The GOPe alignments begin.  Perhaps faster than would have been anticipated, in large measure because of the success of Donald Trump against the Jeb Bush professional political machine.

A Game of Thrones

Former House Majority leader Eric Cantor will endorse GOPe candidate Jeb Bush today and become co-chair for Jeb’s Virginia team. The alignments within the establishment republican party apparatus become more transparent.

[…]  Cantor is to introduce Bush on Thursday evening at a fundraiser in Richmond and then will appear with him Friday morning at a VFW post in Norfolk, for a town hall focused on veterans issues.  (link)

It’s interesting to note the legacy media (all of them) avoiding any discussion of this endorsement considering Jim Gilmore the former Virginia governor and also a *cough* “candidate” *cough*.  Jeb’s brother Marvin Bush also lives in Virginia, and another GOPe road map “splitter”, Carly Fiorina, also has homestead in the state.
Virginia was recently in the headlines because the RNC/GOPe party apparatus is considering banning any candidate from the ballots who does not swear allegiance to the Republican Party writ large.  (Keep an eye out for anything from Ed Gillespie, who, in reality, holds the largest current RNC political leverage – and has been very quiet).
Cantor’s endorsement, while predictable, is merely evidence of the establishment class displaying their ultimate goal, elect Jeb Bush.  So far, Donald Trump has done an outstanding job of deconstructing their previous GOPe roadmap plans.  However, these guys are exponentially Machiavellian.   (more…)

Our diligent research team has discovered the next angle to Jeb Bush’s “Anchor Baby” problem.

During a press conference today, Jeb Bush told the media he supported Jorge Ramos and expressed his surprise the media and viewing audience was supportive of Donald Trump.
According to Jeb’s statements as reported by NBC, Jeb was surprised the media seemed understanding of Trump’s push back:

“Whoa, whoa, time out, wait a second, I thought you guys would unite”..

Candidate Jeb Bush showcases his inherent character traits, within his expectation that the U.S. electorate, and more specifically the U.S. media, should excuse rude behavior when it might have a positive outcome for him against one of his opponents. (more…)

The new South Carolina poll reveals some interesting data.  • SC is the 3rd primary state and home to Lindsey Graham.  Lindsey is only polling with 4% support; as such his value to the GOPe road map greatly diminishes.  • On the heels of an announcement three weeks ago “Rick Perry unable to pay SC staff“, now Rick Perry is dead in the water at 0%.

However, the biggest “red flag” warning signal for the Wall Street RNC/GOPe plan, is Jeb Bush polling at 9%.  Far below the needed threshold for their primary/delegate plan to work.  This provides more fuel for Donald Trump to fertilize the seeds of doubt amid Jeb’s bankers on Wall Street.  [ Full data pdf below ] (more…)

Political campaigns don’t normally sell you the $1-$3 trinkets or gimmicks until the last month of a fiscal reporting calendar (March, June, Sept, Dec.).  So when a trinket email hits in August, that usually means a big infusion of cash is coming from somewhere (usually Wall Street) and they need to dilute the visibility of it with lots of smaller donations.

This email (transmitted yesterday) is from Karl Rove (mentored by Lee Atwater), although it doesn’t link to Rove’s Super-PAC, instead it links to the GOP website. (more…)

Well, there you have it.  First the Warning – Next the arrow, now the visible wound:

This is impressive spin but when staff take pay cuts in the middle of a campaign, it's a sign something is very wrong http://t.co/GbQMLVDref

— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) August 25, 2015

New York Times – Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign has asked various divisions to be mindful of their spending, in a reminder that despite his giant “super PAC” bankroll, campaign dollars are ultimately more valuable.

Campaign officials asked workers to tighten their belts a few weeks ago, according to two people briefed on the matter. In some cases, staff members’ paychecks shrank, these people said. (more…)

The Charge Of The Main Street Vulgarian Has Begun !

Much like the battle at Thermopylae Donald Trump chose the political landscape which removes the Jeb Bush numerical advantage. And today he just hit the lead general right where it hurts:

Via Int'l Business Times: Jeb Bush Got $1.3M Job at Lehman After Florida Shifted Pension Cash To Bank. http://t.co/UbprPUWHQ9

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2015

As we shared yesterday, Trump has three audiences. In this example he just nailed Jeb in his most exposed vulnerability.

[…] Donald Trump is talking to Wall Street. Like the RNC, Trump knows full well the preferred candidate for Wall Street is Jeb Bush. He needs to make their support for Bush a losing proposition; no-one on Wall Street likes to lose. In essence he is creating a self fulfilling prophecy for them. Again, he’s masterful at exposing their weakening flank, their only winning play will be to support him, reluctantly – on his terms. (link)

There has been much talk of wall building amid the punditry regarding Donald Trump, but the most effective wall candidate Trump’s building is actually between the Bush Campaign and the Wall Street financiers who are both Jeb’s treasury and armory. (more…)

Donald Trump is pouring sunlight upon the entire crowd behind the GOPe curtain.  Two weeks ago you saw George Will saying “the Trump supporters (vulgarians) needed to come to the Republican party on our terms, not theirs“; last week Charles Krauthammer said “it’s impossible to deport illegal aliens“; meanwhile the entire class of elite republicans are apoplectic at the thought of Donald Trump winning the GOP primary.
As the sunlight poured upon them another professional GOP Consultant, Rick Wilson, took aim at the Republican base, and hours later directed his hatred toward Ann Coulter saying: “Does Trump pay you more for anal“.

However, the latest sunlight comes from GOP consultant Alex Castellanos who was questioned about how the GOP could stop Donald Trump.  As shared via Breitbart: (more…)

There’s a narrative being pushed about Trump being willing to accept donations for his presidential campaign from big business interests. Within the interview (today) below you can hear his own words about that. Additionally Donald Trump speaks about taxes, hedge fund managers, and more.
I’ll expand some thoughts after the article and video:
(VIA CBS) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he would change the tax laws to force people who work at hedge funds to pay more in taxes, because “the hedge fund guys are getting away with murder.”

In an interview with Time Magazine published last week, Trump said he might want to “switch taxes around” because “I have hedge fund guys that are making a lot of money that aren’t paying anything.” He confirmed on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that he would change the tax system to force those who work for hedge funds to pay more. (more…)

(HatTip Nation) This is so bad it almost has to be intentional.  The Jeb Bush campaign sends out a seriously flawed mailer noted here:

IOWA: Check your mailboxes today. Mail piece hitting more than 86k households. #conservativeresultsmatter pic.twitter.com/94Qb2hZy5X

— R2R USA (@r2rusa) August 20, 2015

Obviously Donald Trump picks up on it:

Jeb Bush has a photoshopped photo for an ad which gives him a black left hand and much different looking body. Jeb just can't get it right!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2015

Look how bad it is: (more…)