Presidential Election of 2008

Concept Of Political Coalition Against Donald Trump: Does History Tell Us It Could Work In America?

Thomas Friedman, esteemed columnist for the NEW YORK TIMES, suggested in a recent column that the concept of a political coalition against Donald Trump might be the way to prevent him from coming back to power in the Presidential Election of 2024.

So Friedman suggests the following possible coalition tickets of a Democrat and an anti Trump Republican:

Joe Biden–Liz Cheney

Joe Biden–Lisa Murkowski

Kamala Harris–Mitt Romney

Stacy Abrams–Liz Cheney

Any Klobuchar–Liz Cheney

Friedman makes the comparison to the present coalition government in Israel, but Israel has a Prime Minister and a parliamentary system, which is totally different than our Presidential-Congress system of separation of powers.

And if one looks at past past attempts to have a Vice President who is not part of the majority party at the time, just look at John Tyler, not a Whig, under William Henry Harrison, who then had horrible time and constant turmoil after Harrison died after one month in office in 1841.

Or even better, Andrew Johnson, NOT a Republican, running with Abraham Linoln in 1864, and succeeding him after six weeks, and the horrible relationship and disaster of Johnson as President, facing impeachment and constant vitriol, much of it incited by his own prickly personality.

There was talk in 1968, of Hubert Humphrey selecting Nelson Rockefeller; of 2004, of John Kerry selecting John McCain; of 2008, of John McCain selecting Joe Lieberman. None of those would ever have been able to work out, and elect Humphrey, Kerry, or McCain.

Also, in the run up to 2020, some thought of a John Kasich-John Hickenlooper unity ticket, as an alternative to Donald Trump, and it never got off the ground!

And really, Liz Cheney, with strong right wing views on every topic except the danger of Donald Trump, paring with Biden? That is NOT serious, and Stacy Abrams or Amy Klobuchar paring with Cheney, so two women on the ticket, really?

And Mitt Romney running with Harris, really, with his strong criticism of Biden policies, and unwillingness to even back voting rights legislation?

The only one of these pairings that sounds at all logical, but really is not so, is Biden with Lisa Murkowski, the most acceptable Republican in national office, but how would Biden convince Harris why he has to “dump” her as Vice President?

Bill Clinton Illness And Colin Powell Death Reminders Of Fragility Of Life

The past few days reminds us, even if we try to forget, of the fragility of life.

First, Bill Clinton, age 75, had a dangerous urological and blood infection, that required six days in the hospital, and will require a few weeks of further recovery at home.

And this morning, we have the shocking news that former Secretary of State, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and National Security Advisor Colin Powell has died of COVID 19 complications at age 84, despite having been fully vaccinated, although he was suffering from cancer.

Powell was a truly great American, a man much admired. But his defense of the claim of WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) before the United Nations, which justified the Iraq War under George W. Bush at the time, was proven to be a lie, undermining somewhat his reputation.

Still, as a mainstream Republican, Powell supported Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Joe Biden in 2020, and was an especially leading critic of the danger represented by Donald Trump.

So we are thankful that Bill Clinton is recovering from his illness, and greatly saddened by the death of Colin Powell!

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Suspended From Practicing Law In New York

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani was suspended from practicing law in New York, due to his lying about the Presidential Election of 2020, undermining American democracy, and supporting the Fascist authoritarian Donald Trump in his quest to destroy America in every way possible. His misconduct and corruption is massive!

Giuliani could have retired from public life after September 11, and gone down as a hero, but his greed, selfishness, and growing dementia (which is clear to anyone who pays attention), has now doomed him to being a villain in American history long term!

Giuliani helped to incite the January 6th US Capitol Insurrection, and needs to be indicted, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison as a traitor and seditionist!

To think that in 2007, Giuliani led polls for the Republican Presidential nomination, and seemed a “reasonable” potential candidate at the time, makes one shocked at his fall and degradation!

Evil and the devil took over Giuliani’s personality, and he and another potential Presidential contender in 2007, former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, will go down as mentally disturbed, corrupt individuals who deserve the total rebuke of historians who look back on the recant degradation of the Republican Party, which will never recover from what Donald Trump has done to the party of Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Dwight D. Eisenhower!

