Start paying attention rather than jumping on the bandwagon...

I put off writing this.  I had faith that Americans are not that stupid.  I'd love to tell you that I'm thrilled that South Carolina didn't want Trump to win the Republican nomination.  At 32.5%, I can't.  I'm just as angry as anyone is about how Obama has screwed up my health insurance.  I'm just as angry about him apologizing to various portions of the world, tanking the private jet industry with no consideration the effect it would have on the economy or American jobs, Benghazi, his lack of respect and protocols when he first took office, the fact that he pretends like he had nothing to do with the gridlock in Washington.  The list just goes on and on.  

But the truth is that it's time to stop and I mean stop being entertained by Trump and start thinking about what you are doing when you think about casting a vote for him.  Donald Trump is the biggest liar of all the candidates out there right now and that includes Hillary Clinton.  

What is Presidential about:

1.  Saying Jesus was a loser?  Seriously for those of you that are Christian, you should really be doing your homework.  

2.  Saying a woman was bleeding because she disagreed with him? 

Just his record on women all the way around:

"Schlonged" really?  Is that Presidential?  Can you see Reagan saying something like that?

3.  Refusing like a two year old child to participate in a debate?

4.  Using veterans to raise $6M and putting it in his own bank account?

5.  Attacking an American War Hero who voluntarily stayed with his men in a Vietnamese POW camp even though his family had the political clout to get him out?  (Senator John McCain)

5a.  Being a draft dodger?

5b.  Insulting every American soldier, sailor, Marine, airman, and veteran by claiming his little prep school was more military than anything we went through?

Definitely not, moron.  

6.  Using the word "pussy", let alone encouraging someone to say it multiple times?  Can you actually picture Ronald Reagan or FDR doing this????

7.  Screaming during a debate over another candidate?  Maybe he didn't want you to hear them because he actually has no plans himself.  

8.  Defrauding thousands of people of $40M in California and New York with "fake" college degrees?  This is still in litigation.

8a. Being investigated for possible criminal charges associated with that fraud?

The good news is that if he's President all that criminal investigation will go away (because he can make it as President by pardoning himself)...

9.  Being a racist?  Think about that hard for a second.  If a racist appeals to you that much, what does that say about you?  

10.  Threatening to have journalists killed?  Joking?  Because Putin is a "great leader"....Someone else threatened journalists...

And you don't get less American President than that...

10a.  Having to "clarify" statements like threatening to kill people?  Really shouldn't a President be thinking before he talks?

If that finger pointing in the air like that looks familiar, it should.  Hitler used to do it all the time. 

11.  About literally having a to claim bankruptcy for casinos?  How exactly does that happen??  Casinos literally make their money by getting people to give their money away with little to no chance of winning.  

12.  Not knowing anything about the GNP?  How does he actually think it's below zero?  How stupid is he really?

13.  Attacking a woman because she doesn't look Presidential in his mind?  Really, because he looks Presidential with that fake tan?

14.  Attacking a woman for breast feeding in front of him?

I don't particularly care for it either, but let's face it....I'm not running for President of the United States.  And neither are you.  He is.  How Presidential are any of the things he says....Read on...

15.  Bragging constantly about how much money he has?  Money doesn't make a good man.  

Hell, this statement doesn't even make sense...he just likes to brag about his money...

16.  Incest?  Really he said this:  

17.  Claiming bankruptcy at all?  How exactly is that Presidential?  Well, not taking ownership of it....is that Presidential?

Of course, according to him, he didn't go bankrupt, because America, we bailed him out 4 times....

18.  Bragging that literally that he is smarter than everyone else?  Ronald Reagan said "I'm not a smart man."  This moron tweeted this:

19.  Thinking people are so stupid that you just have to flash a "nice ass".  Wow.  Just think he really thinks this about the people who are supporting him.  We're looking at the next Monika Lewinsky fiasco right here.

