Who the Super Delegates Are and Why They Will Not Switch to Sanders

Math. Path. Wrath. This has been the process through which Bernie Sanders' supporters travel. They don't get the math, so they continue to see his path, and if you disagree and speak to the realities of the campaign, you'll reap their wrath. And what's their main fuel? The super delegates. Hillary Clinton has about 500 more of them than Sanders. But according to Sanders' ferociously loyal legion of millennials, Bernie can still win the nomination because the super delegates could dump Hillary for him at the convention. And herein lies the massive delusion.

To be sure, Sanders' supporters hate the concept of super delegates, and are in denial over their allegiance to Hillary. "They don't count" is the common refrain. But all this bluster only serves to demonstrate a lack of understanding of who the super delegates are and why the chance of them switching from Clinton to Sanders is less likely than Knicks president Phil Jackson abandoning the triangle offense.

So let's analyze for a moment just who these mysterious folks are. Super delegates consist of members of the Democratic National Committee, party leaders, Senators, Congressmen/women and state Governors. Stalwarts of the Democratic establishment. Prominent people such as Andrew Cuomo, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Jim Clyburn, Joaquin Castro,  Dick Durbin, Kirsten Gillibrand, Terry McAuliffe, Claire McCaskill, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters and Charlie Rangel. At best it's misleading for Sanders and his surrogates to repeatedly drum into supporters' heads that these super delegates can be co-opted. They can't. And won't.

One needs to understand why the super delegate process was created in the first place. It was part of a set of rules created by the Party following the 1968 nomination of Hubert Humphrey, who hadn't run in a single primary and who eventually lost in a landslide to Richard M. Nixon. It was a failsafe strategy designed to ensure the nomination of electable candidates; to prevent a candidate precisely like like Bernie Sanders--an independent, socialist outsider who's not part of the Democratic machine--from winning the nomination.  So to understand this super delegate system is to understand why there's no chance these Washington "insiders," the establishment, would not only not abandon the candidate who currently has the most votes and pledged delegates but, more so, would suddenly throw their support to someone who is not one of them.

The real rub here is that Sanders himself knows all this. Yet he continues to fan the flames of anger and resentment, amping up his rhetoric of a "rigged system" where super delegates either don't count and/or will magically propel him into the Oval Office despite there being absolutely no logical or historic basis for them to switch allegiance. It's time that he share this reality with his supporters.

An Open Letter to Bernie Sanders Supporters

Dear Bernie Supporters:
Enough with the "rigged system" claims. Please. The system is not rigged. Or corrupt. Or disenfranchising any of you. Last time I checked, you guys are all over the place 24/7. On TV, at rallies, in the voting booth. You've made Bernie Sanders what he is today: a major contender. But make no mistake: there's simply not enough of you. That's it. No vast left wing conspiracies. No back-room shenanigans. No covert mission by DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to keep your guy from winning. Bernie's losing for one reason and one reason alone: he hasn't convinced enough of you to vote for him. And it's because his message hasn't resonated as well as Hillary Clinton's. Period. 

Bernie is losing because America's democracy works. It's a process he signed up for (as an independent running as a Democrat), and one which has allowed him to go from being a relatively obscure Vermont socialist (yes, socialist) a year ago--60% behind in the polls--to running an unprecedented "outsider" campaign as a very close runner up. Think about that: he's gone from being a political nobody to giving the powerful Clinton machine the most nagging yet effective opposition it's ever experienced. That in mid May Sanders continues to nip at Hillary's heels is not just a testament to his grass roots appeal and tenaciousness, but to the very election process that's got him there.

Sanders' success has become not just a national phenomenon but one that's garnered him worldwide praise and respect. Sounds like "the system" has worked pretty well for him. That he now is turning on that very system for politically expedient, populist purposes speaks to character. This narrative he's reinforcing of a rigged system is irresponsible and disingenuous. He's telling you that he's not winning because of cronyism and corruption, not because he can't gain more traction with voters. He's riling you up with trumped up (pun intended) baseless charges that he and you are being robbed, rather than simply outvoted. The awesome legacy he could have is dangerously close to being destroyed by his ego and selfishness.

How about answering one simple, obvious question: If the system was/is so rigged for Hillary, how come she's having to have this close a fight right down to the wire? To be sure, the campaign has certainly been no cakewalk for her. She's had to fight way longer, way harder and way more expensively than she ever hoped and expected. If the system is rigged, it's the worst rigging in the history of rigging.

What is "Broke Donald" Hiding?!

Donald Trump loves nicknames. Over the year-long course of his bombastic campaigning he's come up with a bunch of 'em for various opponents: Lyin' Ted, Little Marco, Crooked Hillary, Low-energy Jeb and his latest, Goofy Elizabeth and Crazy Bernie. So it's time we slap a label on Trump himself: Broke Donald.

And why Broke Donald? Because his refusal to release his tax returns raises major suspicion that he's either insolvent and/or involved in business transactions or investments that portray him in a negative light. Is there another explanation for why he refuses to hand them over until at least after the election, if at all? He claims he "can't" release them because he's in the middle of an audit. But as I wrote back in March, even the IRS states that the decision to release his tax returns is Trump's and only Trump's.

Every presidential nominee for the past forty years has released tax returns before the election. So Trump's refusal raises the billion-dollar question, what's he hiding? Is he broke? Will the returns show low income? Low tax rate? Massive debt? Business losses? Do the returns show an embarrassingly low amount of charitable contributions? And to whom he's contributed to, or not? For example, has he not supported veterans as he's claimed? Do the returns show questionable deductions and/or offshore investments and shelters? Something even worse? As the GOP's 2012 nominee Mitt Romney suggested Tuesday, is there a "bombshell" in there?

Contrary to Trump's claim that "tax returns show very, very little," these official documents actually show quite a lot, and provide an official window into an individual's true financial standing. So maybe Trump's insistence that they remain private is because they're the house of cards that could bring down the house of Trump.

And there's the problem. For an individual who's anchored his entire narrative to his "huge" wealth, perhaps those tax returns would be a devastating blow to the Trump mystique and brand. Imagine what life would be like for Trump if it appeared that he wasn't worth the $10-billion he's claimed? If he couldn't brag about his success and those billions. Shielding his tax returns from the public certainly allows him to continue his relentless trumped-up self-aggrandizing.

Let's be clear: it's not been the American people who've entered Trump's personal wealth into the campaign as the candidate's primary political asset. It's been Trump himself who's consistently claimed for a year now that his personal fortune and business success are his core presidential calling cards. Which is why verifying those claims should be an essential part of the vetting process.   

Hillary Clinton should embrace "Broke Donald" and run with it. She should define the presumptive Republican nominee as a financial fraud. She should attack him where it'd hurt the most. The one button that when pushed would rattle Trump like no other. His wealth is how he defines himself. Attack the money and you attack the man. And it's what she should do non-stop until November. It'd keep her on offense and him on defense.

Imagine the following ad: "Broke Donald. Refuses to release his tax returns. What's he hiding? Is his "huge" wealth just a myth? Is Donald Trump a financial fraud? I'm Hillary Clinton...and I approved this ad..."

The Trump "Pivot"

Seems like hardly a nanosecond ago Donald Trump, the Republican front runner, sounded like an ignorant, intolerant, sexist, racist buffoon. And since his big win in the New York primary last week, he's put much of the nastiness on hold and, according to the mainstream media, is sounding more "presidential." Talk about setting the bar low.

Welcome to Trump's new reality show: The Pivot. In a flash, he's all but replaced his controversial campaign manager Corey Lewandowski with Paul Manafort, the embodiment of the very political establishment which Trump excoriates, a theme on which he's built his entire campaign; a campaign fueled by the candidate's Morton Downey-esque blistering persona and incendiary rhetoric.

But now Trump appears to be on a calculated mission to make nice with the GOP, RNC chairman Reince Priebus, and moderate voters in an attempt to win enough delegates (preferably the 1237 minimum) to win the nomination and avoid an all-out war at the party's convention this Summer in Cleveland.

Manafort, who cut his teeth delegate-hunting in 1976 for President Gerald Ford, dropped a bomb last Thursday while addressing about 100 RNC members in a closed-door meeting in Hollywood, FL. He 'assured' the group that Trump's campaign thus far has been an act. That he's been playing a "part."

"He gets it," Manafort told RNC members. "The part that he's been playing is now evolving into the part that you've been expecting. The negatives will come down, the image is going to change, but 'Crooked Hillary' is still going to be 'Crooked Hillary.'"

