Columnist.
This weekend saw a ramping up of attacks against Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, whom President-elect Donald Trump has tapped to be attorney general. The substance of those attacks is that Sessions is a neo-Confederate, racist, misogynist, anti-immigrant obstructionist, as one leftwing headline put it.
The Trump Transition team announced its first cabinet picks [Friday] morning.
The Trump-Pence team made a major announcement [Wednesday]. After it was discovered that lobbyists had been brought into the transition team, Vice President-elect Mike Pence moved quickly to remove them.
You may remember The New York Times. By that I mean the paper that used to decide what news was in America. "The paper of record" as it was often called, not the left-wing propaganda sheet it is today.
President Obama held a lengthy press conference [Monday] before leaving on his last foreign trip, a farewell tour of sorts. You no doubt recall that Obama began his presidency in similar fashion — with an overseas apology tour.
President-elect Donald Trump is being very astute in his initial personnel decisions. He knows he will face fierce resistance from the media and the DC establishment. He also knows he cannot be at war with both the Democrats and Republicans in Congress. With that in mind, Trump selected Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to be White House Chief of Staff.
Donald Trump won a historic victory Tuesday. It appears he will win the Electoral College vote 306 to 232. He did it by carrying states that haven't voted Republican in decades.
We will be pouring through exit poll data in the days ahead, but I want to give you just a few big picture observations of the tremendous political earthquake that took place [Tuesday] night. For veterans of the Reagan Revolution, it was deja vu all over again in many ways. What Donald Trump rode into office [Tuesday] was a tidal wave of heartland, blue collar families. For years they have been trying in every way they could to express their frustration at being left behind in this new world of open borders and globalism. No one would listen, including, sadly, many in the Republican establishment, which also fought Ronald Reagan tooth-and-nail.
[Sunday] afternoon, FBI Director James Comey issued another bombshell announcement. The same FBI that took nearly a year to look through 30,000 emails was able to comb through 650,000 in just ten days. Director Comey sent a letter to Capitol Hill [Sunday] informing members of Congress that he saw no reason to change his conclusions from July. The Clinton campaign and its media allies hailed this announcement as a great victory. CNN — the Clinton News Network — ran this headline: "FBI Clears Clinton — Again."
There are extraordinary new developments that could well impact the election.
New Wikileaks are revealing the extent of the corruption at the Obama Justice Department and why it is essential that Donald Trump prevail. As we reported last week, John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, was having regular dinners with a very close friend, Peter Kadzik, a top official at the Department of Justice, while Hillary was under investigation. We have learned from the latest batch of Wikileaks that Kadzik was also tipping off Podesta about the status of various Clinton investigations. But there's more.
Ten days ago, the ABC News poll had Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by 12 points. [Tuesday], the latest ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll finds Trump leading Clinton by one point. Hillary has lost five points, while Trump has gained seven. When Hillary was leading by 12, I felt the ABC poll was an outlier. I am also skeptical that the race has swung 12 points in ten days. But this much is clear: The Trump-Pence team has the momentum.
Washington is still buzzing from Friday's bombshell announcement that the FBI has reopened the investigation into Hillary Clinton's mishandling of U.S. national security material. As you know, the latest twist involves a laptop that was shared by disgraced ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner and his wife Huma Abedin, Hillary's closest aide.
Carol and I were relaxing [Thursday] night when my iPhone pinged. Looking down, I saw these unnerving words: "Our plane just skidded off the runway." The text was from our son, Zach, who is a special assistant to Governor Pence, and is traveling with him around the country in this grueling campaign. The next words eased my fears. "You'll see it on the news, but everyone is fine." As you can imagine, there were a lot of prayers of thanksgiving going up from the Bauer family and our extended family. It was also a reminder that as this battle continues, Donald Trump and Mike Pence not only deserve our votes but also our prayers for their safety in what has been one of the ugliest and mean-spirited campaigns in presidential history.
In recent days, I have received numerous messages from values voters telling me, "Gary, I'm not going to vote for Hillary, but I want assurances about Donald Trump." My first response is that values voters should be deeply reassured by Trump's selection of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate. I have known Mike Pence for many years, since before he was elected to Congress. He often describes himself as "A Christian, a Conservative and a Republican, and in that order." And I can vouch for his sincerity! (By the way, Gov. Pence is attracting his own large and enthusiastic crowds on the campaign trail.) But if you still need more assurances, here you go.
Just when you think the news about Obamacare couldn't get any worse, it does. Check out this CBS headline: "Arizona Obamacare Plan To Jump By 116 Percent." As I wrote yesterday, Obamacare was built on the lie that the government can do it better. Now it is more expensive and more insurance companies are abandoning the system. In many parts of the country, there is only one provider. Conservatives warned this would happen. The same people who lied to us six years ago now want to "fix" Obamacare. But their idea of a fix is more government, not less.
Obamacare is collapsing. These headlines speak for themselves. "Covered California Notifies Subscribers of Up to 57 Percent Rate Increases." "Nearly 400,000 Michigan Residents Brace for Double-Digit Obamacare Spike." "More Than 1 Million to Lose Obamacare Plans as Insurers Quit." "Gov. Dayton (D) Declares Affordable Care Act 'No Longer Affordable.'" "Average Premiums For Popular ACA Plans Rising 25 Percent."
Two significant polls were released in recent days. I'm sure you heard all about the ABC News poll. It was talked about endlessly over the weekend because it found Clinton/Kaine leading Trump/Pence by 12 points — 50% to 38%. I doubt you heard about the latest Investor's Business Daily poll. It was released this morning and found Trump and Clinton tied. By the way, the IBD poll was the most accurate poll in the last three election cycles. If asked, both pollsters would look into a camera and tell Americans that they followed all the rules of modern polling. But one of them is extraordinarily wrong. How can that be? There is a huge problem somewhere.
The media are working overtime to demoralize conservatives and convince us all that Hillary has already won. DON'T BELIEVE IT! Not every poll is predicting a Clinton coronation. The Los Angeles Times daily tracking poll has Trump up 45% to 44%. Rasmussen has Trump up 43% to 41%. And the Investor's Business Daily poll — the most accurate poll in the past three election cycles — has Trump leading 41% to 40%. My friends, we can win! More importantly, we MUST win.