20.  Not even knowing who actually ran for the Presidency???  That was Romney.  What a moron.

By the way, Senator McCain's support of veterans and our military has always been unwavering. Seriously, this is the biggest liar out there.

21.  Not even understanding what the word "immigrant" means?  

Yes, actually they did make it all the way here as immigrants to find jobs and the American Dream...imagine that....

21a.  Is going to be hard on immigration?  

Yea, sure, and I bet you still believe in the tooth fairy, right?

22.  Praising Putin for killing reporters?  

Sure he is.  He's been murdering his opposition in Russia.  He ordered attacks on Georgia that resulted in a commercial airliner being shot down and over 200 innocent people's murders.  NATO wants to stop Putin's expansion plans.....How is it Presidential to want to praise this Stalin wanna-be? 

23.  Offending all of our American Allies?  

UAE:  "The Trump name was stripped off of a multi-million dollar golf course located on the outskirts of Dubai...Dubai business mogul Khalaf Al-Habtoor,..., “I had to admit I made a mistake in my supporting Mr. Trump.”"

Turkey: “We are assessing the legal dimension of our relationship with the Trump brand,” a statement from Kural said." 

France:  French Prime Minister Manuel Valls via Twitter: “Mr Trump, like others, stokes hatred: our ONLY enemy is radical Islam.”

Israel:  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced Trump's racist comments, resulting in Trump cancelling a scheduled visit to the country.

Pakistan:  “This is the worst kind of bigotry mixed with ignorance. I would imagine that someone who is hoping to become president of the US doesn’t want to compete with an ignorant criminal-minded mullah of Pakistan who denounces people of other religions … "

New Zealand: 

While our biggest ally is calling for him never to allowed in their country again:

Britain:  "Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron said the call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. is “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong,” while “Labour’s home office minister Jack Dromey called Trump a dangerous fool who should not be allowed within 1,000 miles of British shores.”  Meanwhile, a petition to ban Trump from the UK received over 300,000 signatures in just one day."

The GOP debate in the Upstate SC...highlights...and low lights

First, Justice Scalia's death made it start pretty somber.  As a sign of respect, they started with a moment of silence for the Justice.  Five of the six bowed their heads in a sign of respect.  Donald Trump didn't.  Basically, shows his lack of character and respect for others.  As far as the overall debate, well, there was no clear winner.  Jeb, Rubio and Kaisch tied for the "top" spot, although Kaisch talked over his time consistently.  Rubio was extremely impressive and far better than the rest of the stage.  Jeb was really the only one that consistently had plans, not just talk.  Rubio also stuck to his plans, while Trump and Cruz really didn't have as much substance.  I'm not even sure why Dr. Carson hasn't bowed out.  They didn't give him much talk time, in his defense, but he's just not that charismatic, and well, we really need a leader that can represent us in a "big" way.  Perhaps that's why so many are drawn to Trump.  But we need a leader not a buffoon.  Another thing that annoys me...All but two of the candidates continually broke the debate's rules which were clearly presented at the beginning of the debate.  Rubio and Jeb were the only ones that consistently tried to remain within the rules of the debate.  So here's my evaluation of the debate:

Trump--attacked the Bush family and got booed.  He actually got booed a lot.  Actually made me very proud to be from South Carolina.  His attacks and poor behavior were not applauded like it was elsewhere.  Maybe that's because people are getting tired of the show and are actually starting to take the election seriously.  Trump was asked point blank what he would do to pay for his ideas and all he did was jump up on a soapbox and say he was going to "make America great again".  So basically, he has no idea how to do any of the "great" ideas that fly out of his mouth.  Other than the attacks on the other candidates, he has no concept.

When he was called on his liberalism, contributions to the Clintons and his very, very typically democratic answers that call for more government and more taxes that would be needed for his crazy plans to build a wall and free healthcare for everyone, he didn't have an answer but another attack.  It's not a boxing match and frankly I wanted an answer.  How does he think he will pay for these crazy ideas?  An $8M wall?  Seriously.  A Great Wall worked so well for China trying to keep the mongols out that mongols took over the country and ruled it for over 400 years.  Moronic.  Let alone the cost of it.  He's like a little kid who starts screaming when mommy says no.

