Vocal Trump critics in GOP open to supporting Clinton

T. Belman. Trumps success mirrors their failure. Trump resonates with the voters. They alienated the voters. Trump and Cruz are right on Muslims and they are wrong.

THE HILL

Trump1Members of the GOP foreign policy establishment are open to supporting Ted Cruz or even Hillary Clinton for president if that’s what it takes to prevent Donald Trump from becoming commander in chief.

In interviews with The Hill, prominent Republicans who signed a scathing open letter denouncing Trump said they aren’t wavering from their opposition to him.

“What’s happening is you have a lot of people who are desperate to get anybody in there other than Trump. … People are going to go for Cruz, because at the end of the day they think he’s considerably less bad than Trump,” said Eliot A. Cohen, a former Jeb Bush adviser who also served in the George W. Bush administration.

Cohen, along with Bryan McGrath, organized an open letter opposing Trump that was signed by more than 120 members of the Republican foreign policy establishment. The letter declared that Trump is unfit to be president because his views of American power are “wildly inconsistent and unmoored in principle.”

The Hill contacted 13 of the people on the letter and heard back from all but two of them.

Support among the group appears to be shifting to Cruz, especially now that the Texas senator has won endorsements from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

“Donald Trump is not a Republican. … He is a caricature of classless wealth. … He is a caricature of the ugly American,” said McGrath, the deputy director at the Center for American Seapower at the Hudson Institute who is now working with the Cruz campaign.

Still, some say the fact that more supporters of Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) haven’t joined Cruz shows how unenthusiastic many are about him.

“All the palatable choices are gone,” said a senior Republican congressional staffer who wished to remain unidentified in order to speak freely.

When Cruz put out his list of foreign policy advisers last week, only two of those named were from the Rubio campaign — Jim Talent and Eliot Abrams — and none were from the Bush campaign.

Recently, the Truman National Security Project, a left-leaning think tank, detailed several areas of foreign policy that Trump and Cruz had in common, such as wanting to impose a religious test on Muslim refugees.

“For someone who is a George H.W. Bush Republican, this is really an uncomfortable choice,” said Daniel Drezner, a professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy who signed the open letter and voted for Rubio in the Massachusetts primary.

Stephen Rodriguez, a former Bush adviser and managing partner at One Defense who is now supporting Cruz, called Trump “amoral,” a “fraud” and a “dangerous demagogue.”

“I don’t know what’s worse — having Trump say all those ridiculous things and being totally clueless, or having him say all those things and actually mean it?” said Rodriguez, who signed the letter.

“At the end of the day, he has done nothing to earn my vote. He doesn’t have the character or the values that would qualify him to be president of the United States and commander in chief, nor is he a conservative or a Republican,” said Roger Zakheim, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who advised Rubio and also signed the letter.

Trump did little to win over his detractors with his list of foreign policy advisers, which the billionaire businessman released this week.

The list included five new names: former Pentagon inspector general Joseph Schmitz; oil and energy consultant George Papadopoulos; BAU International University provost Walid Phares; former Army lieutenant general and consulting firm executive J. Keith Kellogg Jr.; and longtime energy executive Carter Page.

Drezner noted that Schmitz was accused of stonewalling congressional investigations during the George W. Bush administration and resigned, while reports in 2012 alleged there was a link between Phares and war crimes in Lebanon.

“Trump promised he was going to introduce, like, the classiest foreign policy team … let’s just say, this isn’t it,” Drezner said.

“To say the least, it’s a pretty underwhelming group of people,” Cohen added.

Trump said he is planning to release more names, but his critics in the foreign policy sphere aren’t expecting much.

“Anyone who decides to work for him, they’re sort of revealing themselves as probably not among the best of the GOP foreign policy thinkers, because it’s such a stigma,” Drezner said.

Some members of the Republican foreign policy establishment are “shell-shocked” by what has happened in the primary race, the GOP staffer said, and are just planning to stay on the sidelines going forward.

Some of them are hoping for a third-party candidate from the GOP.

“If indeed it comes down to Hillary versus Trump as the nominees … then I’m certainly interested in whether or not we’ll see a third party, but I can’t support Trump’s candidacy,” Zakheim said.

John Noonan, a former Jeb Bush adviser, said he would write in Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins for president if Trump is the GOP nominee and then vote Republican down the rest of the ballot.

“Cousins isn’t any less experienced than Trump, and at least Cousins has never bankrupted a casino,” he said. But, he added, “I’d like to see Cruz beat Trump or a third-party conservative come in, in that order.”

Several admit that if absolutely forced to choose between Trump and Clinton, they would pick the former secretary of State.

