My review of the GOP field

Time to gauge where I’m at with the GOP primary, other than wishing it was over and done with.   Very tired of the manufactured drama, starring Donald Trump.  As I’ve written many times, I will never vote for him and I do harbor suspicions that he is a dupe (not a plant) of the Clintons, because as I’ve watched Hillary Clinton go from the stiff, robotic candidate in the Spring, to the smiling hipster, cracking jokes and yukking it up on late night TV, it’s obvious dramatic changes took place within her campaign.  I believe that unlike her 2008 campaign, where she kept one of America’s true political geniuses at bay,  in the early months of this campaign, where it looked like she might not survive to the Fall, in desperation she turned to him.  I strongly suspect that he set in motion the strategy that has worked miracles for him over the years.  Yes, I see the Bill Clinton triangulation strategy playing out, with far-left kook Bernie on the left, Trump sounding more and more like a fascist on the right and there’s “love and kindness Hillary, appearing as moderate and centrist.  I’ve mentioned my suspicions many times ( here, here, here).

In the GOP camp, Donald Trump creates drama, chaos and endless controversy.  Assuredly, on the big issues he champions, he mouths many home truths that are inconvenient for the DC cocktail party crowd to hear and acts like gasoline tossed on the liberal press and pundits’ self-righteous, politically correct  pieties.  He’s reduced their arguments to a heaping pile of ashes and for that alone, we should all cheer.  However, there are several “buts”, like, but he doesn’t have a clear grasp of The Constitution and his cures often come without clear plans and overstep constitutional bonds.  Of course, those who believe in his great business acumen, don’t harbor the doubts that I do – they see the great American success story, while I see the  yuge glowing red warning sign of toxic leadership.

I left my job at a retail store earlier this year, where I  worked for a man, whom I believe was the most talented merchandiser I have ever seen.  Along with that talent came a huge ego and the worst people skills I have ever seen in my life, that is, until I’ve watched Donald Trump brag, insult, bash and mock his GOP rivals.  This man threw anyone under the bus to make himself look good and he bragged as much as Trump.  He loved to fire people, very much like Trump.  One tirade too many right on the sales floor and I decided to put in my two-week notice, after working there many years.  He was my 8th store manager and I had never had a single problem with any of the others.  YUGE relief is what I feel not having to deal with him anymore!

The only team The Donald is on, is his own.  He does not care about the GOP party or causes per se, they’re just the vehicle he is driving to become President, where he believes his dynamic business acumen will single-handedly “make America great again”.  He’s right on many issues – even in his latest kerfuffle about Muslim immigration, on the main points he’s right – it doesn’t make sense to be bringing in Muslim immigrants from several countries that are hot beds of Islamist terror and where the collapse of government in many of these regions makes adequate vetting impossible.  And he nailed the alarming truth that the Obama administration doesn’t know what the hell is going on with their own immigration policies.  A pause makes perfect sense.

Time will tell if the Carville/Begala campaign modus operandi, that I strongly suspect is playing out in the Trump campaign, is true or just a nutty conspiracy theory.  For me, it doesn’t take much imagination to envision Bill Clinton calling Trump when he caught wind that Trump was considering running.  Trump and Bill Clinton golf together and have known each other for years.  Trump was a yuge Clinton supporter.  So, the phone call could have been as simple as this:

Bill Clinton calls Trump :  Hi Donald, I hear you’re thinking of throwing your hat into the 2016 race?

Trump:  Yes, I am.

Bill Clinton:  Well, you know I believe Hillary is the best candidate for 2016, but I wish you good luck and you know, Donald, the one bit of advice I’ll give you is you’ll need great political advisers.  A national race is really complicated.

Trump:  Well thanks for that advice.  I am still putting a campaign staff together.

Bill Clinton:  No problem Donald, you know I am already taken (laugh, laugh), but the best political advisers are Carville and Begala.  Those GOP political advisers don’t have the guts to run a tough race.

Trump:  Thanks, you know me,  I want the best political advisers.   You know I’m going to fund my own campaign, if I jump in.  Do you think Carville and Begala would work for a GOP candidate.

Bill Clinton: I can’t speak for them, but you know, business is business, so you’d have to talk to them yourself.

Set-up done.  It could have been that easy for Bill Clinton to manipulate the downfall of the GOP primary. Carville and Begala easily could have advised Trump to keep the business relationship secret, because Republicans go into derangement mode about them.  It’s obvious Bill Clinton threw his weight around and called in all sorts of favors within the Democratic party to bury this email server scandal and the Benghazi committee investigation to get her campaign on track.

The other GOP field, except for Rubio and Cruz, lies like dying fish washed up on shore, gasping their last breath.  Fiorina seemed to have so much potential – smart, well-prepared, excellent public speaking skills, but then she turned into a scorned feminist, who played the victim card at every turn – whining her way to main debate stage.  Her “well-prepared” quickly became boring repetitive, rehearsed diatribes and there didn’t seem a hairbreadth’s difference between her shrill, angry “I am woman, hear me roar” harangues than Hillary’s.  The rest of the GOP field, many having crystal clear conservative principles and records, due to The Donald’s monopoly of the press and pundits attention, fell to the wayside.  Dr. Carson, the other outsider, still seems like a very nice man, who wants to make a positive change.   Unfortunately, his contemplative pauses, lack of foreign policy cred and string of odd remarks have doomed his chances.

I could happily vote for Ted Cruz, even though I doubt he can win in the general election.  His pitfalls are he always appears as if what he’s saying now is a careful tactical move  in some political grand strategy , which on an intellectual level, I admire, but on a more human level, it comes across as cold and calculating.  His other main drawback centers on how he speaks with such overblown rhetoric that it feels as if he’s talking down to people.   Rubio has boyish good looks and an engaging personality, but I feel he’s misguided on foreign policy and easily led by “military and think tanks experts”, unfortunately it sounds like all of his are neocons, whom I disagree with on most policy issues.  I still like him, but it would take a lot of soul-searching for me to support him.  Chris Christie comes across well in debates, but here again, as a conservative, I have a hard time with Republican-lite candidates