NEWS AND OPINION:
The chances are good that Democratic hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders was a fan of The Doors, the iconic rock group famous for “Light My Fire” and other anthems for the young and restless of the 1960s, and many who followed. John Densmore, who was drummer for The Doors from 1965-1973, is a fan of Mr. Sanders. On Wednesday, Mr. Densmore hosted a campaign fundraiser for the candidate in Los Angeles, centered around the first public screening of the independent film “Window of Opportunity,” which follows the weekend high jinks of corporate fat cats and their deadly financial misdeeds, this according to advance production notes.
“It’s dark, suspenseful and comic, and addresses a theme that I’ve been worried about for a while: corporate greed. You couldn’t get more aligned with the themes of this film than Bernie Sanders’ platforms,” says a very articulate and engaged Mr. Densmore, who is also the film’s producer. “So we’ve decided to make the first public screening of the film a fundraiser for Bernie 2016, and make a statement against the corporate greed that’s been tearing apart our country.”
And there you go — a cultural moment of some sort. Interesting to note that Mr. Sanders once recorded his own album of classic folk songs when he was mayor of Burlington, Vermont — titled “We Shall Overcome.”
Meanwhile, the fundraiser was staged at Graumann’s Egyptian Theater; all proceeds go to the Sanders campaign. “Bernie does not endorse all opinions expressed in the film,” the production team notes in a disclaimer. And for those wondering, Mr. Densmore has written a best-selling autobiography titled “Riders on the Storm” and “written, acted in and made music” for theater and broadcast. And there’s more to come, he says.
GRETA’S POLL: IS TRUMP POLITICALLY CORRECT?
Fox News prime-time host Greta Van Susteren has an ongoing, online poll that reveals much about the persistent appeal of a certain Republican front-runner. “Is Donald Trump politically correct?” the survey asks.
And the results, as of late Monday: 83 percent of the respondents agreed with the statement “He is not politically correct and I am glad he is not.” Another 10 percent agreed, “You are joking, right? Of course he is not and it is bad that he is not,” while 6 percent said, yes, Mr. Trump is politically correct.
FOR THE LEXICON
“Trumpophrenic”
— New term coined by PJ Media founder Roger L. Simon to identify those who have conflicting feelings about Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
“I am a Trumpophrenic. Some of the time I really like the guy — especially when he mocks the asinine political correctness that has infected every inch of our nation from the mountaintops to the ships at sea. I’m also with him in a big way when he talks about reviving America and making her great again,” Mr. Simon explains.
Other times, when he acts like a kindergartner throwing mud pies at classmates, I want to bang my forehead on the desk until he goes away or at least retires permanently to one of his golf clubs,” he adds.
LINDSEY’S QUESTION
“How am I losing to these people?”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham, pondering his competition in the Republican presidential race, to MSNBC.
BREITBART GETS SIRIUS
Debuting in six days: Breitbart News Daily, a morning conservative news and commentary talk show on SiriusXM. Things get underway at 6 a.m. Monday hosted by Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon and Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow, who already anchor a weekend version of the show on Sirius XM’s Patriot Channel 125.
THE YOUTUBE FACTOR
Video clips, voter outreach, PSAs — they can have much impact when showcased on YouTube. Yes, there are emerging numbers according to ZEFR, a California-based research group that tracks the buzz of online video sources. Republican front-runner Donald Trump has an average 19 million YouTube viewers a week, while Democrats Sen. Bernie Sanders draws 14 million and Hillary Clinton 7 million.
It’s tricky, though; some of those viewers were watching negative rather than positive content about the candidates. There are also some surprises.
“Carly Fiorina has gained momentum in views since tracking began and continues to be one of the top candidates in view growth each week. Since tracking began, Fiorina’s views have grown 35 percent to 21 million viewers total,” the group notes.
STILL SOUR ON OBAMACARE
Obamacare is still on the list of public vexations, a full five years after the health care program sprang to life, promoted with public outreach that included “Pajama Boy” and attractive models wandering city streets clad only in their underwear, bearing signs that read “Get covered.” Yes, well. Here are the current numbers:
“One of the central tenets of the new national health care law is that every American must have health insurance, but support for that requirement has fallen to its lowest level in Rasmussen Reports’ polling to date,” the pollster of the same name reports.
“Our latest national telephone survey finds that just 32 percent of likely U.S. voters believe the government should require every American to buy or obtain health insurance. Most voters — 56 percent — continue to oppose Obamacare’s insurance requirement, but this is the highest level of opposition in nearly two years.”
POLL DU JOUR
• 64 percent of Republicans say the more they hear about Ben Carson, the more they like him.
• 52 percent say the more they hear about Sen. Marco Rubio, the more they like him.
• 47 percent say the more they hear about Donald Trump, the more they like him.
• 47 percent say the more they hear about Carly Fiorina, the more they like her.
• 41 percent say the more they hear about Jeb Bush, the more they like him.
• 41 percent say the more they hear about Sen. Ted Cruz, the more they like him.
Source: A Washington Post/ABC News poll of 1,001 U.S. adults; the sample included 423 Republicans.
• Handwringing and finger-pointing to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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