Message from Joe Lowe, Vice Chair of the South Dakota Democratic Party.
The other night I watched the last GOP debate and thought I was watching a bad reality TV show. The top three contenders, especially, were not displaying the qualities of someone who is ready to lead our country or deal with other world leaders.
After Super Tuesday, it appears that Donald Trump, The King of Whoppers, will be the GOP nominee for his party. Let’s talk about what his supporters are saying about him.
He tells it how it is.
FactCheck.org states:
In the 12 years of FactCheck.org’s existence, we’ve never seen his match.
He stands out not only for the sheer number of his factually false claims, but also for his brazen refusals to admit error when proven wrong [FactCheck.org, “The ‘King of Whoppers’: Donald Trump,” 2015.12.21].
PolitiFact awarded the 2015 Lie of the Year award to Trump.
He is a great business man.
Let’s examine his bad decisions:
- Trump University: in a lawsuit
- Trump Shuttle: Gone
- Trump Magazine: Gone
- Trump Vodka: Gone
- Trump Mortgage: Gone
- Trump Steaks, sold on the Sharper Image: Gone
He says he never settles and is a fighter.
- Trump Ocean Resort-Baja California: He settled the lawsuit.
- Trump Towers Tampa: He settled the lawsuit.
He wants to make America Great Again.
Great again like what, the mess Bush left us in? Trump tells us the economy is not in good shape. Here are two indications that he is wrong:
NO RECESSION — Via PNC: “[C]onsumers continue to power the U.S. economy at the beginning of 2016. Personal income and consumer spending both rose 0.5 percent in January; these were stronger than the consensus expectations. They were also the largest monthly increases in both measures since May 2015. After-tax income also rose 0.5 percent in January. There was a very good 0.6 percent increase in labor market income in January, thanks to job and wage gains and a longer average workweek.”
CAR SALES KEEP CRANKING — FT’s Robert Wright: “US car sales continued to run at record rates in February, defying fears of a slowing US economy and forecasts that demand must plateau after a record 17.5m new vehicles were sold in 2015. Sales for Ford, the number two US carmaker by sales, were up 20.2 per cent on February last year, while Fiat Chrysler, the US number four, achieved an increase of 12 per cent. General Motors, the market leader, said its sales were up 6.6 per cent on the same month in 2015, while Toyota, the market number three, grew its sales 5.2 per cent” [Ben White, “Trump, Clinton, dominate Super Tuesday,” Politico,March 2, 2016].
Folks, the soul of our country is at stake if Donald Trump actually becomes our President. This election is ours to lose. So, as your Democratic Party Vice Chair, I am asking three things of you.
Number one: Do not let the GOP spread half truths any more. When something is said that is a flat out false statement engage them and present them the facts.
Number two: I know all of you have your favorite Democratic candidate for president. This is great but I am seeing some Facebook posts that are sounding like what is happening with the GOP. Some are personal attacks. This is not what we do as Democrats. Let’s discuss the issues and show how each candidate is different let us not make it personal.
Number three: When our party picks its nominee, we must come together as Democrats and work to get our nominee elected. The election is ours to lose. The 2008 election was all about hope. The 2016 election must be about nope for Trump, the King of the Whoppers.