With Trump As Nominee, Republicans Chart Course In Choppy Waters

How Donald Trump Won the GOP Nomination The New Yorker

If Republican voters hadn’t been so disillusioned by their usual leaders, Trump would have remained a fringe candidate. Instead, aided by some prominent right-wing media figures, such as Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Sean Hannity, the New York businessman was able to present himself as the heir to the Tea Party revolution, which many activists felt had been quashed or betrayed. He was also able to tap into many Republicans’ anger, some of it tinged with racism, about President Obama and his policies; into broader fears of terrorism and economic decline; and into a general disgust with professional politicians, some of which was brought about by the G.O.P.’s own obstructionism.

Contented countries don’t produce politicians like Trump. For many years now, a majority of Americans have told pollsters that they believe the nation is on the wrong track. A decade and a half marked by foreign wars, terrorist threats, recession, slow growth, political gridlock, culture wars, and (for many voters) declining incomes have further undermined faith in the political system, creating space for insurgent candidates like Trump and Bernie Sanders.

It's over for Bernie Sanders -- he needs to stop attacking Hillary before he helps Donald Trump become president The Independent

America has got a lot more right-wing sadists than it does happy-go-lucky millennials.

Bernie Sanders has a dream. He wants to create an America that provides free higher education to all, never drops another bomb and ends the war on drugs. He wants to keep the government from reading our emails, cut pollution by 80 per cent and dismantle Wall Street brick-by-brick.

You’ve got to admit, that’s an incredible dream. And when Bernie goes to dance with the sugarplum fairies in the clouds every night, all these lofty political goals probably feel like they’re within reach. But here on planet earth, his utopian vision for America reads more like a dime store sci-fi novel.

At the end of the day, his entire presidential bid has amounted to little more than a much-welcome distraction for America’s disenfranchised millennials. Bernie has totally convinced the nation’s hipsters he can pay off their college loans and get every Texas oil baron behind the wheel of an electric car – earning himself a huge social media following in the process. He’s also forced liberals to do a heavy bit of soul-searching, which is a good thing."

When Republicans Hit Rock Bottom The Daily Beast

Trump's Mobbed Up, McCarthyite Mentor Roy Cohn The Daily Beast

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When #NeverTrump Becomes #ImWithHer The Daily Beast

GOP, Welcome Your New Trump Overlord The Daily Beast

'Toxic stew of hatred': Elizabeth Warren excoriates Donald Trump' The Washington Post

Hillary Clinton Headlines May 4, 2016

The tortured things GOP Senate candidates have said about Donald Trump, to date The Washington Post

Sarah Silverman on Political Comedy and Bernie Sanders: He's 'Already Won' The Daily Beast

How Raising the Minimum Wage Could Reduce Crime The Atlantic

What Strategy Should Hillary Clinton Use to Beat Trump? The Atlantic

Donald Trump Isn't Going to Be President Slate

Republicans consider Clinton over Trump Politico

Clinton plots swing-state ambush for Trump Politico

Bernie Sanders Outspends HIllary Clinton As Donations Plummet 40 Percent

Membership Has Its Privileges: Donald Trump's Man Card Pays Off The Daily Beast

"Meanwhile Trump’s entire appeal is based on hyper-masculinity and machismo. He critiques Clinton, saying it’s “always drama” with her and she “doesn’t have the strength” for the job while he calls his Republican opponents names like “little Marco” and “low energy” Bush. He brags about his hot wife and how rich he is. Hand size innuendo aside, Trump is literally and figuratively boasting that he is the biggest guy in the room and as president will be the biggest guy in the world and will “Make America Great Again” because he’s great.

To buy into Trump’s candidacy, you have to buy into the Trump persona— because, let’s be honest, there’s nothing much else to go on there.

And his appeal is most directly to those who feel they have nothing else to go on themselves—mostly working-class white men who feel somehow that the ever-so-modest increase in rights for women and people of color in America has somehow meant less rights and opportunity for white men such as themselves. These voters would not, very simply, vote for a woman or person of color because that’s who they implicitly blame for their lot in life. Data have shown that, among white voters, higher levels of racial resentment correspond with higher support for Trump."

Sanders Money Machine Takes A Dip

Sanders is biggest spender of 2016 so far -- generating millions for consultants Washington Post

The Sanders campaign raised $25.8 million in April, down 40% from March.

The self-described democratic socialist senator from Vermont had spent nearly $166 million on his campaign thruogh the end of March — more than any other 2016 presidential contender, including rival Hillary Clinton.

More than $91 million went to a small group of admakers and media buyers who produced the steady stream of commercials and placed them on television, radio and online, according to a Washington Post analysis of Federal Election Commission reports. While the bulk of these $$ went to TV stations and websites, three top consultants including Tad Devine have done particularly well, reports the Washington Post.

Because Bernie Sanders has little experience in the financial structures of successful campaigns, he had no cap on consulting revenues in place, as does the Hillary Clinton campaign. The sky is the limit for Bernie's consultants.

Note that Bernie also has FEC issues impacting $10-20 million worth of donations. A significant percentage of these donations is subject to being in excess of $2700 -- both lump sums in excess of $2700 and numerous individual repeating donations that have exceeded the limit. Those lists are public and have been posted by HWN. There is no doubt that money will be returned.

Bernie Sanders Vows Contested Convention, Makes Case for Superdelegate Flips Bloomberg Politics

Bernie insists that he's the man to take on Trump. Ignoring all polling history for a candidate without one negative ad run against him -- I heard not one from Hillary -- Bernie insists the popular vote means nothing. He will persuade the superdelegates.

"The evidence is extremely clear that I would be the stronger candidate to defeat Trump or any other Republican," Sanders said of the Republican front-runner Donald Trump. He cited several polls showing him doing better than Clinton in a hypothetical head-to-head contest against the real estate magnate.

The Bloomberg Politics delegate tracker shows Hillary with 2,156 delegates, including 520 super delegates, while Bernie has 1,357 delegates, 39 of whom are super delegates. A candidate needs 2,383 delegates to win the nomination.

Sanders predicts a strong win in Indiana's Democratic primary on Tuesday. Opinion polls show Clinton holding a lead in there, 50 percent to 44 percent, according to an average compiled by RealClearPolitics.

Hillary Clinton Headlines May 1, 2016

Where Does the Bernie Sanders Movement Go From Here? The Daily Beast

Clinton: I'm happy to work with Sanders on shaping the platform Politico

An Enormous Deal: 'Clinton's Promise of a Cabinet Full of Women' NBC News

President Trump fills world leaders with fears: 'It's gone from funny to really scary' The Guardian

The Business of the DNC Convention The Atlantic

One of These People Could Be the Next US Treasury Secretary Bloomberg Politics

Trump Plays the Man's Card New York Times

Sanders Fights On for 'The Strongest Progressive Agenda That Any Political Party Has Ever Seen' The Nation