Latinos

Grand Opening Of Democratic Campaign As Tim Kaine Is A Rock Star In Introduction To The American People In Miami Rally!

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Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, presented himself to the nation yesterday at a political rally in Miami, Florida, with Hillary Clinton, at Florida International University, a heavily Latino school.

Many observers had said that Kaine was a “boring” personality, but he was anything but that. He was a “Rock Star”!

The TV audience and the crowd learned just how dynamic, caring, committed, and principled Tim Kaine is, apparently a secret just unveiled, as he was not well known nationally.

Tim Kaine is a wonderful human being with compassion and concern for social justice, just the opposite of Republican Vice Presidential nominee, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, who has demonstrated an extremist right wing Tea Party view on so many different issues.

The future debate between Kaine and Pence will be very revealing, and will help Hillary Clinton win the Presidency.

And we will be blessed in January with a great successor in the Vice Presidency to follow Joe Biden, who must be recruited for some important position, as we should not lose his talents and expertise.

A good suggestion is to make Biden Secretary of State or Attorney General, both areas of his expertise and knowledge, not only as Vice President for eight years, but also his years as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Democrats have, once again, blessed us with outstanding Vice Presidents—Walter Mondale under Jimmy Carter, Al Gore under Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden under Barack Obama, and now they offer us the talents and great judgment and humanity of Tim Kaine.

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine A Great Choice For Vice President, And Possible Succession If Need Arises!

Ronald 11 Comments

Hillary Clinton has made a great choice for Vice President, in selecting Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her partner to run the executive branch for the next four to eight years.

Tim Kaine comes from a crucial swing state, and would be the third Virginia leader to be Vice President, after Thomas Jefferson and John Tyler, who both became President. He is also the first Virginian to be on the Presidential election ballot, since Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and 1916, not a native Virginian, however, as Governor of New Jersey.

Kaine would be the second Catholic Vice President after Joe Biden, with John F. Kennedy the only Catholic President.

Kaine is a steady, stable, pleasant, well liked political leader who has proved by his experience and interaction with other government leaders that he is well qualified to be President, if the emergency arises. He is also, like Joe Biden, well liked personally by Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives who have dealt with him.

Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are very comfortable together, and Kaine has a tolerant and mild temperament that engenders confidence.

Kaine has served as Richmond Mayor, Lieutenant Governor, Governor, Senator, and chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and his resume is very diverse and broad.

Kaine has served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee, crucial committees and experiences in an age of terrorism.

Kaine has the great advantage that he speaks fluent Spanish, a big plus for the Latino community, which is now one out of every six Americans.

If Kaine is elected, his replacement is appointed by Virginia’s Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe, which would not be true had Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, or New Jersey Senator Cory Booker been selected.

Kaine was already on the short list for Vice President with Barack Obama in 2008, a sign that he is well regarded in Democratic circles.

Kaine went to the University of Missouri, Columbia as an undergraduate, and to Harvard Law School, so has excellent academic credentials.

Kaine’s Catholicism and Spanish language ability will help him in states including North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada, and his working class roots will help in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Tim Kaine can be criticized on the issue of free trade, and on supporting the Iran deal, but it will not have that much of an effect on the election, as this blogger sees it. He is certainly not “perfect”, but then no one is.

This blogger was correct when he said that Kaine was the front runner for Vice President, and that the history of the Democratic Party nominees for President choosing a US Senator for Vice President would be continued, all but 1972 and 1984.

This nomination also shows once again that Southerners are favored for Vice President now 9 times since 1944 onward in the Democratic Party, even though Tim Kaine is very different than most earlier Southern nominees for Vice President, much more progressive. Also, Southerners have been on the Presidential ticket at either end of the Democratic ballot in all elections since 1944, except 1968, 1972, 1984, 2008, and 2012, a total of 14 out of 19 times.

Tim Kaine will be an asset to Hillary Clinton, both during the campaign, and as an active Vice President in the mold of Walter Mondale, Al Gore, and Joe Biden!

The Argument For A Vice President Who Has Been A Mayor Dealing With Urban Issues And Problems

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After last week’s sad, tragic events in Louisiana, Minnesota, and Texas, it becomes more clear than ever that Hillary Clinton should seriously consider a city mayor to be her Vice Presidential running mate–either Cory Booker, formerly Mayor of Newark, New Jersey or Julian Castro, formerly Mayor of San Antonio, Texas.

