US Politics

[Devil Soul]

US election 2016: Republican divisions grow over Trump

• 1 hour ago
  
• From the sectionUS Election 2016

Fresh divisions are emerging within the US Republican Party over its presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Republican donor Meg Whitman has endorsed his rival Hillary Clinton, saying Mr Trump's "demagoguery" had undermined the national fabric.

Senior party activist Jan Halper-Hayes told the BBC she thought Mr Trump was "psychologically unbalanced".

In the latest controversy, Mr Trump has refused to support two senior figures in his own party.

In an interview for the Washington Post, he said he was "just not quite there yet" when asked if he would endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator John McCain, who are up for re-election in November. Both men have publicly criticised him.

Mr Trump's campaign has been marked by a series of controversial statements.

Ms Whitman, writing on Facebook, said that to vote Republican out of party loyalty alone "would be to endorse a candidacy that I believe has exploited anger, grievance, xenophobia and racial division".

"Trump's unsteady hand would endanger our prosperity and national security. His authoritarian character could threaten much more," the Hewlett-Packard executive said.

Image copyrightAP
Image captionMeg Whitman is a senior Republican Party fundraiser and donor
Dr Halper-Hayes, vice-president of Republicans Overseas Worldwide, told the BBC's Today programme that she was "very concerned" about Mr Trump's behaviour, although she would not go so far as to endorse Mrs Clinton.

"I think there is an element of him that truly is psychologically unbalanced, and I feel very guilty for saying this because I'm a Republican and I want the Republican ticket to win," she said.

"But Donald is out of control right now and he's not listening to anyone."

Dozens of senior Republican Party figures have already said they would not vote for Mr Trump, including the party's 2012 nominee Mitt Romney and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

Muslim soldier row
New York Representative Richard Hanna became the first Republican member of Congress to publicly say he would vote for Mrs Clinton. He described Mr Trump as "deeply flawed in endless ways".

On Monday, Sally Bradshaw, a top adviser to Jeb Bush, said that Mr Trump's candidacy had convinced her to leave the Republican Party.

Many Republicans opposed to Mr Trump have stopped short of supporting Mrs Clinton, saying they would vote for a third candidate instead.

However, former Republican congressman John LeBoutillier told the BBC's Newsday programme he believed many Republican politicians would back Mrs Clinton.

"Now I think in private a lot of Republican congressmen are going to vote for Hillary, they can't stand Trump," he said.

Despite the criticism, Mr Trump tweeted on Wednesday that there was "great unity in my campaign, perhaps greater than ever before".

The property billionaire has been heavily under fire over a war of words he has been waging with the bereaved parents of a US Muslim soldier killed in Iraq.

Image copyrightAFP
Image captionKhizr Khan, whose son Capt Humayun Khan died in Iraq, criticised Mr Trump at the Democratic National Convention
Democratic and Republican leaders as well as veterans' groups quickly rounded on him.

Mr Trump's son Eric defended his father's comments about the Khans, telling CBS News that they had been been "blown hugely out of proportion".

The row led US President Barack Obama to make his strongest comments yet on Mr Trump, saying he was "unfit" to serve as president.

In response, Mr Trump dismissed President Obama's time in the White House as a "disaster".

"He's been weak, he's been ineffective... the worst president, maybe, in the history of our country", he said in a Fox News interview.

Mr Trump's spokeswoman Katrina Pierson later caused a social media storm by blaming both President Obama and Mrs Clinton for the death of Capt Humayun Khan, citing their policies on Iraq. Capt Khan died in 2004 when Mrs Clinton was in the US Senate and five years before Mr Obama was elected to the White House.

Mrs Clinton has been actively courting moderate Republicans. A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll suggested she had extended her lead over Mr Trump to eight percentage points, from six points on Friday.

