Ted Cruz

Donald Trump, The Conspiracy Theorist, With Innumerable “Skeletons” In His Closet!

Ronald 6 Comments

Donald Trump is a master of conspiracy theories, including:

Muslims in Hew Jersey applauded the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

Barack Obama was not born in the United States, and is a Muslim. (The Birther Conspiracy)

Mexico is conspiring against the US, and sending drug gangs and criminals into the US.

Ted Crux’s father, Rafael Cruz, conspired with Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate John F. Kennedy.

Vince Foster, an aide to the Clintons, did not commit suicide in 1993, but instead was murdered on order of the Clintons, as he had dangerous information on their activities.

Hillary Clinton “enabled” Bill Clinton to commit abuse on numerous women, and set out to destroy those women’s lives in the aftermath.

These and other conspiracy theories are the work of right wing extremists who will stop at nothing to defame the Clintons and President Obama.

Meanwhile, Trump has numerous “skeletons” in his closet, but is outraged at any investigation of them, and uses reports on his “skeletons” as the excuse for his vicious personal attacks on the Clintons, Obama, Muslims, and Mexicans, along with innumerable personal attacks on everyone else imaginable!

Who Among Speculated Vice Presidents For Donald Trump Is “Qualified” and “Acceptable” To Be A Heartbeat Away?

Ronald 4 Comments

Now that Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee, with the withdrawal of both Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich, there is much speculation as to who might be his Vice Presidential choice, with at least 17 potential candidates.

Of course, there is always the danger of a “wild card”, someone that no sane person would consider for Vice President, but with Trump, you never know!

It is urgent that a decent, competent Vice President be ready and able in case of an emergency, were Trump to be incapacitated or die in office.

Some of the choices are acceptable if not palatable, but many are horrific choices.

As this blogger sees it, the following potential choices are “acceptable” in no special order:

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley

Ohio Governor John Kasich

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida

Former Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts

This is a short list of six, with the other eleven being totally unacceptable, including:

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

Florida Governor Rick Scott

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama

Dr. Ben Carson of Maryland

Former Speaker of The House Newt Gingrich of Georgia

Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin

Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee

Rapid Decline In Quality From Ronald Reagan-Richard Schweiker In 1976 To Ted Cruz-Carly Fiorina In 2016!

Ronald Leave a comment

Forty years have passed since Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, in a desperate move to try to derail President Gerald Ford from winning the GOP Presidential nomination in 1976, chose a Vice Presidential running mate, Pennsylvania Senator Richard Schweiker.

It did not help Reagan to win the nomination, but at least Reagan had been two term Governor of California, and Schweiker was a two term liberal Republican Senator, who later was Secretary of Health and Human Services for two years under Reagan.

The rapid decline in quality from Reagan-Schweiker then to Ted Cruz-Carly Fiorina two generations later is alarming, demonstrating how candidates for President and Vice President, at least in the Republican Party, are truly disastrous!

Remember that the GOP is great at choosing terrible Vice Presidential candidates, including Spiro Agnew and Dan Quayle, who served as Vice President, and Sarah Palin!

And even the so called “better qualified” VP candidates such as Dick Cheney, who was Vice President, and Paul Ryan, who did not serve, are wanting in comparison to Democratic Vice Presidential candidates, including Walter Mondale, Al Gore, and Joe Biden, as well as candidates Edmund Muskie, Sargent Shriver, Lloyd Bentsen, and Joe Lieberman!

Ted Cruz-Carly Fiorina “Marriage” Is A Total Joke!

Ronald 24 Comments

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, arguably the most disliked member of the US Senate, desperately trying to survive until the Republican National Convention as a Presidential candidate, has chosen former rival, and former CEO of Hewlett Packard, Carly Fiorina, to be his running mate, with very little chance that the reality of them being a team will ever occur at the convention!

Fiorina is about as disgusting and obnoxious as Cruz, and does not add anything to Cruz of significance. If this is designed to help Cruz in next week’s Indiana primary, seen by many observers as the last chance for Cruz to survive until the convention as a candidate, then how does Fiorina do that?