“I’ll never support Trump, period. If the only choices I’m offered is between Hillary and Trump, I’ll go for Hillary,” said Cohen, who said he’s hoping for a third possibility or a write-in.

One pointed to Clinton’s speech earlier this week at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, saying it was relatively well received and could have been delivered by Rubio.

McGrath said he would vote for Clinton if he “got a gun held to my head” and was forced to choose only between her and Trump. He added that in reality, however, he would write in a name.

But, he added, “on foreign and defense policy, I at least trust Hillary’s judgment.”

McGrath isn’t alone.

“If it’s between Trump and Clinton, I will vote for Clinton,” Drezner said.

“I think there are others who will make that determination, even if you don’t like Hillary Clinton, if you dislike her domestic agenda,” he added.

Max Boot, a Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow and former Rubio foreign policy adviser who also signed the letter, said he would choose Clinton over both Trump and Cruz.

“I would consider a conservative third party but would vote for Hillary over Trump — not a close call,” he said. “Cruz [versus] Clinton is a closer call but on foreign policy grounds I would probably vote for Hillary.”

March 24, 2016 | 256 Comments »

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50 Comments / 256 Comments

  1. Keli-A Said:

    brutish being incapable of independent thought, and keyed to the will of its master.

    I didn’t know that Babs was your Goylem. ???? What did you use to construct him, re fried beans ?

  2. @ babushka:
    I realize that you are already quite fatigued as a result of your last great post but it appears that you missed a couple of Yamits points in your very thorough reply… perhaps you can expand on your commendable effort and answer his points with your usual sharp analysis:

    Keli-A Said:

    Partial list of his foul deeds as president.

    1- He financed his famous tax cuts to the Rich by increasing the national debt to over 200% during his 8 years no President including Bush and Obama has increased the debt by such a %.

    2- He opposed Israeli bombing of Iraqi reactor and embargoes phantom aircraft for a year to Israel, planes Israel had purchased.

    3- He supported a Palestinian state (2 state solution) used the Palis as security and body guards for American diplomats and others in Lebanon. He saved Arafat and his murder gang from Sharon when Sharon finally cornered the rat and helped extricate the whole core PLO to Tunis. We have seen and continue to see the results of that stupid antisemitic move.

    4- He robbed social security trust fund to pay for tax cuts for the rich. The poor and middle class saw no benefits from that insidious move. The American government owes the SS Trust funds hundreds of billions and this crap about it going bankrupt is crap.

    5- He was a Holocaust denier. He was a Jew hater and baiter.

    6- He staffed the CIA and State Dept with known ex Nazis and Nazi sympathizers.

    Tons more but these headlines should be a good beginning.

    they are already numbered for your convenience 🙂

  3. babushka Said:

    You really should abstain from snorting Drano because it is causing you to hallucinate. Your statement is the most mindless nonsense ever written, and that includes crayon scrawlings in playpens. I could produce better commentary by feeding refried beans to a dog.

    wow, what a brilliant retort, chock full of relevant facts…. no one could resist the unquestionable logic of your arguments. It appears that your impeccable logic has become a repetitive habit that we can expect at your every post.

  4. Keli-A says:
    March 29, 2016 at 9:16 pm
    Except for ignorant and myopic revisionist Reagan cultists he was probably the worst President since IKE.

    You really should abstain from snorting Drano because it is causing you to hallucinate. Your statement is the most mindless nonsense ever written, and that includes crayon scrawlings in playpens. I could produce better commentary by feeding refried beans to a dog.

  6. watsa46 Said:

    I am going to cry.

    An Oylem Goylem

    What Alexander Hamilton said in his day [“the masses are asses”] was a mere echo of a famous Yiddish folk saying, “der oylem iz a goylem”. The golem, one recalls, is that brutish being incapable of independent thought, and keyed to the will of its master. .

  7. bernard ross Said:

    so, who got paid to say what, who got paid to fabricate polls?
    have you not noted the hysteria surrounding Trump and the fact that it mostly comes from the bought proxies of the GOP establishment?

    Seems the real criticism is coming out of the Clinton talking points used by Cruz and Trump GOP opposition.

  8. bernard ross Said:

    so, who got paid to say what, who got paid to fabricate polls?
    have you not noted the hysteria surrounding Trump and the fact that it mostly comes from the bought proxies of the GOP establishment?

    Seems the real criticism is coming out of the Clinton talking points used by Cruz and Trump GOP opposition.

