Month: July 2019

Winners Of First Night’s Second Democratic Debate

Ronald 30 Comments

Last night’s first night of the second Democratic debate has clear cut winners, and they are so called “moderates”:

Pete Buttigieg

Steve Bullock

Amy Klobuchar

All three did extremely well, and meanwhile, Bernie Sanders was shouting, and Elizabeth Warren was shaking, not good impressions to witness.

This author thinks all three will still be part of the equation going forward.

But tonight’s second debate will reshape the race, and decide who will be able to move forward, along with these three.

Clearly, Sanders and Warren are not going anywhere, but the number of moderate competitors will be growing in numbers.

Can Joe Biden Recover From Poor First Debate Performance This Week In Detroit CNN Debate?

Ronald 8 Comments

Former Vice President Joe Biden will come under the microscope this Wednesday in Detroit, as he needs to revive his fortunes after being upended by Senator Kamala Harris in the first debate.

While he seems to have kept his lead in public opinion polls, and particularly in the state of South Carolina, with a very large African American population, Biden knows he will be attacked by Harris again, along with Cory Booker, Julian Castro, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Jay Inslee among others, also including Tulsi Gabbard and Bill de Blasio.

Biden needs to prove he can react well to attacks, as if he does not, then despite the polls at this point, his candidacy could be in rapid decline.

All Time High Of Women Senators (25) from 19 States, And Six States Have Two Women Senators!

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The 116th Congress has an all time high of 25 women Senators from a total of 19 states, and 6 states have both of their Senators being women, another all time high!

There are 17 Democrats and 8 Republicans among the women serving in the US Senate.

Arizona has Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally.

California has Diane Feinstein and Kamala Harris.

Minnesota has Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith.

New Hampshire has Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen.

Nevada has Catherine Cortez-Masto and Jacklyn Rosen.

Washington has Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray.

All but Martha McSally in these states with two women Senators are Democrats.

Is The Road To Success For Democrats An Old White Man, Or Instead A Woman, A Minority, Or A Gay Candidate?

Ronald 3 Comments

The Democratic Party is in a major quandary for 2020.

Is the road to success to nominate an old white man, such as Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Jay Inslee, or John Hickenlooper, all of whom will be in the high 70s or 80s if in office for two terms?

Or should they nominate an older white woman (Elizabeth Warren) or a younger white woman (Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand, Tulsi Gabbard), or a multi racial woman (Kamala Harris), or an African American male (Cory Booker), or a Latino male (Julian Castro), or a gay male (Pete Buttigieg)?

The question is what is the right formula to defeat Donald Trump in a nation where working class white men are terrified of anything other than a white man in the Oval Office!

Can Montana Governor Steve Bullock Move Ahead In Polls After Second Democratic Debate, And His First?

Ronald 4 Comments

Montana Governor Steve Bullock, a late announcer for President, who was not able to be in the first Democratic Presidential debate in June, will be on the stage next week at the second Democratic Presidential debate in Detroit, thanks for California Congressman Eric Swalwell having withdrawn from the Presidential race.

Bullock represents the Rocky Mountain West, from the fourth largest state in land area, but 8th least in population, and third least densely populated, and often called “Big Sky Country”. Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park are found in its territory, and it has become a leading tourist attraction state.

It is a state of agriculture, ranching, oil, gas, coal, hard rock mining, and lumber.

Bullock has been Governor since 2013, and was the only incumbent Democratic Governor to win in 2016, when Donald Trump won the White House. He is seen as successful in gaining goals he has set as Governor, despite a majority Republican legislature. He has chaired the National Governors Association since 2018.

Bullock is perceived as a moderate Democrat who has supported traditional Democratic beliefs, but has said that the Democrats need to look beyond urban areas, and appeal to rural and suburban voters, which makes a lot of sense.

He would be 54 at inauguration, just about the average of all Presidents (which is 55), and a rare youngish white male contender in a field of four old white men (Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Jay Inslee, John Hickenlooper).

Whether he can make a dent at the second Democratic Presidential debate and be noticed will be one of the major elements to watch this coming week.

The Worrisome Issue Of Age In The Presidential Campaign Of 2020

Ronald 1 Comment

The issue of age will rear its head in the 2020 Presidential campaign, whether one likes it or not.

We have five Presidential contenders who will be in their 70s or reach that decade while in office, and two who will reach their 80s early in the term.

The ages of these five contenders at the time of inauguration are as follows:

Bernie Sanders, 79 and four months; Joe Biden, 78 and two months; Elizabeth Warren, 71 years and seven months; Jay Inslee, 69 years and eleven months; John Hickenlooper, 68 years and eleven months.

Either Sanders or Biden would be older than Ronald Reagan was when he left office, and Sanders would be older than Donald Trump if Trump finished a second term, with Biden only three months younger than Trump would be at the end of a second term.

Warren, along with Sanders and Biden, would be the oldest first term inaugurated President, nearly a year older than Trump when he took the oath in 2017.

Inslee would be with just a few days younger than Ronald Reagan when he took the oath in 1981, with Hickenlooper just a year younger than Reagan was, so either still would be the third oldest President on Inauguration Day.

When one considers how Reagan seemed to be declining mentally in his second term, and that Trump seems to many to have mental issues with his behavior and actions, one has to wonder whether Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden reaching their 80s early in the term is not a danger in theory. Also, since Warren would be in her mid 70s at the end of the term, and Inslee the same age as Reagan when he ran in 1984, and Hickenlooper only one year younger than Reagan or Inslee, one has to be concerned about the potential for mental deterioration, let alone the danger of physical health crises.