And if the purpose was for Fiorina to help in the California primary, how is that possible, when Fiorina lost the US Senate race to Barbara Boxer in 2010 by a literal landslide, and then flopped badly in the 2016 Presidential sweepstakes?

All that Carly Fiorina is good for is as an attack dog against Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, but she was hard to watch during the campaign for the Presidency over this past year, and really has no special expertise, and no experience in government! Who would want her a heartbeat away from the Presidency? And if there was ever a serial liar, it is this woman!

So Ted Cruz has struck out by choosing Carly Fiorina!

Are We On The Road To A 5th Four Way Presidential Election?

Ronald 3 Comments

In American history, we have had four Presidential elections in which there were four candidates who gained a substantial percentage of popular votes.

The first time was 1824, with Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, William Crawford and Henry Clay.

The second time was 1860, with Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, John C. Breckinridge, and John Bell.

The third time was 1912, with Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Eugene Debs.

The fourth time was 1948, with Harry Truman, Thomas E. Dewey, Strom Thurmond, and Henry A. Wallace.

The first two times, 1824 and 1860, saw the success of new political parties, the Democrats under Jackson by 1828 and the Republicans under Lincoln in 1860.  The third time brought the success of progressivism at its peak under Wilson with Roosevelt’s indirect contributions, and the fourth insured the forward movement in foreign and domestic policy under Truman.

Now in 2016, we could have four candidates, including Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and potentially Bernie Sanders or Jesse Ventura.  And who can deny that Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney or John Kasich might also be potential candidates?

The first three named above seem almost certain, but there is some speculation that Sanders could run on a independent line, and that Jesse Ventura, the former Governor of Minnesota, might run if Sanders fails to be the Democratic nominee, and decides to avoid an independent run.  If Trump is nominated, the odds of Ryan or Romney or Kasich running as the “Establishment” Republican opponent grows, just as is likely that Trump will run as an independent if he is not the party’s nominee.

Hillary Clinton would win against a split Republican Party, but IF Sanders runs or even Ventura, the potential exists, in a four way race, for anything to happen, including the need to use the 12th Amendment, as occurred in 1824, which would give the Republican nominee the advantage, with the Republican control of the House of Representatives!

Could We Be Facing Another 1824 Presidential Election, And Use Of The “Ugly” 12th Amendment Once Again, Where The House Of Representatives Selects The Next President?

Ronald Leave a comment

There is growing concern that if we have a third party candidacy of Donald Trump, that we could end up with a scenario of the House of Representatives choosing the next President of the United States!

In 1824, in the first participation by all white males in the election, Andrew Jackson was first in popular votes and electoral votes, but lost the election to second place finisher, John Quincy Adams, because Jackson did not have a majority of the electoral votes, and the House chose Adams over Jackson, pure politics!

With a theoretical race of Democrat Hillary Clinton,  Republican Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump, Clinton could end up having the most popular and electoral votes, but fail to reach 270, the number required to win the White House.

The outgoing House of Representatives, with a clear cut Republican majority, would have each member have his or her own vote, and assuredly in that scenario, Ted Cruz would be elected President, even, in theory, if he ended up third in both popular and electoral vote, as the 12th Amendment provides for a choice of the top three candidates!

This would be unconscionable, but could happen, another quirk of the Presidential election process, that has not been used for 192 years, but could rear its ugly head once again!

Could Ted Cruz Be William Howard Taft Vs. Donald Trump Being Theodore Roosevelt In 2016 Presidential Race?

Ronald 2 Comments

There is now a good chance that Donald Trump will refuse to back the Republican Presidential nominee, if he is not the nominee, and will run on a third party line in November.

That will further insure that the Democrats, who are already heavily favored in the Electoral College, will win an even bigger one sided victory!

