Knucklehead Jeb Calls for Republican Primary Against President Trump…

[TomSea]

I agree.    And that's why I cannot support Trump for re-nomination.  We need someone who can advance his meritorious policies but without the chaos and baggage.   The Dems are counting on Trump to be the nominee.   He is the linchpin of their entire strategy for 2020.   

And one can wonder if your words indeed are dubious, Trump has become a big social conservative on policies at least, you seem to be on the opposite side of those issues. So, why not claim one is actually against Trump's chaos and baggage?

[aligncare]

Hold that last thought for a moment....

You have to recognize reality.  Unless Trump chooses on his own not to run, either 1) Trump is going to be the nominee, or 2) whomever beats him in the primary (extremely unlikely) will inevitably alienate enough Trump supporters that he/she will certainly lose in the general election.

Therefore, what Democrats "most want" is for other Republicans to turn on Trump, and expend a ton of energy/effort in trashing him during the GOP primaries.  That will give them the best chance to defeat Trump in the general election, and hopefully (in their view) elect a truly radical leftist such as Bernie.  So, I'd suggest it is those who are engaging in the quixotic attempt to sabotage Trump for the 2020 nomination who are making it that much more likely for the radical left to gain control of the government.

That's not to say that every Republican has to openly support Trump even if they despise him.  It is just that they should recognize whose interests they are really serving if they choose to spend all that time, effort, and money trying to tear him down.

I strongly agree here. It’s short sighted to point to Trump’s imperfections and not acknowledge the greater good the man’s strengths and accomplishments has brought to the presidency, the economy, national security, and to exposing the media lies to national scrutiny.

If NT’s (either republican or democrat) manage to bring down this imperfect president Trump, they will be helping the Left and their useful idiots, the democrats, to put the final nail in. After that we will be a Republic in name only.

[Jazzhead]

And one can wonder if your words indeed are dubious, Trump has become a big social conservative on policies at least, you seem to be on the opposite side of those issues. So, why not claim one is actually against Trump's chaos and baggage?

I don't agree with all of the President's priorities.   But that is not why I urge that he not run for re-election.    I urge him to step aside in order to focus the fight in 2020 against the Dems' poisonous priorities.   

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Then Trump must be persuaded not to run.    LBJ did so in 1968.   The difference here is to cite the coalition he's assembled, and the issues he's stood for, and convince him that his legacy lies in the vindication of that coalition and those issues,  not in his defeat at the polls.    As with a successful corporation, there comes a time to act to preserve the founder's vision by bringing in new leadership.

First, the odds of that happening are non-existent.  He is not a normal politician.  He's not LBJ nor anyone else.  The exact reasons some despise him -- his ego, his self-centeredness, etc., are the same things that make it impossible for him to believe that he can't win.  Heck, the 2016 election itself -- when everyone and their brother said he had zero chance and yet were proven wrong at the polls -- will lead him to reject the claims that he must resign to preserve his legacy.  You surely know that argument would be a non-starter here, so why do you think Trump himself would ever find it persuasive?

Second, if it turns out that he can't be persuaded not to run, then do you nevertheless still support fighting a primary battle to replace him, even though it it makes a Democrat victory in the general election more likely?

He can and should be thanked for his service, and urged to retire to his family and businesses.   He never intended to be professional politician.  He intended to shake things up.  Mission accomplished.   Time to move on.   

That's a very nice argument that Trump himself will dismiss at the outset, no matter how much some people believe he "needs" to understand it.

[Jazzhead]

I strongly agree here. It’s short sighted to point to Trump’s imperfections and not acknowledge the greater good the man’s strengths and accomplishments has brought to the presidency, the economy, national security, and to exposing the media lies to national scrutiny.

And I have praised the President's polices in many respects.    I have no ill will toward the man; to the contrary,  it is to preserve his policy successes that I say he must now yield to new leadership.    He is simply too polarizing and distracting a target; he will gin up the Democratic base like no other and permit them to nominate and elect a true radical.   

[Jazzhead]

First, the odds of that happening are non-existent. 

I disagree.   I don't believe he ever truly wanted to be President.   I think he can be persuaded to declare victory and step aside.   

[Maj. Bill Martin]

I think he can be persuaded to declare victory and step aside.   

Upon what evidence do you base that belief?  He's never given the slightest hint that he's not running for a second term, and he already formed his re-election committee.  And exactly who is it that you think is going to persuade him not to run?

Also, to the second point.  If it turns out that he doesn't withdraw from the race, are you still going to support someone else trying to unseat him in the primary?

[Jazzhead]

Upon what evidence do you base that belief?  He's never given the slightest hint that he's not running for a second term, and he already formed his re-election committee.  And exactly who is it that you think is going to persuade him not to run? 

The man is very cognizant of his legacy,  I think, and he thinks like a businessman.    A businessman must be able to recognize when to cut losses, or when to change leadership in order to stem losses or enhance organizational value.  Coupled with my foundational believe that he never truly intended to be President but rather to shake things up as a citizen-politician,  I think he can be persuaded of the wisdom of stepping aside.   

