Michele Bachmann

Herman Cain, Ross Perot And Wendell Willkie: Businessmen As Presidential Candidates

Ronald 1 Comment

Herman Cain has become the newest “flavor of the month”, or some would say the “flavor of the week”, in the Republican Party battle to find a candidate who can defeat President Barack Obama.

Right now, he is running high in the polls, similar to Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry in the past few months, but he has many shortcomings.

1. He has NO experience in government and politics, and that makes him unable to understand that government is NOT a business, and cannot successfully be run as a business.

2. He is very ignorant on most issues other than his 9-9-9 tax plan, which economists say would not be a solution to the economic crisis, and would never pass Congress.

3. Cain has no concern about poverty and the struggles of the middle class, and his plans would include the destruction of Social Security and Medicare as we know it, and that does not go across well with a wide swath of voters in polls.

4. He may be popular among those who want a blunt personality, but that is not the way to make progress in diplomacy, and he lacks tact and basic knowledge in international affairs.

5. He would represent a backward trend in the African American community, a person who succeeded and does not care about those he left behind, in many ways an executive branch Clarence Thomas (Associate Justice of the Supreme Court).

Some would say that Herman Cain is this generation’s Ross Perot, the billionaire who ran for President twice in 1992 and 1996 as a third party candidate, and by so running, helped to put Bill Clinton in office and keep him there. But Perot actually, with all of his idiosyncratic nature, actually really addressed one issue that still affects us–the deficit and the national debt. Cain has no such vision or intelligence on the level of Ross Perot.

Others would wish to compare Cain to Republican Presidential nominee Wendell Willkie in the 1940 Presidential Election against Franklin D. Roosevelt, who ran a good race against the New Deal, but still lost by a substantial margin, but in the process, gained respect for his backing of FDR on foreign policy. Willkie’s background as a utilities executive harmed him, but his oratory wowed delegates at the Republican National Convention in 1940, who went berserk and nominated him.

The point is that Cain is no Ross Perot and is no Wendell Willkie!

Interestingly, C Span has a series on Friday nights this fall, mentioned in an earlier post, regarding losing Presidential candidates, and both Perot and Willkie will be portrayed in coming weeks. Willkie will be covered on Friday, October 21; and Perot on Friday, December 9.

This nation has never elected a businessman to the White House, and except for Willkie and Perot (third party), has never nominated one, either. We are NOT going to see Cain match those two in being a choice of the voters in the national election!

The Panic In Republican Ranks: A Poll Shows Herman Cain Now In The Lead, As Mitt Romney Shows Inability To Inspire And Unite Extremists!

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So now the new “flavor of the month” is Herman Cain, a man with no political experience, and most known for being CEO of Godfather Pizza!

Cain has ZERO knowledge on almost everything, and spends his time selling his autobiography and promoting his “9-9-9” plan, which economists make clear would not work, and would certainly hurt the poor and lower middle classes, and benefit the rich.

This is a man who insults people of his own race as being “brainwashed” to support Democrats, even though the Republicans have NEVER appealed to African Americans since the New Deal!

This is a man who says that if you are not wealthy or do not have a job, it is your own fault!

This is a man who lacks any depth, joining Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and Rick Perry in coming across as IGNORANCE personified!

The idea that the Republican Party would nominate any of this group for the White House is mind boggling, but it is much more likely that Cain will fade as Bachmann and Perry have, and maybe Santorum will suddenly surge for a week or two as well!

Only the two Mormons in the race, Mitt Romney or Jon Huntsman, are legitimate candidates to be President, but their religion and the lack of moderation in the party, due to the Tea Party Movement, endangers the party’s future, as they seem likely to nominate a disastrous candidate in the vein of Barry Goldwater in 1964, and Goldwater himself would be preferable today to these losers!

Despite discontent with Barack Obama, it is very hard to conceive that the nation will abandon him and his party, when they realize the disaster the GOP has become, and how they have taken absolutely no action to deal with the economy!

