Bernie Sanders

Divided America: Clinton America Vs Trump America

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The final vote count is in for the Presidential Election Of 2016.

Hillary Clinton won 48.05 percent of the popular vote 65,844,610; Donald Trump won 45.96 percent of the popular vote 62,979,636, a lead for Clinton of 2.85 million votes, greater than 11 Presidents of the United States out of 44, including Trump.

Electoral votes–Trump 304, Clinton 227–other electoral votes went to Colin Powell 3; Bernie Sanders 1; Faith Spotted Eagle 1; Ron Paul 1; John Kasich 1, with Mike Pence gaining 305 for Vice President, and Tim Kaine 227; with Elizabeth Warren 2, Maria Cantwell 1, Susan Collins 1, Winona LaDuke 1, and Carly Fiorina 1. Trump is 46th out of 58 elections in percentage of the electoral vote.

Land area–Clinton 15 percent 530,000 square miles Trump 85 percent 3 million square miles

Population—Clinton 54 percent 174 million Trump 46 percent 146 million–not counting over 5 million votes for third party candidates combined.

Clinton won the cities and college towns, native American reservations, areas with heavy black and Latino populations.

Trump won many of the suburbs around cities, plus 80 percent of the nation’s counties.

So we are two Americas–totally different and hostile to each other!

The future is gloomy for any way to unite and advance America, and we have rough times ahead!

Joe Biden Presidential Bid In 2020?

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Hard to believe, but Vice President Joe Biden is actually considering the possibility of running again for President in 2020, when he would be 78 years of age.

Biden is leaving public life on January 20, after 44 years of service, close to an all time record, with 36 years as Delaware Senator and 8 years as a very active, involved, and engaged Vice President, who had a major impact on the office.

Everyone loves Joe Biden, even Republicans, who saluted him in a Senate honoring of him this week, as Biden was able, even under President Obama, to cross the aisle and gain some support, even when Republicans were reluctant to work with the President.

Since the election, the feeling has developed that Biden, the “poorest US Senator” in his past, and with working class roots, and knowing how to appeal to the white working class, would have been able to bridge the difference in votes in Pennsylvania (the state he grew up in), Michigan and Wisconsin, and pulled out victory had he been the Democratic Presidential nominee.

If Biden’s son, Beau Biden, had not died in May 2015, it is believed that Joe would have run against Hillary Clinton, and might have been able to defeat her, and even Bernie Sanders, for the nomination, something, however, we will never be sure of, but a thought that will linger.

Of course, many liberals and Democrats will argue that Joe Biden is too old to run again, and that his record in the Senate was not as liberal as Bernie Sanders, and more in line with the record of Hillary Clinton, and that he cannot please millennials and the strong Left in the Democratic Party, which wants new and more progressive leadership in the future.

It is clear that if Biden ran, his warts and shortcomings would be emphasized, including originally supporting the Iraq War, as Hillary Clinton did, and the struggle for the nomination would not be easy, and one wonders if he could actually defeat Donald Trump if Trump ran for reelection.

What is clear now is that there is no way to know the future, after seeing Presidents, including John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and now Donald Trump overcome many hurdles that few thought they could to win the Presidency, so who can say that a well loved, working class guy like Joe Biden at the age of 78, could not win the White House?

This is what makes following American politics so exciting, and also, get this, a Senate seat looks ready to open, as Democratic Senator Thomas Carper, finishing his third term in 2018, is rumored to be planning to retire, so in theory, and by some rumors, Joe Biden could run to return to the Senate and add to his six terms and 36 years in the Senate, and therefore be in elective office, at the time of a Presidential campaign in 2020!

A Hillary Clinton Alliance With Bernie Sanders And Elizabeth Warren For Progressive Change After The Election

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There are many progressives who are skeptical about Hillary Clinton’s commitment to progressive reform. They seem willing to allow Donald Trump to be elected, which is suicidal behavior.

That is unacceptable behavior, although it is understandable that Hillary Clinton’s husband, Bill Clinton, was far from a great progressive in his time, and this blogger has well expressed that reality over the years.

