Carly Fiorina

Six Of Twelve Remaining Republican Presidential Candidates Should “Throw In The Towel” And Withdraw From Race!

So we are now in 2016, and in four weeks, we have the Iowa Caucuses on February 1, and then on February 9, we have the New Hampshire Primary.

With four weeks to go until the first votes, we have 12 remaining candidates for the White House on the Republican side, but really, it is time for six of them to withdraw before the first vote, as there is zero chance of any of these six ending up as the GOP nominee for President:

Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore

Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania

Former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas

Dr. Benjamin Carson

Carly Fiorina

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky

The race comes down to Donald Trump; Senator Ted Cruz of Texas; Senator Marco Rubio of Florida; Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey; Governor John Kasich of Ohio; and former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida.

After Iowa and New Hampshire, it is likely that two of these six will have ended their quest for President, with Christie and Bush the likely dropouts at this point.

This will leave Trump with his demagoguery; Cruz with his extremely far right conservatism; Rubio with the best chance to end up as the nominee ultimately; and Kasich as the “dark horse”, who could end up as the nominee or as the Vice Presidential choice.

Republican Implosion: 1912, 1964, 2016—Each 52 Years Apart After Lincoln And First Republican Victory In 1860!

The Republican Party was born in 1854 in opposition to the expansion of slavery, and also included abolitionists, those who wanted the end of slavery, in its membership.

Six years later, the Republicans won the majority of the Congress,and in a four way Presidential face, Abraham Lincoln won the Presidency with less than 40 percent of the total national vote.

Within  six weeks of the Presidential inauguration, the Civil War had begun.

For the next half century, the Republicans dominated national politics, winning control of the Presidency for 44 of 52 years (with only Democrat Grover Cleveland winning two nonconsecutive terms in 1884 and 1892), and usually held the Congressional majority with a few exceptions.

But then in 1912, 52 years after the Republicans became the national majority, the party had a “civil war” between President William Howard Taft and his predecessor in the White House, Theodore Roosevelt, leading to the formation of the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party, and TR ending up second and Taft third in popular and electoral votes.  Democrat Woodrow Wilson became President, and promoted a great era of reform, known as the New Freedom, and also adopted TR’s reform platform, known as the New Nationalism.

Despite many shortcomings of Wilson, the domestic reform programs was the greatest in substance in American history.

The Republicans returned to national power in the Presidential Election of 1920 and kept it until Herbert Hoover and the coming of the Great Depression, and Franklin D. Roosevelt then brought Democratic dominance in 1932 and after, with his New Deal, a much greater reform period than that under Wilson.

The Republican Party was only able to win back Congressional majorities in the midterm election of 1946 and again in the Presidential Election of 1952, when Dwight D. Eisenhower won the Presidency, but two years later, the Democrats regained the majority in both houses for the next quarter century.

The more conservative wing of the GOP lost their chance to gain a Presidential nomination when Wendell Willkie, Thomas E. Dewey, Eisenhower, and Richard Nixon won the nominations for President from 1940-1960, but the conservatives overcame the Eastern Establishment, as it was known, and soared to the Presidential nomination with right wing Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater in 1964, 52 years after 1912.

But now we had “civil war” again, as Eastern Establishment Republicans who had competed against Goldwater, including most notably Nelson Rockfeeller, refused to support Goldwater in 1964, and some just sat on their hands, while others backed Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson.  This led to a massive defeat for the GOP in 1964, and LBJ went on to a landslide victory and the promotion of the Democratic Party’s Great Society.

The battle for the future began when Ronald Reagan sought the Presidency against incumbent President Gerald Ford in 1976, but going on to triumph in 1980, creating what conservatives considered a “Golden Age”.  However, after Reagan, the Establishment returned with President George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, President George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney from 1988 to 2012.

