Subject: RE: CNN SOTU
From: "Crystal, Andy" <[email-masked]>
To: Comm_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 8 May 2016 06:41:33 -0700

Segment 2: John McCain Interview

He looked pretty miserable during this interview.

Lindsey Graham said he would not support Trump or HRC. Are you ready to support Trump?

I've said all along that I will support the Republican nominee. HRC will cause the economy to continue to stumble along and put us in the economic malaise that we have had for 8 years.

Is party leadership out of touch with what the base of the party wants?

Have to draw the conclusion that there is some distance, maybe not a disconnect, between party leadership, members of Congress and many of the voters that selected Trump to be the nominee. A lot of it is older, white, blue collar workers who see no prospect of a job. Young people who have large student debt. The perception that there is gridlock in Washington has given rise to both Trump and Sanders.

Should leadership listen to those that are disconnected a little better?

You have to listen to people that have chosen the nominee of our Republican party, it would be foolish to ignore them.

Is there anything about Trump's foreign policy that is better than HRC's?

Trump emphasizes American leadership abroad. Obama does not want to lead. HRC does not have one accomplishment as Secretary of State that she can point to.

The Republican Party must maintain its viability as a party. McCain believes the greatest president of the 20th century was Reagan. McCain will continue to make sure America's policy adheres to peace through strength.

Do you have confidence that Trump can be like Reagan?

He could be a capable leader. It is obvious there has to be outreach on his part and heal many of the wounds.

McCain has never seen the personalization of a campaign like this where a people's integrity and character are questioned and it really bothers him. You can violently disagree with someone on issues but to attack their character and integrity, those wounds take a long time to heal.

Would you be seen on the same stage as Trump?

A lot of things would have to happen for that. Trump would need to express his appreciation for veterans, not John McCain, but veterans that were incarcerated as prisoners of war. He needs to retract his statement that he doesn't like people who are captured because it offends a body of American heroes out there.

Is Trump good or bad for your reelection bid?

I said that there is a Hispanic vote which I have to continue my good relationship with because of the turmoil that exists within this whole national campaign. Anyone that doesn't agree with that is unaware of the passing scene.

Would you want Trump to retract his statements about undocumented Mexican immigrants, when he called them rapists and criminals?

Oh, I don't know. It is important that we understand the importance of the hispanic vote in America.

*He didn't condemn the rapists and criminals comments.

What was the VP speculation game like for you in 2008 and how did you end up with Palin?

Contrary to what has become popular opinion, Palin energized our ticket. She beat Biden in a debate. Of course she made some mistakes but so did I. He will not put his failure on Palin and he is very proud of her. She was treated terribly by the mainstream media.

What advice would you give Trump as he selects a VP?

Someone who would unite the party. Joni Ernst would be tremendous. Paul Ryan was helpful to the Romney ticket but I'm not sure he would want to do that again.

________________________________
From: Crystal, Andy
Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2016 9:22 AM
To: Comm_D
Subject: CNN SOTU

Segment 1: Sarah Palin Interview

**In the last question, she basically says that Americans don't really care about abortion and they wan

Speaker Ryan said he is not ready to support Trump. If Ryan doesn't support Trump, should he still be Speaker of the House?

Paul Ryan is going to end up like Eric Cantor - his political career is over. He needs to listen to the will of the people.

It screws Ryan's chances to run in 2020 if the Republican Party wins now.

Are you planning on supporting Ryan's primary challenger?

Yes, will do whatever she can for Ryan's opponent. Ryan's problem is that he has become so disconnected from the people who elected him. Paul Ryan and the establishment feel threatened at this point that their power, prestige, purse will be adversely affected by the change that is coming with Trump.

Ryan said he was very concerned with the tone Trump has taken, the Muslim ban, deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants, comments about women. You don't believe he is concerned with these things?

Those concerns are relatively speaking superficial, talking about tone and certain verbiage as opposed to what Ryan would have chose to talk about.

The people of America care about getting things done finally, taking our government back and putting it on our side.

This weekend Trump went after HRC and her husband's infidelity. What do you think of that line of attack?

A lot of people may be obsessed with public figures personal lives but for the most part Americans are concerned with things like who will be able to appoint the next SCOTUS justice. People care about that much more so than Bill Clinton's obvious indiscretions and Donald Trump having been divorced a couple times and owning up to it.

Are you willing to be vetted for Trump's VP slot?

I think i am pretty much as vetted as anyone in the country could be vetted at this point.

She wants to help and not hurt - she is a realist and realizes there are a lot of people out there that would consider her a burden on the ticket. She just wants Trump and America to win.

Republicans are worried about his poor standing with women voters, 7 of 10 have an unfavorable view of him. Do you wince when he says things like "women have it better than men" on the trail?

Heck, no. He is saying what a lot of other people are thinking, he just happens to be the most candid about it. She knows Trump and appreciated that he has respect for women - he listens to the prominent women in his life like his daughter and wife.

John McCain has publicly maintained that Trump would not have much of an impact on his campaign in Arizona but behind closed doors he said Trump might hurt his reelection bid - over 30% of voters in Arizona are Hispanic. How is Trump going to improve his standing with Latino voters?

Palin gives a lot more credit to Latino voters than the mainstream media would in terms of believing that they all have a herd mentality and vote for only one candidate.

Wishes politicians wouldn't worry about racial divides that are for the most part made up by those that thrive on division.

Trump recently said he wants to change platform as it relates to abortion to include exceptions for rape, incest, life of mother. Do you agree?

She does not want the platform to change. When it comes to abortion, it is very sensitive and a personal issue. The platform is the way it should be right now. When we can agree that the platform should stay as it is now, then we can talk about things that people are really concerned about and that is debt, open borders, illegal immigrants coming over and receiving freebies instead of our people and especially vets, growing government - the intrusion that the failed liberal agenda perpetuates.

**She is basically saying that the American people aren't really concerned about a women's abortion rights and would rather focus on other issues.