So, I think it's about time for me to start commenting on things within the 2016 Presidential campaign.
Let's start with the Republicans because that's rather simple: holy bijesus! 17 declared candidates! The frontrunner is, not surprisingly, an extremely wealthy white guy. This time, the leader of the pack doesn't have to be caught saying ridiculous things in private, he's saying them out in the open. The interesting thing to me is that we all thought Trump's support would die out after a few weeks, but it's been going strong for a while now (though others seem to be gaining some ground). That's all for now for them, because, well, 17...
On to the Democrats. Really, we've only heard from 3 candidates and 1 potential candidate. There's the up-till-now front runner, Hillary Clinton, the second-place-till-now candidate, Bernie Sanders, the almost-heard-of candidate, Martin O'Malley, and the potential candidate, Joe Biden.
Let's start with O'Malley. I think we can essentially dismiss him because he's burdened with the racial issues in Baltimore and is well behind Sanders, who is the most similar to him of the declared candidates in terms of politics.
Next, let's discuss Clinton. Clinton is being bogged down by her perceived (and I believe actual) shadiness, dishonesty, and being just generally disingenuous. In addition to these items, plus the Republicans hatred for her in general, there's the fact that she's always been a centrist and much more of a war hawk than the liberal base of the Democratic party to be too happy about. Yes, she's a woman, and I shouldn't just shrug that off as older Democrats are likely to be more enthusiastic about her candidacy and Republicans are likely to be more against her based on this fact, but I don't think that's really what's going to drive things as we go through the primaries.
Then there's Sanders. Sanders is a liberal's liberal. I mean, my god is he liberal. And he doesn't shy away from it. It's amazing to me, in this day and age, to see someone who's not a complete loon talk honestly and seriously about liberal issues and stand up for them. There are several in office now doing this but Sanders is the one running, so go him. His honesty, in contrast to Clinton's dis-ingenuousness, is helping him, but so are his long-standing liberal stances. Recent polls have had him gaining ground on Clinton and the most recent one I've heard of has them at a statistical tie!
Finally, there's Biden. Biden had a death in his family earlier this year, so he's not sure whether he wants to run for President. That's a very honest thing for him to say, and he's always seemed very honest. That said, he's also always seemed to not be as presidential as Clinton and Sanders. Biden is always saying things that just aren't as polished as you would expect from a president. My general feeling is that, with Sanders appearing more and more an option, Biden won't run because the main push was to have someone other than Clinton be a contender. That said, he's certainly making his way around the circuit, so it's not as clear as to make it definite.
So, I guess my thinking at the moment is that Sanders has a chance at winning the Democratic nomination, and provided Trump or one of the right wing nuts are nominated, he has a pretty good chance at winning the presidency.
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