BloggeRhythms

In what may be the indication of a preference shift, according to a brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Trump has fallen behind Ted Cruz in the national GOP presidential race. 

Cruz is first choice for 28 percent of Republican primary voters. Trump gets 26 percent. Followed by Rubio at 17 percent, Kasich at 11, Carson at 10 and Jeb Bush at 4.

Additionally, the same poll shows a nine-point drop in the percentage of GOP primary voters who can see themselves supporting Trump, from 65 percent in January to 56 percent now. 

In this scale, 70 percent can see themselves supporting Rubio, Cruz 65 percent, Carson 62, Trump 56, Kasich 49 and Bush 46.

Perhaps confident because he’s rising in the polls, it appears that Cruz has decided give back some of the childish blathering that Trump relies upon instead of dignified presidential talent. 

According to Josh Hafner @USA Today: “Ted Cruz revealed Wednesday that Donald Trump had threatened to sue him over a campaign ad, one that shows Trump calling himself “very pro-choice.” 

“Cruz’s response: Sue me. 

“You know, I have to say to Mr. Trump, you have been threatening frivolous lawsuits for your entire adult life,” Cruz told reporters in Seneca, S.C., ahead of Saturday's South Carolina GOP primary. 

“Even in the annals of frivolous lawsuits, this takes the cake.” 

The Cruz campaign said, in a letter dated Tuesday, that Trump attorney, Jeffrey Goldman, threatens legal action over Cruz’s ad that shows a 1999 clip of Trump claiming he would not ban partial-birth abortions. 

“So Donald, I would encourage you if you want to file a lawsuit challenging this ad, claiming it is defamation, file the lawsuit,” Cruz said. 

“It is a remarkable contention that an ad that plays video of Donald Trump speaking on national television is somehow defamation.” 

Cruz’s campaign later told journalists they planned to air the ad more frequently. 

Shortly afterward, Trump’s campaign issued a statement calling Cruz “desperate.” He floated the idea of another legal threat to Cruz regarding the Canadian-born candidate’s eligibility as president. 

Trump said: "If I want to bring a lawsuit it would be legitimate. Likewise, if I want to bring the lawsuit regarding Senator Cruz being a natural born Canadian I will do so. Time will tell, Teddy." 

As a result, the intensifying bickering is attracting derisive attention. Hannah Parry @dailymail.co.uk writes that: “Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has warned that the U.S. presidential election is turning into a 'circus'. 

“The coffee giant's top boss, who has been very outspoken on political issues in the past, criticized the debates for descending into farce as he denounced the candidates for making 'disrespectful' and 'bombastic attacks' on each other. 

'I think it's turned into something none of us has ever seen before, which I would label as almost a circus,' reported Fortune.com.” 

So, while Trump’s reduced the campaign to a farcical level for himself, he’s trying to bring far more serious contenders down there with him. Which means that voters who prefer a POTUS with maturity, dignity, sophistication, and appropriate talents, must surely hope that Cruz proceeds with his campaign to expose Trump for the blowhard that he is. Perhaps Cruz ought to sue him. 

  

On another subject, the following has nothing to do with today’s topics. But, it’s very funny. Posted by a friend on Facebook this morning.

 

Bringing us to today’s update on Bill Clintons wife and her escalating problems. 

Sara Jerde @talkingpointsmemo.com via Drudge, reports that: “In a win for Bernie Sanders, the AFL-CIO is delaying making it's endorsement in the surprisingly close Democratic presidential primary. 

“The news of the decision came in an email from Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO, to the union's executive council. It was first reported by The Huffington Post Wednesday. A vote had been expected next week at the union's annual winter meeting in San Diego.” 

What’s most important is Trumka’s opinion, which he expressed in an email: “Following recent discussion at the AFL-CIO’s Executive Committee meeting and subsequent conversations with many of you, I have concluded that there is broad consensus for the AFL-CIO to remain neutral in the presidential primaries for the time being and refrain from endorsing any candidate at this moment.” 

While Bill’s wife has broad union backing, with endorsements from most unions, the AFL-CIO holding out was considered a win for Sanders. 

Then, at the same time, Catherine Herridge and Pamela K. Brown @FoxNews.com, report that: “One of the classified email chains discovered on Hillary Clinton’s personal unsecured server discussed an Afghan national’s ties to the CIA and a report that he was on the agency’s payroll, a U.S. government official with knowledge of the document told Fox News. 

“The discussion of a foreign national working with the U.S. government raises security implications – an executive order signed by President Obama said such unauthorized disclosures are “presumed to cause damage to the national security." 

According to a U.S. government official, “[T]he Clinton email exchange, which referred to a New York Times report, was among 29 classified emails recently provided to congressional committees with specific clearances to review them. In that batch were 22 “top secret” exchanges deemed too damaging to national security to release. 

The official's account of the Clinton email chain: “[D]ovetails with a Feb. 3 interview on Fox News’ “America's Newsroom,” where Republican Rep. Chris Stewart, a member of the House intelligence committee, said, "I have never read anything more sensitive than what these emails contain. They do reveal classified methods. They do reveal classified sources and they do reveal human assets." 

“Stewart added, "I can't imagine how anyone could be familiar with these emails, whether they're sending them or receiving them, and not realize that these are highly classified." 

Although the Clinton campaign claims the government classification review has gone too far: “As secretary of state, Clinton signed at least two non-disclosure agreements (NDA) on Jan. 22, 2009, and received a briefing from a security officer whose identity was redacted. 

“As part of the NDA for “sensitive compartmented information” (SCI), Clinton acknowledged any “breach” could result in “termination of my access to SCI and removal from a position of special confidence and trust requiring such access as well as the termination of my employment or any other relationships with any Department or Agency that provides me with access to SCI." 

Therefore, with Sanders closing the gap on one side, the email situation seems to be compounding on the other. Both of which appear to indicate serious difficulty ahead for Bill’s wife. Certainly calling for a repeat of the ongoing question: Joe Biden, Mayor Bloomberg, Jerry Brown, and Starbuck’s chairman and CEO, Howard Schultz, are you guys reading this?  

That’s it for today folks.     

Adios