Never Mind

I have previously posted that Biden announced for president on Aug. 25th. Mea culpa ... it was April 25th. Another blunder due to my failing eyesight. Never mind.

Frustration

I understand Brent Bozell's frustration at Donald Trump's being the presumptive nominee of the Republican party ... see: his Open Letter to Conservatives. But desperate times require desperate measures and it appears that most of blue-collar America doesn't agree with Bozell's assessment of the situation. Yes, Trump is too often wrong on style but right on substance and this has turned many voters off (like my wife). Even I have spent a considerable amount of this blog space criticizing Trump's vulgarities. But now, resolving myself to his eventual nomination, I am forced to concentrate on his approach to the real issues of our time.

If Trump were to be elected ...  which I now consider highly likely ... how would he govern? I believe that he would go a long way toward solving our economic malaise through tax and regulation reform. (He is even against the carried interest tax loophole enjoyed by the hedge-fund nabobs,) I also believe he would find ways to fix our immigration and international trade problems ... in a tough but rational way. And I expect that our fiscal debt goblin would be put back in the closet through spending cuts and economic growth. Yet he would still rebuild our defense capabilities and put apprehension back in the minds of many the bad actors in the world.

But how would Trump handle the social issues that conservatives, like Bozell, are so focused on? Here I am not so sanguine. I expect that he will disappoint many righties in how he reforms Obamacare and Common Core ... and his Supreme Court picks may not be the best. (Wouldn't it be great if he used Ted Cruz as an adviser in this process?) And his approach to solving entitlement  reform could well be too tempered by the brickbats being tossed at him by the liberal media.

And the Trump administration probably will have its share of faux and real scandals ... just because his management style has often allowed the fringes of society to have a chair at the table. And he will come out of the White House a lot wealthier than he was when he went in.

Will Trump be another Ronald Reagan? No, but he may be a modern-day Andrew Jackson, also a rough and tumble politician ... and put Old Hickory's picture back on the double sawbuck in the process. And the best part? Lena Dunham, Rosie O'Donnell, Michael Moore, and lots of other goofy glitterati will soon be living north of the 49th parallel.

Webb Master

The former Senator from Virginia and Viet Nam veteran, Jim Webb, is toying with the idea of running for president in 2016 as the anti-war candidate on the Democrat ticket. I still believe that Hillary won’t run and, if the war against ISIS is going badly by then … almost a certainty, given the fecklessness of our Commander-in-Chief, Obama … Webb might just have a shot at the Democrat nomination. To read a lot of the back-and forth about his possible dovish candidacy … with lots of quotes from him and third parties … see: The Washington Post Article. (You might also note that the Post has already subtly taken sides in this imagined dog-fight.)

But Hillary does have one ardent supporter … Don Imus. The other morning on his Fox Business show he said that, because of the growing ISIS threat, he was going to support Hillary. He added, “if the Clinton's are willing to kill their friends, they certainly would be willing kill those ISIS dudes.”

Ba-da-bing.

Fruitcake

At the risk of being labeled a fruitcake, yesterday on a Skype call with friends, I suggested that Sarah Palin might be a good Presidential candidate for the Republicans in 2016.  Here is my logic:

American voters, as a rule, are clearly “uninformed.”  In 2008, they emotionally chose Barack Obama because he was, to use Harry Reid’s words, a “light-skinned African-American with no Negro dialect.”  This was to prove to themselves that this country was no longer racist … and that, by electing Obama, the stain of slavery would be forever cleansed.  And then they re-elected him in 2012 … despite the fact that he had proven himself of poor Presidential timber … using much of the same mindless naivete.

Now as we approach 2016, I believe that emotion will once again rule the American electorate … and this time they will feel that it is a woman’s turn to be President … independent of any consideration of competence or character.  I think that this will be the Democrat party’s strategy in putting forward Hillary Clinton.  It is her turn … and, barring any major scandal (maybe even with one), she should be a shoe in. 

I believe them right and the only defense against such an emotional appeal would be for the Republicans to also proffer a woman … perhaps Sarah Palin.  Yes, I know that much of the American media would have a field day sniping at her … much as they did in 2008.  But then they did exactly the same when Ronald Reagan was nominated … painting him as a know-nothing thespian … and he was elected in a landslide.  Since 2008, Ms. Palin has been annealed in the oven of national politics and has made virtually no blunders.  I’m sure she has even read some periodicals.

Ms. Palin clearly is a true-blue conservative … much like Reagan was … and unfortunately, no male Republican candidate would be able to debate Hillary on even terms.  Even Chris Christie, I’m afraid would be hobbled in his confrontational style when pitted against Hillary.  All she would need to do would be to mist up and Christie would be toast.  On the other hand, Sarah Palin would be on level ground and would be able to point out Hillary’s many fault lines without appearing sexist.  She should be able to hold her own in any debate ... and Hillary would get mushy at her own peril. 

Sometimes political parties need to go with the popular flow … and actually eat some of last-Christmas’s fruitcake.  It might even taste good.

Afterward: If Sarah Palin were to run, she obviously would have a long row to hoe ... if this brickbat is an example ... see: Breitbart Reference.