WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2016
Today’s Good News And Bad News
From Our Local Political Junkie We’ll Call “Cincy Dave”

Good News for Trump: Friday, The Donald is supposed to reveal his choice for vice president. This gives him at least a week’s head start on Hillary’s VP candidate and it is timed so that whoever it is can appear on all the weekend talk shows to pump up interest ahead of the convention. Hopefully, they will give him the list of approved Republican talking points so he can bone up on them ahead of time and not be on the wrong side of issues like the hapless Mike Flynn was last weekend. Reportedly, Trump really wants a military general but may be forced to accept an experienced politician (who doesn’t need the memo) such as Indiana Governor Mike Pence. The downside for Pence is that he was endorsing Ted Cruz for president only 10 weeks ago. The Newtster and Chris (Krispy Kreme) Christie are still hopeful but their hopes are fading fast. Pence is now the odds-on favorite but Trump is incautious and very unpredictable. We will know in two days.

More Good News for Trump: In an effort to create a semblance of party unity, Trump has managed to get House Speaker Paul Ryan and Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to agree to speak at the convention. This is especially important because all of the Republican former presidents or former nominees are boycotting, with the possible exception of the ancient Bob Dole. Party Chairman Reince Priebus (what’s that rule about i before e ?) is working his butt off to try to drag Ohio Governor Kasich there, even if he is kicking and screaming, but that still appears to be very doubtful. It’s really not a good look when the ostensible host of the convention is absent, and that will surely be noted by the national media. Anyway, you can expect faint praise for Trump from both Ryan and McConnell and a lot more emphasis on party unity, as their current jobs depend on it.

Bad News for Trump: A Democrat PAC is setting up a “Trump Museum” across the street from the convention site. Among the artifacts in the museum are supposed to be many video clips of Trump’s statements over the years which contradict what he is saying today and lots of Trump-branded items such as golf balls, Vodka, ties made in China, etc. There will probably also be brochures and other paraphernalia from Trump Institute and Trump University. Free “Golden Tickets” for early admission are being sent to various big shots and media personnel. Later, all convention goers will be able to attend.

Good News for Obama: The president’s Job Approval and Favorability poll numbers continue to rise. They are higher now than any time since his first term. This is attributed to two things – A rising stock market and the unfavorability of both of the candidates who may succeed him. Yep, compared to whoever is next, he doesn’t seem so bad. Nixon’s poll numbers are probably also up during this election season and some people are even taking another look at Warren Harding.

Good News for Hillary (and the over-taxed payers): Bernie Sanders officially ended his campaign yesterday while formally endorsing Hillary at a joint rally. They hugged like they had been best buddies all their long lives and no one remembered all the bad things they had said about each other. What this means for the taxpayers is that Bernie will no longer be entitled to Secret Service protection that was costing us approximately $40,000 per day. Of course, Hillary would gladly pay a lot more than that for Bernie’s support and that of his fans.

More good news for Hillary: A new Reuters national poll has Hillary up 13 points over Trump. This uptick is undoubtedly due to Bernie’s fans moving over to support Hillary. They have now had some time to accept the fact that he lost and so almost all will be doing as he suggested. Meanwhile, the new Quinnipiac Poll shows Hillary behind or tied In Swing States. Which means it is still very early in the game to ascribe any large significance to national polls with tons and tons of [mud] to be slung in the next almost four months, which is many lifetimes in politics. For all anyone knows, someone still might catch Hillary in bed with a dead boy or a live girl.

More Good News And Bad News Tomorrow