Bannon, Breitbart News Taking Victory Lap After Alabama Win

[AAAintheBeltway]

In a republican senatorial primary that broke cleanly along establishment/populist lines, the pitchfork waving populists sent an unmistakable message to DC and to Trump. The incumbent, "Big" Luther Strange, had been appointed to fill Jeff Sessions' seat. He was supported by the entire republican establishment to the tune of some $30 million in ads, etc, plus he had the active support of Trump. The challenger, Roy Moore, is an Evangelical icon who was removed not once but twice from judicial positions for his defiance of higher authority. Say what you will about Judge Moore, but no one can deny he is a man of principal. He is the rarest of politicians, a man who not only talks the talk but walks the walk, no matter the consequences to him or his career.

This was an odd election in that Trump supported the establishment candidate, apparently at the behest of the hapless Mitch McConnell. The MAGA brigades, led by Steve Bannon, supported Moore. Perhaps Trump saw it as a win-win situation for himself, either get credit with the establishment or get a guy in who would be in his corner. Whatever, but the optics were bad, very bad. Trump has never seemed more out of touch with his base.

Perhaps he sensed that and also belatedly became aware of the anger over his impending DACA betrayal and that is why he instigated the NFL kneeling attack, knowing it would create a media firestorm.

Big Luther's loss has sent shockwaves through K Street and Capitol Hill. Already another senate establishment figure, Bob Corker of Tennessee, has announced he will hang it up. Primary challengers are lining up for the 8 republican seats up in 2018. They realize now that, just as Trump and Moore did, you don't have to have a huge warchest or the support of the establishment to take out a bigfoot opponent. All you need is a message and some credibility that you will not immediately sell out your supporters, ie that you will not be another Thom Tillis.

 

[gwb-trading]

How Roy Moore won the first battle of the anti-McConnell war
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/politics/roy-moore-alabama-republican-establishment/index.html

All the Republican establishment's money and muscle couldn't stop culture warrior Roy Moore from ousting Sen. Luther Strange here Tuesday night.

Now, suddenly, other outsider candidates see a much bigger opening to make Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a villain and turn the party on its head in the 2018 midterms.

"This shows it can be done," said Danny Tarkanian, who is challenging Sen. Dean Heller in Nevada's Republican primary. "It shows the amount of money McConnell and his super PACs put in the race can't change the feeling that voters have right now."

Moore's victory comes at an uncertain moment for GOP lawmakers, donors and operatives. The party's stumbles on Capitol Hill have fed into a growing frustration with its leadership, and Moore's win underscores the vulnerability of incumbents such as Heller and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake. Another possible target, Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, announced his retirement Tuesday.

For all the right-wing insurgency's bluster -- and despite its efforts in places like neighboring Mississippi in 2014 and Arizona last year -- a sitting GOP senator had not been toppled in a primary since Indiana's Richard Lugar in 2012.

Some in the White House and in McConnell's camp were sure that President Donald Trump's campaign stop for Strange here Friday night, coupled with the $10 million that a Mitch McConnell-aligned super PAC poured into the race, could stave off the insurgency again.

But Moore's side countered with support from Steve Bannon, the former chief strategist in Trump's White House who now sees himself as the chief tormenter of Senate Republican incumbents.

"You're going to see, in state after state after state, people that follow the model of Judge Moore that do not need to raise money from the elites," he said at Moore's victory party Tuesday night.

For both Trump -- whose tweets supporting Strange were apparently deleted Tuesday night -- and the McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund super PAC, Tuesday's outcome offered a stark glimpse at the limits of their influence.

"The days have come to an end where the muscle and money from the majority can push through candidates in this new political environment," said Matt Schlapp, the American Conservative Union chairman who attended a Monday night dinner where Trump quizzed influential right-wing figures about the race.

The millions spent on TV ads propping up Strange were wasted, Schlapp said, because they only emphasized that Strange was McConnell's candidate.

(More at above url)

 

[Tsing Tao]

Trump really called this one wrong. Hope the kick in the groin reminds him that he can easily be removed in 2020 if he doesn't get to work soon, and the clock is ticking.

Deleting his tweets added insult to injury. Instead of making a "mea culpa" he just continues to shoot himself in the foot.

 

[AAAintheBeltway]

If Trump could get back to being Trump and shake off the leaden influence of his NYC democrat advisors, this could be a YUGGE week for him. He could fire Mueller, announce that he will not sign any DACA amnesty, demand funding for the wall, propose a ban on public funds for sports stadiums and demand that the senate get off its butt and move his nominees through.

