Monday, February 15, 2016
Trump hit hard in debate, but can the attacks in SC break through?
Much of the media is convinced that Donald Trump had a lousy debate in South Carolina.
“Trump Bludgeoned In Nasty GOP Debate,” said Politico, whose “insiders” (who utterly failed to predict the Trump phenomenon) said The Donald had “flopped.”
The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza branded Trump one of the debate’s losers, with Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio (and moderator John Dickerson) the winners.
Rich Lowry, whose National Review has savaged Trump, offered this frustrated headline: “Trump Half-Crazed, But Does Anyone Care?”
My own view is that while Cruz and Bush landed some blows, Trump punched back quite hard. The reason the CBS debate, and the campaign, turned so ugly is that the other Republicans know this is probably their best shot at derailing the Trump express.
I was surprised that Trump used as much of his high energy as he did to go after Jeb, who trails him badly in the polls. Bush may have gotten under his skin in this debate. Cruz held back for the first 90 minutes, then seemed to unload every anti-Trump attack line he had been saving up all at once.
Keep in mind that the media have often turned thumbs down on Trump’s debates and controversial comments, only to discover that they didn’t hurt him among Republican voters. About the only concession he’s made to South Carolina is to announce that he’ll stop cursing.
Of course, Trump did attack George W. Bush over 9/11 and the Iraq war and went a step further, saying he and his administration lied about Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction. Trump also defended Planned Parenthood’s non-abortion services. I’m sure we’ll hear more about this, but it also plays to his self-description as a “common-sense conservative,” not a doctrinaire one.
For all the ink spilled on South Carolina as the land of dirty tricks, none of the punches thrown have been below the belt. Unless you count Cruz having to pull an ad that featured a soft-core porn actress, a silly controversy that became a distraction.
The attacks on Trump have gotten so noisy that they may have trouble breaking through the static. And they mostly recycle past charges that haven’t stuck.
A Cruz ad accuses The Donald of having been a sleazy businessman. Since Trump has said he gave big bucks to politicians to help him on the real estate front, the charge is not exactly new.
The ad says Trump has abused eminent domain for his own profit, dramatized by footage of an elderly widow whose home the billionaire wanted for an Atlantic City casino parking lot. Left unsaid is that he offered the woman $1 million and the project fizzled in any case. After Mitt Romney was portrayed as unfeeling for laying off thousands, a single example feels small.
(Trump responds in tweet form that he might have to sue Cruz for not being a natural-born citizen.)
Bush’s Super PAC also looks backward, to Trump’s shifting position on abortion and his insults directed at John McCain and Megyn Kelly. (Trump mocks him for bringing in his mother and now his brother as surrogates.)
Meanwhile, Rubio makes a present-tense charge, portraying Trump as having no foreign policy experience other than building hotels abroad.
The recitations of Trump’s past heresies have been tried several times, to no avail. His supporters don’t seem to care that he once gave money to Democrats, took liberal positions in New York or worked what he now calls a corrupt system as a businessman. In their eyes, his successful real estate career is a plus.
As the media have learned, when it comes to Trump, the wayback machine usually malfunctions.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.
“Trump Bludgeoned In Nasty GOP Debate,” said Politico, whose “insiders” (who utterly failed to predict the Trump phenomenon) said The Donald had “flopped.”
The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza branded Trump one of the debate’s losers, with Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio (and moderator John Dickerson) the winners.
Rich Lowry, whose National Review has savaged Trump, offered this frustrated headline: “Trump Half-Crazed, But Does Anyone Care?”
My own view is that while Cruz and Bush landed some blows, Trump punched back quite hard. The reason the CBS debate, and the campaign, turned so ugly is that the other Republicans know this is probably their best shot at derailing the Trump express.
I was surprised that Trump used as much of his high energy as he did to go after Jeb, who trails him badly in the polls. Bush may have gotten under his skin in this debate. Cruz held back for the first 90 minutes, then seemed to unload every anti-Trump attack line he had been saving up all at once.
Keep in mind that the media have often turned thumbs down on Trump’s debates and controversial comments, only to discover that they didn’t hurt him among Republican voters. About the only concession he’s made to South Carolina is to announce that he’ll stop cursing.