Republicans not voting for Mr Trump

• Barbara Bush, former first lady
• Jeb Bush, former Florida governor, 2016 presidential candidate
• William Cohen, former secretary of defence
• Jeff Flake, Arizona senator
• Lindsey Graham, South Carolina senator, 2016 presidential candidate
• Larry Hogan, Maryland governor
• John Kasich, Ohio governor, 2016 presidential candidate
• Mark Kirk, Illinois senator
• Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor, 2012 Republican presidential nominee
• Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida congresswoman
• Ben Sasse, Nebraska senator

Republicans voting for Mrs Clinton

• Richard Armitage, former deputy secretary of state
• Hank Paulson, former treasury secretary
• Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser
• Richard Hanna, New York congressman
• Meg Whitman, party donor and fundraiser

http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-36962942

 

[F-22Raptor]

Is this the beginning of the end for Donald Trump?


Maybe this is how it ends for Donald Trump: not with a bang but with a child’s whimper.

The Republican presidential nominee, rallying supporters in a high school auditorium here, was talking about Chinese currency manipulation when an infant began to cry.

“Don’t worry about that baby. I love babies,” he said. “Don’t worry. The mom’s running around like — don’t worry about it, you know. It’s young and beautiful and healthy, and that’s what we want.”

It was an unexpected moment of tenderness from the strongman — and it lasted precisely 55 seconds.

“Actually, I was only kidding: You can get the baby out of here,” he said when the child continued to cry. “I think she really believed me that I love having a baby crying while I’m speaking. That’s okay. People don’t understand, that’s okay.”

There were murmurs and some uncomfortable laughter.

After attacking prisoners of war, virtually every racial minority in the United States and even the parents of a fallen U.S. soldier, it was perhaps just a matter of time until Trump got around to attacking a mother and her baby.

It was all part of an hour-long show in which Trump called the country a disaster; described Hillary Clinton as a “thief,” a “crook” and the “Devil”; celebrated his own golf course (“I have tremendous acreage”); praised Vladimir Putin; renewed the bogus charge that the Islamic State “stole our passport machine”; and continued on while event staff escorted out silent protesters who wore T-shirts that said “Black Lives Matter” and “Islam is Peace” and who did nothing more than make peace signs with their fingers.

Before the event, a group of local college-age kids had stocked up on “Hillary for Prison” T-shirts and Trump baseball caps. After the event, the previously Trump-leaning kids pronounced themselves unimpressed.

“That was a waste of time,” said Davis Rosser.

“I learned he really likes himself,” said John McDermott.

“And he has a golf course,” added Andrew Celio.

So would they vote for Trump?

“I’m less inclined,” said Celio.

“I’ll grudgingly vote for Hillary,” said Rosser.

Add those straws in the wind to the massive blowback now building against Trump’s candidacy. He has for his entire campaign operated under the theory that all publicity is good publicity, that he’ll dominate at the polls if he can dominate each news cycle with his latest outrage — and, for a long time, it worked.

But the act is wearing thin. He has faced building criticism from conservatives and fellow Republicans for encouraging Russia to hack Clinton’s emails, for apparently being unaware of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and for senselessly and repeatedly attacking the Muslim parents of a slain American soldier. His refusal Tuesday to support Paul Ryan or John McCain in their primaries (both men are supporting him) will surely heighten the criticism.

Polls show Clinton rebuilding the substantial lead she had before the conventions and before the FBI director’s scalding comments on her emails. And Trump for the first time appears to be contemplating the possibility of defeat.

Longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, in an interview with Breitbart broadcast Friday, said Trump should begin talking about voter fraud, suggesting “this election will be illegitimate.” Sure enough, on Monday, Trump told a crowd that “I’m afraid the election’s gonna be rigged.” He resumed the theme here on Tuesday, saying “we’re running against a rigged system,” which was also “rigged against Bernie Sanders.”

The high school was a small venue for Trump and could fit only about half of the 2,000 who showed up. But he gave the crowd a full dose of fear: “We are like the whipping post . . . they’re killing us . . . ripped us to shreds . . . another Venezuela . . . a war zone.”

