Two Medical Doctors, Democrats, Running For Governor In Ohio, And Senator In South Carolina

Ronald 10 Comments

The Democratic Party in two states, Ohio and South Carolina, are running women doctors for the Governorship and US Senate respectively.

Dr. Amy Acton is running in Ohio against the highly controversial, extremely wealthy entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who had the arrogance to be a Presidential candidate in the early rounds of 2024, displaying how dangerous and confrontational an individual he is.

Dr. Amy Acton was the equivalent of Dr. Anthony Fauci in Ohio during the early stages of the COVID 19 Pandemic in 2020-2021, advising Republican Governor Mike DeWine on the essential use of masks and promoting vaccinations, and DeWine showed leadership in this crisis.

Only true scientific ignoramuses were arguing against these strategies, and states that abandoned those ideas saw greater loss of life from the pandemic.

Having a medical doctor as Governor would be a big step forward for Ohio and the nation at large, as the fight for science, medicine and public health against the ignorance and ill informed views of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and President Trump, is desperately needed, to keep Americans healthy and safe.

Meanwhile, Pediatrician Dr. Annie Andrews, is running for the Senate in South Carolina against whichever Republican, Darline Graham or Ralph Norman, ends up as the Republican nominee after a runoff election in two weeks, neither who believes in science and public health. So it would be a major step forward if Andrews could win the Senate seat, although it will be a difficult race to win in a state so heavily Repoublican in orientation.

Four “Independents” Running For US Senate In Western States In Lieu Of Democrats!

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It has become clear to the Democratic Party in a number of Western states, that are primarily rural in nature, that their party has little to no chance to gain Senate seats.

So instead, Democrats are working with “Independents” in four states in an attempt to take away Republican Senate seats, and the hope is that it might succeed in some cases.

Such situations include:

Nebraska–Dan Osborn running against Republican Senator Pete Ricketts, who was Governor of Nebraska before replacing Senator Ben Sasse, when he resigned in 2023. He ran a close race against Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer in 2024, coming within seven points of Fischer, an astounding result for an Independent.

Montana–Seth Bodnar running against Republican Senate nominee Kurt Alme, formerly US Attorney for the District of Montana, running for the Senate after the sudden decision of Republican Senator Steve Daines to retire, rather than run for reelection after two Senate terms.

Idaho–Todd Achilles running against Republican Senator Jim Risch, who was briefly Governor of Idaho, has been in the Senate for three terms, and is 83 years old, but is also Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman.

South Dakota–Brian Bengs running against Republican Senator Mike Rounds, who has been in the Senate for two terms, and was formerly Governor of South Dakota.

Only in Montana has the Democratic nominee refused to back out—Alani Bankhead–even though former Democratic Senators Jon Tester and Max Baucus promoted her withdrawing.

Hooray! Celebration Of 18th Anniversary Of “The Progressive Professor”!

Ronald 5 Comments

Hooray, as today, August 11, 2026, is the 18th anniversary of my blog, “The Progressive Professor”!

Since August 11, 2008, this author, scholar, and blogger has published entries on most days, with the only major exceptions being when having gone on “vacation” over the years.

An exact total, as of today, of 8,900 entries have been published, and 36,248 comments have been added by readers and myself, with particularly one family of six individuals in Virginia contributing a massive number of comments, as well as my friend in Maryland, Wayne Johnson, but also other commentators over these past 18 years.

These comments have enriched this blog tremendously, and I wish to thank all contributors, as well as the thousands of readers who have been loyal to reading my blog, even if they do not contribute comments.

On the average, about 1,000 individuals read my blog daily, and utilize my multitude of links, as well as my own past interviews and article submissions on other sites, including my C Span interview about my “Assassinations” book in 2015.

I am hopeful I will be able to continue to contribute my thoughts and insights on American politics, history, and government for many more years, and again, I thank all of my readers and contributors for their loyalty to my site.

Donald Trump Solidifies Worst Presidential Ranking In Second Term!

Ronald 84 Comments

President Donald Trump, in his tumultuous first term (2017-2021) managed to end up in the bottom three of all 44 Presidents through 2021.

In the C Span Presidential Survey of 2021, Trump ended up tied in points with Franklin Pierce, as third from the bottom of the rankings, only ahead of Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan, with those two Presidents, after and before Abraham Lincoln, only three points apart, with Buchanan as the rock bottom.

