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.
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