The Presidential Candidates in the Balance

In This Post:

• A Political Discussion in the Gym

• Democrats -- Hillary

• Republicans

               Governors
               Senators
               Business & Medical Leaders

• In Conclusion

A Political Discussion in the Gym

One of my Democrat gym buddies decided to start up on the 2016 election the other day, with Jeb Bush’s impending announcement.  He mockingly said we really have no one in the GOP field.  I said I’m not particularly bound to Jeb Bush (I’d earlier said I tended to agree with his mother’s statement that we’ve had enough Bushes in the White House – and Clintons for that matter).  But I said we at least have a lot of good choices, unlike Hillary.  He didn’t seem to buy that, unsurprisingly.  In preparation for our next chat, I decided I’d need to get down to specifics on both sides, rather than the name-recognition level or media popularity level he seems to live on. 

Since then I saw him again, and cited the excellent record of accomplishment & executive ability of several GOP governors running, and he couldn’t cite any of Hillary’s accomplishments – acknowledging that the main things she has going are name recognition & money.  I pointed out that our guys will gain recognition as the debates & campaign proceed.  He acknowledged that for most voters they really go by name recognition (and party), not accomplishments, which are demonstrated ability – sad, but true.

Well, let’s not just throw in the towel.  Let’s do what we can to educate ourselves and the voters.  In the gym, or wherever.  Here’s my initial attempt to educate myself, and prepare to educate others.  We simply cannot afford yet another 4 or 8 more years of what we’ve experienced the last 7 years.  And with a GOP majority in both houses of Congress, having the presidency as well can make a huge difference in bringing us back from the malaise and bankruptcy of our economy, foreign affairs, national unity, etc.

Democrat

On the Hillary side there are no other contenders at this point who could be seriously considered, or who could mount a serious challenge to her.  There’s Bernie Sanders (socialist Senator), and 2 governors – Martin O’Malley (Maryland) & Lincoln Chafee (Rhode Island).  Pretty much a coronation – as Hugh Hewett calls her “Queen Hillary” in his book.  But what are her demonstrated attributes, abilities & accomplishments that make her worthy of the office? 

1.       She is a woman.  Well, God should get some credit for that.  That is clearly one of the few “positive” attributes (other than being a Democrat), or citable accomplishments, that seems to appeal to much of the Democrat base – ever anxious to break one more “glass ceiling” to feel good and prove their progressivism.  After all, electing Obama in good part because he is Black (what were his other accomplishments, just as Hillary’s?) has proven such a boon to the country.  But at the same time they have the gall to accuse Carly Fiorina of having more baggage and fewer accomplishments – they live in an alternate universe, a different reality.  Of course any Black who’s not a Democrat, and any woman who’s not, is just a counterfeit in their minds.  These groups must be monolithic, lockstep and Democrat to be genuine or taken seriously.  There can be no alternate approach to addressing Black or women’s issues.

2.       She is a closet Alinsky-ite.  That was her thesis – only she felt Alinsky didn’t go far enough – she thought the “Rules for Radicals” could be better implemented from inside the government than outside.  Oh, that’s right, her college has sealed her thesis so it is not accessible.  She’s in the closet, because it might not be politically palatable if more widely known.  Just like Obama’s disassociation w. Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright, Alinsky, etc.  See Dinesh D’Souza’s “America: Imagine the World Without Her.”  But she follows the rules for radicals well – demonizing her opponents, fomenting & championing the oppressed, dividing & conquering, etc.  Creating & taking advantage of “crises” & “injustices.”  This week she was championing those disenfranchised from voting, and the wage-oppressed, etc.  She is a true ideologue.  But she is universally seen as having nowhere near the political acumen of Bill Clinton.  Nor the likeability.  Another apparent Democrat who overheard my gym-buddy & my conversation openly acknowledged he wasn’t happy w. Hillary, but “that’s who we’ve got.”

3.       First lady to President Bill Clinton for 8 yrs.   I don’t recall any noteworthy accomplishments, other than giving Bill a brief cold shoulder after the Monica Lewinsky affair.  She’d rather stay in that marriage out of political (& economic?) expedience (both her’s and Bill’s) than stand up for women everywhere by making more of a stand.  Oh, and first lady to governor Bill Clinton – during which time he was philandering and sexually harassing even more.  She has kept the Clinton name, which is an accomplishment, and perhaps her biggest asset.  But simply living in the White House (or governor’s mansion) doesn’t mean one can competently run it, any more than any other first lady.