Trump ended up as between 40 and 44 in all ten categories, except “Public Persuasion” as 32; “Economic Management” as 34; and “Vision: Setting An Agenda” as 36.

In the Siena College Research Institute Survey of 2022, Donald Trump ended up as third from the bottom, with Andrew Johnson at the bottom, followed by James Buchanan, and then Trump at number 43, since Joe Biden after one year, is included in the rankings.

In 2018, when Trump was first ranked in an earlier survey, he was number 42, again third from the bottom at the time.

In the 2022 poll, Trump only avoided the “40s” in ranking in three of a total of 20 categories of the survey—32 in “Party Leadership”; 16 in “Luck”; and 32 in “Willing To Take Risks”.

In the 2018 poll, Trump only avoided the “40s” in ranking in three cagegories, as well—39 in “Handling of US Economy”; 10 in “Luck”; and 25 in “Willing To Take Risks”.

Finally, in the American Political Science Association Survey of 2024 (Presidential Greatness Survey), Trump is rated at the absolute bottom in points at 10.92, with James Buchanan at 16.71, and Andrew Johnson at 21.56.

In Ranking by Party Ideology, and including Joe Biden in the rankings, Trump is rated as the absolute bottom at 45 by: Democrats, Independents, Liberals, and Moderates; and ranked 41 by Republicans, and 43 by Conservatives.

Trump is also listed, by massive margins, as the most polarizing President, more than twice as much as Andrew Jackson and Barack Obama.

And realize, all of these rankings are BEFORE Donald Trump entered his second Presidency, and the events of the past 19 months will only solidify his ranking as, by far, the worst and most divisive President of the 45 men who have held that office!

Internal Discontent In The Trump Presidency, As Turmoil Grows!

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As the war in Iran is in its sixth month with no clear end in sight, and with a decrease in employment of 23,000 reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and inflation raging, there are growing signs of internal discontent in the Trump Presidency.

General Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is seeking an “off ramp”, regarding the Iran War, with US stockpiles of key munitions needed in the war effort rapidly in decline.

There are hints that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe are discussing alternatives to the war effort that has failed to dislodge the Iranian government, and has upended stability in the Middle East neighbors of Iran.

And Donald Trump is angry with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for the growing shortage of munitions, complicating the Iran War effort, and also, being noticed by the Russian and Chinese governments.

It has already been evident by body language and statements of Rubio and Vance, in particular, that they realize the future of the Republican Party and of their own potential candidacies to succeed Donald Trump, are in danger.

And even Caine, while a “loyal soldier”, has been perceived as doubtful from the beginning of the Iran War over the move by reckless Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to prosecute the war, and clear doubts about the wisdom of allowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to have such a strong influence on Donald Trump in deciding to wage war without a clear path to overcoming the Iranian government.

Iran’s top leaders were eliminated, but if anything, the extremism and dedication of the new Iranian leadership not to cave in, and indeed making them more hard line as a result of their leadership losses, makes the situation in the Middle East a literal nightmare.

This turmoil grows as we arrive today at the 52nd Anniversary of the Resignation of Richard Nixon from the Presidency, on August 9, 1974, the past lowest point of the American Presidency, but now being challenged by the multiple disasters of the Donald Trump Presidency!

The reality is that the low point of public opinion since 1940 was when Richard Nixon resigned, but now Donald Trump has the second lowest rating in public opinion behind the Nixon debacle.

Nixon, under pressure from Republican Party leaders, knew to resign, but sadly, the present Republican Party is totally sycophantic, and Donald Trump is determined to burn down all limits on his power, and has been assisted by a disastrous and extremist right wing Supreme Court majority!

Donald Trump’s Massive Destruction Of LBJ’s “Great Society”!

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America is witnessing under Donald Trump in his second term Presidency a goal that the extreme right wing MAGA Movement and “Project 2025” has been working toward for decades—the massive destruction of all of the good work of President Lyndon B. Johnson and his “Great Society” in the mid 1960s.

All of the major actions of the Johnson Presidency in domestic affairs, and also of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, is being reversed in a heartless, callous, cruel manner by both Donald Trump and the extreme right wing majority of the John Roberts Supreme Court.

