Saturday, August 8, 2015

Politics, Debate and Donald

I love politics.  I love how early Campaign 2016 has started.  I love election years where there are people that I can get excited about voting for.  Most people who hate politics hate it because of all the negative ads as voting day approaches, but honestly I love analyzing the negativity to see which one is the final blow for the others.  Statistically, whether you like them or not, the most negative campaigns are usually the ones who end up winning (shout out to my Communication in Political Campaigns class).

So, like many of you, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed, but energized, by the breadth of the field for Republican candidates.  To my astonishment and dissatisfaction, the candidate that I have been rooting to with the GOP Nomination since post-2012 election is NOT leading the field, Donald Trump is. DONALD TRUMP (who has never held any kind of political office) IS LEADING THE GOP PRIMARY! I'm just as dumbfounded as anyone else.  Now, I know its way too early in the campaign season, but just let that fact sink in.  I think that this fact is true primarily because of what I previously stated about negative campaigns.  If you think about everything you've heard about every other candidate and compared it to everything you've heard from Donald Trump, Trump is running a severely negative campaign.  To many people this has been very refreshing because, let's be honest, the legislators we voted for in 2014 have yet to follow through on ANY of the promises they made in that elections.

Donald Trump's campaign as a whole aside, I really want to discuss the 1st GOP Primary Debate.  I, along with a record number of cable watchers, took time out of my late Thursday evening to see if I  could learn anything about the terribly crowded GOP field.  I thoroughly enjoyed the debate.  There were some candidates that I had big questions about because of things I've heard or read them saying that didn't jive with what I'm looking for in a political candidate.  I went to bed that night excited and firming up my top choices for candidates, and realizing that because of Donald Trump's performance there was almost no way I would ever vote for him.  I didn't think he'd handled himself well when asked the tough questions.

I woke up Friday morning.  By the time I got to work, I'd found that not only was I seeing that some thought Donald Trump won the debate, but people were taking to task one of my favorite people, Fox News Analyst Megyn Kelly, for her performance.  Friends on Facebook and News Media alike were against the questions she asked and the statements she made during the debate.  Sidebar.  In college I took a class called Communication in Political Campaigns where the professor had Megyn Kelly's and Bill Hemmer's newscast playing every Tuesday & Thursday before class started.  It was there that I decided I wanted be her.  That being said, I'm a little biased in my opinion of her and her performance in Thursday night's debate.  Realizing my bias, especially because so many people were saying it, I've since gone back and read the transcript because there was clearly something I'd missed.

In going back over Thursday night's transcripts, I've had to come to the conclusion that people wanted the moderators to ask the easy questions so the candidates could give the easy answers and we'd walk away and everyone loves all the candidates.  PEOPLE,  there are 17 candidates for the GOP and you have 7 months to pick ONE.  The moderators weren't there to look pretty on stage.  It was important for them to ask the hard questions.  One radio show host berated Kelly because she brought the war on women to the Republican Party when it's only been a Democratic issue.  I have to believe the line of questioning that Kelly asked in this vein is what most people are referencing when they talk about her poor performance.  But in a party who has devastatingly struggled to bring in the women's votes, Donald Trump's "lack of filter" that so many people love may actually further damage the GOP relationship with women's issues, because not everything he says "accidentally" or "light-heartedly" actually comes across as a joke.  She later followed-up with Gov. Walker about his pro-life stance, asking if he would really allow a mother to lose her life to save the baby.  This is a hard question, and honestly is a huge turn-off for a lot of women voters. But you know what?  He didn't start degrading Kelly and say hateful things about her.  He answered her question.  He may have sidestepped the question a little, but he was respectful and stayed true to his position.  You know, he and his team were probably prepared for that exact question. He didn't even pause to think about his answer.  And that, my friends, is what we needed to see happen in this debate.  We don't need a candidate who blows his lid just because someone challenged some potentially hurtful things he's said.  It was in these moments that Donald Trump was permanently removed from my list of potential candidates and Governor Scott Walker moved onto my list.

What we do need are people who will continually ask the hard questions so that the SEC Primary voters (and the rest of the nation) can make an informed decision about who they want to vote for.

To Megyn Kelly,  Keep up the good work!  Thank you for asking the tough questions.

To Donald Trump,  there are no rules for playing fair in politics, just ask Herman Cain and others who have been left out of the primaries because of slander.  If your refusal to support whoever becomes the nominee comes from your need to for everyone to say nice things about you, that's not going to happen, that's how politics work.  There seems to be a fine line for you between no filter and throwing yourself a pity party for people not playing fair.  I expect this kind of behavior from my youngest family members who are still in elementary and middle school.  I expected a whole lot more from a very successful business man who claims to care about our nation.  On Thursday prior to 9:00pm you had the potential of getting my vote, you now have permanently lost my vote.

To the other candidates in the field, stand true to and stand up for your beliefs and positions. Don't shy away from the tough questions.  If you remain in politics beyond the presidential elections, stand firm against what you believe to be wrong.  Not everyone is going to agree with everything you say and that's ok.  That's what makes this beautifully, diverse nation so great!

I'm looking forward to seeing how this campaign plays out.  It's been A LONG time since there was a candidate I was excited about and now it's finally here!