Eastern Europe Strikes Back

"Now the script is completely reversed. Those voters who McCain fought so hard for in 2008 are still out there. They normally would be very inclined to vote for someone like Trump – on paper, they look just like his core supporters – but Putin’s clear preference for him over Clinton (combined with Trump’s naiveté on all things Russia) gives them great pause."

"“In and around Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, Detroit and all throughout Wisconsin, you’re talking about voters with family in Poland, the Baltics, Ukraine and the Czech Republic,” said Weaver. “These voters are key to any narrow path that Trump has left.”"

"Trump alarms Americans of Eastern European ancestry for many reasons.

Among them:

• He has suggested that America will only conditionally live up to its obligations under the NATO charter and questioned the value of the alliance.
• He’s said he’ll look into whether Putin should be allowed to keep Crimea, which he annexed with complete disregard for international law. “Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing,” he said this month.
• Just three weeks ago, Trump pleaded directly with the Russian government to find and release tens of thousands of Clinton’s private emails. Asked whether Russian espionage into the former secretary of state’s correspondence would concern him, he replied: “No, it gives me no pause.”
• Trump’s campaign chairman until last Friday, Paul Manafort, orchestrated the political comeback of Putin ally Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine and is closely linked with other Putin cronies.
• At the Republican National Convention last month, the Trump campaign stripped the party platform of language calling for the U.S. to provide lethal weapons to Ukraine to resist Russian belligerence."

Via WashPost.