Of course, Trump did attack George W. Bush over 9/11 and the Iraq war and went a step further, saying he and his administration lied about Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction. Trump also defended Planned Parenthood’s non-abortion services. I’m sure we’ll hear more about this, but it also plays to his self-description as a “common-sense conservative,” not a doctrinaire one.
For all the ink spilled on South Carolina as the land of dirty tricks, none of the punches thrown have been below the belt. Unless you count Cruz having to pull an ad that featured a soft-core porn actress, a silly controversy that became a distraction.
The attacks on Trump have gotten so noisy that they may have trouble breaking through the static. And they mostly recycle past charges that haven’t stuck.
A Cruz ad accuses The Donald of having been a sleazy businessman. Since Trump has said he gave big bucks to politicians to help him on the real estate front, the charge is not exactly new.
The ad says Trump has abused eminent domain for his own profit, dramatized by footage of an elderly widow whose home the billionaire wanted for an Atlantic City casino parking lot. Left unsaid is that he offered the woman $1 million and the project fizzled in any case. After Mitt Romney was portrayed as unfeeling for laying off thousands, a single example feels small.
(Trump responds in tweet form that he might have to sue Cruz for not being a natural-born citizen.)
Bush’s Super PAC also looks backward, to Trump’s shifting position on abortion and his insults directed at John McCain and Megyn Kelly. (Trump mocks him for bringing in his mother and now his brother as surrogates.)
Meanwhile, Rubio makes a present-tense charge, portraying Trump as having no foreign policy experience other than building hotels abroad.
The recitations of Trump’s past heresies have been tried several times, to no avail. His supporters don’t seem to care that he once gave money to Democrats, took liberal positions in New York or worked what he now calls a corrupt system as a businessman. In their eyes, his successful real estate career is a plus.
As the media have learned, when it comes to Trump, the wayback machine usually malfunctions.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.
Putin, Obama agree on closer cooperation over Syria
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Both sides said the two leaders discussed a possible cease-fire in Syria, but separate statements issued in the Russian and U.S. capitals suggested continued diplomatic jockeying. The conversation between Messrs. Putin and Obama followed an international security conference in Munich last week, where top Russian officials warned that relations between the Kremlin and the West were descending into Cold War-style confrontation amid the Syria crisis.
On Sunday the Kremlin issued a statement saying that the phone call was at Washington's initiative, and that the two leaders agreed to "intensify cooperation through diplomatic agencies and other entities" to implement an agreement reached in Munich to determine the technicalities of a Syria cease-fire.
"In particular, Mr. Obama emphasized the importance now of Russia playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria," the White House said.
Though diplomats have discussed a cease-fire in Syria that could take effect soon, doubt persists about whether the deal will hold. Russia's intervention with a massive bombing campaign in Syria has given the Kremlin an upper hand in bolstering Mr. Assad. U.S. officials complain that the Russian bombing campaign is doing little to dislodge Islamic State from Syria, and is targeting instead moderate opponents of Mr. Assad, some of whom are supported by the U.S.
The White House said the two presidents discussed the simmering conflict in Ukraine, where Moscow has been supporting separatists on Russia's border. The U.S. and Europe have dangled the possibility of lifting economic sanctions against Russia if it helps implement a peace accord signed last year in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, and the White House said Mr. Obama "also urged combined Russian-separatists forces to fulfill their Minsk obligations, especially adhering to the cease-fire" and ensuring that international monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have access to rebel-held areas.
Western diplomats say Russia has been trying to downplay its role in Ukraine while it uses its intervention in Syria to raise its profile as a player on the world stage.
In its statement Sunday, the Kremlin said Mr. Putin in his conversation with Mr. Obama "once again stressed the importance of creating a common front against terrorism with the rejection of double standards…emphasizing the need to establish a solid working relationship between the militaries of Russia and the United States."
Top Senate Democrat slams proposed Obama cuts to counterterror programs
NEW YORK – Sen. Charles Schumer is slamming a White House proposal that would reduce funding for counterterrorism programs across the country by nearly $300 million.
The New York Democrat is pushing President Barack Obama to reconsider the cuts.
Schumer notes that the cuts to the Urban Area Security Initiative were included in the proposed 2017 budget released last week by the White House. The initiative helps fund programs in cities across the U.S. to prevent extremist attacks, or respond to and recover from them. The proposed budget would cut the funding from $600 million to $330 million.
