Democrats must vote- Secretary Clinton poll lead needs votes!

Political polls measure a point in time about the issue being surveyed. Yet, political polls are only valid when the voters follow their opinions with ballots. Elections are won on election day.

Hillary Clinton's post convention bounce in the political polls is reassuring, but hardly comforting. Given the terrible Republican National Convention in Cleveland (RNC chair Rience Priebus shouldbe fired!)- a party where even the state's Republican governor John Kusich refused to attend, the fact is, Secretary Clinton should be double digit numbers ahead of Donald Trump. Instead, Democrats can sigh in relief about the post Democratic National Convention's overwhelming success, but clearly, 8-9 points are not enough of a cushion. 

In other words, every single vote counts. Americans must send an overwhelming message to right wing wackos who call themselves Republicans. We don't want them running our government. Their brand of dictatorship is bigotry and racism. In fact, the Republican Party, the Grand Old Party of Abraham Lincoln, is now revealed as the same radical political bunch of conspiracy theorists who supported the bleak era of McCarthyism. 
(McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence. It also means "the practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism.)
Why Hillary Clinton’s Polling Bounce Has a Chance to Persist

What an amazing month! - reports Nate Cohn in The New York Times

At the end of a series of tumultuous events and two political conventions, the presidential race is more or less where it was before it all began: Hillary Clinton has a clear lead.

All seven national surveys conducted since the Democratic convention show her ahead, by an average of nearly seven percentage points.

It’s a seven-point boost over where those same surveys showed the race after the Republican convention — enough to erase Donald Trump’s bounce and more.

In fact, Mrs. Clinton is about three points ahead of where she was before the two conventions.

Convention bounces often prove to be short-lived, as the name implies and as Mr. Trump’s experience proves.

Often, post-convention bounces don’t even reflect real changes in support — just changes in how likely people are to respond to a poll or to indicate their support for a candidate.

With that history in mind, Mrs. Clinton’s lead would be expected to fade a bit over the next few weeks. But her comfortable advantage in the post-convention polls suggests that her support can fade and that she can still maintain a clear lead.

There are also reasons to think that Mrs. Clinton’s bounce is likelier to stick than most.

In general, convention bounces are most durable when they help unify the parties — something that’s largely inevitable and hard to undo.

The latest CNN poll, which showed Mrs. Clinton ahead by nine points, suggests that she made her biggest gains among friendly groups, like young voters, supporters of Bernie Sanders and nonwhite voters. These gains could prove relatively durable. Notably, these gains have been enough to push Mrs. Clinton to 50 percent in three of the post-convention surveys.

Mrs. Clinton made gains among Republicans and white voters without a college degree, according to the CNN poll. But she’s still faring worse among those voters than the CNN poll has shown in the past, and even worse among white working-class voters than President Obama fared in pre-election polls from 2012.

The CNN poll showed that working-class supporters of Mrs. Clinton were likelier to say that they were supporting her as a vote against Mr. Trump, not because they supported her.

Between those figures and Mrs. Clinton’s weak overall number with the group, she does not appear to have built her lead with voters who might be especially likely to return to Mr. Trump.

The polls now put Mrs. Clinton a bit ahead of the level she held before James Comey, the F.B.I. director, excoriated her for her use of a private email server.

She held a similar lead in April — before Mr. Trump won the nomination in May and narrowed her lead for the month or so that followed. This has been the race’s natural resting place when there hasn’t been something else suppressing Mrs. Clinton’s support — another reason to think she might be able to retain most of her bounce.

For Mr. Trump, the danger is that he has few opportunities to prevent Mrs. Clinton from further consolidating her support over the coming weeks.

There are few reasons to think he has helped himself since the convention by firing back at the parents of Humayun Khan and drawing condemnationfrom some Republican leaders.

August is typically a fairly quiet month in presidential politics.

The Olympics soak up national media coverage, which could make it harder for Mr. Trump to break through. Mrs. Clinton’s extensive paid advertising will continue unabated. Perhaps the most famous August shift in recent memory came from the “Swift Boat” ads that eroded John Kerry’s standing after his convention in 2004. (This is so sad because the entire "Swift Boat" myth was contrived.)

