US Senators

A Multitude Of Qualified Democrats For 2028, As Party Assesses The Future!

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A week after the disturbing defeat of Kamala Harris, causing great distress and dismay among Democrats, including this author and blogger, it is important to learn from the disappointment and plan for the future.

The Democratic Party cannot move toward the center Right, if it means ever to offer a reasonable alternative.

However, that does not mean that it should adopt Bernie Sanders Left Wing type progressivism, which, despite what some say, would never be accepted by voters at large as an alternative in the future.

The party needs to continue to promote mainstream progressivism and liberalism, including labor rights, protection of the environment, and enforcement of basic civil rights for the growing Latino minority, African Americans, Asian Americans, gays and lesbians, and women, along with promotion of more voter education as to the details and effects of government policies.

The idea that Latino males, young people, and white women would think of Donald Trump as the better alternative is shocking, so therefore the need for greater voter education is essential.

And as the Democrats ponder their future, it is blessed with a multitude of qualified Presidential contenders!

This includes the following Governors:

Gavin Newsom, California
Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania
Wes Moore, Maryland
Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan
Andy Beshear, Kentucky
J D Pritzker, Illinois
Jared Polis, Colorado
Tim Walz, Minnesota
Josh Stein, North Carolina

Additionally, there are US Senators in the mix, including

Christoper Murphy, Connecticut
Jon Ossoff, Georgia
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota
Cory Booker, New Jersey

Also, present Transportation Secretary and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who is rumored to be planning to run for Michigan Governor, to succeed Gretchen Whitmer, who is term limited from running for reelection in 2026.

To assume that Donald Trump and his party will be able to keep public opinion on his side over the next four years is failing to realize that it is certain there will be a major negative reaction to the agenda that is now being imposed on America by aggressive and extreme Right wing forces!

Democrats must be optimistic and willing to work hard for the future of common decency and empathy as part of American principles!

The 118th Congress Election Deniers: 19 Senators And 154 House Members!

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Shocking beyond belief: 19 US Senators and 154 House of Representatives members in the upcoming 118th Congress (2023-2025) are Election Deniers, in regards to the Presidential Election of 2020!

154 Congressmen and women, out of 222 Republicans, so 67 percent of the House Republican caucus!

19 Senators, men and women, out of 49 Republicans, so 40 percent of the Senate Republican caucus!

Among the Senators are:

Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee)
Ted Cruz (Texas)
Bill Hagerty (Tennessee)
Josh Hawley (Missouri)
Ron Johnson (Wisconsin)
John Kennedy (Louisiana)
James Lankford (Oklahoma)
Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming)
Rick Scott (Florida)
Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)

and five newly elected Senators:

Ted Budd (North Carolina)
Katie Britt (Alabama)
Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma)
Eric Schmitt (Missouri)
J D Vance (Ohio)

So the states of Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Alabama have both of their US Senators as Election Deniers!

What a total disgrace!

Two Weeks After Joe Biden Victory, Only A Small Number Of Republicans Have Acknowledged Reality

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Two weeks after President Elect Joe Biden’s victory, only a small number of Republicans have acknowledged reality, and congratulated Biden in a proper manner.

The list includes:

Senator Mitt Romney of Utah
Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska
Senator Susan Collins of Maine
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida
Senator John Cornyn of Texas
Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota
Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota
Senator Jim Risch of Idaho
Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland
Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts
Governor Phil Scott of Vermont
Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio
Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas
Governor Gary Herbert of Utah
Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama
Governor Chris Sununu of New Hampshire
Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming
Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan
Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
Congressman Tom Reed of New York
Congressman Will Hurd of Texas
Congressman Paul Mitchell of Michigan
Congressman Don Young of Alaska
Congressman Francis Rooney of Florida
Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska
Congressman Fred Keller of Pennsylvania
Congressman John Curtis of Utah
Congressman Peter King of New York
Former Governor John Kasich of Ohio
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Former President George W. Bush
Former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida
Former Vice President Dan Quayle
Former Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee
Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee
Incoming Governor Spencer Cox of Utah
Former Bush Strategist Karl Rove
Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly
Former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton
Former Republican Presidential Contender Carly Fiorina
Pro Trump Pastor Robert Jeffress