The Pivot even had Trump criticizing North Carolina's recent "bathroom bill." When asked whether well known transgender reality star Caitlyn Jenner would be free to use any bathroom she wanted in Trump Tower, he said, "That is correct."

The big question raised by The Pivot is, what happens when a candidate like Trump, whose 'authenticity' and anti-establishment bona fides have been the primary source of his appeal, suddenly appears inauthentic and very establishment? And how will his legion of angry blue-collar white dudes feel about their hero's new open bathroom policy?

Trump's rabidly loyal fans will surely be put to the test now. Will these same folks, who've unequivocally excused and defended his inflammatory rhetoric over the past year, accept an abrupt shift to the center by "Lyin' Donald?" Have his comments about North Carolina and Caitlyn Jenner stunned them into re-thinking the 'truer' conservative Ted Cruz? Does Trump now appear like the closet Democrat many have suspected him to be all along?

Stay tuned to The Pivot. The next episodes promise to be quite titillating...

Is Donald Trump Preparing His Withdrawal?

"The system, folks, is rigged! It's a rigged, disgusting, dirty system."

Welcome to the newest Donald Trump campaign strategy, or perhaps the launch of his exit strategy. Still hot under the collar from getting his unprepared, unorganized butt kicked last Saturday by Ted Cruz, who snagged all 34 Colorado delegates in that state's GOP convention, Trump is starting to sound like a man who's finally found the right excuse to get the hell out of politics, a "dirty" business he got into only to feed his rapacious id and have some fun for a few months.

But little did Trump know that he'd become the clear front runner by awakening the "silent majority," those mad-as-hell-and-I'm-not-gonna-take-it-anymore blue-collar white dudes who misguidedly think the best candidate to fix the broken, inequitable system they feel  screwed them all these years is the Ivory Tower billionaire who's exploited that very same system to become rich and powerful beyond their wildest dreams....all the while bankrupting businesses, hiring undocumented workers and refusing to support a $15/hour minimum wage increase.       

"The economy is rigged, the banking system is rigged, there's a lot of things that are rigged in this world of ours," a shrill Trump ranted at his Albany, NY rally this week. "Rules are no good when you don't get Democracy. The rules are no good when they don't count your vote....when you have to play dirty tricks to pick up delegates!"

Trump's latest salvo puts the blame of his Colorado loss not on his ineptitude and ground-game deficiency, but squarely on an allegedly corrupt process that disenfranchised voters and stole his delegates. A process, mind you, that Cruz seemed to understand and capitalize on quite well.

Which fits nicely into a future narrative of, 'I could be president, I would've been president, but the corrupt Republican establishment's backroom brokers changed the rules so I couldn't win. I'm outta here!'

This would be followed by lawsuits against the GOP, individual states and the U.S. government. And as a final kick in RNC Chairman Reince Priebus's balls, Trump would announce a last-minute independent candidacy, all but assuring a Hillary Clinton landslide in November. A scenario which, by the way, fits my narrative of a secret conspiracy by Trump to help Madam Secretary get elected.

It should be noted, however, that even Trump doesn't believe his own "rigged system" conspiracy. "I'm not complaining about the states I won...those are ok!," Trump smugly boasted. That's been Trump's mantra from day-one: 'When I win, it's great. When I lose, it's everyone else's fault.'

Is Donald Trump Broke?

To use Donald Trump's logic, just as he challenged President Obama's citizenship because he didn't present his full birth certificate, we must conclude that the reason he refuses to release his tax returns is because he's financially insolvent. Flat out broke. Why else would he so stubbornly be keeping the official IRS documents under lock and key?

Here's what we do know for certain: that Trump's a failed businessman on many levels, including the airline, steak, vodka and mortgage companies, Trump University and, of course, the bankrupt casinos.

Many believe that the "billionaire developer's" vast real estate "empire" is little more than the ubiquitous Trump brand slapped on other developers' buildings; that his real "wealth" consists mainly of a ginormous inheritance, estimated at between $40-$200-million from his uber-wealthy developer father Fred. Trump's detractors suspect that if not for his father's funding throughout his career, and the life-saving bailout by his bankers and creditors in 1990, his overall business would've gone bankrupt.

Trump's tax returns, unlike the voluntary financial disclosure forms he's filed, which consist of self-reported data, would show just how much he's worth, how much income he generates from his businesses, and just how "self-made" he is versus the "success" due to inheritance.  Since his entire cache rests on his status as a great businessman and deal-maker, the release of his returns could shatter decades of masterful brand-building.

The Republican front-runner claims he cannot release his tax returns because he's in the middle of an IRS audit. But the IRS disagrees, stating that it's up to the individual whether or not to share tax returns.

Which begs the question, just what the heck is he hiding? Is he afraid that when the economic curtain is pulled back it will reveal, in an unprecedented case of smoke and mirrors, someone very different than the financial wizard he's been shamelessly promoting since the 1970's? Will it prove that Trump's a financial fraud? If so, his "empire" would come crashing down like a house of cards.

Until Trump releases his tax returns for the last ten years there will be an ominous cloud of doubt hovering over his income, his net worth and his claim to be a self-made billionaire.

An Open Letter From the Spirit of Ronald Reagan

My fellow Republicans:

What the heck has happened to our party!? I don't recognize us anymore, and haven't for many, many years. I can't believe what we've become. This is the party of Lincoln? Of me?

I've listened for years now as candidate after candidate invokes my name as the standard-bearer of the Republican Party. Of the conservative ideal. I'm the one they all want to be like. The one they compare themselves to every five seconds. My coattails are filthy from their footprints. But to paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, I know me, and none of these jokers are equipped to shine my shoes.

They should all be ashamed of themselves. Not just for destroying the party I loved so much, but for shaming America with their myopic, bigoted world view. And for their unprecedented obstructionism. And for creating such toxicity with Democrats that Washington has ground to a legislative standstill.

We've become not just the party of 'no' but the party of 'nothing.' We don't stand for anything anymore. We have not served those who voted for us. We are selfish, self-serving, petulant and angry. And that's the part I just don't get. Why all the vitriol? The hatred? The inability to talk with each other? Why has "compromise" become such a dirty word?

Back in the day, you disagreed with someone, found the middle ground, and moved onto the next subject. As I liked to say, if I could get 70-80% of what I wanted, that was considered a good day. Today we have leaders who vow never to agree to anything Democrats propose. Everything is summarily rejected, no matter how harmful this intransigence is to the country.

We can't even pretend to hold a hearing on a president's Supreme Court nomination. All this nonsense about "lame duck appointments." Shameful. Do they not remember that I nominated Anthony Kennedy in November of my 7th year, and that his hearing and confirmation took place in my last? Do these fellas not even respect the Constitution anymore? Is nothing sacred in their partisan war?        

And, who the heck is this Donald Trump character? What rock did he crawl out from? He's the best we've got? Have our voters gone mad? Must we pander to the lowest common denominator? We're talking about the nomination for president of the greatest nation in the world, for Pete's sake, not host of some pathetic reality show.

I watch as Trump mocks, denigrates and offends everyone from minorities to women, immigrants to people with disabilities and war heroes. I shudder at the language he uses at his rallies. Not just the curse words, but the racist rhetoric that's been inciting violence. My God, are we really going to nominate this dangerous, destructive, polarizing individual to head our party in the general election? 
     
Donald Trump has campaigned on the "Make America Great" theme. How ironic. He's turned the nation backward to its darkest, ugliest days. Remember the old "Keep America Beautiful" ad from '71? The one with the Native-American man crying as looks out onto a littered landscape? Well, when I see the political pollution that's destroying my beloved America today, the tears stream down my face.

My message was one of hope, strength, positivity and patriotism. Of taking an already great America and making it even greater. Trump's message is not my message. His ideals are not my ideals. And if I could vote in November, well, gosh darnit I'd be voting for Hillary Clinton. 

Is Trump's Campaign the Altamont of Politics?

It was 1967. The Summer of Love. A defining moment in America's social history which symbolized the hippie counterculture movement. Over 100,000 young people descended upon San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district amid free love, awesome music and lots of hallucinogenic drugs. Just two years later the euphoria came crashing down just a few miles East at the Rollings Stones' free concert at the Altamont Speedway.

Only four months after the Woodstock festival's orgy of peace and love, Altamont has come to paradoxically symbolize the violent, abrupt conclusion of the Utopian hippie era. Mick Jagger and his band thought it was a great ideas to hire the Hells Angels motorcycle gang to provide security and keep stoned-out fans and groupies from rushing the stage. It wasn't. The night was marred by unprovoked brutality which ended in the stabbing death, by a gang member, of 18-year-old Meredith Hunter.

