You need to know this... Support for Donald Trump's campaign is still growing nationally, and in early primary states, but he's not just gaining support in early primary states. A new poll from Florida shows that Trump is leading Jeb by 6 percentage points - and he's leading Rubio by 16 points.

That's telling, because Jeb Bush served two terms as Florida's governor less than a decade ago, and Marco Rubio is currently Florida's junior senator. Not to mention how critical a swing state Florida has been in recent elections.

But even though he's leading the polls, beating the other 16 Republican candidates - yes there's 17 now - former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore announced this morning - Trump apparently has yet to win over the Republican insiders. According to a new report from Politico, the Koch political machine is refusing to give Trump access to speaking events hosted by Koch shadow-groups like Americans for Prosperity and the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce.

Trump has requested to speak at Koch events but he has been refused, whereas candidates like Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, and even Carly Fiorina have been invited to speak at the same events.

That might not hurt Trump's momentum though, because the media is happy to give him as much time to bloviate as he wants. But the Koch-backed political tech and polling data firm "i360" has also refused to allow Trump access to their extensive data sets. And in an age of never-ending polling and data driven campaigns, that could seriously hamper Trump's attempts to build a sustainable campaign with the support of the hard-right Republican base.

Many Republicans like Trump for his so-called "straight-talk" - and that could be hurting Christie's "Tell it like it is" campaign. But many Republican insiders seriously question how he plays with the party establishment - especially in light of his comments about former Republican presidential candidate John McCain not being a real war hero.

Nonetheless, it seems like some Republican voters are itching to support a self-owned outside-the-beltway blowhard who doesn't need donations from other billionaires. As the campaign carries into 2016, the real question is: who will end up owning the Republican base - the billionaire Koch network or the billionaire Donald Trump?

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Rev. Barry W. Lynn, God and Government: Twenty-Five Years of Fighting for Equality, Secularism, and Freedom of Conscience - An Insider's Account (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

 

Be sure to check out our newest video: RESTORATION - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio & Thom Hartmann, directed by Leila Conners / Visit GreenWorldRising.org to check out all the videos: CARBON, LAST HOURS & GREEN WORLD RISING - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio & Thom Hartmann, directed by Leila Conners

 

Conversations with Great Minds - Rev. Barry W. Lynn, God and Government: Twenty-Five Years of Fighting for Equality, Secularism, and Freedom of Conscience - An Insider's Account/Americans United for Separation of Church and State    

  

Friday's Daily Stack 

Competition: "Dinner with Hillary".

Article: "Get your supporter card" by Hillary Clinton.

Article: "China Pushes to Rewrite Rules of Global Internet" by James T. Areddy.

Article: "Making Money From Their Blood: Cheney's Former War-Profiteering Company Is Suing Veterans It Poisoned in Iraq" by Abby Zimet.

Article: "Michael Slager radioed in Taser claim six seconds after firing at Walter Scott " by Oliver Laughland, Jon Swaine and Christian Bennett.

Article: "What I Did After Police Killed My Son" by Michael Bell.

Article: "GOP support grows for hardline Planned Parenthood strategy" by Burgess Everett and Jennifer Haberkorn.

Case: "Griswold v. Connecticut", 1965.

Article: "The Second Amendment was Ratified to Preserve Slavery" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Madison's notes on the Constitutional Convention of 1787" by James Madison.

Article: "Many Call for Prosecution of Walter Palmer, Dentist Who Killed Zimbabwe's Cecil the Lion" by Matthew Weaver.

Law: "Taft-Hartley Labor Act", 1947.

Law: "The National Labor Relations Act (The Wagner Act)", 1935.

Book: The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot, Russell Kirk.

Article: "Catholic Nun Explains Pro-Life In A Way That Will Stun Many (Especially Republican Lawmakers)" by Leslie Salzillo.

Bible: "Matthew 25".

Book: "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine.

Book: "Agrarian Justice" by Thomas Paine.

Article: "Wall Street's Solution to Puerto Rico Debt Crisis? Shutter Schools, Fire Workers" by Sarah Lazare.

Book: "Rebooting the American Dream: 11 Ways to Rebuild Our Country" by Thom Hartmann (read online).

Book: "Rebooting the American Dream: 11 Ways to Rebuild Our Country" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "'Impossible' rocket drive works and could get to Moon in four hours" by Sarah Knapton.

Quote: "It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it's just an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery being at the essence of getting the nominations for president or elected president. And the same thing applies to governors and U.S. senators and Congress members. So now we've just seen a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors who want and expect and sometimes get favors for themselves after the election's over'." - President Jimmy Carter on unlimited money in politics on the Thom Hartmann Program, 28 July 2015.

Site: New England Salem Children's Village (NESCV)

Video: Bernie Sanders: "Open borders? That's a Koch brothers proposal".

Case: "Roe v. Wade", 1973.

Article: "14th Amendment, July 9, 1868 (citizenship, representatives, public debt)

Case: "Buck v. Bell", May 2, 1927 (compulsory sterilization of the unfit).

Article: "Frank Serpico" by Wikipedia.

Movie: "Serpico".

 

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Victoria Jones 

Article: "Moniz says Dems not getting 'squishy' on Iran nuke deal" by Dave Boyer.

Article: "Charleston Shooter Pleads Not Guilty" by Nicholas Salazar.

Article: "Dylann Roof wants to plead guilty, but defenders wait for death penalty decision" by Andrew Knapp.

Article: "Hillary Clinton calls for end to Cuba embargo in attack on 'outdated' policy" by Sabrina Siddiqui.

Article: "Clinton knocks Bush's 'Right to Rise' pitch in National Urban League speech" by Sean Sullivan.

Article: "Zimbabwe Gov. Prepping Extradition Process For Walter Palmer" by Justin Duckham.

Article: "Cecil the lion's killer Walter Palmer 'wanted to stalk an elephant next - but couldn't find one big enough'" by Peta Thornycroft, Harriet Alexander.

Article: "U.S. officials make contact with rep for Cecil the lion's killer amid extradition calls" by Elahe Izadi and Darryl Fears.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 7/31" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 7/30" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "Meet the Megadonors Bankrolling Jeb Bush's Campaign" by Russ Choma.

Site: BradBlog.

Article: "Wichita State mathematician sues Kris Kobach, Sedgwick County elections commissioner seeking to audit voting machines" by Roxana Hegeman.

Article: "MSNBC Cancels Three Shows As Ed Schultz, Other Hosts Depart" by Michael Calderone.

Site: The Head On Radio Network (HORN).

Video: Gung Ho (2/10) Movie CLIP - Is a Frog's Ass Watertight? (1986) HD.

Video: Large-scale structure of the Universe .

Movie: "Reefer Madness".

Article: "US Court Says it's Okay for Police Departments to Refuse to Hire Someone who is Too Smart" by Matt Agorist.

Article: "Germany met 78% of its daily energy needs with renewables" by Svati Kirsten Narula.

 

Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET 

 

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