Jeb Bush

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

Ronald 52 Comments

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!

Ronald 21 Comments

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!

 

Once Donald Trump Starts To Lose In Actual Caucuses And Primaries, He Will Withdraw From Presidential Race

Ronald 10 Comments

It is now clear that Donald Trump has been involved in a “lark”, regarding his Republican Presidential candidacy.

He has now told John Harwood of CNBC that once he starts to do poorly, he will get out of the race and go back to doing his business ventures, as he is not interested in losing causes.

It is clear that had public opinion polls NOT shown him to be leading, he would be out of the race already, and one has to wonder about the validity of these polls that keep on putting Trump, and fellow non government contenders Carly Fiorina and Dr. Benjamin Carson having a total of more than 50 percent combined.

Do Republican voters, even if disgusted with Congressional Republicans, and the Republican officeholder Presidential field, really want a”rookie” to run our government and deal with the world? Do they really want someone who is not used to negotiating with others, and just wants to be in charge to dictate, as is the case with Trump and Fiorina, to be their President?  The more one analyzes the situation, it is impossible to believe that any of the three “non officeholders” are going to survive the entire caucus-primary process and win enough popular support to have a majority of the delegates.

They are all protest votes, and none of the three have any real substance to their candidacies, and are just good at being a place to let steam off about the frustration felt by voters. This seems more of an opportunity to demonstrate disgust, but it is not a practical answer to put a non officeholder into the most complex and difficult job in the world!

Trump is going to discover that he cannot win the nomination, and has very high negative numbers, and that the polls are misleading.  So one can be assured that he will NOT be the GOP nominee for President of the United States!  Neither will Fiorina nor Carson prove able to withstand the pressures of the race and become the nominee.

What it will come down to, ultimately, is that one of the following three will be the Republican nominee, with the possibility that two of them will make up the Republican Presidential ticket: Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Marco Rubio.

The best bet is still a Kasich-Rubio ticket, but a possible backup of a Bush-Kasich ticket!

Joe Biden Is Most Popular Of All Presidential Candidates In Public Opinion Polls, So Advice To Joe Biden: “Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained”!

Ronald 1 Comment

Vice President Joe Biden is still wrestling with the issue of whether he should enter the Democratic Presidential nomination battle for 2016.

While he is still mourning his son, Beau Biden’s, death, and mulling whether he should try for the Presidency for a third time, public opinion polls show that he is the most popular and trusted of all Presidential possibilities, and would defeat Republicans Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina, Dr. Benjamin Carson, Jeb Bush, and Marco Rubio in a one on one race.

Joe Biden is admired and loved by millions, and if he entered the race, while his record is not as liberal as Bernie Sanders, Biden would actually threaten Hillary Clinton’s support among minorities, particularly African Americans, in the crucial primary state of South Carolina and elsewhere.

Joe Biden is very personable, very charming very authentic, and is seen by many as the true heir of Barack Obama, and while the President is not likely to take sides publicly between Joe and Hillary, it seems clear that he prefers Joe as his successor.

The question remains if Joe will run, but with his son’s last words asking him to run; plus the public opinion polls being so positive; and with the old saying that applies: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” being appropriately applied, it makes sense that Biden try for the White House, his last chance.

Sure, he could lose, but if he does not run, he will, probably, regret it forever afterwards, that he had a chance, and let it escape.  Life does not guarantee success, but even if he lost the nomination to Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, he would know that he had engaged in the “good fight”, and that would be better than to give up the chance to be our 45th President, with a record of more experience than ANY President in history–44 years of service to his nation in government!

Marco Rubio Rising, Jeb Bush Falling: The Two Floridians A Generation Apart!

Ronald 5 Comments

It now seems clear that Florida Senator Marco Rubio is gaining support, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is rapidly losing support in the Republican Presidential race.

Rubio always has called Bush his “mentor”,  as Rubio entered the Florida legislature during the tenure of Jeb Bush as Governor of the “Sunshine” State.

Also, Rubio is almost a full generation younger than Bush, born 18 years after Bush.

Bush, more than ever, is seen as representing the past, the Bush Dynasty, and has been out of office since the end of 2006.

Rubio is one of the youngest Senators, and has been in office since the new century began, and is portraying himself as the “new generation” of leadership, the kind of appeal that John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama used as a pitch when they ran for President on the Democratic Party side.

The Democrats now have a problem, if Marco Rubio is able to become the Republican Presidential nominee, as their three leading candidates—Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Joe Biden, if he enters the race–will be 69 to 75 at the beginning of their term of office, making them 24 to 30 years older than the Florida Senator.

Generally, the nation goes for the younger candidate for President, with the exception in modern times of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984.

Martin O’Malley, former Governor of Maryland, represents the “younger generation” in the Democratic Party, but has not “taken off” at all, a perplexing situation, and again, a problem for the Democratic Party as it enters the 2016 Presidential competition.

Marco Rubio Emerges From “Pack” Of Republicans As “Officeholder” And “New Generation” Of Leadership!

Ronald 4 Comments

It is interesting that in the midst of the “non officeholders” —Donald Trump, Carley Fiorina, Dr. Benjamin Carson—together gaining a majority of the support in most public opinion polls for the Republican Presidential nomination, that we are seeing the rise of Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and to a lesser extent Ohio Governor John Kasich, in the polls, while others, including Jeb Bush, are losing support.