If Mrs. Clinton retains most of her gains over the coming weeks, Mr. Trump’s chances in the race will start to look fairly bleak. Surveys conducted a few weeks after the conventions are far more predictive of the result than those taken ahead of or during the conventions.

No modern presidential candidate who trailed in the polls a few weeks after the conventions has gone on to win the popular vote.

(In other words- every vote counts because a Democratic victory must be decisive to keep right wing wackos from claiming the election is "rigged". By the way, if there ever was a truly "rigged" election, it was the Bush/Gore election of 2000, in my opinion, just sayin'.) Lets vote!

Forgettable quotes from Republican national fear convention (RNFeC)

In my opinion, Melania Trump's plagiarism fiasco, when she spoke the phrases from Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech, were examples of GOP campaign incompetence. In fact the Republicans are responsible for her fiasco. They don't care about fact checking or plagiarism, unless doing so pertains to intimidating somebody else.

"Your word is your bond and you do what you say you are going to do...." Melania Trump. 

I'm sorry to tell you this Mrs. Trump, but there will never be a Mexican built and paid for wall between the US & Mexico.

"Your word is your bond and you do what you say you are going to do...." NOT.

"When your essay is due in one hour but you didn't start it yet #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes"

"Your word is your bond and you do what you say you are going to do"....OMG, Melania Trump obviously didn't receive much consultation about her speech and the "ghost" writer likely never existed, but, rather,was a figment of Melania's imagination.

Another forgettable quote was in the repeated Pavlov Dog reflex descriptions to Donald Trump as being "a good man", made by "Charlie McCarthy" impersonator and vice presidential pick, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana.  In fact, Pence tried hard to convince attendees that they should feel good about supporting Trump, who he repeatedly called “this good man.” Nevertheless, Governor Pence never offered a compelling example of why he said Trump was a good man? As a professed Christian, how was Governor Pence coerced into telling such a big lie?  

A third forgettable quote was when Ted Cruz was criticized for failing to endorse Donald Trump, but told the "RNFeC" to "Vote Your Conscience", rather than endorse the candidate.  

As Cruz continued speaking, and the crowd began to realize that an endorsement seemed less likely, the cheers that marked the early part of the speech became boos.

Lies were laced like tangled threads into the forgettable quotes at the "RNFeC", especially about President Barack Obama, who (by the way) isn't running for re-election. For example, Senator Cruz accused President Obama of closing Guantanamo but opening US borders.  #BigLie  In fact, Guantanamo is still open and more illegal immigrants have been tragically deported under President Obama's administration than during any of his predecessor's terms.  So sad, but true and Cruz told a #BigLie.

In fact, Tim Rogers reports in fusion.net 

"When it comes to getting tough on immigration, Republican candidates talk the talk, but Obama walks the walk. President Obama has deported more people than any U.S. president before him, and almost more than every other president combined from the 20th century." Tragically true, but another in the litany of RNFeC lies.

Although the US Constitution allows unmitigated freedom of speech, there are ethical standards that clearly transcend fundamental liberties. Telling the truth, thoughtful expression without plagiarism and honesty aren't defined in our American freedoms. Yet, their absence exposes an inability to express trust, competence, leadership and respect. Americans can't support the Republican nominees to be potential world leaders, because they are clearly incapable of moral statesmanship.  Forgettable RNFeC quotes should be completely erased from political narratives, because the words, and expressions don't represent, or reflect the high standards of leadership or the values of most Americans.

Republicans can't manage their own convention proof they can't govern

Achtung!

Democracy at the Republican convention was squelched during a failed attempt to "simulate" GOP unity about the Donald Trump and Mike Pence (nonsense) leadership candidates.  

"Trumpzis" prevailed.

Republicans will be unable to govern America when it's proven they can't even manage their own political convention in Cleveland.
No, seriously!

"This is disgusting," said Ken Cuccinelli, conservative party leader.

Chaos erupts on GOP convention floor after voice vote shuts down #Never Trump forces

Backroom unity talks failed, and so the party feuded publicly.

By Kyle Cheney

07/18/16 02:46 PM EDT

CLEVELAND — The Republican party came within a whisker of reaching the unity it had long sought Monday. What it got instead was convention floor chaos.

