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Democratic Convention: Day Four

7/29/2016

The Democratic Convention, from beginning to end, looked more like a Republican convention. That’s a compliment. In the recent past, GOP conventions were always better produced and more message-consistent.

Not this year.

The Democratic convention planners used the first three days of the convention to lay a foundation for Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech – bring together the Clinton and Sanders camps as best they could, lay out her compassion and competency, put Donald Trump in a bad light using his own words, use “ordinary” people (who really were extraordinary people) to lay out her humanity and his inhumanity, and top it with a Hillary speech pretending not to be what she isn’t, but clarifying what she is.

It was a success. I haven’t seen any polls but I’m guessing she gets a better than decent bounce from the convention which will keep this race leaning toward her at least until the debates which, if Trump participates (and I’m guessing he’s looking for ways to get out of them), she should do quite well in.

She put out two lines of attack we’ll being hearing more in the next weeks:

“A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”
“The service part has always come easier to me than the public part. I get it that some people don’t know what to make of me.”

Those two lines were effective last night and will continue to be effective. The first reinforces his simple mindedness; the second focuses on her competence as a way to build her trustworthiness. A combination of goals that, if achieved, wins her the election.

And, through the convention’s messaging and her well-crafted speech, she reinforced those points, glossing over the fact that polls show she is not perceived as trustworthy and knowing that’s a hard knock to get past in one night. Laying out her competency – as opposed to Trump’s knee-jerk and often childish policies and approaches and focusing on himself – is a good way to set up her campaign. We know he will give more examples of his unreadiness to be president. If she can keep showing competence, she can cut into that untrustworthy perception.

There were other stars last night whose names will fade but whose messages on the stage will not.

Khzir Khan, the Muslim-American whose son was killed in Afghanistan fighting for the U.S., said to Trump from the podium, “you have sacrificed nothing.”
The families of cops who were killed in the line of duty, tearfully telling their stories.
The 37 military vets who stood behind retired Gen. John Allen who barked out a powerful speech, with chants of “USA” in the background as he said the tools of the military and foreign policy can’t be reduced to a business transaction - a poke in they eye of Trump, who says if NATO allies’ dues aren’t paid up, the U.S. will not come to their defense. As if money is the only commodity in foreign relations.

The convention focused on matters especially important to women and children. A clearly conscious effort, knowing Trump’s weaknesses in those areas. The Democrats seem to be conceding the white male vote to Trump, but are going strongly after women, young folks, and Latino, African American, Afghani populations and others, knowing she has a huge leg up with them. And, like her husband’s strategy long ago of triangulating, hoping that those margins among those constituencies will make the winning difference in November.

It likely will continue to be a close race, polling wise, until November 8 but slowly Mrs. Clinton will gain pace as she demonstrates her competence over Trump’s recklessness.

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Democratic Convention: Day Three (and Trump)

7/28/2016

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To paraphrase Julius Caesar, this post is divided into two parts.

Part I is about last night’s Democratic convention. Part II is about Donald Trump’s latest brain dump.

Part I: It was another good night for the Democrats. The stage craft (except for the audience microphones picking up the various Sanders’ supporters' chants) was spot on. As were the speakers.

The most important speech of the night, not the best but the most important, was former Democrat, former Republican, former New York mayor and documented billionaire and Independent registered voter Michael Bloomberg’s. It was not aimed at the partisans in the hall but at the independents and swing voters watching on TV. He called Trump “dangerous demagogue,” told them to vote “not out of loyalty to a party but love of your country” and said, “I’m a New Yorker. I know a con man when I see one.”

The goal was to convince those leaning Trump or undecided to move to Hillary. As comic Trevor Noah said last night, worst case scenario is we elect Hillary and she is a bad president for four years. We have survived bad presidents but we likely will not survive Trump, he said.

Joe Biden was classic Joe Biden. He referred to the First Lady as “kid” and called the President, his boss, “Barack.” Not typical for a convention speech. But typical of “middle class” Joe, as he is known. He may have given the speech of his life. Because he was passionate about the subject.

President Obama was not his best but his very good is better than most. And he was very good. He made the case for “passing the baton” to Mrs. Clinton as only he can.