As the GOP became ever more conservative and right wing extremist, and was hijacked by the Tea Party Movement after 2009, the party has reached a point where the Establishment, including some of the 2016 Presidential candidates, but also much of Republicans Congressional leadership, was seen as unacceptable, and we have now witnessed a rebellion against “office holders”, and the rise of Donald Trump, Dr. Benjamin Cason, and Carly Fiorina.

It seems as if the GOP is on the way to another “civil war” 52 years after 1964, wh8ich could be the final implosion of the Republican Party as we know it, and lead to a massive Democratic victory, including the possibility yet again of a third age of reform, spurred on in the past by Wilson and LBJ, and maybe now, either Hillary Clinton, or who can say, maybe even Bernie Sanders!

Crazy, Out Of Control Donald Trump Or Right Wing Extremist Ted Cruz: Is This What The Republican Party Will Offer In 2016?

Billionaire Donald Trump has his biggest lead in polls yet with the latest poll showing him with 36 percent, a 20 point lead over Texas Senator Ted Cruz, with both of them being very scary and terrifying, at the thought of either being the Republican Presidential nominee!

Cruz is rapidly rising, despite his extremist right wing views, and the fact that almost no Republican Senator likes or respects him, making it clear that he would have very little support from his own colleagues, were he to be elected President.  He consorts with hate mongers and right wing extremists of all kinds, and makes no apologies for it.  He is a loose cannon, and again, reminds us so much of his look alike, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy, of the infamous Red Scare of the 195os!

And then there is Donald Trump, who is crazy, out of control, and has attacked, insulted, and vilified just about everyone, and yet keeps public support in the polls!

What is the list of who Donald Trump has attacked, insulted, and vilified?  It includes the following:

Mexicans and Hispanics

African Americans

Muslims

Refugees

Immigrants

Women

Jews

The Disabled

Journalism in general

New York Times

Washington Post

Fellow Republican candidates for the Presidency—Lindsey Graham, Rick Perry, Scott Walker,George Pataki, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina, Jeb Bush, John Kasich

Senator John McCain and former Governor Mitt Romney, past Presidential candidates

Former President George W. Bush

Bernie Sanders

Hillary Clinton

And the list goes on and on and on, and yet Trump has large audiences hanging on every word and insult, as if the nation has gone totally insane, at least based on his audiences and poll ratings!

Is America about to nominate a “Reality Star” of tremendous egotism and arrogance and narcissism, or a Senator who is disliked by everyone and is much further to the extreme Right than any candidate in the race?  And could either Trump or Cruz actually defeat Hillary Clinton eleven months from now?

If so, America is doomed for the long term future in domestic and foreign policy!

Adolf Hitler’s Big Lie Technique Being Utilized By Donald Trump, Dr. Benjamin Carson, Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz In Republican Presidential Race Of 2016!

There is reluctance on the part of this blogger to bring up Adolf Hitler when discussing American politics, but now it is clear it must be done!

Hitler employed the “Big Lie” technique, to make up conspiracy theories and to make massive lies, and it was effective in bringing him public support and eventual power in Germany!

Now, sadly, a variation of the “Big Lie” is being utilized in the Republican Presidential race of 2016 for the White House.

No one, at the least this blogger, is trying to say any Republican Presidential candidate is the equivalent of Adolf Hitler, but the level of massive lies becoming regarded as NOT lies, but truth, has been used by at least four Republican contenders—Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina, Dr. Benjamin Carson, and Senator Ted Cruz!

Trump is the master of lies, and he is inciting hate and division on a massive scale, and yet about 30 percent in every Republican poll continue to support him.  His supporters claim to be disillusioned with traditional politicians who always seem to lie, according to them.  One could say that all PEOPLE tend to lie at times, including politicians, but the total alienation of many Americans from all politicians, and willingness to back a billionaire who has always been a massive liar on everything he has uttered, before he ran for President and while contending for President, is extremely alarming!

But Carly Fiorina has been spreading pure lies about Planned Parenthood, and even after the recent Colorado Springs incident of a madman who was incited by her lies, she will not back down on her manipulation of the truth!

