Will Hillary Be Relevant In 2016?

I've watched Hillary move about the country campaigning for mostly lost causes and wonder if her star power has already faded.  She is over weight and not aging well.  Botox shots only last so long and the natural aging process becomes more and more difficult to hide.

She has had one transient ischemic attack already, that is known.  It is suspected she may have had more as indicated by her changing speech patterns. The knowns, much less the unknowns, will become an issue.  Especially if she ends up being challenged by a kinetic fireball like Elizabeth Warren.

She isn't the best of speakers being strident in manner.  It's not the most positive of images.

All that perhaps can be excused because after all she is Hillary.  But will it be enough?  In 2016 will she even resonate with the voting bloc or will they be seeking a younger, more energetic individual with a vision? That's another thing Hillary lacks though she's certainly not alone. That vision thing.  Voters are beginning to demand their candidates present solutions to their problems, not just an admission that they exist.  Finally, having been beaten down enough, voters are waking up.

Who else do the Democrats have?  That's a good question if they don't want to move as far left as Elizabeth Warren. Joe Biden?

I look at the potential Republican field and see the same uninspiring faces.  Cruz whose rhetoric is sometime suspect.  Rand Paul who is still figuring out what he stands for.  Marco Rubio is still too wet behind the ears.  Chris Christie is too bombastic. Jeb Bush.  Another Bush?  Not likely.  Other than Bush, none have ever run anything.  Nor has Hillary.  But they are all younger and exude energy.

A couple of fresh faces are now emerging.  Ohio's John Kasich and Wisconsin's Scott Walker retained their governorships.  They are politically astute and they've experience running large state governments.  They could be formidable competition for a former Secretary of State who had a less than stellar tenure marred with still unanswered scandal.

So the question is whether or not the Democrats can recognize damaged goods and gently ease someone else to the forefront or if they will be forever be beholden to Hillary because she is - well - Hillary.

Time will tell.  If the Republicans manage to get their act together over the next two years I'm thinking voters, especially the up and coming young ones, will be asking Hillary who?

The Faces Have Changed But Will The Game?

Finally, the mid-term madness is over!  At least the balloting is finished. Now we await the results and I don't mean who won or lost.  It's how the game will be played under new majorities and leadership.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised with Mitch McConnell's press conference this morning.  He seemed to be a calm voice of reason.  If I've judged his leadership abilities too harshly, however, remains to be seen.

By in large I'm happy with the results - except in my home state.  More on this later.  I liked the fact that the new faces are a relatively young lot.  Perhaps with a calming and experienced hand at the helm progress on a variety of fronts will be made. Perhaps too he will be able to hold the boisterous rebels at bay.

A lot will depend on whether or not the President has an epiphany. I'm not betting on it.  It goes against his nature.  Perhaps, though, the remaining Democrats, as well as certain Republicans, will realize the folly of marching in lockstep with any agenda.  One can hope.

What is discouraging are my home state results.  Idaho is one of the most red states in the nation.  It is claimed if you paint an R on a rock it will get itself elected.  Well, Idaho painted an R on a lot of rocks this go round and sure enough they got elected.  I expect we shall remain near the bottom in just about everything. This is how dysfunction at the national level begins. Cream rises to the top. Even if it's sour it's deemed something special and like dysfunctional schools where children are passed through because it's easier than educating them, we pass our politicians ever upward.

Why is that?  You'd think we'd learn.  Those of us who do are left to suffer the results of those who don't because for some reason they win more elections than we do. If it's because we're too contemptuous to vote than we deserve what we get. The irony is staggering.

It will be a few days before the dust has settled and we get back to what's left of this year.  There is limited time left to get much of anything resolved.  Perhaps that's a good thing.

The cycle begins anew.  Those looking to 2016 will ramp up.  A couple of new faces for the Republicans are beginning to emerge thanks to their victories.  It has also been shown that the Clintons are a force to be reckoned with in not much more than their own minds. For that I am thankful.

Strategists Are The Weather Forecasters Of Politics

After all the dust has settled Wednesday morning will we know what we've gotten?  I don't think so.  Otherwise the tight races wouldn't be anywhere nearly as tight.

It's the strategists, stupid! They're just like weather forecasters.  They're so busy looking at their charts and graphs and trends they forget to look out the window.  Sunny and clear all day. Look out the window.  It's pouring!

Not that it's any comfort, but I think it explains a lot.  Why else would Greg Orman, a professed Independent in Kansas, say he would caucus with which ever party wins.  There's a man with convictions!  Which way is the wind blowing?  In circles like a tornado.  It leaves nothing behind but destruction.

The Republicans have been running a stealth campaign.  Why?  Because their strategists say if they say anything their opponents will be able to take shots at them.  I ask, "So what?"  If you believe in something, say so!  As of right now I have no idea what the Republicans believe in.  There aren't enough true Independents running to make a difference and they couldn't anyway unless they formed their own caucus and stuck with it.

