Presidential Debates

A Grand Slam Home Run For Hillary Clinton Over Donald Trump In First Presidential Debate!

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Last night’s Presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was a grand slam home run for Hillary Clinton.

She demonstrated knowledge, expertise, coolness under fire, a sense of humor, and had an aura of being Presidential.

She proved that a woman could best a man, even one as vain, egotistical, and narcissistic as Donald Trump.

Trump was poorly prepared, and clearly, has no knowledge or expertise that he could demonstrate, and this experience of having a non government person running for President, should guarantee that never again do we even imagine a person only in the business world as a potential President.

As with any profession, one needs education, experience, and vision to be a President, and therefore, it should be automatic that only those who have served in public office in some fashion, and have a record of performance, should be considered for President.

Let a businessman decide to prove himself or herself in public office, as Mitt Romney did, for instance, before he or she dares to consider having the qualifications to be President.

Let such a person go through public scrutiny, and the trials and tribulations of political discourse before such person has the thought of running for the leadership of the free world.

First Clinton-Trump Debate Takes Place On 56th Anniversary Of First Presidential Debate In 1960, John F. Kennedy Vs. Richard Nixon!

Ronald 7 Comments

Tonight’s Clinton-Trump Presidential debate takes place on the 56th Anniversary of the first Presidential debate in American history, September 26, 1960, in Chicago, John F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon.

That debate is famous for the statement that if you watched the debate, you thought Kennedy had won, but if you listened on the radio, you thought Nixon had won.

Body language, eye movements, and even just comparing the two faces, really does matter, and some have said just watch with the sound off, and you will see who has won.

By all measurements, Hillary Clinton should perform better, but there is always a possibility that tonight, we could see a surprise, which could change the race, which as of this morning, shows a statistical tie across the nation, although Clinton still is the one who has the theoretical math to win the Presidency.

It is estimated that 100 million people will watch the debate, an all time high, and the whole world will be standing by to watch what could be the defining moment of the 2016 Presidential campaign.

The Clinton-Trump Debates The Most Significant Since Lincoln-Douglas Senate Debates In Illinois In 1858!

Ronald 4 Comments

Presidential debates have occurred since 1976, and also, originally took place in 1960, but no debate has mattered as much as the one coming up on Monday between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

No more significant debate has occurred since Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas had model debates for the Senate race in Illinois in 1858.

Hillary Clinton is super qualified to be President, while Donald Trump is totally unqualified, and were he to win, American democracy and constitutional order would be endangered.

Donald Trump is a Fascist demagogue, who has no credentials, and has the diplomatic, military, intelligence, and economic experts up in arms over the threat he presents.

Much of the Republican Establishment, including the two living former Republican Presidents, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, and much of the conservative media and intellectual class, are deplored by his candidacy.

Trump has insulted, degraded, ridiculed, belittled, and shown a lack of respect toward women, African Americans, Mexicans, Muslims, and the disabled, and has worked to divide Americans, and gained the backing of racists, nativists, misogynists, xenophobes, and all kinds of white supremacists who also are anti semites.

He has praised dictators, including Kim Jong Un of North Korea and Vladimir Putin of Russia, and talks loosely about using the nuclear button.

The man is a clear and present danger who must be prevented from winning the Presidency, and we must all root on Hillary Clinton to score a win over this demagogue on Monday night!

The Health Issue With Two “Senior Citizen” Presidential Nominees

Ronald 6 Comments

This blogger has discussed on this blog and on History News Network and in other social media posts of his concern about having two older nominees as the final competitors for the Presidency, as Donald Trump would be older than Ronald Reagan at inauguration, and Hillary Clinton would be only about eight months younger than Ronald Reagan at inauguration.

No one wants to say that older nominees, those who are “senior citizens”, are at greater danger of having health issues or even facing death, than younger nominees, but that is a basic reality.

What is now required after the near fainting and buckling of Hillary Clinton at the September 11 commemoration event in New York City is the demand and requirement that both Clinton and Donald Trump MUST be expected to give FULL details on their health, and that should include a basic psychological testing as well, as Donald Trump’s behavior and statements make one wonder about his mental stability.

Full transparency is required, but it also should not be demagogically exploited by Donald Trump and his surrogates, which, unfortunately, is guaranteed to occur in the coming days and weeks, making it a major campaign issue.