Readers of this blog know that the author was and is a Joe Biden fan, which also may not please the most left wing progressives.

But this blogger believes that insisting on purity is the road to disaster, as when progressives found Hubert Humphrey unacceptable in 1968, giving us Richard Nixon; and when progressives found Al Gore unacceptable in 2000, giving us George W. Bush.

For this nation to elect a far left progressive is never going to happen, and the way forward is incremental reform, as the right wing forces are not going away, and have great power and influence.

So there are those who would say Barack Obama was not progressive enough, but imagine if we had ended up with John McCain or Mitt Romney.

This blogger believes that Hillary Clinton will be committed to progressive reform when she is President, and that she will have an alliance with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, but a lot depends on electing a Democratic Senate and narrowing the Republican control of the House of Representatives.

Hillary Clinton’s Strong Advocates: Bill Clinton, Tim Kaine, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren!

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Hillary Clinton has a tremendous edge that Donald Trump does not–support of Democratic party faithful.

Hillary has strong advocates who know how to arouse a crowd and motivate people, including her husband, Bill Clinton; Vice Presidential nominee Tim Kaine; President Barack Obama; First Lady Michelle Obama; Vice President Joe Biden; Second Lady Jill Biden; and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Donald Trump cannot brag about such support, as key Republicans, including former Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush; 2012 Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney; 2008 Republican Presidential nominee John McCain; Speaker of the House Paul Ryan; former Florida Governor Jeb Bush; Ohio Governor John Kasich; and innumerable others, are not willing to campaign for him, and in many cases, have not endorsed him, and are critical of his campaign.

Hillary Clinton has a record of accomplishment and commitment, while Donald Trump has a record of failing at business and in marriage; being totally untrustworthy and unstable; and having large numbers of conservatives, intelligence and military officials, diplomatic leaders, and economists condemning his rhetoric and attitudes on a multitude of issues.

Trump is the most divisive figure in American politics since Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona 52 years ago, in the Presidential Election of 1964, but in many ways, Trump is more divisive and dangerous than even Goldwater was.

The Need To Promote Voting Among Millennials, Minorities, And Women

Ronald 3 Comments

With less than two months to the election, there is a growing concern that millennials, minorities, and women are all being turned off from voting by the negativism and disillusionment engendered during the Presidential campaign.

Many millennials are disappointed that Senator Bernie Sanders failed to win the nomination, and that seems to be why many are thinking of avoiding voting, or choosing to back third party candidates Gary Johnson or Jill Stein.

There is a dire need for the Hillary Clinton campaign to avoid overconfidence and realize that this election cannot be won unless people go out and vote for their own benefit and advancement.

Otherwise, we could wake up with the nightmare of a dangerous, ill informed, and erratic man becoming our President, and Donald Trump would be an unmitigated disaster in the White House.

And it must be emphasized that voting For Congress is also crucial, as if the opposition keeps both houses, then stalemate, gridlock, and undermining of any progress will continue.

Hillary Clinton Acceptance Speech The Culmination Of A Successful Convention

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Hillary Clinton delivered a great acceptance speech yesterday, the culmination of a successful Democratic National Convention, making her officially the first woman ever nominated for President by a major political party.

She gave a speech which emphasized a progressive agenda, to continue the successes of Barack Obama, and to move to emphasize such issues as a $15 minimum wage; free tuition for public colleges for those whose families earn less than $125,00 income; working toward criminal justice reform; promoting a more aggressive climate change agenda; promotion of civil rights equality for groups that have been denied it under law; improvement of ObamaCare; investment in infrastructure; the belief in science; advocacy of strengthening our alliances with foreign nations including NATO; strong commitment to overcoming ISIL (ISIS) and other terrorist groups in the world, among other proposals.

Clinton came across as genuine, sincere, committed to taking on much of Bernie Sanders’s agenda, and while not the accomplished orator that her husband Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and Joe Biden are, was extremely effective.

