Third Parties

The Donald Trump Phenomenon: It Can Only Hurt The Republican Party And Help The Democrats!

Ronald 1 Comment

Real estate mogul Donald Trump is on a tear, exploiting the “Birther” conspiracy theory about Barack Obama, and he has now surged in some polls to a lead in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2012.

Despite his multiple business bankruptcies, his three marriages, and his tendency to “shoot from the hip” with ridiculous and reckless statements and assertions over many years, Trump is suddenly taking all of the oxygen out of the air in the Republican Party.

Trump is becoming more ridiculous and even stupid as he marches on, now claiming, much like Congressman Ben Quayle of Arizona, son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, did in his campaign for Congress last year, that President Obama is the absolutely worst President in American history!

For Trump to make such a claim, and say Obama has now surpassed former President Jimmy Carter as the worst President ever, shows his absolute ignorance, as if he had studied history, he would well know that there is a long list of Presidents, mostly before and after Abraham Lincoln’s Presidency, that are FAR worse than either Carter or Obama! In fact, in the first estimate of Obama a year ago, he was rated in the top fifteen of the Presidents, while Carter was rated above at least twelve Presidents, putting him in the second tier of three rankings of the Presidents! And Carter seems certain to move up over time, not down to the bottom five or ten, as some like to state, which shows their total lack of knowledge and understanding of the history of the Presidency!

Also, when Trump was asked how many members there are of the House Of Representatives, he was annoyed and refused to answer, a sign that he did not know, putting him in the same camp as being stupid and ignorant as Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Santorum, all of whom have shown they have no clue about any facts or details of our nation’s history!

Why should Donald Trump be expected to know anything other than how to make money, fire people on his television show, and look for constant publicity, since, after all, he inherited his wealth, and has never known what it is to be an ordinary American, who has to worry constantly about staying above water economically?

Rather than study and know the issues, Donald Trump would rather talk about telling China off, seizing Iraq oil revenues, and create constant controversy with his loose mouth?

And get this: Trump is now threatening that if he does not win the GOP nomination for President, he might run as an Independent in the 2012 election, and that with spending up to $600 million of his own money, that he could win the White House! In other words, he would buy the job, much like Rick Scott did in Florida”s Governorship race!

But the difference is that the Electoral College, often much maligned, prevents such a possibility, and NEVER has and NEVER will an Independent be able to win the White House! Ross Perot spent $62 million of his fortune, received 19 percent of the vote, but won no electoral votes in 1992! And Theodore Roosevelt, the much beloved former President, ran as a Progressive in 1912, and won only six states and 27 percent of the votes, and 88 electoral votes, an all time high, but nowhere near winning the Presidency! And this was not just anyone, but rather Teddy Roosevelt!

So stay ignorant and stupid, Donald, and spend your money on your own ego, help the economy in so doing, get your publicity and attention that you constantly need, destroy the Republican Party which is doing a good job by itself in doing so by flirting with the Tea Party, and help Barack Obama, supposedly the worst President ever, to win reelection and continue his great leadership of the nation for another four years!

The British Parliamentary Election: Lessons For America And The GOP

Ronald Leave a comment

The British parliamentary elections brought a lot of attention in the past few weeks due to the fact that, for the first time, the candidates for Prime Minister debated, an idea adopted from the American Presidential elections belatedly, but now there will be no chance to back off from such debates in the future!

It was also noted that the Liberal Democrats, the small third party represented in the House of Commons, was perceived as running a competitive race, and its candidate for Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, came across as charismatic and appealing in a way not typical for British politics. Of course, in reality, the hype for the Liberal Democrats was much greater than the result, as there was disappointment in the actual performance in relation to seats gained.

Also, the Conservative party, angling to regain control of government for the first time in thirteen years, ran a campaign promoting a more centrist view, and showing interest and concern for social reforms that could appeal to middle class voters. David Cameron, its candidate for Prime Minister, ran a masterful race of moderate centrist conservatism, and although the Conservative Party did not gain a majority of the House of Commons, it came out as the number one party in seats, and will be working to gain support of enough Liberal Democrats to form a government. The whole idea of a third party having a crucial role in formation of what has basically been a two party system forever is a stunning development!

The lessons for America is that even with all of the expectations that may exist for a third party, it will, invariably, disappoint in actual result, as shown in Great Britain today and in America many times in the past!

The closest situation in America that may remind one of the pivotal role, despite disappointment in seats gained in Parliament, of the Liberal Democrats in Britain would be the all time greatest and most influential third party in American history, the Bull Moose Progressives of 1912, who ran Theodore Roosevelt for President, ended up second in popular and electoral votes, won the most states (6) ever of a third party, and threw the election to Woodrow Wilson, the second lowest percentage winner of the Presidency in American history! Otherwise, third parties have been great disappointments, although at times affecting election results in minor, rather than major, ways!

The lesson for the Republican party is that the Conservatives only ended up first because of their moderation and centrism, but the indications are that the GOP will NOT learn from the British example, and will continue to veer to the far right, and likely lose most of the American people in the process! Regaining of political power, historically, has been by the moderate, centrist route!

The Conservatives in Britain came to the realization that they could not win by copying Margaret Thatcher! The Republicans need to realize that they cannot win by copying Ronald Reagan! The past is the past, and to win, they must look to reality of where most people are when they vote–the moderate center!