Also, many other former Republican officeholders, and people who worked in the John McCain and Mitt Romney campaigns, and the George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, and even the Ronald Reagan Administrations had come out against Donald Trump during the campaign, and they all accept Joe Biden’s victory and wish him well, and support the transition moving forward expeditiously!

Many Republicans Not Attending National Convention In Jacksonville, Florida

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President Donald Trump may wish for a grand audience of thousands of delegates cheering him on at the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, Florida in late August, but it looks as if many US Senators and others will not attend, due to the CoronaVirus Pandemic raging in the nation, and particularly in Florida.

Among those announcing they will not attend include two retiring Republican Senators, Pat Roberts of Kansas and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, with Roberts being 84 and Alexander 80 years of age.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is 78, also has indicated he is unlikely to attend.

Additionally, the following Senators have made statements that they will not attend:

Lisa Murkowski of Alaska

Susan Collins of Maine

Mitt Romney of Utah

Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who will be 87 in September

Expect more Senators and many Congressmen and other party figures to decide not to attend, and it is possible that the entire convention will have to be remote, which is the present plan of the Democrats, as the only practical solution in the middle of a pandemic which has killed 135,000 people in just over four months.

Joe Biden plans to go to Milwaukee in person to give his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, but without a large audience, and Donald Trump, if he was smart, which he is not, should do the same thing, as this pandemic has transformed life in America for the foreseeable future.

Geographical Locations Of Democratic Presidential Candidates 2020: Every Area Represented

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One thing is clear as the Democratic Presidential race heats up: Every area of the nation is represented, unless one wants to list the Great Plains as a separate geographical area.

We have three people from New England—Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Seth Moulton.

We have five people from the Mid Atlantic states—Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, Joe Biden, John Delaney, Andrew Yang (Entrepreneur and Philanthropist).

We have three people from the South—Julian Castro, Beto O’Rourke, Wayne Messam (little known African American Mayor of Miramar, Florida).

We have three people from the Midwest—Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Tim Ryan.

We have three people from the Rocky Mountain West—John Hickenlooper, Michael Bennet, Steve Bullock (not yet announced)

We have five people from the Pacific Coast—Kamala Harris, Eric Swalwell, Marianne Williamson (Author, Lecturer, Activist), Jay Inslee, Tulsi Gabbard.

And the latest news and leaks say New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is about to announce.

And also, while no one takes him seriously, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel (1969-1981), who is 88 years old, and also was an announced candidate for President in 2008, is also an announced candidate.

So if you count every candidate, even those who are not serious, we have 24 candidates announced, or soon to be announced.

No more than 20 will be in the debates, and one can be assured that Messam and Gravel will be unlikely to meet the threshold required to make the debates, and that de Blasio, Bullock, and Bennet, coming in after so many others, may not make the deadline either for the first debate at the end of June.

If one leaves out the two people who are not politicians along with Messam and Gravel, with none of those four seen as having any real chance to be the nominee, we are left with:

7 Senators–Sanders, Warren, Gillibrand, Booker, Klobuchar, Bennet, Harris

6 House of Representatives or former members–Moulton, Delaney, Ryan, O’Rourke, Swalwell, Gabbard

3 Governors or former —Hickenlooper, Bullock, Inslee

3 Mayors or former—Buttigieg, Castro, de Blasio

1 Former Vice President and Senator–Biden

Never Again Should America Elect A President Without Any Government Elected Or Appointed Experience, Psychological Testing And Full Financial Information

Ronald 17 Comments

The experience of Donald Trump should be enough evidence so that never again do we allow a person with zero government experience to run for and win the Presidency.

