Among last year's contenders we had a Socialist, Tony Soprano, a brain-dead brain surgeon and a pants suit.* The winner and defending champion?
Hitler :The Sequel.
CLICK HERE if you think the Hitler reference is still out of bounds.
Who does the reigning champ have to do battle with this go round?
Let's take a look at the top 5.
JOE BIDEN:We all know Uncle Joe. Not much background to go over here. He is the messiah. He is the Obama Era personified. He is not too far left or right for the public. All bets are that he can take on Trump's brash personality and win.
I am having my doubts. First, Biden is the reluctant hero. I see no fire in his belly. A look at his personal life will tell you he has every right to want to quietly enjoy the rest of it outside the political arena. This feels like a pity run, an act of duty rather than exuberance.
Second, I am not sure he has the personality to best Trump. He is obviously more intelligent, educated, compassionate, seasoned, experienced and liked by both parties, but the maverick attitudes of old that people are counting on to best Trump seem absent now.
Look at the last debate. Kamala Harris rocketed to second place in the polls after doing no more than dressing Biden down for less than 90 seconds. Uncle Joe looked liked a contrite child after her tongue lashing. Then the segregationist scandal crippled him again. He did well defending himself but he explained nothing. Biden could have used this debate with Harris as an opportunity to explain how government works, how opposing sides need to communicate for the greater good, how being a representative of the people means hard choices, unpleasant choices, and how he is the one to be able to piggyback off the scum to rise up the oppressed...or something of that nature. But he didn't. Number one thing in politics, you turn everything to your advantage. Biden dropped the ball. He got past this because his media supporters bailed him out.
Before that there was the inappropriate touching thing. I have deep opinions on this but that is for another time. I honestly cannot tell you any more than that he apologized. That is how badly this was handled. People who know him were everywhere in the media, explaining that Joe is a warm, demonstrative person and what he did was expected, accepted, and these women screaming harassment are politically motivated. So why didn't Joe add to his apology that this is part of who he is? A warm, loving human and he will rethink his actions in the future because he would never want to offend. BUT HE DIDN'T. Again, turning a setback to your advantage.
Finally, I came across this today and for me, this is the third strike. Now I would love to see him as president. I think middle of the road is what we need to bring the country back together, I think his poise and his age can help bring confidence in the US back to the world. But right now the game is about beating Trump.
WATCH THIS,add up everything else so far and think about it. Does he have what it takes to face off the schoolyard bully?It begins at marker 1:30.
ELIZABETH WARREN: Warren has been the darling of liberal women from the beginning. She is a powerful speaker, thanks to her law background, and seems to be about to best Biden in the polls. However, Warren is not the favorite among moderate liberals, who make up half of the democratic voters. Her ideas on college and healthcare for everyone ring true to her base but leave everyone else wondering how that will be accomplished. She is a strong speaker and very quick on her feet. If Trump had stalked and tried to intimidate her on the debate floor
AS HE DID TO CLINTON I image her response would have been a head on confrontation. the above link, less than a minute to watch the relevant part, shows you how Trump's essence intimidates even a strong woman like Clinton. However, Warren is not to be taken lightly and I have seen her go from an impassioned lawyer to an enraged badger quite effectively.
But Warren has some credibility issues with many voters. How important you think this is or isn't, she was caught in a lie about being Native American. I personally have looked up her background and found 3 different stories on how she got engaged and five different educational histories, from having her starting poor and going to community college to getting a debate scholarship to having graduated from high school at age 16 going on to Rutgers Law School. No one questions her education, experience or intelligence, and perhaps these confusing histories can be ironed out. The fact is, if she has a history that is not ironclad, it will become a very weak spot to exploit. Lastly, the voters who really matter are the undecideds, the voters who are moderate. Some of Warren's extremely leftist views and inconsistent history, no matter how benign, could cost her the nomination.
BERNIE SANDERS: The Anti-Trump, Sanders has his own unwavering base, mostly radical liberals/socialist collage age voters and aging hippies who think he can do no wrong. Like Trump, he is where he is in the polls because of his base. How does he get votes outside his base? I don't think he does. His opinions are so far left most people cannot see him winning over any new voters. Remember, Sanders has a base from his last rodeo.