The Washington Post-Bloomberg GOP Presidential Debate: Romney Still Ahead!

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The Washington Post-Bloomberg GOP Presidential debate tonight in New Hampshire was more of the same: Mitt Romney winning the debate!

Romney continued to look competent, confident, relaxed, smiling, and unruffled. He certainly had a good day, with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie endorsing him, and then sitting in the audience at the Dartmouth College debate in New Hampshire.

Herman Cain was given the seat next to Romney, due to his being second in recent polls, but he was constantly under attack for his 9-9-9 plan, which economists have said will not work, and would particularly harm poor people. It seems as if he probably did not win support based on his responses to the attacks, which seemed lame.

Rick Perry did not improve his standing, which has been in decline, and actually looked confused and uncomfortable when the camera happened to focus on him when he was listening to others speak.

Jon Huntsman, sadly, did not seem to improve his image, despite his great credentials, and it now seems unlikely that he will improve in the polls, unless miraculously he can build up in New Hampshire, the state he is counting on to boost his campaign.

MIchele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich did nothing spectacular to improve their chances, although Gingrich did gain applause for some of his rhetorical lines!

All of the candidates avoided specifics on the economy, and made many claims that were exaggerated, already being pointed out just a half hour after the debate, which simply focused on that subject. It was easier for them to condemn others and call for firings and blame, and to attack the Federal Reserve Board and Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The candidates made it clear they did not want to raise taxes one cent, and yet did not want to cut defense, something which is impossible in reality if taxes are not raised.

Did any of the candidates give hope that the economy would indeed be better under them than under President Obama? If anyone seriously thinks so, they are delusional!

It will be interesting to see the polls in the next few days, as to who ends up second behind Romney. Will Cain keep his second position, or who will replace him as the “anti Romney”? That is the question that most comes out of this debate, with another one scheduled next week, sponsored by CNN in Nevada, one of the states with the highest rate of unemployment!

The Republican Party Advocating The End Of National Commitment To Education Standards: A Tragedy!

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The Republican Party has declared war on the US Department of Education, and in so doing, will doom American education for the long term, if they are successful in winning power, and succeed in abolishing a department first started under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, as part of a larger cabinet agency, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in 1953, and created separately in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter.

When Ronald Reagan came to the Presidency, he was dedicated to the abolition of the department, but dropped the idea, but it has come under attack ever since.

The attack on the Department of Education, advocated by Republicans who wish to allow states and local districts to control education without oversight, would bring about an education system which would promote mediocrity in educational offerings in poor districts, making victims of economically disadvantaged students and disabled students.

If there are to be funds coming from the national government, and higher standards of educational attainment and greater accountability demanded, then local control will not work, as historically, no matter how many complaints there are about the national government, the corruption and incompetence of state and local governments in much of the nation is notoriously scandalous!

That is why we were caught off guard in the 1950s, when the Soviet Union was first in space, and made us aware of the need for federal involvement and investment in education at all levels, leading to the National Defense Education Act of 1958.

Not only is it essential to provide for poor, minority and disabled students, but also if Pell grants are ended, it will destroy the idea of advancing educational opportunity for low income college students, which can lead to a better economic future for them and their families.

So despite Michele Bachmann specifically calling for the total closing of the Education Department, and in fact because of the very obvious ignorance she displays in her own educational experience, federal involvement in education MUST continue unabated!

The “Dark Horses” Of The Republican Presidential Race: Ron Paul And Herman Cain

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It is still nearly three months to the first voting in the Iowa Caucuses on January 3, followed by the vote in the New Hampshire Primary, the Nevada Caucuses, the South Carolina Primary, and the Florida Primary, all within the month of January!

The Republican Presidential race has gone from one favored candidate to another, including Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Mitt Romney, with three other well known candidates floundering–Jon Huntsman, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich.

Meanwhile, two other candidates–Ron Paul and Herman Cain–ignored by the mainstream media and many political experts–are suddenly surging and drawing attention, and makes one wonder could either of them actually win the GOP Presidential nomination to oppose President Barack Obama in November 2012?