Likely he will do none of these and instead fritter away his political capital on tax cuts for billionaires, ie the same people who opposed him and never miss a chance to try to undermine him now. Does he really think the most important issue facing the country is reducing the corporate tax rate?

 

[AAAintheBeltway]

Hope the kick in the groin reminds him that he can easily be removed in 2020 if he doesn't get to work soon, and the clock is ticking.

I don't think he gets that message. It is standard political advice to candidates once they get nominated or elected to try to broaden their base by moving away from wedge issues and emphasizing middle of the road positions. Trump showed that he was amenable to this by dumping Bannon and trying to co-opt both the republican establishment and Chuck and Nancy.

He probably imagines that the MAGA crowd will back him no matter what. George H. W. Bush enjoyed a 90% approval rating in the after glow of Desert Storm. He foolishly thought that gave him room to abandon his "read my lips, no new taxes" pledge. He nearly lost the renomination fight to Pat Buchanan and was crushed by a scumbag named Bill Clinton in the 1992 election.

Trump seems revolutionary in political terms but in electoral terms, he is just another republican candidate. By that I mean he has to have a robust turnout of white voters. Romney lost because those voters saw no compelling reason to turn out and vote for him. Bush 41 lost because those voters saw no compelling reason to turn out and vote for the guy who lied to them. If a relatively small percentage of the MAGA's stay home, Trump will lose. He might not even get the nomination. There will be plenty of challengers with his message but without his baggage.

 

[Tsing Tao]

I don't think he gets that message. It is standard political advice to candidates once they get nominated or elected to try to broaden their base by moving away from wedge issues and emphasizing middle of the road positions. Trump showed that he was amenable to this by dumping Bannon and trying to co-opt both the republican establishment and Chuck and Nancy.

He probably imagines that the MAGA crowd will back him no matter what. George H. W. Bush enjoyed a 90% approval rating in the after glow of Desert Storm. He foolishly thought that gave him room to abandon his "read my lips, no new taxes" pledge. He nearly lost the renomination fight to Pat Buchanan and was crushed by a scumbag named Bill Clinton in the 1992 election.

Trump seems revolutionary in political terms but in electoral terms, he is just another republican candidate. By that I mean he has to have a robust turnout of white voters. Romney lost because those voters saw no compelling reason to turn out and vote for him. Bush 41 lost because those voters saw no compelling reason to turn out and vote for the guy who lied to them. If a relatively small percentage of the MAGA's stay home, Trump will lose. He might not even get the nomination. There will be plenty of challengers with his message but without his baggage.

I never understood the "broaden my base" strategy. If I got elected, why would I want to change the strategy? Especially in a case like Trump where polarization is so extreme. I mean, does Trump really think he can do anything liberals will like?

 

[gwb-trading]

I never understood the "broaden my base" strategy. If I got elected, why would I want to change the strategy? Especially in a case like Trump where polarization is so extreme. I mean, does Trump really think he can do anything liberals will like?

If Trump started to give away puppies, Liberals would find a way to define it as evil.

 

[AAAintheBeltway]

I never understood the "broaden my base" strategy. If I got elected, why would I want to change the strategy? Especially in a case like Trump where polarization is so extreme. I mean, does Trump really think he can do anything liberals will like?

Good point. In truth, it is advice that is given more to conservatives than liberals. Conservatives are viewed by the establishment as evil and bigoted, so toning it down is considered a no brainer. Far left zealots like Obama are seldom expected to do anything but stick it to whitey. Which he was only too happy to do.

 

[Tsing Tao]

Good point. In truth, it is advice that is given more to conservatives than liberals. Conservatives are viewed by the establishment as evil and bigoted, so toning it down is considered a no brainer. Far left zealots like Obama are seldom expected to do anything but stick it to whitey. Which he was only too happy to do.

Of course. You never see a liberal go "how can I attract more conservatives?"

They are committed to the cause, whether insane or not. Republicans have little back bone. Conservatives - true conservatives - are committed. But you don't find many of them in politics.

 

[maxpi]

I find it very satisfying to see establishment swamp creatures once again waste large sums of money. I wonder if Hillary has ever accounted for the $1billion+ she got for her election bid?

Trump brought a lot of people out of the woodworks with his battle against the football player thingy. Visits to conservative news sites and FB pages doubled in some cases. I wonder if that didn't get some sideliners out to the polls to vote for Roy Moore?