Dr. Benjamin Carson has also lied and deceived on a regular basis, and comes across as unbalanced mentally in many ways.

And Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is a true demagogue, very much like Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin of the 1950s Red Scare, who he also resembles in appearance.  He has totally alienated all of his Senate colleagues except a couple of Tea Party supporters, and has stooped to lies and deceit on a regular basis!

The idea that so many Americans, so distrustful of government, are ready to support any of these four candidates who are massive liars and totally deceptive, is a worrisome issue for American democracy, as the “Big Lie” technique is in full swing!

“We Must Take Our Government Back!”—To What, May We Ask?

Carly Fiorina said it last night in the GOP debate; Donald Trump has said it; so has a multitude of others in the Republican Party debates so far—“We must take our government back!”

Back to what, is the question!

Back to a time when women were “dutiful” housewives who stayed home, avoided education and employment, and were totally dependent upon their husbands?

Back to a time when “Negroes” were segregated by law and custom and “knew” their place not to complain?

Back to a time when “Negroes” were lynched at will and no one seemed to notice?

Back to a time when gays and lesbians were openly discriminated against in all areas of life without any protection or support of their rights?

Back to a time when child labor existed as young as six years old, and they and poor women who worked were paid far less than men?

Back to a time when there was no Social Security system for the elderly and disabled?

Back to a time when immigrants were barred from coming to America if they were Jewish or Catholic or Asian in origin?

Back to a time when labor unions did not exist, and work places were totally unsafe, and there was no workers compensation for injuries at work?

Back to a time when corporations “raped” and pillaged the environment for their own selfish purposes?

The list could go on and on, and who would “love” if all this was to return, from the 1950s, 1920s, and the “Gilded Age” of the late 19th century?

Conservatives who have fought against and resisted all of these changes and reforms brought about by progressives such as Theodore Roosevelt; Progressive Era reformers at all levels;  Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition; Harry Truman; John F, Kennedy; Lyndon B. Johnson; 1960s reformers at all levels; Jimmy Carter; Bill Clinton; Barack Obama; and the constant battle of modern progressives and liberals to protect and expand all of the great political, social and economic reforms of the 20th century, hard fought, and the battle goes on in 2015!

 

Gender, Racial And Ethnic Diversity Of Republican Presidential Candidates Will Not Affect Voting Patterns In 2016 Presidential Election!

The Republican Party, which has done very little to promote gender, racial or ethnic civil rights is now bragging that they are a “diverse’ party with Presidential candidates of gender, racial and ethnic identity.

It is true that Carly Fiorina is female; that Dr. Benjamin Carson is African American; and that Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are Hispanics of Cuban ancestry.  It is also true that in the 2012 Presidential election cycle that Michele Bachmann was female and Herman Cain was African American.

Having said that, none of these candidates in 2012 or 2016 represent the interests of their “groups”!

The vast majority of women would not have backed Michele Bachmann and will not back Carly Fiorina, if somehow, she was to win the Republican Presidential nomination.  She is totally against the kind of issues and legislation that most women want and expect, and most women will back Hillary Clinton if she is the Democratic nominee.

The overwhelming number of African Americans will, most certainly, reject Dr. Benjamin Carson were he to become the GOP Presidential nominee, as he has no concern about the plight of lower middle class and poor people of his race, and has sold out to the “white Establishment.”  And the same applies to Herman Cain in 2012.

And neither Ted Cruz nor Marco Rubio would do well among Latinos, as only three and a half percent of people of Spanish ancestry in America are of Cuban origin, while about 65 percent are Mexican Americans and 18 percent are Puerto Rican Americans. Neither group nor other Hispanics of other national origins would support these two Senators with their harsh, hard line attitudes on immigration reform.

So the GOP can “brag” all they want about their “diverse” pool of candidates, but it is all a facade and an insult, really, to women, African Americans, and people of Hispanic ancestry in America!