The now emerging news that Hillary Clinton has Pneumonia, which was diagnosed on Friday, complicates the issue of the first scheduled Presidential debate to weeks from Monday, whether it will have to be delayed or canceled. And Pneumonia is a serious issue, and right now, we have to hope for a full recovery for Hillary Clinton, and no one should play politics with this.

It is clear that Hillary Clinton wanted to follow through on honoring the dead from September 11, and that is why she showed up today, although having the diagnosis on Friday.

But knowing Donald Trump, do not be surprised that he will exploit it in a disgusting way, which should, if people are decent, backfire on him, whether it is done indirectly by Rudy Giuliani or some other despicable surrogate, or by the candidate himself.

Large Numbers Of Republicans And Conservatives, And Growing, Coming Out Against Donald Trump

Ronald 4 Comments

We are starting to see Donald Trump losing more and more Republican and conservative support as a result of his total disintegration in process.

He has shown the worst possible traits, so many that one cannot list all of them in one blog entry, but a few of them are:

Ordering the removal of a mother and her crying child from a rally
Attacking the Khans, whose son sacrificed his life in Iraq
Accepting a Purple Heart from a person, and saying he always wanted one
Threatening to add the New York Times to a list of media banned from his rallies, including the Washington Post, Politico, and Huffington Post, among others
Claiming that the public opinion polls are rigged against him, and hinting that he might not participate in Presidential debates in September and October
Refusing to support John McCain and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan in their reelection races.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, and many conservative intellectuals, connected to conservative think tanks, and to the National Review and The Weekly Standard, have denounced Trump as dangerous in foreign policy, as well as totally unhinged in so many areas, and on so many issues.

It is clearly time that the Republican National Committee break their ties to this maniac, and take the nomination away from him, and the sooner the better!

Hillary Clinton-Elizabeth Warren Chemistry Absolutely Magnetic!

Ronald 14 Comments

Yesterday’s political event of Hillary Clinton and Senator Elizabeth Warren at a campaign rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, a true “Swing State” and city, was one of the most exciting and magnetic political events in many years!

Warren was dynamic and sensational, and made one think that the nation might be ready for two women on the national ticket, a revolutionary development.

Imagine if, let’s say, Donald Trump selects New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to be his Vice Presidential running mate, what the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates would be like this fall!

Two dynamic, brilliant, intelligent women vs two narcissistic, egotistical bullies!

One is tempted to say: “Bring it on!”

The Libertarian Presidential Ticket: Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson And Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld!

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In a year when there is great disillusionment with the Establishment and the Democratic and Republican Parties, the Libertarian Party, a small third party, suddenly is gaining notice, as it has two substantial former Governors as its Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates for the 2016 Presidential Election:

Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson (R—1995-2003) and former Massachusetts Governor William Weld (R—1991-1997).

One public opinion poll shows the potential for the Libertarian Party to gain 10 percent of the vote, because of discontent with the two major party nominees, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

But neither Gary Johnson nor William Weld are household names, and both are from the past, with Johnson out of the Governorship of New Mexico for 13 years, and Weld out of the Governorship of Massachusetts for 19 years.

So while the fact that they were officeholders of some note in the past, the odds of that party, with its libertarian platform, being able to gain a chance to be in Presidential debates, with a minimum 15 percent average in polls needed by September to accomplish that goal, as occurred with Ross Perot in 1992 and John Anderson in 1980, seems a real long shot!

Have Democratic Presidents Been Treated “Better” Than Republican Presidents By News Media Since FDR Onward? NO!

Ronald 41 Comments

If you listened to Republican and conservative propagandists, it would seem that the Republican Party  is at a disadvantage when it comes to the “liberal”, “mainstream” news media, in coverage of Presidents and Presidential candidates.

Nothing could be further from the truth, as anyone who studies American history KNOWS that Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have all been subjected to an inordinate amount of attacks and criticism on every issue and personal quirk imaginable, and many have been purely fiction and mythology!

The job of ALL news media is to challenge, expose, and reveal weaknesses and inconsistencies in Presidential candidates, and Hillary Clinton, in particular, has had much more attacks, criticism  and fictional and mythological stories than ANY GOP Presidential candidate.