The speech of Marine General John Allen denouncing Donald Trump, and the Muslim father, Khizr Khan, speaking about the sacrifice of his son in Iraq in 2004 and asking if Trump knew what the Constitution says, were other standout moments of the last night of the convention, and a strong case against the stability and qualifications and ethics of Trump was emphasized by all speakers.

This is a terrifying time, but to imagine that Donald Trump could be elected President should motivate everyone to register to vote; lobby their friends, family members and work colleagues to get out there to vote; and work to get people to the polls at election time.

For Trump to win the Presidency would be the biggest disaster in American history since September 11, and cannot be allowed to occur.

Democratic Party Historical Accomplishments

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The Democratic Party has been criticized for the fact that in its 188 year history, it was the party that promoted slavery, segregation, and lynching, being dominated for a long time by its ugly Southern membership.

This cannot be denied, but it is the Democratic Party which has also, in the last century of history, had many historical accomplishments.

Among these are:

First Catholic nominee for President–Alfred E. Smith 1928
First Catholic President elected–John F. Kennedy 1960
First Catholic Vice President elected–Joe Biden 2008
First Jewish nominee for Vice President–Joseph Lieberman 2000
First Jewish Presidential candidate as serious contender–Bernie Sanders 2016
First African American President–Barack Obama 2008
First Woman nominated for Vice President–Geraldine Ferraro 1984
First African American Presidential Contender–Shirley Chisholm 1972
First Woman nominee for President–Hillary Clinton 2016
First woman Secretary of State—Madeleine Albright under Bill Clinton
First Southerner elected President since 1848–Jimmy Carter 1976
Youngest elected President–John F. Kennedy 1960
President who gave us Social Security–Franklin D. Roosevelt 1935
President who gave us Medicare and Medicaid–Lyndon B. Johnson 1965-1966
One Term President who advanced Environmental Causes the most in history–Jimmy Carter 1977-1981
President who gave us ObamaCare–Barack Obama 2010
President who advanced Civil Rights—John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson 1960s
President to appoint first Jewish Supreme Court Justice—Woodrow Wilson 1916 (Louis Brandeis)
President to appoint first woman Jewish Supreme Court Justice—Bill Clinton 1993 (Ruth Bader Ginsburg)
President to appoint first African American Supreme Court Justice–Lyndon B. Johnson 1967 (Thurgood Marshall)
President to appoint first Hispanic-Latino Supreme Court Justice—Barack Obama 2009 (Sonia Sotomayor)
President who promoted Containment Foreign Policy with the Soviet Union—Harry Truman
President who promoted concept of international cooperation—Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt
First Woman Speaker Of The House of Representatives–Nancy Pelosi 2007
Most accomplished Congresses, Democratic controlled—-63rd and 64th (1913-1917) under Woodrow Wilson; 73rd and 74th (1933-1937) under Franklin D. Roosevelt; 89th Congress (1965-1967) under Lyndon B. Johnson; 111th Congress (2009-2011) under Barack Obama
Great Supreme Court Justices appointed by Democratic Presidents—Louis Brandeis 1916 by Woodrow Wilson; Hugo Black 1937 by Franklin D. Roosevelt; Felix Frankfurter 1939 by Franklin D. Roosevelt; William O. Douglas 1939 by Franklin D. Roosevelt; Thurgood Marshall 1967 by Lyndon B. Johnson; Ruth Bader Ginsburg 1993 by Bill Clinton; Stephen Breyer 1994 by Bill Clinton

Fantastic Speeches By Cory Booker, Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders On First Night Of Democratic Convention!

Ronald 2 Comments

Day One of the Democratic National Convention was fantastic, with Bernie Sanders giving a rousing speech supporting Hillary Clinton; Cory Booker giving a speech that is memorable for the ages, and will catapult him into speculation for the Presidency eight years hence; Elizabeth Warren making the case against Republican Donald Trump; and First Lady Michelle Obama giving the most dramatic speech of the evening, making us proud of her, as well as her husband.

There are still divisions to be healed with some Bernie Sanders supporters, but compared to the disaster and embarrassment of the Republican National Convention last week in Cleveland, this convention is working quite well, and it seems clear that the unity desired will come about by Thursday night.

