Archive for ‘Presidential Politics’

« Older Entries  |  
February 10, 2019

Thoughts about Presidential Candidates

by Steve Dana

In 2016, Republicans went through the process of selecting a presidential candidate from a large field (17 candidates) that ultimately narrowed it down to Donald Trump.  Now with the democrats forced to pick a challenger, it looks like they will have even more names than the GOP.  Some estimates say the field will number more than 20 Democrats but realistically, you have to produce some creds to be taken seriously and most of the wannabes will fail to deliver; Vanity campaigns.  Hoping to learn from the past, I compiled a file on past presidents to see if there were patterns that might lead to a winner in 2020.

It’s interesting to note who our presidents have been over the past sixty years and where they came from.  John Kennedy was a first term Senator in 1960.  Kennedy’s work life was almost entirely as an elected member of the congress both in the house and the senate.  He was a first term senator from Massachusetts when he ran.  Lyndon Johnson took over after Kennedy’s assassination and was elected to the job in 1964 but he was also a senator from Texas before teaming with Kennedy as his vice president.  Lyndon Johnson spent most of his working life in the congress both in the house and the senate.  He was a lawyer.

In 1968 Richard Nixon (a lawyer) was out of government but came back to win the presidency. His previous job had been Eisenhower’s vice president and before that he was in the congress from California.  When he was driven out of office following his re-election in ’72, Jerry Ford filled in but failed to win election to his own term.  Ford was also a lawyer and career politician.

Jimmy Carter was governor from Georgia and a relative unknown, but he came out of the sticks and beat Ford in 1976.  Carter had been a farmer before election to governor. Carter was a graduate of the Naval Academy and spent a number of years serving in the Navy.  Carter was not a lawyer.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan won and was re-elected in 1984.  Reagan had been governor of California previous to running for president.  He was thought of as a weak candidate because of his actor back ground.   In 1988 George Bush won the presidency after being Reagan’s vice president for eight years.  He only served one term.  Bush 41 was probably the best qualified candidate in modern times having been a successful business man in Texas before serving in the congress, as an ambassador and as director of the CIA.  Neither Reagan or Bush 41 were lawyers.

In 1992 Bill Clinton was elected as governor of Arkansas.  Other than being a lawyer by trade he spent his whole working life as an elected official in Arkansas.  Clinton served two terms.  Where Nixon resigned before he was impeached, Clinton stuck it out through the impeachment process but was not removed from office by the senate.

In 2000, George W Bush won the presidency as the governor of Texas.  He served two terms.  He spent eight years as governor of Texas but previous to that was an OIL MAN in the state. Bush 43 was not a lawyer.

In 2008, Barack Obama won a hard-fought battle to be the democrat nominee over Hillary Clinton then defeated John McCain for the presidency.  Obama was a lawyer by trade whose work history described him as a neighborhood organizer.  Other than that, he had never held a job until being elected to the Illinois State legislature.  He was a first term Senator when he ran for president.

In 2016 businessman and political rookie Donald Trump defeated sixteen primary rivals and the vaunted Hillary Clinton to be president.  He came directly to the highest office in the land from the business world.  It wasn’t the first time in our country’s history that it happened, but in the modern era it was unheard of.  More often than not, the candidates have been lawyers by trade.  In my mind that is not a recommendation.  Of the winners of the office in this review all but Carter, Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 and Trump were lawyers.  Is it any wonder our country is in the dire straits with so many lawyers in charge?  Of the non-lawyers, all were Republicans except Carter.

So, in review, voters in America have been fed lawyers with little or no management experience running anything in the private sector to manage the largest enterprise in the world and we’re surprised it hasn’t thrived?

The success of a president is frequently impacted by the level of cooperation with the congress.  If you have a president with a congress of the same party the outcome can be impressive because of the compatible ideology.  A president with a split congress will be somewhat less successful because of the compromise required to work with the opposition party.  The hardest time a president will have if the congress is wholly of the opposition party.  That is hell in the world of politics.

Gauging the success of presidents needs to be viewed in the context of the congresses they worked with. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to be successful if the congress is with you.  It takes a master deal maker to accomplish anything if the congress is opposite.  From a nuance perspective, the size of the political majority is also a factor.

