The campaign season is open. Fund raisers, rallies, social media posts, the Gestapo, ur, FBI going after Americans. Dr. Colman is opening the discussion on candidates.
My criteria? Someone with a proven background of success in public policy and a strong backbone-. Unlike CNN, MSNBC, the NY or LA Times or Washington Post, I believe in all sides being heard. Free speech for all.
What is your criteria?
REPUBLICANS: TRY SOMETHING NEW
By Richard Colman, Exclsuive to the California Political News and Views, 6/16/23 www.capoliticalreview.com
Former President Donald Trump turned 77 on June 14, 2023. The campaigTrump wants to run for president again -– his third try — in 2024. If he wins, he will be 82 on Jan. 20, 2028, his last day in office. The Constitution would prohibit a third term for Trump, who was president for one term, from 2017 to 2021. The Constitution limits a president to two terms, terms that do not have to be consecutive.
President Joe Biden, at 80, is the oldest president in American history. And Biden wants a second term, which, if he finishes this second term, would make him 86.
It’s time that Republicans tried two new things. The first is selecting a younger presidential candidate. The second is winning a presidential election.
The current batch of Republican presidential candidates, with perhaps one exception, are too mean or too weak to be president. Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican from Florida has a punitive streak. He is intent on punishing schools that carry books of which he does not approve. He wants to limit abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. He tried and failed to regulate the content of internet blogs in Florida.
The one Republican exception is former New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, age 60.
At a CNN town hall meeting on June 12, 2023, Christie said he has two goals in his quest for the presidency in 2024: One goal is to get rid of Trump; the other goal is to defeat Biden.
In an editorial dated June 13, 2023, The Wall Street Journal said, “If Mr. Trump is the GOP nominee, he is unlikely to defeat Joe Biden. But if he did win, the document fiasco is what a second term would be like. He wouldn’t be able to deliver the conservative policy victories that Republicans want because he can’t control himself . . . The best people won’t work for him because they see how he mistreated so many loyalists in the first term.”
Christie is not a perfect candidate. As governor of New Jersey, he got into trouble involving a matter concerning the George Washington Bridge. He is perceived as a bully. He is not part of the current Republican establishment, which is strong in Bible Belt states and Rocky Mountain states.
On a woman’s seeking an abortion, Christie has said that the matter should be decided by state governments.
Christie has some advantages. After being elected governor, he extinguished a New Jersey budget deficit. He opposed such Democratic stalwarts as teachers’ unions. And he won election twice in a heavily Democratic state.
Unlike Trump, Christie does not insult people. Christie says he can balance the federal budget while supporting Ukraine’s war with Russia.
In terms of background, Christie, before becoming New Jersey’s governor, was a federal prosecutor. Some 20 years ago, he helped put Charles Kushner, the father of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a close adviser to Trump when Trump was president. Speaking of the prosecution of Charles Kushner, Christie called it “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes” that he ever prosecuted as a U.S. attorney.
Christie has called Trump a “loser.” In 2016, Trump won the presidential electoral vote and lost the popular vote. In November 2018, during Trump’s presidency, the Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives. In 2020, Trump lost the presidency to Biden, and Democrats retained control of the House and took over the Senate. In 2022, many of the candidates Trump backed for public office lost their elections.
In USA Today (June 12, 2023), Christie said this about Trump: “He has shown himself . . . to be completely self-centered, completely self-consumed, and doesn’t give a damn about the American people. . .”
In many ways, Christie resembles former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. Both men have tough-guy images and do not tolerate crime. Both men are of similar ethnic (Italian) backgrounds.
Perhaps Christie is out of step with the current Republican electorate.
But Christie is a good debater. If given the chance, Christie could batter Trump in a debate.
Christie may not have much in his favor running against Trump. But Republicans ought to be open to presidential candidates other than Trump or DeSantis.
