Bullshit. His attacks have been effective because they haven’t met any resistance. The other Republican candidates have attacked each other, not Trump. They have largely ignored him and have used few resources against him. They didn’t take him seriously enough to engage in preemptive attacks, they haven’t counterattacked, and, to a great extent, they haven’t even bothered to defend themselves.

Part of the problem for the other Republican candidates is the increasing gap between a large segment of the Republican base and the economic interests of the Republican oligarchy. A Republican candidate can’t attack Trump without exposing the party’s class interest and alienating many of the voters it depends on. Where Trump represents a revolt against party orthodoxy, the orthodox candidates are at a loss.

Trump has already shown his hand, and he has nothing. He’ll make America great again, but he’s never been forced to explain how. What policies he has are largely based on scapegoats. He’s a serial liar. He’s suggested punching protesters in the face or roughing them up. His tax “reform” is a giveaway to the rich that would inflate the national deficit. All of this is easily documented. Most of it is on video. Any Democratic campaign should be able to tear him to shreds.

One of the holes in Trump’s populism is named Carl Icahn. Maybe you should read a little about him. Find out how he made TWA great again.

Thanks for your synopsis at 27– I didn’t bother reading the link, but apparently I am psychic and it is as I expected.

To more serious matters: I would rate Kasich/Rubio as the most dangerous ticket, with Rubio/Kasich as the second, and at this point the most likely. I would still bet against Trump being the nominee. And who would be his VP? Think about that one, and your head will spin.

The most interesting thing WRT Hillary is the fact that she is a woman– which is her actual greatest strength as well as her greatest weakness. We managed to elect an African-American of sorts, and I think the same dynamic will prevail, but there are clearly lots of men– young men, in fact, as well as some women– for whom her gender is a problem.

Your link is worth reading, but it’s propagandistic rather than analytic. It’s a nuance-free example of motivated reasoning.

Summary: Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. Against Clinton, Trump will be invincible. Against Sanders, Trump will be helpless.

In a previous comment about one of the debates I described Sanders as having a Ben Carson moment. His ignorance is a vulnerability. When asked to name his foreign-policy advisers, he/his campaign couldn’t name any. His foreign-policy is limited to having voted against the war in Iraq 13 years ago.

Up to now his great strength has been the rectitude, simplicity, and consistency of his message. And his basic message is one that I think many Americans agree with. Money controls politics. The economy is rigged. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any signs of learning or growth or flexibility. He increasingly reminds me of rubiot stuck on repeat. (I don’t know how sincere she is, but Clinton has absorbed Sanders’s fundamental complaints into her campaign. She’s learned from him, and he’s made her a stronger candidate.)

Finally, I think the concerns I’ve raised in #18 are valid.

I am not passionate about either candidate, but I am a not-a-Republican zealot. I am delighted that Sanders’s message has sounded and has caught on, but I’m not convinced that he’s the one that can best prevent a Republican catastrophe.

I think you need to review your history– still don’t know what your are referring to WRT Kerry, and Salazar was a conservative replaced by someone more liberal, and I don’t know that Hillary’s replacement had any influence at all on the ACA(?).

Too much conspiratorial thinking. The truth is, popular support for a major change in health insurance just wasn’t there, and it still isn’t. Most people already have taxpayer-subsidized health insurance through their employers or Medicare and Medicaid. That’s why President Obama said the thing about “keeping what you have”; it was puffery but pretty much accurate for the vast, vast, majority. And that’s why he got ACA through.

If he had had a progressive supermajority, he might well have gotten Public Option, which is the bridge to some kind of real single payer system. But let’s stick to reality, which has a liberal bias, but recognizes that our political system favors the right wing.