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Trump divide prompts firings, resignations at state parties

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  • ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with local farmers at Bedners Farm Fresh Market, today, in Boynton Beach, Fla.

COLUMBUS, Ohio >> Divisions among Republicans over pledging allegiance to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump are trickling down to state parties, where leaders are grappling with firings, resignations and insubordination since the release of a lewd and sexually charged video of Trump talking about kissing and groping women.

The tensions are cutting both ways, with party staffers lashing out for and against Trump.

With about two weeks until the election between Trump and his main rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, it’s another sign of the civil war Trump’s candidacy has sparked inside his party that could have harmful long-term effects.

GOP operatives say relationships and systems that took decades to build are eroding as a result of the feud. Trump has attacked Republicans fleeing his campaign, calling them “self-righteous hypocrites” and “turncoats” and threatening retaliation.

After the 2005 video’s release two weeks ago, Trump denounced and severed ties with Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges, who had vocalized his reservations about Trump. The state party’s executive director then launched a Twitter account mocking Trump’s state campaign director.

Borges, an ally of Republican Gov. John Kasich, who ran against Trump in their party’s primary and doesn’t support him, quickly ordered the account pulled down. He dubbed it a “bad decision” by the executive director, who remains on the payroll, and he has since pledged his vote to Trump.

In Michigan, a grassroots leader was removed from her elected position at the state GOP after she refused to back Trump. Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said Wendy Day had an obligation under party bylaws to support the nominee; Day said her conscience wouldn’t let her.

Even college chapters are divided.

After the Georgia Association of College Republicans released a letter saying it wouldn’t bind individual chapters to promote Trump’s candidacy, some chapters denounced the organization in his defense.

A Republican elector in the state had resigned in August under pressure from the state party. Baoky Vu’s departure came after he made known he wouldn’t vote for Trump and may not support him in the electoral college. Georgia is among 21 states that don’t require electors chosen by political parties to back their party’s candidate.

“I have not lost faith in who we stand for as a party and will continue to fight for those who uphold our Constitution and our shared values,” Vu said in a statement issued with the party.

In Oklahoma, Brett Farley expressed just such a loss of faith in the GOP as he resigned as the state party’s communications director the day after the “Access Hollywood” video’s release Oct. 7.

“That I am not changing my party affiliation is a mere matter of unfortunate circumstance in that it is already too late to reregister prior to the November election,” he wrote in a blog post. “Moreover, Donald Trump’s defeat at the hands of the weakest Democrat challenger in a generation is almost certain; therefore, I hold hope that we might find a collective dignity with which to begin picking up the pieces from this electoral wreckage to rebuild the party of Lincoln and of Reagan.”

Alaska’s two U.S. senators resigned their honorary posts at the state party after the video was released. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan denounced Trump and said he should step aside.

The state GOP in Tennessee reeled last week after Republican Gov. Bill Haslam announced he wouldn’t support Trump but instead would write in the name of his running mate, Indiana GOP Gov. Mike Pence.

Governors like Haslam, Kasich and Pence serve as the titular heads of their state parties, which traditionally has meant they unleash the state party’s staff, volunteer army and financial resources on behalf of the nominee. The Republican National Committee also sends staffers to various states to work with the presidential effort; Ohio’s was removed after a disagreement with the Trump campaign.

Following Haslam’s Trump announcement, two Tennessee members of the RNC issued a memo reminding party leaders they need “all hands on deck” to elect Trump.

Haslam said, “I think everybody has to decide, given where we are, what’s the right thing in your heart to do and what do you think is the right thing for the party.”

———

This story has been corrected to show the Michigan grassroots leader’s name is Wendy, not Becky.

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    • I wonder if the SA will report on the third tape showing that Hillary was well aware of the Duck Costume” fiasco showing up at Trump towers. Also, the DNC plan to disrupt Trump rallies. Doing so is not legal, but it takes several months to prosecute. Hillary denied having any knowledge of the “Duck Suits”. At the very least the mainstream should report it so the voters can decide if there is any wrongdoing.

