New National Poll: Trump At All Time High with Ben Carson Catching Up Big

Here’s the breakdown from the poll of all candidates. Note that Jeb Bush has indeed fallen, just as Trump said in his press conference:

 

I’m glad to see Ted Cruz in third, tied with Jeb, but I do wish his numbers were higher. At least he has been consistent throughout the year, even adding 2 points from that last poll. Perhaps he will explode to the top at some point. There’s still a lot of time and many debates left.

As always, here’s the lowdown on the poll:

The Monmouth University Poll was conducted by telephone from August 31 to September 2, 2015 with 1,009 adults in the United States. This release is based on a sample of 366 registered voters who identify themselves as Republicans or lean toward the Republican Party. This voter sample has a margin of error of +5.1 percent. The poll was conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, NJ.

Via: The Right Scoop

Continue Reading.....

56 WORDS USED BY VOTERS TO DESCRIBE JEB BUSH

In the latest Quinnipiac poll, the pollsters asked a simple question of Americans: “What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of Jeb Bush?”

The survey included responses from 1,563 registered voters nationwide including 666 Republicans and 647 Democrats.

Here is the full list of the top 56 words that voters chose to describe her followed by the numbers of times that voters chose that word.

1. Bush 136
2. family 70
3. honest 53
4. weak 45
5. brother 41
6. dynasty 40
7. experience 35
8. George 28
9. Florida 25
10. politician 24
11. republican 24
12. moderate 21
13. governor 20
14. establishment 16
15. conservative 14
16. father 14
17. legacy 13
18. nice 13
19. trustworthy 13
20. untrustworthy 12
21. decent 11
22. boring 10
23. competent 10
24. education 10
25. favorable 10
26. nepotism 10
27. war 10
28. idiot 9
29. immigration 9
30. unqualified 9
31. wishy-washy 9
32. corrupt 8
33. liar 8
34. mediocre 8
35. dumb 7
36. good 7
37. liberal 7
38. unfavorable 7
39. capable 6
40. fair 6
41. honorable 6
42. inexperience 6
43. leader 6
44. likable 6
45. RINO 6
46. crooked 5
47. entitled 5
48. incompetent 5
49. intelligent 5
50. loser 5
51. ok 5
52. questionable 5
53. smart 5
54. thoughtful 5
55. uncertain 5
56. wimp 5

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading....

Words Voters Choose to Describe Hillary Clinton: ‘Liar,’ ‘Dishonest’

A new Quinnipiac poll has more bad news for theHillary Clinton campaign, with poll results showing voters think of Clinton as “dishonest” and a “liar.”

“What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of Hillary Clinton?” Quinnipiac asked. All three of the most popular answers were along the same lines: “liar,” “dishonest,” and “untrustworthy.” After those responses, Clinton nets a few positive responses, such as “experience” and “strong.” But then the negative qualifiers begin again, with responses like “crook,” “untruthful,” “criminal,” and “deceitful.”

The same question was asked of Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. The top three responses for Trump were “arrogant,” “blowhard,” and “idiot,” while the top responses for Bush were “Bush,” “family,” and “honest.”

The same poll found Clinton with low favorables. A majority of voters, 51%, say that they have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton while only 39% says they have a favorable opinion.

Via: Mediate 

Continue Reading....

Jeb Bush: Planned Parenthood ‘Not Actually Doing Women’s Health Issues’

For the second time this month, Jeb Bush has said something that is bound to end up in a general election attack ad, should he ever surpass Donald Trump.

Answering a question about federal funding for Planned Parenthood at a town hall meeting in Colorado, the Republican candidate reportedly said, “I, for one, don’t think Planned Parenthood ought to get a penny though, and that’s the difference because they’re not actually doing women’s health issues.”

It was at the Southern Baptist Forum in Nashville, Tennessee earlier this month that Bush uttered the line, “I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues.”

In both instances, Hillary Clinton’s campaign fired back at Bush, this time highlighting the services Planned Parenthood provides beyond just abortions:

Hillary ClintonVerified account‏@HillaryClinton

Hillary Clinton retweeted Juana Summers

Jeb is just wrong. 2.7 million patients for 900K cancer screenings and 4.5M STI tests and treatments/year

Hillary Clinton added,

Juana Summers @jmsummers

Jeb Bush: "I don't think Planned Parenthood ought to get a penny because they're not actually doing women's health issues."

