Day: May 10, 2011

The Flaws In The Newt Gingrich Candidacy For President

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Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is about to announce his candidacy for the Presidency, but he presents many flaws and shortcomings that make the success of his candidacy highly unlikely. They include the following:

1. Gingrich is seen after all these years as a Washington insider, not exactly appealing to many rank and file in the Republican Party.

2. His years in Congress, including his four years as Speaker, were highly controversial and added to the gridlock and turmoil that has become endemic now in America, making him far from the ideal person to try to unite the country.

3. His approach to issues and people is to “slash and burn”, to have the attitude of “take no prisoners”!

4. His private life with three marriages and two controversial divorces does not fit the image of “family values”.

5. Gingrich is highly intelligent and a dynamic speaker, but therefore has trouble relating to “average” Americans and their daily lives, after being a college professor and a person on the public payroll for so many years, who is best at stirring public debate without having any reasonable, mainstream solutions.

6. Gingrich has made reckless statements about President Obama and has seemed to accept the “Birther’ myth, making him lose credibility with independents.

7. We have only seen one Congressman go to the White House directly, James Garfield in 1880, and he was soon removed from office by assassination.

8. Gingrich has been out of public office, out of the public spotlight as a decision maker, for 14 years by 2012, an extremely long time to be on the sidelines, just making money as a media personality, but having no responsibility for public policy for so long a time.

Anyone taking odds on a President Gingrich should be aware that his chances of being the GOP nominee, and winning the Presidency, are extremely close to zero!

President Obama: Issue Executive Order To Stop Deportation Of Young Illegal Immigrants Until DREAM Act Becomes Law!

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President Obama spoke in El Paso, Texas, today on the subject of immigration reform and the need for cooperation of both political parties to pass legislation, and he called again for the passage of the DREAM Act, giving young illegal immigrants of college age the chance to become citizens by attending college or serving in the military, making them eligible for citizenship,and meanwhile preventing deportation to countries they hardly remember.

This is a just cause, and Obama needs to take action by executive order to allow these young people to remain and continue their path toward citizenship until and when the DREAM Act passes Congress.

This is an issue of human rights, as these children are victims in that they never had control over where they came from or migrated to, have broken no laws, and should be given the opportunity for citizenship, rather than being pushed back to countries that they left at a tender age, and where they know no one.

These young people can contribute to the nation’s intellectual and economic growth, and it is time for the President to move beyond words to action!

NBC Poll And Obama Numbers: Potential Trouble For The Future

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The latest NBC poll shows widely varying public opinion views of President Barack Obama.

57 percent like his foreign policy, a tremendous boost after the successful elimination of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.

52 percent overall like the job performance of Obama, which is higher than it has been since early in his term.

But only 37 percent are happy with his economic policies, and that is a danger sign for the President. And certainly, the GOP is not going to do anything to help change the economic picture, as that is the best issue to use against the President.

With 18 months to the election, one has to think back to the first President Bush, who had 91 percent in the polls after the Gulf War, but collapsed to 37 percent in the actual voting percentage a year and a half later in 1992.

So Obama cannot bask in the glory about Osama Bin Laden’s death, as the truth still is what Bill Clinton used as his campaign slogan in 1992 against Bush–“It’s the economy, stupid!”

Bin Laden Award Money: Who Deserves It Now That Bin Laden Is Gone?

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The US government offered $25 million after September 11 for the capture or death of Osama Bin Laden, and now that Bin Laden has been assassinated, the question is what should happen to the money.

Since no individual directly brought about the end of the Bin Laden hegemony, and since people in the military cannot be awarded the money ethically, since they were doing their duty as Navy SEALS, it seems appropriate that the money go to the September 11 responders, those firefighters and police officers and others who helped rescue survivors at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and who, in so many cases, suffered grievous injuries or illnesses.

It does not seem appropriate for the relatives of those who died to receive payments, as they have already been awarded financial damages.

It is proper that those who gambled their lives and health to help retrieve live victims and clean up the struck sites in New York City and Arlington, Virginia, over a period of months be thanked by financial payments that honor what they did, in the name of patriotism and nationalism!

The Effects Of The Latino-Hispanic Vote On The 2012 Presidential Election

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With the rapid growth of the Latino-Hispanic population, from one eighth in 2000 to one sixth of the population in 2010 according to the Census Bureau, the 2012 Presidential Election will be giving President Obama a tremendous edge in states that otherwise would be major battlegrounds.

Assuming a decent turnout for Obama among Latinos-Hispanics, as well as African Americans, Obama is now seen as likely, statistically, to win Nevada and Florida again and have a real shot at winning Georgia, which he failed to win in 2008.

Obama only needs to win 25 percent of the white vote in Georgia, 35 percent in Nevada, and just under 40 percent in Florida to win those states in the electoral college.

Obama’s call today for comprehensive immigration reform, calling on the Republican opposition to work together on this important issue, may be a political ploy, but realistically, if the GOP continues its hard line view on illegal immigrants, as in Arizona, the result is likely to be a smashing defeat in 2012, and this is not considering the issue that the Republicans seem unable to come up with a winner, someone that turns party members on and is likely to draw the votes of other than whites in the population.

It seems to the author that only Jon Huntsman, and possibly Mitt Romney, even have the potential to appeal to non white voters in 2012, but the odds of either being the nominee seems remote at this point of time.