Day: December 6, 2012

Could Michelle Obama Be The Next Hillary Clinton? Illinois Poll Supports Her For Senate Seat Of Mark Kirk In 2016

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First Lady Michelle Obama is rumored to be a possible candidate for the US Senate seat of Mark Kirk in 2016, when the man who took over President Obama’s Senate seat by election in 2010 comes up for reelection.

Michelle Obama has evidenced absolutely no interest, but who can say for sure, considering that her daughters will be four years older, and more on their own, as compared to now, and with her mother and the President able to assist, if need be.

It must be pointed out that Mark Kirk has, sadly, been recovering this past year, his second year in the Senate, from a massive paralytic stroke, and this could affect public opinion ratings for or against him, depending on what happens in the future. And it could make him decide to retire at the end of his term in 2016.

But Illinois voters right now vastly favor Michelle Obama over Kirk, for whatever it is worth.

Certainly, Michelle Obama has demonstrated that she is very smart, articulate, and a great contributor to the position of First Lady, much like Hillary Clinton before her, who ran for the Senate in the last year of President Bill Clinton’s second term.

So who can say for sure what the future might bring?

Washington State Advances Socially Beyond Most Of America

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The state of Washington has taken two steps that put it ahead of almost all of the other 49 states socially!

Effective immediately, Washington allows gay marriage licenses, by vote of the population, with Maryland and Maine to follow by the same method shortly.

Also, Washington allows recreational use of marijuana in small amounts, first to do that, but also soon to be joined by Colorado.

What Washington State is doing is a model for the nation, and will, later on in history, be seen as enhancing that Pacific Coast state in moving to the 21st century!

The Tea Party Republican Influence In The US Senate Grows, Even With Jim DeMint Leaving For Heritage Foundation

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South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, the creator of the Tea Party Caucus in the US Senate, and one of the most right wing, reactionary members of the upper chamber, is resigning to head the ultra conservative Heritage Foundation for about ten times his Senate salary, and to continue to work to purge the Senate Republicans of anyone moderate, or willing to compromise with Democrats or President Barack Obama.

The members of the Senate Republican minority considered to be Tea Party oriented include:

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
Senator Mike Lee of Utah
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida
Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania

Also, new Senators joining the group include:

Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona
Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas

The Tea Party Senate Republicans failed to elect the following to the Senate:

2010
Christine ODonnell of Delaware
Sharron Angle of Nevada
Ken Buck Of Colorado
Joe Miller of Alaska

2012
Todd Akin of Missouri
Richard Mourdock of Indiana
Josh Mandel of Ohio

One could say, therefore, that there are now EIGHT Senators in the group, with SEVEN others being successfully defeated in the past two Senate election periods.

One more is likely to be added, when South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley appoints someone to replace DeMint, until the next Senate elections in 2014, with a tremendous edge for that individual to keep the seat.

Potential candidates for the replacement include:

Nikki Haley herself, who has national ambitions to run for President
Congressman Tim Scott, the only black Republican, and similar to Allen West in his views and attitudes
Congressman Joe Wilson, who infamously said Barack Obama was lying in his first State of the Union address

Many might say that the Tea Party is in decline, but in reality, it is far from dead, and there are still a large number of Tea Party Republicans in the House of Representatives, making life difficult for House Speaker John Boehner.

And one can be sure that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will be having more sleepless nights, more so with DeMint able to work to make the Republican Party ever more right wing in his position as the head of the Heritage Foundation!

Any thought that the Republican Party might move toward the center of the political spectrum seems highly unlikely after this event of DeMint’s move out of the Senate!

Can Hillary Clinton Be Crowned President For 2016? Not Realistically!

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As Hillary Clinton gets ready to leave the State Department after four distinguished years, she is being flattered by kudos paid to her brilliance, and public opinion polls that make her, on paper, an easy nominee and winner of the Presidency in 2016!

But hold it, everyone! Our system of government and elections does not permit the nomination and election of anyone without real competition, hard work, and lots of grief and “blood, sweat and tears”!