KAMALA HARRIS: Her 15 minutes of fame beating down Biden in the Democratic debate has catapulted her into a frontrunner. She is a good speaker, a powerful speaker, and neither her gender nor her race seem to help or hurt her, an anomaly in our political system. She is poised, educated and articulate. Only occasionally does the drone of candidate-speak come out of her. She comes across as genuine, and a person of the people. I have no doubt that she would break the Trump spell, her normalcy in stark relief to his bizarre personality.
It bothers me that she rose in the poles by using the pity me card during that debate, the issue being that she personally was bussed. Her dispute with Biden during the debate was over his political association with segregationists which led to her little girl story about busing. Impressive, but hardly anything there to base a vote on. When you dig deeper she is a bit left of the middle on the issues that are the most divisive between the candidates. She is for universal healthcare and free college plus free kindergarten. Those issues are what separate the dems from each other. Once again, the undecideds are the ones who need to be catered to and this hardline position on these issues can be a huge negative. Unfortunately, her being both black and female may hurt her to some voters. Not the PC thing to say, but the sad reality and yes, even among liberals.
"MAYOR PETE" BUTTIGIEG:Let's get the important things over with first. The best I can do to help you pronounce his name is boo deh jedge, Jedge rhyming with edge. Thankfully he goes by "Mayor Pete". This is a difficult one for me because he has been my personal favorite since day one. Here we go.
At 29, he was elected mayor of South Bend, Indiana when it was in the top ten list of dying cities. He has turned South Bend into an up and coming city with poverty and crime at record lows. He is currently 37 years old which would make him the youngest president in history. This could be seen in either a positive or negative light.
He is a Rhodes Scholar, a Harvard graduate. A Lieutenant in the Navy reserve and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan.
He is a concert pianist and speaks seven languages, including Norwegian, which he learned so he could read Norwegian books on Viking history.
He is a newlywed and openly gay.
In his own words," This is the only chance you will get to vote for a Maltese-American, left-handed, Episcopalian gay war veteran, mayor and millennial".
I have seen him speak. He is extremely intelligent, coherent, concise, he leaves out the spin, is measured, thinks before he speaks and never waivers. He will not only tell you what he wants to do he will tell you how he will do it. I have only once see him get angry and his face turns from American Apple Pie to a stern Do Not Tread On Me. Do not let the baby face fool you. The most impressive thing I have heard him say was during the debates, when he was getting shot down for not improving the racial bias in the South Bend police force (directly after a race-based shooting in his town) Buttigieg said "Because I couldn't get it done". Yes, you just heard a politician admit he failed. He spoke after that more on the subject but what really solidified it for me was his honesty. In fact, he dropped out of the presidential race for several weeks to deal with this issue, stating that he did not know if this was strategic or not, but it is his city.
Here
HERE IS WHERE I found info on him all in one place. Its an entertaining few minutes that gives a look at Mayor Pete speaking.
As far as his ability to deal with Trump's bullying, Here is an example:
When Trump nicknamed him Alfred E. Newman, Mayor Pete came back with a smart, subtle yet cutting reply. " I'll be honest. I had to google that" he said. "I guess its just a generational thing. I didn't get the reference. Its kind of funny, I guess. But he's also the president of the United States, and I'm surprised he's not spending more time trying to salvage this China deal". Nice one.
Can the voters get over his age? His sexual orientation? His lack of experience? I hope so. He has something to offer young and old. He is one of the millennials yet has a war record and classic education for the over 50 crowd. He is middle of the road yet has ideas the far left will embrace.
So there you have it. Our current democratic frontrunners in a nutshell, through my eyes, but hopefully somewhat unbiased.
No matter who wins the nomination, if it is one of these five, it is heartening that only one is an older, white, hetersexual male.
If you want to know more about each candidate,
CLICK HERE
or look up their individual websites.
*Bernie Sanders, Chris Christie, Ben Carson, Hilary Clinton