Highlights of the rest of the night:

Christine Leinomen, mom of an Orlando shooting victim, book-ended by friends of her son who seemed to be giving her strength when she needed it, was tear-inducing; Erica Smegielski, whose mom was gunned down along with 20 children and five other adults at Sandy Hook, began with the chilling statement “I shouldn’t be here;” Kristine Kavanaugh, a former Marine officer, had one of the best lines of the convention when she said: “ This isn’t only about Donald Trump’s judgement, it’s about ours.”

The various testimonials from “average people” throughout the convention have been quite effective. How does the average Joe and Jane stand in front of thousands of people and millions more on TV, something they’ve never done before, and give such effective talks, seemingly with no nervousness? Because, they are talking from their hearts, being real and honest.

It’s been a very well-produced convention with clear and coordinated messages – what a convention is supposed to be, to make the best use of the days of free TV time they are given.

And they’re all “with her.” Now it’s up to “her” to close the deal. It’s not a for-sure bet. She often seems forced when she talks and not real in contrast to the “average people who have spoken for her thus far. The table has been well set. Now, it will require, as it always does for a presidential candidate, her to deliver for herself.

Part II. Just when you think Donald Trump can’t say anything more outrageous he does. His appeal to the Russians to either hack the U.S. Government’s computer system or to release the thousands of Hillary Clinton’s emails they already have stolen, has moved to the top of his Five Most Ridiculous Statements he has made thus far. And that is saying something because I’m betting most of us can’t even remember all the outrageous and untrue things he has said in the last year. And it played right into the Democrats planned messaging of the night: who can we trust on foreign policy

His campaign manager, Paul Manfort, in one interview called the allegation that Trump was inviting the Russians to try to manipulate an American election “absurd.” One thing I learned as a very young reporter years ago was that when someone I interviewed said something was “aburd” or “absolutely” anything, it was politican-speak for “what I’m saying is it’s true.” (Try it for yourself as you watch interviews. It’s proves itself true most of the time.)

As Trevor Noah, again, said on his show, absurd means “ridiculous” which doesn’t mean untrue. Flashing a picture of a platypus he said the platypus is “absurd” but he’s also real.

Out of the mouths of comics.

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Democratic convention: Day Two

7/27/2016

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The comparison of the two political conventions, so far, is stark.

The Republicans held a mostly untraditional convention that was disjointed and not message-driven – unless the message was anger, because that came through clearly - and included some folks who admitted, on national television (I’m talking about you, Scott Baio) that they didn’t really know why there were invited.

The Democrats are holding a more traditional convention that started on a disunity as Sanders supporters threatened all kinds of protests. But the Clinton folks managed that potential damage quite well, resulting in Sen. Sanders making the motion to nominate Hillary Clinton by acclimation – an exclamation point that showed unity.

From that point on, it’s been a well-messaged convention with very touching moments (an 11-year-old daughter of undocumented immigrants, a disabled woman making the case for Hillary, Mothers of the Movement standing together in support of Hillary) and a series of speakers talking about her humanity, humanzing the woman who seems to be inhuman to many voters. All topped off by former President Bill Clinton’s rambling and touching tribute to his wife, the change maker. President Clinton often appears to ramble, but he always has a point he’s going to make – and he made it well last night. On the other side, it seemed the only people speaking to Donald Trump’s “human side” were his children and people on his payroll. (Other than those politicians who have cravenly sold out to him in the name of party loyalty.)

With one more big speech – President Obama – left, the table will be set for the nominee’s acceptance speech Thursday night. And the pressure will be on for her to validate all the humanzing stories that have been told. A heavy lift, for sure.
Aside from the questions regarding the Clinton Foundation and other such “corruptive” influences – all undocumented – Mrs. Clinton often comes across as not real. The anger she displays in speeches seems forced, her testified-to tenderness never coming through. Her voice often seems forced in speeches, not natural like her husband.

I’m told by those who know her some – mostly reporters or former reporters who covered her and spent one-on-one time with her - that she is a totally different person privately than she is publicly, warm, funny, real. Those stories match what we heard from the podium last night. If she can portray those traits herself, it will go a long way to helping her win in November.

