The recent Republican debate on Fox News brought forward some interesting candidate comparisons. The debates occurred in two segments, one for the top poll setters and the other for the folks who didn’t get high enough poll numbers.
An average of five different polling firms clearly showed that Donald Trump was the front runner — his challenge was to represent himself as a presidential class candidate — and he failed miserably.
The reason he was out front is because folks want someone who isn’t a professional politician, but they picked the wrong person.
Listening to Trump is a challenge because when asked a specific question he seems to stray from the subject half way through his answer. He has used a strategy of trashing whole populations of people, oversimplifying problems and presenting no viable plan to fix anything.
His “trust me, I’ll fix it” approach is wearing thin and his abrasive attitude is an irreparable character flaw.
First let’s talk about the career politicians. Three names pop out as viable candidates; Gov. John Kasich and Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
As far as I am concerned, Kasich has the best approach to the controversial gay marriage policy I have heard. Although he personally believes in the traditional definition of marriage, as I do, he also acknowledges that the issue has been litigated and the court has spoken.
His concerns for illegal immigrants, those who contribute rather than harm our society, are reflective of many Americans opinions.
Rubio is young and energetic; he really wants the job and is willing to work hard studying the issues. His humble upbringing is similar to Dr. Ben Carson’s story, and how he moved himself forward is testimony to how you can make something from nothing in our country.
Cruz is another story. Because he was a federal prosecutor and Supreme Court clerk, which is near the top of the legal profession, he deliberates carefully and then acts.
Other than Carly Fiorina in the earlier debate, Cruz was a convincing speaker even though he had less time than the others to make his points.
Now to the political outsiders; if you don’t want a career politician as your candidate, as many appear to desire, there are two other very good choices.
Dr. Ben Carson’s view of the racial divide was interesting; when asked about race he says he doesn’t place much emphasis on the color of a person’s skin. Why? Because he is a neurosurgeon and his view is that it’s what’s inside the outer wrapper that makes a person what they are in life.
Of course, he is right on the mark and racial bias seems to be waning as more and more diversity is represented in all aspects of our daily lives. Why Democrats keep pushing to divide the population as a political strategy is discouraging and hurts our country.
When asked about his shallow knowledge of some issues he replied that he is capable of processing large amounts of complex information in a short period of time.
When operating on the brain of a small child inside the mother’s womb it is imperative to keep an open mind and be prepared for unexpected events — it’s the same if you are president. You have to be prepared for the unexpected and rely on the people who provide objective assessments of the issues to assist you in the decision making process.
Carly Fiorina was the surprise of the night. She didn’t make the top tier, but she clearly demonstrated that she belonged there.
Her main accomplishment is resuscitating Hewlett Packard, and according to her website “During Carly’s tenure at Hewlett-Packard, revenues doubled to more than $80 billion and cash flow quadrupled.”
Unlike the other business executive, Donald Trump, Fiorina didn’t declare HP bankrupt — Trump has declared four of his enterprises bankrupt, which is hardly a testimony to success.
As she spoke it was clear that she has studied the issues, has strong organizational abilities and was comfortable in her surroundings. She impresses me with the way she is able to boil complex issues into easily digestible bits of information.
Unlike other candidates, she seemed to have a plan to resolve each issue. As far as being able to compete with the Democrat nominee, she appeared far better prepared than any of her competitors.
So, as far as who should be selected as the GOP candidate, she seems to possess all the qualities necessary to win in 2016 — we’ll have to see if convention delegates agree with this assessment.
If you feel that a career politician can help fix our nation’s problems, there are several good choices. However, if you think that the politicians are the ones who screwed it up in the first place and want an outsider to ride in and fix it, then the GOP has two really good choices for the job.
Once all the primaries are decided, it will be up to the convention delegates to make the final choice.
With this crop of able GOP candidates, the Democrats will have a hard struggle on their hands in 2016.
— Ron Fink, a Lompoc resident since 1975, is retired from the aerospace industry and has been active with Lompoc municipal government commissions and committee since 1992, including 12 years on the Lompoc Planning Commission. He is also a voting member of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association. Contact him at news@noozhawk.com. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