If Trump is the deal maker he tells us he is, the next two years will be his biggest test.  The clinker might be the determination of the opposition to prove him to be a loud-mouthed blow hard.  Sadly, Trump’s style will not serve him when he in forced to work with people he has insulted time and time again.  That might be a teaching moment for Trump.  Insulting your rivals might bite you in the ass down the road.

Now moving forward to the looming campaign of 2020, the Democrats are jockeying for the run.  It’s interesting to note the number of first term senators (like Obama) who view the time being right for another lawyer to run the country.  It appears that lawyers will be the most numerous in the field this cycle as well.

Joe Biden, Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and now Amy Klobuchar all lawyers, all career politicians.  None of them have experience running a business or managing an organization larger than a campaign.

Bernie Sanders is a career politician but is not a lawyer.  Interestingly, the Democrats allowed Sanders to run as a Democrat when he competed against Hillary Clinton even though he does not belong to the Democrat Party.  It will be interesting in the next cycle to see if they allow an unaffiliated candidate to participate.  Howard Schultz is thinking about running as an independent even though he has always identified as a democrat.  How can Sanders run as a D if he’s never identified with the party?

I have to concede that Abe Lincoln was a lawyer, so I’m not completely turned off by them but the reason our country is in the difficulty we are is largely due to lawyers and insurance companies.  And yet, we keep regurgitating lawyers as candidates.

Donald Trump has demonstrated that a guy with good business instincts can do good work leading the country so I don’t think we should eliminate business people from consideration.  As a side consideration, for a business guy, being president calls for a cut in pay.  For career politicians, election to the presidency is a step up in status and pay.  It might be worthwhile to develop a cultivation program for business people as candidates so they can bring that experience to the job.

Finally, what we’ve learned from Trump is that our president does need a bedside manner.  Our president needs to be the hard ass in private while being civil in public.

Posted in Partisan Politics, Political commentary, Presidential Politics | Leave a Comment »

November 11, 2016

YOUR’RE FIRED is still in play!

by Steve Dana

Now that the election is over, it’s time to get to work.  For the new administration, a legislative agenda would be helpful.  For each cabinet position where a new appointee will take over, a preliminary legislative plan needs to be developed in coordination with the corresponding House and Senate committee chairs.  Whoever is managing the ObamaCare replacement needs to be working simultaneously with other folks working on defense and veterans affairs, EPA regulatory burdens, the IRS Tax Code, immigration, trade policy and all the other government issues holding back our economy.

Each of the Committee Chairs in the Congress needs to be working with the new administration to propose and draft legislation then hold hearings that can move toward adoption one after the other.  Negotiating a preliminary framework for target legislation in the weeks prior to the inauguration should be a job for a guy like Newt Gingrich who already has a history with the Contract with America. Newt and Mike Pence should be able to work together to make it happen.

For years these electeds have been sitting on their butts doing nothing.  Now it’s time for them to start working positively FOR something.

Striking while the iron is hot is key.  Call the Republican leaders together and get them working on something positive; keep their feet to the fire and get something done.  It will be a good test of whether leadership in the Congress is serious about moving the rock or just jacking their jaws.  I suspect that Mitch McConnell might have another agenda, but we will see.

President-Elect (PE) Trump comes to the Presidency from the private business sector so he should be able to recruit executives from very successful businesses to facilitate some of the leadership tasks.  One of the things we’ve learned over the years is that when your President calls and asks you to set aside your personal agenda to serve your country, you need to give it serious consideration. Historically, politicians have turned to business round-tables for input.  We have an enormous pool of talent in our country waiting to be tapped into.  This is a good opportunity to bring folks in from key disciplines to offer suggestions.  A SHARK TANK for government.

If our government is operating properly, then the environment for business is invigorated.  Business leaders should be able to identify specific ways to reduce governmental burdens while protecting consumers from unscrupulous businesses.

Finally, whoever is chosen to lead our Defense Department and State Department need to strap on their vests and sidearms and develop a preliminary plan to take the reins and send the message around the world that America will not be intimidated or disrespected.

This is an aggressive plan for PE Trump that calls for him to demonstrate his business management skills including delegation of responsibilities.  It will be a test of the appointees.  Ironically, it may be another chance for Trump to invoke his most famous line; “You’re Fired” for folks who are not up to the task.

Posted in Political commentary, Presidential Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: ,
July 25, 2016

Trump: My candidate for America!

by Steve Dana

Where do I begin?

