Neoconservatives Declare War on Donald Trump

[Jefferson23]

2/29/2016

Donald Trump’s runaway success in the GOP primaries so far is setting off alarm bells among neoconservatives who are worried he will not pursue the same bellicose foreign policy that has dominated Republican thinking for decades.

Neoconservative historian Robert Kagan — one of the prime intellectual backers of the Iraq War and an advocate for Syrian intervention — announced in the Washington Post last week that if Trump secures the nomination, “the only choice will be to vote for Hillary Clinton.”

Max Boot, an unrepentant supporter of the Iraq War, wrote in the Weekly Standard that a “Trump presidency would represent the death knell of America as a great power,” citing, among other things, Trump’s objection to a large American troop presence in South Korea.

Trump has done much to trigger the scorn of neocon pundits. He denounced the Iraq War as a mistake based on Bush administration lies, just prior to scoring a sizable victory in the South Carolina GOP primary. In last week’s contentious GOP presidential debate, he defended the concept of neutrality in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is utterly taboo on the neocon right.

https://theintercept.com/2016/02/29/neoconservatives-declare-war-on-donald-trump/

[fleur-de-lisa]

1. Good grief!

"Trump won't be hawkish enough, so let's support Hillary" . . . that says it all!

[Jefferson23]

2. I know. lol

Clinton as the fall back candidate for more interventions is telling. Keep in mind
these guys are not social conservatives so she is understandable as a choice for
them.

[leveymg]

3. Cross-cutting issue that will eat into HRC's vote, if she's nominated.

We've seen turnout in the Democratic primaries about a quarter lower than 2008.

Subtract the 5-7% of Democrats who absolutely won't vote for her because of her firm neocon and pro-war ties. Add that to the 15 percent of Democrats who can't see themselves voting for her for other reasons.

That's about a 20 percent cut in Democratic voter turnout. Her favorables among Independents are also lower than 8 years ago.

Unless there is some mass exodus from the GOP -- and so far, the Republican turnout is higher by about the same percentage as the declien in Democratic participation in the primaries -- her numbers point to a Democratic loss in November. This point needs to be made over and over again.

[Jefferson23]

4. +1.

Over and over again, yes.