Buying the Farm

During his concession speech in Iowa, Donald Trump turned on his signature charm ... saying that he loved the people of Iowa and someday he might return and buy a farm there. If he does as poorly in the New Hampshire primary next week versus current expectations as he did in Iowa, I think that this phrase turning of his might just come true ... at least as far as his chances for the Republican nomination is concerned.

Truth

"Truth is beauty and beauty, truth."  -- Keats

(This blog entry is only tangentially related to the Rathergate movie, Truth.)

Truth is an elusive elfin sprite. She is a Tinker Bell caught in a typhoon of ignorance, self-serving mendacity, superstition and media obfuscation. And often when this genie is captured in a bottle, she turns to dust with new information. This is because truth in one narrow context may not hold in a broader milieu. For instance while "turn the other cheek" may be fine for the individual, it may not be the best policy for a nation. But universal truth-telling is essential for truly successful governance ... and it is a very rare commodity these days in Washington.

Thus I am currently inclined to use veracity as a yardstick to measure our roster of candidates for president ... and, to me, the greatest truth tellers are Jim Webb, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, and Marco Rubio. Donald Trump might make the list if he constantly didn't engage of puerile put-downs of his Republican rivals. Guess who is on the bottom rung of this believability ladder ranking.among this bunch of wannabes? And, surprisingly, the one who captures my heart and my brain on the top rung is Dr. Carson ... for no other reason than he is willing to tell truths that go against the media meme ... and not back down when challenged.

Yes, my current favorite, if elected president, would find himself in a hornet's nest of backbenchers and backstabbers. But somehow I feel that he, like Abraham Lincoln, has the perspicacity to surround himself with learned deputies who would help him through the gauntlet of incompetence that is Washington.

In fact, if Ben Carson were lucky enough to make it as the Republican candidate, I would suggest he choose as his campaign's motto ... "The Truth Teller."

Golden Moments

In his book, The Soul of a New Machine, Tracy Kidder quotes Tom West, the leader of the development team for Data General's "Eagle" computer (and a project where I was on the outside looking in), as saying, "there are no golden moments."  In other words, there is never a time when the road to success is assured. Such was with Mitt Romney's twin victories in Michigan and Arizona yesterday ... it was not a golden moment.

Mitt Romney is still in a slog up to the August Republican nomination convention.  I expect him to have setbacks and his share of gaffs prior to Tampa, but I do see him eventually to be (reluctantly) anointed to go up against our sitting President in the fall.  And the final contest might best be compared to his running a 400 meter dash after having just completed a marathon.  So, it will clearly not be easy for Romney ... The Barry will have the money edge and the bully pulpit.  Even the LasVagas oddsmakers have Obama's chances of winning at 6 to 4 (see: Intrade Odds).

But I still have faith that Romney will be our next President ... for no other reason than, if he isn't, I sincerely believe we are toast.

Merry-go-round



First Bachmann, then Santorum, then Romney, then Gingrich, then Romney, then Romney again, then Santorum, then Santorum again, then Santorum once again, and now Romney again ... I am getting a bit of vertigo from this rapid changing of front-runners in the the Republican Presidential nomination race.  Still the handicapper "pundits" think that Romney will be in front when all the ballyhoo is over in Tampa in August.  As a regular reader of this blog might know, I want Romney to win this carousel derby.  However, the whirligigging of this race has been a little unnerving, but I can find some solace in that I haven't seen a dark horse rider reaching for the brass ring ... yet.