Hello Everyone:
It is Wednesday, non-existent WiFi in Blogger's usual workspace or not, it is time for the March 30 edition of Blogger Candidate Forum wrap up. This past weekend three states held Democratic caucuses: Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington. Senator Bernie Sanders was the big winner, sweeping all three state races. Congratulations to the Gentleman from Vermont. This week there is a small lull in the primary action, nevertheless, things have not been quiet on the candidate front.
By now, word has spread throughout the known galaxy that Republican front runner, Donald J. Trump favors some form of punishment for women who receive abortions, if the procedure is outlawed. The men who impregnate these women would not penalized. Blogger finds this oh so problematic on two fronts. First, for a party that favors less government intervention in the daily lives of Americans, it seems that when it comes to a highly personal decision that a woman makes with her doctor and the father (if he is in the picture), the Republican Party has no problem with government intrusion into a person's daily life. Blogger understands that not everyone is in favor of a woman's right to decide what to do with her body. After all, what does a "poor little woman" about her body? "The poor dear" should leave that decision to the ones in the seat of power who know better. In all fairness, Blogger understands that there are those of you who object to abortion on religious grounds. Blogger has no problem with that. The problem here is the Republican party's insistence that a highly personal and difficult decision should be regulated by law. Mr. Trump is giving voice to those who think that something so difficult, terminating a pregnancy, should be penalized if becomes illegal.
The second problem with Mr. Trump's position on abortion, aside from its incoherence, is that he is contradicting is previous views. Donald Trump declared himself pro-life, now it seems that he has reversed himself. Blogger would be surprised but in Blogger's opinion, his scattered position is more out of convenience. Mr. Trump has repeatedly declared that he is not a politician, yet he very facile at playing the game. Say whatever he needs to say to make himself attractive to a segment of voters. There is nothing wrong with that, all politicians play the game. However, in doing so, Mr. Trump is alienating one group of voters the Republican Party desperately need, women. Women voters have proven to be a potent voting bloc in the last few elections. Mr. Trump's misgyonist comments and tweets, coupled with his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski's arrest for simple assault on a female reporter, have led party officials to wonder how things got so out of their control. When you factor in Mr. Trump verbal assault in Senator Ted Cruz's wife, stemming from a Cruz for President Political Action Committee's salacious post of Melania Trump, what you get is utter chaos. Blogger almost feels obliged to apologize to the global readers. Trust Blogger when yours truly says that the insanity is typical of American elections.
Naturally both Sen. Sanders and Secretary Hillary Clinton have responded to Mr. Trump's views on abortion. To paraphrase Sec. Clinton "This is the Republican front runner." Sen. Sanders was equally appalled, to say the very least. Speaking of Sec. Clinton, even though she still leads in the delegate count, yours truly still wonders why she threw her hat in the ring. Blogger wonders why such an accomplished brilliant woman, like Sec. Clinton, decided to run now? Blogger feels that her best opportunity was in 2008 but then-Senator Barack Obama ran a better campaign. Yours truly guesses that Sec. Clinton wanted to erase the ghosts of the previous effort and felt that this year was her best chance. Had Sec. Clinton been the Democratic nominee in 2008, yours truly would have voted for her, no question. Now Blogger is faced with the task of deciding between two formidable candidates on the Blue Team. The Red Team candidates are a sorry lot. Although, something is troubling Blogger about Senator Bernie Sanders.
Over the past weekend, Blogger checked out the viral "Birdie Sanders" video. You know the one where a bird landed on the podium from where Sen. Sanders was speaking from. As charming as it was, including Sen. Sanders's "dove of peace" comment, Blogger had a chance to check out the crowd. What yours truly saw was bothersome. The crowd was mostly young white men and women-i.e. Millennials. Blogger has always had the impression that the Democratic Party was the party of inclusion. To wit the difference between the 2012 Republican and Democratic Convention. At the Republican Convention, the cameras featured crowd shots of overwhelming White, Anglo-Saxon People with a token brown, black, and yellow face. On the other hand, crowd shots at the Democratic Convention feature men and women of different races, ethnicities, gender preferences, and abilities. This, to yours truly, seemed more like the real America. The Sanders crowd reminded me of the 2013 Republican Convention. Not sure why but it did.
Regardless, primary madness is set to resume on April 5, when voters in the State of Wisconsin go to the polls. Good luck to the candidates and the voters. Blogger will present the primary wrap next week.
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