NEWS AND OPINION:
“Hey, Donald — Have you attacked Hillary yet? Or are you a shill for the Clintons?” asked Instapundit columnist Glenn Reynolds in a tweet Sunday afternoon after Donald Trump declared in his own Twitter missive that a 10-minute speech by Carly Fiorina could give him a “massive headache.”
And so it continues, three days after the unapologetic billionaire dominated the first Republican presidential debate, strewing commentary and one-liners in his wake — which at least gave the press something to do over the weekend. The theory that Mr. Trump was in collusion with Bill and Hillary Clinton and a Democratic “plant” has already been broached by multiple news organizations.
But the theories are many. Talk-radio host Michael Savage now believes that Fox News and Facebook — which also sponsored Thursday’s debate — are out to make the Republican Party look divisive and confused.
“Going to the gutter and attacking candidates who can save America makes money. The minute the cameras opened on the stage, I knew it was a setup. It was a setup between Facebook and Fox News, and I give them an ’F’ on the debate,” Mr. Savage told his audience in the debate aftermath.
Paul Waldman, a senior writer with the liberal American Prospect and contributor to The Week, praised Fox News for its “surprising” tough questions for the Republican candidates.
“At this stage of the primary campaign, the Republican Party’s interest lies in weeding out the weak candidates and testing the strong ones to see who can stand up to tough questions,” Mr. Waldman writes. “So for the next eight or nine months until Republicans have their nominee, Fox is going to be tough on its candidates, like a drill sergeant getting them in shape for the battles to come.”
And one more notion, from the many now afloat on the political sea.
“Donald Trump is the new Ron Paul,” observed Megan McArdle, a columnist for Bloomberg View.
“Trump made the rounds on Sunday, but it was all in response to and about his statement on Megyn Kelly. It was, essentially, damage control. And it was damage control over a predictable issue,” noted Erick Erickson in his RedState.com blog late Sunday.
He disinvited Mr. Trump from the well-attended RedState Gathering in Atlanta over the weekend, citing the pubic turmoil over the candidate’s remarks about Ms. Kelly, one of three Fox News moderators at the debate. Mr. Trump had been scheduled to host a jumbo-sized tailgate party.
“You can disagree with Megyn Kelly’s questions to Trump, but they were questions that would be asked at some point. The question about Trump’s treatment of women was a predictable question given both Trump’s prior statements and the Democrats’ continuation of the ’war on women’ theme,” Mr. Erickson said.
YEAH, HE WON: A POLL
An online poll conducted by NBC News in the 48 hours following the aforementioned debate has placed Donald Trump in first place with 23 percent of the support, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (13 percent), Ben Carson (11 percent), Carly Fiorina (8 percent) and Sen. Marco Rubio, to round out the top five. Jeb Bush, Gov. Scott Walker followed, with Mike Huckabee and Sen. Rand Paul tied for eighth, and Rick Perry and Gov. John Kasich tied for 10th on the exhaustive list. The poll drew 3,551 responses.
“Among Trump supporters, a majority — 54 percent — said they would vote for him for president as an independent candidate, even if he does not win the Republican nomination,” the survey says.
A BRIEF BUT REFRESHING REAGAN MOMENT
Yes, ongoing hubbub over the Republican debate is disquieting, engaging and annoying all at once. But the public narrative is not all bombastic exchanges and strife.
Consider that Reagan historian Craig Shirley has crafted “Last Act: The Final Years and Emerging Legacy of Ronald Reagan,” an unprecedented look at the president’s life after he left the White House, and significant enough to have garnered support from the Reagan Presidential Library itself. The book will be published Oct. 13. The author cites a noteworthy philosopher and novelist in summarizing his efforts.
“George Santayana once said history is a pack of lies about events that never happened, written by people who weren’t there. The history of Ronald Reagan is too important to be written by people who weren’t there, and who wrote about things that never happened,” Mr. Shirley tells Inside the Beltway.
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
It’s business as usual on the campaign trail: Grass-roots events, selfies with voters and unforgiving schedules. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Rand Paul arrive in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Ben Carson on Wednesday — bound for diners, gun shops and town halls. Democrat Lincoln Chafee journeyed to the Granite State over the weekend for a campaign jaunt; Hillary Rodham Clinton arrives Monday for a three-day visit to focus on college affordability.
Iowa also beckons, of course. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is now touring the state until Thursday. His itinerary includes a root beer float party at the Praise Community Church in Mason City. Mike Huckabee arrives Tuesday for five Huckabee Huddles in public libraries and pizza parlors. Jeb Bush is due in at week’s end, to be followed by a flood of candidates who will visit Iowa’s State Fair, where a traditional “political soapbox” draws national press coverage.
The Democrats bustle in as well, and they are relentlessly cheerful. Mr. Chafee, Mrs. Clinton, Martin O’Malley and Sen. Bernie Sanders descend upon Clear Lake on Friday for the Iowa Wing Ding, a sold-out fundraiser for 2,000 that event chairman Randy Black says “demonstrates how energized Iowa Democrats are to elect middle-class champions up and down the ballot.”
NEWS FROM ELSEWHERE
“Firearm collectors and enthusiasts were struck by a bombshell recently when Rock Island Auction Company revealed the catalog for its September Premiere Auction, which includes an M1 Garand once owned by President John F. Kennedy,” notes Daniel Hu, a reporter for the news site OutdoorHub. “Touted as one of the most historically significant M1 Garand rifles to ever be put up for auction, the gun was acquired by Kennedy during his time as a senator through the Director of Civilian Marksmanship.”
And from the auction house, which advises that bids could hit $100,000: “Since this rifle was issued to Senator Kennedy in 1959, well before he was elected to the Office of the President of the United States, this rifle could very well have accompanied him directly into the White House.”
ONE FOR MR. SCHUMER
New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin has good things to say about Sen. Chuck Schumer after the New York Democrat publicly opposed President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. Mr. Goodwin praised the lawmaker for the timing and substance of his detailed statement and the fact that Mr. Schumer “gives cover” to fellow Democrats who also oppose the accord, and is unlikely to flip-flop.
“Final significance of Schumer’s position is that it makes New York the clear leader of the opposition movement. Five brave Democratic House members from the state — Eliot Engel, Steve Israel, Grace Meng, Nita Lowey and Kathleen Rice — also said no to Obama. The entire GOP delegation will do the same. That should not be the end of it. National security is a local issue, as 9/11 painfully proved,” Mr. Goodwin writes, advising both Michael Bloomberg and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign on and buck left-wing orthodoxy.
“With the Empire State remaining the perennial first choice among jihadists, New York’s governor has an absolute duty to do everything he can to protect its residents, businesses and visitors from attack, ” Mr. Goodwin says.
POLL DU JOUR
• 73 percent of U.S. employers oppose issuing more H-1B visas that allow foreign workers temporary employment in America.
• 55 percent of this group say focus should instead be on “re-skilling American-born workers.”
• 54 percent say an increase in the H-1B visas takes jobs away from American workers.
• 32 percent say the increase would result in the U.S. “offshoring more jobs.”
• 30 percent say the increase would foster lower wages if foreign-born works are willing to accept less money on the job.
Source: A CareerBuilder/Harris Poll of 2,321 hiring and human resources managers conducted May 14-June 3 and released Thursday.
• Banter, trite observations to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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