As for the Democrats.  They've had the last six years to show that their vision and policies were what's best for the country.  They have been proven mistaken.  Any one can make a mistake.  It becomes problematic that you refuse to admit it and double down rather than admit you didn't get it right and amend the path.

Basically we're left with the blind leading the blind.  The politicians wall themselves off from the wishes of their constituents for the sake of their lucrative careers.  The strategists are too busy with their charts and models to take the real pulse of the public.  They might be surprised to find that where a tsunami, or at least a decent wave, is predicted the truth is the voters don't see it that way.

They've looked at the rising cost of health car, the lack of really good jobs or  the lack of change in their take home pay and the ever increasing cost of essentials and say, "Hey, those Democrats haven't done so well."  Then they look at the Republicans for a new direction and are met with silence.

The politicians may be facing a tsunami all right.  A tsunami of disinterest and resignation.  It isn't apathy.  It's discouragement.  It will be interesting to see what trickles out to the polls. The strategists should look out the window if for no other reason than to save face over the next couple of days.  I think they'll find most people think they're all wet.

November 5 More Scarey Than October 31

I really fear November 5th. We will then know who will be serving in the House and Senate, with maybe a couple of exceptions waiting for a run off, for at least the next two years.

I have no idea how to make an intelligent decision any more.  From the top down it seems no one is willing to take a stand and stick with it what's more explain it.

Take all the issues the President is going to make decisions on after the election.  Immigration.  What to do about ISIS.  The Keystone Pipeline and on and on.

We really have no idea what we'll be getting.  If the incumbents that have been running from Obama are returned than so will their voting practices and nothing will have changed.  If their opponents win will they keep their campaign promises or succumb to party pressures and become one more sheep doing the bidding of even dumber sheep?

I have seen absolutely nothing in this long and dirty campaign season that gives even a hint that somewhere within the myriad of candidates someone actually gets that the voters are not happy.  They parse the problems into silliness like the War on Women.  Please.

One thing they haven't seemed to grasp is that the policies now in place aren't working.  Unemployment is still way up if you do the math properly and factor in those who have left the workforce.  Unwillingly.  That those great job numbers haven't even brought employment up to what it had been when Obama took office.  Nor are salaries. No truth in advertising here.

I could go on and on but suffice it to say I see nothing much changing. If we oppose the President we'll still be racists.  If we oppose his policies we'll still be un-American.  No one can voice a personal opinion any more without being sullied for having it.

As we trivialize domestic issues into no more than name calling and half truths we still have the rest of the world to contend with.  A world that sees us in a continually diminishing light.  Adversaries are taking advantage of every minute of every day as we flounder with a lack of leadership and therefore direction.  If this weren't bad enough the sophomoric insiders have taken to insulting those who once were our allies and even some of our own high level officials.

With the prevailing attitudes we have much to worry about.  So busy are those in high places at strutting our own self-importance, essential details of mere existence are being ignored.

We can hope the new faces that show up in Congress are of a different ilk.  We can hope the pendulum is swinging back to the side of decency, common sense and cooperation. We can hope.
Unfortunately I don't have much. 

Head Strong or Head Hidden? Ebola and Beheadings

It seems to me the whole controversy over quarantine policy for people entering the country from what is now being called the Ebola "hot zones" could have been avoided had the President made a decision at the outset.

Forget what the science says.  That hasn't yet been proven and when lives are at stake why not err on the side of caution?  The quarantine accommodations could have been arranged for when the first Doctor was transported to this country. Protocols, procedures and training could have been in place. That would have avoided the tent and surly screeners that so offended returning nurse Kaci Hickox.

Why she didn't understand why it was being done is beyond me and why she thinks she can ignore precautions just because she doesn't feel bad offends me.  It's just such an "up yours" attitude that does put us at risk.

Rather let the degree of quarantine be lessened as it's shown unnecessary rather than trying to ramp it up if it is.  At least the military has it right and poor Chuck Hagel has for once listened to them instead of his commander-in-chief.

Any time something seems unlikely, like Ebola coming to the United States, red flags should be raised every where.  Another example of creeping circumstances comes from a cavalier attitude about the radical Islamic danger to the nation.  Today there was another beheading.  This time in New York, a college professor by her son who then jumped in front of a train.  Was it a terror attack?  I haven't seen that speculation but the young man did have a history of mental problems.

So what's the point? Well, what if it was radicalization? Ignoring the extent of it has been fool hardy as we're seeing. While still few in number there is an increase never-the-less. If the killer was not radicalized then the use of beheading as a way to murder is chilling.  That idea dawns then from publicity rather than ideology which actually could be worse. No matter the cause, pussy footing around the issue of it's existence should not preclude the need for vigilance - especially of those with known mental issues. After all, all extremists have them.

The same goes for the Ebola scare. Ignore precautions at your own peril but don't put me in peril!

Death from either Ebola or beheading is not a pleasant way to die. Cautions put forth and explained by leadership could mean all the difference in the world to anyone stepping out beyond their front door.  Including themselves.