"These proposed cuts are ill-advised and ill-timed and they must be reversed. End of story," Schumer said in a statement to The Associated Press. "In light of recent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, and the vow by our extremist enemies to launch more attacks on our shores, it makes no sense to propose cuts to vital terror-prevention programs like UASI."
Schumer, who decried the cuts at a news conference on Sunday, said the program is necessary to adequately fund counterterrorism programs in high-density urban areas like New York City.
"New York City remains terror target number one and the NYPD relies on these programs to keep us safe," he said.
In New York, a portion of the funds are used for the fire department's response training and the NYPD's counterterrorism training programs and the active shooter training course. The money also helps pay for teams that patrol at local airports, transit hubs and waterways. Elsewhere in the New York area, the funds cover the cost of other training exercises, including multi-jurisdictional response drills.
The White House released a statement saying the proposed budget provides "robust funding to support a sustainable and effective approach for combating terrorism."
"In addition, the budget provides $100 million for a new Regional Preparedness Grants Competition and $39M for grants to help States prepare for and respond to complex coordinated terrorist attacks, both of which offer New York City additional opportunities to secure funding for counterterrorism efforts," the White House said.
'In complete repose': Scalia died of natural causes, investigators say
The body of late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was being flown to northern Virginia from Texas late Sunday after investigators determined there was no foul play in the 79-year-old's death.
Jose Amezcua, a manager at Sunset Funeral Homes, told Fox News that he personally loaded Scalia's casket onto a private plane bound for Fairfax, Va. at El Paso International Airport. Terry Sharpe, assistant director for operations at the airport, told the Associated Press a private plane carrying Scalia's body departed around 8 p.m. EST. Scalia's body was accompanied to the airport by U.S. marshals.
Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told Fox News that she determined Scalia had died of natural causes. Guevara also said that she had spoken to local investigators and U.S. marshals, as well as Scalia's family and personal physician, before determining that an autopsy was not necessary.
Guevara said Scalia's doctor told her that the justice was suffering from minor ailments, but did not elaborate further.
The owner of the Cibolo Creek Ranch, the West Texas resort where Scalia spent his final hours, told reporters Sunday that Scalia was part of a group of about 35 weekend guests and had arrived at the ranch at around noon Friday.
John Poindexter said Scalia ate dinner with the group and was his "usual, personable self". According to Poindexter, Scalia retired to his room at around 9 p.m., saying he wanted a long night's sleep.
Scalia was found dead in his room Saturday morning. Poindexter said he was found "in complete repose" and added it was obvious that he had "passed away without any difficulty" in the night.
Guevara says the formal declaration of death was made at around 1:52 p.m. Saturday.
A procession that included about 20 law enforcement officers brought Scalia's body to the El Paso funeral home more than three hours from the ranch. Kristina Mills, a history teacher at nearby Chapin High School, came to the funeral home to pay her respects and brought flowers.
"Recognizing his contribution to serving our country just compelled me to come," she told the Associated Press. "I wanted to do yellow roses because for him dying in Texas. I didn't want his family to have bad memories of Texas."
In the nation's capital, President Barack Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the high court, where Scalia served for three decades, and other federal buildings throughout the nation and U.S. embassies and military installations throughout the world.
Even while the flags were being lowered, the campaign-year political heat began to rise over the vacancy on the nine-member court.
At issue is whether Obama, in his last year in office, should make a nomination and the Republican-led Senate should confirm that choice in an election year. Obama pledged Saturday that he would submit a nomination to replace Scalia on the court "in due time."
The Constitution gives the Senate "advice and consent" powers over a presidential nomination to the Supreme Court. Ted Cruz, one of the two GOP senators running for president, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the GOP-controlled Senate would be doing its job by blocking a nomination by a president with less than a year left in office.
"We're advising that a lame-duck president in an election year is not going to be able to tip the balance of the Supreme Court," Cruz said.
But the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would hold hearings on a nominee, said it would be "sheer dereliction of duty for the Senate not to have a hearing, not to have a vote."
Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy told CNN's "State of the Union" that he believes McConnell is "making a terrible mistake. And he's certainly ignoring the Constitution."
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