It happens every time in America after a Congressional election in the USA. The media began to speculate about who will be the Republican and Democratic candidates for the 2016 presidential election almost as soon as the votes were counted in the 2014 Congressional election which was won decisively by the Republicans at all levels. I don’t think most people realize the depth of the Republican victory. Not only did they widen their majority in the US House and take 9 seats to take control of the US Senate, but they also won so many governorship races that they now have a dramatic dominance in the governorships of the 50 states. Even such deeply Democratic states like Maryland, Massachusetts and Illinois elected Republican governors. However, the greatest Republican dominance, largely unreported in election reports, was in the 50 state Legislative elections. The Democrats were crushed in those elections at the state level as the first link reports. I think the Republican Party now controls more legislative bodies in the 50 states than at any time in US history! I may be wrong, but that is my understanding.
The 2016 presidential election has been framed by the results of the 2014 congressional and state elections. The 2014 elections were an across-the-board rejection of the leftist agenda of the Democratic Party and President Obama’s extreme-leftist agendas and policies. Unless the Democratic Party shifts its focus away from the radical leftist agenda of Barrack Obama, it could take an even greater beating at the polls in 2016. However, Obama has not acted pragmatically at all. He has acted like he wants to grasp for dictatorial powers via executive orders, executive actions, etc. which trample all over the powers of the legislative and judicial branches of the federal government, the US Constitution and the will of the majority of the American people. The more Obama tries to implement a radical left-wing agenda in the time left in his second term, the more anger he stirs up in the electorate and the more determined the electorate will likely become to vote Republican in 2016 to punish Obama for his overreach. The more Obama acts like an out-of-control leftist, the more he damages the “brand” of the Democratic Party, no matter who it nominates for president in 2016. More specifically, the more leftist Obama acts and the more contrary to the will of the American people he governs, the more it hurts the election chances of Hillary Clinton.
The presidential campaigns start earlier and earlier every election cycle. The Republican (GOP) side has many serious potential candidates and even more pretenders. Hillary Clinton is the presumptive favorite on the democratic side, but she strikes me as a political pragmatist and the damage Obama is doing to the Democratic Party’s chances may yet cause her to opt out of running. We’ll see. I don’t think there is any doubt she wants to run, but the “skeletons in her closet” are beginning to rattle just at the thought of her running for the presidency.
A prominent GOP figure just hit Obama with a broadside. Popular former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani stated that he “does not believe that the president [Obama] loves America” (second link). The White House is angry, but Giuliani is not backing down. Personally, I think Giuliani is right, and I think a majority of voting Americans agree with him. Obama’s decisions are so bizarre sometimes that one wonders what “world view” is controlling him. It seems evident to many that Obama’s decisions often work to harm America’s longstanding foreign and domestic interests. The third link reports that a strong majority of Americans now disapprove of Obama’s handling of the ISIL crisis, and the fourth link reports that a recent CBS poll shows a strong majority of Americans now favor sending US troops to fight ISIL. This latter poll result represents a huge shift in American opinion, and has, no doubt, been caused by the beheadings, crucifixions, tortures, sex slavery and executions by burning people alive as ISIL now acts like evil incarnate in the eyes of the world. In spite of the carnage caused by ISIL, the Taliban, Boko Haram, Al Shabab, Al Queda, etc., Obama still can’t get the words “Islamic terrorism” out of his mouth. The whole world knows about this reality; it’s not like he’s going to keep this a secret. It is also worth noting (as I have done in my posts) that the Sunni Kurds, the Sunni Egyptian government led by President al-Sisi and the Jordanian government led by King Abdullah are shining examples of secular, decent Muslims in the world who also strongly oppose Islamic terrorists.