And one can expect a major bump in the polls after the convention, by early next week, while the supposed bump of Trump seems to have been misleading, as new polls indicate very little bump, and mostly, only when one adds third party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein to the mix!

It is great that Bernie Sanders is uniting his supporters, an estimated 90 percent so far, to back Hillary Clinton, as otherwise, there is the great danger of electing a dangerous extremist, Donald Trump, with no knowledge, experience, or qualifications to be President of the United States.

The Mystery Of 2016: Why Hillary Clinton Has Low Public Opinion Rating, And Bill Clinton Continues To Rate High In Public Opinion!

Ronald 25 Comments

As the Democratic National Convention begins in Philadelphia, there is much turmoil and rancor over the revelation of Democratic National Committee emails, apparently hacked by Russian state supporters, to harm Hillary Clinton by her connection to now disgraced Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

There is no debate that Debbie has run the DNC poorly, and shown bias toward Bernie Sanders, and it is right that she is not participating in the activities of the convention. She also faces a fight in the primary against a Bernie Sanders supported candidate in the Florida primary on August 30.

Despite that, I have met Debbie a few times, and always thought she was a decent, kind, and competent person, but her handling of the Democratic National Committee activities have besmirched her reputation permanently in history, a tragic development.

But beyond this controversy, the mystery continues to arise. Why does Hillary Clinton have such low public opinion rating, while her husband, former President Bill Clinton, continues to rate high in public opinion, and always has?

Hillary Clinton is one of the most qualified nominees for President in all of American history, but she is not a good politician, in the sense that she has trouble arousing supporters, and is not, as she even admits, the expert communicator that her husband, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, are.

Clinton has made mistakes, certainly, but so have all Presidential nominees and all Presidents. But much of the attack on Hillary Clinton is manufactured by right wing conservative forces and Republican nominee Donald Trump.

And she is blamed for her husband’s misbehavior, but somehow, that does not affect the popularity of her husband, so this is inscrutable!

There, clearly, is a anti woman mentality among many men, and even a large percentage of women, both of whom seem to feel that a woman is not qualified to be President.

However, the belief is that once Bill Clinton speaks at the convention on Wednesday that he will be able to boost the candidacy of his wife, and that once he goes on the campaign trail in the next months, that he will help to elect his wife to the Presidency.

A Glorious Day For Democrats On June 9, 2016–First Steps Toward White House Victory In November!

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Yesterday, June 9, 2016, was a glorious day for Democrats in so many ways.

Bernie Sanders visited the White House and came out as clearly accepting that his race is over after the final primary in Washington DC next Tuesday, while not yet formally withdrawing from the race and endorsing Hillary Clinton.

The meeting with President Barack Obama went on for an hour and a half, and Obama released a video statement shortly after strongly supporting Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.

Then, Senator Elizabeth Warren gave a speech condemning Republican nominee Donald Trump in the strongest terms, and it made many think that she was such an effective “attack dog” that she might become Hillary Clinton’s Vice Presidential nominee, an historic event if it happens, having two women on the ticket.

Then, Vice President Joe Biden spoke up and condemned Donald Trump for his attack on a federal judge, and the danger that it represents to the rule of law under the Constitution.

It is clear that Hillary Clinton has the full support of Obama, Warren, and Biden, and soon will have it from Sanders in a formal way, and all will work to elect her and defeat Trump.

And of course, there is the “secret weapon” of former President Bill Clinton ready to go on the campaign trail as well.

And it is clear that Barack Obama relishes going on the campaign trail to promote and defend his legacy, and also to destroy the Trump candidacy, due to Trump being the “birther” who dogged the President for five years, with his reckless, unfounded charges that the President was not born in the United States, and therefore was not eligible to be President of the United States.

The beginning of a glorious campaign, with many other Democrats ready to fight for and defend Hillary Clinton, and cause a massive defeat for Donald Trump and the Republicans, is now in full swing, and it will be an exciting five months until Election Day!