Donald Trump throws Steve Bannon under the little white Corvette

Quoted in Is Trump backing away form Steve Bannon?  (USA Today, 4/11/2017)

Related reading:
Did he or didn’t he? Trump contradicts himself on whether he knew Steve Bannon.  (Politifact, 4/12/2017)

Trump's claim earn him another "Pants on Fire" ruling.  The Washington Post counted nine times that Trump appeared as a guest on Bannon's radio show. 

That version of events is corroborated by The New Yorker. "In 2011, David Bossie, the head of the conservative group Citizens United, introduced Trump to Bannon; at the time, Trump was thinking about running against Obama. Bannon and Trump met at Trump Tower and discussed a possible campaign. Trump decided against the idea, but the two kept in touch, and Bannon gave Trump admiring coverage. Bannon noticed that, when Trump spoke to crowds, people were electrified. Bannon began to think that Trump might be "the one" who could shake up American politics."

Greetings from Tucson, where the local news suggests Wisconsin snowbirds should delay their departure

Postcard from Retiring Guy's collection

Where's Spring? Snow blankets parts of Wisconsin.  (KVOA, 4/11/2017)

KVOA | KVOA.com | Tucson, Arizona


Related reading:
Wisconsin snowbirds migrate to Arizona.  (On Milwaukee, 4/6/2005)
An open letter to Arizona's snowbirds, now arriving. (Arizona Republic, 9/17/2015)

Other greetings:
Phoenix, Arizona.  (4/8/2017)
Monument Valley, Arizona/Utah.  (4/8/2017)
Dothan, Alabama.  (4/5/2017)
Mobile, Alabama.  (4/5/2017)

Beset by shrinkage, the delusional Donald Trump puts on a happy face

@realDonaldTrump

Yes, Kansas is still a deep red state, but things aren't going particularly well there for the GOP right now.

1.  They have the 2nd most unpopular Governor in the US* -- Sam Brownback, he of the once heralded and now miserably failed great experiment in conservative economic theory.  (He held the #1 spot last year.)

2.  Despite Trump's 20.7-point margin of victory over Clinton in Kansas, Democrats picked up a seat in the state Senate and 12 seats in the House.

3.  Trump won the 4th Congressional District by a 27.2 percentage-point margin over Hillary Clinton.  Republican Ron Estes defeated Democrat James Thompson by a 6.8-point margin in yesterday's special election.  That's major-league shrinkage.

No, Donald, it was not a great win for the GOP.

Related reading:
Why Republicans are worried about Kansas.  (FiveThirtyEight, 4/11/2017)

No Democrat has won a House race in Kansas’s 4th Congressional District in over 20 years. It’s a Republican district, full stop. So, even a not-so-bad loss by Democrat James Thompson in Tuesday’s special election against Republican Ron Estes would be a worrying sign for the GOP. 

In fact, Republicans seem a bit anxious about the race. The National Republican Congressional Committee rushed in at the last minute to spend some money in the district. And Ted Cruz came in late to campaign for Estes. Thompson is still the underdog, but anything less than a blowout victory by Estes would be a flashing warning siren for Republicans ahead of next week’s more high-profile race in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, and a preliminary sign of weakness for the GOP in the lead-up to the 2018 midterms.

 Related post:
The Donald Trump shrinkage factor besets GOP in Kansas 4th Congressional District.  (4/12/2017)