The GOP candidates smell a huge opportunity in 2016 and potential candidates are already forming election committees. The following is how I see the situation at present. Personally, I ache for both parties to nominate someone who is not named either “Bush” or “Clinton.” I am weary of these two self-appointed dynastic families feeling they have a “right” to each party’s nomination, and I think millions of Americans feel the same way. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, son and brother of the previous two “Bush” presidents, has emerged as the presumptive favorite of the GOP insider elites. The fifth link headlines that Jeb Bush “vows to be ‘his own man” re: foreign policy, but the article goes on to indicate the exact opposite is true. Four of the handlers/controllers/advisers during either or both of the first two Bush presidents were James Baker, George Schultz, Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff. The article about Jeb Bush’s “independence” lists his top four advisers as James Baker, George Schultz, Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff. Looks like a Jeb Bush presidency would be the “same old, same old” that we saw in the first two Bush presidencies. To be sure, I prefer Jeb Bush to Obama, but I think he’d likely give us another presidency “of the rich, by the rich and for the rich” (to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln). Governor Christie of New Jersey turns me off. Not only did he become Obama’s pal before the 2012 election, but I’ve seen him berate and bully average citizens at voter forums on TV. Also, I don’t think America has ever elected an obese glutton after TV was invented. On the GOP side, I currently favor Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin (who has proven he is a tough budget-cutter and can win in a liberal state) or Senator Rand Paul, who is a Constitutionalist. I also like senators Rubio of Florida and Cruz of Texas. Both would appeal to Latinos, but each has a huge disadvantage. Sen. Cruz comes from a state that will surely go Republican no matter who is nominated, so he adds nothing to the Electoral College math for the GOP. If Jeb Bush runs, Sen. Rubio will be squeezed out of the race. Either Rubio or Jeb Bush would be a good choice from an electoral vantage point, as either would likely switch Florida’s electoral votes to the GOP side. Governor Kasich of Ohio would also likely put that state’s electoral votes in the GOP column, but he may be a very attractive vice-presidential choice. The bigwigs of each party have to look at the Electoral College math in selecting candidates. The popular vote doesn’t elect presidents in the USA. The Electoral College votes elect presidents.
From a biblical/Christian perspective, it is evident that the USA is sliding way from its moral Christian traditions. Obama’s presidency has caused this trend to accelerate rapidly. There is no doubt that the Creator God of the Bible is not pleased. I hope that he gives the USA a reprieve with some good leadership, and I pray for that to occur even as it seems unlikely. We need to remember that Daniel 4:17, 25 and 32 tell us that God sets over nations “whomsoever he will,” and that Daniel 4:17 warns us that sometimes he sets over nations “the basest of men.” Please join me in praying the Almighty that he will give the USA wise and decent leaders for a change and give our nation a reprieve from its trend of degeneration from the greatness that God once gave us. Forgive me if I sound cynical, but, based on their respective recent performances, I tend to now see the Republican Party as the “Babylon the Great” Party, and the Democrats as the “Sodom and Gomorrah” Party. Some choice.
One last thought on the 2016 presidential election. I’m old enough to recall the Bill Clinton presidency very well. If Hillary Clinton runs for the presidency, every American ought to read the biography of Hillary Clinton by Edward Klein entitled, The Truth about Hillary Clinton. It won’t be just Benghazi that becomes “front and center” in the presidential election if Hillary runs. The bizarre and oddly-explained “suicide” of Vince Foster may become a presidential issue as well. I think you can be sure every GOP presidential candidate’s backers have already read much about Vince Foster’s “suicide” and are already deciding how to introduce that into the campaign if Hillary runs (see sixth link and seventh link). Needless to say, if the NCIS TV-show team was investigating the Vince Foster “suicide,” the fictional Agent Gibbs and his team would quickly see through the discrepancies and poorly-documented evidence on this case. If Hillary runs, the nation will almost surely also hear lots about such past issues as “Whitewater,” “alleged drug-running at Mena airport” and “Arkancides during the Clinton years.” You can do your own web search on those last two topics if you wish. I did mine. There’s a lot to read about them on the Internet. You can check them out and form your own opinion. You can be sure the GOP’s “opposition research” teams are already pouring over all these links. I don’t know if Hillary (or Bill) Clinton want those issues on the national agenda. If Hillary Clinton doesn’t run, the Democratic field is wide-open as well.
- http://ballotpedia.org/State_legislative_elections,_2014
- http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/20/giuliani-defends-obama-criticism-says-president-doesnt-believe-in-american/?intcmp=latestnews
- http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/poll-barack-obamas-isil-115235.html
- http://www.cbsnews.com/news/do-americans-want-to-send-ground-troops-to-fight-isis/
- http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/02/18/jeb-bush-foreign-policy-obama/23599367/
- http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Death-Vincent-Foster-Investigation/dp/074324253X
- http://prorev.com/foster.htm
