Trump was using "people are telling me" or "A lot of people are saying" as a qualifier for everything. The fact that you can run for office and not get called out is crazy. Then there is the irony of "alleging" "a lot of people are saying" Clinton involvement in the death of Vince Foster while praising Putin for his control over Russia.
Yep. As I keep writing, time and time again, Donald Trump has proven mob ties. Shrug. One thousand stories written about who Hillary Clinton had tea with as Secretary of State, and if that affected Clinton Foundation donations, for every story exploring those mob ties, and wondering what favors The Donald might owe as President. In contrast, blue Illinois has a red Senator largely because in the 2010 election, the Democratic candidate had a mob tie to his real estate business. (Just one, as far as I know.) He got killed in the press for that, story after story after story, and Mark Kirk stepped into the void. The media handout for Donald Trump is ongoing and incessant.
Maybe Trump is just that brilliant, even if by accident. He has gone so low with his comments, that anything bad now seems tame.
That's part of it. He's made this into a personality contest, so that's what gets reported. The other part is Trump fatigue - he gets special, "that's just Donald" rules. The third thing is the horse race. If one horse seems too far ahead, gotta pull that horse back, so that we get a good race.
Politics as a form of reality TV. The press, even more so since the rise of 24-hour cable news channels, seems to like it this way. Enter the first reality TV star, and put him on against a person who doesn't televise well, and...
"That's just Donald" rules had you chuckling during the Republican primaries I bet. Not so funny now.
True enough. Horrified but chuckling. Because I thought well, the primaries are one thing, but the process sobers up in the general election. That had been the case until now.
Interesting take on the Press vs Hillary Clinton theme ... Why the Media Is Botching the Election The "false balance" coverage of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is all about the press's self-interest. By Brian Beutler, The New Republic
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/09/most-important-word-washington-today-lie "But this is the very reason that reporters need to start using it [the word "lie] in this campaign. Donald Trump has basically hacked the media, using their own customs and traditions against them. He knows he can say anything he wants and will get away with it because reporters are so loath to call anything a lie." He has another post on CNN's coverage today. He says Jake Tapper and company were pissed that Trump did an infomercial on his new hotel and spent 10 seconds talking about birtherism, and half of that was a complete lie about Hillary starting it. But they wouldn't use the word "lie." This thread references the 2000 campaign, and that's a fair comparison. A more apt comparison in terms of the horror that the media are enabling is to the Stupid Pointless War.
Not sure that helps. The GOP and #bothsidesdoit wave their hands and say that Hillary lies all the time, too. In their minds, that makes it even. Not in the minds of Democrats, mind you, but those are 40%ish of the population.
This is worth reading. It certainly echoes and expands some themes already noted in this thread. (And it doesn't bode well for a Clinton presidency, but we knew that.) What’s Really Ailing Hillary By Todd S. Purdum, Politico Magazine Here's the 1993 speech: http://pagebin.com/posted.php?pid=NEs7V4Sz Here's the NY Times "Saint Hillary" piece, also from 1993.
I read part and skimmed the rest. For those of you wondering if you should click on the link...Purdum is writing a think piece on a topic that's already been written about. If you're just dropping into the politics forum now because the election is near, have at it. Otherwise, well, it's been said before. (I think by Ezra Klein.) tl;dr for the article is, she was irrevocably scarred by the terrible way the media treated her at the beginning of Bill's administration, so she has developed an incredibly thick skin and is incredibly guarded now.
Democracy has two steps. First you win the popularity contest and then you govern. Unfortunately in this country they don't let you get to step two before completing step one. Her inability to thrive in the popularity contest undermines many of her other great qualities. Withdrawing into a shell makes the media and by extension the voters that follow the media feel like they're just an obstacle to her ambitions. I don't really think she needs to show vulnerability about her private life at this point. What I'd like to see her do is just show enough vulnerability and humility to ask the American public for their vote. She has a tendency to make her presentation and expect people to come over on their own. Sometimes you have to just say 'Please vote for me. I need your vote' This is basically what Trump is doing right now by making the rounds in the black community. Of course it's too late for Trump to ask for that vote, but it's not too late for Hillary. And to be fair that '93 speech they reference is a bunch of gobbledygook. It's like someone slipped her an ecstasy pill and gave her a microphone.