After mounting for weeks, tension exploded into a high-profile fight pitting the Donald Trump campaign and Republican National Committee leadership against a coalition of conservative activists and delegates from the "never Trump” movement.
The two sides were reduced to shouting at each other on national television after party leadership blocked a roll call vote on the convention rules, which virtually guarantee Trump the party nomination by requiring delegates to vote in accordance with their state’s primary or caucus results. Trump critics were unlikely to be able to vote down the rules — and even less likely to achieve their ultimate goal of replacing the rules with ones that “unbound” pledged delegates — but they were seeking a platform to voice their displeasure with Trump and demonstrate the strength of their movement.  (Republicans only follow the rules when they want to but never when the majority rules!)

They almost got the vote. The Never Trump delegates joined forces with a small but aggrieved band of GOP delegates — led Virginia delegate Ken Cuccinelli and Utah Sen. Mike Lee — furious with party leaders and the Trump campaign for their role last week in blocking a slew of changes to party rules that conservative activists favored. Together, they shocked Trump campaign and GOP leaders on Monday afternoon by producing signatures from a majority of delegates from 11 states and territories, far more than the seven jurisdictions necessary to force an up-or-down vote on the convention’s rules package. That would’ve left approval up fate to 2,472 delegates on the convention floor — and embarrassed Trump regardless of the results.

But when the time came to present the proposed rules to the full convention, the combined Trump campaign-party leadership faction crushed the rebellious faction.  (Well, well, well, so much for Democracy, it has left the floor at the Cleveland convention.)

Party leaders, anticipating an anti-Trump push, had installed Arkansas Rep. Steve Womack to preside over the convention – bucking recent history of having the Republican House leader preside over the proceedings. Womack initially determined on a voice vote that the rules package – as approved by a convention committee last week – would be adopted without changes. 

But a furious outcry among conservative delegates erupted, with hundreds of support chanting for their right to a “roll call vote.”

Then, Womack stepped off the stage and let the RNC and Trump campaign whips go to work. With the lists of insurgent delegates in hand, dozens of aides worked the convention floor for about 15 minutes, collecting their own set of withdrawal signatures. In the end, four of the initial 11 states saw enough delegates abandon the roll call effort to scuttle it: Minnesota, Maine, Iowa and the District of Columbia. Alaska, according to the RNC, failed to submit enough valid signatures to begin with.
Alaska delegate Fred Brown told POLITICO he did get the required signatures. “I had secured more than enough signatures from Alaska delegates, but the convention secretary was not at the designated location where I was told to submit them,” he said. “Some said she was hiding. Others said she was protected by guards. Regardless, I was told I could also present the signatures from the floor. Nevertheless, when the vote occurred, my mic was not turned on. When I attempted to present these signatures at the stage, my effort was ignored by the chair, and the security guard turned me away.“

When Womack announced the result from the stage, the rebellious delegates went ballistic, swamping the continuing proceedings with screams and still demanding a vote. Colorado’s Unruh convinced her state’s delegates to walk out and screamed for nearby Texas’ to do the same, though they declined. Morton Blackwell, a conservative Virginia delegate told POLITICO that the process was “crooked.” Blackwell, a veteran RNC member of 32 years, guessed that several of the delegations that withdrew from the effort were plants by the RNC to convince insurgents they had reached their goal. He wondered whether the bitterness they felt would linger.

For their part, RNC and Trump campaign aides involved in the convention argued that many of the delegates who signed forms demanding a vote had been duped, told at delegation breakfasts Monday morning that they would be supporting Trump by joining the effort.

Iowa delegate Marlys Popma, who helped lead the state’s effort to support the roll call vote, rejected that suggestion. “People knew exactly what they were signing,” she said.

“This is about the full assault on the delegates,” Waters said in an interview, while aides frantically bounced back and forth collecting signatures from friendly delegations. At one point Monday, 11 jurisdictions had signed on: Maine, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Alaska, Colorado, Washington, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Minnesota and Virginia.

The scene, with party officials feuding in front of reporters and cameras, was a distressing one for a party looking to present a united front amid Trump’s battle with Hillary Clinton for the presidency.

And it was all the more frustrating for party leaders because they came an eyelash away from preventing it. 

