The Candidate Run Down as I See It.

We have a decision to make as to who will be our next President.  I am convinced that the Republicans will take back the White House, so which one? 

  

Ted Cruz gave a great performance in the debate last night.  He waxed eloquently about immigration. He said what Trump has been trying to convey all this time and yet Cruz put it into the right context and syntax.  And Ted Cruz is the one people say is the most conservative.  This is what I have against Cruz.  One of his biggest donors is Goldman Sachs, and do not think for a minute they will not come knocking on his door wanting their pound of flesh.  Money makes puppets out of politicians.  The other problem I have with him is his desire to return to a gold standard.  He is wrong on this issue. We were on a gold standard during the 20s etc., yeah, and we went into the great depression after the crash of 1929, so how exactly did the gold standard help us then?  The other problem with that is that there is not enough gold to back enough money.  Fort Knox has been depleted, so where is he going to get the gold to back the money?

Rubio is just too inexperienced.  What has he done, really?  He was in the state legislature and has been a Senator for 3 years.  Except for being part of the Gang of 8, what has he done?  How has he led anything? He is a smart guy and seems to have a handle on the issues, but is he ready to be President? There is also the matter of his drug running brother in law and whether Rubio used his influence to get him out of jail.  We do not know, but there is enough of a cloud over this issue to make him risky. 

Jeb Bush's time has come and gone.  He is just not electable - tepid at best.  He is tainted by his time at Lehman Brothers, and his dealings with the Florida pension funds were shaky at best. I do not know why no one is talking about this issue with him.  Two Bushes are enough for us; we do not need another Bush in the White House. Plus, Jeb is answering to his donors, his advisors and the GOP establishment.  His presidency will be not unlike John Boehner's leadership. He will compromise too much to too many.  His heart is not in it.  He said himself there are a lot of cooler things he could be doing, so, like his dad, he needs to go skydiving and enjoy those "cooler" things.

John Kasich needs to go home and take care of his state.  He may have been effective in his days in Washington DC, but he is another person whose time has come and gone.  He seems to me to be out of touch.  I am not going to go back and look at the numbers, but every time he touts his accomplishments in Ohio someone always says well, actually he is wrong.  He is too old school for me.  I think he would try to bring us back to the past, and we cannot do things the way we did them then.  I have no idea really where he stands on anything because he spends so much time telling us that the other people's ideas will not work and that he did it all already. Just when was that John, in the 80’s & 90's? 

Carly Florina: The jury is out as to whether she was a good or bad CEO at HP.  You can look up her record and decide.  Carly loves to throw facts and figures around that sound impressive, but many of them are false.  The fact checkers keep correcting her and still she keeps saying the same things.  She talks a good game, but there is no there, there.  When she said she had a private meeting with Putin, I could not help but wonder was this to discuss some of the illegal deals that happened on her watch with HP?  And how private could it have been with an interpreter in the room.  She loves to throw around names like my good friend Bibi. Has anyone asked Bibi about this near-and-dear friend of his? 

There are people who worked at HP when she was CEO who loathe her.  Now, I know that the employees quite often have disdain for their bosses, but still the fact is, you don’t exactly hear a chorus of HP folk in support. I do not see leadership in her.  Why she felt the need to go onto The View and defend her smile is beyond me.  Exactly what did she prove by that, or was she doing it to gain more name recognition and free press? She loves to talk about crony capitalism as if she was not part of that.  Even stranger, why does she not tout her good friend Jesse Jackson, I wonder?

Dr Carson was a world-renowned pediatric surgeon.  He has had to put together the best of the best to perform some of the most difficult surgeries possible.  He led the team in separating conjoined twins which was a tedious and long process.  He runs a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to college-bound students.  Dr. Carson is smart and he is used to looking at an issue, studying it and making a decision as to the best plan of action.  He is not as articulate as the polished politicians, but he is highly intelligent which is combined with a lot of common sense.  That is a rare combination. 

