It's David vs. Goliath, Not David vs. Hillary and Donald
As a great admirer of David French, I find this a relief: Here is a sentence I never thought I'd type: After days of prayer, reflection, and serious study of the possibilities, I am not going to run as an independent candidate for president of the United States. . . . Indeed, the path is there. I spent the last several days with some of the best minds in politics. I learned that the ballot-access challenge can be met with modest effort (by an existing network ready to activate), that the polling for a true outsider independent was better than most people know, and that there are many, many Americans -- including outstanding political talents -- who are willing to quit their jobs -- today -- to help provide the American people with an alternative. But given the timing, the best chance for success goes to a person who either is extraordinarily wealthy (or has immediate access to extraordinary wealth) or is a transformational political talent. I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve my country, and I thank God for the successes I've had as a lawyer and a writer, but it is plain to me that I'm not the right person for this effort . . . To those who prayed for me and my family, I'm grateful beyond words. To those who defended my wife and kids from vicious attacks -- engaging in a fight you didn't seek -- I'm forever in your debt. To those I've disappointed, I'm sorry. It is your devotion and integrity that help keep America great, and I believe you will ultimately prevail. As noted in Friday's Jolt, the challenge to get on the ballot in enough states with deadlines approaching was nearly impossible. To make a serious impact, an independent bid needed to start laying the groundwork back in February. Caution: Some TV-Host Position Shifts on Trump Can Cause Whiplash Joe Scarborough, April 1: Even after the passing of Antonin Scalia and the Paris and San Bernadino, Calif., attacks, many right-leaning pundits are spending their days scolding readers and declaring that no true conservative or God-fearing Christian could support Donald Trump. This simmering rage has now risen to such a level that many conservative opinion shapers are spending their waking hours coping with a festering Zapruder-like obsession over video frames of the Corey Lewandowski-Michelle Fields confrontation while obsessing over the GOP front-runner's latest embarrassing gaffe . . . Not to be outdone, in the latest issue of National Review, James Kirchick wrote that what was most significant about Trump's rise was that "he has mainstreamed white racial grievance to a point unprecedented in post-Civil Rights Era America. That it has taken this most improbable of figures -- a thrice-married, multimillionaire New York real-estate magnate and celebrity television star with an Orthodox Jewish daughter -- to achieve what no hooded Klansman or backwoods neo-Nazi could ever have hoped of doing makes his feat all the more astonishing." Actually, what is most astonishing is the rising level of rage among Trump's political enemies from inside the Republican establishment. Many of my conservative friends are sounding as arrogant and unmoored as left-wing pundits let loose on MSNBC during the Bush years. Joe Scarborough, this morning: The [Republicans] can't be morally outraged this week when they knew what [Trump] was doing last week. By the way, I said it here on the TV box. And you can check it out on the TV box. I said, all the way back in December, I would never endorse Donald Trump, so long as he supported banning 1.4 million people [sic] from entering the last best hope for a dying world, the United States of America, simply because of the God they worship, simply because they were Muslim. That has been out on the table while every Republican has endorsed this man! And I have said, and I have stuck to it, I will never endorse Donald Trump so long as he supports a Muslim ban. I've said it clear. Now, listen, I predicted, and Mika predicted, that the guy was going to win the nomination. This pissed a lot of people off, because we were right and they were wrong. They said, "Oh, you must be supporting him." No, I've always been clear. I said I would never support a man. I said what he said about David Duke was disqualifying -- wrote it in the Washington Post! So these Republicans who this week were so shocked and stunned and deeply saddened and so offended by this clear act of racism, had all the evidence in the world before. How do you endorse, Paul Ryan, a man that supports the banning of 1.4 billion from ever entering the United States of America? You make him back down! That's I was hoping, we could put pressure on him to back down and change that policy! Instead, Al, he's doubled down. Now it's people that may have, what is it, one-sixteenth Mexican blood? If you have one-sixteenth Mexican blood maybe you can't be a judge? One-sixteenth Muslim blood? This is unbelievable! He is getting worse, not better! Gee, it's almost as if Scarborough is coming around to Jamie Kirchick's assessment, one he called "arrogant and unmoored" two months ago. It's a good thing Scarborough isn't "spending his days scolding people and declaring that no true conservative or God-fearing Christian could support Donald Trump," huh? Our Long Nightmarish National Primary Season Is Almost Over This is a big week. The Democratic primary technically ends. Technically. [Bernie] Sanders in recent weeks has made clear he aims to take his candidacy past the elections on Tuesday, when California, New Jersey and four other states vote. But the debate within the campaign indicates that Mr. Sanders's next move isn't settled. For now, Democratic officials, fund-raisers and operatives are getting impatient, calling on Mr. Sanders to quit the race and begin the work of unifying the party for the showdown with the Republican presumptive nominee. . . . Sanders isn't backing off. In an interview that aired Sunday on CNN, he stepped up an attack on Mrs. Clinton involving the Clinton Foundation. Echoing a critique made by Republicans, Mr. Sanders said he has "a problem" with the foundation accepting money from foreign sources during her service as secretary of state. In a news conference Saturday in California, Mr. Sanders indicated he would battle for superdelegates all the way to the convention. "The Democratic National Convention will be a contested convention," he said. 
Welcome to Philadelphia, Democrats! ADDENDA: Sunday morning I woke up and, thinking it was already the 6th of June, I noted that D-Day was 72 years ago -- which was a day early. So today think of "the boys of Pointe du Hoc." 
I mentioned this on an episode of the pop-culture podcast -- one of the most unusual and haunting bits of animation you'll ever see came in the Peanuts special, What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? It features the kids on a trip to France, coming upon Omaha Beach, where Linus explains D-Day to the rest of the kids, combining historical footage, watercolors, and traditional Peanuts animation. 
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