I’m getting tired of the right wing pundits pounding Trump as hard as the predictable left wingers will.  Folks I know who have been good Republicans for many years are now crazy NEVER TRUMPERS.  They suddenly become voters with a conscience with Trump when they were silent before with Romney and McCain before him.  Talk about do nothing candidates.

Last year before the primaries started, there were sixteen other candidates running for president ranging from private sector smart guys Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina to very experienced politicians with leanings from fairly middle of the road to very conservative; governors, senators and representatives in the congress.  There has never been a more experienced and highly regarded gang of presidential wannabees.

So when the Republican primaries are over and Donald Trump is the winner of the election process, some of these pundits and party insiders are outraged because the voters chose a guy they don’t like.  A guy whose persona offends them.  A guy who is characterized as unqualified to serve because he lacks political experience.  A guy they didn’t pick.

Let me tell you, the current president was elected enthusiastically twice without a lick of experience at anything besides “smooth talking”.  Frankly, the candidates MY PARTY put out there mostly had a very common characteristic, that of being a lawyer.  Remind me what lawyer you can remember who has a résumé with any accomplishments of note.  Being a professional elected official with a lawyer background is not a case for accomplishment or qualification.

If you listen to some of our most respected inventors and innovators and they will tell you that their success was not the product of a single try, but a lengthy list of failures leading up to a winner.  Jeff Bezos is a champion of trying and failing.  Then we get a look at the characterization of Trump and he’s branded a loser because of his failures.  Remember the smart guys tell you the only people not making mistakes are people not trying.

The right wing pundits are not happy with Trump even though he was the last man standing after a very lengthy, bloody primary process.  Even after a campaign lacking decorum and a seeming lack of reverence and respect for the job he aspires to, the voters still chose Trump and rejected the field.

Now the never Trumpers are willing to vote for Clinton so there is a clear path for a “REAL REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE” to run in 2020.  Talk about major stupid!  What about what happens during the next four years?  How about those SCOTUS appointments?  How about border security?  How about family wage jobs fleeing our country to the beneficiaries of NAFTA, WTO and now TPP?

Let’s be clear, I was not a Trump supporter when this process started.  I would love to have a Constitutional Conservative in the White House to help restore the Constitution in it’s original form as the guiding document for our government.  I believe in States Rights.  The corruption of the Constitution through crazy Supreme Court rulings that justify ignoring the words clearly outlined in the Bill of Rights and the Amendments distresses me to no end.

I have no illusions about Trumps conservativism.  He’s not a conservative.  But, he is an American patriot who recognizes the perils of GLOBALISM.  The movement trying to diminish the sovereignty of countries in an effort to improve international trade to the benefit of who?  Clearly not American workers.  Where I would like to see opportunities for farmers and manufacturers in my state to sell their products overseas, it cannot be after we sell our working class down the river.  The boardroom characters who see international borders as an impediment to profits can take a flying leap.  If the folks running for office don’t put America and American interests first, then where will that leave Ameria?  We are being reduced down to a supposed educated elite segment, public employee unions and a service sector economy riding roughshod over the remaining small business owners and middle American taxpayers.  None of these groups contributes a thing to GDP.  The measure of our economic health is GDP and growth of GDP.

Which of those reliable Republican candidates who lost to Trump were the ones the pundits and conservatives thought should have been the nominee?  My first choice candidate was Ted Cruz since he was a Constitutional Conservative, but like Trump, those party elitists couldn’t stand Ted because he actually had principles and honored his promise to the voters in his state to fight for better government.  Absolutely vilified by his colleagues in the Senate, by the members of the Republican caucus in the House and by the right wing media.  Ted had balls and stood up for principles and he was torched.

Yet, the two candidates who were standing at the end of the election process were Trump and Ted.  The darlings of the party were dispatched one after the other.  What does that tell you about the sense of the traditional party insiders in measuring their voters?

It had to be very painful to the party insiders to have to hold their noses when they tried to get on the Ted Train to derail the Trump Train.  They had to support one guy they hated to hopefully squash a guy they hated more.  And, where are the darlings of the Party?  Up the trail, whining in their beer!