"Altamont became, whether fairly or not, a symbol for the death of the Woodstock Nation," music critic Robert Christgau wrote in 1972. 

What makes the phenomenon of Altamont fascinating 50 years later are the chilling parallels between the tragedy of that night and the tenor of the typical Donald Trump rally. Of most concern is that the 2016 political era will end in the same tragic manner.

While there may not be any hot-headed pool-cue-swinging Hells Angels at Trump's hate-fests, the overall mood is the same. There's the same palpable sense of imminent danger. Trump's playing with fire the same way Jagger had. The rocker thought it'd be cool to have the renegade bikers at his service, much in the same way the race-baiting billionaire thinks it's "exciting" to arouse the ire of his angry, white, blue-collar "fans," some of whom believe that a difference in political opinion is grounds for a beating. But as Jagger soon found out, the adrenaline rush of hangin' with the bad boys quickly turns to shock and horror the nanosecond someone takes the commitment too far.

As the primary season shifts into its third act, let's hope the name "Trump" doesn't become synonymous with "Altamont," symbolizing the violent, tragic end to the historic 2016 Republican clown show.

Will Someone Eventually Get Killed At a Trump Rally?

In the 1960's, mass-murderer Charles Manson believed that The Beatles were speaking to him through their song "Helter Skelter," whose message he interpreted as a warning of an impending race war.

In the 1970's, Travis Bickle, the fictional character in director Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver,"  attempted to assassinate a politician in a psychotic, delusional haze motivated by political disenchantment and racism.   

Also in the 70's, New York City serial killer David Berkowitz, the infamous Son of Sam, claimed that a demon in the form of his neighbor's dog ordered him to kill innocent people.

Given the current, unprecedentedly volatile political landscape, it would be incredibly naive and irresponsible to believe that there's not one psycho out there right now who, in similar fashion to Manson, Bickle and Berkowitz, believes Donald Trump is speaking directly to him. That Trump's mantra to "make America great again," coupled with his incendiary, race-baiting rhetoric, is a direct call to take up arms, fight Trump's war, and be a 'hero.' Just one. That's all it will take to cause a horrific, bloody tragedy.

To be sure, there's a palpable level of toxicity and hatred that permeates Trump's events. And it's the direct result of the candidate himself. Of one protester in Las Vegas, he boasted that "I'd like to punch him right in the face." Of other protesters in Iowa, he urged the crowd to "Knock the crap out of them." He's also defended some of his "fans" for punching and kicking a #BlackLivesMatter protester saying, "Maybe he should have been roughed up."

As CNN's Michael Smerconish said Saturday, "Donald Trump has shouted 'fire' in a political theater."

At Trump's North Carolina rally last week one angry old white dude sucker-punched a black protester in the face as he was being removed by security. Afterwards, he chillingly threatened that"Next time we see him, we might have to kill him." Can someone, anyone, tell me how this sort of hate-speak is making America great?

There was more violence Friday at a Trump rally in St. Louis, and later that night his massive rally in Chicago was cancelled after violence erupted in the arena.

And over the weekend a protester charged the stage at Trump's rally in Ohio and was taken down by Secret Service before he reached Trump, who looked terrified as three agents bear-hugged him to prevent an attack.

So what happens next? Will Trump himself become more of a target? Will he ultimately get the message that he's the one inciting the violence and start to bring down the temperature in the room? Or will he continue to ratchet up the toxic rhetoric until it leads to an awful tragedy? Unfortunately, it appears Trump, in some very twisted way, is getting off on it all.

"Honestly can I be honest with you?" he said after the cancelled Chicago rally. "It adds to the flavor, it really does, makes it more exciting."

I bet it won't be so "exciting" if and when someone gets killed.

An Open Letter From Donald Trump's Penis

As Donald Trump's penis, I feel I must weigh in on the growing speculation as to just how big I am. At Thursday's GOP debate, the man whose flabby, out of shape body I am attached to boasted "I guarantee, there's no problem." This was in direct response to Marco Rubio's charge that I am small because Trump has small hands. Well, it's time to set the record straight.

Of course I'm small! Why else would Donny be such a bloated, egotistical, self-aggrandizing, insecure, over-compensating jerk!? The man's been dealing with small-penis syndrome his whole life. Unfortunately for him it's the one thing his money can't change, and it frustrates the hell out of him. Why do you think he spends so much time attacking the masculinity of Marco Rubio and other men (who I hear through the grapevine have really large weiners)?

And why do you think everything else to Trump is always so "YUUUUGE?!" He obsesses over size because I'm microscopic! I'm as flaccid as his policy proposals. Why do you think he wants to abolish the Board if ED? Because he thinks 'ED' stands for 'erectile dysfunction!' He's so insecure about me it's amazing he doesn't debate while sitting in a red Ferrari.

Look, think of me like his real estate deals, which are largely just licensing arrangements: Trump's not actually erecting anything! If he could slap his name on me he would. The trouble is, there's not a font size that small.

An Open Letter to (and Winning Campaign Theme For) Hillary Clinton

Dear Madam Secretary:

The conventional wisdom at this point has you in an ultimate head-to-head match-up with Donald Trump for the presidency of the United States. Given that Super Tuesday will certainly bring you closer than ever to the Democratic nomination, you're going to need a simple, clear and strong campaign theme that can effectively counter that of the presumptive Republican nominee, who's been campaigning since June to "Make America Great Again" (meaning, America is not great now.).

Not only is Trump's slogan negative and uninspiring, it's simply not true. So how about turning his words against him with a more positive, patriotic and uplifting version that proudly declares that we're the greatest nation in the world with even brighter days ahead: "Making America Even Greater!"

"Making America Even Greater!" establishes for voters a crystal clear contrast between the two campaigns. It gives them a choice between pessimism and optimism; discouragement and inspiration; failure and success. A message that continues the hope and change mantra delivered so effectively by Barack Obama in 2008.

I'm sorry, but "Fighting For Us" doesn't cut it. It's dull and spiritless. You're so much more transcendent than that. Your campaign needs an effective bumper-sticker that perfectly sums up who you are and what your candidacy is all about. Every time Trump tells voters he'll make America great again, you'll be telling them we're already great and getting greater. That you'll be leading them to an exciting future, not back to America's dark, ugly past.

"Making America Even Greater!" It's a winner. Take it. It's my little gift to you.  

(by the way, I don't work for you, but I should (and would)).

Here's How Donald Trump Could Actually Win the Presidency

I have to admit, I've been dead wrong about Donald Trump's unprecedented candidacy. I had predicted by now he'd be long gone. That Jeb Bush would win the nomination. And why? Because even though I disagree with Republicans on virtually everything, I held out that the party's voters would eventually get serious, turn off the salacious Trump reality show and, as they did in years past with candidates such as John McCain and Mitt Romney, support a serious moderate who's put forth substantive policy proposals.

I also gave Republican voters more credit than they apparently deserve in assuming they'd ultimately reject Trump for his ad hominem attacks, racist comments and rude, dismissive behavior targeting, for example, Muslims, Mexicans, immigrants, blacks, women, Jews, war heroes, the disabled and even the Pope. I cringed when I heard him at rallies use words like shit, fuck and motherfucker. Almost certainly, I thought, this would accelerate his demise. Conservatives would surely not nominate someone with R-rated rallies, right?

Furthermore, right up through Saturday, I believed that the South Carolina primary would be the place where Trump's bubble would finally burst. I was confident that, in the state where good 'ole Southern evangelicals comprise more than two-thirds of the voter turnout, the bloviating billionaire would be soundly kicked to the curb over his divorces, infidelity, Bible misquote, ethnic ban, 9/11 lie, profanities and, as the Pope pointed out, decidedly un-Christian-like views. But again he won. By an impressive 10 points. The God-fearing folk of South Carolina blessed him with a clear victory.

To be sure, it certainly looks likely at this point that little can stop Trump from winning the nomination. If South Carolina is a barometer of what's to come, it's hard to imagine much of the remaining Bible Belt, the Midwest, the Great Plains and the West not getting behind him. But let's not stop at the GOP nomination. Is it possible that Trump could actually win in a general election against either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders? 

The Republican Party has always had a large base of white, blue-collar, uneducated voters. And let's face it, a lot of these people may not be the most racially tolerant (I'm being kind). Fortunately for Democrats, many of them believed their votes were meaningless, and so they typically stayed home on election day. Which might explain why just 50-55% of eligible American voters actually make it to the polls in presidential elections.

