2016 April 27^th

The big surprise in yesterday’s primary vote was the margin of victory gained by Donald Trump. He demolished his opposition. Not many Republicans in those northeast states were drawn to Cruz or Kasich. Trump received anywhere from 54 percent of the Pennsylvania vote to 64 percent of the Rhode Island vote.

Fox News was trying desperately to diffuse the notion that Trump was not getting the votes of women. One of their older white business suited commentators, very agitated by the very idea, pointed out that Trump had more than 52 percent of the women’s vote in Rhode Island. Now given that Trump got 64 percent of the total vote in that state, but only 52 percent of the women’s vote, and if men and women turned out in equal numbers, it must follow that Trump got 76 percent of the men’s vote. The average of the men’s and women’s vote must give Trumps total percentage. This does make his 52 percent of women’s vote look pretty bleak….Of course maybe far fewer than half of Trump’s voters were women, and if that were the case what does that do to his appeal to women?

Basking in the warm glow of his victory, Trump has already given a foreign policy speech that was not universally well received: retired General Barry McCaffrey, a perennial commentator on things military, thought it was very statesmanlike; Senator Lindsey Graham, a late blooming Trump supporter, called it pathetic and incoherent. His Twitter comment was, “Trump speech is pathetic in terms of understanding the role America plays in the world, how to win War on Terror, and threats we face,” Graham also wrote.“Trump’s FP speech not conservative. It’s isolationism surrounded by disconnected thought, demonstrates lack of understanding threats we face.” Graham also mocked Trump for using a TelePrompTer to deliver the speech.

There was one change: Trump had earlier claimed that to be an “honest broker” in the Israel-Palestinian conflict he had to be neutral.  Any hint of neutrality by an American official in this dust-up will arouse enormous unhappiness in AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a very powerful lobby that Trump is not ready to irritate for all his rejection of political correctness. In this foreign policy speech Trump is no longer talking about being an “honest broker,” he is now a full throated supporter of all things Israeli; I’m sure his newly hired handlers are happy with the change.

In what might be an attempt to steal some of Trump’s thunder from his monumental northeast win, Senator Cruz has just announced that his running mate will be …Carly Fiorina! Short of selecting Sarah Palin Cruz could not have given a more appetizing gift to his opponents. Some say that Fiorina was picked because she is known in California. Indeed she is; she is known for having been demolished by Senator Barbara Boxer when Fiorina challenged Boxer for her Senate seat. Boxer pointed out the job cuts Fiorina engineered at Hewlett Packard and her Fiorina’s own purchase of an extravagant yacht. Then there is the matter of Fiorina neglecting to fully pay her staff in that failed election try for the Senate until she decided on a run for the Presidential nomination. Great choice Senator Cruz.