Have Democratic Presidents Been Treated “Better” Than Republican Presidents By News Media Since FDR Onward? NO!

If you listened to Republican and conservative propagandists, it would seem that the Republican Party  is at a disadvantage when it comes to the “liberal”, “mainstream” news media, in coverage of Presidents and Presidential candidates.

Nothing could be further from the truth, as anyone who studies American history KNOWS that Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have all been subjected to an inordinate amount of attacks and criticism on every issue and personal quirk imaginable, and many have been purely fiction and mythology!

The job of ALL news media is to challenge, expose, and reveal weaknesses and inconsistencies in Presidential candidates, and Hillary Clinton, in particular, has had much more attacks, criticism  and fictional and mythological stories than ANY GOP Presidential candidate.

But the fact that Marco Rubio has issues with handling his finances; that Donald Trump has had three marriages and multiple bankruptcies; that Dr. Benjamin Carson has sponsored phony nutrition supplements that supposedly cure cancer; that Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, and Bobby Jindal support an anti gay church leader who advocates gays be murdered; that Chris Christie has left his state in financial tatters and is still being part of the investigation of the “Bridgegate” Scandal in New Jersey; that Carly Fiorina lies constantly about just everything she talks about; and numerous other issues and controversies that  are real and true, not fabricated, is something that the news media and hosts of political debates should be expected to address, and to confront the candidates on these issues.

Instead, the Republican candidates as a group are “crybabies”, and Ted Cruz has suggested that a political debate be conducted by right wing conservative talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin, none of them legitimate journalists, but instead pure hate propagandists who exploit the gullible nature of too many listeners on talk radio and viewers of Fox News Channel.

And yet, one Republican Presidential candidate, Governor John Kasich of Ohio, says the party and candidates need to stop complaining and “sniping”, grow up, and expect the news media to be on the offensive, and to be mature enough to deal with it, and really answer the questions posed to them, just as Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley have to deal with regularly!  And that makes John Kasich a legitimate and serious Presidential candidate, separating the adults from the chidren!

The Republican “Establishment”: Can It Overcome Donald Trump, Dr. Benjamin Carson, And Carly Fiorina?

It has been more than 100 days now of the Donald Trump phenomenon, and for the first time, Donald Trump is not first, ending up second behind Dr. Benjamin Carson, in an Iowa public opinion poll.  It seems as if the Trump surge may be starting to fray at the edges.

But the fact that Dr. Benjamin Carson is now ahead of Trump in Iowa, and the fact that Carly Fiorina, while weaker in polls than she was, is also still in the top few in any poll, one has to wonder will the Republican “Establishment”, which has always controlled the party nomination, except for Barry Goldwater a half century ago, be able to recover and choose the nominee of their party?
The fact that Texas Senator Ted Cruz is also doing better in the polls worries the “Establishment”, as Cruz is despised by John McCain, Mitt Romney, and now, even former President George W. Bush, who so stated that “I do not like that guy” at a fundraiser for his brother Jeb Bush, who is floundering badly in the polls, and has cut his campaign staff and spending, signs of a dying campaign.

But with Jeb Bush in trouble, and Chris Christie not improving his situation either, and predicted by many to be on his way out of the race soon, who is there the “Establishment” can have confidence in?   It comes down to a man who despite some stupid statements and low ratings in the polls still seems viable for some reason, and could run a decent campaign against Hillary Clinton, and at least compete in debates and in experience.

That is Ohio Governor John Kasich, with 18 years in the House of Representatives and in his second term as Governor, with a high public opinion rating, and slowly rising in New Hampshire, with little chance in the Iowa caucuses.

This blogger has said before that John Kasich is the best Republican in the race, although he is no J0n Huntsman, who competed in 2012, and is still the best Republican available to be President, although he is not running, and instead is promoting the “No Labels” movement for a bipartisan choice that could unite Democrats, Independents, and Republicans.