Paul has certainly been gaining more support, and his views on social and foreign policy issues resonate with many more voters than when he ran four years ago.

Herman Cain, who is African American and the CEO of Godfather Pizza, has been an even bigger surprise to many, and seems to arouse support in an emotional manner.

Today, at the Values Voters Summit in Washington, DC, a group of social conservatives, Ron Paul won 37 percent of the straw vote, with Cain second with 23 percent, way ahead of the other candidates.

Can this really happen–either one being the next nominee of the Republican Party? It seems highly unlikely, but after Barack Obama winning the Democratic nomination and the Presidency in 2008, who can be so sure that it could not happen in the Republican Party, and in the right (or wrong) circumstances lead to one of them in the White House in 2012?

The “Learned” Presidents: Men Of Great Intellect!

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In today’s America, we see glorification of presidential candidates who comes across as lacking in knowledge and insights, people who represent ignorance of history and science, who are seen as the “average American”, as if that is what we need in the White House! What else explains Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and others who are constantly displaying their lack of intellect?

In the past, we had our share of ignorant Presidents, but we also had a great number of “learned” Presidents, one out of three, who made the office proud with their intellect and insights. It did not, of course, guarantee success in all of their activities as President, but we could feel satisfied that we had brilliant men who represented a model of what America should strive for: intellectual curiosity and inquiry and desire for learning, something looked down upon today, a very regrettable development.

So who are the “learned” Presidents?

John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
John Quincy Adams
James Garfield (more potentially, because of assassination within months of taking the oath of office)
Theodore Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Herbert Hoover
Richard Nixon
Jimmy Carter
Bill Clinton
Barack Obama

The debate about the connection between intellect and success will go on, as it is well known that there is considerable debate about the effectiveness and success of Madison, Taft, Hoover, Nixon, and Carter, at the least. And many would debate Wilson and Clinton as well.

But this list demonstrates, if nothing else, that we have some “scholars” in the White House, and that we should want the “best and the brightest” in the Oval Office, to set a model for the nation and its future!

The Flaws Of A Mitt Romney Presidential Candidacy

Ronald 1 Comment

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has many virtues, many positives, that should make him a model candidate for the White House, including:

1. Strong business background with Bain Capital and as head of the Salt Lake City Olympics Committee for 2002.
2. Promoted a health care plan in Massachusetts which is seen as a major success by many.
3. Bright, intelligent, photogenic candidate, with great family image, including his wife and five sons.
4. Knowledgeable about economic matters, and seen as Presidential caliber in many people’s minds.
5. Has presented good body language in debates and has greater potential to appeal to moderates, Independents, and conservative Democrats.

Despite all of the above, there are a long list of flaws that will make it difficult for Romney to win the GOP nomination for President, and if he does, to win the election over President Barack Obama. Among them are :