Donald Trump Obsesses On An Election He Lost, And Endangers America On COVID 19 And National Security

Donald Trump is wasting his last two plus months in office obsessing on an election he lost, undermining faith in American democracy at a time of America being endangered by the COVID 19 Pandemic, which he refuses to relate to, or care about the massive loss of life, now 250,000 men, women, and children after only 8 months.

Trump is also a danger to national security, with his reckless plan to attack Iran, and withdraw troops precipitously from Iraq and Afghanistan, undermining the fight against terrorism worldwide, and angering even many Republicans.

It has made this transition the most dangerous and tense since 1932-1933 (Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover), and 1860-1861 (Abraham Lincoln and James Buchanan).

Joe Biden faces a series of crises even greater than Barack Obama faced after his election in 2008.

Final Projection On Presidential Election Of 2020

On April 30, I did an early projection on the Presidential Election of 2020.

Six months later to the day, and after having gone through so much pain and suffering as a nation, with a President who is totally uncaring and incompetent, as well as corrupt and despicable in personality and policies for the past four years, I look forward to a massive landslide victory of Joe Biden. He is a very decent, compassionate man who can bring us together after the four year nightmare we have experienced.

My estimate is based on my knowledge and perception of what has been going on politically in this nation, and my historical perspective over a half century of teaching, writing, publishing and speaking.

The judgment of what will happen has been slightly changed, but not by much.

So let’s make it clear that I fully expect Joe Biden to win a massive landslide, with about 54-55 percent of the national popular vote to Donald Trump’s 43 percent, less than he gained in 2016.

The Electoral College will end up, I believe, as 413-125, and 30 states for Biden and 20 states for Trump.

One might be surprised that Trump would win 20 states and ONLY get 125 electoral votes, but that is so because none of the 20 states has a large population, with only Tennessee and Indiana having 11 electoral votes each, and four small rural states (North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska) having a minimum 3 electoral votes each.

So Trump wins rural America, which is dying more every decade as young people leave for better opportunities, and that means these states, heavily consisting of poor people, white and minority, has no long range future, and will be further trivialized in future decades. Only Mormon Utah is growing rapidly in population, and only a few medium sized cities are in these states, including St Louis and Kansas City in Missouri; Nashville and Memphis in Tennessee,: New Orleans in Louisiana; Indianapolis in Indiana; and Salt Lake City in Utah. One can believe that over time, some of these 20 states will turn Blue and give up on the Republican Party, if they have any sense of the future, and this might happen over time with Missouri and Tennessee.

So my estimate is that Joe Biden easily wins the Electoral College, simply by winning the 20 Hillary Clinton states in 2016, and adding the three Midwestern states she lost by very small margins—Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, and also winning the 2nd Congressional District of Omaha, Nebraska, for a total of 279 electoral votes. That is all that is needed, but it seems highly likely that Joe Biden will also win the Southern states of North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Texas, as well as win the Midwestern states of Ohio and Iowa, and add the Southwestern state of Arizona, adding up to 413 electoral votes from 30 states.

We will see how accurate this blogger and author is, but a reminder that in 2008, I was one electoral vote off, thinking Barack Obama would win Missouri (10 electoral votes) and lose Indiana (11 electoral votes), and just the opposite happened.

And in 2012, this author and blogger was totally accurate on the Electoral College, so I hope I am proved correct in 2020.

But the most important point is that IF Biden just wins 23 states, he will become the 46th President of the United States!

Nebraska District 2 And Maine District 2 Could Decide Presidential Election Of 2020? Really? Yes!

Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that allow a split electoral vote, with Nebraska having 5 electoral votes and Maine having 4 electoral votes.

But in 2008, Barack Obama won one electoral vote in Nebraska, while the state majority went Republican.

And in 2016, Donald Trump won one electoral vote in Maine, while the state majority went Democratic.