He also brought onstage a veteran who offered Trump his Purple Heart. “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart,” said Trump, whose multiple deferments kept him out of Vietnam. “This was much easier.”

Trump supporters I spoke with embraced his fear of a “rigged” election. But there are signs that Trump’s paranoia and vindictiveness are losing their power, even among insiders. When I arrived at the media entrance here, I expected to be turned away, because Trump’s nominal blacklist of The Post remains in effect. (He later granted an interview to The Post’s Philip Rucker.)

To my surprise, an event staffer handed me a credential — apparently this person’s regard for the First Amendment exceeded his regard for Trump — and I was safely seated in the press section before a Trump aide, in the vain hope of evicting me, came to tell me I was admitted “in error.”

No. The error was Trump’s belief that, in a free society, you can ban news organizations from public events. It’s welcome to see Republicans, conservatives and even some Trump supporters tiring of his assaults on democracy and decency.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...de43fc-58f3-11e6-9aee-8075993d73a2_story.html

Donald Trump’s Campaign Might Actually Implode


Over the last 24 hours, Donald Trump has insulted his party’s former presidential nominee (former prisoner of war John McCain, for allegedly turning his back on veterans!), its current Republican speaker of the House, the parents of a slain war hero, the capital city of the state that is the linchpin of his electoral strategy, and a baby. None of these statements would make a list of Donald Trump’s 50 worst campaign gaffes. And yet their cumulative impact may be reaching a tipping point that causes his party to abandon him.

Trump’s wild unfitness for elected office, let alone the highest one in the land, has been manifest for years. Evidence continues to pour forth at an astonishing pace. Last night, his still-loyal aide Corey Lewandowski revived the conspiracy theory that President Obama has hidden a secret foreign birth that would disqualify him as president. Joe Scarborough reports that, in foreign-policy briefings, Trump has repeatedly asked why it is that the United States can’t use nuclear weapons.

We already knew Trump was an ignorant, manically aggressive conspiracy theorist, which has caused a handful of them to withhold endorsements. What has especially pained Republicans is his lack of political acuity. His mishandling of Khizr Khan’s speech to the Democratic National Convention has reportedly caused grave misgivings among his staff. The Khan speech was an extraordinarily moving expression of the moral case that Trump’s ethno-nationalist ideology betrays the American idea. On a purely political level, though, the speech may not have amounted to much — it was delivered before network coverage of the conventions began, and might have lived on only in social-media circulation if Trump hadn’t responded with a series of deranged attacks on the parents of an American war hero.

From the standpoint of the staffers working to make Trump president, this behavior was worse than immoral. It was downright unprofessional. John Harwood reports that Paul Manafort, the supposed adult in charge of the campaign who can curtail the candidate’s self-destructive impulses, is “not challenging Trump anymore. Mailing it in,” and the other staff is (metaphorically, one assumes) “suicidal.” Ali Vitali confirms Harwood’s report, and adds that the situation is “way worse than people realize.” According to Dana Bash, these staffers “feel like they are wasting their time.”

This is sad for the Trump staffers, who have worked so hard to give an unstable demagogue control of the executive branch. More worrisome for Trump is the fact that Reince Priebus, who chairs the Republican National Committee, has “express[ed] concerns” to Trump, and is even “apoplectic.” Priebus is a key force holding the party apparatus behind its unstable presidential nominee. He is also from Wisconsin, and close with Paul Ryan, who remains the de facto leader of the national party, Trump notwithstanding. Despite the mildness of the slight to Ryan, whom Trump merely said he was not ready to endorse yet, his beloved status has made Trump’s latest comment a possible tipping point. Alex Burns reports, “Republicans now say Mr. Trump’s obstinacy in addressing perhaps the gravest crisis of his campaign may trigger drastic defections within the party, and Republican lawmakers and strategists have begun to entertain abandoning him en masse.” And according to Jon Karl, leading Republicans are “actively exploring” how to replace their nominee if he drops out. You can insult entire ethnicities and genders, spout conspiracy theories galore, betray a complete ignorance of every issue a president has to handle, but staying neutral on Paul Ryan’s primary race is an unforgivable offense.

