2016 Feb 20^th

I begin today with the admission that I watched a few minutes of “Morning Joe.” It was just long enough to see this overgrown loudmouth quite literally yell at the top of his considerable voice at Mark Halperin, seated six feet away, who was trying to make a point about Senator Rubio. Halperin waited quietly for the boss’s rant to subside to make his relatively minor point. It seems to me that if Trump can get the audience he has there is no reason that Scarborough, whose appeal is much the same as Trump’s, shouldn’t command enough listeners to justify his 5 million a year salary. There is a difference: Trump’s appeal is to promise absurdities, deporting 11 million people and their citizen children or building a 1900 mile impenetrable wall. Scarborough believes that if he yells loudly enough and continuously enough people will believe what he says. Each has a compliant audience and each is right!

The Nevada caucus has been awarded to Hillary and Bernie has conceded, so that is finished business. South Carolina has Donald Trump as the projected winner with Senator Rubio and Senator Cruz in a near tie as rather distant runners up.  South Carolina has some interesting politicians. There was a state senator down there named Jake Knotts who referred to Governor Nikki Haley, a member of his own party, as a “raghead.” Knotts is no longer a Senator and Haley is now Governor of South Carolina and very popular but Knotts comment that “We already have a raghead as President we don’t need another raghead as governor” gives you an idea of the level of discourse in South Carolina state politics. Knotts claimed later that he meant that comment just in fun.

Now with more than a third of the South Carolina vote in, nothing has changed. Rubio and Cruz are tied for second place each with about 22 percent of the total. Bush, Kasich and Carson are all in single digits and some announcements of withdrawal will be coming from some of them within the next few days. Dr. Carson however is already telling his supporters that he plans to continue the fight.

Trump seems to have the Republican nomination locked up. If enough of the poorer performers drop out and if Rubio continues to get the financial support from his big guns then he has a chance to unseat Trump. Rubio would be the toughest opponent Hillary Clinton could face.