Analysis: What sunk Ted Cruz?

Cruz Zigged While the GOP Electorate Zagged

By Patrick Murray

The Cruz campaign’s attempt to coalesce the #NeverTrump movement around their candidate #NeverHappened.  In hindsight, the attempt to position him as the establishment alternative may not have been the wisest move.

Ted Cruz entered the 2016 presidential race with a reputation as the Senate Republican conference’s enfant terrible.  He ended his campaign as the establishment’s last hope to deny Donald Trump the party’s nomination.  The problem is that GOP voters’ desire for a political outsider intensified just as he was making this pivot.

Exit polls conducted by the national media’s National Election Pool asked voters in 24 different contests this year whether the next president should have experience in politics or be from outside the political establishment.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Middletown Teacher Who Played Anti-Trump Video In Class Apologizes, Asks Supporters To Stand Down

Joe Ventre

Joe Ventre, the Middletown High School South history teacher who sparked controversy in the community when he announced to the media that he was forced to resign over showing an anti-Trump video in his classroom and then rescinded the resignation has issued an open letter via a newly created twitter account wherein he  apologizes to the community for playing the “profane and inappropriate” video to his students.

Ventre said that he had no intention to cause any harm and that it is appropriate for parents and students to question his judgement. He absolved parents, students, the Board of Education and the administration of any fault in the matter which he said was entirely his responsibility.

The young non-tenured teacher apologized to “anyone injured or erroneously portrayed” by the incident, especially “any students and parents who expressed concerns.”  Ventre asked his supporters not to protest on his behalf with the Board of Education.  His letter can be viewed here or on twitter.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Middletown teacher reportedly forced to resign over anti-Trump video

MIDDLETOWN – A Middletown High School South teacher was reportedly forced to resign after he showed his class a video critical of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Joseph Ventre, a history teacher at the Monmouth County high school, was asked for his resignation after at least one parent complained that he showed a video from HBO’s… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Forget what you’ve heard: Here’s how Trump can lock up GOP nomination before convention

WASHINGTON — To all the political junkies yearning for a contested Republican convention this summer: not so fast. It’s still possible for Donald Trump to clinch the nomination by the end of the primaries on June 7. His path is narrow and perilous. But it’s plausible and starts with a big victory Tuesday in his home… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Bonnie Prince Donnie Wants to Thwart the Will of the Voters

By Tommy DeSeno

Call him Bonnie Prince Donnie.

In the 18th century, Bonnie Prince Charlie, aka Charles Edward Stuart, was the last Jacobite Pretender to the throne of England. The Bonnie Prince thought the English throne was his birthright, so he traveled the countryside picking fights with anyone who disagreed.

Donald Trump, our current Bonnie Prince, acts very much the same. His intemperance and penchant for vengeance is manifest in response to any challenge to him, with no crack too lowbrow, be it McCain’s heroics, Carly’s face or Megyn’s menstrual cycle. Only a Jacobean sense of entitlement could bring a Wharton grad into the gutter. Even Jeb knew the Presidency had to be earned, not inherited or claimed.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

How Christie explains Trump prediction of ‘riots’

ELIZABETH — Gov. Chris Christie said Friday that Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s prediction of “riots” if he was denied the Republican nomination through backroom maneuvering at the party’s convention in Cleveland this summer was just colorful speech, and not to be taken literally. Speaking to reporters at a press conference a in Elizabeth on Friday… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Mocking Christie: Trump is working on the Jersey vote

graphic via writersbeat.com

Most so called experts are saying that unless Donald Trump wins both the Florida and Ohio primaries tonight that he won’t have the 1237 delegates needed to win the 2016 GOP presidential nomination outright.   Two of Trump’s three remaining competitors for the nomination are openly angling for a brokered nominating convention.

New Jersey’s presidential primary could make a difference in who is nominated for the first time in decades.  Trump is poll obsessed and knows that Governor Chris Christie’s approval numbers at home are in the tank.  As The Donald has been saying about Marco Rubio in Florida, Christie couldn’t get elected dog catcher in New Jersey.

Christie has declared himself the most prominent of Trump’s endorsements.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Christie campaign manager reveals why Gov. backed Trump

TRENTON — Donald Trump is probably the main reason Gov. Chris Christie didn’t win the Republican nomination for president, his campaign manager told NJ Advance Media. But even though Trump dashed Christie’s White House dreams, Ken McKay says the governor’s controversial endorsement of the real estate mogul should be taken as nothing more than an act… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Major Christie donor joins fight to stop Trump, report says

TRENTON — More than 50 Republican donors and power brokers Tuesday took part in a conference call to discuss how to stop Donald Trump from winning the party’s presidential nomination, according to a report by CNN. And one of them, the report said, was Meg Whitman, the Hewlett-Packard CEO who was a major contributor to New… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Asbury Park Press Calls For Christie To Resign

graphic via writerbeat.com

Calling Governor Christie an embarrassment and a disgrace, The Asbury Park Press  and five other Gannet newspapers in New Jersey, called The Donald’s new backdrop to step down in an editorial posted last night.

While the APP has captured the sentiment of much of New Jersey, Christie resigning is about as likely as Senate President Steve Sweeney giving Judge David Bauman a confirmation hearing for his nomination to the State Supreme Court.  It’s not going to happen.  The only way Christie gives up the perks of his office voluntarily before the end of his term is if he is elected or appointed to a senior position in the Trump Administration.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet