Of the flock of Republican presidential candidates vying to get the nod from the Grand Old Party’s convention delegates in 2016, there are a few that stand out and several also-rans.
These are the criteria that I think are important.
Command presence is the quality most important in a world leader. The president of the United States must telegraph to all our enemies and our friends that he/she is up to the task of making tough decisions without flinching.
The candidates that seem to fit this category are Carly Fiorina (business woman), Donald Trump (businessman), former governors Mike Huckabee (Arkansas), Rick Perry (Texas), Jeb Bush (Florida), and Governors Chris Christie (New Jersey), Bobby Jindal (Louisiana) and John Kasich (Ohio).
These folks are tough and are very accomplished in their fields of endeavor.
While Fiorina and Trump have no governing experience, they have both negotiated agreements that benefited their companies and brought them great personal wealth.
Trump is far too volatile and consistently confrontational for my liking – more about him in a future commentary.
Bush, Christie, Huckabee, Jindal, Kasich and Perry have all run states with large populations; have organized their appointed staffs, dealt with state assemblies and the state court system. These are strong attributes needed for governing the nation.
Christie, a former prosecutor, is well informed, easy to listen to and has solid experience at governing – I wouldn’t want to face this guy in a poker game.
Perry is as tough as they come, and coming from the steel belt, Kasich has a presence that demands respect.
Comprehension of complex matters is essential in order for a leader to be able to sort out various points of view. Once again the aforementioned candidates along with Dr. Ben Carson and Senator Marco Rubio are standouts.
Carson is an accomplished pediatric brain surgeon who has faced many difficult challenges and overcome all of them to be successful. He became nationally recognized for his opposition to Obamacare in a speech he gave with president Obama seated near him on the dias.
Since then, he has demonstrated his ability to remain calm and on point during thousands of speaking engagements and when subjected to hard questioning during media interviews.
Rubio is young and full of energy. He commands attention when he speaks on matters before the senate.
Strength of convictions – a candidate must say what they believe in and stick to those beliefs in the face of hard questioning.
The problem with career politicians is that they are pulled in many directions by various constituencies and frequently appear to deviate from the beliefs they put forward during campaigns.
Three of the candidates mentioned so far who haven’t wavered from their personal beliefs are former Huckabee, Carson and Trump.
Huckabee has a strong ethical base and is well informed. He’s easy to listen to and has solid experience at governing.
As a commentator on Fox News, he demonstrated his grasp of national issues, and put forward his opinions in an understandable way. He developed his political-belief system while he was in Arkansas and hasn’t wavered on any position he has taken so far.
Carson, who also has a strong ethical base, is well-informed and truly rose from the poorest household to the top of his game. He carefully analyzes a matter before he speaks; he justifies his position and then his rhetoric remains consistent on the subject.
It is important for a world leader to establish credibility by remaining consistent and not change his mind just because it makes a better sound bite.
Electability is most important to the convention delegates who will select the candidate who will oppose the Democrat choice in 2016. If you can’t get elected, your platform cannot go forward and your constituents won’ be represented.
Former governors Huckabee, Perry, and Bush, and governors Christie, Jindal and Kasich have all been elected by strong margins in their home states.
They have the ability to put together a team of folks who can help them study issues, get them to functions on time and rally their supporters when it counts.
Bush seems to be the one with the best strategy for proving he is electable, and seems to have cornered the market on fundraising early in the process.
It’s way too early to tell which of these contenders will make it to the top. There are thousands of hours of rhetoric, scores of primary campaigns and hundreds of media interviews and debates to auger through.
What each says and does during the following months will provide endless fodder for the press and an equally endless series of commentaries will emerge.
On the other side of the aisle, the only Democrat who seems to garner attention has chosen to ignore the press. Will there be a Democrat primary or will Hillary Clinton simply be anointed as their choice for president despite her many flaws?
Even though there are so many Republicans running, at least the GOP has a choice of who represents them in the 2016 presidential election.
— 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.