1. Romney comes across as a chameleon, a person who is constantly over the years changing his views on many issues, seen as originally a moderate and trying to paint himself as a conservative–therefore perceived as a phony candidate, and a “flip flopper”!
2. Romney was not well liked personally by his opponents in the 2008 Presidential race, particularly John McCain and Mike Huckabee, and is not even now well liked by the Bush clan and other Establishment Republicans.
3. Romney is not well regarded by evangelical Christians, a large group in primaries and caucuses, because of his Mormon faith, and one wonders could he win the “Bible Belt” South and Great Plains, areas usually Republican. but seeing Mormons as a cult, and not Christian!
4. All through the race for the GOP nomination, despite Romney showing the best ability in polls to compete with President Obama, there has been a constant search for an alternative, whether Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, and now Chris Christie, not a sign of much feeling of emotion or passionate feelings of love for Romney.
5. Romney has shown insensitivity toward average people, by joking that he is unemployed; by talking about his Cadillacs collection; and by having a project to increase the size of his home to a mansion at a time when many are losing their own homes. Being the richest candidate in the race may give him a money edge, but he comes across as not understanding the problems of the middle class!
6. Despite his recent improved debate performances, Romney still has an image of being stiff, uncomfortable in his own skin, not totally relaxed, and not truly knowing how to deal with irate questioners at rallies, and with strong criticism. It makes one wonder would he be able to work well with Congress, whether his own party or the opposition, with so little political experience, only one term as Governor, and thinking his lack of a career in politics is a plus, which it really is not!
7. Romney’s ability to get people out to vote for him is doubtful, since he does not evoke strong feelings of support, and his poll numbers are still seen as very soft.
8. Romney’s attempt to steer clear of the Tea Party Movement makes one wonder if he could ever work well with fellow Republicans, who in many cases would be much further to the right politically than he would feel comfortable being himself, once in office.
9. Can a candidate from the Northeast, the stronghold of Barack Obama, have any opportunity to defeat him in any scenario that would add up to 270 electoral votes? That seems highly doubtful, as in many ways, Romney comes across as somewhat distant in the same way as two past Massachusetts Democrats who ran for President had trouble overcoming–Michael Dukakis in 1988 and John Kerry in 2004. Those two who lost to father and son Bush did not face a man with the charisma and emotional feelings of support that Barack Obama has had, and even in bad times, still has to some extent today!
10. By coming out hard line against immigration reform that allows illegal immigrants and their children a path to citizenship, Romney, like other Republicans, is losing the future, as Hispanic population and voter participation is growing in the Southwest and across the nation, and they are not likely to throw support to a candidate who demeans them and treats them as not deserving of respect and empathy for their futures in America!

There are probably other points that could be made, but it is clear that Mitt Romney has major flaws in so many ways that his candidacy for President is going to require a lot of luck and good fortune for him to end up in the Oval Office!

Let’s Give Rush Limbaugh What He Wants: A Lunatic Right Wing Tea Party Presidential Nominee!

Ronald 2 Comments

Now Rush Limbaugh has started to attack Chris Christie, the newest suitor for the GOP Presidential nomination, even though Christie has said he will not run!

Limbaugh criticizes the lack of social conservatism of Christie, his outspoken criticism on some hot button issues of the Tea Party Movement!

So now Limbaugh and others are faulting Christie, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Jon Huntsman, and ridiculing Ron Paul'[s libertarian stands, and have problems with Newt Gingrich’s past as well.

As a result, Limbaugh recommends the likes of Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Santorum instead!

It is time to do what Limbaugh and other whackos want! NOMINATE Cain, Bachmann or Santorum! Give the extreme Right what they want, and it will kill them off for a generation, much like the nomination of Barry Goldwater in 1964 delayed their cause for a generation, and softened the stands on issues by the time Ronald Reagan won the Presidency in 1980!

Nominate one of these three, and it will be a massive victory for Barack Obama, and a repudiation of these loud mouths who care not a whit about doing harm to the nation and its future!

Sarah Palin’s Resentment Of Potential Presidential Rivals Gaining Attention: Mental Illness Demonstrating Itself!

Ronald 3 Comments

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin continues to hint that she is considering entrance into the GOP Presidential race, although she has taken no organizational steps to do so, and remains on the Fox News Channel payroll.

The woman has shown resentment if anyone gains attention other than her, although she claims to be insulted by those who follow her movements and statements and investigate her checkered past. She is ready to sue at any affront against her, playing the victim role, but also likes to “rain on the parade” of Republican Presidential candidates who might be her rivals, were she to enter.

While avoiding any work or preparation for a candidacy, which would require real efforts for debate performance, something she would wish to avoid at all costs, as it would reveal just how dumb and ignorant she really is, she is certainly willing to intervene when Mitt Romney is declaring his candidacy in New Hampshire; show resentment at Michele Bachmann being a female rival, so therefore making some sarcastic comments about her candidacy; speaking out at the time of Rick Perry’s announcement of candidacy in Texas; and calling Herman Cain “the flavor of the week” to degrade his straw poll performance last weekend in Florida. Now, yesterday, as Chris Christie is wooed to run, Sarah felt a need to speak up and take away attention from him!