None of this is to say that Trump will drop out, or that the party will abandon him. Republicans have calculated that turning against their nominee threatens to turn the election into a rout that would bring down other Republicans down-ballot. The party will probably stagger on to November. But, for the first time, an actual revolt of some kind is on the table.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/08/donald-trumps-campaign-might-actually-implode.html

Is it safe to say the last week or so of the Trump campaign has been a total disaster?

 

[Desert Fox]

TRUMP ON TOP in Latest USC-LA Times Daybreak Tracking Poll – But It Gets Even Better…

Jim Hoft Aug 3rd, 2016 9:45 am 188 Comments

Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton 45.3 to 43.7 in the latest USC-LA Times Daybreak tracking poll.

But the news is even better for Donald Trump…
The poll is weighted to match demographics from the 2012 election.

No one in their right mind believes Democrats have the advantage this year.

Donald Trump shattered the previous GOP primary record by 1.4 million votes this year — and that was with 17 candidates in the race!

Hillary Clinton received 1.5 million fewer votes this year than she did in 2008 – when she lost!

Trump continues to sell out venue after venue.

Hillary can’t fill a high school gymnasium this week without hauling in high school kids to sit in the stands.

The LA Times reported, via Free Republic:

The USC Dornsife/L.A. Times Presidential Election “Daybreak” Poll asks more than 400 people each day about their voting intentions. The poll is part of the Understanding America Study (UAS) at the University of Southern California’s Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research.

Each day’s poll respondents are a subset of the UAS election panel, roughly 3000 U.S. citizens who were randomly recruited from among all households in the United States. Respondents are asked three predictive questions: What is the percent chance that… (1) you will vote in the presidential election? (2) you will vote for Clinton, Trump, or someone else? and (3) Clinton, Trump or someone else will win?

Results are weighted to match demographic characteristics, such as race and gender, from the U.S. Census Current Population Survey and aligned to the 2012 presidential election outcome using self-reported vote in that election.

 

[Taygibay]

In an interview for the Washington Post, he said he was "just not quite there yet" ...

Which is what Ryan had said in May just before endorsing Trump!
The Donald is most likely thinking himself very smart in returning
the favour this way. In the interview, he repeats that phrase for good measure.

Most well reared adults will think of it as school age behaviour instead.

No surprise, Tay.

 

[Desert Fox]

Trump rallies are packed. The latest one in PA was jam packed.

Meanwhile crooked Hillary could barely fill a high school gymnasium and had to haul in teenagers

http://linkis.com/thegatewaypundit.com/L9nVX

 

[RabzonKhan]

Now that’s going to hurt, Trump, be a man, apologize!


Sarah Palin's son-in-law hits Trump
The Medal of Honor winner had some advice for the Republican presidential nominee.

https://twitter.com/x/status/760592745178083328

Which is what Ryan had said in May just before endorsing Trump!
The Donald is most likely thinking himself very smart in returning
the favour this way. In the interview, he repeats that phrase for good measure.

Most well reared adults will think of it as school age behaviour instead.

No surprise, Tay.

Trump’s VP, Mike Pence has endorsed the speaker, what a teamwork.

TRUMP ON TOP in Latest USC-LA Times Daybreak Tracking Poll – But It Gets Even Better…

Jim Hoft Aug 3rd, 2016 9:45 am 188 Comments

Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton 45.3 to 43.7 in the latest USC-LA Times Daybreak tracking poll.

But the news is even better for Donald Trump…
The poll is weighted to match demographics from the 2012 election.

No one in their right mind believes Democrats have the advantage this year.