Ohio is the crucial state, as anyone who studies Presidential election history is well aware of, and were Kasich to combine with Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a “new generation” and telegenic figure from the other crucial state of Florida, a man who has some connection to the Establishment, but a foot in the camp of the challengers to the Establishment as well, it would be by far the best general election ticket.

Nobody in their right mind can think that Trump, Carson or Fiorina could actually win the election, but a Kasich-Rubio ticket, or even as some suggest, a Rubio-Kasich ticket of two men a generation apart in age as Barack Obama and Joe Biden are, with the “elder statesman” in the supporting role, COULD have a shot at winning over Hillary Clinton, although the odds are clearly, ultimately, against that scenario for the GOP!

 

 

 

 

Foreign Policy Experience Mediocre For Republican Party Candidates: A Danger For America!

It is clear that foreign policy is going to be a crucial part of the Presidential Election of 2016.

When one looks at the Republican candidates for the Presidency, it is very alarming how little background and experience the group has.

Donald Trump, Dr. Benjamin Carson, and Carly Fiorina, the “Non Officeholders”, have ZERO experience, and just because one is in the business world or is a medical doctor, is NOT qualifications for the Presidency!

Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, George Pataki and Jim Gilmore were or are  Governors and have no experience in foreign policy. but love to act like bullies.

Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have no understanding of the intracacies of American foreign policy, with one so hawkish in his rhetoric that he is literally scary, and the other being totally naive about the world with his overly dovish views.

Former Senator Rick Santorum has no skills to understand the world scene, and Lindsey Graham, while more knowledgeable on foreign policy, is famous for wanting troops everywhere, as he is a super hawk!

Senator Marco Rubio is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which helps his credentials, but he lacks a serious understanding of world affairs.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has the plus of being related to his dad, who was a foreign policy specialist, but he is more inclined to follow the disastrous policies of his brother, George W. Bush.

John Kasich has the most varied career, and gained foreign policy knowledge while in the House of Representatives for 18 years, and has a more balanced view of the world than any other potential nominee, but he does not have the expertise of Jon Huntsman, who was a potential nominee in 2012 and was Ambassador to China.

The fact is that NO Republican matches the background of Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, pure and simple!

 

Focus Groups Demonstrate Lack Of Understanding Of Government: A Danger To America’s Future

Various cable news channels have been organizing focus groups, usually consisting of 12-15 people in places such as Iowa and New Hampshire, the locales of the first caucus and primary in February 2016.

There is no claim that these focus groups are truly representative of how the mass citizenry feels, anymore than all of the many public opinion polls.

What does come out of these focus groups, however, is a general feeling of disgust with government; failure to understand how government works; and a desire to “throw the rascals out”, and replace them with people who have zero experience in running a government that is responsible to its citizenry.

In no other profession or field of work do we have people wanting totally inexperienced individuals to take over as total “rookies”, and gamble that they will know what they are doing, and adapt to the realities of domestic and foreign affairs.

This is an indication of the total lack of knowledge, experience, and reality of what it is to run a government that serves 320 million people, which is a very complex undertaking.

There is the myth, widespread and dangerous, that government can be run as a business; that one can be ignorant of the facts and the history of our country and other nations; and somehow those who come in to power without background can “wing” it through every issue and crisis that arises.

This is very dangerous, and the ignorance and over simplification of government and its responsibilities by a large number of the population is alarming.

We may not like to understand the truth that government must tax; that there is no “free ride”; that when one earns more income, he or she has a responsibility to pay more taxes; that government cannot always do what the people want, as often, they have no clue as to the complexities of domestic and foreign policy; that tough decisions must be made; and that experience and knowledge really do matter.

Instead, we have those who could be called demagogues, who appeal to the fears and insecurities of a population which too often thinks that these people with no experience and no understanding can create magic and solve all issues, but life is not that easy and simplified.

To believe that Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina and Dr. Benjamin Carson are qualified to lead our country means that those who promote this are totally deluded and living in a parallel universe.