From a convention management view, to take a few steps back, Mrs. Clinton had to approve the convention strategy that basically allowed the Sanders supporters to act out Monday night and part of Tuesday so they could vent their disappointment, rather than be emotionally restrained and forced to be silent (despite some who taped their own mouths in protest). That was well done damage control, something a President has to do most every day, and with the 24-hour news cycle, even more often. We saw how Donald Trump handled such a protest at his convention when he tried to over shadow Sen. Cruz’ speech which was not going the way Trump wanted. He feels he is always the only one who can solve a problem. Well, the only one who can do most anything really.

(Tangent: You could see the difference Donna Brazile will make as interim chairman when she dramatically and intentionally sashayed her way on stage. An organizer from way back and one with a stage presence to make a little light of the serious situation she is sashaying into).

Last night was loaded with personal endorsements of Mrs. Clinton’s humanity:
Cong. Joe Crowley’s talk of her response after 9/11; efforts to re-cast what her husband called the “cartoon” figure that the Trump campaign is trying to make her out to be (reinforcing years long perceptions of her), the nice touches by the various delegations including the 102-year-old Arizona woman who cast the state’s ballots for her, the Georgia woman who held her baby as her state’s ballots were cast, the Mothers of the Movement’s powerful presentation as of violence facing the African American community and the police lately.
The campaign, unlike eight years ago, embracing Mrs. Clinton as the first female candidate of a major party to run for the presidency.

It’s all well-choreographed. It’s all been well done and now she must, tomorrow, night deliver on the promise and deliver the speech of her life. Other candidates have been in this position in the past. I remember George Herbert Walker Bush’s 1988 convention. Not known as a fine orator, the pressure was on Bush to deliver a strong speech, distinguishing himself from his predecessor, the speech giver of all time Ronald Reagan, at the same time not separating himself. He needed to show who he was, not only the loyal understudy to Reagan and demonstrating his human side. He delivered in that speech.

And so must Hillary on Thursday night. A good speech Thursday will give her a little bounce out of the convention, maybe giving her a small national polling lead again and setting up the fall debates, probably, as the events that will sway the swayable voters who will make the difference in this election.

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Democratic convention Day One

7/26/2016

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Various thoughts from Day One:

Better Get a Bigger Bus: Donald Trump says that Hillary Clinton threw soon-to-be-former Democratic National Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz under the bus for acting swiftly to dump her after the hacking and leak of some embarrassing emails from the Democratic National Convention (DNC). This, Trump says, shows Mrs. Clinton’s instinctive disloyalty when someone becomes a public negative to her. All I can say is, Corey Lewandowski better make room under that bus because Trump tossed his loyal manager there weeks ago.

Bernie Supporters feeling burnt. Bernie Sanders delegates, rightfully, felt angry after reading those leaked emails that showed DNC staff had its thumb on the scale for Mrs. Clinton. I’d agree with that description except that I don’t agree it was an institutional decision but personal actions that created that reality. Wasserman Shultz is guilty too largely because of the debate schedule the DNC put together, which clearly favored Mrs. Clinton. Still, comedian Sarah Silverman captured the reality when she ad-libbed last night “you’re being ridiculous” to Bernie supporters for booing whenever Mrs. Clinton’s named was mentioned. They are rightfully angry but the game is over. Hillary is the candidate and would have been if the thumb weren’t applied to the scale.

The New Revolving Door. Used to be that political staffers, when they lost an election, became lobbyists and when they were back in power, they slipped back through the “revolving door” to get political jobs. Today, that door leads into TV studios. Donna Brazile, who has been vice chairman of the DNC all the while she’s been a talking head on CNN and ABC, now has been tapped to be the interim national Democratic chairman starting the day after the convention ends. Ms Brazile will continue appearing on air until then, the networks said, but won’t be paid, as if that changes things. Ms Brazile is a woman of integrity and has pulled off the dual roles by offering partisan yet fair views. Which can’t be said for all the talking heads. And why does CNN need a panel of eight people to describe what we’re watching happening anyway?

Out of the mouths of babes. Karla Ortiz, the 11-year-old American daughter of undocumented immigrants, who spoke last night was fabulous. How does an 11-year-old get the poise to speak to thousands in the hall and millions on TV? And did you notice as she was leaving the podium, she did so reluctantly? If her mother weren’t leading the way, I think she’d still be talking – and I’d still be listening.

More than able. As was Anastasia Somoza the disability rights activist who has cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia since birth. She had fantastic poise and gave another outstanding presentation that had the rowdy audience rapt.

Tears. When I watched the Republican convention, the only time tears welled up was when I watched the roll call. A roll call that in the past resulted in the nominations of outstanding people like Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. But to watch that roll call go to Donald Trump – tears of sadness. Last night those tears welled up when Ms Samoza and Ms Ortiz spoke. Scott Baio didn’t draw any tears last week.

Disunified Unity. The night started out a disaster with Bernie supporters ticked off and shouting down speakers and even chanting “lock her up ,“a line plagiarized from the GOP convention. Not what you want if you’re Hillary Clinton about to become the first female presidential candidate. As the night wore on, that wore off. And when Michelle Obama spoke, it disappeared. She, too, was fabulous offering a commanding speech not as First Lady but as First Mother. She put the election debate into the context of what’s good for our children and grandchildren (the future) – much as that very effective ad the Clinton campaign is running featuring young children as they listen to Donald Trump insult folks on television. Mrs. O has come a long way in the public speaking world since her husband began his term. She was the star of the night.

Summary: A night that started off as a potential disaster turned into a good night. This is what happens when you have pros running the convention and speakers who know how to give a good, on-message political speech. Unlike last week’s convention which was not run well and where there were no memorable speeches.

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In-between-convention ramblings

7/23/2016

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Odds and ends post-Republican convention and pre-Democratic convention:

Trump speech: In hindsight, should we have expected less than a way-too-long speech from a narcissist who had all the networks attention for an hour plus? How could he pass that up?

Trump VP pick: I predicted Newt Gingrich would be his running mate. And, I have a feeling if it were left up to him, it would have been Newt or Christie. But he seems to have listened to advisors (whoever they might be) and went with the more “traditional” for a Republican pick of Mike Pence. Pence looked to be shifting back and forth and smiling awkwardly as Trump took on Ted Cruz, for some unknown reason the other day. Pence knows better. Cruz is history, no need to waste time on him – or his wife or his father.

Trump the day after. In hindsight, should we have expected less than a tirade against a primary opponent who he defeated but couldn’t stop talking about? Friend, you’re up against Hillary Clinton now. She ain’t no Ted Cruz and will be as diabolical as you, in a different style. You ought to focus because your “Lyin’ Ted/Crooked Hillary” routine won’t be as effective in a general election against the Clintons.

Trumps “kids”. Clearly his children are impressive looking men and women and well spoken. Clearly they demonstrated more class than their father. Clearly, too, they are as comfortable lying as their father. Sorry, I’m not buying into the “if he could raise such impressive kids he can’t be so bad” line being peddled. They stood there and described basically the opposite of what Daddy Trump has been peddling for a year. Not only that, right after daughter Ivanka introduced him as a guy who supported many more traditionally Democratic stances, Trump took the podium and never
mentioned those positions. Thus, they’ve learned salesmanship from their father. And Donald Trump gives car salesmen a bad name. Based on what they said and what he said – his positions are all over the map, as they have been for a year.

Donald in the Middle. It’s amazing to me that some are saying that Trump is speaking for the middle class. More like giving the middle class the middle finger.

David Duke is back. He was put in his little box 25 years ago when I was at the Republican National Committee and Lee Atwater put him in his place. Thanks to Donald Trump, he is slithering his way back into elective politics. I guess he feels his stint in prison adds a resume point to why he should be elected a U.S. Senator. Wriggle back, Mr. Duke, you are slime and only a Donald Trump candidacy could open a door for you to try again.

Kaine Hillary do it? Well, we’ll see. But Kaine was a solid pick for a few reasons. He’d be a good number two if they win. He’s steady with no skeletons we’ve seen other than maybe accepting some gifts when he was governor – but he disclosed each one, which was the bar set by the law back then in Virginia. Importantly, his place on the ticket may help her secure a win in Virginia, and that would make a Trump win nationally very difficult. She probably could win Virginia on her own but a statewide office holder can add one or two percentage points to your total and that could ensure the win.

