Rick Santorum

Speculation Seriously Begins On 2016 Presidential Competition

Ronald 2 Comments

Eight weeks away from the Presidential Election of 2012, but with the obvious trend toward Barack Obama emerging, political pundits are starting to speculate on who might compete for the Democratic and Republican Presidential nominations in 2016, when if Barack Obama is reelected in 2012, we will be certain to have a new President.

The field of potential nominees is long in both parties. Among those being discussed are the following:

Democrats

Vice President Joe Biden from Delaware
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from New York
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar
Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill
Virginia Senator Mark Warner
Newark New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker
Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren

Republicans

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
Florida Senator Marco Rubio
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul
Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum
Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham
South Dakota Senator John Thune

So there are, theoretically, 12 Democrats and 14 Republicans who can be seen now as possible competitors for the Presidential nominations, but of course, some of these conceivable candidacies are based on election results yet to occur, including whether Senators Claire McCaskill, Scott Brown, and Lindsay Graham are reelected, the first two this year, and Graham in 2014; whether Cory Booker runs for New Jersey Governor and defeats Chris Christie, with the result eliminating one of those two candidacies; whether Elizabeth Warren can defeat Scott Brown, which would eliminate one or the other of those two candidacies; and whether the “old timers”—Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Jeb Bush—decide to run or stay out of the race, leaving the battle for the nominations to the “new generation” of leadership that is emerging in both political parties.

As of now, there is plenty of diversity in the potential race, with the following statistics:

7 women in the race–Hillary Clinton, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand, Claire McCaskill, Elizabeth Warren for the Democrats, and Nikki Haley and Kelly Ayotte for the Republicans.
2 African Americans in the race—Deval Patrick and Cory Booker for the Democrats.
1 Hispanic-Latino in the race—Marco Rubio for the Republicans.
2 Asian Americans in the race (both of India heritage)—Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley for the Republicans.

On the Democratic side, there are three potential candidates from New York—Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo, Kirsten Gillibrand; one from New Jersey (Cory Booker); one from Delaware (Joe Biden); one from Maryland (Martin O’Malley); two from Massachusetts (Deval Patrick and Elizabeth Warren)–a total of eight of the 12 potential candidates from the Northeast, with one from the South (Mark Warner of Virginia); two from the Midwest (Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Claire McCaskill of Missouri); and one from the West (Brian Schweitzer of Montana).

On the Republican side, there are four potential candidates from the Northeast—Chris Christie of New Jersey, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, and Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania; seven from the South and border states—Bob McDonnell of Virginia, Nikki Haley and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio of Florida, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and Rand Paul of Kentucky; and three from the Midwest—Paul Ryan and Scott Walker of Wisconsin and John Thune of South Dakota.

Additionally, there are many Catholics running, startling when one considers that this nation has only had one Catholic President (John F. Kennedy), and one Catholic Vice President (Joe Biden).

Also, the Democrats have four Governors, one Mayor, and seven former or sitting or potential Senators on their list; while the Republicans have six Governors or former Governors, seven Senators, and one Congressman on their list.

Speculation starting already makes the 2016 Presidential race seem ever closer even though it will not begin in earnest until mid to late 2014, and particularly so after the midterm elections of 2014!

Mitt Romney: Gutless Wonder And Tool Of The Billionaires!

Ronald 2 Comments

Mitt Romney, the Republican Presidential nominee, is more than ever looking as possibly the worst Republican nominee for President since the Gilded Age and James G. Blaine, who was seen as totally corrupt, and lost the Presidential Election of 1884 to Democrat Grover Cleveland!

Mitt Romney has proved to be a “gutless wonder”! He is unable to stand up to Grover Norquist and his tax fanatics who want not one extra dollar ever to be granted to the US government. He is unable to stand up to neoconservatives, who want to go back to another “Cold War” with Russia, and want to bomb Iran immediately. He is unable to stand up to right wing social conservatives who want to promote a Christian nation. He is unable to stand up to the ultimate bully, Donald Trump, who is a literal nightmare, with Romney realizing that if he were to come out against Trump’s reckless rhetoric about Barack Obama, he would have his campaign destroyed by the vindictive, prima donna, who George Will, the conservative commentator, called an example of how a not very bright rich person could gain attention of the news media.

Romney has no guts or courage, and would become a tool of the billionaires, such as those who financed the campaigns of Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, and kept them going for as long as they did.

Imagine this, a man who is a QUARTER billionaire being controlled by true billionaires, who want us to go back to the corruption and mendacity of the Gilded Age after a century of constant reforms under both Democratic and Republican Presidents, who worked to be in the mainstream!

