Trumpled (Alternative Leading)

[Mav]

There we go - Rubio has called Trump out on using Polish illegals to build Trump Tower and the Trump University scam.  He even mocked him for just relying on keywords like being a winner and everyone loving him while having no actual plans.  The attack has begun, albeit belatedly.

[Mav]

Wow, only in America!

Cruz thought it would help to destroy Trump if he pointed out that Trump had said regarding Health insurance that he wouldn't allow people to die in the streets, that they'd be treated in hospitals instead. 

[flash=200,200]http://youtu.be/wPJ1RraYiTc[/flash]

[Mav]

CDC confirms Zika in 9 US pregnancies, Gizodo, 27/2/16.

Earlier today, the CDC said that of the nine cases of US pregnant travelers infected with Zika, one delivered a child with birth defects, though the exact details were not disclosed. In the other cases, two miscarried, two opted for abortions, and three resulted in live births. The two current pregnancies are continuing without known complications. The CDC is also investigating ten other possible cases.

...

“We did not expect to see these brain abnormalities in this small case series of US pregnant travelers,” noted the CDC’s Denise Jamieson in a conference call. “So it is unexpected and greater than what we would have expected.”

HERE is a report issued by the CDC yesterday and I assume it's related to the one mentioned in the above story.

Interestingly, it appears to confirm that the brain defects in one of the live births included severe microcephaly and it also suggests that one of the abortions followed medical advice that the foetus suffered from severe brain atrophy amongst other things:

Patient B. In January 2016, a pregnant woman in her 30s underwent laboratory testing for Zika virus infection. She reported a history of travel to a Zika-affected area at approximately 11–12 weeks’ gestation. One day after returning from travel, she developed fever, eye pain, and myalgia. The next day, she developed a rash. Serologic testing confirmed recent Zika virus infection. At approximately 20 weeks’ gestation, she underwent a fetal ultrasound that suggested absence of the corpus callosum, ventriculomegaly, and brain atrophy; subsequent fetal magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated severe brain atrophy. Amniocentesis was performed, and Zika virus RNA was detected by RT-PCR testing. After discussion with her health care providers, the patient elected to terminate her pregnancy.

Patient C. In late 2015, a woman in her 30s gave birth to an infant at 39 weeks’ gestation. The infant’s head circumference at birth was 27 cm (<3rd percentile), indicating severe microcephaly (http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/who_charts.htm). After delivery, an epidemiologic investigation revealed that the woman had resided in Brazil until 12 weeks’ gestation. She reported that she had experienced fever, rash, arthralgia, and headache at 7–8 weeks’ gestation. Evidence of Zika virus infection in the mother was confirmed by serologic testing. Molecular and pathologic evaluation of the placenta demonstrated Zika virus RNA by RT-PCR and IHC, respectively. The infant exhibited hypertonia, difficulty swallowing, and seizures, and computerized tomography scan demonstrated multiple scattered and periventricular brain calcifications. Funduscopic examination revealed a pale optic nerve and mild macular chorioretinitis. Newborn hearing screening was normal. The infant was discharged from the hospital with a gastrostomy feeding tube.

If there are further cases like these, I'm sure it will become an election issue.  The Republicans may use it to advocate an isolationist position.  If Trump builds a high enough wall, maybe mosquitos won't fly over it.  They would fix on the need to stop infected Mexicans streaming across the border.  Governor Le Page has already railed against foreigners bringing in "the Ziki fly".  On the other hand, the Democrats will emphasise how much US women will need the help of Planned Parenthood in such stressful times.  As Planned Parenthood does a lot of things apart from abortion, it will be an argument that isn't limited to the right to an abortion.  But the reported case of an abortion following a diagnosis of severe brain defects may not be an isolated case by then.

[laj]

Trumps biggest obstacle  is his own party.
He will destroy hillary and he will do it slowly if its a show down

Hilary won't have to work too hard to get in the White House. In the end no-one will vote for Trump as President even if he gets the Republican nomination.

Nearly all the polls have Clinton a mile in front re: Clinton v Trump.

[ItsOurTime]

Hilary won't have to work too hard to get in the White House. In the end no-one will vote for Trump as President even if he gets the Republican nomination.

No one really believed he would get this far, you just have to look at Obama to see what happens when you start gathering momentum.

Nearly all the polls have Clinton a mile in front re: Clinton v Trump.

Not sure you can rely on American polls. Besides the wild fluctuations (I've seen from +9 to Clinton to +3 for Trump) which suggest they're not all statistically valid, I'm not sure those polls do a good job at predicting who will bother turning up to vote.

[laj]

No one really believed he would get this far, you just have to look at Obama to see what happens when you start gathering momentum.