Ken Cuccinelli of Virginia 

In the final hours before the voting Monday, Cuccinelli — a leader of the party’s conservative faction — reopened talks with Republican National Committee leaders in an attempt to forestall the public spectacle. The conversations, confirmed by GOP sources involved and by Cuccinelli, began late Sunday and continued into Monday morning. They were an attempt to revive negotiations that failed last week, when Cuccinelli pushed for changes to party rules that would encourage states to close their primaries to Democrats and independents.

For the second time in a week the two sides almost reached an accord, but just like the unity talks at last week’s pre-conevntion meetings, the negotiations again fell apart because Cuccinelli couldn't bring other conservative leaders – and especially Utah Sen. Mike Lee – on board.

As a condition of the renewed negotiations, RNC leaders demanded that Cuccinelli secure Lee’s support for the closed primary push. But Cuccinelli told POLITICO that it wasn’t Lee’s fight. He said the Utah senator told him “I’m not going to sell myself for some deal with the RNC.”

According to a source familiar with the talks, a Washington state delegate helped broker the renewed conversation between Cuccinelli and the RNC. In those talks, Cuccinelli said he’d accept a relatively modest version of a deal he asked for last week. He’d like to see states awarded a 20 percent bonus to their at-large delegate pool at the next national convention, and he’d also like the RNC to do away with an anti-transparency rule adopted last week: keeping the identities and contact information of the GOP’s convention rules committee secret.

The RNC agreed to the latter proposal and countered with an offer of 10 percent bonus at-large delegates instead. But without Lee, the RNC balked, opting for confrontation on the convention floor instead.

Backers of the conservative delegates and anti-Trump forces never expected to win a roll call vote on the floor, only to cause enough discomfort for party leaders to exert their will. But as their effort failed, they lashed out at leadership and created that discomfort anyway.

The conservative and anti-Trump delegates seethed in the aftermath of their failed bid for a vote, and they vowed to keep fighting as the convention went on.

"You will see more insurgency, because, and I have nothing to do with the fact that people now know that their voices were squelched," said anti-Trump Colorado delegate Kendal Unruh, the founder of the Free the Delegates movement, in a live interview on C-SPAN where she accused party leadership of using "strong-armed tactics." (Wake Up America- this that's how Trumpizis will govern if they are - God Forbid- elected. This must never happen. #NeverTrump)

"I have never in all my life, certainly in six years in the United States Senate, prior to that as a lifelong Republican, never seen anything like this," said Utah Sen. Mike Lee, one of the most prominent signatories to the push for a roll call vote. "There is no precedent for this in parliamentary procedure. There is no precedent for this in the rules of the Republican National Convention. We are now in uncharted territory. Somebody owes us an explanation. I have never seen the chair abandoned like that. They vacated the stage entirely."

"It’s coercion masking as unity," Lee said later. "It may well be the case there were only 9 states that submitted the petition… if that’s the case, then it appears we did not satisfy the threshold," Lee continued.

New Hampshire Sen. Gordon Humphrey personally filed the signatures to the convention secretary — an exchange that followed after a frantic search to find the secretary before the deadline to submit the signatures. At the time, Never Trump leaders raised concerns that the secretary, Susie Hudson of Vermont, might intentionally avoid them to ensure the effort was defeated.

After the vote, he was livid: "The very unpleasant scene that unfolded here just a moment ago I think is a glimpse into the future of a trump presidency,” Humphrey told POLITICO. "We have seen the trump presidency and prototype many of his supporters if they are not fascists, act very much like fascists, shouting down the opposition, treating them roughly.”

“My first act after Mr. Trump’s nomination if that occurs will be to get up, walk out and go home,” he continued. “And after that I will resign from the Republican Party if that is the case."

Blackwell, the Virginia delegate, said he expects the fight is over now and will resume again in four years. If so, he added, there’s a positive takeaway.

“There were many more conservatives on the convention floor this time,” he said. Next time, he said, might be different.

Beatrice Peterson, Rachel Bade and Nick Gass contributed reporting.

Cleveland alert - Republican Party Ohio hoopla sounds like a bust

It's like getting an invitation to a time share sales pitch in Antarctica. Scientists notwithstanding, even with all expenses paid, who in the world wants to spend a week there?  Well, okay, there are always those dedicated few who just want to say they spent a week in Antarctica, but that's not too many people.