Romney is a threat to American democracy as we know it, since he has no spine, no backbone, and is willing to sell his soul to the devil, because of his insane need to be President, unhappy with his family, his religion, and his massive wealth! Such an ambition for one so fortunate borders on mental illness, sorry to say!

But at the same time, Romney cannot relate to normal human beings, as his plastic, stiff nature shows through in everything he does and utters!

His campaign is indeed a sad commentary on American politics and the Republican Party!

The Failure Of “Americans Elect” As A Third Party Movement In 2012

Ronald 1 Comment

Independent minded centrists, disgusted with the two party system and the failure to promote political compromise, made a valiant effort to promote an online third party under the name “Americans Elect”, but they have utterly failed for the upcoming Presidential Election of 2012.

This is a bad sign for the future, as it indicates that the party conflict, greatest since the Civil War, is going to continue, and it endangers any hope of our system working, unless one party is able to win and keep control of government for a sustained period of time.

Having said the above, the author still feels that the victory of Barack Obama is essential, and that IF he is given a Democratic Congress, the country can make progress on the many issues that divide us, and loom in the future.

What it comes down to is that all of the potential independent candidates, symbolized by Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City, simply did not want to break with their party, did not want to go through the literal Hell that is the reality of running for President at a divisive time as we are now going through.

The list of potential candidates included also Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, Rick Santorum, Hillary Clinton, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Howard Dean, Donald Trump, Al Gore, Sarah Palin, and David Petraeus.

One looks at this list and is shocked that Christie, Santorum, Paul, Trump, and Palin are on the list, all horrible choices in so many ways.

But to put most of the others on the potential list is also totally out of touch with reality, particularly with Powell, Rice, Clinton, Dean, and Gore.

Daniels, Huntsman, and Petraeus join Bloomberg as the most reasonable candidates, but again none wanted to put their name in the running.

The reality is that the Presidency is becoming such an obstacle course, that many good people will decide NOT to run in the future, leaving us with the danger of the kind of mediocrity we saw this year in the Republican Presidential race.

Mitt Romney: The “Would Be President” Without “Cajones”!

Ronald 2 Comments

Presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney is proving yet again that he is a flawed candidate in the most basic ways.

Not only has he demonstrated that he has no principles, no beliefs, that he will not change if it is a way to gain votes!

Not only is he showing a lack of concern for the lives of average middle class and poor Americans, who are facing the absolutely worst times economically in the lifetime of ninety percent of our citizens, with only the oldest among us having any memory of the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Not only is it clear that other Republicans look at Romney with a lack of respect and deference that one would expect for a Presidential nominee, as demonstrated by the shabby treatment of Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum in their grudging, unemotional support of his candidacy.

But beyond all this, Mitt Romney has made it clear he lacks the most important trait of any leader who wishes to be our President: CAJONES!

This man worries about talk show hosts, “hoodlums” such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and other talk show hosts on radio and Fox News Channel, including right wing Christian hate monger Bryan Fischer, who describes himself as a “country yokel”, which is too nice a term for this BUM!

Fischer is bragging that he brought pressure on Romney to dump a gay foreign policy aide, and said that if Romney caves in to him, as he has, then how can one assume that Romney could stand up to China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and other nations that are potential threats to our nation?

As despicable as Fischer is, his gloating points out the problem and the truth!

Beyond what Fischer said, how can one believe that Romney could stand up to the Tea Party radicals in Congress, to the leadership of his own party, to the opposition party leaders, to “friendly” nations in Europe and Asia and Latin America, to the news media, to corporate leaders, and every other challenge that any President faces, and that Barack Obama can very easily testify to?

This man lacks “Cajones” in a very blunt way, and is unfit to be President of the United States of America!

The Difference Between John McCain And Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum And Other Republican Presidential Contenders Of 2012

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Mitt Romney demonstrated no guts or courage today when a woman in a crowd in Ohio said that Barack Obama has committed treason, and Romney said nothing.

Rick Santorum had a woman make derogatory comments about Barack Obama, claiming he had no right to be President, and Santorum said nothing

Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and other Republicans running for President in 2012 all had similar events occur, weirdly each time with women, and said nothing.

But in 2008, John McCain courageously spoke up when another woman made similar statements of disrespect for Barack Obama, told her she was wrong, and that Obama was a good man, just someone McCain disagreed with on issues and ideas.

John McCain was then applauded for what he said and did, and the opposite reaction of Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and others to the same situation in 2012, particularly with Barack Obama being President now, not just a nominee, makes John McCain look even better!