• RETWEETS2,291
• FAVORITES3,244
• 

8:31 AM - 25 Aug 2015

Similarly, Planned Parenthood tweeted at Bush with a graphic that detailed 10.6 million services it provided to women in 2013:

Planned ParenthoodVerified account‏@PPact

FYI, @JebBush: This is women's health care. And it's what #PlannedParenthood does.

• RETWEETS103
• FAVORITES75
• 

11:15 AM - 25 Aug 2015

Via: Mediaite

Continue Reading....

COULD TED CRUZ END UP AS THE ESTABLISHMENT CANDIDATE?

Have you looked inside the latest CNN poll? You’ll find a very interesting number — namely, that Jeb Bush’s approval-disapproval numbers sit at a devastating 35-57.

That doesn’t look like the inevitability we’ve been sold by his surrogates, does it?

What seems quite apparent so far is the GOP establishment, and the Chamber of Commerce crowd who forced Mitt Romney down the throats of an unenthusiastic Republican electorate four years ago, cannot produce a nominee in this cycle. Each poll which gives a majority of the vote to candidates of some stripe of insurgency — Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul — makes that clear.

And while the establishment is in poor enough odor, its problems are magnified by the awful performance of candidates acceptable to it. Bush has made one inexplicable gaffe after another amid a campaign seemingly designed to alienate Republican voters in hopes of attracting Democrats and independents. Scott Walker has managed to couple a stellar record of governance with a stunningly vacant message; his campaign advisors are guilty of pronounced malpractice. John Kasich coupled religious sanctimony on Medicaid expansion with #BlackLivesMatter pandering on the way to five percent in the polls, and this has been characterized as success. Chris Christie appears destined to be out of the race by Labor Day. And Marco Rubio, despite a terrific performance at the debate in Cleveland, simply has not been able to generate any traction.

In a 17-person field, what’s most important is survival. One must demonstrate the ability to stay relevant from one news cycle to the next regardless of what the latest poll says, and one must be able to do so without running out of money. In a field so diffuse, generating lasting momentum is nearly impossible — particularly amid the phenomenon of Trump’s stealing the oxygen from the room.

Who has the funds for real staying power? Obviously Trump does — he’s able to self-finance a campaign and as the front-runner, his fundraising will come easy. And certainly Bush has ample resources for a war of attrition, though his donor base so far is relatively small and mostly limited to the same people who bankrolled his father and brother. But beyond Trump and Bush, the most well-heeled candidate in the race is Ted Cruz — with a wide donor base and a sizable war chest for the long haul.

Here’s a theory to ponder: after the first round of dropouts, in which Rick Perry’s impending demise is joined by several others — Christie, George Pataki, Lindsey Graham, Jim Gilmore, perhaps Bobby Jindal — the likely beneficiary will be the candidate best suited to pull their voters.

And for many, that could be Cruz. Cruz has regional strength in Texas and Louisiana, which could translate into his picking up Perry and Jindal supporters. Despite his clashes with Graham in the Senate, Cruz’ calls for a muscular foreign policy could appeal to the several dozen supporters the South Carolinian has amassed. Those of Christie’s supporters who came to him for his combative style might look to Cruz rather than Trump.

And then after the second round of dropouts, Cruz could gain even more support. Particularly should Paul leave the race; if he isn’t gaining ground, at some point he’s going to have to consider whether his smartest play won’t be to return to Kentucky to defend his Senate seat, and Cruz is a friend and partner in many cases (though for Paul so is Mitch McConnell, which makes for an interesting conflict). Should Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum drop out, none of the others has put in more work to attract the social conservatives they represent than Cruz.

By this point, we might be close to the March 1 “Super Tuesday” primaries, most of which will take place in Deep South states where Cruz has trained his focus toward developing strength. He’s been outshone by Trump in most of them to date, but Cruz is building more organization in those states than any other candidate.