      • What laws were violated by people wearing duck costumes? What laws were violated by a “plan” to disrupt Trump rallies.

        You might consider the First Amendment before crafting your legal brief.

        This should be good!

        • There are rules which avoid such involvement. Just call your Congressmans office to confirm.

        • Maybe this should help:
          Latest video from Project Veritas Action establishes what appears to be illegal coordination between Hillary For America and a liberal nonprofit
          Robert Creamer says on hidden camera that Hillary Clinton personally ordered the use of a ‘Donald Duck’ costume to troll Donald Trump
          The project was assigned to the Democracy Partners consultancy, which had the tax-exempt Americans United for Change carry it out
          Since the campaign coordinated the project with the operatives, the staff time and expenses involved would be an illegal campaign contribution

          Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3867558/Democratic-operative-caught-camera-Hillary-PERSONALLY-ordered-Donald-Duck-troll-campaign-broke-law-coordinating-tax-exempt-pressure-group.html#ixzz4O3x4h1gM
          Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

        • More food for thought:Hillary Clinton personally ordered a consultant to use a nonprofit group to troll the Trump campaign with a ‘Donald Duck’ mascot, according to the Democratic operatives who say they arranged it with a nonprofit organization.
          The action, if true, would be a black-letter violation of federal election law, which prohibits presidential campaigns from coordinating activities with outside groups that can collect unlimited ‘dark money’ from contributors – and don’t pay taxes on what they collect.

        • cajaybird – Of all the folks who comment here, you may be the most sad.

          This has already been debunked. So sad.

        • James O’Keefe III and Project Veritas released their third video in a series that is sending shockwaves through the DNC and the Clinton campaign.

          The Hillary Campaign’s coordination with outside groups Americans United for Change is not allowed under federal law.

          Then again, since when did Hillary Clinton follow the law?
          Project Veritas reported:

          The first video explained the dark secrets and the hidden connections and organizations the Clinton campaign uses to incite violence at Trump rallies. The second video exposed a diabolical step-by-step voter fraud strategy discussed by top Democratic operatives and showed one key operative admitting that the Democrats have been rigging elections for fifty years. This latest video takes this investigation even further.

          Part III of the undercover investigation dives further into the back room dealings of Democratic politics. It exposes prohibited communications between Hillary Clinton’s campaign, the DNC and the non-profit organization Americans United for Change. And, it’s all disguised as a duck.

          Several Project Veritas Action undercover journalists catch Democracy Partners founder directly implicating Hillary Clinton in FEC violations.

          “In the end, it was the candidate, Hillary Clinton, the future president of the United States, who wanted ducks on the ground,” says Creamer in one of several exchanges. “So, by God, we would get ducks on the ground.”

          It is made clear that high-level DNC operative Creamer realized that this direct coordination between Democracy Partners and the campaign would be damning when he said: “Don’t repeat that to anybody.”

          It was earlier this year when people wearing Donald Duck costumes started showing up at Donald Trump events all over the country. Brad Woodhouse is the president of Americans United for Change (AUFC) and he worked with Robert Creamer, Scott Foval, and DNC Rapid Response Coordinator Aaron Black to launch their “Donald Ducks” campaign.

          After the first video in this series, Woodhouse fired Scott Foval, his national field director.

    • You just wait. Any minute now the SA will report how democrat controlled media over-samples when they conduct polls, or how CNN fed questions to Donna Brazile, or how a convicted felon arranges for homeless people and the mentally disturbed to disrupt Trump rallies. You just wait, the SA is going to report this any minute now.

      • Michelle Obama’s Mom Will Get $160k For Life… Paid By Our Taxes

        This is the kind of graft and corruption that happens in places like Iraq and North Korea. Michelle Obama’s mom didn’t earn a pension that’s three times bigger than the average American family’s income.