But think about it: would Bob Dole, the 1996 Presidential nominee, have reacted the same way as McCain? Would Richard Lugar, likely to lose his Senate seat this year because of his decency and statesmanship, have reacted the same way as McCain? Would other “decent” mainstream Republicans of the past, such as Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Jack Kemp of New York, and even present Senators Olympia Snowe of Maine, Susan Collins of Maine, and Scott Brown of Massachusetts react the same way as McCain? The answer in all cases is YES!

This demonstrates how extremist the top leadership of the Republican Party in Congress and the Presidential race has become, and Mitt Romney needs to be roundly condemned for his refusal to react promptly to that woman today! It is clear that Mitt Romney does not have the character and decency to be our President!

The 2012 Republican Presidential Candidates: A Group Embarrassing To American Politics, Except For Three!

Ronald 4 Comments

The Republican Presidential race for 2012, now effectively over, was a terrible embarrassment to American politics and history, with only three candidates fitting the image of being serious, mainstream candidates.

Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul were all, at best, “cartoon” characters, not coming up to the standards expected by most sane, rational Americans for the office of President of the United States.

However, three candidates did fit the standard of what one would expect of a major party nominee for President.

With all their shortcomings, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, and Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts all fit into the arena as legitimate candidates.

And there is a possibility that Romney might select Pawlenty for Vice President, making for a very sane, responsible ticket, which could, in theory, give Barack Obama a “run for his money” in the Presidential race.

But the whole craziness of the Republican Presidential battle helped to marginalize Romney, and destroyed the candidacies of Pawlenty and Huntsman.

2012 will not be remembered as one of the great years of exceptional candidates offered by a major political party for the Presidency of the United States!

Obama, Biden, And Romney: Income Tax Time!

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President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have finished and released information about their federal income tax returns, but Mitt Romney has asked for a delay in filing for six months!

Obama made far less in 2011, due to declining book sales, with his income being about $790,000, his taxes $162,000, and his effective tax rate being 20.5 percent.

Joe Biden, never well to do at any point of his life, reported income of $379,000, taxes of $88,000, and an effective tax rate of about 23 percent.

Both gave substantially higher percentages to charity than Romney, Rick Santorum, or Newt Gingrich reported in 2010.

Romney has what is believed to be $23 million in income from investments, with expected taxes of over $3.2 million, meaning a tax rate of about 15 percent, and in the past only about 10 percent charity, mostly to his own Mormon Church.

By delaying his 2011 tax returns, Romney only makes it a bigger deal closer to the election, and the call for him to release tax returns as extensive as he supplied John McCain in 2008 when he was considered for Vice President, will grow by leaps and bounds, particularly with the fact that his father, George Romney, gave tax information for about 20 years before his run for President in 1968! Why can’t Mitt be as forthcoming as his dad was 44 years ago?

And of course, whoever is the Vice Presidential nominee, will also have his or her taxes, effective tax rate, and charity contributions analyzed and exposed!

All this is not good for the Romney campaign, and it will be difficult to overcome the fact that Romney would be the wealthiest President ever upon taking office, more than George Washington was at the end of his life, with the certainty that someday, Romney will, just by investments, be the first billionaire President ever by the end of his life, if he serves in the Oval Office!

While Gone In DC, The Republican Presidential Race Ended!

Ronald 4 Comments

While the author was gone on vacation in Washington, DC, the Republican race finally came to an end.

Now, some of you might say that Ron Paul is still in the race, but let’s be serious: Mitt Romney is the GOP Presidential nominee, with both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum having stopped campaigning.

This does not mean that Mitt Romney has an easy road to the nomination, as he still needs several hundred delegates, and has not received the endorsement of either Gingrich or Santorum.

Newt Gingrich left the race primarily for economic issues, and Rick Santorum left due to the illness of his youngest daughter, Bella, and his realization that he might very well lose the Pennsylvania Primary two weeks from now.

By both leaving the race, they remain eligible for consideration in 2016, if Romney does not win the White House, even though one would have to say that for either to believe in their hearts that they have a real chance to be President in the future is purely delusional!

But Mitt Romney now has to face the reality, that in seeking the GOP nomination and selling his soul to the right wing of his party, he has lost credibility completely among middle of the road Americans, and yet is not trusted by the right wing or the evangelical Christians who look on his Mormon faith as a cult.

So Romney cannot be sure that evangelicals and conservatives will actually vote for him in November, and therefore, could lose some of the South and Midwest.

But he also trails terribly behind Barack Obama with women, Hispanics and Latinos, and Independents, and it will be hard to recoup.

And in polls, Romney is not well liked or trusted, and comes across as distant, aloof, and not able to relate to us.

And with Tax Day coming at the end of this week, the Democrats will do their best to remind us that Romney has not released his tax returns, except for the year 2010, while providing John McCain with 23 years of returns when he was considered a possible running mate by McCain in 2008. Why not release all of these tax returns?

