Looked into the polls of the covenant. pic.twitter.com/UM3LJxKcAY — Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) August 11, 2016 Yes. Yes it is. The 2016 campaign is getting out of control https://t.co/1NFwrGEFAo — John Scalzi (@scalzi) August 11, 2016 However you define political leadership Donald Trump is pretty much doing the exact opposite of it. https://t.co/6ZnCAdFprD — Daniel Drezner …
Schadenfreude Open Thread: “Meltdown”Post + Comments (87)
Trump supporters might argue that he can’t be held personally responsible for the actions of his “passionate” followers. But the whole point of aspiring to political leadership is displaying the ability to channel people’s hopes, fears and concerns into productive action….
The odds are excellent that, between now and November, Trump will say more inflammatory things that could inspire some nutcase to do something violent. And the odds are getting better that this campaign will get out of control and we’ll all be lucky to live through it.
Trump sounded an uncharacteristically fatalistic note, acknowledging the possibility he could lose in November https://t.co/WK2G5FcCpb
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) August 11, 2016
Facing one of the toughest stretches of his presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump has taken to responding to Hillary Clinton’s increasingly pointed questions about his fitness to serve in the Oval Office with exaggerated or outright false claims of his own about the threat she would pose as president.
Accused by Mrs. Clinton and by prominent figures within his own party of posing a unique menace if he were elected, and impeded by distractions of his own making, Mr. Trump has slid in public opinion polls, not only nationally and in battleground states but on almost every important question, from temperament to foreign policy knowledge to experience…
He pledged to “just keep doing the same thing I’m doing right now,” adding that he was the only presidential candidate who told things “straight” and was “a truth-teller.”…
Trump sounding increasingly resigned to humiliating electoral loss. Sad!
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) August 11, 2016
Honestly, it’d be easier to enjoy the whole mishegas if it weren’t for fear Deadbeat Donnie is trying to take the whole country down with him.
Trump to @SquawkCNBC: "all I do is tell the truth. If at the end of 90 days, I fall short that's OK. I have a very good way of life"
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) August 11, 2016
The reality – as with many self-professed "straight talk" candidates, Trump gets angry when he is quoted saying what he is saying.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 11, 2016
“Conservative, comms guy, campaign vet” –
1/ Ok, this shit's not funny anymore. Trump is threatening elected GOPers at all levels in places that haven't been competitive in decades.
— Matt Mackowiak (@MattMackowiak) August 11, 2016
5/ More fundamentally, the Trump campaign needs to discover the value of scarcity. Make Trump scarce. Fewer interviews. Shorter rallies.
— Matt Mackowiak (@MattMackowiak) August 11, 2016
9/ Where is the bottom? His floor appears to be 38%. His ceiling appears to be 42%. Hillary's range appears to be 44%-49%
— Matt Mackowiak (@MattMackowiak) August 11, 2016
14/ You can't overstate panic inside GOP currently. Lots of conversations taking place. More defections coming. Will they be before debate?
— Matt Mackowiak (@MattMackowiak) August 11, 2016
16/ Fear of losing makes candidates improve knowledge, strategy, discipline & performance. Can Trump possibly not be worried about losing?
— Matt Mackowiak (@MattMackowiak) August 11, 2016
20/ What does Trump care about, if he doesn't care about losing, doesn't care about the GOP, won't listen, won't learn, and won't improve?
— Matt Mackowiak (@MattMackowiak) August 11, 2016
What does Trump care about? Keeping the spotlight on Donald Trump, no more, no less. Any Repub “expert” who thought otherwise deserves what’s coming to them… and I truly hope that’s a historic cascade of losses at all levels of government.