What to expect next week? I imagine we will see Trump trying to insert himself into the coverage of the Democratic convention. The classy and traditional thing would be to lay low for a week. But that’s not Trump’s style. I can even see him trying to be interviewed live on cable news networks during her the convention. And I can see Wolf and others playing along because it would mean good ratings which, as you’ve seen, is more important to them than good news judgement.

What to expect in the Fall? Trump isn’t about to abandon the tactics he’s used so far so I imagine we’ll see his “insurgent” campaign continue and Mrs. Clinton try to run a more traditional campaign but be prepared to go “postal” if she has to at times. I don’t see Trump’s act playing to the general voting public which is not the constituency he appealed to for the last year. But, I’ve been wrong at most every step along this way so who knows?

Convention ratings. While everyone predicted a big boon to ratings thanks to the controversy of Trump’s candidacy and his seeming allure from his reality TV days, that boon didn’t materialize. About 32 million Americans watch his acceptance speech which was 1.9 million more than watched Mitt Romney’s four years ago. Haven't seen the overall ratings yet but it will be interesting to see. The speaking lineup, which featured reality stars, Class C celebrities and others. Bigger name pols were relegated to lesser time slots. As Stuart Stevens, who ran Romney’s convention said, “The underwear model (Antonio Sabato Jr.) had a better speaking slot than (U.S. Sen.) Jodi Ernst.”

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A tale of two conventions

7/22/2016

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I watched (almost) all of the GOP convention the last few days and can honestly say: I am unimpressed with the Trump organization’s ability to manage a convention, its message or its speaker lineup. The convention was an opportunity lost for Trump.

I didn’t comment during the convention because every convention (and I’ve attended four and worked a few so I’ve seen the sausage being made) has a bad night here and there.

The convention had two story lines to me: The reality of who Donald Trump presents himself to be and the fantasy of the Trump other speakers described.

Speakers, including his children, describe a tolerant man, a man who has always supported and promoted women in his organization, an unprejudiced man, a man of fairness and reason. Trump presents himself as a bigoted fascist who could start World War III and be proud of it.

Trump had four straight bad nights. It will be interesting to see polls post-convention to see if the convention won anyone over. I doubt it. And conventions are where candidates have their biggest stage, maybe even more so than the presidential debates because it is their coming-out party when all voters, not just your base, begin to pay attention.

The speakers weren’t on any message in particular. The themes for each night did not match the speeches each night. The “stars” were Class C stars, celebrities and athletes and many seemed to have a financial connection to Trump, either as employees or past employees or businessmen he does business with or participants in “The Apprentice.”

The “business” speakers he promised talked like businessmen. That Tom Barrack guy who didn’t apparently use notes and walked the stage like Phil Donahue, obviously is used to being what he is – a billionaire who, when he speaks to his employees, need not worry much about what he says, because they hang on every word. I didn’t. I found him quite full of himself. (I've met a billionaire or two in my life and can say that not all billionaires are so narcissistic as Barrack or Trump.)

The speaking lineup (prime time and non-) was dominated by his employees and children and a friend or three. Not exactly objective folks – not that I’d expect truly objective people speaking at a convention but really – employees? The video on Trump was pretty much only employees, and children. Megalomania anyone?

It felt like more elected officials stayed away than attended. And two of his former opponents who spoke, well, Marco Rubio wouldn’t deign to be in the hall and Ted Cruz did everything but tell folks not to vote for the nominee (I’m not a Cruz fan but I do give him credit for it, as driven as I think it was as much by political positioning as true anger.) Trump though trumped Cruz by walking into the convention hall as Cruz was ending his speech. Classy (not). And, personally, I thought Marco got even littler in his comments.

Gov. John Kasich wouldn’t make an appearance at the convention despite it being held in his state, something I'm sure he lobbied for when the site was chosen (way pre-Trump). Good for him. And classy of the Bushes, in my opinion, to stay away and not comment much at all. That, Mr. Trump, is class – not walking in as a guy you invited to speak was ending his remarks. You knew Cruz would be criticized for saying what he did – you don’t have to be leading that criticism. You don't always have to be the center of attention. Oh, wait....yes you do.

The controversy over Mrs. Trump’s opening night speech, partly plagiarized from Mrs. Obama’s remarks a couple elections ago, faded over the convention’s life but only because bigger issues arose over the convention’s management.