Both understand urban life, and have dealt with the stresses of minorities, and the fact that they are minorities themselves–African American and Latino—is a plus, in a nation becoming more diverse as the years go by.

Both are young, and can be seen as rivals for the future of the Democratic Party in 2024, if Hillary Clinton was to serve two terms in the White House.

In any case, both should be utilized by a President Hillary Clinton in her administration, even if not in the Vice Presidency!

Donald Trump’s Demeaning Of Pocahontas In His Vicious Attack On Senator Elizabeth Warren: More Evidence Of Racism!

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Donald Trump is a pure racist, and it shows through again in his vicious attack on Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has some Cherokee Indian ancestry.

The story about Warren taking advantage of her native American ancestry is another urban myth, promoted by the right wing slander machine, and Trump has joined in, once Warren came to the defense of Hillary Clinton, and condemned Trump’s outrageous statements and behavior.

He calls her Pocahontas, demeaning all native Americans, adding to his attacks on Muslims, Latinos, and African Americans.

Trump is so ignorant that he attacks the image of Pocahontas, without realizing the impact of this native American who married John Rolfe in colonial Virginia, and has been honored on stamps, the first Native American to be so honored in 1907.

Also, Pocahontas has many famous descendants of the First Families of Virginia. Among her descendants are two first Ladies, Edith Wilson and Nancy Reagan; astronomer Percival Lowell, who discovered Pluto; Admiral Richard E. Byrd; and Senator Harry Byrd Sr and Senator Harry Byrd Jr of Virginia.

Trump should issue an apology to the native American community, but of course, will not do so!

Memo To Working Class White Males: The Future Is Here, Whether You Accept It Or Not!

Ronald 64 Comments

It is clear that the vast majority of supporters of Donald Trump are working class white males, along with many elderly white males.

They are in full revolt against the future of America, whether they accept it or not!

That future is as follows:

A growing Hispanic-Latino and Asian American population, with the white population of the nation declining by the 2040s to be less than a majority.

A growing role of women in America, way beyond the old concept that a woman should only be a mother, and stick to the kitchen and the bedroom, and always “obey” the men in her life, when women are becoming the majority of educated and working people, and no longer will accept dominance by men.

The growing urgency of people gaining more education and job training, as the future of America will be very different economically, no matter whether Donald Trump becomes the 45th President, as there is no magic potion to reverse what has been occurring since the middle class reached its peak in 1973.

Racism, nativism, misogyny, antisemitism, xenophobia have no possibility of promoting harmony in the future of a multicultural nation, which is inevitable.

The future is here, and working class white males and many elderly white males cannot change the future, which if they could, would be totally detrimental to peace, security, and stability!

The Demographic Death Spiral Of The Republican Party!

Ronald 14 Comments

The Republican Party is in a death spiral, unable to appeal to the majority of:

Millennials
Women
African Americans
Latinos
Asian Americans
Native Americans
Jews
College Educated
Urban Population
Gays, Lesbians, Transsexuals
Environmentalists
Labor
New England and Northeast States
Pacific Coast States
Upper Midwestern States and Illinois
Most “Swing States”

The Republican Party gains support from the majority of:

Older White Males over 45
Working Class White Males
Non College Educated
Very Religious Christians and Jews
Southern States With Smaller Populations
Rural Population
Great Plains States
Upper Mountain West States
Wealthy Upper Class

The second set of groups are simply not enough to win the Presidency, and the GOP, if it does not change its basic philosophy and appeal, is doomed, as it is in a death spiral historically!

The Likelihood Of An Historic Vice Presidential Nomination For The Democrats: A Woman Or A Person Of Minority Heritage

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Speculation has begun about who Democrat Hillary Clinton’s potential choices for Vice President might be, but it seems more and more likely that it will be an historic choice, likely NOT to be a white male, but rather a woman or a leader of minority heritage.

It is true that Democrat Walter Mondale selected New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, and that Republican John McCain selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in 2008, but this time around, the possible candidates for a woman are much stronger choices.

If one is considering a woman, which some think is “radical” to do, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is seen as the most likely choice, but her fame and her age work against her, and it would make more sense to pick a woman who is substantially younger, and could be a potential successor eight years from now–such as Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota or Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington State.