The answer is that it is clear that Romney has something to hide, including the reports that he has loads of his $250 million fortune in the Cayman Islands and in Swiss banks!

That makes Romney look very unpatriotic, and unwilling to do his fair share to help the nation, seeing paying higher taxes due to his good fortune, as something that a rich person should feel for the blessing that he was able to accomplish his wealth, and owes it to the country to help its future, rather than just go by the legal limitation of the minimum he needs to pay, due to accounting tricks!

Romney is now said to be “mischievous and naughty” by his wife Anne, often acting like one of their sons, but that does not ring true, and even if so, it does not make up for his unwillingness to understand the plight of the average American, and his stiffness and aloofness and reserve around people he cannot easily relate to.

Americans like to feel that they like their President, and Romney is, unfortunately, simply not a warm and pleasant personality.

That, above all, is his ultimate doom, as it was for Thomas E. Dewey in 1948, who Romney looks more like by the day–an intelligent, qualified person who simply could not relate to the American people he wished to govern.

And get this: both Dewey and Romney grew up in Michigan! Dewey’s campaign against Harry Truman in 1948 went from a landslide lead to a total collapse, against a President who gave the Republican Party “hell”. In the case of Romney, he is way behind with little prospect of recovery, but also running against an incumbent President who is copying the Truman method of giving the Republicans “hell”!

The Opportunity For A Final Repudiation Of Rick Santorum: The Pennsylvania Primary On April 24

Ronald 1 Comment

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum is expected to lose the Wisconsin Primary big time tonight, along with Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Most of the GOP establishment has now backed Mitt Romney, although some seem reluctant and doubtful about the former Massachusetts Governor.

Santorum has become ever more vicious in his attacks on Romney, and has made it clear that he intends to stay in the race, despite daunting odds against him. He believes he will win his home state primary three weeks from now, and talks about how the month of May should be a good month for him.

This is part of Rick Santorum’s growing image as delusional!

We can look forward to the strong likelihood that Pennsylvania, which rejected Santorum for a third term in the US Senate in 2006, by a 17 point defeat, one of the all time record losses in percentage for a sitting US Senator, will repudiate him again, embarrassing him to the extreme.

But then, knowing Santorum’s delusions, he might not be embarrassed, and might continue to campaign into May, showing he is out of touch with reality.

The best gift possible for Mitt Romney, and for progressives nationwide, would be a smashing defeat and repudiation of a man who is not only delusional, but also a social totalitarian, desirous of taking away our privacy rights, in his mad dash toward promotion of a theocracy in America!

Rick Santorum: Delusional Liar, NOT A Candidate For Vice President!

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Rick Santorum is on his last legs as a Presidential candidate, and not too soon!

The former Pennsylvania Senator is about to lose the Maryland and Wisconsin Primaries being held tomorrow, and as he flails about, trying to gain traction in recent weeks, he has been shown to be a delusional liar!

Two examples follow:

About a month ago, he attacked the nation, The Netherlands (also known as Holland, with the people being the Dutch), claiming that they promote mercy killing or euthanasia against old people, against their will, and he connects this to his pro life views.

Why is Santorum even spending time condemning a foreign government that is a friend of the United States, an ally in NATO, who he would have to deal with if he was President of the United States? Is this the way to conduct diplomacy, to make up stories and issue attacks on no evidence at all, since this assertion by Santorum about the Netherlands is TOTALLY untrue!

What does this tell us? It shows us that Rick Santorum is a delusional liar! He does not know what he talking about, and it makes one wonder about his sanity and stability to be President!

The second example just occurred recently, when Santorum, out of the blue, declared that the California state university system does not teach American History courses, even if one wants to take them!

Except for one fact that is clear: This is totally made up, is totally untrue, and one can show this by examining the class schedules and catalogues of all the state university system schools.

Why does Santorum make up such a story, and what is his purpose in saying such ridiculous, untrue accusations?

The answer is that we do not know, and Santorum will not apologize through even a campaign aide, that he might have misspoken.

No, he continues to assert total falsehoods, and shows evidence that he can only be described as a delusional liar!

This man is not only wrong headed in his views, but he is also a dangerous, unstable man who apparently does not realize how ridiculous he sounds, and how totally wrong he is in what he claims!

Thank goodness this man is not going to the White House, and if Mitt Romney has the nerve and craziness to pick Santorum as his Vice Presidential running mate, he should be condemned by everyone as putting, within a heartbeat of the Presidency, a person actually more dangerous than Sarah Palin, who may be dumb and ill informed, but is not perceived as a delusional liar!