But the fact that Marco Rubio has issues with handling his finances; that Donald Trump has had three marriages and multiple bankruptcies; that Dr. Benjamin Carson has sponsored phony nutrition supplements that supposedly cure cancer; that Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, and Bobby Jindal support an anti gay church leader who advocates gays be murdered; that Chris Christie has left his state in financial tatters and is still being part of the investigation of the “Bridgegate” Scandal in New Jersey; that Carly Fiorina lies constantly about just everything she talks about; and numerous other issues and controversies that  are real and true, not fabricated, is something that the news media and hosts of political debates should be expected to address, and to confront the candidates on these issues.

Instead, the Republican candidates as a group are “crybabies”, and Ted Cruz has suggested that a political debate be conducted by right wing conservative talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin, none of them legitimate journalists, but instead pure hate propagandists who exploit the gullible nature of too many listeners on talk radio and viewers of Fox News Channel.

And yet, one Republican Presidential candidate, Governor John Kasich of Ohio, says the party and candidates need to stop complaining and “sniping”, grow up, and expect the news media to be on the offensive, and to be mature enough to deal with it, and really answer the questions posed to them, just as Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley have to deal with regularly!  And that makes John Kasich a legitimate and serious Presidential candidate, separating the adults from the chidren!

Winners And Losers In First Republican Debate

Ronald 9 Comments

It is clear to this blogger that the winners of the first Republican debate, in Cleveland, Ohio, last night were in order:

John Kasich
Marco Rubio
Jeb Bush
Dr Benjamin Carson
Rand Paul

It is also clear to this blogger that the losers of the first Republican debate, in Cleveland, Ohio, lat night were in order:

Donald Trump
Scott Walker
Ted Cruz
Chris Christie
Mike Huckabee

if one includes the separate debate of the seven at the bottom of the polls, the winners in order were:

Carly Fiorina
Rick Perry

The losers were the rest of the group in the following order:

Rick Santorum
Bobby Jindal
Lindsey Graham
Jim Gilmore
George Pataki

Who came out as potentially “Presidential” in order:

John Kasich
Marco Rubio
Jeb Bush

It seems more likely than ever that one of these three will be the Republican Presidential nominee, but there is a long road to six months from now and the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary and beyond, so we shall see!

Political Campaign Debates’ Impact On American History

Ronald 4 Comments

Do political campaign debates matter?

Absolutely, and the first such case is Abraham Lincoln Vs. Stephen Douglas in the Illinois Senate race of 1858, which helped elevate Lincoln to the Presidency, although losing the Senate seat due to the Democrats controlling the state legislature, and choosing incumbent Democrat Douglas for the new term of office.

Since Presidential debates came about in 1960, and then revived starting in 1976, there have been moments when they really mattered, even if often boring, including:

1960–Richard Nixon sweating and looking tense, while John F. Kennedy smiled, looked tanned, was relaxed.

1976–Gerald Ford says Poland is a free nation, which helps to elect Jimmy Carter in close race.

1980–Ronald Reagan talks about the “Misery Index” and says “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”, and defeats Jimmy Carter.

1984—Ronald Reagan says he will not use age as an issue to show the “youth and inexperience” of opponent Walter Mondale, who he defeats.

1988—Vice Presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen tells opponent Dan Quayle that he is not another John F. Kennedy, and sets the image of Quayle for all time as an incompetent Vice President, and have no chance to be President when he decides to run in 1996.

1992—George H. W. Bush looks constantly at his watch, during the debate with Bill Clinton, who defeats him, and also Ross Perot.

2000–Al Gore walks over to George W. Bush as he answers question, comes across as a weird action, and also breathes deeply at Bush responses, making Gore seem haughty and condescending.

2008—Sarah Palin does an embarrassing performance in Vice Presidential debate with Joe Biden, harms John McCain campaign.

2012–In Republican Presidential candidate debates, Rick Perry cannot remember the three agencies of government he wishes to eliminate, which ends his candidacy.

2012—Joe Biden laughs at Paul Ryan statements in Vice Presidential debate, weakens Ryan image as Mitt Romney’s running mate.

Also, political campaign debates draw attention to the race, and there will be many Presidential debates starting tonight for the Republicans, and in October for the Democrats.