Also, to the second point.  If it turns out that he doesn't withdraw from the race, are you still going to support someone else trying to unseat him in the primary?

Depends on who may run against him.   I am not a "Never Trumper".   To me the ideal candidate is someone who has served his Administration, not opposed it.  Someone like Nikki Haley.   

[TomSea]

Also, to the second point.  If it turns out that he doesn't withdraw from the race, are you still going to support someone else trying to unseat him in the primary?

That's the exact issue, really, nobody is going to beat him. Haley is a great candidate but does one really see her challenging in 20202?

That leaves who we had in 2016 and perhaps a few other faces.

Of course, the likes of Evan McMullin don't stand a chance to win.  Jeb might float the idea but it doesn't look strong.

Someone with some stature might give a symbolic run, Paul? Sasse? But it would be like when Pat Buchanan ran in '92,  a symbolic win for all intents and purposes and might hurt the GOP in the general election. I heard some of this discussed, in 2020, Trump will have all of the GOP campaign machine in his corner vs. 2016.

[TomSea]

Trump did not make Nikki, of course not but that stint at the UN helped her recognizability vastly.   There would have to a situation where the President was not running for reelection. 

[Maj. Bill Martin]

The man is very cognizant of his legacy,  I think, and he thinks like a businessman.    A businessman must be able to recognize when to cut losses, or when to change leadership in order to stem losses or enhance organizational value.  Coupled with my foundational believe that he never truly intended to be President but rather to shake things up as a citizen-politician,  I think he can be persuaded of the wisdom of stepping aside.   

Who do you expect to persuade him of that, and where is the evidence that is actually going to happen?  Versus your opinion that you think it is possible for that to happen?

The real problem I see with your hope in this regard is him winning in 2016 when the overwhelming consensus was that he was doomed to lose.  What is the evidence people are supposed to use to convince him that he is certain to lose if he stays in the race?  "Here Mr. President, look at all these polls that say you can't win...."  He'll laugh in their faces.

I'll admit that there was a point after he won in 2016 that I thought the same -- that what he really wanted to do was prove his critics wrong, that he really wasn't all that thrilled to actually be President, and that he planned on throwing the torch to a hand-picked successor.  In fact, I did a search and found that you and I actually had that very conversation six months ago:

http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,336151.msg1821716.html#msg1821716

The problem is that there has been zero evidence over the course of the last six months that is actually going to happen.  He keeps talking about getting re-elected, and hasn't dropped a single hint that he might pass on a second term.  In fact, he just had another guy he liked leave the Administration and join his 2020 campaign staff.  That doesn't look like a guy who is not planning on running.

So at some point, the desire to see him step aside has to give way to the recognition that he isn't.  Perhaps we aren't quite at that point yet, but the point of no return -- where alternative candidates would need to get campaigns up and running -- is approaching fast.  Especially since a primary campaign to pick a successor to Trump would likely be long and brutal.

[sneakypete]

Well, sure.   The Dems' radicalization ought to be THE front and center issue of the 2020 campaign.   How socialism destroys prosperity.  How identity politics poisons the American ideal of a melting pot based on shared, secular values of equal opportunity and fair play. 

But instead the signature issue of the 2020 campaign will be the fitness for office of Donald J. Trump.    The Dems are counting on him as the nominee,  to drive their voters to the polls and fool them that a referendum on one man will conceal their poisonous agenda.   

So yes,  the Dems' radicalization gives us an issue.   But our re-nomination of Trump effectively takes it away.   Not because we cannot sound the warnings, but because Trump provides the distraction that the Dems want and need.

It is crazy to know full well what the Democrats most want, and proceed to give it to them.

@Jazzhead

So,your position is that we should surrender in order to not get beaten? Get your strattergy from the DNC?

[libertybele]

And I have praised the President's polices in many respects.    I have no ill will toward the man; to the contrary,  it is to preserve his policy successes that I say he must now yield to new leadership.    He is simply too polarizing and distracting a target; he will gin up the Democratic base like no other and permit them to nominate and elect a true radical.

New leadership?? Why??  He for the most part has led this country down a more positive path and I can't remember anyone standing up to the left as he has.  Do you honestly think that the DEMS won't go after any GOP (not RINO's)  running?  The left would love nothing more than to run against someone like another McCain.  They want someone who will further splinter the GOP base and should they win will bow to them.  Trump is far from perfect and I take issue with the way he's handled some things, but he has a decent record on most issues.

The only problem that I forsee is he has not yet delivered on the wall and he signed a terrible bill which may sour some on voting for him. He also needs to further expand his base.  Any GOP who runs against him is only doing so to fracture the GOP and as a result will hand over the oval office to a DEM.

[Jazzhead]

@Jazzhead

So,your position is that we should surrender in order to not get beaten? Get your strattergy from the DNC?

WTF?   It's the DNC that has the most invested in Trump's re-nomination!   

[libertybele]

WTF?   It's the DNC that has the most invested in Trump's re-nomination!   