We do not crown anyone to be President, and if you believe otherwise, ask such luminaries of the past as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, William Seward, Charles Evans Hughes, William Borah, Hiram Johnson, Robert La Follette Sr, Al Smith, Henry A. Wallace, Robert Taft, Arthur Vandenberg, Adlai Stevenson, Hubert Humphrey, Nelson Rockefeller, George McGovern, Bob Dole, Bob Kerrey, Al Gore, John Kerry, John McCain, and even Hillary Clinton, about the conclusion that they would be President of the United States someday!

Fifty seven percent in a poll want Hillary to be President, but it is a long four years to 2016, and there will be many others who wish to be President, and the question is whether she wants to go through the same hell she went through in 2008!

Don’t be so sure that Hillary will run in 2016!

Marco Rubio Revives His Future, Admitting Earth Is 4.5 Billion Years Old

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Florida Senator Marco Rubio has successfully revived his political career by correcting himself on his ridiculous comment last week about the age of the earth.

Rubio, trying not to antagonize the Christian Evangelical Right, which often contends the earth is 6000-9000 years old, stated that he was not a scientist, and did not know the age of the earth.

Yesterday, in an interview, he admitted that he accepted the earth as being 4.5 billion years old, while stating that theology experts disagree on the matter, but that he acknowledges the age of the earthy as being accurate.

This was a rapid recovery from what had made people look at Rubio as a moron, and his political skills have shown themselves to be brilliant, as everyone is entitled to a mistake, as long as a person does not double down on such moronic viewpoints, so Marco Rubio has a future, as long as he can control his tongue in the future, and avoid future flubs and gaffes that make him look like Rick Santorum, former Pennsylvania Senator, who makes himself look dumber and more idiotic every time he opens up his mouth, and yet thinks of himself as a serious Presidential candidate in 2016, because he was the “runner up” to Mitt Romney in the primary battles of 2012!

Best Team For America’s Future Security: John Kerry For Secretary Of State, And Chuck Hagel For Secretary Of Defense

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In the midst of the “Fiscal Cliff” battle, President Obama is also deep into Cabinet selection, and it was heartening to hear that former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, a Republican who served in Vietnam and became an acknowledged expert on foreign policy in his years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been at the White House, and is a hot candidate for Secretary of Defense.

This author has long raved about the credentials of Hagel, and suggested him for the cabinet in the first term, and it now seems more likely that he might become the head of the Pentagon when Leon Panetta leaves soon.

This would be continuing the tradition of past Democratic Presidents to decide to choose reputable Republicans for the Defense Department, and it even goes back to when it was called the War Department before 1947.

The historical record shows Franklin D. Roosevelt having Henry Stimson, former Secretary of State under Herbert Hoover, as his Secretary of War, along with Frank Knox, who had been the Republican Vice Presidential nominee in 1936, being named Secretary of the Navy, both in 1940, when Great Britain was being attacked by the German Air Force in World War II, and the threat to America was seen as dire by many as a result.

John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson utilized Robert McNamara as Secretary of Defense in the 1960’s.

Bill Clinton had former Maine Senator William Cohen, a responsible and reputable Republican Senator, as his Secretary of Defense in the second term, and he received kudos for his performance.

And Robert Gates, George W. Bush’s second Secretary of Defense, became Barack Obama’s first Secretary of Defense, and did a wonderful job for more than two years.

So the reasoning to pick Hagel is clearly there, but to make the foreign policy-defense team complete, the President also needs to choose Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran too, and 2004 Democratic Party Presidential nominee, to replace Hillary Clinton at the State Department, after 28 years of service in the US Senate, and chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kerry has had a distinguished career, and would be an excellent choice, and the team of Kerry and Hagel would be sensational.

In a time of trouble and turmoil, America needs its strongest team on national security, and Kerry and Hagel fit the bill, without any question or doubt.

Susan Rice, the UN Ambassador, is also outstanding in many ways, but quite frankly, is not on the same level as Kerry, and her nomination would cause unnecessary turmoil over the issue of Libya, a sad commentary, but a distraction which should not be allowed to continue by choosing her, when Kerry is really a better choice!

So, Mr. President, pick John Kerry for State and Chuck Hagel for Defense, and America will be very well served at Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon!