same reason why Bernie Sanders is posing a real threat to Hillary Clinton.

http://buchanan.org/blog/trump-and-the-gop-border-war-16224

Pat Buchanan is right on this.  Trump, and his unlikely soul-mate, Bernie Sanders, are the two candidates in the race who, each in their way, are posing challenges to the Political Class that has produced two Bushes and is trying for a third Bush or a second Clinton in a 24 year period.  This is unprecedented; one family raised to the level of a dynasty and another family raised up as a foil, each to embody one of the two parties. 

Trump and Sanders represent a rebellion of people, left, right, and center, who note that the will of the people is rarely manifested by the actions of government.  The will of the people is to build a border fence; it's still not there.  The will of the people is to control the amount of corporate interest in the political process; we now have CITIZENS UNITED.  The will of the people is for our nation to stay out of foreign involvements that don't constitute a threat to our REAL national security; we've had Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  The people want manufacturing jobs in America; we have NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, and TPP.  Some of this is simplistic, but the Beltway Political class has, time and again, frustrated popular legislation and initiatives because it's against THEIR interests, and the interests of their corporate sponsors. 

We may, in the end, have Jeb v. Hillary.  That will be a disheartening election for me in that both of them are greed-tested, corporate-approved, and I'll have to choose between the lesser of two evils and not enjoy either choice.  Trump and Sanders are offering real choices.  It's why they have people's attention.

You've got it spot-on, although I'll add that Trump isn't the only "alternative" to Jeb. Rand Paul is my choice for an alternative, but Ted Cruz is one who I think can get the broad spectrum of conservatives better than Rand or Trump. Mike Huckabee is also an alternative for social conservatives, John Kasich is an alternative for moderates, and I suppose Ben Carson, and I suppose Carly Fiorina, are alternatives for people who don't want Trump but still want a non-politician.

Also, no one has to choose between the lesser of two evils. The Libertarian Party, Green Party, Constitution Party, Socialist Party, and Reform Party are all options, not to mention any other third party or independent bids. I'll probably be voting for the Libertarian nominee unless Rand gets the nomination. Nothing in this is mandatory.

[Publius]

LOL this guy.
And the fact that this guy is in the lead in the recent polls is really depressing.

We shouldn't be too worried about it, though. The problem with the traditional polling style that we like to use in political horse races is that we usually favor and rebroadcast one statistic above the rest: "Which candidate do you most support?" In a 17-candidate field, all their numbers in that category are going to be pretty suppressed. There are only so many percentage points out of a 100 to spread around. But whereas other candidates can grow their numbers as voters learn about them, Trump's favorability numbers show that he doesn't have that room for growth. Everyone has pretty much made up their minds about him, and while his recent incendiary comments galvanized his voting base, he's turned far more voters against him.

Practically speaking, what his disastrous unfavorability numbers mean is that when candidates start dropping out of this crowded field, their supporters will not to go Trump. They'll diffuse to candidates similar to the one dropping out or to realistic general election winners. Trump is proving to be neither. Therefore, he's at or near the ceiling of his possible support, and ten to fifteen points does not a nominee make.

[Mehmentum]

Trump's surge is actually pretty simple.

The GOP establishment is doing everything they can to court Latinos.  They recognize that they need to broaden their coalition and have determined that latinos are their best choice to do that.

What Trump cleverly did is become the candidate of the nativist backlash to this.  In a way Trump is the establishment's worst nightmare, he's ruining the establishment's planned out 'big tent' message with his bomb throwing.  Even worse, the backlash to his comments from the media and basically every other GOP candidate has, if anything, improved his numbers.

That being said, he's not going to win, but this is a PR nightmare for a party trying to reach out to Latinos.

[TDAS04]

Trump is scum. 

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

These birther comments only are helping Hilary out.