4.       Senator from New York briefly – again, no notable accomplishments.  Widely acknowledged as just a title on a resume as stepping stone to the presidency.  Just like Obama.  Oh, wait, she did vote for the Iraq War – so does that make her complicit w. Bush, who according to liberals, lied, and men died?  Did she vote for “blood for oil?”  How does she reconcile w. the current prevailing liberal mindset, or does she just claim she has “evolved?”  As Obama & she have on gay marriage, etc.  Of course that’s the term the liberal media would use for her or any Democrat, but they use “flip-flop” when a Republican changes.  A bit of a double standard.

5.       Secretary of State under Obama.  Now here are some real documented “accomplishments,” if not necessarily any worthy of praise.

a.       As Carly Fiorina rightly said, millions of miles of travel is an activity, not an accomplishment.   Nor are titles accomplishments.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc3qtfUkOKs  

b.      Like the Russian reset button – yes, we’ve been reset back to the Cold War (ironic, after Obama’s mocking Mitt Romney about that), with seizing of the Crimea & eastern Ukraine, the Baltic, their Iran client, breaking of old treaties testing stealth cruise missiles, cold war airspace threats, etc.  China also has felt free to expand its territorial claims in the South China Sea and return to Cold War confrontations with us.  No, the Obama-Clinton foreign policy is a shambles. 

c.       Or the Arab Spring and the subsequent upheavals across the Middle East, from Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, ISIS, etc.  From how they handled Qaddafi, Assad (the “moderate reformer”), Benghazi (just like Obama’s typical modus operandi, she blames her shortcomings on a video, and then says “what difference does it make?”), and the IRAN nuclear development – they belligerently continue their progress, and sponsor terrorism and subversion in Oman, etc.  They admit they still have no plan for dealing with ISIS, etc.  And still feel they can negotiate with the terrorist state of Iran.  Simply delusional.  They’ve left Iraq a shambles.  They make horrible deals like deserter Bergdahl for 5 Al Qaida/Taliban generals in Gitmo, etc.  They can’t bring themselves to address radical Islam for what it is, and excuse it by blaming Christians for the Crusades.

d.      Demonstrated administrative incompetence in dealing with Benghazi (the run-up, event and aftermath).  And in the selection of amazing Dept. of State spokesbimbos.

e.      She wrote a book, “Hard Choices.”  Yes, and faced with many, she clearly did not make wise choices or decisions.  The title itself seems to almost be an excuse for the outcomes, rather than taking responsibility, or being able to tout accomplishments.  We’re all faced with difficult choices in life.  She merely rose to her level of incompetence, as the saying goes.

f.        Obama assured us he would turn things around so that the world didn’t hate us like before.  But after his world apology tour, and “leading from behind,” now not only do they not like us more – neither our enemies or friends -- but our enemies have even less fear or respect for us (evidenced also by their adventurism), and mock us, and our friends can no longer trust us. 

g.       And in the midst of all this, the incredible “coincidences” of huge donations to the Clinton Foundation at the same time as favorable treatment (e.g., Erickson in Finland).  Legally provable Quid pro Quo or no, it stinks to high heaven.  And huge donations from some of the most oppressive, women- and gay-unfriendly states in the world – in hypocritical contrast to the standard progressive talk.  And despite all the anti-Wall Street talk, she’s taken in some tidy sums from them.  Well, I suppose the amassing of great piles of cash for personal and political gain is an accomplishment, if that’s the kind of accomplishment people want in a president.  Or if you subscribe to the ends justifies the means.  See the book, “Clinton Cash.”

h.      Oh, and not to mention Hillary’s use of a private email account and server for official government communications – subject to all the unsecure vulnerabilities, and in opposition to standard practice.  But of course the Clintons are above the law or standards – as long as they can get away with it, which they seem to be good at – for instance Whitewater, and all of Bill’s female accusers.  With the help, of course, of destroying of emails and servers, rather than turning all of them over to the government.  And that’s not worse than Watergate?  Nixon didn’t destroy his tapes.

i.         She’s also had her Brian Williams moments, claiming to land under fire in Kosovo – again, inflating her resume.

6.       Even some 42% of Democrats say they don’t feel Hillary’s trustworthy, but many of them are simply Kool-Aid drinkers who say they’ll vote for her anyway – possibly because of blind faith in the Democrat Party (clearly blind – what, substantively, have they produced when in power – during the last 8 years in the presidency, or in large cities?), and/or their demonization of the GOP.  Mitt Romney summed her up pretty well:

“Mitt Romney took on Hillary Clinton’s campaign launch speech, calling it “jarring” in some respects from what the former secretary of state has said in the past. Clinton’s mouth often belies her eyes, he said.

