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Cheap Seats Online 2015 Part BTrinity By Rich Trzupek:
As the Republican race for Presidential nominee progresses, three candidates have emerged from the pack: Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina. What ties these three candidates together? The answer is simple: none are professional politicians.
It’s almost a mirror image of what’s happening among Democrats. Hillary was assumed by most everyone, including me, to be the party’s slam-dunk nominee. Yet, Bernie Sanders has emerged as a legitimate threat to Queen Hillary’s coronation.
Now Sanders is a professional politician, but he’s not your typical professional politician. He’s an avowed socialist representing one of the few states in the union – Vermont – where an avowed socialist could be elected to public office. Like Trump, Carson and Fiorina, Sanders is the alternative to political business as usual.
We seem to have reached that tipping point. We’re sick and tired of politicians, whatever party they belong to, and we’re looking for real alternatives, on the left and on the right.
On the conservative side of things, I think that’s unfortunate for candidates like Rubio and Cruz who are true, committed conservatives that would, if elected President, have a Reagan-like effect on the nation. Unfortunately, the GOP has been infected by too many get along/go along types like Boehner and McConnell who masquerade as conservatives, but behave too often like wanna-be liberals.
Trump, Carson and Fiorina all represent different aspects of what we’re fed up with. Let’s take a closer look.
Trump is in your face and, with the significant exception of attempting to insult Fiorina’s looks, is unapologetic about being in your face. He speaks his mind and gives not one-tenth of a damn who objects to him speaking his mind.
Trump appeals to voters who desperately want to find a candidate that is willing to say what they truly believe, rather than what their pollsters and advisors tell them to say. The voting public’s BS meter is ultra-sensitive these days and Trump’s popularity is a reflection of that fact.
Would Trump be a good President? Cripes, no. His grasp of the details of the issues is – at best – paltry and his cowboy persona would further widen the rifts that divide the nation. I love the Donald as a candidate, because he serves as a BS filter for every other candidate, but should he be leader of the free world? No thanks.
Carson appeals to voters who are sick and tired of name-calling and negative campaigning in general. It’s a dirty secret that is well-known among political professionals: negative messaging moves poll numbers more than any other type of tactic. We, the public, might complain about attack ads, but the fact is that we react to those ads.
Carson is the intellectual, the approachable, the one candidate who refuses to sink in the mud of practical politics. Too few of voters recognize the stand that Carson is taking, but those who do will stick to this principled, retired neurosurgeon like glue.
And that brings us to Fiorina. She appeals to Republican voters who want a professional, responsible and passionate presence in the White House – a la Ronald Reagan.
When Carly talks about partial-birth abortions and the harvesting of fetus organs, it’s clear that she deeply and personally cares. When Carly talks about the Middle East and Iran, it’s clear that she has considered concrete, detailed solutions to an extent that none of her opponents have considered.
Each of these three has their weak points. I would not venture to guess whom will emerge as the nominee for either party. But I think we’re heading in the right direction. Political-correctness has overwhelmed common sensibility in recent times and it’s time for a course correction. Hopefully we’re starting to move in the right direction.
E-mail: rich@examinerpublications.com
www.threedonia.com
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