From 1858 to 1871 Boss Tweed ran Tammany Hall, the Democratic machine in New York. The Clintons are not exactly the first Democrats who developed an effective pay for play scheme. Everyone knew Tweed was hopelessly corrupt, but no one cared. Tweed’s daughter got married on May 31, 1871 and contemporary reports estimate the wedding gifts were worth $700,000 or about $14 million today. But Tweed was already doomed because of something that had happened earlier that year. There was a major snowstorm and James Watson, Tweed’s bookkeeper, was kicked in the head by a horse following a sleigh accident. He died a few hours later. One of Tweeds adversaries, Sheriff O’Brien saw an opportunity. He convinced Matthew J. O’Rourke to apply for the job. O’Rourke was a spy and he set about copying the secret accounting records. Only one newspaper, the New York Times, was interested in these documents… They started running stories on July 8, 1971. There had been previous stories about the corruption of Tammany Hall but no one paid much attention. The MSMS of the day was all too willing to ignore the obvious. Mayor A. Oakley Hall, part of the Tammany machine appointed a commission to investigate. Members included well known leaders like John Jacob Astor III and banker Moses Taylor who reported that the books had been “faithfully kept.” Tweed looked like this would blow over with little change. The Clintons didn’t invent the cover-up either.

It almost worked, but the actual accounting records revealed a level of greed and corruption that was impossible to ignore. New Yorkers, who were used to a certain level of corruption, were shocked at the enormous sums involved. During the 1871 fall elections every candidate from Tammany Hall was defeated, with the sole exception of Boss Tweed. Tweed was re-elected but he was finished. A real citizens committee was formed to investigate and on December 16, 1871 Tweed was indicted. His trial took place in 1873 and he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He got out after one year, only to find himself indicted again on a civil matter and sent back to prison. He escaped and fled to Spain, where he was quickly recognized and sent back. He was found dead in his prison cell on April 12, 1878. He was 55 years old.

There are some polls showing Hillary way ahead. There are some polls showing Trump ahead and some showing a dead heat. So I did a little research to find out why these polls are so different. The answer turned out to be easy to find. The polls showing Hillary ahead ask which candidate is favored and then make traditional assumptions about the undecided. The polls showing Trump ahead or tied also ask which candidate they favor. But they also ask another question. Which candidate would never get your vote? Bingo. When that question is asked, Hillary’s lead evaporates.  This election is not about whether you want Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. The reality is that most of us don’t want either. It is rather about which candidate you cannot possibly tolerate. Hillary wins(loses) that vote in a landslide.

There are also signs of pure panic by the Democratic establishment. If Hillary Clinton was way ahead in the polls, Democrats wouldn’t be attacking Trump. They would be running “puff Hillary” ads.  Instead the attacks are increasingly desperate.  For example they questioned whether or not Trump’s father was really Swedish.  Seriously?  Hillary is corrupt but she’s a better option because Trump isn’t actually Swedish?  Quite simply Democrats have thrown the kitchen sink at Trump and they are running out of sinks.  Hillary, on the other hand, is engulfed in wave after wave of negative news, showing signs of a River Tweed magnitude flood. There is no need to make anything up about Hillary; the cold hard truth is devastating enough.

TDM