One thing he did offer up a plan, sort of, was when he kind of touched on what he would do as far as ISIS.  He suggested that he would work with Putin.  Is that the same Putin that is being compared to Hitler and Stalin?  Who has illegally shot down a commercial jet airliner in Georgia?  Who has been invading surrounding countries and is trying to rebuild the USSR?  Yes, one in the same.  Great, just great.

One side bar, he also didn't follow any of the debate rules.  He interrupted the other candidates on multiple occasions which was clearly not only rude, but made it difficult to hear what they were saying.  He seemed like he was going for the entertainment factor rather than substance.  Of course, whenever he was asked for substance, he delivered rhetoric and attacks.  He attacked every single candidate on the stage and the entire Bush family, including Barbara Bush.  Just wow.  So his wife is free game.  He's been married 4 times.  Every time he's been divorced because he's screwing the next wife.  Three of 4 were not even American citizens.  His current wife is naturalized but she has ties to the Russian block, the old KGB, aka. the Russian mob.  Since he's actually suggesting we work with Putin, maybe he's already in the old KGB's pocket.  Sure as hell has been careful about not advertising the fact for all his border rhetoric it obviously doesn't apply to his own household.  

Cruz--well, he seems to know what he's talking about, but he's again telling everyone what they want to hear.  He didn't do very well either.  He's got a whiny nasally voice and he's Canadian born to a former Castro fighter who loved our country so much when he came here he went and became a Canadian citizen.  Arguably, not eligible for the Presidency.  Almost lucky for him that Justice Scalia died.  The most conservative, down to the letter of the Constitution interpretation, would definitely have denied his candidacy when it's challenged if he makes it that far.

Unfortunately, Cruz also said that he fought amnesty and attacked Rubio.  The thing that blows my mind is that he himself benefited from amnesty.  We have given amnesty to Cubans for decades.  Cruz also has proposed an increase of green cards and other increases in immigration policies in the past, and by past I mean during the current Presidential administration.  So it's a little confusing what he is proposing now.  He brought up his dad washing dishes and now travels the country as a preacher.  He left out the part about his dad went to Canada and became a Canadian after he came here because he loved this country so much.  It just seems like he's full of it when he talks on immigration.  He's benefited from it, so as an American, wouldn't he want others to benefit from it?  What he's saying doesn't make sense based on his background and his record.

He also got called on his lying about Dr. Carson during the Iowa primaries and all the additional flip flops and he floundered there too, excuse the pun.  

Kasich--He claims that Ohio is doing really well.  Not so great an example.  Ohio isn't doing that well.  He's actually one of the lowest rated governors in the country right now.  Next, he did say he was all for Obamacare, not doing away with it.  Then when called on it by Jeb, well, he flip flopped right on the stage.

He overtalks but he sounds decent on immigration.  He, Rubio and Jeb are all on the same page.  There is no way financially, let alone logistically, to deport 11.5M people.  Who would round them all up?  Who would process them all out?  How do we pay for all that and then pay to send all 11.5M back to where we need to ship them?

He did sound Presidential and for the most part, he avoided the Christian religious zealousness that has been dividing the Republican party since the Reagans.  (Incidently, for those of you severe right wingers, the Reagans were pro-choice.)  As a moderate Republican, I'm looking for a candidate that avoids cramming Christianity down my throat.  I don't try to legislate my religious beliefs and I'm getting sick and tired of having so-called conservatives making it their number one reason to vote.  So Kasich avoided making any blanket statements that might cause more divide in the party.

Rubio--He's a strong debater and definitely follows the rule of the debate as given.  I'm a little worried about his youth, but he's got a far more professional and mature posture than most of the group.  I really liked that he highlighted that we need to instill a sense of optimism and leadership like Reagan did.