To be fair, there are millions of blue-collar, low-income, uneducated Democrats who choose not to vote either. But to stir up the masses to vote, the right has Trump, and he's winning. The left's grass roots messenger is Bernie Sanders, and he is not. Trump's anti-establishment, inflammatory, racist rhetoric has fired up these dormant voters like nothing we've seen in history. But while Sanders' talk of "revolution" has indeed grabbed the hearts and votes of millennials, his "Democratic Socialism" message is not resonating beyond these young idealogues. Which creates a plausible scenario for Trump's path to the White House.

As Ezra Klein wrote after Saturday's primary results, "Donald Trump's run for president has been so wild, so strange, so entertaining, that we've stopped noticing -- or maybe just grown tired of pointing out -- what a dangerous force he is in American politics. And for awhile, that seemed fine -- everyone knew Trump couldn't win, he didn't have a chance, this was all just a big joke. But it isn't a joke. He won huge in New Hampshire. He won huge in South Carolina. This is the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. And he's a dangerous personality perched atop an ugly ideology. It's time to stop laughing."

Over the past several elections, both parties have consistently put tremendous resources into their get-out-the-vote campaigns. But with Trump, this year's record-breaking GOP turnouts could prove to be a game-changing, history-making phenomenon that lands Trump in the Oval Office. And that should make tens of millions of Democrats, Republicans and Independents very, very scared.

An Open Letter to Millennials: Bernie Sanders Will Break Your Heart

Let's turn the clock back to 2008. Millions of young people were swooning over Barack Obama, a hip, cool, black first-term Senator from Illinois who, in his bid for the presidency, tantalized them with visions of hope and change. For his infectious optimism and promises of a new, united America he was rewarded with a resounding victory over his Republican opponent John McCain: 365-173 electoral votes and 53%-46% of the popular vote.

But leading up to that historic win, the Democratic primary was a real slug fest. While Obama took about 15% more delegates than rival Hillary Clinton, it was Clinton who won the popular vote. It was a truly ugly battle. I can't begin to tell you how many verbal brawls I got into with rabid Obamacon friends who were so drunk on the Kool-aid that they could neither understand or accept my support of Hillary.

Wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, they leaped head-first into the Obama pool while at the same time drowning in their Hillary vitriol. And their hostility towards her, and those who supported her, grew with each stirring Obama speech. The more he became this transformational political figure, the more she became a tired, shrill symbol of the past.

But the years passed and the hope and change soon turned into anger and disappointment. The progressives bristled at Obama's stand on marriage equality. That the rich got richer. That he was too militaristic. That he caved too quickly and easily to Republicans on the budget and key elements of his healthcare proposal. While the right called him a socialist, the left accused him of being too conservative. He broke their hearts.

Which brings us to Bernie Sanders. The new cool kid in school. The one who inexplicably excites you millennials, and whom you believe transcends politics, despite his establishment credentials as a 25-year Washington insider. You love him. Yet you hate Hillary despite the fact that for decades she's been a passionate supporter of myriad progressive causes including marriage equality, paid family leave, a woman's right to choose, universal pre-kindergarten, universal healthcare and gun control.

And that "Bern" you've been "feeling" has made you quite nasty. The social media smear campaign against Clinton has become so toxic and sexist that Sanders himself had to tell the bullies to back off this week.

I get your "anti-establishment" fervor, and I can certainly appreciate your passion and idealistic view of the world at this early stage in your voting life. But I'm baffled by your enthusiastic support of a shrill, fairly dull, wonkish 74-year-old white-haired Jewish socialist from Vermont with a grating Brooklyn accent... (full disclosure: I'm a NY Jew)...who rants about income-redistribution, breaking up banks and free health care and college education for all. To borrow from my (also Jew) pal Dave, Sanders is that loud curmudgeonly uncle that you hope doesn't corner you on Passover to ask why you're dating a non-Jew, don't have children yet or chose art over medicine.

I hate to burst your bubble, but Bernie Sanders will never win a general election to become president of the United States. And it's highly unlikely that, after an expected victory in his neighboring state of New Hampshire Tuesday, he'll have any meaningful nomination juice. But if he did ever make it to the Oval Office he'd break your heart just as Obama did. He'll either cave under Republican pressure and/or shift to the center to compromise. And his "progressiveness" will quickly start to look like, well, the behavior of every other career politician who has to play the dirty game of politics.

An Open Letter to Independents: Can You Really Be That 'Undecided'?

Oh, you independents! For decades now you've been the hot girl at the party. Those highly coveted 'undecided' folks who at the last minute will finally figure out who you prefer and become the critical votes that tilt an election to one candidate or the other. According to polls, as many as 43% of Americans are political independents.

But this phenomenon confounds me. In fact, I think it's 100% bogus. I find the concept of 'undecideds' fundamentally disingenuous. Sorry, but I think you're nothing more than a bunch of attention-seekers who drag candidates, the media, your friends, family and co-workers into one very long ass-kissing marathon until election day. And you love every minute of it.

With the exception every couple of decades of a grass-roots, doomed-from-the-start third-party run at the White House, America operates under a two-party system: Republican and Democrat. And at no time in history has our political system been more dysfunctional, more polarized and with the two parties further apart on just about every single domestic, global and social issue. Given these diametric differences in core beliefs, is it really that hard for you guys to choose sides?

You either believe that all people, including gays, have a right to love and marry, or you don't. You either believe that a woman's body belongs to her, and that it's her choice to have an abortion, or you don't. You either believe in the separation of church and state or you don't. You either believe that guns kill people and that we need more regulation, or you don't. You either believe in climate change or you don't. You either believe in immigration, including Muslims, or you don't. You either believe that no one should work for less than $15/hour or you don't. You either believe in affordable health care and education for all, or you don't. You either believe in government helping the needy, or you don't. You either believe that America's role in the world is one of isolationism, or you don't. I could go on.

So why the meandrous internal debate? Why all the protracted soul-searching? Are you guys so out of touch with your own core beliefs and values that you really can't decide between Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders... and Donald Trump, Ted Cruz or the other Republicans, even if ideologically the two sides are in different galaxies?  Are you really going to wake up November 8, 2016 and think, "Ya know what? I was gonna vote for Cruz, but I really am for aiding the poor, the sick, the needy...and believe in a woman's right to choose and same-sex marriage, so, I'm actually gonna vote for Hillary!"

Grow up. Pick a side. Stand for something. For someone. And then spend this year helping that person get elected.

It's Official: Donald Trump is a Loser!

Donald Trump, the New York billionaire seeking the Republican nomination for president, achieved something monumental in Monday night's Iowa caucuses. He became the very thing he most despises: a loser. With Texas Sen. Ted Cruz winning 28% of the vote, Trump's 24% narrowly beat  Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for second place by one point. So much for all the polling, which Trump had obsessively been citing every three seconds.

To be sure, voter turnout was huge, at record levels. About 50% more Iowans braced the nighttime cold to get in on the action. That's a good thing for our Democracy. The more people who engage in our political process the more effective and inclusive it will be. And yes, as in-the-tank-for-Trump conservatives like MSNBC's Joe Scarborough have been pointing out, he garnered the most votes in the history of this state's caucuses save for Cruz himself. But Cruz won, not Trump, and Rubio essentially also achieved "the most" votes except for Cruz. So in the context of the totals, Trump achieved nothing special except grab a proportionate slice of the record turnout as did his more viable opponents.

And why was there record turnout? The conventional wisdom prior to Monday held that Trump was so wildly popular that he would be drawing tens of thousands of Iowans off the couch and into the caucuses for the first time. People so angry, so fed up, so ready for "something different" that this would be an election like no other. Quite the opposite could also be said though. That Trump so angered and offended the collective intelligence of the good people of Iowa that they got off that couch, alright, but to ensure that he wouldn't win.

As I've been saying for months, Trump is an embarrassing sideshow. A modern day Morton Downey Jr. A carnival-barking agitator, spewing hate-filled racist rhetoric, not a mainstream politician with substantive policy proposals. And while it's been fun for Iowans and others to pack arenas to experience The Donald Trump Reality Show, as evidenced last night, it's not translating to victory. 

So what about New Hampshire? Unless Jeb Bush pulls off a miracle and rises up from the ashes (which I still believe is a strong possibility), the smart money's on Trump fading into oblivion from this point forward, with Rubio taking the Granite State's contest next week. From there, Cruz will win South Carolina, and then it'll be a tough battle between the two "non-establishment" Senators thereafter.