Well, that's sort of like what's happening with the Republican National Committee (RNC), while it's trying to spin a party for the nomination of their presumptive 2016 presidential candidate. Unfortunately, it appears that not many people want to attend this gala to crown Donald Trump to be the presidential nominee.  

Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) are planning a nomination party, but many prospective speakers have the equivalent of a political "dentist appointment" on the day they are invited to speak.

Too bad for "Trumpy-Dumpty". He has waited all his life to be elected the leader of the free world. Now, when he is just about to be the pseudo king of his own political ball, it appears as though not many people want to show up for the party.

Politico Reports:
GOP Stars Show Little Interest In Trump Convention Speaking Slots in Cleveland.

The traditionally coveted gig as Republican National Convention (RNC) speaker is drumming up little interest with career-conscious politicians, wary of presumptive nominee Donald Trump, Politico reports.

The website reports it contacted more than 50 big-name governors, senators and House lawmakers about a speaking spot at the convention.

"Only a few said they were open to it, and everyone else said they weren’t planning on it, didn’t want to or weren’t going to Cleveland at all — or simply didn’t respond," Politico's Alex Isenstadt writes.

Among the firm no-shows, according to Politico, are:

• South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, who's overseeing a House Select committee's investigation into Hillary Clinton’s handling of the attacks on Benghazi.
• South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford, a former two-term governor.
• Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo.
• New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte.
• Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner.
• South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.
• New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who helped write the GOP platform at the 2012 convention.
• North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson.
• Utah Rep. Mia Love, who's skipping the convention to travel to Israel.

Politico reports rising stars in the party like South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Oklahoma Rep. Steve Russell, a former Army lieutenant colonel who helped capture Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, say they've got no plans to speak. 

Nor are there plans for rising GOP stars Utah Sen. Mike Lee or former Trump rival Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, to speak. 

Even politicians from the convention host state of Ohio, Sen. Rob Portman and Gov. John Kasich, a Trump primary rival, haven't said if they'll speak.

According to Politico, "even the GOP leaders in charge of maintaining the party’s congressional majorities," Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker and Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, aren't saying if they'll speak at the event, Isenstadt writes.

"Everyone has to make their own choice, but at this point, 70 percent of the American public doesn’t like Donald Trump," Stuart Stevens, a GOP strategist who helped craft the 2012 convention, tells Politico.

"That’s as toxic as we’ve seen in American politics. Normally, people want to speak at national conventions. It launched Barack Obama’s political career."

A Trump spokesperson declined to comment on this year’s convention plans, but there are hints the event will be heavy on non-politicians.
It’s also expected that Trump’s children, including daughter Ivanka and sons Eric and Donald Jr., will get prime-time spots, Politico reports.  (This is puff endorsement from Trump's kids the same people who are protecting their own inheritance.)

Trump supporters like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich may be tapped for a spot on the stage, according to Politico. 

And Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, a former leader of the Navy SEAL (operational word "former") team that would later kill Osama bin Laden, hopes to get a shot at the podium, a spokeswoman tells Politico. (Is he  looking for a Silver Star...?)

In my experience watching these political dramas every four years, this "no show" RNC list are the people to follow during the time when the convention is happening.  Maybe the "no shows" will even host their own convention. Perhaps, they can put on a program that people will find believable and present a policy platform the voters might consider supporting.

Coward Trump says he will not debate Sanders- the shark chokes

Although it makes no politically strategic sense for Donald Trump to engage in a circus debate with Bernie Sanders, set to happen before the national RNC and DNS conventions, the fact is, Trump was like the shark who chocked on his victim.  

Donald Trump made a huge mistake when he first agreed to debate Senator Sanders. He choked on the shark bait. 

Donald Trump made a huge "uuge!" mistake when he appeared to accept the Bernie Sanders debate challenge, but then thought better about his impulsive decision. (Surely, he received advice from the RNC to recall his initial response.)

This scenario demonstrates the politically inept Donald Trump. Bernie Sanders knew what he was doing to capture the headlines from the egotistical Trump. Brilliant! Give Trump a bone, a lure, a worm whatever bait is available. "A debate", ahhhhaaa!....Trump just couldn't refuse, until he figured out the disasterous outcome he was facing. Debating Bernie Sanders before the national conventions would be a win-win for Senator Bernie Sanders and a "loose-loose" for politically dumb Donald Trump.

