Crossover voters.  They are an integral part of the Republican establishment’s plan to nominate Jeb Bush as their candidate for the presidency.  This plan in a nutshell, well described by many, especially Sundance at The Conservative Treehouse, is as follows:

1. Change the rules of the nomination process so that the results of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina do not give an outsider real momentum.
2. Utilize the Bush family connections to fund Super PACs beholden to the establishment, which will be used to ensure his win.
3. Use these Super PACs to fund “splitter” candidates in certain states to enable Jeb to win with as little as twenty percent or less of the vote.
4. Once Jeb wins the Florida primary and garners its ninety-nine electoral votes, promote him as the inevitable candidate whom all Republicans need to support.
5. As the “splitters,” paid for by the establishment PACs drop out, they endorse Jeb, enhancing his “inevitability.”
6. Count on an “Operation Chaos” where Democrat voters cross over and vote for Jeb Bush, thinking him the weakest candidate against Hillary Clinton.
7. Expect Republicans to hold their noses and vote against Hillary Clinton.

All in all, an admirable plan…to once again lose “with honor.”    Oh, the Bush camp will make somewhat of a run for the presidency, and if they win, we can almost bet they’ll be surprised.  After all, a Bush has yet to beat a Clinton.  It doesn’t matter either way in this incestuous uni-party.   The donors from both sides and the campaign operatives will be paid by us, the taxpayers, in one form or another.  Business as usual, selling out our country to the highest bidder.  There used to be a saying about us having the best politicians that money could buy.  I’m beginning to wonder about that. 

Funny things happened on the way to the market, though.  First, Hillary doesn’t seem to have the Democrat ticket locked up.  For all of her glass ceiling gravitas, once you take away the press, her entourage and the usual party hacks, how many does she really draw?  Bernie Sanders, a Socialist and not even a Democrat, has huge crowds and is now beating her in polls in the Democrat presidential primary in New Hampshire and Iowa.  Hillary?  Thank goodness for camera angles.  How far left does she need to go and still be considered a Democrat?  Debbie Wasserman Shultz, the DNC chair, can’t seem to answer that.   In fact, Debbie can’t even explain the difference between a Democrat and a Socialist.  Maybe she should look to the Communist Party USA platform for a refresher -- oh, wait, they took it down after Obama’s election.  You can find it if you search, though.  Meantime, here’s the Socialist Party platform.  Sound familiar, Debbie?  Then there’s Hillary’s skirting jail at the pleasure of the Chicago bunch.   It’ll be interesting to see how long that lasts.  So much for Hillary, but she’ll still beat Jeb in a head to head match.  She wants it.  He’ll lie down.  We’ll stay home.

Now, along comes Donald Trump.  This wasn’t supposed to happen.  Jeb was supposed to win without conservatives by using his PAC-Men to split the conservative vote and allow him to win with twenty percent or so.  It worked before, and they even changed the rules to make sure it works this time.  He and the red vs. blue team never figured that someone not beholden to them would actually come out and talk about “Americanism.”   “Build a wall,” “Bring jobs back,” “Make good deals,” “Make America great again” are things that matter to Joe Lunch Box more than the latest lecture on pure conservatism from George Will or anyone else he’s never heard of.   These things resonate with him -- he doesn’t own pearls to clutch at the latest Trump verbal gaffe.

Friday evening, it was interesting to listen to Rick Perry talk about suspending his campaign.  Rick, a former Democrat, spoke of Conservatism.  Conservatism.  That word is to a Democrat and many Independents as garlic is to a vampire.  When was the last time you heard a Democrat speak to a national audience and say the word “Liberalism” or “Progressive”, let alone “Socialist” or “Communist?”   Conservatism.  Does that mean that we want to keep what we now have?  Joe Lunch Box remembers when he cut lawns as a kid for spending money.  He now sees the “landscaper” trailers in his neighborhood if he’s lucky enough to still work at a plant that hasn’t been sent to China.  Joe Lunch Box understands “Americanism.”  He may pick up a Republican primary voter card, but as long as Trump is on the ballot, I doubt he’ll vote for Jeb.

Ebben Raves is a veteran, constitutional activist, rifle marksmanship instructor, and speaker who teaches American history and has been a guest on numerous talk radio shows.  He can be reached at ebshumidors@yahoo.com.