If Hillary wants to select someone from a minority heritage, the best would be Latinos, such as former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, presently Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; or Secretary of Labor Tom Perez of Maryland; and if African American, the best would be New Jersey Senator Cory Booker or former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.

In another blog entry forthcoming tomorrow, we will consider white males as potential Vice Presidential nominees, with quite a long list of such candidates!

Old Urban-Rural Battle Among States Now Battles Between Cities And Rural Areas Within The States!

Ronald 4 Comments

The story of much of American history is the struggle and battles between the growing urbanization in America, and the desire of small town, rural America to keep “traditional values”.

So the South, heavily rural historically, has always held back against reform and change, and switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in the half century since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 under President Lyndon B. Johnson.

But now, in 2016, we are seeing a revolt, an uprising of growing urban areas and university towns in the South against “traditional values”!

So we see urban areas in many Southern states promoting becoming “sanctuary cities” for illegal immigrants; supporting gay and transgender rights; calling for minimum wage laws to be reinforced and to promote raises; and working to undermine the Confederate flag as an appropriate symbol in 21st century America!

These growing urban areas include such locations as Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte and Greensboro, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Atlanta, Athens and Savannah, Georgia; Gainesville and Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Jackson, Hattiesburg, and Oxford, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; New Orleans, Louisiana; Little Rock and Fayetteville, Arkansas; Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee; San Antonio, Dallas and Houston, Texas; and Louisville, Kentucky. The Democratic Party is growing in these areas, and African Americans and Latinos are a good percentage of that growth, and university towns are also part of the massive changes that are occurring toward progressive change.

But the rural dominated Republican legislatures are passing state pre-emption laws that deny these localities the ability to set up their own regulations and laws. Ironically, it means these Republican states are fighting to take away local controls, while fighting on the national level against centralized authority of the federal government!

Are We A Police State? Ted Cruz Suggests Monitoring “Muslim” Neighborhoods! Next, Why Not Monitor Other Minority Groups, Heh, Ted?

Ronald 12 Comments

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the only Republican challenger to Donald Trump who could possibly pass Trump in delegates, is trying to outTrump Trump!

His suggestion, after the Belgium terrorist attack yesterday, is that police in America start to monitor and patrol  “Muslim” neighborhoods!

First of all, how does one define a “Muslim” neighborhood?  By name, by appearance, by requiring people to reveal their religious beliefs?

Are we to start allowing police to monitor an Hispanic or Latino neighborhood?  Oh wait, that already happens illegally in Maricopa County, Arizona, where anyone can be checked on their immigration status by the police under Sheriff Joe Arpaio, although it is illegal, and causes stress among Spanish speaking people.

Are we to start allowing police to monitor African American neighborhoods?  Oh wait, that already happens , and is the major cause of so many police shootings and killings.

This insistence on a “police state” mentality can do tremendous harm, in that it can convince ethnic, racial, and religious groups to be disillusioned, and feel a need and desire to strike out against an American society that treats white Christian Anglo Americans as a privileged class, that is treated better than everyone else!

Oh wait, that is already the case in this nation, white privilege, and hasn’t it cost enough trouble already without making it worse, as Senator Ted Cruz, crazily, is promoting?

Trump Effect: Likelihood Of Major Democratic Wave In 2016!

Ronald 13 Comments

The effect of Donald Trump’s Presidential candidacy is the likelihood of a major Democratic wave in the upcoming Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2016.

Polls indicate that the Electoral College could be a landslide for the Democrats, with the chance to gain such states as North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona, major areas of Hispanic and Latino growth, and indications of many registering to vote because of Trump’s anti Hispanic and anti Latino rhetoric, including against the nation of Mexico, which shares a 2,000 mile boundary with the United States.

The Senate has 34 seats facing election, with 24 of those seats being Republican, and at least ten seats of Republicans in danger of being lost, which would create a large margin of Democrats in the upper chamber.

The House of Representatives is a tough nut to crack, due to gerrymandering and the largest Republican majority in the lower chamber since 1928.  At the least, the large GOP majority will dwindle, with an outside chance of a slim Democratic majority, which probably would be lost in the midterm elections of 2018.

But even a two year “window” would allow a Democratic President with both houses of Congress in his favor to accomplish major changes!

And, of course, the transformation of the Supreme Court would occur, which would have a long range effect.

This is what Donald Trump has done to the moribund Republican Party, and it looks more likely by the day!