He's followed what he says and in most cases he's a moderate.  Except when it comes to gay rights and women's rights.  He made it very clear that he is a far right winger on those two issues.  As a moderate Republican who is not Christian, my religion doesn't agree with his.  I believe in the First Amendment. My religion doesn't teach a defined woman and man marriage.  My religion defines life as when the soul enters the body which most in my religion view as after the heartbeat and brain waves start.  I cannot support a Christian that wants to cram Christianity down my throat.  That's not what the First Amendment says--hell, Ben Franklin was an atheist.  Not all the Founding Fathers believed in Christianity either.  So I'm loath that I have to say I wouldn't vote for someone that otherwise is a moderate.  I just can't go backwards on those two issues anymore.

Jeb--He highlighted his plans every opportunity, and yes, unlike most of the others on the stage, he has real plans that he described.  He is actually standing on his record.  Florida did actually become one of the more successful states under his leadership, and he did a good job of highlighting his record.  What I thought was idiotic was people were searching on the internet how tall he was when he talked.  What in the world people?  Like that defines a President?

On the attacks from Trump, he very successfully blocked the blows against his father, brother and mother.  The fact that he even had to defend his mother is completely ridiculous.  Trump just has no couth. I'm not sure that anyone that has such a blatant lack of class should be President.  What an embarrassment.

Jeb is probably far more well versed in immigration issues than any of the other candidates and he took the moderate conservative position on the issue.  Florida is one of the states with a lot of immigration issues and he pulled no punches when he was attacked by Trump on this also.  He defended his record and explained poignantly what the issues were and how they had successfully dealt with the issues in Florida.

As far as foreign policy, he knows more because frankly his older brother and father have been Presidents.  I would have been disappointed if he hadn't.  Again, his moderate approach appealed to me.  When attacked  yet again, he was direct as to how he would handle the Middle East, the European NATO region--working to restrengthen our allies, and the issues North Korea and China.  No other candidate even had a plan for the Middle East, let alone addressing the other elephants in the room.

Carson--He's talking some sense about how to get people out of poverty.  He was very ignored during the debate, and perhaps that is because he's not really doing well so far in the first two states' primaries.  Unfortunately, he is a complete outsider and that hasn't been working either.  The system works because there is some seniority that needs to be in tune with how things work.  If you want to change a system, you first have to learn the system and then change it.  You don't win at chess by moving the pieces like they are checkers.  You win at chess by learning the game and then changing the game within the rules.

He lost me completely when he quoted Stalin about how to take America, the United States, down.  Since Stalin failed miserably, Stalin had no idea what it takes to break Americans and America, and while Dr. Carson proved he was well read and educated, using that quote proved that he doesn't have a good concept of what America is as a whole, just like Stalin didn't have a clue.

So after watching the whole debate, here's my final thoughts.  Jeb has taken the lead in my mind from Rubio.  I like Rubio.  I like him a lot.  But I just cannot in good conscience keep voting for the religious right.  I'm not Christian and I'm sick of the Christian right telling me that the laws must reflect their religion.  Kasich made an impression, but not enough for me to follow, especially when I checked Ohio's record.  Just another politician pushing lies to get what he wants.  So basically, I'm now hoping for a Jeb/Rubio for 2016 on the Republican ticket.  When the primary rolls around on the 20th here in SC, I'll most likely be casting my vote for Jeb.

Value Add....or Auf Weidersehen...

I often think about various things.  I'm a walking, talking dilettante version of an encyclopedia.  I can't tell you how many things I think about.  My mind races most of the time.  It's kind of cool.  I get a lot of stuff done when I'm busy.  It's also kind of annoying at other times.  My mind literally needs to have multiple things going on at the same time in order to focus.  Music is usually my favorite background noise to keep that part of my mind that likes to take off running so that my focused mind gets, well, focused.  Over the years I have met people similar, but I've always been a bit of the odd duck.  That oddity has on more than one occasion been the target practice bullseye for some of the more shallow people on the planet.    