Trump will soon figure out a way to exit the race--based on some typically self-aggrandizing, truth-stretching gibberish--and go back to doing what he does best: borrow the shit out of other people's money to slap his ubiquitous brand on gauche skyscrapers, ugly clothing and anything else he can license. Maybe even file a bankruptcy or two and get divorced again. But no matter the spin, he's still a loser. The thing he hates most. There's nothing more delicious than a Trump concession speech.

Here's What Could Finally Bring Down Trump

Donald Trump likes to call people "stupid." Whether he's referring to President Obama, Congressional leaders, the media or his opponents, the Republican front-runner has so far delighted his supporters these past eight months with an unprecedented flurry of demeaning ad-hominem attacks and inflammatory rhetoric.

But now he's calling these very same supporters stupid, claiming there's nothing he can do to lose their backing, not even if he committed a horrific act of violence.

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, okay, and I wouldn't lose any voters, okay?" Trump said at a rally over the weekend in Sioux Center, Iowa. "It's, like, incredible."

Well, Trump's narcissism is, like, incredible, okay? Think for a minute about what he said, and perhaps the underlying disdain for his supporters. His ego is so gargantuan, his rapacious Id so deprived, he's convinced himself that he's so important and desirable that he could literally kill someone without political cost. The level of "they'll-love-me-no-matter-what" presumption here is astounding.

That's not exactly a ringing endorsement of his supporters' intelligence or ability to reason. It's pretty insulting, in fact. That Trump thinks his "fans" are mindless morons who will blindly follow their Pied Piper like rats into the drowning pool is quite telling. But will they care? Will they finally turn all their "anger" on him? Will this insult--one that's aimed squarely at them instead of one of the bloviating billionaire's enemies--be the long overdue final straw that brings down this vulgar house of cards?

It's one thing to sit at a rally and be entertained by a modern-day Morton Downey Jr. as he mercilessly rips into his opponents. It's quite another to be the target of his contempt.

Is This Why Trump Won't Release His College Transcripts?

Donald Trump: POW from Funny Or Die

"I went to the Wharton School of Business," Donald Trump routinely brags at his campaign rallies. "I'm, like, a really smart person."

And I'm, like, really? We don't believe you. We think you're full of it, just like you grossly exaggerate and lie about virtually everything else pertaining to your personal and professional life (note the Politifact study illustrating he tells the truth just 1% of the time).

On paper, Trump's educational background appears impressive. He first attended Fordham University and then transferred in 1966 to the real estate studies program at Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree.

But contrary to his self-aggrandizing over-the-top embellishing, Trump's two years at the prestigious business school, from all public accounts, seem mediocre at best. His fellow students have no recollection of him. No Dean's List, no Honor Roll, no notable extra-curricular accomplishments. A completely unmemorable academic existence, including continuing rumors that his grades were unimpressive.

So is the Republican front-runner--the man who questions President Obama and Sen. Ted Cruz's citizenship, and who calls everyone in government "stupid," an academic fraud? Is his self-purported "smarts" as mythical as the Muslims he claims were dancing in the streets following the 9/11 attacks? 

The "Transcripter" movement demands that Trump release his full Fordham and Wharton transcripts. It's time for him to prove just how smart he is, or isn't. Let's see the grades. I suspect his GPA never cracked 3.0, which is why the transcripts remain a hidden mystery.

The Reason Why Trump Draws Huge Crowds

Donald Trump's rallies are true political phenomenons, drawing the kind of crowds normally reserved for rock stars. But the reason why 10,000-20,000 people wait in line to see him isn't because they're hungry for a detailed policy speech by one of America's great thinkers.

Nor are they coming to see him, contrary to much speculation among the punditry, because they're so "angry." MSNBC's Jacob Soboroff interviewed Trump supporters at a recent rally but these 'great American patriots' couldn't even intelligently articulate why they're so enraged. One exasperated woman sighed, saying she's "Tired of all the lies we've been told...and I believe everything Donald Trump says..." I guess she missed the Politifact study illustrating that Trump tells the truth just 1% of the time.

So what is it then that's driving this unprecedented attendance? It's simple: Trump's rallies are as hot a commodity as Jerry Springer tickets. His "fans" are there for the spectacle not the substance. They want the hockey fight, not the game itself. The game bores them. They just come for the brawls and bloodshed. And Trump gives 'em plenty of both. "Don-ald, Don-ald, Don-ald!" 

It's the same reason why MSNBC, CNN and the rest of the mainstream media lavishes so much free airtime on Trump, hanging on his every word and covering his rallies live like they're U2 concerts. Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson and all the other GOP hopefuls are lucky if they get a 20-second clip, while Trump's on the tube 24/7. He's a ratings bonanza, guaranteed to do or say something so outrageous and offensive that it would make even a train wreck wince. Racism? Sexism? Xenophobia? Bullying? It's all part of the daily Donald Trump Road Show. 

To be sure, the media can't get enough of Trump. And neither can the simple-minded citizens of Smalltown, USA, for whom Trump is likely the biggest celebrity they'll ever see up close. Let's face it, when you're in Ames, IA, Hampton, NH or Hilton Head, SC, going to a Trump rally just might be the most exciting thing you can possibly do. 

But bracing the November weather to vote, however, is an entirely different commitment. History and statistics show that come election day these fired-up Trumpites will likely stay home, click the remote and simply switch to another salacious reality show.

What If This Is Actually What Donald Trump's Campaign Is All About?

Thanks to Donald Trump, the 2016 presidential campaign is like no other in the history of American politics. It's certain to be studied in colleges and universities, and analyzed by consultants and pundits, for decades to come.

The old rules, as well as conventional wisdom, have been tossed aside for a whole new fascinatingly despicable play book. Now all a candidate needs to do to become the front runner of a major political party is be angry, insulting, confrontational and totally lacking substance. To hell with being "politically correct;" just fire up blue collar white folks with ignorant racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic rhetoric. 

Which brings us back to Trump, the man who put the "ad" in ad hominem attacks. The buffoonish bully blowhard who's turned the Republican Party on its head in the biggest feeding frenzy in the history of Ids. But what if instead of being an unprecedentedly mean-spirited political campaign it was actually a pioneering, praiseworthy research project that would turn Trump from goat to hero overnight?

How genius would it be if Trump were to announce, just as he started to drop in the Iowa and New Hampshire polls, that his campaign was in fact not a legitimate quest for the presidency, but rather to conduct the world's greatest social experiment? That is was a brilliantly crafted scheme designed to expose the bigotry, ignorance and ugliness that's prevalent in American culture. A test. 

Trump would explain that in his "experiment" he set out to prove that he could do or say anything, no matter how outrageous or offensive, without consequence... because it would tap the raging anger and bigotry in so many Americans. That in his attempt to appeal to the lowest common denominator, he'd push the envelope so far until it would draw these bigots out into the open like scattering cockroaches. That the more inflammatory and racist his rhetoric, the more people would like him. And that just when he'd say something so irresponsible and reprehensible that it should finally kill his campaign, it actually would propel it even further.

Trump's initial plan would be to offend Mexicans, immigrants and refugees. He'd call them terrorists and rapists, and threaten to build walls to keep them out. If that didn't turn voters off he'd move on to gays and women. Then he'd attack war heroes and people with disabilities. He'd call his detractors "stupid, "losers" and "bimbos"... and insinuate that female reporters were treating him badly because they were 'menstruating.' He'd lie about 9/11. And when, despite all that, he'd incredulously find himself pulling ahead by 20+ points, he'd call for an all out ban on Muslims.

And this phenomenon would continue unabated. The more despicable Trump's words and actions, the more popular he'd become. Until one day, in typical Trump megalomaniacal grandiosity, he'd step before the cameras for the big reveal:

"I'm leaving the race. I don't want to be president. I never wanted to be president. I just wanted to hold a mirror up to the ignorance and bigotry that lurks dangerously beneath the surface. And you shocked me. The more vile and racist I became, the more you loved me! No matter what I did, I'd go up in the polls! I'd say to Melania, what do I have to do turn these people against me, kill someone?! I pulled off the greatest social experiment in American history. In the end, it wasn't Donald Trump whose behavior was shameful, it was yours. I was merely pretending, but you weren't. You've got a lot to work on, America. And you can thank Trump for exposing it."

Talk about redemption. The last laugh would surely be Trump's...

