The Republican Presidential Menu

I might have lost count of how many gentlemen and lady have jumped into the GOP presidential contest. Those much wiser than I might say the Republican party now has too many candidates on offer. Perhaps. Who knows? The Wise Ones must get it right at least once, mustn't they? No? I guess a restaurant can provide a menu that offers TOO much choice to the consumer. That problem  certainly does not exist in the Democrat cafe over in Progressive Land. In that messy and greasy establishment, so far, the choice comes down to Column 'A' consisting of one old corrupt zero accomplishments white woman, or Column 'B' comprised of one old crazy-as-a-loon zero accomplishments white man. If, therefore, you get stressed by making choices then go with the Progressives. They'll make them for you: red beets with cabbage, or cabbage with red beets.

The Republicans have some excellent candidates. I think this is the strongest field we have seen from the ol' elephant party in a long, long time. Any one of them would make a far superior President than the calamity now occupying 1600 Pennsylvania, and better than Hillary or Bernie, by far. All of them strike me as patriotic and genuinely horrified by the leadership in DC. I have favorites, of course, and although it's a bit early, in keeping with full disclosure, I will say that I am inclined towards several of the governors.

I like Scott Walker a great deal: he seems a man who actually accomplishes things, e.g., breaking the power of the public sector unions in Wisconsin is no mean feat. Admittedly, he comes off a bit nerdy in this age of television and sound bites, but that is a minor sin. I also like Rick Perry, who seems to have put together a good campaign after his disastrous 2012 run. He has been giving some very interesting speeches and seems to have done a lot of thinking about the problems facing our country. He also has a sense of humor, and a strong record as governor of Texas. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is an interesting governor, too, although I think he's still a little rough around the edges for a national campaign. My least favorite of the governors is Christie of New Jersey. I still can't forgive him for his sabotage of the Romney campaign in the crucial closing days of the 2012 bout, and NJ's anti-second amendment policies leave much to be desired--still a helluva lot better than Obama or Clinton, however.

Senators Cruz and Rubio are charismatic, excellent speakers and debaters, and very strong on foreign policy. Either would eat Hillary Clinton's lunch in a debate; I just don't know about either one's managerial skills, and Rubio got himself sandbagged on immigration in his bid for "strange new respect." Carly Fiorina certainly talks a good game, seems a formidable debater, but probably comes handicapped by her controversial tenure at HP. I actually met Jeb Bush some years ago when he came to Indonesia and spent almost a full day with him. He is extremely smart, a very nice and funny person, but I am not fully convinced that he has the fire in the belly we need right now. His time might have passed. Ben Carson also seems a genuinely decent person and quite smart. I just don't know how he would do in the highly politicized world of DC. I am lukewarm on Trump, Huckabee, Kasich, and Paul for a variety of reasons, mostly revolving around my doubts about their conservative credentials. Senators Graham and Santorum, and Governor Pataki have not entered into my calculations much at all.

Anyhow, let's just hope they do not trash each other too much and give the MSM and the Dems ammunition to use in the general election.