For one, I can usually listen to two conversations at the same time and absorb all of both conversations.  I can even participate in one while listening to another.  I've had people swear up and down this is not possible, and yet, in meetings taking notes of both conversations has often proved that I missed little to nothing from either conversation.  So it tends to annoy me when someone says that I don't listen.  I often heard what they said, but what they said had no value add to my life.  An aunt used to lecture me about who I was, more over who she thought I was, and what I should be doing.  I always tried to ignore her, but that annoying gift of being able to absorb and understand two things going on around me at once, meant that I was catching all of the hockey game and all of the belittling things she was saying to me.  While it bothered me when I was younger that she often thought of me as her own personal "whipping post" during family gatherings, as I got older I just ignored it.  And by ignore, yes, it still registered, but I chalked it up as words that were not value add to my life.  If it made her feel better, so much the better for her, and who cared?  

So over the years, I've developed that same "who cares" what someone is trying to tell me that they know who or what I am when they don't even know who they are themselves.  Recently, I met a pretty blatant racist.  He didn't think he was.  He parlayed himself to be a fancy, true Southern gentleman.  The first time I met him he made my skin crawl.  Immediately I knew he would not be that great of a person, although it took me some time to figure out what was "wrong" with him.  At first, I thought it was maybe that he didn't actually like independent women.  No, after some observation, it was apparent that if this had been his problem in the past, God had given him daughters to rectify that shallow mindset.  More observation showed a man that was way too gregarious when dealing with minorities, particularly when any form of an audience was around.  But, that wasn't what tipped his hand; it was the putting me down and insulting me when there was no audience, no witnesses coupled with overly buttered up, sweet as molasses act when there was an audience.  Honestly, when he put me down, at first, I did a lot of self exploration.  I realized after three or four days of self analysis that this guy had no idea who I was whatsoever.  He had put forth zero effort to actually understand who I was other than a stereotype that he had in his head from the moment he laid eyes on me.  Every one of the conversations that he and I had ever had were already predisposed to his opinion that I was not "good enough".  I couldn't figure it out.  Until there was this really sweet black gentleman that he was equally ridiculously gregarious with.  It hit me kind of hard and then I saw how he acted all the time.  The gregarious with people he didn't like, the normal with the people he did.  Basically, this jerk had made up his mind about me from the time he had laid eyes on me--I was obviously mixed with something and didn't fit his version of the world.  Therefore, I was less and since he didn't want to look like the asshole he was, well is, to others, he was very overly nice--as I stated, gregarious--in front of people.  Yet, a complete insulting rude jerk when there was no audience.  Of course, once I realized that, his opinion of me and anything or anyone else became utterly worthless.  It was non-value add.  He had no idea who he was talking about, not just because he was an ass--some asses will take time to know people regardless--but simply because he was a bigoted racist fossil who had failed to grow with the times.  

Unlike this educated asshat, I have a friend who is a high school dropout, the epitome stereotype of redneck who can be so overly honest and blunt that some people fail to see the diamond in the rough.  Yet, I've never known her to ever be a racist or even make snap assumptions and have the audacity to assume they are fact.  Unlike the educated, self proclaimed "Southern gentleman", she is his exact opposite in every single way--female, high school drop out, not from a "proper family", but also unlike him, with a heart of gold, without a drop of judgmental prejudices to skew her initial opinion of anyone, and certainly not so phony as to become so totally gregarious around people she doesn't like to hide it.  If she doesn't like you, she's not trying to hide it, but she's not trying to be sneaky while insulting you either.  Just a straight up, good hearted person with no prejudice to skew her from liking or disliking anyone.  Obviously, I think the world of her.  But also unlike him, she's not worried about what others think of her or what she thinks.  She doesn't hide her thoughts.  If they are inappropriate, oh well, that's who she is unlike that asshat who knew his opinions were inappropriate to the point he played himself off as super gregarious when dealing with people he knew his true opinion would be inappropriate.  Of course, with her no one has to worry about being "good enough".  We are all equal in her eyes. 