?? Link??  Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you meant, but the DNC would love nothing more than to see another Jeb, Kasich or even Rubio run. 

[sneakypete]

WTF?   It's the DNC that has the most invested in Trump's re-nomination!   

@Jazzhead

Yeah,that must be why they are working every day and every night to try to get him impeached before the election,right?

You are listening to leftist talking points,just like they were actual facts.

The FACTS are that if Trump runs in 2020 he wins,and this is the death blow to the globalists that have been running the DNC since the 40's.

[roamer_1]

After that we will be a Republic in name only.

No sale. We are a republic in name only already. And Tumpy ain't fixing any of it.

[TomSea]

?? Link??  Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you meant, but the DNC would love nothing more than to see another Jeb, Kasich or even Rubio run.

Rubio's done a lot more for the pro-life cause than Cruz, no wonder we lose with attitudes like yours. In fact, Kasich has, in fact, most Senators have equal or records of doing more... but you've got words, and a resume, "longest serving State Attorney General in TX history."

[Right_in_Virginia]

My views on Trump and 2020 have everything to do with denying the Dems their fantasy of running against Trump in order to install a socialist and race hustler in the White House.

The liberal wet dream is to run against anyone OTHER than Donald Trump @Jazzhead   

But you know that.

[Cyber Liberty]

[Maj. Bill Martin]

@Jazzhead

Yeah,that must be why they are working every day and every night to try to get him impeached before the election,right?

You are listening to leftist talking points,just like they were actual facts.

The FACTS are that if Trump runs in 2020 he wins,and this is the death blow to the globalists that have been running the DNC since the 40's.

I don't think the Democrats believe there is a significant chance that anyone other than Trump is the nominee, so they are doing everything they can to damage him before the election.

The only way any Republican other than Trump would have a chance to win in 2020 is if Trump chose, of his own accord, not to run, and he endorsed/supported that candidate.  Any Republican candidate who tried to take down Trump aggressively would alienate a huge chunk of Trump's support, and get clobbered in the general election.

That being said, I think it's very far from a foregone conclusion that Trump will defeat whomever the Democrat nominee is in 2020.  He won by rather slim margins in a bunch of states in which Hillary was too stupid to campaign, and I don't expect the next Democrat nominee to make the same mistake.  Also, in Florida, huge numbers of convicted felons and Puerto Ricans, both of which groups vote overwhelmingly Democrat, will be added to the 2020 voting roles.

[sneakypete]

I don't think the Democrats believe there is a significant chance that anyone other than Trump is the nominee, so they are doing everything they can to damage him before the election.

The only way any Republican other than Trump would have a chance to win in 2020 is if Trump chose, of his own accord, not to run, and he endorsed/supported that candidate.  Any Republican candidate who tried to take down Trump aggressively would alienate a huge chunk of Trump's support, and get clobbered in the general election.

That being said, I think it's very far from a foregone conclusion that Trump will defeat whomever the Democrat nominee is in 2020.  He won by rather slim margins in a bunch of states in which Hillary was too stupid to campaign, and I don't expect the next Democrat nominee to make the same mistake.  Also, in Florida, huge numbers of convicted felons and Puerto Ricans, both of which groups vote overwhelmingly Democrat, will be added to the 2020 voting roles.

@Maj. Bill Martin

The one thing nobody has ever claimed Trump has done is take a punch without punching back. If he decides to run in 2020,I fully expect him and his team to put poll watchers at every precinct to make sure the Dims don't stuff ballot boxes. Face it,without the dead,illegal aliens,and fictional people like cartoon characters that vote,the Dims wouldn't win anywhere but NYC,Chicago,or any town that doesn't have a black majority.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

@Maj. Bill Martin

The one thing nobody has ever claimed Trump has done is take a punch without punching back. If he decides to run in 2020,I fully expect him and his team to put poll watchers at every precinct to make sure the Dims don't stuff ballot boxes.

I can pretty much guarantee you that won't happen.  Putting a poll watcher in every precinct would require large numbers of people willing to go into neighborhood where they wouldn't be caught dead, and it pretty much never happens.  Didn't happen in 2016, won't happen in 2020.

Face it,without the dead,illegal aliens,and fictional people like cartoon characters that vote,the Dims wouldn't win anywhere but NYC,Chicago,or any town that doesn't have a black majority.

There are tens of millions of lefty-college students, government employees, academics, single females (especially single mothers), millienial virtue-signallers, etc., who are going to happily vote Democrat.  They did it in 2016, and they'll do it again in 2020.  And if you're so confident it's just cheating...well, then they'll cheat again in 2020.  Florida in particular is going to be much tougher because of the felons and Puerto Ricans. 

[skeeter]

I can pretty much guarantee you that won't happen.  Putting a poll watcher in every precinct would require large numbers of people willing to go into neighborhood where they wouldn't be caught dead, and it pretty much never happens.  Didn't happen in 2016, won't happen in 2020.

Imagine the howls of 'voter suppression'.

If Trump waits until election day to fight voter fraud it will be much too late.

[txradioguy]

Yeah that!