The Patriot Post Digest 2-10-2016

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The Patriot Post Digest 2-10-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
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Daily Digest

Feb. 10, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“The mild voice of reason, pleading the cause of an enlarged and permanent interest, is but too often drowned, before public bodies as well as individuals, by the clamors of an impatient avidity for immediate and immoderate gain.” —James Madison, 1788

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Trump, Sanders Ride Populist Wave1

By Nate Jackson

The clear winners in New Hampshire Tuesday were Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. The two populists rode voter discontent to sizeable victories. Sanders, of course, had near home field advantage being from next-door Vermont. And Trump’s New York values2 obviously played well among a moderate electorate. Neither (“yuge”) win was surprising, so here are a few things that stood out on the GOP side (more on Sanders and the Democrats in Mark Alexander’s essay this afternoon).

Since the current primary format began in 1976, no Republican has lost both Iowa and New Hampshire and gone on to win the nomination. That said, 2016 is unlike any election cycle in memory, and our hope is that Trump joins Pat Buchanan (1996) and John McCain (2000) in the annals of Republicans who won New Hampshire and failed to become the nominee. Trump is running strong throughout the South, however, and he’s still the odds-on favorite.

Ted Cruz came in a surprising third after investing relatively little in doing well in a state with an electorate stacked against him. His showing only strengthens his position heading into the South.

Marco Rubio’s fifth-place finish could prove disastrous. Coming off his impressive showing in Iowa3, falling behind John Kasich and Jeb Bush was obviously a huge disappointment for the Florida senator. Both governors will stay in the race, making the path forward harder for all three. Rubio’s debate gaffe4 — repeating memorized talking points in response to criticism for repeating memorized talking points — almost surely cost him dearly, even if vision matters more than experience5. He admitted as much, telling supporters, “I did not do well on Saturday night. So listen to this: That will never happen again.”

John Kasich’s investment in the Granite State paid off with a second-place showing, though he still won less than half Trump’s share of the vote. Given that the Ohio governor so far spent most of his resources in New Hampshire, the question now is where he goes from here. He doesn’t poll strongly in any of the upcoming primary states (especially in the South) and has virtually no national campaign organization. Team Kasich should enjoy the attention while it lasts, because this is probably the high-water mark of his bid.

Jeb Bush continues to be the “not dead yet” candidate. He not only accomplished what he had to in order to stay alive — beating Rubio — but he’s got a bit of momentum heading to South Carolina, which is a state very friendly to the Bush family. He’s also got money, even after outspending Cruz 30 to 1 in New Hampshire. So as he had to instruct an audience recently, “please clap6.”

Chris Christie put all his marbles into performing well in New Hampshire and all he could muster was 7.5%, good for sixth place. He didn’t benefit from his debate broadside against Rubio. And instead of heading to South Carolina, he’s flying back to New Jersey to assess his campaign. Look for a drop-out announcement soon.

Ben Carson didn’t even wait for the results before flying to South Carolina. Carly Fiorina’s terrific debate performances haven’t translated into actual votes. Jim Gilmore won 130 votes, which is less laughable than the 12 he secured in Iowa. All three should head for the exits.

In the end, New Hampshire provided some clarity in the race, but not much — in fact, it may have done the opposite. At least five candidates will move on, and a protracted battle looms. The biggest problem is that the circular firing squad may prove to be the party’s undoing in November in what should have been a “gimme” election.

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Obama’s Real Power Plan7

Any way you cut it, Barack Obama wins. The Supreme Court on Tuesday placed a stay8 on a key portion of the chief executive’s Clean Power Plan. At the request of 27 states and coal industry monoliths, the court in a 5-4 decision signaled that it had serious concerns about Obama’s plan to limit carbon emissions by legislating through regulating. The move was somewhat unusual because SCOTUS didn’t wait for a ruling by a lower court. Obama’s spokesman Josh Earnest responded to the temporary stay saying the EPA regulations are grounded in the nation’s other environmental laws and the administration will continue to implement9 the regs without directly defying the court. “Even while the litigation proceeds, EPA has indicated it will work with states that choose to continue plan development and will prepare the tools those states will need,” Earnest said. “At the same time, the administration will continue to take aggressive steps to make forward progress to reduce carbon emissions.” Under Obama’s plan, the carbon emission regulations wouldn’t go into effect until 2020, but states needed to submit plans on how they were going to comply with the regs relatively soon.

Obama had to have gambled the courts would check his Clean Power Plan, but he still gets political credit on the Left for trying to implement it. Heading into the presidential election year, Obama is showing his fellow ecofascists how important it is for them to elect Democrats so they can seat leftists on courts. It’s the same play as with immigration and Obama’s other executive actions.

Threat Assessment: ISIL Coming to U.S.10

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee11 Tuesday, with an annual assessment of threats to U.S. vital interests and national security. Clapper noted that “homegrown violent extremists” will pose “the most significant Sunni terrorist threat to the U.S. homeland in 2016.” He estimated this would be terrorists who are inspired by foreign terror groups, not under the direct control of those groups, similar to the Chattanooga and San Bernardino attacks in 2015. Clapper described the Islamic State as “the pre-eminent global terrorist threat,” and said their “estimated strength worldwide exceeds that of al-Qaida12.” He noted, “In 2014, the FBI arrested nine ISIL supporters — in 2015, that number increased over five-fold.” Ominously, he warned that ISIL has succeeded in making and using chemical weapons — the first terrorists group to use “chemical warfare agent in an attack since Aum Shinrikyo used sarin in Japan in 1995.”

When asked by Arizona Sen. John McCain about whether he’d ever seen such diverse challenges to security, Clapper replied, “In my 50-plus years in the intelligence business, I cannot recall a more diverse array of challenges and crises that we confront as we do today.” Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart also provided testimony and warned that ISIL would likely be capable of striking the continental U.S. within the year. “ISIL13 will probably attempt to conduct additional attacks in Europe, and attempt to direct attacks on the U.S. homeland in 2016.”

Despite Barack Obama’s assurances that “we’ve contained them14,” apparently that’s not the case.