The Reason Why Trump Gets Away with Saying Whatever He Wants

Ever since he entered the presidential race in June, Donald Trump has offended women, gays, Blacks, Jews, Mexicans, refugees, immigrants and just about every ethnic and religious group in the world. He's recently called for an all out ban on Muslims from entering the United States. He's mocked people with disabilities. He's lied about 9/11. He's attacked the war hero status of John McCain. He's sucked up to Russia's President Vladimir Putin. He's called President Obama "stupid" and continues to question his citizenship.  And he's relentlessly spewed ignorant, incendiary, racist rhetoric to incite his rapacious devotees. Yet he continues to rise in the polls. Why?

The answer is simple: because no one, not even his most loyal "supporters," take him or his candidacy seriously. He's simply entertainment. A show. A modern day Morton Downey Jr., whose pugnacious, hockey-fight persona appeals to the lowest common denominator; the "angry" folks with a voracious appetite for reality television-style confrontation. And Trump's giving them one helluva brawl.

To be sure, Trump's candidacy is unprecedented in the annals of political history. He defies conventional wisdom at every turn. Every time you think he's finally done himself in, his popularity grows. He appears untouchable. Teflon Don. But that would only be worrisome if he was a legitimate candidate.

Trump's base is addicted to his bombastic bluster. They lap it up like a stray cat with a bowl of milk. And that's why they don't seem to care that he somehow manages to reach new heights of loathsome and un-presidential behavior each day. Because these Trumpsters know that, while they adore the spectacle that has become his speeches and rallies, they will never actually vote for him. He's their fun party girl, but he's not the one they'll be bringing home to mama.

Trump appeals to the disaffected and disenfranchised because he's the Larry David of politics, speaking much of what they think and feel, but could never say out loud themselves. But even these loyalists know that he's woefully unprepared and ill-equipped to be president. And they know he could never win. But they like that he's stirring up some serious shit. That, at least for now, he's serving as their advocate. "He's my mouthpiece," one fired up Trumpite said at a recent rally.

But winning presidential nominations requires a lot more than bluster and bravado, as the New York Times reported over the weekend, citing Trump's anemic ground game in the critical early caucus state of Iowa. And it refers to one Trump volunteer who's "sipping white wine" while she's canvassing for votes by phone. The way things are going for Trump in her home state, it's likely his volunteers will be switching to hard liquor pretty soon.

What a Debate!

Ok, America, you now have a clear choice between the party of hope and optimism and the party of gloom, doom and fear. The most surprising thing at Tuesday's night's 5th Republican presidential debate was the absence of Chicken Little himself. This event could've been called The Sky is Falling Show.

For over two hours, the overriding message from Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina and, to a lesser degree, Chris Christie, Ben Carson and Rand Paul was that the United States is unsafe, unrespected and a disaster. Only Jeb Bush and John Kasich presented a positive message about America's standing and the expectation of a greater future. It was all fear, fear, fear...

The biggest takeaway, as in all the previous debates, is how woefully unprepared and ill-equipped Donald Trump is to be president and commander-in-chief. His inability to answer a question about which components of the nuclear triad need the most attention should be an immediate disqualifier in and of itself:

"Well first of all, I think we absolutely need someone we can trust who is total responsibility who knows what he or she is doing that is so powerful and so important. And one of the things that I'm frankly most proud of is that in 2003, 2004, I was against going into Iraq because you are going to destabilize the Middle East. I called it, I called it very strongly and it was very important. But we have to be extremely vigilant and careful when it comes to nuclear. Nuclear changes the whole ball game. I would have said get out of Syria, get out. If we didn't have the power of weaponry today, the power is so massive that we can't just leave areas that 50 years ago or 75 years ago we wouldn't care, it was hand-to-hand combat. The biggest problem this world has today is not President Obama with global warming, which is inconceivable, this is what he's saying. The biggest problem we have today is nuclear proliferation anding are some maniac, having some madman go out and get a nuclear weapon. In my opinion, that is the single biggest problem that our country faces right now....For me, nuclear, the power, the devastation, is very important to me.

Jibberish! The way I tried to blabber-bluff my way out of tough 8th grade science questions. He might as well have thrown up his hands and said, "Hell if I know!"

When you toss in Trump's incessant sighing, eye-rolling, mocking and scornful faces, dismissive hand-waving, bullying and audience-berating, it's truly hard to fathom how anyone with even a half a brain can support the candidacy of this empty-suited blowhard fraud. He is without question the most unqualified presidential candidate in the nation's history.

We witnessed Trump's implosion last night. While I suspect his poll numbers will drop as a result, they may for a blip even rise first. But make no mistake: Republican voters saw a man who, as Bush recently claimed, is unhinged. And there's nothing uglier and more embarrassing than an old, angry, insulting megalomaniac pathetically vying to utter an intelligent thought without sounding like a nasty junior high schooler. As I've been saying for a couple of months, it's over. Forget the polls. His reality show primary campaign popularity will not translate to actual votes when it's time to pull the curtain. And he'll likely not even be around by then to find out.

So who won the debate? Bush finally demonstrated some impressive cajones as he battled Trump on foreign policy and personal qualifications, calling the bloviating businessman "a chaos candidate." For the first time since Trump entered the race with his infamous "Mexican rapists" speech, it was Bush who quite visibly got under The Donald's skin, not the other way around.

It won't be a surprise to start seeing Bush's heretofore anemic 3-5% numbers begin climbing appreciably. I disagree with almost everything he stands for, but he's an adult. Mature. Respectful. Smart. Knowledgeable. And get this...presidential. Honestly, the way Trump acts like a whiny, petulant, belligerent narcissistic buffoon I wouldn't want him on my kid's PTA let alone sit in the Oval Office.

Cruz? He'll probably win Iowa, but like Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum before him he'll disappear after that. Keep an eye on Chris Christie, whose likable 'every man' persona, reputation as a 'straight shooter' and reasonably moderate positions keeps him in the running as the dark horse. But despite what the polls say, it's still Jeb's race to lose.

Another Open Letter to Jeb Bush

Dear Jeb:

Tuesday night could be the biggest night of your political career. The fifth Republican debate, live from Las Vegas, will likely be the moment you either reignite your comatose presidential campaign or you fade into the sunset. So if you truly wish to maintain the Bush family's dynastic hold on the White House, I have some advice for you. It's going to sound aggressive, especially for a mild-mannered softy like you, but if I were you I'd take my anemic 5% and roll the dice. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain:

Go after Trump. Hard. Like your life depended on it (which, politically, it does). Attack him right out of the box. Birthers, Mexican rapists, Muslims...make him own his reprehensible  comments. Challenge the American public to reject his incendiary racist rhetoric. At some point early on you need to ask Americans if they believe that intolerance, hatred and fear is their idea of "America's greatness," because that's what Trump's America looks like.  

You must tell them that they are better than that. That these are not the principles on which America was built, nor are they what we stand for today. Remind them that there's no need to to be "great again" because we are already great. The greatest nation in the world, in fact. The land of opportunity. Where people of all faiths and cultures are welcomed, especially if they're escaping religious and ethnic persecution. A nation governed by the rule of law, not by the divisive, scapegoating demagoguery of flame-throwing, self-aggrandizing fear-mongers like Trump.

You must pointedly declare that Trump's America is not a great America. It's an ugly America. An America filled with ignorance, anger and vitriol, where entire faiths are mocked, condemned and banned. Where walls are built, both on U.S. soil and on the world stage, and humiliating registries are created. Where immigrants are rounded up, ripped from their families, and deported.

You must then tell voters why you are the right choice to make America even greater. How you will fight for them and protect their interests while upholding the Constitution. While respecting our fellow citizens and helping those in need around the globe. That we just need to look within our own families to know we're a nation of immigrants. And that keeping America safe and secure from terrorists does not require us to abandon our principles.

You must ask voters if they want an America which is lead by someone who resorts to juvenile ad hominem attacks on opponents. Who disparages women and the way they look. Who threatens to "bomb the shit out of" sovereign nations. Whose inflammatory remarks makes him a walking recruitment video for ISIS and other terrorist organizations. Who's alienating us from every single ally, including Israel, who just this week told him to take a hike.

Oh, and, please, no hand slappin' or high fivin' Trump for Pete's sake. Look at him like you detest him, which we all know you do. Don't show even an ounce of respect or reverence. I know it's hard, but try to look and sound like a tough guy. Someone with balls. Someone who can not only stand up to Trump, but to our enemies.

And here's your line of the night. In a strong voice, look into the camera and say to voters: "He's bankrupted marriages, he's bankrupted companies and his divisive, bigoted rhetoric is going to bankrupt America."

And then watch your poll numbers rise...