What I hope to see from Trump is the side his family members tell us exists that will give me confidence that he can be a level headed leader who can appeal to American unity more than Obama.  If he is a champion of women and minorities in his business empire, he needs to bring those folks out for the rest of us to see and hear from.  I know that if I ask Clinton or Sanders or even Obama how many jobs they have personally created they won’t have an answer for me.  Or, how many contracts or treaties they have negotiated personally that might demonstrate their negotiating skills and they won’t have any examples.  How about listing any accomplishments in their working life that might suggest they have the skills or life experiences remotely qualifying them to run for anything, let alone President of the United States.

If the only qualification for the job based upon the pundits and the elitists is years in government and nothing else, we are in serious trouble.  That is why the people are rising up today.  The people are sick of the party elite picking lawyers and Goldman Sachs finance guys as the leadership since they will reliably kiss the ring of the industrialists.  Surprise, surprise!

Donald Trump is the candidate that reflects the will of the Republican Party voters so the party elite better get used to the idea.  What is troubling to me is the failure of our elected official to honor their voters in favor of the lobbyists and contributors.  They need our votes but sell out for the money.  A Donald Trump sends the message that our votes are not for sale and where we would have liked to support a traditional Republican candidate, there weren’t any out there we could trust.  I’ll take my chances with Trump.  He may not be a proper politician, but proper politicians are proven losers.

Vote for America this November by voting for Donald Trump!

Posted in Political commentary, Presidential Politics, Republicans | Comments Off on Trump: My candidate for America!

Tags: , ,
May 10, 2016

Trump is the Candidate for THIS FIGHT!

by Steve Dana

I find it interesting that Republican Senators and Representatives in the Congress known for being moderates are withholding their support for Donald Trump because he isn’t a proven Conservative.

Isn’t that laughable!

In my mind, the only proven Conservative in the primary process is/was Ted Cruz and the same critics that hate Trump hate Ted Cruz’s guts and wouldn’t support a Proven Conservative to save their lives.

Just the other day, President Obama was talking about how Presidential candidates should be qualified in X number of ways.  Ironically, none of the qualifications he ascribes to ideal candidates actually described Barack Obama.  Truth be told, Obama the candidate was probably the least qualified candidate for President in our country’s history.  Talk about an empty resume.

Obama the candidate had zero accomplishments of note at any point in his career from the early days in the private sector as a Community Organizer to the Illinois State Legislature and then to the US Senate.  No accomplishments, even minor; No legislation sponsored or passed at any point in his public service history…including 8 years as President.  Talk about a ZERO.  And this guy is criticizing the slate of Republican candidates and giving us advice on who we should elect next?

When you think about it, career politicians rarely have a record of real accomplishment and even rarer, a record of failure.  Most career politicians thrive on NO ACCOUNTABILITY so voters have no real measure of their actual worth.  Many career politicians are lawyers with few management experiences or skills.  But boy, are they good talkers.

Thomas Edison always said that he is proud of his successes, but he’s most proud of some of his failures since they ultimately led him to the success.  Reminds me of a Will Rogers type quip.  “Show me a man with no failures in his resume and I will show you a man who never tried anything.”

The fact that Donald Trump is not a member of the “In Crowd, The Club, The Congressional Mafia” makes him an Untouchable.  If all he has is business experience with his successes and failures, he isn’t qualified for the job.  Give me a break.

Most of us voters know that Donald Trump isn’t a Conservative but like he said, it’s not the Conservative Party, it’s the Republican Party.  The fact that his stance on some social issues isn’t as conservative as I would like doesn’t mean that he won’t uphold the Constitution better than Obama has or better than Clinton or Sanders would.

Neither McCain nor Romney were ever characterized as Conservatives.  They were moderate Republicans who failed miserably as candidates because they had no back bone.  I guess you could call them Classy Losers.

Recently I heard Dinesh DeSouza speak at the Snohomish County Lincoln Day Dinner and he characterized Democrats as scrappy fighters who came with guns ablazing and Republicans obsessed with fighting by the rules.  Which camp do you think is committed to winning the contest?

I want a candidate fighting for my country like he would if his spouse was held captive by the Taliban.  The heroes we root for are the ones that think and act “outside the box”.  I think most of working class America will see that Trump is the candidate for this fight and ultimately for saving traditional American life.

Posted in Partisan Politics, Political commentary, Presidential Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags:
« Older Entries  |