Rubio is taking advantage of the situation to point out that he is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and that he is a “new generation” of leadership, surpassing his own “mentor”, Jeb Bush!

Rubio has many weaknesses, but the fact that he is Hispanic, is from the  leading “swing” state, Florida, and makes a good personal appearance, are all factors in his rise.

The question is whether he can overcome the “non officeholders” and continue to improve enough in debates to end up as the leader in the polls in the next few months before the Iowa Caucuses occur on February 1.

Rick Perry And Scott Walker Gone From Presidential Race: Major Rise And Rapid Decline!

Ronald 32 Comments

Rick Perry led the 2012 Republican Presidential race right around this time in 2011, and then flopped badly with his poor performance in  a debate where he could not remember the third government agency he wanted to abolish.  He came back this year, with nice new glasses, and claiming he had improved his ability to perform in debates, but the polls never showed he could recover from his famous disaster four years ago.

Scott Walker led the polls in Iowa and was seen earlier this year as a major contender for 2016, but he totally collapsed, despite having the backing of the Koch Brothers, and now, like Perry, was a total bomb in debates.

Their being the first two to leave the GOP race shows being ahead in the third year of a Presidential term is often the death knell, and it will be followed soon by the likes of Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal,  Lindsey Graham, Rick Santorum, George Pataki, Jim Gilmore, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz and other pitiful candidates, including Dr. Benjamin Carson and Carly Fiorina, despite their being high in the polls at the moment, and Rand Paul.

At the end, it looks more than ever that the final four will be Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich.

Constitution Day Reminds Us Of When We Had Statesmen!

Ronald 47 Comments

Today is Constitution Day, the celebration of the signing of the US Constitution on September 17, 1787, after four long, arduous months of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

It also reminds us of the great statesmen we had two centuries ago, who overcame disputes and conflicts to do what needed to be done for the nation and its future.

When one looks at the sad reality of two Republican Presidential debates so far, and the lack of statesmanship demonstrated, it is very depressing, as we do not have any sign that the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower is capable of dealing with the domestic and foreign policy issues facing the nation in 2015.

Sure, some of the contenders in the CNN and the earlier Fox News debate come across as “better” than the others, but except for John Kasich, and possibly Jeb Bush, none of them possess real Presidential credibility, while at the least, Hillary Clinton and, if he runs, Joe Biden,  on the Democratic side, display such credibility.

We have a long way to go in the 2016 Presidential campaign, but we are not likely to find another James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman or William Paterson arising to give us hope that statesmanship is widely available!

Imagining The “Impossible”: Donald Trump Vs. Bernie Sanders OR Trump (Independent), Sanders And Jeb Bush!

Ronald 23 Comments

Impossible to believe, but it could be happening—Independent Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont as the Democratic nominee for President vs. Businessman Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for President OR Trump running on an independent or third party line, with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush as the Republican nominee!

How could this happen?

It is clear that there is an anti Establishment mentality at this time in America, and it is showing up in both political parties!

But the differences between Sanders and Trump are massive.

Sanders has no vast amounts of wealth or wealthy people supporting him, while Trump has his own unlimited resources for his campaign.

Sanders has never been a Democrat, but has served longer in government than any independent in the history of Congress.

Trump has never been a member of any party, but has flirted with Democrats before, and his views are unsettled, and not clearly Republican.

Sanders has set principles and ideas, while Trump has no ideas except to promote his own ego.

Sanders has run a positive campaign of ideas, and refuses to attack his opponents.

Trump has spent the last three months attacking the character and persona of all of his opponents.

Sanders has tried to expand his base to minority voters, while Trump has done everything to antagonize all minority groups and women.

Sanders is trying to stop the influence of billionaires, while Trump is a billionaire who is endangering the idea of a democracy with his encouragement of greed, selfishness, and egotism as a virtue to be promoted.

Sanders is a sincere, genuine, authentic person, while Trump is an egomaniac and narcissist.

It would seem that Sanders, running as a Democrat, would be favored over Trump in the Electoral College, but one could imagine the false charges that Socialism is Communism, and although Trump would not utilize it, it is certain that hate groups would promote antisemitism, as Sanders would be the first Jewish Presidential nominee.

It would be a contest between two different worlds, of a 75 year old Socialist, who would be the oldest elected first term President in history, vs a billionaire who would be past 70 and a half, and would be, if elected, himself, the oldest elected first term President in history, although four years and nine months younger than Sanders!

2016, The Year Of The “Anti Candidate”: A Businessman, A Medical Doctor, A Businesswoman, And A “Socialist”?

Ronald Leave a comment

Every presidential election has its interesting developments, but the Presidential Election Of 2016 already comes across as the most unusual we have ever experienced.

We are in the era of the “anti candidate”, as we have a businessman (Donald Trump) with no political experience; a medical doctor (Dr. Benjamin Carson) with no political experience; a businesswoman (Carly Fiorina) with no political experience (although she ran for the US Senate in California and lost); and a declared democratic Socialist (Bernie Sanders) who is the longest serving Independent member of Congress in its entire history!

None of this could have happened in any earlier election cycle, although we have witnessed one major party Presidential nominee (Wendell Willkie in 1940), who lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

It seems, based on polls at least, that the American people are sick of traditional candidates and politicians, and are showing their rebellion, particularly against having another Bush and another Clinton as their major party Presidential choices.

And yet, the betting money is still on Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton ending up as the major party nominees, with Hillary easily winning the election, and becoming the first woman President!