  9. bernard ross Said:

    Donald Trump Is No Ronald Reagan

    reagan was a terrible president who began the 3 decades of shipping jobs to china, another rich get richer trickle down bs artist.
    when you read polls and media consider this which you should already know from Israels experience with the MSM

    Except for ignorant and myopic revisionist Reagan cultists he was probably the worst President since IKE.

    Partial list of his foul deeds as president.

    1- He financed his famous tax cuts to the Rich by increasing the national debt to over 200% during his 8 years no President including Bush and Obama has increased the debt by such a %.

    2- He opposed Israeli bombing of Iraqi reactor and embargoes phantom aircraft for a year to Israel, planes Israel had purchased.

    3- He supported a Palestinian state (2 state solution) used the Palis as security and body guards for American diplomats and others in Lebanon. He saved Arafat and his murder gang from Sharon when Sharon finally cornered the rat and helped extricate the whole core PLO to Tunis. We have seen and continue to see the results of that stupid antisemitic move.

    4- He robbed social security trust fund to pay for tax cuts for the rich. The poor and middle class saw no benefits from that insidious move. The American government owes the SS Trust funds hundreds of billions and this crap about it going bankrupt is crap.

    5- He was a Holocaust denier. He was a Jew hater and baiter.

    6- He staffed the CIA and State Dept with known ex Nazis and Nazi sympathizers.

    Tons more but these headlines should be a good beginning.

  10. Bear Klein Said:

    Obama is getting more popular; Carter was getting less popular

    obama is not running it is hillary
    Bear Klein Said:

    Donald Trump Is No Ronald Reagan

    reagan was a terrible president who began the 3 decades of shipping jobs to china, another rich get richer trickle down bs artist.
    when you read polls and media consider this which you should already know from Israels experience with the MSM

    Top German Journalist Admits Mainstream Media Is Completely Fake: “We All Lie For The CIA”
    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-28/top-german-journalist-admits-mainstream-media-completely-fake-we-all-lie-cia

    Hillary Clinton cannot win US election: Libertarian
    http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/29/hillary-clinton-cannot-win-us-election-economist.html

    so, who got paid to say what, who got paid to fabricate polls?
    have you not noted the hysteria surrounding Trump and the fact that it mostly comes from the bought proxies of the GOP establishment?

  11. Donald Trump Is No Ronald Reagan

    Ronald Reagan is the Frank Sinatra of Republican politics — all GOP politicians want to be him, and all GOP voters long for someone like him. (Just Google “second coming of Ronald Reagan.”) Enter Donald Trump, the latest Republican candidate to be compared to Reagan. Specifically, Trump supporters — in response to Trump trailing Hillary Clinton by double digits in early general election surveys — point to Reagan’s 1980 presidential bid as an example of a candidate who overcame a big deficit early in the campaign to win decisively.

    Trump, should he win the Republican nomination, could beat Clinton (should she win on the Democratic side), but that fact has nothing to do with Reagan; as smart people have pointed out, 1980 is a terrible comparison to 2016.

    1. Obama is getting more popular; Carter was getting less popular

    entern-trumpisnoreagan-1
    The main reason Reagan came back to beat President Jimmy Carter in 1980 was that Carter was very unpopular. Carter’s image had been boosted heading into 1980 because of a rally-around-the-flag effect after the Iranian hostage crisis started. But as the crisis wore on and the economy continued to sputter, Carter’s approval rating fell from 56 percent in early January to just 39 percent by late March. My colleague Nate Silver estimated that Carter’s approval rating on Election Day had dropped to 31 percent.

    This year, the opposite is happening. Obama’s approval rating, 53 percent according to Gallup, is the highest it has been in more than two years. For the first time in a long while, his approval rating exceeds his disapproval rating. A president’s approval rating doesn’t matter nearly as much when he isn’t running for re-election, but as I wrote a year ago, “for better or worse, Clinton is stuck running for Obama’s third term.” Right now, it seems to be for better. Obama’s approval rating could fall, of course, but unlike Carter’s, Obama’s approval rating bump doesn’t seem to be tied to a single event, which means it is less likely to be temporary.

    2. Trump is far more unpopular than Reagan was

    Trump’s favorable rating among the general electorate is, on average, 30 percent. His unfavorable rating is a sky-high 63 percent. In other words, a lot more people dislike Trump than like him. The American public was more evenly split on Reagan at a comparable point in the 1980 campaign. According to an April 1980 Cambridge Reports survey, 39 percent of Americans had a favorable view of Reagan, and 44 percent had an unfavorable view. Reagan’s net favorability rating was 28 percentage points higher than Trump’s is.