Although "Senator Sanders versus Donald Trump" would no doubt be a blockbuster event, the fact is, the arguments would've been politically titilating, but moot. Obviously, Bernie Sanders would make debate mincemeat out of Trump but the "juice would not be worth the squeeze".

Nevertheless, the fact that Trump choked on this Sanders bait shows just how dangerously impulsive a leader he would be if (God Forbid) he were to be elected.  In fact, Trump has no qualifications to be nominated at the Republican National Convention, because he won his delegates by preaching bigotry, misogyny, bullying and stormtrooper violence. There are no public policies upon which Donald Trump has based his hate filled campaign. Quite cleaerly, Trump is not qualified to be nominated to run for the highest elected office in the free world. 

Donald Trump made the wrong impulsive response to the Senator Sanders debate challenge, but worse than that, he swallowed the bait.

Washington (CNN)- Donald Trump on Friday said he would not debate Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders because it would be "inappropriate" to square off against the candidate who currently trails Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary fight.

"Based on the fact that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and Crooked Hillary Clinton and (Debbie) Wasserman-Schultz will not allow Bernie Sanders to win, and now that I am the presumptive Republican nominee, it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second-place finisher," Trump said in a statement.

Trump also said news networks "are not proving to be too generous to charitable causes," which he previously had said would be a goal of debating Sanders.

The two populist candidates had floated the idea of debating each other throughout the week. Sanders has been trying to debate Clinton ahead of the California primary on June 7, but she, too, declined.

Speaking to reporters in Los Angeles, Sanders said he was disappointed that Trump changed his mind.

"I hope that he changes his mind again. Mr. Trump is known to change his mind many times in a day," Sanders said. "Trump is a bully, he's a big tough guy. Well, I say to Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of?"

Trump's announcement on Friday is a far cry from a statement he made the day before, when he told supporters in Bismark, North Dakota, that he'd "love to debate Bernie."

"He's a dream," the real estate magnate (aka: hatenate) said. 

"If we can raise for maybe women's health issues or something. If we can raise $10 or $15 million for charity, which would be a very appropriate amount."

"I understand the television business very well. I think it would get high ratings," Trump added.

The idea of the two debating surfaced on Wednesday night, when ABC's Jimmy Kimmel told Trump he had a question from Sanders' campaign, asking if Trump would be willing to debate the Democratic hopeful.

Trump joked, "How much is he going to pay me?"

"That could happen, I've been saying that should happen anyway," he added. "If he paid a nice sum for charity, I would love to do that."

Minutes later, Sanders responded on Twitter.

"Game on," Sanders wrote. "I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary."

Later in the day, Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that he hoped Trump doesn't "chicken out" after the two talked about the possibility of a one-on-one debate.

The two candidates reiterated their support for a debate throughout Thursday.

(Let's add "coward" to the long and growing list of negative adjectives describing the unqualified Donald Trump.)

CNN's Elizabeth Landers contributed to this report.

Reince the Whining Priebus Can't Find a RNC Candidate

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus reminds me of a school yard bully who seeks friends by trying to intimidate others.  Rather than find electable, credible, popular and charismatic candidates for Republicans to support in 2016, Priebus is picking on CNN and NBC news media, trying to intimidate them for producing biographies about the popular Clintons.

Aaron Blake reports in the Washington Post that Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called on CNN and NBC to rethink their decisions to film documentaries about Hillary Clinton, calling each a “thinly veiled attempt at putting a thumb on the scales of the 2016 presidential election.”  

But, Reince, at this point, there's no viable Republican candidate for 2016, to film a documentary about.  Of course, Governor Christie of New Jersey would be an interesting guy, but, oh yes, then you'd have to live through the 2012 Hurricane Sandy, all over again, in a documentary. Not so good for the the RNC.

Your "veiled attempt" statement is an infringement on free speech as well as just plain stupid.  CNN and NBC are big businesses. Both companies want to sell advertising and attract viewers.  There's simply no Republican candidate you and the RNC can create who can assure advertising and attract viewers.