In other words, any accomplishment or newsworthy moment for the major rivals, who have seen some success or have some support, demands her taking attention away from such person, competing in the news media for attention!

This woman is a mental case who needs to be repudiated, and invited to shut her mouth once and for all, as a unnecessary pest and naysayer in her party, who is bound to do everything to destroy any Republican who runs for President, because of her maniacal belief that only she could govern, but unwilling to do the work required, and offer her candidacy to the people of her party!

But a recent poll shows 60 percent of the nation wants her to go away, and it would be good if somehow, we could have her taken off the front page, by the news media choosing to ignore her completely, unless she actually DOES something other than talk!

Sarah will never run, as she would lose her “cash cow”, the gullible Americans who love her and fail to see that she is the most incompetent person the Republicans could possibly consider for President!

The Herman Cain Phenomenon: What It Tells Us About The Republican Presidential Race

Ronald 1 Comment

So now we have a new phenomenon: former Godfather Pizza CEO and talk show host Herman Cain, winning the Florida Republican straw poll, putting him in the forefront of the news, after earlier surges in Iowa’s straw poll for Michele Bachmann, and then in the public opinion polls for Rick Perry.

After Bachmann and Perry flopped in debates, now the excitement is with Cain, who has ZERO political experience, and yet tells us his business background qualifies him to be the leader of the free world and deal with foreign policy, when a major criticism of Barack Obama is his supposed lack of experience, even though he was a US Senator for four years and an Illinois state senator for eight years, more experience in office than Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter, among others!

This concept that a businessman is good to run a government is a false argument, as government is NOT a business, and cannot be run like one!

But beyond that fact, Herman Cain is a candidate with major flaws that disqualify him to be our Commander in Chief.

His 9-9-9 tax idea is ridiculous and unworkable. Having a 9 percent corporate tax rate, a 9 percent flat income tax, and a 9 percent national sales tax will NOT work, will NOT raise adequate income, will allow corporations and wealthy people to continue to have unfair tax rates, and will victimize the middle and lower classes in a major way!

A national sales tax will burden the poor and lower middle class much more than the wealthy, as any sales tax is inherently unfair, since it does not take income levels into consideration!

Beyond that, and Cain’s lack of ANY government or foreign policy experience, there is the unfortunate issue of his health. Cain revealed to us in Thursday’s Orlando debate that he had stage 4 colon and liver cancer, and has been a survivor for five years. evoking sympathy and applause from the debate audience.

But his explanation, that he has survived because there was no government involvement in his medical care, is preposterous, as the reason he has survived has nothing to do with that at all, but rather because he was RICH enough to be able to afford the best health care, which most Americans cannot acquire!

But beyond that, should a person who has miraculously survived stage 4 colon and liver cancer be running for President, when the odds of his survival for at least five years more is unlikely? And then we would be stuck with his choice of a Vice Presidential running mate, with the fear that it might be a Sarah Palin type or one of his opponents in the race! Is that being fair to the American people, and is it not a question of Herman Cain’s own ego that makes him run? This is reckless behavior on his part!

The one good thing about Herman Cain is that, being an African American, it would be fascinating if both of our candidates for President were black, a very intriguing idea on its surface. But that is not enough to make this a good idea! The question arises whether Herman Cain is willing to deal with the problems of black America, being someone who has become wealthy and seems to want to ignore his past! And one has to wonder whether the Tea Party Republicans would EVER be willing to endorse a black candidate for President, based on their past rhetoric.

So instead of focusing on Herman Cain, if the Republicans had any common sense, they would be moving toward Jon Huntsman, who has suddenly surged in the polls in New Hampshire, now in third place and with double digits (10 percent) behind MItt Romney, who is way ahead, and Rick Perry. This could be the sign of Huntsman starting the long climb to prominence, which would give the Republicans a REAL chance to defeat Barack Obama!