        It seems that just like Barack, the rest of the Obama’s never had real jobs, and instead of live high on the hog off the backs of regular taxpaying Americans.

        Congress just announced the most outrageous waste of taxpayer money designed by Obama.

        First Grandma Marian Robinson, 79, will receive a lifetime 160K government pension when she leaves the White House next year, according to congressional budget statements.
        According to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Mrs. Robinson earned the lifetime pension for “services rendered as full-time/in-home caregiver” for granddaughters Malia, 18, and Sasha, 15, during President Obama’s two terms in office.

        Michelle Obama’s mom got to live like a queen in the White House, but they are going to pay her $160,000 every year for the rest of her life for babysitting her own granddaughters?

        • What is gained by your non-stop, continuous lying?

          Do you think anyone on here believes anything you write?

        • How the Elites Blew Up the World
          Those who squandered America’s economic and strategic advantage are trying to distract from their record
          by Laura Ingraham | Updated 25 Oct 2016 at 8:05 PM

          Let us be clear: If Hillary Clinton is elected president, all of the problems we see around the world today will continue to fester — because she will continue the same policies that got us here. Four years from now, if she is president, the United States will be weaker, China will be stronger, Russia will be more dangerous, terrorists will be more emboldened, the Middle East will be more unstable, and conditions in Europe will be worse than they are now. We already know that our current policies lead to these results. Why would we want to let things worsen for four more years?

          The time has come to strike out on a different path. When you look past all the elite blather about Trump’s “temperament” and “tone,” one thing becomes obvious: On the big foreign policy issues facing America, Trump is right, and the elites are wrong. It is insane — and dangerous — to keep propping up a global trading regime that treats Chinese companies better than American companies. It is insane — and dangerous — to keep wasting the U.S. military on missions that cannot succeed. It is insane — and dangerous — to continue trying to maintain a position in the world that we can no longer afford. It is insane — and dangerous — to tear down all borders and effectively dissolve the nations of the West. Most of all, it is insane to install, as president of the United States, a vapid and untrustworthy politician who has consistently been wrong on every major foreign policy issue of the last 20 years.

          Hillary Clinton may win this election. But Trump and his supporters will ultimately win the argument over foreign policy — because his policies at least have a chance of making the world better, while hers never will.

  • Trump held a rally today in Tampa and the crowd of 20,000 went wild. Waldo Clinton can’t draw flies. Enormous enthusiasm gap for the old gal. Go Donald! Make America Great Again!

    • One of Romney’s campaign aides gave an interview where she said they drew crowds just as big as Trump’s — a week before Romney lost.

      I personally wouldn’t go to anyone’s rally. Too much standing around for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours

  • Looks like the Waldo faithful are beginning to get demoralized. Their snippy little attack dogs in the progressive media threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Donald. All it did was galvanize support for him.

    • “An analysis by researchers at Harvard’s Kennedy School of 8 mainstream outlets, including CBS, the New York Times and the Wall St Journal found they were more critical of Mrs Clinton than any other Republican or Democratic candidate. In the first six months of last year, she was the subject of 3 negative statements for every positive one; Mr Trump received two accolades for every carp. ‘Whereas media coverage helped build up Trump,’ the researchers concluded, ‘it helped tear down Clinton.'” The Economist, 10/22/16

      • Amazing that the attacks on Mr Trump are getting worse. The Corrupt Clinton Foundation is desperate. Guess there is nothing positive to say about the female felon.

        • Mr. Trump now has a 7% chance of winning. That’s not a typo. 7%.

          Mrs. Clinton has a 93% chance of winning.

    • You believe collapsing poll numbers and losing North Carolina and maybe even Texas (Texas!) means that his support is being galvanized?

      You always have such great analyses!

  • How could Trump think that there would not be a divide. The GOP’s are conservatives & Trump is crazy with all his lies & that should be enough reason.

  • The Chumps supporters are so gullible that he could give them a plate of dog poop and they would swear that’s the best chocolate pudding they ever ate.

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