May 21st
Now we have the distinguished senior senator from South
Carolina, Lindsey Graham, announcing that he will subsequently announce his
candidacy for the President of the United States. How many Republican
candidates, declared and undeclared, are there? (Keep in mind that there some
arcane regulations that control your campaigning once you declare, so the
reluctance of some candidates to officially declare is not necessarily the
result of timidity.)
As of today the number of people seriously advancing
themselves as candidates is fourteen to seventeen. Of course that number is
increasing almost daily. Perhaps this is seen as a weak field and weak fields
always attract more entrants; this is true for any competitive event even arm
wrestling.
This large field which may get even larger (Sarah Palin’s
hat is not yet in the ring, nor is Newt Gingrich’s.) in the next couple of
months. There are now so many candidates that Fox news, which is to host the
first debates, has declared that they will limit the stage to just ten
candidates. If you assume a two hour debate show that means each candidate will
get about ten to twelve minutes to hear and answer questions. Perhaps Governor
Perry will write down somewhere which government departments he wants to
eliminate so as to avoid time spent in puzzlement. (But let’s remember he had
to remember the names of three departments. Not an easy chore for a Texas
governor as we might surmise from our recent experience with a Texas governor
in the White House.) I would guess there will be an all-out sprint to do well
in the next several polls for the polls will determine who the top ten debaters
will be. Those not invited to the debate might as well close up shop; it’s hard
to imagine anyone contributing to their campaigns if they can’t get on stage
for the first debates.
We already have significant disagreements among some top
candidates regarding appropriate US foreign policy as well as immigration
policy and whether or not a national standard in education, the Common Core, is
a good idea. Senator Graham believes we need “boots on the ground” from Libya
to Iraq to counter ISIL. Naturally he has the backing of Senator McCain who is
not a candidate this time around. Graham is an Air Force veteran but not a
combat veteran. He served in the Judge Advocates Office briefing pilots on the
rules of war.
Then there is Senator Rand Paul who believes, equally
firmly, that we have no business sending our troops anywhere unless we are
attacked. These two have other issues; Graham is not a fan of the Tea Party
folks, he believes the party should be more inclusive. He is famously opposed
to gay marriage and asked Attorney General Loretta Lynch why gay marriage could
be approved by the court but not polygamy. Lynch was too smart to bite on that
one but Lindsey polished his far right creds with the question. Rand Paul
weasels a bit on gay marriage; he thinks it should be up to the states but then
what happens if you move to a different state?
This battle of the pipsqueaks will be fun to watch. Paul and
Graham do not see eye to eye on much of anything except an agreement that
whatever position President Obama takes on anything is clearly wrong!
No comments:
Post a Comment