Trump’s hostile takeover of GOP almost complete
The Trump Train keeps rolling along. It looks as if the once unthinkable is coming true: Donald Trump is certain to be the Republican nominee.
You think the team of Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina is going to derail this express run? What a joke. He’s been an asterisk in the past six primaries, and she brings zero to his campaign in the way of a constituency and not much more in charisma.
It turns out that the genius of Trump was taking the principles he learned as a bottomfeeder businessman and applying them to politics. He saw an entity — the Republican Party — that on a national level was leaderless, confused and weak. So he moved in and took control at the political equivalent of a fire-sale price. He didn’t even need to assemble a traditional, coherent campaign organization to grab the crown.
Of course, now the conventional wisdom is that Trump will be hobbled in the general election by a fractured party. Don’t be too sure. He can do a lot to bring the party establishment into his fold by picking a running mate who’s more widely viewed as serious and sane than he is, someone from a swing state that Trump will have to win in November if he has any hope of defeating Hillary Clinton — someone like, say, Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
No disrespect to my friends and employers at The Chronicle, but that U.S. Senate campaign debate we co-sponsored last week at the University of the Pacific was the snoozer of the season. It probably wasn’t long before those who had tuned in lunged for the remote and clicked on something really sexy, like a PBS show on climate change.
The problem is that in the race to replace retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer, there’s zero tension until the June primary is done. California is all but a one-party state, so the top-two primary format ensures that two Democrats are going to qualify for the general election.
As a result, those two Democrats — state Attorney General Kamala Harris and Rep. Loretta Sanchez — spent the evening avoiding saying anything interesting that could somehow get them in trouble. As for the three Republicans who were up there with them, they could have come out for secession, and who would care?
Tune in again in the fall, when it’s a twowoman show. Things are likely to be more interesting.
Demonstration update: Hard to work up a head of steam for the antiGreg Suhr progressives backing those camped outside Mission Station on a hunger strike. It certainly wasn’t the greatest look the other night when some of the supporters headed straight from a rally at the police station to one of the chic restaurants nearby.
If they want to talk about it, maybe we can get together at Jardinière. I was back there for the second time the other night. The quail was perfect, the warm crouton-based salad just as good. With dessert, it was $55 well spent.
Try it — eating out is becoming more affordable, what with all the restaurants that are opening shop and trying to entice diners.
Movie time: “A Hologram for the King.” That’s exactly what it is. Tom Hanks plays the same role he’s played in virtually every movie he’s ever been in: He’s a good guy, without access to the power and resources he needs to spread that goodness to those around him.
If you’re a Hanks fan, it’s a must-see. For everyone else, it’s a pleasant enough diversion.
On the other hand, “The Jungle Book” is a classic, especially for those who believe in karma. Good things come to those who do good, and those who do bad things get theirs.
The technology is incredible, the cast of character voices, led by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, is first-rate, and the kid in the lead role, Neel Sethi, is a worthy addition to the leading ranks of cute child actors.
Imax is where you want to see it, and if you go early enough in the day, it won’t cost you your house note. Where am I going to be Monday evening, you ask? At the Asian Pacific American Heritage Awards ceremony, where many milestones are being noted: the 40th anniversary of the San Francisco-Seoul Sister City Committee, the 50th birthday of the Asian Art Museum, and the 110th anniversary of the city’s Japantown.
It’s at 5:30 p.m. at the War Memorial Herbst Theater. The best part? It’s free. But you have to register, at www.apasf. org.
Random thought as I watched the anti-Trump demonstrators Friday in Burlingame: Where do they come from?
They were betterdressed than you might expect, and with all the Uber cars hovering around, they clearly didn’t take public transportation. Has the Republican Party generated its own brand of protesters?