Countdown to the Ohio GOP primary: Kasich and Trump

Photo credit: onpolitics.usatoday.com

It’s coming down to a contest between Governor John Kasich and Donald J. Trump.

From CNN Politics:

Internally, Kasich's team is encouraged by what they see happening on the ground. Save for a series of ad buys and a few appearances in the state, they've seen little else in the form of an organization from Trump in the state. Marco Rubio, focused solely on survival in Florida, and Ted Cruz, aren't planning any stops in the state.

The only remaining campaign stops in Ohio before next Tuesday's primary are tomorrow, Saturday, March 12, both rallies for Donald J. Trump:

In Dayton at 10a.m. 

In Cleveland at 2pm.

The latest polling at Real Clear Politics shows Kasich and Trump in a close race.

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Confusion on the Ohio Primary Ballot ~ GOP

A day or two ago  Conservative Treehouse posted a 3-minute video about Confusion on the Ohio Primary Ballot for Republican voters. The Democratic party ballot is straightforward. 

Secretary of State John Husted has finally responded with a press release that includes the following:

State election leaders say there is nothing unusual about the ballots, urging voters to choose their candidates in both columns.

Cleveland Tea Party Patriots’ Ralph King confirms that a voter’s principal choice is for the Delegate-at-Large, but a second vote for a District Delegate / District Alternate does not cancel out or affect the at-Large vote. So vote twice for the candidate of your choice. 

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Republican "debate" tonight. Again.

Cartoon credit: Mike Peters via TheModerateVoice.com

Yet another GOP "debate" tonight (if there is anyone left who is not already suffering from debate fatigue):

CNN Republican Debate: Republican candidates for the 2016 presidential debate from the University of Miami in Miami

8:30 - 11:00 PM on CNN 

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Gov. John Kasich and Donald J. Trump campaign in Cleveland this week

Photo credit: onpolitics.usatoday

Gov. John Kasich and Donald J. Trump
campaign in Cleveland this week

The Ohio primary election is on Tuesday, March 15, a week from tomorrow. At least two of the four GOP candidates will hold rallies in the greater Cleveland area this week.

From Fox8 Cleveland:

Ohio Gov. John Kasich will be in Broadview Heights on Tuesday night for a rally.

He is already speaking at a rally on Sunday in Columbus with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Tuesday's event will be held at the Ohio CAT headquarters on Royalton Road in Broadview Heights. [Address: 3993 E Royalton Rd, Broadview Heights, OH 44147, map here] 

From blog.4president:

Donald J. Trump in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday, March 12, 2016

When: Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 2:00 PM (EST)

Where: I-X Center Drive,  Cleveland, OH, map and directions here  

Hosted By: Donald J. Trump for President

Register for this event now at eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/donald-j-trump-in-cleveland-oh-tickets-22635314836 

Doors open at 11:00 AM

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Michelle Malkin at CPAC: GOP Sold Out Movement Conservatives

Michelle Malkin at Occupy the Truth Rally in Cleveland, 2012

Photo credit: Pat J Dooley

Michelle Malkin at CPAC: GOP Sold Out Movement Conservatives

Legal Insurrection reports on Michelle Malkin’s explosive speech at CPAC:

Many speeches were given at CPAC this weekend, but one stood out from the rest.

Conservative author, activist and entrepreneur Michelle Malkin gave a fiery speech in which she reminded movement conservatives that they have been repeatedly betrayed by the Republican Party.

Malkin began her speech by saying:

“It’s not people outside the party that have thrown the conservative grassroots base under the bus. It’s the people who have paid lip-service to limited government while gorging on it.”

She was only getting started. In the course of her seventeen minute speech, she went after Republicans for the Gang of Eight, Common Core, cronyism, immigration and more.

She slammed the party elites who smear and sneer at the conservative grassroots as fringe while pretending to support causes they care about at election time.

When it came to Common Core she named names, singling out John Kasich for claiming he believed in local control of education. About Bush, she said:

“There are three reasons why Jeb Bush failed. His last name, his support for amnesty and his cheer-leading and cashing in on Common Core.”

This was the first time Malkin has spoken at CPAC in 13 years and it was well worth the wait. Once you start watching this, you won’t be able to stop.

The video is on the same page here.

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GOP debate and Fox “moderators”: Unfair and Unbalanced

cartoon credit: thethinkinggaill.com

Cleveland Tea Party does not endorse any of the four remaining candidates for the GOP nomination, but whether you support Cruz, Kasich, Rubio, or Trump, you were probably appalled at the conduct of the Fox News moderators at last Thursday’s debate. Even if you can’t stand Trump, the bias against him was obvious. If you thought the 2012 Candy Crowley-Mitt Romney moment was bad, take a look at John Nolte’s analysis of the debacle over at Breitbart: 

Another Fox News debate, another two hours of proof that the “fair and balanced” network is nothing more than a super PAC for

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who, by the way, had a terrible night. In their naked pursuit of Donald Trump’s scalp, moderators Chris Wallace, Bret Baier, and Megyn Kelly used every cheap trick in the book.

None of the other candidates faced dramatic graphics. Trump did.

None of the other candidates faced video of past statements.* Trump did.

Trump was never asked to attack his rivals. On at least three occasions, Trump’s rivals were invited to attack him.

. . .

On a number of occasions, Wallace and Kelly tossed off their roles as moderators to actually debate Trump, in the hopes of tripping him up or cornering him. As bad as the mainstream media has been to Republican presidential candidates over the years, I have never seen anything like this.

. . .

There were two unbelievable moments even lower than that. The first came from Kelly, who used leaked reports and unsubstantiated rumors surrounding an off-the-record interview Trump supposedly had with the left-wing New York Times. 

Apparently, the Times leaked information about the off-the-record interview to the left-wing BuzzFeed, who in turn, without hearing the audio, launched a McCarthy-ite attack against Trump, accusing him of saying one thing to the Times and another to the voters regarding immigration.

BuzzFeed then demanded Trump prove he’s not a communist liar.

There is nothing more sacred in journalism than an off-the-record situation. This is supposed to be inviolable. To see the New York Times and BuzzFeed behave in this way is one thing. To see Megyn Kelly and Fox News use a sacred off-the-record conversation to launch a relentless McCarthy-ite attack, was beyond disgraceful.

. . .

This is Fox News going way beyond anything we’ve seen in the past from CNBC’s John Harwood or ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.

In the future, any Republican stupid enough to talk to the New York Times, BuzzFeed, or Fox News in an off-the-record capacity, deserves whatever knife he or she gets in the back.

. . .

Fox News’s brand and reputation is already in freefall. Thursday night, in service to Marco Rubio and the Republican Establishment, Fox News stooped lower than NBC News or CNN — something many of us never thought possible.

*To justify singling Trump out with graphics and videos, Fox News announced at the beginning that the other candidates had faced these in the debate Trump boycotted.

Read the rest (including transcripts of some of the more egregious set-ups) here.  

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Speaker Paul Ryan at CPAC: A standing ovation?

CPAC YouTube video shows Speaker Paul Ryan getting a standing ovation at the convention. Gateway Pundit reminds his readers that 

In December Speaker Ryan passed a trillion dollar budget deal that was widely praised by Barack Obama and Democratic leaders. 

They got everything they wanted. 

A standing ovation for what? Read the rest here.