Among these actions of massive destruction have been the following:

Civil Rights Act of 1964
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Medicare and Medicaid
Federal Aid to Education
Immigration and Nationality Act 1965
Environmental and Consumer Legislation
Housing and Labor Reforms
Eliminating Government Funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and PBS
War On Poverty Programs, including Job Corps, Project Head Start, and Food Stamps (SNAP)
National Endowment For The Arts and National Endowment For The Humanities

Trump has attacked educational programs and cultural institutions, including the Kennedy Center, the National Museum of American History, all other museums connected with the Smithsonian Institution, and News Media.

Trump has also worked to destroy domestic initiatives of presidents after LBJ, including in particular:

Richard Nixon
Jimmy Carter
Bill Clinton
Barack Obama
Joe Biden

Once Donald Trump is out of office, and assuming that Democrats can retake the White House and Capitol Hill, it will take a massive effort to reverse the horrendous damage, and it will be more than a one or two year effort to bring back progress domestically.

Tucker Carlson Move Toward Third Party Movement: Splintering Of Republican Party After Trump!

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Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is making moves toward a third party movement, disillusioned with Donald Trump, and making for a massive split in the MAGA movement, as planning for the Presidential Election of 2028 moves forward, even before the likely disastrous Republican Party Midterm Elections in November 2026.

Joined by former Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and outgoing Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie at his Maine compound, Carlson announced a ten point program of opposition to Donald Trump and his policies and programs.

Particular emphasis was given to the fury over the Iran War; US support of Israel in its war in Gaza; and the controversy of release of the Epstein files.

If this splinter movement of discontented MAGA Republicans gets off the ground, it could spell massive trouble for the Republican Party in the battle over the Presidency in 2028.

While Carlson denies he would announce as a Presidential candidate, there is the potential for others disillusioned with Donald Trump on the extreme Right to complicate the potential for Vice President JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Ron DeSantis, Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton, or other potential contenders.

Self Enrichment, Self Glorification, Retribution: Sum Total Of Second Trump Presidency!

Ronald 26 Comments

The Donald Trump Second Term Presidency, after 18 months can be summarized by three terms:

Self Enrichment

Self Glorification

Retribution And Revenge

Donald Trump has violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, enriching himself in this past year and a half by a few billion dollars, and yet, nothing is done to combat it.

Donald Trump has promoted every imaginable tactic to glorify himself and change Washington DC, so that he insures that he will never be forgotten after his passing.

This includes:

Proposed United States Triumphal Arch
Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
Lincoln Memorial Promenade
White House East Wing Ballroom
White House Rose Garden Renovation
Gilding of Oval Office and Lincoln Bedroom Gold and Marble Renovation
Lafayette Park Renovation
East Potomac Golf Links Renovation
The Kennedy Center
Ultimate Fighting Championship Arena on the South Lawn
Commemorative $250 Bill
Commemorative Trump Passports
White House Helipad
Proposed National Guard of American Heroes
Proposed Renaming of Dulles Airport in Virginia
Intervention In Operation Of Smithsonian Institution And National Historical Sites

And this inconclusive list does not include naming of other locations after Donald Trump, such as Palm Beach Florida International Airport, newly renamed Donald J. Trump International Airport in July 2026.

Finally, Retribution, including harassment and prosecutions against all critics and perceived “enemies” of Donald Trump, including those involved in court cases and legislative actions designed to prosecute and hold accountable Donald Trump, his family, and his supporters. Many of these cases have failed, but the pursuit of “enemies” is continuing.

Also, federal judges and state officials have been threatened, and corporations, law firms, universities, and journalists have been intimidated by actions brought by the Justice Department, the FBI, and other government agencies that are catering to the whims of Donald Trump.

Democrats In Michigan Reject Party Establishment, Nominate Abdul El-Sayed For Senate Race!

Ronald 12 Comments

Democratic Party voters, by a narrow margin of about 15,000 votes, have rejected the “Party Establishment” which backed Congresswoman Haley Stevens, and have nominated progressive leftist Abdul El-Sayed for the Senate nomination, against Republican nominee, former Congressman Mike Rogers, for the election in November, which will decide who will replace retiring Senator Gary Peters.