“Well, I thought the text touched the various places she needs to touch to try and keep her base intact. Somehow when you see her on a stage or when she comes into a room full of people, she’s smiling with her mouth but her eyes are saying, ‘Where’s my latte?’ It just doesn’t suggest that she believes everything she’s saying,” Romney said on Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” speaking via satellite from Salt Lake City.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/mitt-romney-hillary-clinton-rally-reaction-119007.html#ixzz3dILZfaNX

I received this from a friend:

“The 25 things that are truly important about Hillary instead of this left wing fluff:

“1. When did she know her husband was a serial abuser, and does she feel guilty for destroying his accusers?
2. Explain precisely the trades made in the Cattle Futures scandal where $1,000 was turned into $99,000 in a matter of weeks?
3. Why didn't she do anything to protect the Americans in Benghazi?
4. Who is Saul Alinsky and why was he her mentor?
5. When she was working on Watergate, why did her boss Zeifman, a lifelong Democrat, call Hillary a “liar” and “an unethical, dishonest lawyer” and have her fired?
6. What really happened with Travelgate?
7. What really happened with the Rose Law Firm?
8. What really happened with WhiteWater?
9. What gave Hillary the right to see private FBI files of her political enemies in FileGate?
10. Why won't she turn over her illegal server with state department e-mails to congress?
11. Why does your foundation accept money from avowed terror states?
12. What is her take on the Vince Foster "Suicide"?
13. Why did she think she was entitled to steal the White House furniture when she left?
14. Why do you lie even about things that mean nothing: lying about being under sniper fire in Bosnia, lying about being named after Sir Edmund Hillary, or lying that your grandparents were immigrants.
15. Should America be concerned that in ChinaGate, the 22 people that were convicted of fraud or for funneling Asian funds into the DNC were associates of Bill Clinton?
16. Did selling stays at the Lincoln Bedroom to political donors make you feel like a wh)o(re?
17. Does Hillary think Juanita Broaddrick lied when she said on national news that Bill Clinton raped her?
18. Is she still okay that Bill goes to Pedophile Island with Jeff Epstein?
19. Why are there so many murdered and suicide people in the Clinton's immediate circle?
20. Doesn't the fact that the Clinton Foundation has to amend 5 years of its tax returns for improper reporting imply that you were involved in an illegal RICO enterprise?
21. Doesn't approving the Russian-owned Uranium One deal as secretary of state--because of illegal contributions to your foundation--in fact make you a traitor to this country?
22. Was it wise to have at least four Clinton Foundation board of directors that have either been convicted or charged of the financial crimes of bribery and fraud?
23. Why, Hillary, did you pay your female senate staffers 72% of what you paid your male staffers?
24. When you represented an accused pedophile rapist, why did you laugh when you got him off even though you believed him to be guilty?
25. She said she had one e-mail address, it came out that she had two; She said she had one device, it came out that she had two: She said none of her e-mails on her private server was classified, but when the State Dept. handed over 300 e-mails the FBI redacted large sections of one, proving again she was wrong. Thus, Ms. Clinton, are you incompetent or just a congenital liar?

“Everyone should go on you tube and watch The Clinton Chronicles -- it will amaze you what a couple of psychopaths the Clintons really are!

                       
GOP

On the GOP side.  As of today (6/16/15), here’s the field (http://2016.republican-candidates.org/) – 23 declared, 4 exploring & 5 others considered possible or likely:

Skip Andrews  ◄ DECLARED

•  Michael Bickelmeyer  ◄ DECLARED

•  Kerry Bowers  ◄ DECLARED

•  Jeb Bush  ◄ DECLARED

•  Dr. Ben Carson  ◄ DECLARED

•  Dale Christensen  ◄ DECLARED

•  Chris Christie  ◄ EXPLORING

•  Ted Cruz  ◄ DECLARED •  Brooks Cullison  ◄ DECLARED

•  John Dummett, Jr.  ◄ DECLARED

•  Bob Ehrlich

•  Mark Everson  ◄ DECLARED

•  Carly Fiorina  ◄ DECLARED

•  Jim Gilmore

•  Lindsey Graham  ◄ DECLARED

•  Chris Hill  ◄ DECLARED

•  Mike Huckabee  ◄ DECLARED

•  Bobby Jindal  ◄ EXPLORING

•  John Kasich

•  Peter King

•  Michael Kinlaw  ◄ DECLARED

•  Dennis Michael Lynch  ◄ EXPLORING

•  George Pataki  ◄ DECLARED

•  Rand Paul  ◄ DECLARED

•  Rick Perry  ◄ DECLARED

•  Michael Petyo  ◄ DECLARED

•  Marco Rubio  ◄ DECLARED

•  Brian Russell  ◄ DECLARED

•  Rick Santorum  ◄ DECLARED

•  Rick Snyder

•  Donald Trump  ◄ DECLARED

•  Scott Walker  ◄ EXPLORING Of these, I would especially note 11 current or former governors (in bold), with generally excellent records (& generally at least 2-term), who have already demonstrated far more executive ability, experience and accomplishment than Hillary could possibly claim.  And 5 U.S. Senators (in blue).  And 3 other noteworthies (purple) from business and medical.  The conventional wisdom is that the most likely finalists are Rubio, Walker & Bush.  But I’ll highlight some others, just because of the unpredictability of primaries, as we saw in 2012.  And so many contenders, with no clear favorite yet.  And we thought the 2012 debates were unwieldy!?

Governors – executive experience

Jeb Bush’s accomplishments in 2 terms as Florida governor (from his website): “Jobs to create—we created 1.3 million of them. Small businesses were starting—we had more than 80,000 small businesses start in Florida when I was in office.

“We had prosperity to launch—and Florida's households were earning over $1,000 more per year when I left office than when I began. We had a budget to balance, and with the help of $2 billion in vetoes, we achieved a AAA-bond rating. We had a rainy-day fund to rebuild—it went from $1 billion to nearly $10 billion.  Working with the state Legislature, we enacted reforms that helped businesses, saving hundreds of millions of dollars a year– keeping jobs in the state, and making sure that Florida's economy could work for everyone.

“We cut taxes every year. Cut the state workforce by 13,000. One year, we enacted six laws aimed at protecting our citizens' right to bear arms.  Also reformed their education system & improved performance from near the bottom.  Defended right to life, 2^nd amendment (FL has largest number of concealed-carry permits).

Rick Perry:  (USA Today): “Rick Perry was the nation's longest-serving governor when he left office in 2015, having served as Texas' chief executive since late 2000 when he succeeded George W. Bush upon Bush's election to the White House. 

 (from his website) “former governor of the 12th largest economy in the world. He has devoted his adult life to creating prosperity and opportunity for families. As the 47th and longest-serving governor of the Lone Star State, he championed conservative principles that helped Texas become America’s economic engine.

“2016 will be about a record of leadership. It will be a show me don’t tell me election.”– Rick Perry

Since 2000, Texas has created almost one-third of all new private sector jobs in the United States. Without the 1.5 million jobs Texas created since the end of 2007, the United States would be net negative more than 400,000 jobs.

In addition to doing more than its part to boost our nation’s economy, Texas and Gov. Perry have recently been front and center on an issue that concerns us all – border security. Last summer, Gov. Perry acted decisively to protect the people of Texas and this country from an unprecedented surge in illegal crossings of our southern border by surging state law enforcement and deploying the Texas National Guard to the region.

Mike Huckabee (from his website):  “Mike Huckabee was the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 until 2007, becoming one of the longest serving Governors in his state’s history, and was only the fourth Republican elected to any statewide office since Reconstruction, serving longer than the other three combined. He left a legacy of tax cuts, job creation, the reconstruction of his state’s road system, K-16 education reform, and a nationally heralded and duplicated health initiative that focused on the less expensive approach of prevention than the costly big-government approach of intervention. His administration fought long-standing corruption in the state’s political machine, resulting in numerous indictments and convictions of powerful legislators and other elected officials. 

“Governing Magazine named him as one of its “Public Officials of the Year” for 2005, and Time Magazine honored him as one of the five best governors in America. He has been honored by numerous organizations for his commitment to music education. He served as the Chairman of the prestigious National Governors Association as well as the Education Commission of the States, the Southern Governors Association, and the Interstate Oil and Gas Commission.

“Huckabee had been Lieutenant Governor for 3 years in July 1996 when his predecessor was forced to resign due to felony convictions. He was one of the youngest governors in the country at the time. Huckabee was elected to a full four-year term as governor in 1998, attracting the largest percentage of the vote ever received by a Republican gubernatorial nominee in Arkansas, and was re-elected to another four-year term in November 2002.