    Now, Trump might get more popular after the primary campaign ends and more Republicans start carrying his banner. But Reagan was also in the heat of a primary fight until May 1980, against George H.W. Bush. It seems likely that Trump, if he wins the nomination, will be much less popular than Reagan was when he started the general election campaign.

    Trump fans will, rightly, point out that even if Trump were deeply unpopular, he would still have a good shot in the general election because Clinton is also unpopular. Clinton’s average net favorability, -13 percentage points, certainly evens things out a bit, but she is a lot less disliked than Trump is. That’s far different from 1980, when Carter’s net favorability of -11 percentage points was worse than Reagan’s.

    3. Clinton’s lead is expanding over Trump, while Reagan was closing on Carter

    One of the great myths of the 1980 campaign is that Reagan somehow came from behind at the last moment to defeat Carter. That narrative is based primarily on Gallup polling. But the average of polls, as John Sides has pointed out, gave Reagan an edge by early summer that he never relinquished. Carter’s lead over Reagan had been dropping throughout the early part of the year, as Carter’s hostage-crisis bounce disappeared. By the end of March, a local regression estimate of all the polls had Carter’s lead under 3 percentage points. In fact, Reagan led Carter in a late March 1980 Time/Yankelovich, Skelly & White poll.

    entern-trumpisnoreagan-2
    In 2016, Trump has not led in any recent polls. Clinton has led in the last 26 of them. When we apply the local regression we did to the 1980 polls to the surveys conducted this campaign, Clinton’s lead is expanding, and she is now up by a little more than 10 percentage points over Trump. This makes sense: Obama is becoming more popular, and Trump’s favorable ratings have been dropping since the beginning of the year.

    This doesn’t mean that Clinton would blow out Trump by 10 points, or even that Trump can’t come back. General election polls at this point are not a reliable indicator of the outcome. But Trump would have to climb a far steeper hill than Reagan did. Indeed, Reagan barely had any hill at all. He was far more popular than Trump is, and the incumbent president, Carter, was far less popular than Obama.

    http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/donald-trump-is-no-ronald-reagan/

  12. Bear Klein Said:

    If Trump can not become more of a uniter he will not win on subsequent ballots.

    LOLROF
    you posit a fantasy… the GOP establishment is out to destroy trump anyway possible… why in such a scenario would you call on the victim to be a uniter?

  14. Time for insults is over. By the same talking, people insist on being respected! How can anyone respect a chronic devilish opportunistic liar? Even if it is a prerequisite for being a politician!!!

  15. @ ArnoldHarris:Trump will have the most delegates probably going into the convention but probably will not have the required majority of delegates of 1237 to win on the first ballot.

    If Trump can not become more of a uniter he will not win on subsequent ballots. The wife attack embarrassment fiasco he is continuing way too eagerly makes him less Presidential by the day.

    He has good global ideas on some subjects and many non Trump super fans would line up behind if acted differently. His changing policies the day after he announces also makes him look not ready for Prime Time.

    The above reasons I believe is why to date he appears to top out at about 40% of the Republicans and is getting killed in direct polls versus Hillary or Bernie.

  16. Nevertheless, Trump will win the delegate counts going into the Republican Party convention this summer. And if the schemers among the Republican Party establishment succeed in blocking him for the presidential nomination, he will do whatever is needed to break apart the Republican Party, and people such as me will assist him in doing just that.

    Because I want there to be an American Nationalist Party, to counterbalance the Democratic Anti-Nationalist Party.

    Just you wait and see.

    And no, I really truly do not care about political correctness, any more than Mr Trump does. And neither do most Americans.

    Arnold Harris, Outspeaker

  17. Needs to be verified!!! Everybody loves petro$ including the Clinton and Bush ‘s family!!!

    -Just in Florida! over 85 mosques have been built.
    How many new churches and synagogues have you seen being built these days????…
    This is frightening!!! I think you had better read it all below……
    However, we just sit back and let it happen right under our noses

  18. If I understand Hilary and her supporters which include lots of republicans, all the “secret info” she got on her server and selfone are always unclassified until they are classified!!!!!!!
    That makes > 60+ Million idiots in this country!!!!! That is why BHO had a 2nd term.
    I am going to cry.

  19. @ bernard ross:

    I agree it scares the hell out of the GOP have have allowed Obama to win and get his way in everything he has attempted now for almost 8 years even passing the lates omnibus budget for 1.3 Trillion dollars. Same oligarchy financing both parties no matter who wins or loses they always win … till Trump…. For no other reason I am for Trump he is good for Israel and can’t be worse than Obama and the other three current contenders.

