Pro-immigration economist Lawrence Kudlow now says, this is war, seal the borders.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/12/12/ive_changed_this_is_war_seal_the_borders_stop_the_visas_129021.htmlWhy didn't Trump say
that?Not all Muslims look like Muslims or how was Trump going to sort them out? That wasn't his concern; he wanted this moment of shock and awe in the campaign and the media (again and again) and he got it.
Nate silver says Rubio was more cautious than Bush, Christy, Kasich, Graham etc and waited 3 hours to say he disagreed.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-republicans-and-polls-enable-donald-trump/As I tried to make the point earlier, these candidates are not trained monkeys or seals, required to sit up there and respond to whatever the leader is uttering.
It's more complicated than that, they need war room type fast responses when called for, but they also need to choose their moments to refuse to be put on defense. The successful candidate needs to dictate play, as coaches tell their athletes. Trump is doing that but in a bizarre way.
When interrupted out on the trail to comment on the latest thing Trump said that they haven't even heard yet, they need to be able to say, hey, what I'm talking about here is more important than that. And that had better be true. Otherwise they need a little ear piece so their team can signal in whatever the latest Trump just said, like the guy who who interrupted the kindergarten reading to tell Bush the country was under attack.
The ones who handle the unexpected easiest are the ones who already know what they believe. They can say no, we aren't going to single out all Muslims, but that doesn't answer the question: WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO PROTECT US?!
A journalist studying Trump voters pointed out the difference in messaging. Carly was explaining how she implemented encryption on something at HP, showing her security competence in a tone deaf sort of way in the context of the threat we face. Meanwhile, Trump got in front of all the cameras said, THESE PEOPLE ARE ANIMALS! He is communicating on a different level, base level, while demonstrating again and again that he doesn't care if people draw some politically incorrect meaning out of that.
I've been saying Trump won't win but that isn't right if it turns out he is the only one seen as serious about recognizing and addressing our fears and this threat.
The other story helping him that others seem to not connect on is the economy. Less than 50% of the people are now in the middle class. When I red that I thought it was just some bogus measure, but it is measured based on percentage away from the median. As we have been saying here in response to Wesbury et al, the 5% unemployment economy with however many consecutive months of (pathetic) job growth is a misrepresentation of what people are actually experiencing. The message, Make America Great Again is making a connection with working people and people who want to be working, saving and chasing the American Dream. Bush, with Right to Rise, has almost the same message but isn't connecting. Rubio is also selling the idea that greatness is ahead if we successfully change course, but Trump is connecting better right now on a more base level than all the others on the economic insecurity people are feeling.
Take away Trump's negatives and you have a winner.