George Pataki (from his campaign website): Former three-term governor of New York, George Pataki, brought conservative solutions to a state in crisis, revived the economy and led through the worst terrorist attack on American soil. As Governor, he inspired people of all backgrounds to work together and believe in a better future.

Chris Christie -- In January 2009, Christie declared his candidacy for Governor of New Jersey. He won the Republican primary, and defeated incumbent Governor Jon Corzine in the election that November. In 2013, he won re-election as Governor, defeating Democrat Barbara Buono by a margin of over 22%. He was sworn in to a second term as governor on January 21, 2014. On November 21, 2013, Christie was elected Chairman of the Republican Governors Association, succeeding Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

Under Christie's governorship, New Jersey's credit rating has been downgraded nine times (across Standard & Poor, Fitch Ratings, and Moody's Investors Service), leaving only Illinois with a lower rating among US states.^[78][79]

Bobby Jindal Experience: Governor of Louisiana 2007-present, Representative U.S. House of Representatives 2004-2008, candidate Governor of Louisiana 2003, Asst. Secretary for Planning and Evaluation U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2001-2003, President University of Louisiana 1999-2001, Secretary Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals 1996-1998

Scott Walker

Experience: Governor of Wisconsin 2010-present, County Executive Milwaukee County 2002-2010, Assembly Member Wisconsin State Assembly 1993-2002, Financial Specialist American Red Cross 1990-1993

(Wikipedia):  Walker began his political career in the state assembly, serving from 1993–2002. After the 2002 resignation of Tom Ament as Executive of Milwaukee County, Walker won the special election to fill the seat, which he held from 2002 to 2010.

Walker was elected governor of Wisconsin in 2010, defeating the Democratic nominee, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. After being sworn into office in 2011, Walker introduced a budget repair plan which limited many collective bargaining powers for most public employees. The legislation led to significant protests at the Wisconsin State Capitol and an effort to recall Walker. In June 2012, Walker faced Barrett in Wisconsin's only gubernatorial recall election. After emerging as the winner, Walker became the only governor in the U.S. to date to win a gubernatorial recall election.^[1]

Walker stated in a Nashville, Tennessee speech:

"I don’t know about all of you, but in an America where my children are going to grow up, I want a commander in chief who will look the American people in the eye and say that radical Islamic terrorism is a threat and we are going to do something about it ... We need a president who will be straight up with the American people and look them in the eye and tell them ‘It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when they try another attempt on America soil, and for the sake of my children and yours I am not going to wait. I am going to take the fight to them before they bring the fight to us."^[166]

On February 26, 2015, at a conservative conference in Washington, D.C., Walker said the protests in opposition to his agenda in Wisconsin in 2011 prepared him to deal with terrorism. "If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world", he said.^[167][164]

• Opposes collective bargaining 
• Supports manufacturing/agriculture production tax credit 
• Supports school vouchers 
• Opposes federal regulations aimed at controlling climate change 
• Supports 2nd Amendment rights 
• Opposes Medicaid expansion 
• Opposes government-run health care 
• Supports path to citizenship for some undocumented/illegal immigrants
• Pro-life 
• Supports the death penalty

Senators – Legislative & Policy Expertise: 

Marco Rubio  (Wikipedia) A Cuban American native of Miami, Rubio is a graduate of the University of Florida and the University of Miami Law School. In the late 1990s, he served as a City Commissioner for West Miami and was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000, representing the 111th House district. He was elected Speaker in November 2006.

Rubio announced a run for U.S. Senate in May 2009 after incumbent Republican Mel Martínez resigned. Initially trailing by double-digits against the incumbent Republican Governor Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed him in polling for the Republican nomination. Rubio won the Republican nomination after Crist opted instead to run with no party affiliation. In a three-way split against Crist and Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek, Rubio won the general election in November 2010 with 49 percent of the vote. He is one of three Latinos (all Cuban Americans) in the Senate, along with Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Ted Cruz of Texas.^[1]

David Brooks has a must-read column on Marco Rubio over at the New York Times:

“Rubio, 43, doesn’t just speak in the ardent patriotic tones common to the children of immigrants like himself. His very life is the embodiment of the American dream: parents who tended bar and worked at Kmart with a son who rose to become a United States senator. His heritage demonstrates that the American dream is open to all who come here legally and work hard. He is what many Republicans want their country to be.  …

“He is, for starters, the most talented politician in the race. Set aside who has the most money and who has the best infrastructure. (Overrated assets at this stage in the race.) Set aside the ideological buckets we pundits like to divide the candidates into. (Voters are not that attuned to factional distinctions.) In most primary battles, the crown goes to the most talented plausible candidate.

