While the flock of Republican candidates is proving more is actually not good, the Democrats, once you get past Hillary and Bernie, look like they have
a pretty weak bench. Two parties with very different problems. But the same
result . . . uninspiring “leadership.”
I guess that’s really what we seem to be missing here . . .
a leader. Someone who seems to rise above the maddening crowd. And a maddening
crowd it is.
No?
People hate Hillary, don’t trust her, despise her “above it
all” sense of entitlement and find her presentations stilted, practiced and
robotic.
Bernie is a self-proclaimed democratic socialist with an
all-in, in your face narrative that is nothing but straight shooting (as far as
we know). But he’ll never attract anyone much to the right of center, though he
is drawing big crowds and could be the anti-candidate candidate. He kind of
comes across as your crazy Uncle Fred at times. No doubt many in business, the
military and Congress are shaking at the thought of Bernie as President. People trust what he says, but we’ll see if his vision catches on . . .
He seems to be fading a bit now.
Dr. Ben Carlson has surged ahead of the Trumpster in
national polls, in large part, it would seem, because of his quiet demeanor and
strong religious faith. But it seems to me the anti-evolution, anti-science
candidate will get tripped up when people start to pay attention to what he
says and has said. It could be, perhaps, that most voters don’t think
government here should be based on Biblical passages and teachings.
Donald Trump himself has slipped a bit, something people
said months ago would happen . . . though they thought his campaign would
totally collapse . . . months ago. It has done everything except collapse.
Trump’s appeal comes from his brash and unfiltered rhetoric, but how long will
people follow the, “I’ll hire the best people” or “I’ll make it work” before
they see there not much behind the curtain?
Rubio is the young charger and has stifled fellow Floridian
Jeb Bush, who just doesn’t have any spark, seems forced and lacking direction
and a message. Cruz is a hit with government and Obama haters, but hasn’t shown
much of anything other than a willingness to shut down the government. Chris
Christie is staking out his positions, but, like Graham, Fiorina and others
just can’t get enough traction to move up the popularity ladder. He does seem completely at ease on the stump, though, so that may start to play with voters.
Lastly, John Kasich is a clear, more moderate voice,
criticizing some of his GOP opponents for their seemingly shallow and often nonsensical
policy statements and trying to sell his experience, but his may be a clear
voice drowned out in the hurricane that is the Republican primary race. The
primaries will probably shred his chances.
Candidates have gathered together to circumvent their own
Republican National Committee over their displeasure with the debates thus far,
and it wouldn’t surprise me a bit to see the top four of six candidates work a
network deal to hold their own debate. Makes sense . . . there are simply too
many candidates on the stage to hold a 2-hour debate and get more than a few
minutes from each one.
It’s raucous to be sure.
And Democrats best not get too comfortable with Hillary and
Bernie. She’ll be a mostly sitting target when the PACs start their
billion-dollar attacks. Bernie may not have the Hillary baggage, but while he’s
probably better on his feet than most of the Republicans, it’ll be a question
of him getting his message through the maddening GOP noise.
We’re nowhere near those tipping points yet. Once the
primaries and caucuses start, the GOP will be whittled down fast . . . no
money, no campaign . . . That’ll make it easier for the last candidates
standing to be heard . . . for better or worse.
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