Assuming Joe Biden won back just two Trump states from 2016–Pennsylvania and Michigan, but failed to win back Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, and Florida, other Obama states in 2012 lost by Hillary Clinton in 2016, the following possible scenarios could occur!

We would go from 306 for Trump and subtract 20 for Pennsylvania and 16 for Michigan, and Biden would win with exactly 270 electoral votes!

But if the one Maine district stayed with Trump, the electoral vote would be a tie, 269-269, and the House of Representatives would choose the President, as they did in 1800 and 1824, with each state having one vote based on the majority of either party holding Congressional seats in each state.

But the 269-269 vote could be overcome if the one Nebraska district switched to support of Biden, as it did for Obama in 2008, and Biden would have 270 electoral votes!

Right now 26 states have Republican majority delegations, but that could change, if the Democrats were able to win two more states with a majority delegation of their party.

Of course, seven states only have one House member, so that person alone determines the state vote in those seven states.

Also, if we ended up with 25 states having a Republican and 25 having Democratic majority delegations, then there would be a massive constitutional crisis with the tie that would exist!

We could have Inauguration Day approach, and no certainty that either Joe Biden or Donald Trump would be declared the winner.

So then, Nancy Pelosi, assuming the House of Representatives stayed in Democratic hands, would become Acting President until, somehow, the deadlock was broken!

Joe Biden Further Ahead In Polls For Early June Than Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, And John Kerry Were In Last Four Election Cycles

We have all learned from history that public opinion polls are not always accurate, but it is impressive, at least for now, that Joe Biden is ahead of Donald Trump in all public opinion polls in early June, further ahead of Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton in 2016, Barack Obama in 2012 and 2008, and John Kerry in 2004 against their opponents.

It is clearly not a reason for those who support Joe Biden to become cocky, and even lazy about campaigning for him, and for encouraging others to vote in November.

But considering the first five months of 2020, with the impeachment trial; the CoronaVirust Pandemic; the collapse of the economy to depression levels; and the Trump decision to fire tear gas, pepper spray, and have two helicopters threaten peaceful demonstrators in Washington, DC, who were protesting the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, one has to believe that the polls likely are accurate against Donald Trump.

Is Bernie Sanders Suicidal, By Praising Education Under Fidel Castro, And Criticizing Israeli Jewish Pressure Group, AIPAC?

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders seems to be suicidal politically, as he reminds us of the great promotion of education under Fidel Castro’s dictatorship in Cuba, insuring that he has no chance to win the state of Florida. He alienates the Cuban American community in South Florida, in a state that has the third largest number of electoral votes, and while it is true that most Cuban Americans vote Republican, Barack Obama did win Florida twice in 2008 and 2012.

Also, Sanders alienates much of the Jewish community in his criticism of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, which has support of a large percentage of American Jews.

The Jewish community usually votes at least 70 percent for Democrats, but now it is seen as possible that Sanders would gain a smaller percentage of Jewish support than any Democrat in many decades. His being Jewish does not help him, as many Jews see him as a traitor to Israel.

Sanders is making clear just how much of a rebel he is, and putting many Democratic members of Congress in an awkward position, as to whether they can support him.

Sanders comes across as someone who is not willing to compromise, and while that may be appealing to his supporters, heavily young idealists, it puts not only him, if he is the nominee, but the party from top to bottom, in a position where they could see a massive destruction electorally of the Democratic Party!

Is Joe Biden “Done”? Not So Quickly, One Might Say!

Former Vice President Joe Biden has done poorly in the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primary, being 4th and 5th respectively, and many observers are thinking he is “done”.

Not so fast, as Biden is still favored to win in South Carolina, and in theory, is the only Democrat to have widespread African American support.

And Super Tuesday on March 3 will be the ultimate decider on his fate, as if he performs poorly in the 14 state primaries on that day, then it will be time for him to drop out.

Biden has been trying to be President for a third of a century, longer than any Presidential contender in American history, having first tried in 1988, and then 2008, before now.

He has never come near being a serious potential candidate, and his age is a detriment, plus his seemingly declining public performance.