Donald Trump shattered the previous GOP primary record by 1.4 million votes this year — and that was with 17 candidates in the race!

Hillary Clinton received 1.5 million fewer votes this year than she did in 2008 – when she lost!

Trump continues to sell out venue after venue.

Hillary can’t fill a high school gymnasium this week without hauling in high school kids to sit in the stands.

The LA Times reported, via Free Republic:

The USC Dornsife/L.A. Times Presidential Election “Daybreak” Poll asks more than 400 people each day about their voting intentions. The poll is part of the Understanding America Study (UAS) at the University of Southern California’s Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research.

Each day’s poll respondents are a subset of the UAS election panel, roughly 3000 U.S. citizens who were randomly recruited from among all households in the United States. Respondents are asked three predictive questions: What is the percent chance that… (1) you will vote in the presidential election? (2) you will vote for Clinton, Trump, or someone else? and (3) Clinton, Trump or someone else will win?

Results are weighted to match demographic characteristics, such as race and gender, from the U.S. Census Current Population Survey and aligned to the 2012 presidential election outcome using self-reported vote in that election.

Enjoy!

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-poll-idUSKCN10D2GD

Clinton extends lead over Trump to 8 percentage points: Reuters/Ipsos

Politics | Wed Aug 3, 2016 10:27am EDT

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton extended her lead over Republican rival Donald Trump to eight percentage points, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday, from six points on Friday.


http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/01/politics/trump-vs-clinton-presidential-polls-election-2016/

Tue August 2, 2016

Washington (CNN)Hillary Clinton emerges from her party's convention in Philadelphia with a restored lead over Donald Trump, having earned a 7-point convention bounce, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll.


https://today.yougov.com/news/2016/08/01/yougoveconomist-poll-july-30-august-1-2016/

f the 2016 presidential election were being held today and the candidates were Hillary Clinton, the Democrat, Donald Trump, the Republican, Gary Johnson, the Libertarian, and Jill Stein, from the Green Party, who would you vote for?

· Hillary Clinton: 41% (+1)

· Donald Trump: 36% (-2)

Trump rallies are packed. The latest one in PA was jam packed.

Meanwhile crooked Hillary could barely fill a high school gymnasium and had to haul in teenagers

http://linkis.com/thegatewaypundit.com/L9nVX

DIL KO BEHLANE KE LIYE GHALIB YE KHAYAL ACHHA HAI.

But if rallies were really that important, than Bernie Sanders would had won the primaries, one of his largest rally drew almost 28,000 people, but Hillary defeated him with almost 3.8 million popular votes.

But its okay, whatever floats your boat!

 

[RabzonKhan]

The Road to 270


2016 Election: Clinton vs. Trump

This map will track the electoral vote count for the 2016 presidential election based on polling. States that have been polled in 2016 are based on a polling average, while unpolled states are shown based on the 2012 result for that state.

Close states (poll difference between Clinton and Trump averaging 5 points or less) are shown as toss up (tan). Leaning states (5-10 points) are a lighter blue/red. Darker blue/red states are averaging a spread of greater than 10 points or have not yet been polled in 2016. Last Update: August 3, 2016

When 12 or fewer states remain unselected (tan color) on the above 2016 map, you will see the number of possible combinations remaining to get each party's candidate to 270 Electoral Votes. Click the link provided to see each winning combination.

 

[JanjaWeed]

In Trump's own word...that's yoooge!

 

[anon45]

In Trump's own word...that's yoooge!

Obviously liberal media bias! Fox News is controlled by the Clintons and the Liberal Lizards following that reptile Kenyan Muslim Obama!