 “My foreign policy doctrine consists of three pillars.  The first is American Strength.  the second pillar of my doctrine, which is the protection of the American economy in a globalized world.  The third pillar of my doctrine is moral clarity regarding America’s core values.

            Rand Paul – the Libertarian.  Some good ideas, but I don’t trust him across the board.

            Ted Cruz – Good guy, and many good principles, but not electable

            Lindsey Graham – too bland

            Rick Santorum – runner-up in the GOP in 2012, and while a pretty good guy, I still can’t get over his attacks on Romney – personal but also especially for his religion.

Business – also Executives

 2 very accomplished leaders of business – counts as executive experience more than senators’ – one tempered and the other a buffoon.  And one very accomplished and articulate neurosurgeon.

            Carly Fiorina – the tempered and sane one

In 1995, Carly led the successful spinoff from AT&T of Lucent, including what was at the time the largest IPO in history. 

In 1999, Carly Fiorina was recruited to serve as the Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard, becoming the first woman to lead a FORTUNE 20 company.

“If Hewlett-Packard was going to change, the company needed much more than a new CEO.  HP needed a whole new mind-set about itself, about the nature and pace of the industry, about the demands and requirements of its customers and about the ferocity and skill of its competitors.”

-Carly Fiorina

Under Carly Fiorina’s leadership, HP leapt ahead of its competitors and weathered the 2001 economic recession that caused many of the top tech companies to fold.  Many of the decisions made by Fiorina led directly to HP becoming a market leader with a greater global reach.  During Carly’s tenure at Hewlett-Packard, revenues doubled to more than $80 billion and cash flow quadrupled.  Fiorina also pushed HP to once again become a leader in innovation.  During her time at HP, innovation tripled to 15 patents a day.  Between 2004 and 2005 alone, HP gained 5,000 patents and the USPTO rated HP as one of the top ten patenting companies between 2002 and 2005.

“‘Carly’s strategy is what saved HP — no doubt about it.”

-Bill Mutell, Former Senior Vice President of Hewlett-Packard

“Today, HP is a stronger company because of Carly Fiorina’s bold action.”

-Craig Barrett, Former Chairman of the Board of Intel

In 2008 Carly joined Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to found the One Woman Initiative.  The organization was later merged with Opportunity International, where Carly served as Global Board Chair.  Over the past 15 years, Opportunity International has created 10 million jobs through $6.8 billion loans, most of which hover around $150.  In addition to her work with Opportunity International, Carly became the Chairman of Good360 in 2012.  Since 1983, Good360 has distributed more than $8 billion in donated goods around the world

            Donald Trump – the buffoon, highest unfavorability rating – over 50% of GOP say they wouldn’t vote for him.  But it has been suggested a Trump – Bernie Sanders one-on-one debate would be great entertainment (outspoken arch-capitalist vs arch-socialist).  He is a potential spoiler as Ross Perot was, if he were to break ranks and run as an independent.  I’d like to think he loves the country too much to throw the election for Hillary.  He’d never be able to show his face again, if he did.

            Dr. Ben Carson.  I really admire his articulateness, and his intellect & common sense, softspoken yet outspoken approach to the issues.  I have his book, “One Nation.”  He has outsider appeal, but I’m afraid he doesn’t have the political strength or stamina across the broader range of issues to win.  Although his ethnicity might appeal to Democrats, no doubt most would simply mindlessly dismiss him as an “Uncle Tom,” as they’ve done with every other Republican Black.  With his medical background, he would be a potentially effective counter to Obamacare, as he proved in the speech he gave at a conference w. Obama sitting there.

In Conclusion

Well, we shall see how (poll standing?) & who they select for the debates beginning in August.  There will be a monthly debate from Aug. to Jan., 3 in Feb. & 2 in March.  At least it sounds like they’ve wised up as to who the moderators should be, dropping the clearly liberally-biased who only raise gotcha questions to make all Republicans look bad and foment a circular firing squad.  Hopefully they’ll get into the issues that really matter.  And hopefully they’ll contrast the GOP candidates’ executive experience & accomplishments with Hillary’s lack thereof.