On first thought, it might be believed that the result is disturbing, but when one goes beyond the political propaganda, it is clear that while El-Sayed is critical of Israel’s war in Gaza against the Palestinians, he is NOT antisemitic OR anti the right of Israel to exist, but believes that the Palestinians also have the right to exist, and that the war in Gaza and the West Bank, which has led to 75,000 deaths, mostly women and children, needs to end.

One can be pro Israel, but not pro anything that nation and its leadership does, just as is the same with the United States and its leadership.

The battle to retain the Michigan Senate seat for the Democrats, and for them to gain the four seats from Republicans that are needed to gain control of the US Senate, is an urgent one.

Already, Donald Trump is calling El-Sayed a “Communist”, utilizing the old idea of the Red Scare promoted by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin in the 1950s, and this despicable tactic must be vigorously opposed by every decent person in Michigan, and nationally.

Ironically, Trump consorts all the time with “Communists”, such as Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jinping of China, and Kim Jong Un of North Korea, wishing to be a tyrant and dictator as they are for sure.

El-Sayed is a very impressive and acomplished person, attending and graduating with high honors from the University of Michigan, and giving the commencement address. He had two years of medical school at the University of Michigan, followed by a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in England, and then an MD degree from Columbia University, and went into public health epidemiology work, rather than pursue a medical license. He became a public health professor at Columbia University, and then, Health Director of Detroit, and then, of Wayne County, Michigan.

El-Sayed was endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Chris Van Hollen, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, outgoing Senator Gary Peters, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and other establishment Democrats backed Haley Stevens in a losing, although, close margin campaign.

El-Sayed is an accomplished dynamic speaker and podcaster, and would be the first Muslim US Senator, although there are and have been a few Muslim members of the House of Representatives. To date, there have been five Muslim members of the lower house, with one, Keith Ellison from 2007-2019, who has been Attorney General of Minnesota since 2019.

Ohio Republicans A Disaster, Have Besmirched Ohio Historical Reputation!

Ronald 21 Comments

The state of Ohio has a great history in many ways, including 8 Ohio Born Presidents, all Republicans, except for WH Harrison, who was a Whig.

William Henry Harrison
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
James A. Garfield
Benjamin Harrison
William McKinley
William Howard Taft
Warren G. Harding

It must be said that none of these 8 Ohio Presidents have ranked high in history, and with Grant and Harding sadly presiding over massive corruption in their eras 50 years apart.

William McKinley is usually considered the highest ranking of these 8 Presidents, with William Howard Taft close behind, and with James A. Garfield, considered a tragic figure, as a potentially gifted President, assassinated after only six months in office in 1881.

Now, we have Vice President JD Vance, who was born in Ohio, and just celebrated his 42nd birthday two days ago, on August 2.

Considered likely to become President during this term, due to Donald Trump’s rapid mental decline and other age related issues, his reputation is not impressive, and if he is still Vice President by the time of the Presidential primaries, he might face strong challenges from other Republicans, most notably Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

But beyond this situation, we also have the scandalous situation involving Cleveland area Congressman Max Miller, involved in a divorce from the daughter of Senator Bernie Moreno, with all kinds of horrendous accusations of abuse and threats to his former wife and their 2 year old daughter.

Moreno is calling for Miller to resign from Congress, and get mental help for his horrendous behavior, which has included other accusations with other women and with law enforcement in the past, and the reaction has been fierce by both sides.

But also, Moreno himself showed lack of dignity by using foul language in the committee hearing that attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci for his handling of the COVID 19 Pandemic response, when Fauci was heroic in his actions and advice, having to navigate the lunacy and craziness of Donald Trump regarding that epidemic in 2020.

This, along with the candidacy of Tech Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as the Republican nominee for Governor, despite his controversial outspokenness and extremist views, puts the state of Ohio in the forefront of controversy that undermines the state’s reputation.

It is hoped that Democrat Amy Acton, a physician, public health leader, and nominee for Governor, can succeed in turning Ohio in a different direction, but Ohio has become very “RED”, after years of being a “swing state” historically.

Acton was seen as a “hero”, much like Dr. Anthony Fauci, in the early period of the COVID 19 Pandemic, but later faced vilification, much like the renowned Fauci, with both being totally correct in their reactions to the epidemic, but suffering from scientific ignorance by their critics.