We could see a situation where Trump is ahead on the strength of his performance in the early states and still leads in the polls, though he might have commenced fading in the face of the various challenges befalling a presidential candidate and the terror gripping the party of having to nominate a bull-in-a-China-shop like the real estate magnate has not subsided. But while the establishment might believe Trump is beatable, they could be without candidates to beat him.

And at that juncture, the unthinkable might become inevitable; namely, that the RINO/Chamber of Commerce GOP establishment might well see Ted Cruz as their only hope to stop Donald Trump from getting the Republican nomination.

Rubio and Walker were supposed to be the “fusion” candidates in the race. They were supposed to be the campaigns capable of bridging the gap between the establishment and the Tea Party. Cruz was supposed to be an impossibility because he’s too conservative. But as the race has developed, the GOP electorate is even more anti-establishment and hard-core conservative than anyone expected, and that’s why non-politicians who are unafraid to use what the mainstream media calls “divisive” rhetoric have prospered. It turns out that a little “divisive” rhetoric is actually interesting to the voters. Cruz has been happy to let fly with pointed discussions of serious issues all along, and he’s putting himself in position to be more than acceptable to Trump’s and Carson’s voters should they fail to secure the nomination.

The continued self-destruction of Hillary Clinton, and the inability of the Democrats to find a plausible alternative amid a devastated bench, only makes the moderate/establishment narrative less compelling. The weaker Clinton and the Democrats look, the more tempting it will be to nominate the most conservative candidate possible. The opportunity could be that good to undo the damage of the Obama years.

I’m not making the case that Cruz is the man to unite the Republican Party’s warring clans…yet. What I am saying is, as Al Hunt noticed earlier this week, Cruz is positioning himself very strategically. And if the anti-establishment sentiment among the voters on the GOP side continues alongside sluggish performances by Bush and the other moderates, it’s not impossible that he could have the RINO crowd begging him to save them from Trump.

Via: The American Spectator

Continue Reading.....

FIORINA, JINDAL, CHRISTIE, WALKER STAND AGAINST COMMON CORE, UNLIKE BUSH AND KASICH

With educational reform and Common Core being top issues in the 2016 election, several GOP presidential candidates attended a summit in New Hampshire on Wednesday where they stressed different options for how they plan to improve the educational system across America.

The American Federation for Children, an organization that promotes school choice and advocates for school vouchers, partnered with The Seventy Four, a non-profit and non-partisan website that covers news about education, to host the 2015 New Hampshire Education Summit where experts in education reform and GOP presidential candidates spoke about reforming the educational system.

“Today’s education summit is an unprecedented opportunity to have a serious, dedicated conversation on the issues impacting America’s 74 million children,” said co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of The SeventyFour, Campbell Brown.

Several GOP presidential candidates spoke one-on-one with Brown on the topic of education reform, who appeared to forcefully and repetitively question the rejection of Common Core.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush stressed accountability in the educational system.

Bush – who has gone against most Republicans in supporting Common Core – stressed accountability during his discussion with Brown. Bush said what is most important in his opinion is, “a simple requirement of accountability … a test to measure student learning.”

“If you don’t measure, you basically don’t care,” Bush explained, arguing there must be some basis of measuring a student’s success. He said he supports two bills – one in the Senate and one in the House – because both have testing as a measure. On tests for students, Bush said they “should be based on learning games.”

Bush left stressing accountability in terms of testing measurements, and discussed the importance of skilled teachers. He said the best tool for a classroom is a “capable teacher in a classroom that is well trained.”

Bush stated that aspects of education are “state by state issues, the federal government can be a partner in reform.” He said unions don’t support education reform because they don’t want teachers measured by student success.

Brown asked Bush whom he looks to on guidance and advice in terms of education reform, and if he would name who he would choose as Secretary of Education if he is elected President.

“Researchers who do extraordinary work,” Bush responded, not directly saying who he would choose as Secretary of State, but brought up “Mitch Daniels” who he said told him he took what Bush did in Florida and made it better in Indiana. Bush said Indiana’s success on improving education has been extraordinary, calling Daniels a “wonderful guy.”

On the topic of what future classrooms should look like, Bush said “more hands on, more exciting for kids.” He added that he believes future classrooms should be “more creative.”

