Trump resorts to tired tricks in bashing Hillary

WASHINGTON-Oh, puhleeze, no!

The Trumpster is going to run a totally chauvinistic campaign against Hillary Clinton.

It's going to be, "She wouldn't be here if she weren't a woman," and, "She just wants to be the first woman president."

After the voters of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island and Connecticut voted for Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, he said, "I think the only card she has is the woman's card."

Ever gallant, Trump continued, "She has got nothing else going. Frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I don't think she would get 5 percent of the vote."

Clinton then responded.

Well, she said, "if fighting for women's health care and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the woman card, then deal me in. We want America to be in the future business."

Not content with past gratuitous insults against Clinton, Trump added: "And the beautiful thing is women don't like her, OK?"

Oh, and do they like him? Seven out of 10 women say they have an unfavorable opinion of Donald Trump.

We knew Trump adviser Paul Manafort's wink-wink-nod-nod assurance that Trump would soon switch to "presidential mode" would not happen. Indeed, Trump quickly assured the world that he had no intention of "toning it down."

Clearly, Trump and Clinton already have each other in their sights for the fall campaign. It's going to be as painful as we feared.

With Clinton's latest post having been secretary of state, we've been waiting to see how Trump will attack her on that front. We found out the day after Tuesday's primaries.

Outlining his foreign policy, Trump displayed a panoply of contradictions and vacuousness. He promised his foreign policy would be popular with all Americans, simple and focused on one factor-America, first above all else. Then he said the United States has not put Israel's interests first and foremost.

He said, "The power of weaponry is the single biggest problem we have in the world." He wants to modernize America's nuclear weapons stockpile and promote its edge in cyberwarfare. Oh, yes, and 3-D printing.

He doesn't want to defend other countries unless they appreciate what we do, pay for their defense and not tie us up in alliances that restrict America's ability to make its own decisions. But he wants us to stand by the agreements we have made.

He will deal with the national debt by not wasting one dollar. He wants to beef up the military but doesn't say how he will pay for it, since Congress has been steadily cutting the defense budget. He wants to end "the theft of American jobs." He does not say how.

While Trump says he is the "only one who knows how to fix" America's problems, he offers no details. He pledges to get rid of the Islamic State-quickly, but won't tell us how, in order to avoid tipping them off. He vows to get rid of the Iran deal signed with six countries to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons but says Iran absolutely must not be permitted to get nuclear weapons. How? We don't know.

We have to stop China from becoming the new economic powerhouse, he warns, but also says we have to sign deals with China that benefit us more than China. If not, we simply walk away from the table. Ditto Russia.

Ah, now we're in territory Clinton knows well. But that debate is complicated and will show Trump up as a know-nothing on how the world works.

So much easier to swipe at Clinton as being a woman unqualified to be president. Says Trump, "Watching her on television she just gives me a headache."

Trump has been successful in knocking out his rivals by exaggerating a personal trait and demeaning them for it. John Kasich has "disgusting" eating habits. Ted Cruz is a "liar." Jeb Bush had "no energy." It was "Little Marco." He didn't like Carly Fiorina's face. A bully, he dissed everyone in the race.

Now he's going after Clinton. For being just a woman in pantsuits.

For a man who insists the United States must be less predictable in foreign policy, Trump is oh, so, predictable.

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