Obviously I respect her more than I respect him or my one aunt.  That aunt did me a great big favor at a very young age.  I learned that other people's opinions are just that--based on their own follies and their own desires, experiences, always on who they are, but not necessarily based on who you are.  Honestly there are very few people that I don't like.  That's not to say that I like everyone, but there are just very few people that I bother with the concept "to not like".  If I don't like you and I am willing to state it, there is a guarantee that I have a solid reason that others would find understandable--if I even would bother to explain it to them.  I'm not very fond of the asshat aforementioned.  Can I say I don't like him?  No, actually I can say I feel sorry for him.  How sad is it to still be living his life in the 1950s, 60s and 70s version of the South?  It's pathetic that at his age he hasn't grown passed those ignorant racist things that control his behavior.  How many truly wonderful people has he missed out on simply because he lacks the depth to grow passed racist stereotypes?  Not that it matters to me.  He's like one of those blips on a radar screen that disappears into the Bermuda Triangle.  

What's the point of this blog?  Well, I know so many of my friends, all of us already in our 40s--some moving into their 50s--and they are still sweating what other people think of them.  I have to admit I feel far less fettered than they do--or at least in that sense I do.  I don't care what someone thinks of me that has no value add in my life, and while it's a little mean sounding, if someone has no value add in your life, why would you?  Of course, if someone has no value add in your life, a normal person cuts them out of their life.  My aunt was always tuned out and eventually was completely cut out of my life because she simply couldn't show the respect that she demanded.  If someone consistently proves that not only are they not value add, but they are value detrimental, it's time to consider severing or at least minimizing ties to them.  Sometimes we are forced to be around people that have no value add to our lives--work, family, etc.  We have to be able to tell ourselves what their opinion is worth.  Usually zilch.  But if you are lucky enough to find people who are honest with you and provide value to your life--to improving yourself, to being the best that you can be, to your growth as a human being running in this human race--well, hold on to those people.  They are as priceless as you are.  

And you thought you were having a bad night...

Ok, so I've gotten completely bored with politics, but I promised a funny blog.  So here goes.

So there have been times in my life that I just can't help to point out the very, very obvious.  Some people are dense, and by dense I mean, well, let me explain.  So in spite of swearing off internet dating ever, and I mean ever, again.  It does make for interesting reading.  This time though I refused to put pictures up.  No reason to put up any pictures.  If I want to get hit on because of the way I look, I can go to a bar.  So, amazingly, without pictures, this has yielded very little interest.  However, I'm not getting the stupid emails like "hey baby, you're hot" or "you remind me of my refrigerator because you've been running through my mind all night"....Gasp....

No, but I did manage to meet one guy.  Seemed nice enough online.  Nice looking guy online.  Now, let's clarify for everyone, because I've been picking up new readers.  I'm an uber goober geek, who happened to be raised like a fashionista.  So the uber goober geek is a bit of a nervous nelly when meeting people.  Not that I can't talk with just about anyone, but dating is kind of a pain in the *ss.  I'm fine in my comfort zones, much like anyone else, but meeting someone new for a drink or two is a bit nerve racking.  So I get there on time, and he gets there a bit after.  He's actually better looking in person than in his pics.  Sits down next to me and we order a couple of beers.  We start talking and it's a little cold in the bar.  My arms are crossed but my legs were crossed towards him and he commented on how tense I seemed because I had my arms crossed.  I explained that I was cold and that the arms crossed didn't actually have anything to do with my nerves.  As I start to relax, I'm talking and I'm pretty high energy.  He starts telling me over and over and over and over and over and over....and over and over to calm down.  I'm not really not uncalm.  I'm a little uncomfortable, but now, well, I'm becoming more uncomfortable.  I tend to babble when I'm uncomfortable and he's still telling me to calm down.  But now it's on the borderline of condescending.  Trying to make conversation, we talk about family and I tell him that people call my brother in law "asshole"--that it's his nickname.  He explains that he doesn't call anyone something like that until he knows them.  Ok, I guess he missed the nickname part, but that seems pretty nice, right?