In a way, it’s hard to mismanage a Republican convention because there are men and women who appear basically every four years to manage the logistics. It's almost like they manage a convention and then go into hibernation until the next one. They manage the media, they vet speeches, they set up the hall and other rooms, they keep the program on schedule – these are the convention pros, both parties have them. These are solid Republicans who are excellent and experienced at what they do. I know several who worked this convention again, and they don’t allow the kinds of mistakes that were made which leads me to the conclusion that Trump micromanaged the convention leading to the muck ups.

I’m guessing a “strong” endorsement in this year’s convention was defined by whoever yelled the loudest. By that measure, Scott Walker and Rudy Giuliani were the strongest endorsers. Why you want to shout when you know you’re on television and shouting on TV looks makes you look and sound bad, I have no idea. But that's what they did.

Trump’s children clearly come across more polished than their dad. Still they were stronger on adjectives than anecdotes just as their dad is stronger on slogans than policies.

Ivanka Trump is clearly a very sophisticated, savvy woman and likely a good candidate for something someday, if she ever wanted to pursue such an adventure, though I’m not sure why she’d want to. Still, her remarks were excellent – but I can’t see where they described the Donald Trump we’ve all seen.

She did tell anecdotes about her dad. But, if it’s true that he brought in folks who he read about in the paper were having a rough time and got them jobs, where were they this week? I have to believe Trump would have called upon them to come and give witness to his altruistic side. But I didn’t see any of those folks appear during the convention or during his primary campaign.

So, Ivanka did a good sales job, but her description of her dad not only doesn’t match the man we’ve seen the past 13 months, it didn’t match the person who gave his acceptance speech right after she introduced him. About that: I lasted a half hour. I fell asleep during his speech though I have read a transcript. No surprises in it, nor did I expect any.

So summary of the convention: I didn’t run a timer but I’m guessing if you add up all the time for his children and his wife giving speeches, his appearances at the convention each night, including his WWE styled entrance (Vince McMahon of WWE fame is one of Trump’s best friends), and Trump’s way-too-long acceptance speech, the family clearly dominated the 10 o'clock hour when the networks were covering the convention live.

Mike Pence gave a workmanlike speech but no one is paying attention to it and, again, the Trump he described – a man he’s has spent maybe eight hours with in his life, and I may be adding four hours to the real time – is not the Trump any of us have seen.

I have to admit, watching the roll call vote to officially nominate Trump, I shed a tear or two thinking that past roll calls nominated people like Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole. It was very sad to watch a reality con man win the party’s nomination.

I hope and assume Mrs. Clinton can manage a better, classier convention that doesn’t call for hanging her opponent, locking him up and accusing him of treason. If she runs a classy convention, I have to believe she wins the Battle of the Conventions.

Next big buildup will be for the presidential debates, and I'm guessing that at some point Trump will threaten not to attend at least one – and maybe won’t attend one at all. That is the disdain with which I believe he holds the American public. Same as not releasing his tax returns which would go a long way to telling us if he's being truthful about his income, net worth and charitable giving.

And the carnival continues.

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Hillary for President - yes, I really said that

7/18/2016

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As we enter two weeks of political conventions, I need to go on record.

Many of my Republican friends – including those who wouldn’t vote for Donald Trump for a gazillion dollars – are not going to like this piece. No suspense, no drum roll:

I’ll be voting for Hillary Clinton in November.

Not because I agree fully with her policies. I don’t. Not because I think she is the most honest person in the world. I don’t (though she is the most honest major party candidate running for president this year).

I will vote for Hillary Clinton because it is the most I can do to ensure Donald Trump does not become President of the United States.

Sure, Gary Jonson, the Libertarian Party candidate, is an alternative to voting for either of the major party soon-to-be nominees. But, Mr. Johnson cannot win the election. The most he can do -- and this is virtually impossible -- is to win enough electoral votes to keep Trump or Clinton from the needed 270. That throws the election into the House, which is controlled by Republicans who will elect Trump.

So, sorry Mr. Johnson, I don’t just want to sleep at night, I want to sleep securely at night and you aren’t the Trump alternative. You’re just an acceptable way station for some voters who hate the two major party candidates. But you cannot win. Therefore, I will not waste my vote.

