Former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu (R), never at a loss for using an axe on his opponents, is at it again regarding Donald Trump. Sununu, who has nurtured quite a reputation for an acid tongue and thuggish behavior during his nearly forty years in Republican politics, behavior that would earn the respect of Michael Corleone, continues to desperately flail at Trump as the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary near.
Sununu’s latest outburst against The Donald on WMUR TV and Newsmax is more fiction from a man who has lived a false narrative for 24 years – not owning up to the fact that he was unceremoniously fired as chief of staff to President George H. W. Bush for using government planes and limousines to go to ski resorts and stamp auctions in New York City.
{mosads}In retrospect, Sununu’s firing in December 1991 was a precursor to the 1992 presidential campaign that was unfolding at that time. The voters, with the help of Ross Perot, finished the job eleven months later by firing George Bush. We well remember President Bush not knowing the cost of a gallon of milk. Sununu and Bush’s actions exemplified a political ruling class insulated and detached from the everyday concerns of Americans.
And here we are – twenty-five years later confronted with the same ethos — only this time the situation is very different in that the American electorate, both Republicans and Democrats, are rallying behind Donald Trump, and some behind Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), to fire not only King John and his GOP cronies, but also Bill and Hillary Clinton and the international cabal (multi-nationals; secularists; one-worlders) that the political elite has sold its soul to at the expense of America first.
In the case of the GOP establishment as embodied by Sununu, they are resorting to outright lies and scare tactics against Trump. For instance, in a recent interview with Newsmax, Sununu claims that if Trump is the GOP nominee, “We lose the Senate, we lose most of the House, and we lose the presidency.”
Now to give Big John his due – he does know about losing the presidency since he was a prime player in helping Bush lose reelection to Bill Clinton. Remember George Bush’s declaration in the 1988 presidential campaign “No New Taxes” which he reneged on as president under the brilliant guidance of Treasury’s Dick Darman and John Sununu.
Most recently, Sununu was one of Mitt Romney’s main attack dogs during the 2012 presidential campaign and we know how that ended – much to Old Man Sununu’s and Romney’s shock because the Romney campaign had been polling the wrong sample throughout the campaign including election night!
Sununu went on to say, “He (Trump) may have the support of 25 percent of the Republicans, which is about 12 percent of America, but 80 per cent of America really does not like this man.”
Oh really? Maybe this is the same math and political savvy that Sununu used to advise George Bush and Mitt Romney, but it clearly is not what polling data is showing.
The Real Clear Politics (RCP) average of national polling of Republicans as of January 11, 2016 has Trump leading by 14 percent over Cruz, Rubio, Carson, and Christie (34-20-11-10-4 respectively). The Reuters five-day rolling average has Trump up by 25 percent over Cruz, Carson, Bush, and Rubio (41-16-13-8-8 respectively).
In New Hampshire RCP has Trump ahead by 17 percent over Rubio, Kasich, Cruz and Christie (30-13-11-11-10) and in Iowa recent polling by Quinnipiac and ARG has Trump edging in front of Cruz (31-29 and 29-25 respectively). The most recent Reuters poll has a Clinton – Trump race basically tied at 38 – 34 percent respectively.
James Warren of US News and World Report, in “Trump Could Win It All” noted that polling conducted last week by Mercury Analytics, a bipartisan firm, showed that nearly 20 percent of Democrats would cross over and vote for Trump in a general election while 14 per cent of Republicans would crossover and vote for Clinton. Further, a higher percentage of Democrats said that they were 100 per cent sure to crossover than Republicans.
And then in an interview with WMUR Sununu made one of the dumbest statements this election cycle, “He (Trump) claims he’s the only candidate that can’t be bought. I think (Russian President Vladimir) Putin showed Donald Trump is the cheapest political buy in the game. For 10 cents worth of flattery, Putin had him sucking up to him.”
Trump sucking up? This is desperation. Maybe Putin is using some reverse psychology knowing that political whores like John Sununu will say exactly what he said so as to try to hurt Trump politically because Putin’s real fear is a Trump presidency.
But one fact we do know is that John Sununu is not bought cheaply. He ran up more than $615,000 worth of U.S. military jet travel while Bush’s chief of staff — $86,000 alone for one trip to Vail Ski Resort. And to illustrate the depravity of the political system – the Republican Party reimbursed the U.S. government $47,000 for Sununu’s travel thus sticking the U.S. taxpayer for $568,000.
And Sununu’s most disingenuous comment of all is that he is not planning to endorse a specific candidate but he encourages Republicans to choose between four – Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio or John Kasich. Surprise! Surprise! Republican voter those are your marching orders as dictated by a member of the party’s politburo.
The irony is that Sununu and the GOP establishment have much in common with Putin – toe the line or we will crush you.
Trump will not be intimidated!
Nagy lives in New Hampshire and has been involved in conservative political issues for over 25 years. Northeast campaign director for Pat Buchanan for President 1992; Northeast regional director for the National Christian Coalition; founder and chairman of Americans for Secure Borders, as well as campaign management for national and statewide conservative candidates.