Ok, so far, not so funny.  Then a really good friend of mine calls and then texts.  I sent her a text back that I would call her back in a bit and she responded with "OK".  Out of this guy's mouth, and I joke not, "Tell that bitch to quit texting and calling.  Call her back if you have to and tell her you're busy."  WOW.  Just wow.  So that not calling people names until he knows them only must apply to men?  I didn't ask.  The hell you say!?!?  No, really, I didn't waste my breath.  Of course, those of you that know me, once I get a bit pissed, I'm done talking.  I didn't bother with a second beer, and thank God my friend Angela tried to call as it gave me a way out of having dinner with him.

I know I never lie, and I technically didn't lie to the guy.  I did have 3 friends having birthday parties last night and I was genuinely planning on hitting at least of two of them.  So I explained that I didn't plan on dinner because of those birthday parties and I bailed faster than the Road Runner saying "meep, meep".  Of course, by the time I got home, I didn't feel like going anywhere.  It kind of made me not want to be around anyone.  Now, I'm backlogged on birthday drinks to at least one of my friends.  Ok, so it wasn't that funny of a blog.  Ah, well, better luck next time.

The Positive Reasoning to Vote for Each of the Current Candidates...Seriously.

Well, Iowa has spoken and kicked off the primaries, as usual.  Unlike usual there were no exact winners in either party.  So there's definitely a couple of names standing out in the Republican party, and the Democrats are split half and half, literally for once.  So first, this blog is why you would want to vote for the more predominant candidates.  Let's face it.  There's always a reason to vote for any one of them, then there are the reasons that you decide not to cast your vote in their direction.  So this blog is about what would be good about each candidate--and by good I mean mass appeal.  I know a friend who strictly votes for pro-lifers, and I know a bunch of women that almost always vote against the more anti-choicers.  I'm not going into any of those things.  I'm going to say why vote for someone based on mass issues that most Americans are feeling really need to be addressed, although they aren't sure how.

So, first the Democrats, because there are only two.  We'll start with the slim leader from the Iowa caucuses.  

Why vote for Hillary Clinton?  The Iowa caucuses gave her 49.9%.  Well, the main thing is that Bill Clinton was successful at maintaining a really decent economy.  Of course, that really isn't her record, but I think most of us assume that electing one is like electing the other.  She's a woman.  A lot of people would like to see a woman President.  That's it.  Unfortunately, the rest of research I did doesn't suggest any other positives.  Moving on.

Why vote for Bernie Sanders?  He was a very successful Mayor in the 1980s.  Of course, the economy was in a fantastic state in the late 80s, so that wasn't as hard as being successful in this day and age.  He is very pro-equality.  He's for women's rights and minorities rights--which nowadays should actually be called equal pay and equal opportunity.  Of course, a lot of the inequity is some of our own fault and no President will be able to wave a magic wand to make it better.  He genuinely cares about the environment, education, and he's being very honest about raising taxes.  He wants a socialist society and that may appeal to some but most socialist Europeans pay over half of their earnings in taxes, so this may not be so appealing.  Of course, he has some wonderful ideas, like free public universities, and that all costs money.  Moving on.

So the Republicans.

First up, why vote for Ted Cruz?  He has represented the State of Texas quite well.  He did actually ensure that a murderer was executed after a double homicide in Houston.  He has voted in 89% of the votes during his terms as a Senator from Texas.  So he does his job.  He is a consistent in his support of the conservative interpretation of the 2nd Amendment.  I know that might not be what everyone wants...But it means that overall, he will likely have a consistent conservative interpretation of Constitution as a whole.  That's about it.  He's been very moderate on immigration and will likely be willing to compromise for the best of the country.  Of course, that is to be expected since technically he may not be able to run since he was not actually born in the USA or on USA land, and if the Democrats challenge after he wins the nomination, he may not even make it to the November election, effectively screwing the Republican party royally.