Donald Trump cannot win the Presidency, but he could win a few states and end up second, like Theodore Roosevelt did in 1912, while Ted Cruz, could, as the GOP nominee, end up winning fewer states and electoral votes, and end up third, as William Howard Taft did in 1912!

Trump could surpass George Wallace in 1968 with five states and 46 electoral votes, and Strom Thurmond in 1948 with four states and 39 electoral votes.  He could also surpass Theodore Roosevelt who won six states in 1912, but highly unlikely to gain anywhere near the 88 electoral votes that TR won.

So the 2016 election could repeat the Presidential Election of 1912, with the Democrats benefiting, as they did in 1912!

Of course, this blogger is not trying to compare Cruz to Taft or Trump to TR, as both Cruz and Trump have far from the accomplished public records of both the 26th and 27th Presidents of the United States!

Wisconsin Political History: Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde!

Ronald Leave a comment

The state of Wisconsin, the cheese and dairy state, has had a distinguished history in many respects.

It was the base of the great Mr. Progressive, Governor and Senator Robert La Follette, Sr, who also was the Progressive Party nominee for President in 1924, and had the third best percentage of the vote of any third party nominee in history, with one out of every six voters backing him.

It was the state of his son, Senator Robert La Follette, Jr, and also of his second son, Governor Philip La Follette, both leading Progressives in the 1930s.

It was the state of Senator Gaylord Nelson,  Senator Herb Kohl, Senator William Proxmire, and Senator Russ Feingold, the latter now seeking to regain his Senate seat that he lost to Ron Johnson in 2010, with these two men running against each other again in 2016.  It was also the state of Governor Patrick Lucey and Gaylord Nelson, before the latter became a Senator.

It is the state of Senator Tammy Baldwin, the first lesbian US Senator.

However, it was also the state of Senator Joseph McCarthy, the infamous Red Scare leader in the 1950s.

It is also the state of the disgraceful Governor Scott Walker; Senator Ron Johnson; and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, all very willing to work against the interests of the middle class and the poor.

How a state with a progressive tradition can often “go off the rails” is hard to understand.

But the progressive-liberal tradition remains a significant part of the Wisconsin historical story!

Now it is becoming the center of attention again, after Scott Walker endorsed Ted Cruz in the Republican primary to be held next week, with Cruz leading Donald Trump in polls; and Bernie Sanders leading Hillary Clinton in polls for the Democrats.

35 Years Since Last Direct Assassination Attempt–When Will Next Occur?

Ronald Leave a comment

35 years ago, President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously wounded by John Hinckley.

There have been assassination threats against every President since then, but none eyeball to eyeball.

One has to wonder in the midst of the political maelstrom that we are in during this election year of 2016, when the next such direct threat will occur.

Already, there have been reported threats against Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

With the reckless rhetoric of Donald Trump in particular, but also other Presidential candidates, the danger of a serious assassination attempt or success has grown dramatically.

One has to hope and pray that nothing will happen, but this blogger has written on thehill.com and on History News Network (hnn.us) of his fear of a tragic event occurring.  Just by the fact that we have had no direct threat in 35 years, after so many between 1963 and 1981, makes one wonder about the odds catching up toward doom!

 

 

Republican Scenario: A President Who Alienates His Own Party, If Trump Or Cruz Were To Occupy The White House!

Ronald 8 Comments

It seems clear that the Republican Party is in the throes of dying as a major political party, as so many Republicans, both office holders and ordinary voters, cannot imagine either Donald Trump or Texas Senator Ted Cruz as their party’s nominee.

Only Ohio Governor John Kasich is left from the mainstream element of the party, but he cannot win the nomination on the first ballot, and has to hope for a contested convention, which does seem more likely as time passes.

Kasich has the best chance, in public opinion polls, to defeat either Hillary Clinton or Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, while both Trump and Cruz lose in competition against both Democrats.

And there is the issue how Republicans would work with either Trump or Cruz as President, as most Congressional Republicans are turned off by both of them.

We could, in theory, have a Republican Party, or a shell of a party, in warfare against their own President, an event which would be unique in American history!