Donald Trump Projects Recklessness, Not Strength

The conventional wisdom among the political punditry is that Donald Trump is popular because he "projects strength." When Americans fear terrorism, especially in the wake of the recent Paris attacks, the perception of foreign policy and homeland security weakness is a campaign killer. Just ask Ben Carson.

But Trump's macho reputation among his 25% rabidly loyal base is incredibly misguided, counter-intuitive and, worse, actually a threat to America. Trump is not "tough." He is not "strong." And he most certainly does not have the qualifications, or the temperament, to be president and commander in chief. Rather, his inflammatory, divisive, hate-filled racist rhetoric demonstrates unprecedented recklessness. His "character" is therefore not an asset in these globally challenging times. It's a severe liability.

In his bid for the White House, Trump has grossly offended just about every ethnic and religious group, women, gays, immigrants, refugees, war heroes, people with disabilities and anyone who's raised his ire. He is angry, petulant, belittling, demeaning, polarizing, patronizing, dismissive and a blatant propagandist and liar. A delusional narcissist. Imagine that these are the qualities of the man sitting in the Oval Office. The leader of the free world, whose job is not just to protect America's interests and security, but its respect, integrity, principles and reputation in doing so.

Are we to accept Trump's empty promise that if elected he'd suddenly, after decades of being a nasty, condescending, confrontational, self-aggrandizing, verbal-diarrhea-inflicted, my-way-or-the-highway buffoon, become a consensus and coalition-building diplomat? A statesman who commands respect at home and abroad?

Trump's "strength" is confused with bullying, intimidation and rabble-rousing bluster.  This is not presidential behavior. Is this what we could expect from President Trump when he's dealing with difficult heads of state, or U.S. enemies, including Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Bashir al-Assad? His "bomb-the-shit out of-them" cowboy rhetoric could greatly hinder our ability to engage our allies in the fight against terrorism.

And let's remember something about Mr. Tough Guy: when other American young men and women enlisted or were drafted to fight in Vietnam, Trump received multiple student deferments and a medical exemption which kept him from serving. There are many people who believe he was nothing more than a draft dodger. And he has the audacity to attack Sen. John McCain's highly decorated war record? 

Sorry, Trump "fans." Your hero is no tough guy. And he's not strong. Don't let him fool you. He's an Ivory Tower-living billionaire whose rich, connected daddy kept him safely at home while your loved ones fought and died in Vietnam. He's a self-serving coward who lies through his teeth and mocks the military service of heroic prisoners of war like McCain. His dangerous 'bring it on' demagoguing would likely alienate our allies, incite terrorists and provoke our enemies.

Trump and Hitler

Donald Trump's incendiary, racist, scapegoating rhetoric is frighteningly reminiscent of the hate-filled rantings of Adolph Hitler.

This comparison is not intended to be insensitive or disrespectful to, or trivializing, the Holocaust and the many millions whose lives were savagely extinguished at the merciless hands of Hitler and his brutal Nazi regime. Rather, it's to draw chilling foundational parallels between this genocidal behavior, the hateful propaganda that preceded it, and the kind of dangerous demagoguery that spews from Trump's mouth daily. We cannot be afraid to make such comparisons, because doing so gives the hate-mongers a free pass.

Since announcing his candidacy in June, Trump has dominated the polls, the media and the public's attention. Despite several outrageously offensive controversial statements about women, gays, Muslims, blacks, Mexicans, refugees, immigrants, Sen. John McCain, 9/11, his opponents and people with disabilities, Trump continues to defy conventional wisdom in maintaining a commanding lead.

Trump's blistering, irrational, ad hominem attacks on his detractors have drawn massive crowds at his rallies, have sucked the air out of the Republican primary season and have made it virtually impossible for any other candidate to gain meaningful traction. Prior to 2015, Trump's logic-defying gaffes surely would have killed a campaign. But in the current toxic political climate, his unprecedented missteps have incredulously served to fuel his reality-show bid for the presidency.

The real Trump phenomenon is that there simply doesn't seem to be anything he can do or say that will turn his rabidly loyally supporters against him. He's touched a raw nerve; pushed a very emotionally powerful button. He's given legitimacy to their ignorance and misguided vitriol. And that's where the similarities with Hitler become even more apparent.

Like Hitler, Trump has seized the opportunity to turn an "angry, fed up" segment of the population into his personal mob. They're rapaciously devouring his racially charged, divisive antics. The Trump mob has even resorted to physically attacking protesters who show up at his rallies, as they did recently in Alabama. Others have been pushed, threatened and intimidated. And if he passed out brown shirt uniforms, the kind Hitler's SS wore, many of these Trumpists would likely wear 'em as they fight "to take back America."

These angry citizens, like those in pre-World War II Germany, are looking for a scapegoat. Someone to blame for their frustration. Their poverty. For threatening their security. For destroying "America's greatness." In Nazi Germany it was fear, ignorance and seething underlying ethnic animus that gave rise to Hitler. The same ugly witches' brew that Trump is masterfully manipulating and exploiting as he stokes the flames of prejudice and hatred.

Listen to Trump's fiery attacks and lies about Mexicans, Muslims and refugees and it's not such a leap to Hitler's manic rantings about Jews. And what should we make of his rabble-rousing about walls, registries and the rounding up and deportation of millions of immigrants? While he's not talking of internment or concentration camps per se, he is without question dipping his toes in those ugly waters. This is a man who proudly endorses "Operation Wetback," the unconscionable immigration law enforcement initiative in 1954, which was not only inhumane but deadly.

At his rallies, Trump gesticulates wildly and manically mocks and ridicules anyone who's dared to cross him.  Listen to the cadence and rhythms of his speech. The sarcastic, disparaging tones. The high-pitch ranting. The intense levels of incitement. The narcissism. And yes, the scapegoating, the most chilling element of all. Then watch clips of Hitler's speeches. They're not terribly dissimilar.

Perhaps even more disturbing than Trump himself are the reactions from his "fans" seated behind him, whose nodding, approving, laughing faces you clearly see no matter how outrageously insulting and un-American his comments. The more outlandish and hateful his rhetoric, the more engaged and excited they appear.

Imagine that 2015 America was not enjoying a robust economic recovery, with appreciable growth in jobs, GDP, stocks and housing prices; flowing credit; low inflation; and low interest rates. Imagine instead that in was the Fall of 2008, when the nation's economy was on the verge of collapse. When financial institutions were failing, and savings were being pulled out of banks and stuffed under mattresses. When panic and fear ruled the day.

Now image Donald Trump coming along during this period with his toxic, polarizing, xenophobic, isolationist rhetoric pitting citizen against citizen, "real Americans" against immigrants, Christians against Muslims, whites against blacks and Hispanics. Imagine for a second how easily these "fans" could be provoked into widespread violence and persecution of certain minorities they seem to despise. You think 1930's Germany is so different?

Trump's 9/11 Lies Will Bring Him Down

It's here. The moment we've all been waiting for. That highly anticipated point in the presidential primary season when Republican front runner Donald Trump presumably has gone too far. This time his target was not Sen. John McCain, Megyn Kelly, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, Mexicans, gays or any of the countless other people and groups he's offended since he launched his campaign last June.

No. This time Trump committed the unthinkable in shamefully exploiting the September 11 tragedy for his personal political benefit. Worse, he's lied about it. Blatantly. And he's been doubling, tripling and quadrupling down on his lies.

"I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down," Trump said last weekend at a rally in Birmingham, Ala. "And I watched in Jersey City, N.J., where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering."

When challenged the next day by ABC's George Stephanopoulos, Trump doubled-down:

"It was on television. I saw it. It was well covered at the time, George. Now, I know they don't like to talk about it, but it was well covered at the time. There were people over in New Jersey that were watching it, a heavy Arab population, that were cheering as the buildings came down. Not good."

As the non-partisan fact-checking organization Politifact concluded, Trump's claim "defies basic logic. If thousands and thousands of people were celebrating the 9/11 attacks on American soil, many people beyond Trump would remember it. And in the 21st century, there would be video or visual evidence."

As usual, rather than apologize for his outrageous behavior, Trump's been repeating his "thousands and thousands" lie ad nauseam, despite a complete lack of evidence.

"Trump is plain wrong, and he is shamefully politicizing an emotionally charged issue. No one in Jersey City cheered on September 11," said  Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop.

Trump's claims have also been summarily repudiated by Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and John Farmer, Jr, the state's Attorney General at the time of the attacks.

To be sure, there are lots of reasons to utterly despise Trump. The litany of unconscionable racist, sexist, homophobic and xenophobic comments, as well as his buffoonish, un-presidential behavior, is more than enough. But now he's trampled on sacred ground. In one fell swoop he's shown unprecedented disrespect for the 3000 dead and their still-grieving families while offending the entire Muslim and Arab population of Jersey City. It's the apex of his ignorance-fueled, hate-filled campaign.