Poor Reince.  He can't find friends to help his Republican team to win in 2016, so he's picking on the media.  

As a matter of fact, Reince acts like he's so jealous of the CNN and NBC Clinton biographies, he's even  threatening not to play in the Presidential debates.  "Oh, Reince, you mean those debates where your Republican candidates must answer questions about women's access to reproductive health, so everybody gets to hear the answer?" Of course, Republican candidates might threaten to boycott the highly anticipated Presidential debates, because it's when they must look into Americans' living rooms and give truthful responses to uncensored questions.  Entirely too much candidate transparency for comfort, right Reince?

Even Reince knows that any national candidate running in 2016 president in 2016 must be prepared to face an experienced Democratic slate of political super stars.  Mrs. Hillary Clinton is a front runner, but even if she decides not to run, her peers are certainly experienced debaters.  Besides being experienced, Democratic contenders are seasoned by whatever scandal the Republicans cooked up against them in the past, so there'll be nothing but issues to discuss. Throwing personal stuff won't bully the Democratic candidates, Reince.  Play nice.

It even looks like spoiled Reince is might be threatening some kind of a Supreme Court battle to make his case against undue publicity for the Democrats.

“It’s appalling to know executives at major networks like NBC and CNN who donate to Democrats and Hillary Clinton have taken it upon themselves to be campaign operatives,” Priebus said in a statement. “Their actions to promote Secretary Clinton are disturbing and disappointing.”  

Oh my, Reince, are you saying these media executives like Mrs. Clinton more than they like you?

Letters from Reince were sent to Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, and Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide.

Priebus notes that Democrats complained when Citizens United planned to air a pay-per-view documentary about Clinton on the eve of the 2008 election. The spat resulted in a landmark Supreme Court case that freed up donors to give large political contributions to so-called super PACs.  This sounds like a veiled threat to me, right Reince? You're going to run to the Supreme Court where, of course, Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas are waiting to take sides with you and the RNC.

What Reince is really complaining about, but won't say, is "money".  When CNN and NBC gives the Clinton's air time, this publicity creates a giant sucking sound for the Republican National Committee.  There isn't enough money in the universe to waste on trying to re-create the Clinton biographies.  They are, simply put, political rock stars

Obviously, Reince and the RNC would be delighted if the CNN and NBC Clinton biographies were flops.  But, even he knows how media giants won't invest without consulting marketing gurus.  

Rather than whine about the Clinton's and their anticipated Neilson ratings, Reince should seek out Republican candidates in the field of Grumpy Old Party politicians who can stand up to a progressive agenda, with a straight face.  Presidential candidates don't have the comfort zone of appeal to only their party base, those who might be frothing at the bit for their person to win.  A Presidential candidate must appeal to all voters.  Republicans have a difficult time discussing immigration reform, or describing how poor people are supposed to access health care or whether women are entitled to confidential reproductive rights.  Reince needs to find Republican candidates who can appeal to Hispanic voters while defending the GOP's anti-immigration positions.  Where will Reince find Republican candidates who can explain how poor people are supposed to access health care, when Medicaid is destroyed in budget cuts? Reince must explain to women voters why Republican social policies are good for women and families, when many GOP candidates are voting to restrict women's access to reproductive health care.  

Whining about the proposed Clinton documentaries is really Reince deflecting the pressure he must feel by not having a RNC candidate he can hold up for public appeal. 

Unfortunately, lack of electable, popular, charismatic and truthful Republican candidates won't stop the RNC bully behavior on the political playground.  

If Reince were a real leader, rather than a grumpy party man, he'd find ways to be seen with Governor Christie of New Jersey.  

In fact, the Jersey Shore is still open for business, thanks to Christie's leadership.  Reince and Chris could play arcade games together, like the enormously popular image of the Governor when he stood alongside Prince Harry of Great Britian, while playing nice.  Surely, it won't hurt for the RNC bully Reince to be seen associating with popular politicians like Governor Christie.

And, it can only help any potential RNC candidate running for president to have the party chairman spending campaign money for winning elections, rather than creating wasteful negative publicity. 

In other words, Reince, stop whining and find a 2016 Republican candidate who can lead all Americans and support progressive social policies.  Otherwise, take your right wing extremist followers and find the exit off the political playground.