  20. @ Keli-A:
    donal would slaughter her she has so many scandals and he will bring them all up with no holds barred… the gop have done nothing about her all along

  21. How Clinton’s email scandal took root

    The vulnerability of Clinton’s basement server is one of the key unanswered questions at the heart of a scandal that has dogged her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

    Even Bernie is giving her a hard time without using email scandal against her. What Donald would do would eviscerate her and she knows it as do all of the Republican establishment but they would rather have a dog they can control than a dog like Trump that they can’t. It’s all about big money and power and they would rather have Clinton or Bernie than a dog beyond their control and power….. Must defeat the oligarchy at all costs.

  29. Nothing says “Israeli” quite like declaring neutrality between Israel and the Palis.

    So very sophomoric

    I love this lack of self-awareness. It is one of the few comments on the site that has ever made me laugh.

    honeybee the sophisticate, so cultured and refined.

    Grace Kelly resurrected.

    lol

  31. Thanks for the critique, Chubs. It is always good to get feedback from the morbidly obese, but thinking is not part of your repertoire. Stick to eating.

  33. He pretends to oppose the GOP Establishment of which he has been a financial benefactor for decades.

    He pretends to oppose the politicians in both parties who favor importing cheap labor when he actually funds them because they pass legislation importing cheap labor for his venal benefit.

    He pretends to oppose the corporate oligarchy of which he has long been a member in good standing.

    He pretends to oppose the social elite that lavishes contempt upon his blue collar supporters when those same elitists are his close friends.

    Most of all, he pretends to oppose the rapacious predators who inflict economic damage upon the middle class when in fact he is a rapacious predator of the highest order. Trump University is the quintessential example of a big bad wolf fleecing the poor little lambs.

    The guy is phonier than your hair, Bubbe.

  37. bernard ross Said:

    the subject of this thread is about GOP voting for Hillary and I have no doubt that the establishment would support Hillary over Trump as their main agenda is TPP and HB1 and she will approve both.. she is on the team just as Obama was with the TPP. In the same way that Soros and Murdoch agree on open borders the same with the dems and gop on TPP, HB1 visascam and corporate welfare. The other issues dont matter to them. Trump is the only candidate who will try to stop this.

      

    No he won’t. He has flip flopped on even on his signature issue, illegal immigration.

    As for corporate welfare, trump has been a recipient.

  38. babushka Said:

    Liberal Jews consider Trump and Cruz to be insufficiently anti-Semitic

    At last Darlin, an insightful comment arises from your fevered brain. Only Hilary can properly whip the Liberal Jew.

  40. Poll: American Jews have unfavorable view of Trump and Cruz

    Liberal Jews consider Trump and Cruz to be insufficiently anti-Semitic.

  43. babushka Said:

    This is outrageous.
    Don Jr. is sleeping with both of his stepmothers.

    If Americans can live with Woody schtupping his step daughter then schtupping step mothers will draw only yawns even from Mormons….. well maybe not Mormons. It’s those damn NY Values!!!

  44. babushka Said:

    His reputation for barbarity is considerably overblown when you stop to consider that all those peasants were going to die anyway…eventually.

    Not easy to be a peasant shoshing all day in stinking cow dung filled rice paddies….. Early death can be a blessing.. no more sloshing in stinking crap…. Best to stay home and watch General Hosp or As The World Turns, which was my personal favorite….

  47. Laura says:
    March 27, 2016 at 2:23 am

    The best thing trump can do for this country is get a massive heart attack or stroke.

    His supporters are angry, stupid blue collar goyim who are out of jobs because of their own unions. Who’s fault is it that they aren’t smart enough to go further than factory employment. Trump supporters are all about promoting white goyim nationalism (the words of trumpbot).

    Trump is a rapist. Don jr. is sleeping with his stepmother and the middle son is a closeted homo. How’s that for spreading rumors. Prove its not true.

    This is outrageous.
    Don Jr. is sleeping with both of his stepmothers.

  49. We were very close. For a guy who had two million unarmed civilians bludgeoned to death with hammers, he was surprisingly sensitive. Pol was a real man’s man, yet he felt unashamed to weep openly, especially during those heartbreaking episodes of “General Hospital” when things became really tense between Luke and Laura. His greatest regret was never getting due credit for inventing Silly String, a project on which he collaborated with his close friend and soul mate Mother Teresa. His reputation for barbarity is considerably overblown when you stop to consider that all those peasants were going to die anyway…eventually.

  50. babushka Said:

    I like his no-nonsense approach.
    Reminds me of Pol Pot.

    Did you know Mr Pot??? He like you had a Macabre sense of humor. He was also a skull collector, an expert I hear in Phrenology.