The conventional wisdom is that Trump will not be able to recover from this latest controversy. It will follow him everywhere he goes. He'll be asked relentlessly to explain how he was the only witness in America to "thousands and thousands" of Muslims celebrating in the streets of Jersey City. It'll dominate his rallies, upcoming debates, tv and radio interviews and press conferences. He will be forced to defend himself from charges of lying. Of not being trustworthy. Of not being worthy of the Office of the United States Presidency.  

Trump's 9/11 lies will accomplish the one thing that's heretofore seemed impossible: it will unite both his detractors and supporters. Because there's one thing on which all Americans can agree: you don't exploit the horrific 9/11 tragedy for personal political gain.

An Open Letter to Trump Supporters ("Fans")

To Supporters of Donald Trump:

Firstly, what the hell is wrong with you people!? Have you, like your hero, completely lost your minds?! Have you forgotten what America stands for and the principles it was founded on? Or have you, like your hero, turned into a vessel for bigotry, hatred and intolerance? Do you really not see the unprecedented ugliness of his campaign and your role in perpetuating it?

When you look at Trump, and you listen to his fiery, rabble-rousing, incendiary rhetoric, do you really see a United States president standing before you?  Someone who can handle the intense pressures of the job both domestically and globally? Someone with the diplomatic skills to succeed in difficult negotiations with world leaders? With our enemies? Someone who possesses the character and qualifications to engage, not alienate? To unite, not divide? Do you really see a statesman? A role model for your children? Someone who will make Americans proud on the world stage?

What do you truly think when you hear him talk of Mexican rapists? Or when he calls women ugly, fat pigs and bimbos? How about when he suggests that women who criticize him are menstruating? Or that decorated soldiers like Sen. John McCain are not war heroes because they were captured? Or when he says we should "bomb the shit" out of Syria? Or that we should round up and deport 11-million undocumented immigrants, ripping them away from their children? Or that we should register Muslims. Or that his "fans" were justified in beating a black protester at his rally?

Do you believe that a United States president should make outrageously offensive statements that suggest he's a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, a xenophobe? Should he act like an ignorant buffoon?

Does it not concern you greatly that he offers zero substance and cannot substantiate, with facts and specifics, his outlandish positions? Do you not worry that he speaks in empty, grandiose superficial language? That he believes he can accomplish anything, simply because "I'm Donald Trump, and I'll make it happen." Is this enough for you? Do you not expect more from your candidate? Do you not demand logic, rational thinking and intellectual curiosity?

Have you closed your eyes and contemplated what a Trump presidency would actually look like?  How it would grossly cheapen the Oval Office? Is it acceptable to you that a serious presidential contender has no political experience, curses like a sailor, offends everyone who isn't male and white, and incessantly reminds you how rich he is as he tells you that $15 an hour is too much for you? Does it worry and offend you that he boasts of using bankruptcy laws to screw his creditors while he promises to "make America great again." And most importantly, doesn't it bother you that he thinks America isn't great now? That's not very patriotic, is it?

I know you find him entertaining. You probably loved him on The Apprentice. So he's a tv star to you.  A celebrity. And Americans are obsessed with celebrity. That's why you flock to his rallies and watch the debates in record numbers. But that's not a reason to elect him leader of the free world, or for him to be commander in chief of the world's greatest military. Especially during such difficult, challenging times at home and abroad.

To be sure, what I've asked you above is rhetorical. I know that you think Trump is amazing and would be a terrific president. Thankfully, you are in a very small minority. Anyone who understands political math knows that The Donald will never win the Republican nomination, let alone the presidency. And no one knows this more than Trump himself. Which is why, after he's done teasing, manipulating and exploiting you, he will break your hearts and abandon you. One thing we know for sure: Trump hates losers. He'll be gone from the race before he is one.

Here's How/Why Jeb Bush Will Win the GOP Nomination

A new poll out of New Hampshire shows front runner Donald Trump gaining momentum while Dr. Ben Carson is losing ground. And herein lies the makings of Jeb Bush's path to the Republican presidential nomination.

The current GOP primary campaign is like no other in political history. A pattern has emerged whereby anyone who gets too close to Trump gets eaten alive by the billionaire businessman. He's been a game-changing phenomenon, with an overstuffed arsenal of personal cash and outrageous bombast which affords him unprecedented levels of freedom to do or say anything he wants, no matter how offensive or counter-intuitive it may be according to conventional wisdom. And his rapacious fans eat it all up like funnel cakes at a state fair.

Make the mistake of attacking Trump and you'll soon find yourself on the outside looking in. He'll turn the tables on you through a ruthless, relentless barrage of insults, ad hominem attacks, expletive-laced rhetoric and generally unpresidential behavior. Seems the more he jumps the shark, the more the shark says, "F**k it, I'm outta here!"

Despite Trump's impressive domination of the race so far, there's still much uncertainty and a lack of consensus among party insiders over leadership and who's most electable. Let's face it: the ride's been fascinating in that 20-car pile-up kind of way, but the likelihood is that Trump will not be the party's nominee, no matter how much of a rock star he may appear to be right now. The math just doesn't add up. His 20+% support among the GOP's radical fringe is not enough to carry him to the convention next Summer (besides the fact that he's lately appeared mentally unhinged). So then who takes the mantle?

Carson, a truth-challenged empty suit with an impressive scalpel, is beginning to implode, and he will soon exit. The next in line candidates don't fare any better. Ted Cruz, like Trump, is too much of a crazy ideologue to garner widespread national support. And Marco Rubio is too young, too inexperienced and too obvious a choice for a solid vice presidential appointment. It's simply not his time to be president.

So who's left? Chris Christie? Too brash, too unpopular and too much baggage. No one wants an angry, obese, scandal-plagued president... especially one who's cut his teeth in New Jersey. That leaves a crop of zero-chance, almost-gone candidates including Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich (also a great VP choice) and Mike Huckabee. And then there's Bush.

Bush has the cash and, more importantly, the moderate-enough positions (and sanity) to wait patiently for the clown show to end. He's been Mr. Steady with his roughly 6%, and stands the best chance of winning the war of attrition with Trump. Bush's plan is for Trump to take down all the others and then begin imploding himself. One might argue that Trump's implosion is already underway, the same way volcanoes erupt: you can't really see how bad it is until the lava starts violently spewing from the top.  And then guess who's the last man standing?

An Open Letter to Jeb Bush

 

Dear Jeb:

Let me establish for the record that I am a passionate, loyal, card-carrying Democrat. As such, you and I differ on virtually every political, economic and social issue imaginable. Furthermore, I consider your brother George one of the worst presidents in American history, and I can't fathom having another Bush in the White House. But ya know what? I desperately want you to win the Republican nomination.

It's not because I like you or think you're truly deserving of the job. It's because you are the only adult in a room full of buffoonish clowns. As un-moderate as I believe you to be, you're practically Barney Frank compared to the radical loons you're running against.

It's astounding, beyond inexplicable, that your party's front runners, with over 50% of voters' support, are Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson. These two embarrassingly empty suits have made your party, and America's political system, the butt of jokes all over the world. And that's precisely why you must win the nomination.

The Trump/Carson freak show--replete with Mexican rapists, bimbos and stabbings--might be deliciously entertaining to some at this point in the primary season, but this frightening spectacle must come to an end soon. We need you to restore legitimacy, credibility and respectability to our election process and to the presidency. You cannot allow Trump and Carson, or Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio or Carly Fiorina for that matter, to hijack our political system and cause it irreparable harm. You may be a staunch conservative, but you're not nuts.

So you have to start getting yourself out of the single-digits. You have to start appealing to voters. Put forth policies that resonate with the middle class. You have to become likable. You have to show some balls and demonstrate that you're not the weak, low-energy wimp that Trump has defined. And most important, you must take Trump on, head on. Aggressively. Like in a street fight. Look, you're a smart guy, and he's an ignorant, offensive fool. This should be easy (I have lots of ideas if you're interested). Polling at around 4%, you have absolutely nothing to lose. Your candidacy is on life support. If you don't step up quickly, you'll be gone before Christmas.

We live in the United States of America, for Pete's sake. The greatest nation in the world. We deserve better than Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz and the other GOP crazies. They are tarnishing everything we stand for as the land of freedom, tolerance and opportunity. The greatest act of patriotism you could ever commit is to win that damn nomination....