Many times people who are book smart are not street wise, but he seems to be both.  I have no doubt that he would be good at gathering the best and brightest to serve on his cabinet and to advise him in areas in which he is not strong.  Remember the Senators have the advantage of receiving briefings and intelligence information that the rest of them do not.  Do not mistake their knowledge of the issues with ability. The other plus I see for Dr. Carson is that 72% of his funding comes from people giving less than $200.  That means that he has a large number of people contributing to his campaign as opposed to special interests and the big banks.  I will look into this further, but for now, I am confident that his donors will not rule him.

Donald Trump is self-funding which means that he is not taking donations with the exception of small donations from individuals who want to contribute to his campaign.  The reason this is important is because the donor class likes to buy candidates so they can influence the decisions that the candidate makes once elected.  He used to be on the other side of things and has contributed a lot of money himself for the purpose of excising his influence over issues.  He is a tough negotiator by all accounts and a good leader.  His companies have a comparatively low turnover rate which is indicative of good leadership, but his. 

Trump knows how to put a good team together.  According to Rudi Giuliani, he is a fast learner who avails himself of the necessary information for whatever he is doing.  He is a hands-on CEO, very much involved in all his projects, and most of those projects come in under budget and ahead of schedule.  He has done some deals that were a little questionable, but has managed to stay above the law albeit barely.  He does push the envelope.  He is brash, outspoken and tends to speak his mind without a filter.  However, you know where he stands and what he is thinking.  He does not have pollsters telling him what to say, nor does he have speechwriters. 

Trump’s down side to me is that he may have difficulty working with Congress to get things done as he is used to being the leader and the final word, and not in a position to compromise.  Plus he has angered a lot of people and they may not want to work with him I do believe that his negotiation skills and not being beholding to anyone, along with his obvious leadership skills will be the ticket to bring us back from the brink of economic collapse.  He understands contracts and negotiations better than anyone else in my opinion.  What he needs are good speechwriters who can help him articulate what he is trying to say.  He won’t make these mistakes in face-to-face situations with the world’s dignitaries.  

Who can be the best commander in chief? That is something that I am still pondering.  I think that we need a strong military and someone who respects the troops and will listen to the advice of the Generals - someone who understands that we need to lead from a place of strength, stand with Israel and take the oath seriously  “I will protect and defend the US from all her enemies foreign and domestic….” We need someone who will not tie are troops hands with ridiculous rules of engagement - someone who will not be afraid to send troops into harms way if needed, and has the ability to make the tough decisions.  We need someone who understands that we are not a country if we do not have borders and that we cannot allow anyone and everyone to take up residence in this country. 

We have a lot of issues that we are facing and we need someone who will face them head on.  We need to take all these things in consideration and make the best decision with the information at hand.  We cannot just vote for the person with the best sound byte, but the person with the best qualifications.  We cannot be blinded by looking for the person who is the most electable; if we chose the best person for the job they will be the most electable.  The media will steer us into the wrong direction and we cannot allow that again.  The fear mongers and the GOP establishment will try to steer us to the person they can most easily control and we cannot fall for that, either. 

Do not vote from a place of fear or uncertainty.  And for heaven’s sake do not stay home because you do not like the eventual nominee.  We have a choice to make from a sea of qualified candidates. Like Rubio said: “They can not even find one.”  People say do not underestimate the Clinton machine, do not overestimate it ether.    

We the people must take our government back from the donor class, and the special interests.  We must tell the media, you have lost your voice, and we can no longer trust you.  We must look into these issues for ourselves and make wise decisions and the number one thing we MUST do is pray and seek wisdom and guidance from God for He alone knows the hearts of every candidate and He will guide us if we ask, and then sincerely listen.  We also must repent and do as I Chronicles 7:14 says: “If we who are called by His name will do all those things, THEN He will hear from heaven and heal our land….” and our land needs healing. The most important job if you will of our government is to protect and defend us – we, the people.   Who do you want protecting you?

Just do not sit home on primary day saying I do not know for whom to vote or I do not like any of them, make a choice, and when the nominee of the party emerges, campaign for that person whether they were your choice or not.  Campaign, volunteer, and speak out. Your voice matters.  It mattered when 30 million Christians stayed home in 2012, and it matters now.