Why vote for Donald Trump?  He has a big mouth.  He's a bully.  He talks a really good game.  He's completely outside of the political system with zero political experience.  Depending on whether you look fondly on these things, those are his positives.  He makes a lot of claims and unfortunately after a little research all the things he says don't actually meet his background.  I don't want to go into all these claims and how quickly he ends up in quicksand with a little research because I stated earlier this would be their positives, so we'll have to move on.

Why vote for Marco Rubio?  He has a significant amount of national security experience from being one of the Senators that was selected for the associated committee in the Senate.  This is very important to have someone that genuinely understands the security issues of the country.  Our current President definitely was clueless and that hurt our nation.  He is a moderate Republican.  Like I said, mass appeal.  So far, the only moderate out of the Democrats and Republicans mentioned thus far is Rubio.  He wants to rekindle the American Dream.  His parents lived the American Dream--as immigrants that worked hard and now have a son in the Senate running for President.  It doesn't get more real than that and it puts him in a unique position to know what does and doesn't help that Dream.  Of course, he's fairly young and has a family and everyone knows the job of President ages the hell out of anyone we elect.

Why vote for Ben Carson?  He's smart--like super smart.  He's outside of the political system.  Of course, given that the current President was both of those things coming in, that might not be the best combination to have again.  That's really it.  He contradicts himself quite a bit, which has been easy enough to find and he doesn't seem to have any real substantive plans or stances on some of the more important political issues.  He's another amateur, and that may or may not appeal to you.   Moving on.
Why vote for Rand Paul?  OK, I have no idea.  He's always defined himself as a Libertarian, which actually is technically it's own party--just not a winning one.  Now all of the sudden he's a Republican.  I'm not sure how he got an Iowa delegate in the caucuses.  Someone must have missed that he wasn't actually a Republican.  But just can't say anything positive about someone pretending to be a Republican.  Moving on.

Why vote for Carly Fiorina?  She's a woman.  She's a successful business woman.  She's smart.  She's another political outsider.  She has experience, real experience, with foreign commerce.  Of course, there's a lot of stuff online, fact checker sites, that say that she blows a lot of smoke.  She, Carson and Trump all seem to have this issue.  Moving on.

Why vote for John Kasich?  Not sure.  His reputation is that he's a jerk and for belittling people that work for, with and around him.  Bigger jerk than anyone else running.  Even trump's Trump.  Sorry, but no positives here.  Confused how he got a single delegate in the Iowa caucuses.  Moving on.

Why vote for Chris Christie?  Well, unlike Kasich, even though he has a reputation for temper tantrums--they are no worse than Bill Clinton's.  So positive in comparison to several of his competition.  He is a no nonsense politician who is also known to work bi-partisan.  His overall reputation is that he is honest and straight forward.  He has a lot of experience in national security issues because New Jersey actually is one of the main states that had to address those issues because of a large influx of tourists and foreign visitors.  He's also known for being very affable and being a "town hall" type that tends to make everyone comfortable around him.  Of course, his financial record isn't that good, but all of the immediate surrounding states are not having a lot of growth.  The economy sucks still overall.  NY, NJ, PA, the Northeast in general has not seen the growth.  But it's something to think about.  Next up,

Why vote for Rick Santorum?  Well, for someone who has identified himself as very, very pro-life, which typically means that they tend to follow the ultra to ultra ultra conservative point of view across the board, he is very non-committal and/or supportive of some more liberal ideas.  He believes in voting rights to be restored to people who have served time and completed their sentences.  He's a bit of ultra conservative crossed with ultra liberal--which overall could make him a moderate.  It really would depend on how many things that you agree or disagree with his opinions.

That's it folks.  I tried to state the positives although each needed a little clarification that might slide a little negative.  Next blog, the negatives...hopefully the clarifications will slide a little to the positive.