In ideal terms, it would be good to have a constitutional amendment detailing what a President’s experience should be, but that is clearly never going to happen, and just passing a law would be declared unconstitutional.

But common sense and intelligence should make that a person to run for President should have to meet the following qualifications:

A Presidential candidate should have government service in elective office, including Governors, Mayors, US Senators, US Congressmen or appointed service, including being a Cabinet officer under one or more Presidents or have served in the US military, and reach a high level of rank in any branch of the armed forces of the United States.

However, also a requirement should be that a Presidential candidate must submit to psychological testing, as to his mental stability.

Additionally, any Presidential candidate must be required to submit full financial information for the previous 20 years, with no blocking of any information allowed.

IF these requirements are met, we would never again face the disaster of Donald Trump, a totally ignorant, uneducated, incompetent, and dangerous person to have control of the military and nuclear codes.

The point is that government is NOT a business, and so just being in business does not qualify one to be President of the United States!

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine A Great Choice For Vice President, And Possible Succession If Need Arises!

Ronald 11 Comments

Hillary Clinton has made a great choice for Vice President, in selecting Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her partner to run the executive branch for the next four to eight years.

Tim Kaine comes from a crucial swing state, and would be the third Virginia leader to be Vice President, after Thomas Jefferson and John Tyler, who both became President. He is also the first Virginian to be on the Presidential election ballot, since Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and 1916, not a native Virginian, however, as Governor of New Jersey.

Kaine would be the second Catholic Vice President after Joe Biden, with John F. Kennedy the only Catholic President.

Kaine is a steady, stable, pleasant, well liked political leader who has proved by his experience and interaction with other government leaders that he is well qualified to be President, if the emergency arises. He is also, like Joe Biden, well liked personally by Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives who have dealt with him.

Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are very comfortable together, and Kaine has a tolerant and mild temperament that engenders confidence.

Kaine has served as Richmond Mayor, Lieutenant Governor, Governor, Senator, and chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and his resume is very diverse and broad.

Kaine has served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee, crucial committees and experiences in an age of terrorism.

Kaine has the great advantage that he speaks fluent Spanish, a big plus for the Latino community, which is now one out of every six Americans.

If Kaine is elected, his replacement is appointed by Virginia’s Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe, which would not be true had Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, or New Jersey Senator Cory Booker been selected.

Kaine was already on the short list for Vice President with Barack Obama in 2008, a sign that he is well regarded in Democratic circles.

Kaine went to the University of Missouri, Columbia as an undergraduate, and to Harvard Law School, so has excellent academic credentials.

Kaine’s Catholicism and Spanish language ability will help him in states including North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada, and his working class roots will help in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Tim Kaine can be criticized on the issue of free trade, and on supporting the Iran deal, but it will not have that much of an effect on the election, as this blogger sees it. He is certainly not “perfect”, but then no one is.

This blogger was correct when he said that Kaine was the front runner for Vice President, and that the history of the Democratic Party nominees for President choosing a US Senator for Vice President would be continued, all but 1972 and 1984.

This nomination also shows once again that Southerners are favored for Vice President now 9 times since 1944 onward in the Democratic Party, even though Tim Kaine is very different than most earlier Southern nominees for Vice President, much more progressive. Also, Southerners have been on the Presidential ticket at either end of the Democratic ballot in all elections since 1944, except 1968, 1972, 1984, 2008, and 2012, a total of 14 out of 19 times.

Tim Kaine will be an asset to Hillary Clinton, both during the campaign, and as an active Vice President in the mold of Walter Mondale, Al Gore, and Joe Biden!

Republican Views On Donald Trump

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Much of Wall Street is against Donald Trump, and many corporations are refusing to sponsor or support the Republican National Convention.

