Podcast 496 – The Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show – 25

The Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show – 25. This weekend’s radio show in crystal clear, digital audio. The radio show includes excerpts from podcasts through the week as well as original content for radio affiliates. In The Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show – 25, the tumultuous developments in American Politics this week take center stage, so this show focuses on these developments. First, Donald Trump’s victory in Indiana has the media and elements of the republican party crowning the New York developer as the ‘presumptive nominee’. Certainly, without opposition in primaries from here on out, delegate count isn’t as much of a problem. Trump’s biggest obstacle to the nomination now is the fracturing of the Republican party. Mitt Romney says he can’t support Trump while decrying ‘populism’ in American Politics (whatever that means). It was reported this week that both former Presidents George H.W Bush, and George W. Bush will not attend the RNC in Cleveland. Paul Ryan says he hasn’t decided on whether to support Trump, Trump says he isn’t sure whether he supports Ryan’s ‘agenda’. Down Ticket senators in vulnerable seats are complaining about Trump, and not just ‘any’ senators; Former Republican Presidential Candidate and senior senator John McCain says a Trump nomination puts his seat in question. There, then, is the rub. With no clear indication yet on the plan for Cruz, Kasich and Rubio delegates, it might be suggested Trump’s new ‘presumptive nominee’ title might be, well, presumptive. In this podcast – The Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show – 25 – state Cruz organizer Mandy Benz joins me to talk about her raw reactions to the Cruz campaign suspension announcement. After a New York Times article late this week that says news outlets often reprint press releases without editing, don’t ask questions, don’t do any real reporting and the story is controlled from places like The White House, it’s not surprising that talk show charlatans, pundits and personalities seem to be addicted to the attention that comes from endorsing candidates. Being disgusted with the whole process and not liking any of the candidates seems to be the best thing a podcaster do, to provide objective analysis. No one else is, apparently, so Namaste, Bitches. Sponsored by Brush Studio in the West End and Hydrus Performance.

Podcast 494

Surprises. In an early spring shocker, Senator Ted Cruz suspends his campaign after losing the Indiana Republican Presidential Preference Primary to New Yorker Donald Trump. On the democrat side, Bernie Sanders bested Hillary Clinton in the Hoosier State Democratic Primary. The story of the week, however, is the shocking suspension of the Ted Cruz campaign. Surprises. Cruz supporters were preparing for a contested republican convention. Though stories appeared late last week suggesting — off the record of course — Cruz campaign officials were ‘demoralized’ due to polls showing at least double digit leads in Indiana for Trump, the Senator’s introduction of Californian Carly Fiorina as his ‘running mate’ would suggest the campaign was still thinking about the Golden State and its hundred plus delegates as late as two weeks ago. Media story lines have now shifted to the ‘inevitability’ of a Trump nomination, or that Trump is the ‘presumptive’ nominee for the GOP. These kinds of over reactions to Trump’s Indiana win are to be expected in a self serving Media, but it’s still premature. Certainly one cannot predict the future. While it’s true that Trump’s path to the nomination is clearer in the remaining state primaries, with the absence of Cruz, the actual delegate count in Cleveland remains to be determined. It would be unwise for the Trump campaign or the media to count the republican establishment out. Down? Yes. But not out. Surprises. Then there is the question of what happened to Cruz? Are self identifying ‘conservatives’ finally settling on Trump, as opposed to Cruz? Was it a mistake for Cruz to encourage talk show hosts to campaign with him and were all the fasts, comparisons to George Washington and religious exhortations a turn off for some? And, what about the #nevertrump crowd? Looks like another talk-show-blogger-host effort that failed miserably. Finally, to get a real sense of the surprise inside the Cruz campaign after tonight’s bombshell, we talk to one of the campaign’s state coordinators, Mandy Benz. A tough night for someone who has worked very hard for her candidate and what she believed in, which deserves respect regardless of your political views. (Editor’s Note: Late breaking news, rumors that John Kasich is out, and the RNC is supporting Donald Trump as the presumptive nominee. This changes the picture regarding Trump’s delegate count in upcoming primaries.)Sponsored by Hydrus Performance and Brush Studio in the West End, Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.

Podcast 481

Ted Cruz Denies Affairs. The tabloid that has a history of breaking lurid stories about the affairs of politicians and public personalities is on the hot seat with a new story about Senator Ted Cruz. The National Enquirer story alleges the presidential hopeful has had extra marital affairs with five women. Though the women’s faces were obscured in the tabloid story, two of the women have been allegedly identified as staffers for Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina and at various times Senator Cruz. Moreover there’s also evidence of a Cruz associated PAC which donated a half a million dollars to the Fiorina campaign. If that donation was ‘hush money’ as has been alleged, a far more serious allegation could be leveled against Cruz since the candidates aren’t supposed to have anything to do with PACs. Ted Cruz Denies Affairs. Senator Cruz says the story is a lie, says it was shopped to other outlets, all orchestrated by Donald Trump, since he is ‘friends’ with the publisher of the National Enquirer (based in West Palm Beach, by the way, where Trump has a residence and resort.) Trump says he had nothing to do with the story. Truth is, this ‘story’ has been floating around political and reporters circles for months, and has been talked about on twitter under #thething for at least weeks. Is it true? No one knows. Was it Trump? No one knows. It could have been Trump, but recent developments suggest former elements of the Rubio campaign shopped the story. Could have been Republican establishment types terrified of a Trump nomination, as well as a Cruz nomination, looking to clip both candidates before three critical primaries in the coming weeks in Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania. It could have been the Cruz campaign looking to get out in front of a potential scandal and turn it back on their number one rival, the Trump campaign. No one knows, and no one will know until the story is disproven, retracted, or the women in question come forward. At least one of them, Amanda Carpenter, passionately and vehemently denies it. Don’t put it past the establishment to do something like this. Politics gets ugly, and there are so many more months of campaigning to go. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing of Saint Paul, Pride of Homes and Hydrus.