All current key state polling, including Florida, confirm the viability of the GOPe Road Map “splitter strategy” as it was designed in 2014.  Many people are now aware of the splitter strategy itself, so let’s take a look at the “rule changes” which work hand-in-hand with the GOPe road map itself.

In 2014 the RNC/GOPe apparatus made modifications to the 2016 presidential primary specifically because the chosen candidate, Jeb Bush, would need more structural support in 2015/2016 than Mitt Romney 2012.
One of the lesser known changes was campaign finance change which the RNC and DNC essentially hid in the December 2014 CRomnibus bill (continuing resolution government funding).  The changes allow the party apparatus to collect SEVEN TIMES more money from individual party donors – SEE CHART HERE.
On the campaign side – whereas Romney’s 2012 Road Map garnered 25-30% electoral support, internal polling (2014) showed Jeb Bush steady with around 15-20% support. As a consequence of Jeb’s weakness the RNC rules needed to compensate.
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The students at Urbandale High School (IA) were given a surprise notification today in celebration of their homecoming week.
A presidential candidate is coming to see them. Watch the reaction:

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(VIA USA TODAY) More bad news for the Clintons. With Hillary’s presidential campaign slipping in the polls against Sen. Bernie Sanders and facing a potential fresh challenge from Vice President Joe Biden, six giants of the corporate world are bailing out on the Clinton Global Initiative.
On Sept. 26, CGI, a branch of the Clinton Foundation, convenes its 11th annual meeting with a star-studded cast. Bill and Chelsea Clinton will be joined by Ashley Judd, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Ted Danson, Tina Brown, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Sir Richard Branson, Bill Gates and George Soros. What will be missing is more than a million dollars from a who’s who of corporate behemoths that sponsored the meeting last year. Six high-profile firms ended their cash donations, to be replaced with only one similar high-profile corporate donor so far. (more…)

The Morning Consult survey polled 504 registered voters who said they watched the Republican primary debate and that they plan to participate in their state’s Republican presidential nominating contest. Of those voters, 69 percent identified themselves as Republicans, and 28 percent called themselves independents.  The poll carried a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent (link):

The four consecutive days of attacks on Donald Trump, leading up to the CNN debate, appear to have hurt Rand Paul, Scott Walker significantly; both appear to be in trouble.  Also, worth noting – candidates Pataki, Graham and Jindal see no benefit from their attack efforts.  Fiorina, Rubio, and Christie gained supporters.  Carson, Bush and Kasich stayed essentially the same. (more…)

Anyone who doesn’t think that Karl Rove is intertwined with the current “Trump-Muslim-Obama-Birther” controversy exploding amid the headlines today doesn’t know Rove.
Remember 2010 and Delaware Senate race Christine O’Donnell and the “witch/wiccan” religion controversy?  Yeah, Rove was Mike Castle’s campaign guy.  After Castle lost, Rove torpedoed O’Donnell -via media- on behalf of the GOPe.
Remember 2014 Matt Bevin Kentucky Senate race against Mitch McConnell and the “Chicken fight” speech.  Yup, Rovian again.  Here’s Rove today feeding the narrative:

The “Twofer” – The group that should really be watching Rove work his current magic are the Ted Cruz supporters. (more…)

Candidate Rick Perry Super-PACs collected over $17 million; the campaign itself raised less than $2 million.  With Perry dropping out, Super-PAC head Austin Barbour and the finance chair Brint Ryan are now issuing refunds.

TEXAS – A group of super PACs backing former Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s now-defunct presidential bid has refunded to donors most of the millions of dollars they collected, the groups’ finance chairman said.
“We’re still settling up with a few vendors … but we had a pretty good estimate of what those were so we were able to hold back a little bit of the reserve and refund the rest,” Brint Ryan, the super PACs’ finance chairman who runs a Dallas-based tax services company, told the Center for Public Integrity.
The pro-Perry super PACs, all named variations on Opportunity and Freedom PAC, are legally allowed to accept unlimited contributions.
They collectively reported raising $12.8 million during the first half of the year. Austin Barbour, the senior adviser, said they had received another $4 million contribution from a single donor after the reporting deadline, bringing the total to nearly $17 million. (more…)

Donald Trump holds a Town Hall last night including a lengthy Q&A session.   The first question coming in at 09:45 of the video below is from a guy claiming that President Obama is Muslim – the media immediately jumped on it and are criticizing Trump for not pushing back against the question:

Anticipate the MSM news cycle to continue making a big deal of this today.

…. the Rovian onslaught continues.

You might disagree with this, I do not.  If you remove Donald Trump it is a guaranteed outcome. Hence here’s what the 43 members of the professional political class are predicting for the outcome of the 2015/16 primary race:
They can be so confident because the entire construct of elections are decided upon by Wall Street and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce  (Here’s The Analysis Link)

OAN/GRAVIS have published an exclusive poll based entirely on the results from last night’s CNN debate (full pdf below).  The poll shows the majority of those questioned viewed Carly Fiorina won the debate and reflects a predictable surge:

According to this result, both Fiorina and Rubio gained status and favorable opinion amid those Republicans polled. (more…)

Disclaimer: Your opinion on the debate performances are far more valid than mine.  My perspective is skewed because I’m looking through a filter of how Wall Street RNC/GOPe and DNC interests will view and perceive the debate performances.

Baseline – Going into the debate all the candidates, other than Trump, had something to gain and little to lose.  Donald Trump had everything to lose and little to gain.  With that in mind: (more…)