Few world leaders historically have served into their late 70s or early 80s in a high stress position, as a chief executive. Two exceptions are Winston Churchill of Great Britain, who left power past age 81, and West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who was well past 87 when he left office. Only Adenauer would be older than Sanders or Biden at the end of a second term in the Oval Office.

Of course, there have been Kings and Emperors who were in office beyond the age of 80, as with Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, and recently retired Japanese Emperor Akihito, but neither has had real constitutional authority over government policies.

So the issue of age cannot be ignored as a worrisome issue, sorry to say!

What Is Nancy Pelosi Waiting For? The Need For Impeachment For Historical Reasons!

Ronald 8 Comments

The time has come for the impeachment inquiry regarding Donald Trump go move forward.

After the Special Counsel Robert Mueller testimony at the House Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee, there is no reason to wait anymore.

Some might say that Trump will not be convicted by the US Senate, so it is a waste of time.

But even though Trump will not be removed by the Senate, it is important to impeach for historical reasons, to make the record clear for all time that Donald Trump deserves to be impeached.

If Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton could be impeached for far less reasoning, then Donald Trump, with his multitude of sins as President, deserve to be impeached, and have his future obituary highlight the impeachment, as it has for Andrew Johnson and will do so for Bill Clinton in the future.

It is time for Nancy Pelosi to move ahead on impeachment.

Donald Trump Becoming More Authoritarian By The Day: A Danger To Democracy And The Constitution!

Ronald 7 Comments

Donald Trump condemns four women of color in the House of Representatives for ten days straight, and no end of such attacks on legally elected members of the Congress.

Donald Trump praises China’s leader for patience and standing by while there are massive demonstrations in Hong Kong, effectively giving a pass to China to crack down on the former British colony with force.

Donald Trump asserts that Article 2 of the Constitution allows him the power to do anything he wants, with no limitations.

Donald Trump leads a Nuremberg type rally in North Carolina, and allows the crowd to chant “Send them back”, without any interference or chastising as to how undemocratic such a chant is.

Donald Trump allows his Attorney General William Barr to order Special Counsel Robert Mueller to avoid straying from the published report on the Presidential Election of 2016, during his testimony to Congress being held today.

These are just five examples of abuse of power and the danger of Donald Trump to our Constitution and our democratic system of government.

The warning signs are there, that we are moving every day closer to a totally authoritarian government, which would eventually lead to censorship, including even the ability of this author and blogger to express his opposition to what is going on.

When will America speak up and say, “Enough is Enough!”

Future generations will look back and wonder why there was so little backbone in American government leaders to take action!

Time and the American future is waiting!

Bob Dole Reaches 96 Years Of Age, Now Seen As Statesman

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Former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas yesterday reached the age of 96, and while often involved in heated political debates over four decades, is now seen as a statesman.

Dole served in the House of Representatives from 1961-1969, and as United States Senator from 1969 to 1996. He was the Chair of the Republican National Committee from 1971-1973; Chair of the Senate Finance Committee from 1981-1985; Senate Minority Leader from 1987-1995; and twice Senate Majority Leader from 1985-1987 and 1995-1996.

He had the distinction of being the Republican Vice Presidential nominee under Gerald Ford in the Presidential Election of 1976, and then the Presidential nominee in 1996, both losing efforts. He is the only person to be nominated for both offices, and lose both offices.

Dole was a combative, and often acerbic politician, who annoyed this blogger and author, but one knew that he was an ultimate patriot and would support Democrats in important and crisis moments over the years, while being a very partisan Republican.

He worked across the aisle with many Democrats, including Senator George McGovern of South Dakota on nutrition issues and food stamps.

He was a war hero, who nearly died in combat in Europe in April 1945, and lost the use of his left arm and limited mobility in his right arm, but that did not stop him from having a public career, and being an advocate for the disabled.

Dole has had a great sense of humor, and has worked to promote bipartisanship, starting the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kansas.

He helped to raise funds for the National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, and was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2018, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by his former opponent, Bill Clinton, in 1997.

His marriage to Elizabeth Hanford Dole has lasted 44 years, and his wife served as Secretary of Transportation under Ronald Reagan, and as Secretary of Labor under George H. W. Bush, before serving as a US Senator from North Carolina from 2003-2009.

By reaching the age of 96 today, Dole has outlived most of the colleagues of his age group who served in public office, and is one of the last World War II veterans of renown still with us.

Let us hope he reaches 100, although now he is almost exclusively using a wheel chair as he did in saluting his former rival, George H. W. Bush, at the funeral of the 41st President in December 2018.

The Maine-Nebraska Split Electoral Vote Nightmare And The Presidential Election Of 2020

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Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that have allowed, by state legislative action, a split in the electoral vote for President.

Maine adopted this concept in 1972 and Nebraska in 1992, and a split has occurred once in each state.

In 2008, Barack Obama won the 2nd district of Nebraska (Omaha and its suburbs), the first and only time that Nebraska has seen a Democratic electoral vote since 1964.

In 2016, Donald Trump won Maine’s 2nd district, which covers most of the state away from Portland, Augusta, and nearly coastal areas, with that being the first time a Republican won an electoral vote since 1988.

So if Donald Trump won every state he gained in 2016, except Michigan and Pennsylvania, he would win the Electoral College no matter what the popular vote majority of the Democratic Presidential nominee, by a 270-268 margin. But if he lost the 2nd district of Maine, the Electoral College would be 269-269.

The same would occur if the Democratic Presidential nominee won the 2nd district of Nebraska as Obama did in 2008, as then the Electoral College would be 269-269.

This would be a true constitutional crisis beyond any other Presidential election in American history!