Every Trump critic had “Oh, hell” moments during the primary season. They were when Donald Trump demonstrated a keen, gut-level political instinct that even an exceptionally talented conventional politician would be hard-pressed to match. An example: During a Republican debate in Florida in February, Trump was asked about former Mexican President Vicente Fox’s comment that […]
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Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Chris Christie gains power as head of Trump’s transition team
TRENTON, N.J. — Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to endorse Donald Trump back in February brought him plenty of derision at the time. But it’s bringing rewards now that it’s clear he bet on the winner. With Trump having effectively clinched the Republican presidential nomination following a bruising primary fight, Christie now sees vindication of what […]
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Posted inOp-Eds
Do not see Trump as the new ‘normal’
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s Republican primary triumph means that this cannot be a normal election. Americans who see our country as a model of tolerance, inclusion, rationality and liberty must come together across party lines to defeat him decisively. Many forces will be at work in the coming weeks to normalize Trump — and, yes, […]
Posted inOp-Eds
What Trump must do to beat Clinton
By Ramesh Ponnuru Bloomberg View In the last four presidential elections, the Republican nominee has never won less than 90 percent of the Republican vote. Republicans won the popular vote only one of those times, in 2004, and when they did they carried 93 percent of Republican voters. Donald Trump has defied the odds before, […]
Posted inLetters
Money and power corrupts
It is sickening and sad to hear a candidate for president of the United States acting like a spoiled adolescent, yet still get support from thousands of people nationwide. He acts like a bully, too. Are people so bitter and immature that they accept Donald Trump’s name-calling and egotistical self-centeredness as acceptable for a presidential […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Sen. Susan Collins could support Donald Trump
On Wednesday morning, she was heard on a WGAN radio show saying she could back Trump if he stopped the “gratuitous personal insults” and “bizarre” behavior. Collins also said she wants to hear more specifics on what a Trump presidency would look like. Collins, who didn’t endorsed a candidate after Bush dropped out of the […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Donald Trump shifts to new phase in presidential run
INDIANAPOLIS — Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nomination virtually in hand, is signaling a new phase of his outsider campaign, searching for a running mate who could help him govern and reaching out to one-time competitors in an effort to heal the fractured Republican Party. On that, though, there are exceptions. “I am confident I […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Trump’s foreign policy speech embarrassing
NEW YORK — After Donald Trump’s “major” foreign policy address, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republican Bob Corker, announced that he was very impressed, extolling “the broadness, the vision” of the speech. The Wall Street Journal said it was “serious.” The National Interest’s Jacob Heilbrunn opined that the candidate was “more restrained.” […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Trump running mate? Not so fast, says Sen. Susan Collins
PORTLAND — Sen. Susan Collins said she’s amused to find herself thrust into the discussion of potential running mates for Donald Trump. The Maine Republican was a supporter of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for president, and she’s never even met the New York real estate developer and Republican presidential front-runner. But her name came […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Trump leaves doubts about foreign policy
WASHINGTON — Foreign policy does not determine American elections. Indeed, of all Western countries, we are the least interested in the subject. The reason is simple: We haven’t had to be. Our instinctive isolationism derives from our geographic exceptionalism. As Bismarck once explained (it is said), the United States is the most fortunate of all […]