Month: November 2015

Episode 11: The Planned Parenthood Shooting and Is Trump Really a Fascist?

Segments:

The Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting

Is Donald Trump truly a fascist?

Ben Carson’s Iowa poll dive and Ted Cruz’s poll rise

Bernie Sanders poll rise in New Hampshire

November presidential polls in 2016 vs 2012 vs 2008 

Episode 10: The ISIL Threat, Muslim Refugees, and Democratic Socialism

Segments:

Clinton and Rubio on their plans to defeat ISIL

Trump and Carson on Muslim refugees

Election Day 2015 – Louisiana governor’s race

Bernie Sanders’ “What is Democratic Socialism” speech

52nd anniversary of the JFK Assassination

Jindal drops out of race. Who’s next?

Episode 9: GOP Debate, Democratic Debate, and Million Student March

Segments:

GOP Debate

Democratic Debate

Million Student March

Is this now a foreign policy election?

 

Episode 8: Trump on SNL; Carson on the Ropes

Segments:

Election Day 2015 and the Kentucky governor’s race

Donald Trump on SNL

Ben Carson’s mendacity issues

George H. W. Bush’s new memoire

MSNBC Democratic Forum

Obama rejects the Keystone XL Pipeline 

State of the races

Longing for the magic fix

bush-fix-it-AP

by Kevin Kelton

One of the reasons I think I have pretty good political sensibilities is that I actually listen and pay attention to details. So when Jeb Bush comes out with a new campaign slogan, “Jeb can fix it,” I take some time to consider why his campaign team would hinge it’s entire reboot — indeed, his entire campaign — on the words “fix it.”

It’s obvious they must have focus tested it to heaven and back. So what does that tell us? It tells us that their research indicates that voters are yearning for someone to “fix” what they perceive as a broken system…with lots of broken components. Whereas in 2000 voters were looking for decency and respectability (after the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal) and in 2008 they were looking for hope and change (after being disappointed with decency and respectability), now they are looking for an easy fix… one that can be embodied in one man. Just vote for him and your problems will begin to get fixed.

I think that explains the psychology of both parties’  races this year. Fifty-five percent of GOP voters are leaning toward an “outsider” whom they hope can make the magic fix (Trump, Carson or Fiorina), and 25-30% of the Democratic voters are looking for the same thing in Bernie Sanders. On the flip side, people who support Clinton, Rubio, O’Malley, Kasich, Bush, and a few of the other GOPers are looking for competency. They don’t expect a president to “fix” the system; they just want someone who can effectively manage an imperfect system and maybe get it back on course.

I think the general election will come down to this clash: voters that are wishing for a magic fix, and those that are content with a steady hand to manage the unwieldy ship of state. I fall into the latter category. I think we will prevail.

But I feel bad for the fix-it group. They will forever be longing for something that probably doesn’t exist, and hence forever bitter about their inability to make it real.

Episode 7: Third Republican Debate Postmortem

Segments:

Third GOP Debate

Jeb Bush campaign

Ben Carson’s dietary supplement pills

Syria and boots on the ground

School Resource Officers in high school classrooms

The state of the races