If I voted for Gary Johnson and Trump wins by a small amount, it will really tick me off because I – along with others who vote for Johnson so they don't have to vote for Clinton or Trump – will have elected Trump.

Trump is a danger to this country and to the world.

The main reason I cannot vote for Donald Trump is that he is a world class liar. Hillary lies too but she doesn’t reach quite that Trumpian level.

Trump will lie about anything, and has. He will deny he said something he said minutes before. He is lying about his net worth. He is lying about his opposition to the Iraq war. He is lying about banning Muslims from this country. He is lying about building a wall to keep the Mexicans out. He is lying about not releasing his tax returns because of an audit. He is lying at the amount of money he’s given to charity. In fact, he lies so much, I’m not sure even he knows he’s lying anymore. His narcissism knows no bounds – which actually I think is part of the definition of a narcissist.

At best, he believes his lies. At a minimum, he believes he can get away with his lies.

In a New Yorker article making the rounds on the Internet, Tony Schwartz, who ghost-wrote Trump’s “Art of the Deal,” discloses from first-hand knowledge what a liar Trump is. I knew he was a liar but Mr. Schwartz now presents evidence of the lies told in the book and beyond. Trump even lied about who wrote the book, saying he did, which Mr. Schwartz and the publisher’s editors dispute. You can read the article about Schwartz here: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all

Hell, Trump even disputed it in the phone call he made to Schwartz to label Schwartz disloyal for going public. "I made you rich," he told his ghost-writer. How did he do that? By paying him handsomely for writing the book.

Trump is riding an unfortunate wave in this country. Too many people watch – and believe – reality TV. Too many people have lost faith in their leaders. Too many people are suffering from an economy that isn't helping them.

Trump is Mr. Reality TV. Folks, it’s show business. And he’s good at show business. But the presidency – while certainly partly about the show – is mostly about governing and providing as good a life as possible for all Americans, not to mention security against those who want to do us harm.

I won’t make a case as to why someone should vote for Mrs. Clinton. My main reasons are: (1) She is not Donald Trump and (2) She is the only one who can defeat Donald Trump.

Hardly a strong endorsement, I know. But we have two choices: Trump or Clinton.

To me, that’s a no-brainer.

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'...and justice for all' driven off the tracks

7/13/2016

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There’s a chap I worked with many years ago at the Republican National Committee. A good guy and a great worker, in fact of all the good folks on my communications team, he was among the best.

Quiet, effective, smart, respected. Worked well independently, a key for a field guy, which he was.

We lost contact after we left the committee but, thanks to Facebook, we rediscovered each other, at least at the digital relationship level, some time ago. I still have not had an opportunity to speak with him over those nearly 30 years since we worked together until this morning when we exchanged Facebook messages.

He went on to a terrific career. He was a top staffer to a Republican governor and a Republican U.S. Senator. He led his local Humane Society. He is president of the National Association of Manufacturers, one of the largest trade associations in the country.

He and his spouse already had two beautiful daughters and they decided they would expand their family and adopt another child. That’s when the months-long nightmare began. Adopting and surrogacy, rightfully, isn’t always a simple process. For my former colleague it became a twisting, expensive nightmare that should never happen in this country.

It became that way because a judge, in opposition to existing law, began a process that turned into necessitating a court-appointed guardian for the child. Eventually, this resulted in one of the potential parents to quit a stable, long-term job to laser focus on winning adoption of the child. Eventually they did win but the process they were forced into was ridiculous and driven by personal political and religious views, not by existing law.

It’s all laid out in a piece written by my former colleague. I can’t do the story justice. But he does.

Here is a link to his piece. - http://opinion.ijr.com/2016/07/257550-prejudice-legal-system-still-haunts-lgbt-families/?_ga=1.41191842.1048918612.1467913102.

Thanks to Facebook I see the huge smiles on the faces of this very happy family on a nearly daily basis as he posts pictures quite often.

Two gorgeous little girls, one handsome little boy, and two very proud fathers.

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And the Vice Presidential selections are ...

7/12/2016

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It’s vice presidential selection time! Or, more accurately, it’s let’s-guess-who-the-vice-presidential-selections –will-be time!!! Anyone can be correct…for the moment anyway because no one really knows for sure.