“I think it is … I can envision … a system where a child starts with a cohort of kids – all are unique, all are different…and that you use technology, you have a trained teacher that is harnessing the technology that is available today to make sure every child reaches their maximum ability.”

“I think we need to reform higher education as well,” Bush said. “When a third of our kids…are only college and career ready…these are huge challenges.”

Carly Fiorina encouraged more creativity in the classroom.

Fellow GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina spoke with Brown next on the topic of secondary education where she stressed that children need the ability to be creative.

As former CEO of Hewlett Packard, Fiorina was asked if she would say education right now prepares someone to enter the workforce. Fiorina answered, “Not uniformly.”

“We know that every child has vast potential…and the goal of this nation is to allow every single American regardless of their circumstances to find and use their God given gifts,” Fiorina stated, saying that is the first step in the process for education.

Fiorina explained that if children live in a poor community, they are far less likely to get a quality education. She referenced a program, which existed at Hewlett-Packard, where the company reached into underprivileged communities to get involved with children who were interested in science, technology, engineering and math

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading....

Jeb Bush blames Clinton for Iraq turmoil

In a 40-minute speech on Tuesday night at the Reagan Presidential Library in California - hallowed ground for conservatives - Mr Bush outlined an argument made by many of the current Republican candidates. By executing a "premature withdrawal" of all US forces in Iraq in 2011, he said, the Obama administration and then-Secretary of State Clinton committed a "fatal error", destabilising the nation and setting the stage for the rise of Islamic State militants.

"So eager to be the history-makers, they failed to be the peacemakers," Mr Bush said of Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton. "It was a case of blind haste to get out and to call the tragic consequences somebody else's problem. Rushing away from danger can be every bit as unwise as rushing into danger, and the costs have been grievous."

Rushing into a dangerous war, of course, is the critique often laid at the feet of Mr Bush's brother, President George W Bush, the man who oversaw the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

When your last name is Bush - and not, say, Walker or Rubio - talking about Iraq is always fraught with peril. In May he was ridiculed for struggling to say whether he'd have approved the Iraq invasion "knowing what we know now".

At first, he said he would, then he said he wouldn't engage in "hypotheticals" and finally he announced he wouldn't have authorised the invasion.

Mr Bush never mentioned his brother by name on Tuesday, although he made a few veiled references to his sibling's often tumultuous foreign policy experience.

"No leader or policymaker involved will claim to have gotten everything right in the region, Iraq especially," he said.

He went on to argue that the US military should become more involved in the Middle East - although the extent of such involvement was left unclear. He called for a no-fly and "safe" zones over Syria, the removal of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, increasing support for Iraqi Kurds and greater co-ordination between US and Iraqi troops.

After Mr Bush's speech, Clinton campaign advisor Jake Sullivan called the former governor's argument "a pretty bold attempt to rewrite history and reassign responsibility". The 2008 Iraq withdrawal agreement, he noted, was reached while President Bush was in office.

He also contended that the rise of IS is the result of Bush administration missteps, such as disbanding the Iraqi army in 2003 and alienating Sunni factions.

Mr Bush's speech is the latest escalation of a war of words between his campaign and that of his potential Democratic rival. Two weeks ago, Mrs Clinton appeared to catch the Bush camp off-guard with a pointed attack on his record as Florida governor during a speech in front of black activists and entrepreneurs at the Urban League conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Mr Bush didn't directly respond to the attack in his speech later that day - and was criticised by some on the right for being too timid in the face of a Democratic assault. His campaign appears to be taking steps to change that perception.

Earlier this week, Mr Bush and Mrs Clinton engaged in a round of accusations and counter attacks over education policy via Twitter.

Mr Bush said US student debt has increased 100% over the last seven years of the Obama administration. Mrs Clinton countered by citing a grade of "F" Mr Bush received in 2006 as governor for "college affordability" from the Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

Both sides likely welcome the opportunity to take shots across the partisan divide, since they could help primary voters who have been reluctant so far to rally behind the supposed front-runners to better envision the candidates as their party's standard-bearers.

The form of best defence, as they say, is attack.

Via: BBC

Continue Reading.....