Looking back nearly nine months later, the two-hour discussion proved to be a prescient guide to the surprising politics of 2015. But Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is gaining ground on Clinton.
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Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner. If he does, Republican strategists fear that by splitting the Republican vote, he could ensure continued Democratic control of the executive branch. But will that strategy work for Jeb Bush? This lets him compete with a millionaire like Hillary Clinton and has put him on the national stage.
Former king-makers among conservative pundits, used to imposing ideological tests on candidates, also watch in panic as their followers desert them for a maverick whom nobody can control.
When the conversation was all over, pollster Peter Hart, who conducted the session, summed up what he had heard.
This was in no way a scientifically drawn cross section of the population, and yet the collective voices of the dozen adults were an early manifestation of what has played out in the months since. A super political action committee, or super PAC, has spent millions of dollars to promote him on television there. But he has failed so far to truly strike a chord with rank-and-file Republicans. That means they must march to the polls in droves in the key battleground states on Election Day.
[Clinton talks Trump and e-mails with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell]. People come to this country to pursue their dreams. Visitors also had a chance to win a Ron Johnson or Reid Ribble T-shirt and can cozy if they could name five of the 17 candidates running for the Republican nomination. But perceptions of her honesty and trustworthiness have taken a beating.
People will remember this more than they will remember her infrequent speeches. But Trump, a wealthy businessman, reiterated his view that too much money was at stake and his rivals were wrong to say they would rip it up.
Mr Bush’s wife, Columba, is Mexican and the offence he takes is indeed personal and political.
That is especially true in the Republican race, but the success of Sanders shows that there is something broader afoot in the way voters are responding to candidates. “We have the largest, most diverse field in the history of either party”, he said. The Priebus pilgrimage last Thursday suggests that Clinton’s characterization is hardly fanciful.
Yet, as the summer draws to a close and the initial contests on the nominating calendar appear on the horizon, Trump has established himself as the Republican front-runner. Second place goes to Ben Carson at around 13 percent- another candidate the establishment would prefer not to win. Trump angrily stumbled through his retort before landing on braggadocio. What they share is that neither speaks the language of a conventional politician.
Jeb Bush is third in Iowa with 6%, followed by Carly Fiorina, Rand Paul and Scott Walker each at 5%.
It found that a plurality of GOP voters still say Obama is not an American citizen.
The public overall is closely divided on this. Soon, the airwaves will begin to fill with ads, positive and negative. They ditch the summer stranger and turn to a candidate who has the character, temperament and qualifications to be a plausible occupant of the Oval Office.
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But in reality, Trump is the best known commodity of the Republicans and his allegedly high “negative” numbers actually fall below the percent of voters who bailed on McCain and Romney in their presidential efforts. His refusal during the party’s first debate to pledge his support for the primary campaign victor further roiled the GOP. That might not be a permanent condition.