This blogger and author has been a long time fan and supporter of Joe Biden, who exudes the most important trait any President should have, empathy. He is the kind of person who one could imagine that if he was your neighbor, he would ask if he could help you with anything.

He is a genuine, sincere, decent man, with more experience than any Presidential contender or President ever came with to the Oval Office.

But we know that experience and capability is not always a plus, and that many Presidents we have elected were far from the best choices, but they had the magic and the luck to be able to win.

We may be seeing the final conclusion on the public life of Joe Biden in the next month, but he can still be an adviser or participant under another Democratic President, and of course, he can stay in the public eye through speeches and writings, contributing to public discourse.

And since he is in his late 70s, he can also choose to enjoy his retirement, his family, and recall all of the contributions he made as a six term US Senator, and as one of the best Vice Presidents in American history!

Time For A New Generation Of Leadership: My Endorsement Of Pete Buttigieg For President!

With the Iowa Caucuses taking place on Monday evening, followed by the New Hampshire Primary, the Nevada Caucuses, and the South Carolina Primary later in February, and then Super Tuesday on March 3 (14 states voting), it is time to consider who would be the best choice for President of the United States.

Anyone who has read my blog for the past eleven and a half years knows of my genuine affection for former Vice President Joe Biden.

I wish he had been the nominee in 2016, and believe he would have defeated Donald Trump.

But at age 77 now, and concerned about the idea of an octogenarian Presidency if Joe, or Bernie Sanders, or Mike Bloomberg wins the election, I do not think any of these three would be the best choice for the future of the party and nation.

I wish to make it clear that I will support whoever the Democratic Presidential nominee is in 2020, but prefer a younger candidate who represents the future.

So therefore, I am endorsing former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg for President!

I believe that Pete, while seen as a “dark horse”, represents the future of the party, and would move the nation forward in a rational, reasonable way.

He would be the John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama of his time, as the thought of a Catholic, a Southerner, a Governor of a small state, and a mixed race African American President was unlikely, but occurred in 1960, 1976, 1992, and 2008.

Pete was the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, a small city, but there is no description of who a President should be, and what matters more is the inspiration that a candidate brings to the race.

And Pete represents a new generation; a man who would be the youngest President in history; a man who served in the military in Afghanistan; a Harvard and Oxford graduate; a recipient of the Rhodes Scholarship; and a scholarly man who can speak seven languages.

Pete is a moderate progressive, which is the mainstream of the Democratic Party, and this blogger and scholar does not believe that Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren can win the election. And were either to win, the strong odds are against their agenda as more ambitious than the next Congress would be.

To accomplish their goals would require a Congress similar to that under Franklin D. Roosevelt in the mid 1930s, or Lyndon B. Johnson in the mid 1960s, but that occurring is close to zero, in reality!

The fact that Pete Buttigieg is gay and has a husband would not, in my estimation, be a major factor in the election, except for extremist religious Christians and Jews, but realistically, they would be unlikely to vote Democratic anyway.

And as far as African American voters, while they might favor Joe Biden now, and there are some issues with Pete’s handling of racial issues in South Bend, can one really imagine African Americans backing Donald Trump for a second term?

The prospect of a woman nominee, either Amy Klobuchar or Elizabeth Warren, would be appealing, particularly after the disappointment in 2016, and the fact that the centennial of the Woman Suffrage 19th Amendment, is in 2020. But I think the odds of midwestern white men supporting a woman over a gay male is highly questionable.

A great idea, however, would be to select a qualified woman for Vice President, with Amy Klobuchar the front runner in that regard, older by a generation than Pete, but Obama had Joe Biden who was a generation older as well.

Having a Midwestern ticket of Pete and Amy would insure, in my estimation, a Democratic victory in November, with two firsts–a gay male President and a woman Vice President–two advancements brought to us by the Democratic Party, the party of reasonable revolutionary change as in the case of John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama, half a century apart, and now looking into the future of the nation.

So again, I am in for whoever the Democrats nominate for President as the best choice for the nation, but enthusiastically endorse Pete Buttigieg for President, and welcome all commentary by any reader!