Was it a drop kick, or going for a field goal?
I like the “goad him with comments by wonderful people” strategy:
Hey, Donald. a tweet from some “Beatrice from the Bronx” says you’re an ass!
(Turns out she’s a saintly nun who can’t wait to go on talk shows)
Mr. Trump, how do you respond to these cub scouts with lisps who think you’d get lost if you didn’t take limos?
Donald, how did you feel when you got in that Twitter war and you found out you were yelling “Whore!” at a little girl in a wheelchair with ALS typing via a tube?
I’ve said before that my dream scenario would be an appearance where Trump heaps praise on Mike Pence right before the guy steps up to the podium: “I’d had my worries, back when I was judging him on the persona he presented during the primary campaign. But over these last weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time by his side, getting to know him and see how he operates – and I can assure you that, in fact, it’s not an act; he really does just say whatever damn fool thing comes into his head, loudly and without thinking for even two seconds. I’ve worked with all sorts of people in government: some I agreed with, some I didn’t – but none of 'em needed medication and education in that order. This guy shouldn’t be given launch codes for fireworks.”
Rickjay, I snipped all the parts of your message I agree with 90% of it), but I do take issue with the bolded part above (your bolding). I don’t think it was a ‘deliberate’ trap, it was a good move on the Democrats’ part to show the patriotism and sacrifice of American Muslims while contrasting with Trumps’ message of anger and fear. While they might have surmised Trump’s initial reaction, I hesitate to call it a ‘trap’. It was good political theater from the Dem’s standpoint, and it was Trump who has blown it up into a week-long issue.
Back to the topic, Buffet made a good start on Trump not releasing his taxes, and I think the D’s should steadily ratchet up the pressure until hitting Trump with a full-out blitz the week before the first debate (“What is he hiding?” “What doesn’t he want Americans to know?”) so that the question is in everyones mind and it is sure to arise at the debate. I don’t see how Trump wins that; either he agrees to release them and looks “weak” to his supporters or he refuses to do what candidates both Republican and Democrat have done for 40 years and looks like he is hiding something or that he doesn’t trust American citizens. And it will divert him nto making an error; he can’t really avoid it.
IMHO as always: YMMV.
I want an App that scans the words on each page that I visit.
I want one that scans for the word “Trump”, and when it finds it, plays an MP3 of Hillary saying, “No, Donald… you Don’t.” 
That look. Is there a man on the planet who hasn’t seen That Look?
I’ve been assuming his reply, at the debate, on live national television, would be to nod as if he’s thinking it over and say “You know what? I’ll release my tax returns as soon as Crooked Hillary releases those speeches she made behind closed doors.”
So he changes the subject, flips the spotlight to her, and either (a) doesn’t reveal jack, or (b) gets to crow about how he got her to reveal what Bernie Sanders wanted but couldn’t manage. And how do you figure she responds, right then and there?
She could just respond that there’s a forty year tradition of releasing your tax returns, not a forty year tradition of releasing whatever Trump asks for.
It would be good if more people came forward who had their small businesses ruined by Trump’s “dealmaking” (aka, not paying his bills and screwing over his suppliers, causing them to go out of business). Also, small investors who lost money with Trump, even as The Donald himself pulled great sums of money out of the business.
A series of ads featuring the little guys who Trump ruined. Personally blaming Trump. The Donald won’t be able to resist insulting them, and whining that he is being “attacked”. Bonus points if Trump attacks these people’s children.
That would actually be a pretty good comeback. Unless she’s willing to throw a few speeches out there, it’s a perfect distraction.
Of course, we don’t know how much fire he’s playing with, because we don’t know why he refuses to release the tax returns. If it’s that he isn’t as rich as he says he is, or he’s lost money two out of the last three years, that would hurt him a bit. He could get over it. If it says he gives nothing to charity, that hurts more. If some of the entries are in Cyrillic script…
There’s another comeback I’ve been kicking around in my head, but it would depend on heavy research and just how much brinkmanship Hillary is comfortable with. Obviously, Trump also had a nice speaking fee business going for many years. If they could find a nicely uncomfortable group he gave a speech to, she could go with “Tell you what, I’ll release the transcripts when you match me by releasing your tax returns and your speech to the Russian Oligarchs’ Annual World Domination Luncheon”.
This is Trump we’re talking about - he’s not going to be satisfied until he’s taken a shit on the baby in retaliation, followed by thousands of his followers tweeting about how the baby ‘started it’.
Damning documentary made back in the day and never seen anywhere apparently because Trump threatened to sue any outlet that showed it. Now we have the internetz and the filmmaker(s) don’t need distributors or news media to have the thing seen. Haven’t seen the full thing yet but the trailer looks awesome!
No idea to what extent it’s been vetted or fact-checked, but the trailer shows some great dated-in-a-wonderful-way clips that sure do make him look bad. Wonder if there’ll be a trending hashtag in the next few days.
Kind of annoying that is was up on Youtube last year for free and now the makers are charging $8 at itunes to watch it.
My current nightmare is that someone will get T in a headlock and he’ll turn into a bland, babbling politician for the next three months. Slowly regaining anti-HRC votes the whole time.
I would say two things might actually work:
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Show me more Warren Buffet, Michael Bloomberg, Mark Cuban, and other billionaires and have them explain for Trump why he’s not releasing his tax returns. One of the great cons that Donald Trump has pulled on idiotic white christian nationalists is that he is some kind of business genius. Trump took a swing at Michael Bloomberg but only because he’s been tainted with New York politics. He has NOT taken a swing at Warren Buffet or Mark Cuban – and he won’t. Because he knows that would be the end of his campaign if he did. In politics, you don’t attack a man’s weaknesses…you try to find ways to attack his strengths. Buffet and Cuban are his Achilles.
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And yes, get more people like Khan. Find other families of veterans to speak out at public rallies.
Exactly. Here is the Buffett story.
Seldom has there been such a target rich environment.
The only thing that makes sense to me now is that Trump has mental issues (this is a thing) or that in some rational depth of his mind he knows that he is not fit to be president, so is is now insulting mothers and babies to make sure he loses.
From my anecdotal sample of Facebook friends from high school and college, it seems like the biggest jerky losers are the ones who support Trump. He can’t “look bad” in their eyes because he exhibits the same sort of behavior that they respect.
That’s a valid concern – there’s still time.
But Trump is having another one of those episodes that’s so inexplicable that you just wonder…does this guy even want to be president, or does he want to say, "I coulda won, I actually did win, but I let Hillary take it for the good of the country. I mean, he could actually say that if he loses two or three states by the slimmest of margins. He could file a lawsuit or two and then decide “Okay, you ‘win’ Hillary.” Some of his antics are just so off-the-charts insane that it just makes you wonder, what the hell does this guy want? I know he doesn’t want to get embarrassed so I think he’ll actually try to make a campaign out of it. But maybe he tries just hard enough not to get embarrassed?