Here are my guesses: for Donald Trump, Newt Gingrich. For Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine.
Moving on…

OK, why do I think those

Hillary Clinton is not a risk-taker and putting a woman on the ticket with her is a risk, otherwise she might go for Sen. Warren from Massachusetts who clearly is a good campaigner and, short of putting Bernie Sanders on the ticket, gives her the best access to the Bernie Voters. But Kaine is a safer choice. He’s been a governor, a senator, is well regarded. He won’t outshine her, as Sen. Warren might.

Donald Trump is a nut. He could pick Big Bird and it wouldn’t surprise me (much). If he’s talked about selecting someone who’d be a breath away from the presidency, I haven’t heard it. He’s talked about someone with Washington experience. A safer choice for Trump might be Gov. Pence of Indiana. He has his peccadilloes but he has held the right offices and has the D.C. experience Trump claims he wants.

But Newt. Oh Newt! Newt’s been pretty loyal to Trump. He certainly gets being a flamboyant personality and is capable of saying the craziest things in politics. Well, until Trump came along. Lord help us if he ever really became president, but if Trump becomes president, I hope we already have the Lord’s attention.

So, I’m going for Newt and Kaine. Come to think of it, that might be a better ticket to vote for this year.

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Can Trump/Clinton do themselves more damage?

7/6/2016

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On one hand you have a candidate for president, a former secretary of state, who was “extremely careless” in handling classified information according to the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

On the other hand you have a candidate for president, a self-declared billionaire who says he can solve the world’s problems but offers no solutions, who is retweeting anti-Semitic messages from white supremacist web sites.

These are the two stories battling for the most attention from our two presumptuous candidates for President of the United States.

Do I think Hillary Clinton intentionally was careless in handling classified information? No, but I think she arrogantly had her own email server for her selfish convenience rather than for the country’s best interests. Very bad decision.

Do I think Donald Trump is an anti-Semite? No, but he sure says anti-Semitic and racist things and hangs on by his fingernails before condemning haters like David Duke because of his self-interest of not alienating even the worst among us when it comes to such issues and because he feels he can lose no support at all to have a chance at winning the election.

In a cynical profession – politics – Trump is the most cynical ever to have run for president. In a profession – government – that requires the highest integrity, Hillary Clinton is not demonstrating that trait. (By the way, wouldn't now be a good time for her to hold her first press conference in many months to demonstrate the transparency she claims to have and to answer questions about the email controversy?)

And so it goes.

Practically, the FBI director’s blunt press conference, rebuking the woman who may be his next boss, absolves her of a legal threat, but certainly did her reputation no good. Question is, can that reputation be any more damaged than it already has been?

Practically, is Trump’s anti-Semitic tweet any worse than the horrible tweets he’s already tweeted, and never apologizes for?

In other words, each candidate has such flaws that will the American public even pay attention or have they already been discounted in their minds? Can either hurt themselves more than they've already done?

The FBI director has served up plenty of fodder for negative ads against Clinton to last through her re-election campaign four years from now. If Trump is disciplined enough to take advantage of that.

The anti-Semitic tweet, since it’s far from the worst thing Trump has said or done – and likely further from the worst thing he will ever say or do – is another blip on his march to…where?

It’s July, folks. These candidates have yet to name their running mates (can you imagine the “fun” if Trump selects Newt Gingrich. If you think Bill Clinton’s personal dalliances are fodder wait until we have to relive Newt’s personal life) or hold their conventions (Trump’s will be entertaining, for sure. Not substantive, but entertaining, believe me).

There’s a new book out which lays out what it will be like if Trump were to win the election. It’s a satire not non-fiction.

As to the Clinton-Trump campaign thus far, it is the real-est of reality shows. We will not wake up from this nightmare. But we are the major players in how it ends.

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Democratic Convention: Day Four

Democratic Convention: Day Three (and Trump)

Democratic convention: Day Two

Democratic convention Day One

In-between-convention ramblings

A tale of two conventions

Hillary for President - yes, I really said that

'...and justice for all' driven off the tracks

And the Vice Presidential selections are ...

Can Trump/Clinton do themselves more damage?

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