2016 May 21^st

What follows is the Detritus from exactly one year ago; I present it again now because there is nothing new worth commenting on in the political arena. Sometimes it’s worth a look-back.

May 21^st

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 are 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!