* I’ve come to the conclusion that if you care at all about any aspect of immigration, there is no other option besides Trump. If one shaky debate answer changes that for you, he never had your vote to begin with.
* Trump’s problem is that he seems not to understand much about the H1b visa. I think his position paper was probably written by Jeff Sessions, who he consulted with before issuing the paper. Trump himself seemed to have no understanding of how the program works, other than to say he believes people should come here “legally” and people who attend top universities (Yale, etc.) should be allowed to stay.
* Christie was very good and entertaining.
Fiorina fell flat. She’s done.
Rubio was good and was very good in attacks against him (moderators and Jeb).
Carson is lackluster. Not very Presidential.
Jeb threw a half-dozen interceptions. Looks worse then going in.
Trump didn’t get much time. Was solid.
Cruz performed well but his used car salesman-ish style if off-putting.
Rand Paul didn’t get much time but was the most solid in policy.
Huckabee was very good and likable.
Kasich was made to look silly early on by Trump. He looks frazzled and frustrated. He’s done.
Winner: Christie
Loser: Bush
My candidate: Trump
* The meta points about Trump that are worth remembering are these:
1) He’s a nationalist.
2) He’s a pragmatist.
3) He’s smart.
So, if you put those points together, there’s a good chance that, in office – maybe with a little more tutoring from Sessions, particularly about the difference between 0-1s and H1-Bs – Trump would see the light on H1-Bs.
* Trump and Rand Paul are the only two candidates running for President that have not pledged to confront Russia, declare a no-fly zone in Syria, and support jihadists. Trump is the only one to say he’d work with Putin and Russia for our own mutual benefit. The other Republicans want corporate oligarchy and actively work for policies which make our country less white and stop Russia from attack jihadis and terrorists who are slaughtering Christians.
* It looked like Trump was trying to appear more in control of himself and presidential. He also looked like he has lost weight – getting shape for the job?
Jeb is a bumbling fool trying and failing to even smoothly repeat his memorized talking points.
Marco seems like he is in such a hurry to get it out- he reminds me of my pet chihuahua who gets so excited when she sees people. any people
Carson – too sedate and reasonable
Kasich – WTF – OK OK I get it – your the Gov of Ohio.
Fiorina appears menopausal. so stern. so strong. I think I’m attracted to her.
Cruz I like but can he overcome all the bad press he gets and will get?
Rand Paul’s delivery and voice and hair is somewhat strange.
Christy – the passion for the common man seems fake
Huckabee? America will never have a Pres. named Huckabee. Never. Its ridiculous.
* I think it’s important to distinguish the large majority of H1b recipients (65,000 per year) from the foreign-student H1bs (20,000 per year). Trump seems to disfavor the former and favor the latter. He hasn’t even said he wants all the foreign students to say – in his statements, he’s mentioned that he wants immigrants from the top universities (Ivy league, etc.) to stay.
I’m not surprised, as Trump (Wharton graduate) has always praised graduates of elite schools. He’s someone who thinks highly of anyone with an Ivy degree.
The real question is what he thinks about the non-elite foreign graduates and non-graduate foreign workers. The overwhelming majority of H1bs are in these categories. It seems like he’s against these days, but it’s tough to parse his statements. My sense is that Trump is not fully informed on the H1b issue.
The good news is that, as Steve Sailer frequently says, “personnel is policy.” If Trump is asking men like Jeff Sessions to help write his specific immigration policies, that’s a good sign. Most candidates don’t even write the specifics of their policies (immigration, taxes, trade), instead delegating that work to their suboordinates. Most likely, whoever workers for Trump will decide the H1b policy. If that’s Sessions or someone picked by Sessions, then we may yet win.
I’m not giving up on Trump just yet.
* The New York Times was surprised to discover that it’s story about Disney employees being forced to train their H-1B replacements was a huge hit with its readers.
* For years Steve has been saying blacks see their politicians as entertainers more than leaders. When you know they all lie to you anyway, why not pick the entertaining liars? Enough whites now expect all Republican politicians to lie about race and immigration and anything important that we might as well vote Trump.
* Trump has been publicly anti-immigration since 1999. He’s for real. He bungled one detail and now we’re going to get a weeks worth of concern trolling about it which is just irritating.
* It’s all about career path. Once you fall off your path, it’s tough to get back on unless you have very high-demand skills and credentials. There are a huge number of well-educated people who fall off their career path and end up in lower wage work. Sometimes they fall off their path due to company politics (this applies especially to management track professionals), sometimes bad luck.
It’s not good enough to be smart and educated, you need to have the perfect resume and continuous work experience. One reason for this loose labor market is the mass importation of immigrant labor, particularly through H1b. The second reason is the outsourcing to lower-wage nations.