 

[RabzonKhan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/760836150760050689

https://twitter.com/x/status/760912806036303872

https://twitter.com/x/status/760891100173180928

 

[anon45]

Donald Trump and Secret Societies: Did The Republican Nominee Fund the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA)

(Photo credit wonkette.com)
Is Pedophilia a Bridge Too Far For Even the Most Enthusiastic “Trump-eter”?
Ithas not been an easy run for the Donald these past few days.
His ongoing feud with the Gold Star Family of a marine who died in the Iraq war, his slumping poll numbers in swing states, prominent figures in his own party distancing themselves from his more recent statements show some cracks forming in his unbreakable smile. Piling on top of this are the recurrence of rumors from several years ago questioning the candidate’s ties to The North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA).

NAMBLA members protesting in 1982 (Photo credit NAMBLA.org)
What is NAMBLA?
NAMBLA is a rather nefarious organization with the stated goal of “..work[ing] to abolish age-of-consent laws criminalizing adult sexual involvement with minors and campaigns for the release of men who have been jailed for sexual contacts with minors that did not involve coercion”. The introduction of many Americans to this secret society was the 2000 episode of the comedy central show South Park, they are a very real organization. In the late 90’s before their meetings went online, they were one of the largest pro-pedophile organizations. Since then, their numbers have dwindled as more members have joined online pro-pedophilia groups. In 2005, they were listed as operating out of Trump’s hometown.

Screengrab of interview with KKK leadership endorsing Trump (full interview athttp://www.nbc12.com/story/31846257...iolent-past-declares-trump-best-for-president)
NAMBLA : “our membership list has NEVER come into the possession of any unauthorized person or law enforcement”.
This would not be the first time that Trump has been supported by a societywith secret members. Several white nationalist groups including the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) proudly support him, and he has done little to distance himself from hate crimes committed in his name. This has led to a former grand wizard of the KKK David Duke to feel comfortable enough to run for the United States senate in his home state of Louisiana, stating “[Trump has] made it OK to talk about these incredible concerns of European Americans today, because I think European Americans know they are the only group that can’t defend their own essential interests and their point of view”. Trump and Duke have had a very public history going back to 1991, although earlier this year in an interview Trump stated “I know nothing about David Duke”. Which he then attempted to backpedal from in subsequent interviews. Given the“wink and nod” relationship that Trump has enjoyed with these secret societies (their votes for his tacit support of their political views), these latest allegations may cause even the most hardline “Trump-eter” to question supporting such a candidate.

Allegations of Trump’s Pedophilia go as far back as 1994
For many people Trump’s involvement with underage sexual partners was first brought to their attention in June of this year when a lawsuit filed by a Jane Doe accused the Republican Presidential Nominee of raping her in 1994, when she was only 13. However, in 2011 an article was published outlining the gift of $5000 given to Nevada Senator Harry Reid by the candidate, mere days after Trump’s arrest on suspicion of having sex with anunidentified twelve year old boy in the owner’s suite of Trump’s Las Vegas hotel and casino. Since the publication of this article there have been rumors online about Trump’s relationship with NAMBLA.

Trump’s longtime friend and ally Roger Ailes has recently been forced to step down as the head of Fox News on multiple charges of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. It does not seem to be a coincidence that these rumors have gained footing in the days following Ailes’ departure. Some argue that without the head of a major network to suppress these rumors more of Trump’s victims may come forward, and confirmation of these rumors may be forthcoming.

Trump’s alleged financial support of NAMBLA ranges up to millions over the course of decades.
In July, rumors have been circulating in various political forums, alleging thatTrump has donated varying amounts from hundreds to millions of dollars over the course of years up to decades. Given the temper of the candidate and the violence of his supporters, all parties involved are very careful to state that these are still just rumors at the time of this writing. However, the number of questions and allegations has increased so rapidly in the past several days that a public statement being released that “people are questioning Donald Trump’s ties to NAMBLA. A lot of people are saying that he has donated money to NAMBLA, and that the reason he has not released his tax returns is that they will show tax deductible contributions to it”. The leaders also asked that reporters and curious minds stop contacting them until a determination on the validity of the allegations can be made.

