Fresh Droppings on the Campaign Trail

Right From the Start

With the first nationally televised primary campaign debate ended, it is safe to say that the quadrennial presidential campaign season is now in full swing. You don’t have to be a big game tracker to understand the importance of “droppings on the trail.” Like scat, political droppings tend to show where the candidates have been and where they might be headed. “Political droppings” usually take the form of vignettes – small in size but descriptive of the larger essence of candidates. Here are a few to whet your appetite.

Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina, despite being relegated to the second tier, was the clear winner of the FOX News primary debates. The surprising thing was not that she won but that the press and politicians have given her such short shrift in the lead up to these debates.

Despite years of television time and reams of newspaper print devoted to Hillary Clinton who has accomplished nothing in her life time beyond political appointments due solely and only to her husband’s political power, the press, media and politicians have chosen to all but ignore an extraordinarily accomplished woman who made her way through “a man’s world” to become the first woman chief executive officer of a top twenty publicly traded company. She did not achieve this position because she married the right man, but rather because she was smart, determined, worked harder than most and was willing to take the necessary risks attendant to fulfilled ambitions.

While Ms. Clinton traveled more than any previous Secretary of State she has been unable to identify a single accomplishment. Ms. Fiorina traveled the same trails, met with the same world leaders and accomplished deal after deal that opened markets, created jobs, and led to prosperity for her employees and shareholders. In contrast the only one who benefited from Ms. Clinton’s time in office was her husband and her foundation. There is a woman in this presidential season that deserves to be President of the United States – her name is Carly Fiorina. Please think about her summary of what besets our country:

“This is a great nation. It is a unique nation in all of human history and on the face of the planet, because here, our founders believed that everyone has a right to fulfill their potential and that that right –they called it life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness — comes from God and cannot be taken away by government.

“We have arrived at a point in our nation’s history where the potential of this nation and too many Americans is being crushed by the weight, the power, the cost, the complexity, the ineptitude, the corruption of the federal government, and only someone who will challenge the status quo of Washington, D.C. can lead the resurgence of this great nation.

“I will do that.”

There is another woman in this presidential season who has a remarkable three decade long record of lying, withholding evidence, and engaging in public corruption. She deserves to be investigated, indicted and convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice and public corruption. Her name is Hillary Clinton.

Bernie Sanders’ Rally in Portland

Oregon’s left leaning Oregonian was all agog about the presidential primary rally held by Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist – VT). Below the headline “Sanders rally fills the Moda Center” the Oregonian’s front page story announced that Mr.Sanders had filled Portland’s largest indoor venue to overflowing with some 28,000 people attending the rally for our country’s foremost Socialist. What a surprise.

Mr. Sanders hails from Vermont which shares much in common with Portland. We traveled through Vermont last fall in a swing through New England to see the fall colors. It is a stunningly picturesque area dotted with small towns replete with Colonial spires, lush fields, hardwood forests and clear streams. It is postcard pretty until you get down close. Montpelier, the state’s capital and center for its far left politics, is dirty and decaying. It is a small town with shabby storefronts and is overrun by the homeless and street urchins. There is a decided odor of human urine and animal feces that permeates the air in the downtown area. Does any of that sound familiar for those who had ventured into downtown Portland after dark?

Vermont’s economic engine was fueled primarily by wood products and textile mills. When the government locked up the land for the former and the latter moved overseas to avoid unions and high wages, Vermont’s economy began to fail. It took its swing at the high tech industry but it didn’t take. Meanwhile Vermont’s liberal government class through high taxes and backbreaking regulations ensured that any new industry will try everywhere else before it comes to Vermont. Vermont, like Portland, has experienced a flow of inherited wealth and second home millionaires replete with minimum wage jobs to feed and care for them.

The politics of Portland and Montpelier are nearly identical and, therefore, it is no surprise that Mr. Sanders scored so well. In all probability, Mr. Sanders will carry Oregon in the primary race if he doesn’t get buried before that by the brutal personal attack machine run by the Clintons. Mr. Sanders seems like a decent guy who fervently believes in an economic and political model that has failed everywhere it has been tried. The most visible results can be found in America’s great cities that have been under the rule of the far left – New York (recently), Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, and on and on. The surprising thing is that those who suffer the most from the far left’s policies and ineptitudes – the poor, women and minorities – seem to be more than willing to accept the myth that a welfare state designed by these leftists will be good for them. Welcome to Portland where thirty year olds go to retire.

Senator Lindsey Graham

In last week’s televised primary debate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in response to questions about entitlement reform stated that he was not married and did not have children and would be willing to receive less in Social Security payments.

Wow! How generous of Mr. Graham.

Mr. Graham has been a member of Congress since 1995, first as a Representative and then, beginning in 2003, as a Senator from South Carolina. Members of Congress who reach the age of sixty-two and have a mere five years of service are entitled to a full pension. By the time Mr. Graham finishes his current term in the Senate in 2021 he will have spent twenty-six years on the public dole and be entitled to a pension that is roughly equivalent to two thirds of his current salary. Assuming that he does retire at that point, recent history indicates that he will thereafter be employed by a Washington, D.C. based law firm that specializes in influence peddling and will receive a salary and benefits far in excess of what he currently receives as a sitting Senator. Given Mr. Graham’s enviable financial situation his offer to give up a portion of his Social Security benefits rings pretty hollow.

But then so does Mr. Graham.