And many Republicans are either refusing to support Trump or, at least, are refusing to attend the convention, and or speak. Others, however, have supported Trump, and some of them are on the Vice Presidential “short list”. The incomplete list below contains 51 names.

Among them are the following who refuse to endorse Trump: (24)

Illinois Senator Mark Kirk
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham
2012 Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker
Former New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman
Former Florida Senator Mel Martinez
Former Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman
Former Texas Congressman Ron Paul
Former Republican National Chairman Ken Mehlman
Former Oklahoma Congressman J C Watts
Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
President George H W Bush
President George W Bush
Bush I National Security Adviser Brent Scowcraft
Retired General Colin Powell
Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge (Also Secretary of Homeland Security)
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan
South Carolina Congressman Mark Sanford
Ohio Governor John Kasich
Texas Senator Ted Cruz
Nevada Senator Dean Heller
Utah Senator Mike Lee

Among others who will not attend the convention and or do not plan to speak: (10)

New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte
South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner
Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy
Texas Senator John Cornyn
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Utah Congresswoman Mia Love
Florida Senator Marco Rubio
Ohio Senator Rob Portman
Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker

However, others have endorsed Trump, including the following: (17)

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry
Dr. Benjamin Carson
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul
Florida Senator Marco Rubio
Former Georgia Congressman and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown
Former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
Tennessee Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst
Florida Governor Rick Scott
Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton
Maine Governor Paul LePage

The Age Issue In The Presidential Campaign

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This blogger has discussed before the reality that we are likely to have the oldest President in American history being elected in the Presidential Election of 2016.

Only Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower were past 70 when President, with Ike only three months beyond 70 when he finished his time in the White House, while Reagan was just weeks short of 70 when elected, and almost 78 when he left office after two terms.  Of course, Reagan showed signs of mental decline in his second term, as his son Ron Jr testifies to, and there were many hints that there was concern of his staff and his wife about his ability to deal with the responsibilities, and efforts to “protect” and “shelter” him.

The point is that there is no question that anyone beyond the age of 70 is more likely to have a health crisis, such as a heart attack, a stroke, Alzheimer’s, or cancer, than someone under the age of 70.

Yes, we live in a time when many people continue to work full time, including Supreme Court Justices, US Senators and Congressmen, corporate leaders, media figures, actors and musicians, and average Americans.

And yes, many “senior citizens” work part time, some because they need to in an economic sense, and others because they wish to keep active and engaged.

No one is saying that people over 70 should be “farmed out to pasture”!  But the pressures of the Presidency are greater than any other job, and affect all of us in the country, unlike any other job.  And that makes it ever more important that the best possible Vice Presidential candidates are chosen, and that he or she be substantially younger than an elderly President, since the odds of a Presidential succession during a term of office is far greater statistically.

Also, we have not had a Presidential succession in 41 years since Richard Nixon resigned, and 52 years since a President died in office (John F. Kennedy), so we are fighting against the tides of history, and more so with a President over 70!

Potential Republican Presidential Field: Eleven Governors, Four Senators, A Corporate Executive (Female), And A Pediatric Surgeon (African American)!

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The potential Republican Presidential field, at least that developed by Crowdpac.com, contains the following mix of potential Republican Presidential candidates:

ELEVEN Governors or former Governors–Chris Christie, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Mike Huckabee, Mike Pence, John Kasich, Rick Snyder, Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Jon Huntsman, Mitt Romney

FOUR Senators or former Senators–Rick Santorum, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul

ONE Corporate Executive (female)–Carly Fiorina (Hewlett Packard former Chief Executive Officer)

ONE Pediatric Surgeon (African American)–Dr. Benjamin Carson

Some think, because of these circumstances, that it is likely that a Governor, past or present, is the likely GOP nominee, and that would seem to be a good bet!

However, from this blogger’s perspective, only three of the above are at all acceptable—Jon Huntsman, John Kasich, and Jeb Bush. The rest of the list is horrific to imagine in the White House!