Not sure you can rely on American polls. Besides the wild fluctuations (I've seen from +9 to Clinton to +3 for Trump) which suggest they're not all statistically valid, I'm not sure those polls do a good job at predicting who will bother turning up to vote.

That's 10 different newspaper polls. The odd one is close, one even with Trump in front, the rest have Clinton WAY in front.

Trump has some novelty value but they won't elect him president when it comes to the crunch. Too important a job to risk Trump, who's not far off the lunatic fringe. Democrats would be well in front no matter who the Republicans put up.

You'll see the USA's first female President.

[Mav]

In the wake of Clinton's crushing win in South Carolina, the CNN commentators suggest that Clinton both expects to face Trump and she prefers to face him not Rubio.  Her victory speech twisted Trump's tail twice but made no reference to Rubio.

Meanwhile, Rubio is ramping up his mockery of Trump and that's the most effective way to cut down a puffed-up bully.  He has talked about his horrible spray tan and suggested he sue whoever did that to his face given how much he likes to sue people.  He mocked Trump's statement that he'd like to punch protesters in the face, saying he's not a tough guy and he's never thrown a punch in his life.  He's also talked about Trump flying around in "Hair Force One" while tweeting poorly-spelt tweets. 

My guess is that Clinton would like to see Rubio cut Trump down to size and then she'll hammer Trump on policy.

[LP]

In the wake of Clinton's crushing win in South Carolina, the CNN commentators suggest that Clinton both expects to face Trump and she prefers to face him not Rubio.  Her victory speech twisted Trump's tail twice but made no reference to Rubio.

Meanwhile, Rubio is ramping up his mockery of Trump and that's the most effective way to cut down a puffed-up bully.  He has talked about his horrible spray tan and suggested he sue whoever did that to his face given how much he likes to sue people.  He mocked Trump's statement that he'd like to punch protesters in the face, saying he's not a tough guy and he's never thrown a punch in his life.  He's also talked about Trump flying around in "Hair Force One" while tweeting poorly-spelt tweets. 

My guess is that Clinton would like to see Rubio cut Trump down to size and then she'll hammer Trump on policy.

The faceless men pull the strings on both sides of politics, would it be foolish for Trump's opponents to get into the gutter with him?

You have to be  very sceptical of the US system, the lack of transparency allows wealthy benefactors to sponsor candidates from both parties, ensuring their preferred candidate and preferred opponent both make it through the nominations. It's all about the depth of their pockets.

[Lods]

In the wake of Clinton's crushing win in South Carolina, the CNN commentators suggest that Clinton both expects to face Trump and she prefers to face him not Rubio.  Her victory speech twisted Trump's tail twice but made no reference to Rubio.

Meanwhile, Rubio is ramping up his mockery of Trump and that's the most effective way to cut down a puffed-up bully.  He has talked about his horrible spray tan and suggested he sue whoever did that to his face given how much he likes to sue people.  He mocked Trump's statement that he'd like to punch protesters in the face, saying he's not a tough guy and he's never thrown a punch in his life.  He's also talked about Trump flying around in "Hair Force One" while tweeting poorly-spelt tweets. 

My guess is that Clinton would like to see Rubio cut Trump down to size and then she'll hammer Trump on policy.

Not sure that's a great tactic for Rubio.

Commentators seem to think it is.
The thinking is that he had tor try something.....that he had to go on the attack.... but attack his policies not his physical features

He comes off, as Trump describes him as a "nasty little guy"...it's not Presidential to try and "out trump" Trump.

[Mav]

What policies?  That's like attacking a cloud with your fists.

He says X in one debate and then says Y in the next.  When challenged that he said X before, he denies it.  He doesn't care about consistency with previous comments or internal consistency in what he says on any particular occasion.  For instance, he said it wouldn't be sensible to say that he's pro-Israeli as he wants to be able to broker a deal with the Palestinians and asserting a bias would undermine his ability to do so.  The very next thing out of his mouth was that there's no one who is more pro-Israeli than him  :. So which policy position should Rubio attack?  He says Planned Parenthood does really good things for women and should be praised.  But then he immediately says that Planned Parenthood should be defunded because it does abortions and he's pro-life.  So which position should Rubio attack?  If he's attacked on anything he's said on the campaign trail, he can honestly claim he said the opposite at some point.  The only way for Republican candidates to take him on is to undercut his alpha male status. But you're right that doing so is a kind of mutually-assured destruction.  Chris Christie had his best moment when he humiliated Rubio but he didn't gain any benefit from it.  At the very next primary, he did poorly and bowed out of the race.  He helped Trump and Cruz but not himself.

I'm happy with this, though.  I want Rubio to knock the stuffing out of Trump and then leave it to Clinton to finish the job.