In an uncharacteristic move, Trump’s campaign has refused to either confirm or deny his donations supporting NAMBLA at the time of this writing. Given the candidates history of issuing public statements over much less this has only fueled the rumors. On a popular site where “Trump-eters” discuss policy and the campaign, there are vehement defenses of the candidate, but no denial of the allegations, and questioners frequently find their posts deleted or replied to with personal attacks. This has led more conspiracy minded persons to the theory that Trump staffer’s are actively trying to suppress this rumor. As of the time of this writing, no statement has been issued confirming or denying these allegations.

https://medium.com/@DOdeadswitch/do...american-man-boy-love-cf4ba136688f#.98p5u6b5o

Now i'm not saying he did this, but its a fact that he won't release his tax returns and this would be a very good reason for him not to. It would be disgusting if Donald Trump has funded NAMBLA, and again I'm not saying he has, but he's hiding something in his tax returns and I've heard that this is it from some very smart, trustworthy people. Trump isn't denying it either, you would expect him to deny such a rumor if there was no truth to it. Why isn't Trump denying it?

 

[CBU-105]

Full video: Donald Trump rally in Jacksonville

 

[anon45]

A few video clips to show the President we are losing.

Wish we could have him for a 3rd term.

Senator Obama

 

[anon45]

Meanwhile here's Trump

 

[Desert Fox]

Clinton is the WWIII Candidate

Clearly mentally unstable.​

07:12 04.08.2016Get short URL
271766112
A Hillary Clinton administration if she is elected will likely maintain a tense relationship with Russia and will pursue policies evocative of the Cold War that will be even more confrontational than those under President Barack Obama, analysts told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — A 2014 US-backed coup in Ukraine followed by a referendum, in which Crimea voted overwhelmingly to rejoin Russia, sent Washington-Moscow ties on a downward spiral that continues to feed distrust between the two global powers.

"If Clinton is elected, there’s going to be some level of continuity with [US President Barack] Obama because they share the same type of worldview and to some degree a similar foreign policy," University of Dayton Political Science Professor Daniel Birdsong told Sputnik.

Birdsong explained the mindset as one in which engagement is primarily diplomatic, and if military intervention is involved, a reluctance to deploy US "boots on the ground," a reliance on airpower and the use of local proxies in combat zones.

The approach, he said, is reminiscent of President Bill Clinton’s interventions in the Balkans in the 1990s.

A former Bernie Sanders delegate wears a Hillary Clinton presidential campaign sticker over his mouth as he protests during the third session at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 27, 2016.The hawkish image projected by Clinton could be rooted in her being the first female presidential candidate from a major political party, Birdsong explained.​

"She has to contend with a stereotype of women being weaker on national defense, on military engagement," Birdsong said. "Her taking a muscular stance on foreign policy, or with Russia more specifically, has to do with that."

Middle Tennessee State University Professor of Political Science and International Relations Andrei Korobkov told Sputnik he expects Clinton to be tougher on Moscow than Obama.

The reason, he explained, is that Clinton’s background and her foreign policy advisors are products of the 20th century standoff between the United States and former Soviet Union.

"Hillary’s statements during her speech and the parade of persons whom she brought, like [former Secretary of State Madeleine] Albright and a number of others, made it look like she comes not from the 21st century but from the Cold War," Korobkov said.

Korobkov was referring to Clinton’s guests at the Democratic National Convention and her acceptance speech, which contained a single reference to Russia.

"I'm proud to stand by our allies in NATO against any threat they face, including from Russia," Clinton said in accepting the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

Korobkov said he fears that Clinton will push the United States back into a second Cold War.

"She probably lives mentally in a world that simply doesn’t exist, because there is no ideological divide between the Russia and the US, or in general, deep ideological divides in the current political system,” Korobkov explained.

In contrast, Trump has much more moderate positions on a wide spectrum of issues including NATO, relations with Russia, policies in Syria and the Middle East in general, Korobkov added.