Well… it’s really 5 questions, and it’s not the same questions for everybody. It’s 5 questions based on who you are supporting or voting for in the upcoming presidential election. I’ve made no secret of who I am voting for and it’s really no secret which way my political leanings lie at every level of the government. So I’m not going to get into that. I’m just going to ask a series of questions regarding the top 5 candidates, and 5 questions regarding other options. I think we can all agree that Kasich is all but mathematically eliminated, so he’ll be included in the end group.
Trump
We might as well start with the one that is on the tip of everyone’s lips. Love him or hate him we all have an opinion on him. My opinion here is irrelevant. What is relevant is the following five questions.
1) He’s insulted just about every minority in existence, including Mexicans, women, Jews, African-Americans, Muslims, the Chinese, made up lies about 9/11, mocked war veterans and made fun of physical disabilities. This is a man who believes he could murder someone and still remain popular. What would he have to do for you to finally stop supporting him?
2) How will he get Mexico to pay for a wall?
3) Who is the real Donald Trump? He’s donated to liberals, a lot of them. The same ones that he now says are extremely dangerous. Where does he really stand on the political spectrum, are you sure of that?
4) His tax plan would add trillions to the national debt, he’s openly admitted that. How is that fiscally responsible?
5) If he’s going to “make America great again”, which countries do you believe are greater than the United States?
Cruz
At this point he’s quickly becoming the only candidate capable of winning the nomination over Trump, strictly from a mathematical perspective. But is he any better of a nominee? Here’s five questions for you.
1) He claims his plan to get rid of illegal immigrants is the most aggressive in doing so, but it also grants amnesty to existing undocumented immigrants. That’s not exactly aggressive. How will he keep undocumented immigrants from entering the United States?
2) While the law may not be settled in his case, the facts regarding the history of his birth are. The question over whether or not he meets the definition of “natural born citizen” is largely in the air. Why aren’t you going after his citizenship issue?
3) He’s touted as the evangelical christian candidate, yet he has failed to win the states that have a high percentage of evangelical christians in them. Why?
4) He’s touted as the evangelical christian candidate, yet he has donated less than 1 percent of his annual earnings. According to the practices of his religion he’s supposed to “tithe” or give at least 10%. He’s not exactly hurting for money. So why hasn’t he donated more?
5) He’s portrayed himself as an anti-establishment candidate who shuns the “Washington cartel” who take big donations from large Wall Street firms. But his wife works for Goldman-Sachs (a large Wall Street firm) and they have made significant contributions to his campaign. Why are you okay with this?
Rubio
Poor Rubio, he still has a minor shot at taking home the nomination, but it won’t be long, I give it three weeks, before he’s packing up shop and making louder sucking noises with his mouth to Cruz, than Christie did to Trump. However if you still support him I have some questions for you.
1) When being endorsed by Santorum, why did Santorum have such a difficult time naming one accomplishment of Rubio’s career?
2) Bush is already gone and for good reason, his failed policies just didn’t resonate with conservative voters. Other than Common Core, are there any significant policy differences between Rubio and Bush?
3) What is his plan to grow and strengthen the middle class?
4) While on the campaign trail he promised Florida voters that he would not grant a “path to citizenship” to illegal immigrants because it sounded to much like amnesty, yet after he got into office he supported the “gang of eight” bill that granted exactly that. How can you trust him after he lied?
5) He’s missed more than 8% of the votes in the Senate since elected, more than any other member. They’re only in session 164 days a year (he missed 13 of those), most of us work 240 or more. How do you expect him to show up full time for the presidency when he can’t even show up part time for the Senate?
Clinton
She’s the golden child of the Democratic party, the presumed queen. There’s not question of whether or not she’s going to get the nomination. But there are some questions regarding her. Here they are.
1) Her foreign policy is a bit hawkish. Some might say a little too close to the middle and on the verge of conservative. Why are you okay with this?
2) Do you believe she is going to work to “end mass incarceration” when her campaign has accepted a sizable contribution from not one, but two prison lobbies?
3) Will Clinton continue to oppose Keystone and the TPP as president?
4) If Hillary Clinton didn’t have name recognition, but still held the same positions would you still vote for her?
5) She’s against Citizens United, but it’s been extremely beneficial to her campaign. Why are you okay with that?
Sanders
He’s left of left. A self described socialist. He’s a liberal’s liberal. There’s no reason we shouldn’t love the hell out of him. But he just can’t gain the needed ground to get the nomination. Why is that? Maybe it’s because of these questions.
1) When Bernie Sanders points out factual statements on Hillary Clinton’s voting record, he’s simply “pointing out the differences between the two.” Yet, when she points out facts about his voting record (such as his votes against the Brady Bill and his vote to protect gun sellers from any legal liabilities) she’s “going negative”. Why is that?
2) Did you know that Bernie Sanders voted against immigration reform, and his reasoning was the typical Republican line “it would drive down American wages”?
3) While Democrats might win back the Senate they most likely will not retake the House, although they may gain ground. How will Sanders get laws passed through Congress when his proposals are much more radically far-left than anything President Obama tried to get passed?
4) He has called out big defense contractors and lobbyists, which is great. Wasteful defense spending is a massive problem. But he voted for and defends the $1.2 trillion F-35 project – a massive waste of money and the most expensive defense project in history. Is it a coincidence that it just happens to create jobs in his home state?
5) He has slammed Clinton for “evolving” on issues such as same-sex marriage. He has claimed that she only supported those issues when it became politically beneficial for her. But at one time he said that same-sex marriage should be left up to the states – a stance he longer supports. Isn’t he doing the same thing?
Everyone else
Maybe you are voting for a third party candidate, or someone like Kasich who has all but lost, or maybe you don’t vote at all. Damn the corrupt two party system we live in anyway. Well, I have some questions for you.
1) A third party will never win. Not enough people even know what a third party is, or the candidates. Are you okay with wasting your vote?
2) Someone will be elected. If you can’t bring yourself to vote for the “lesser of two evils” you will end up with someone being elected who you do not agree with on anything, with no input from you. Like it or not there are major differences between the two major parties on gun control, abortion rights, same sex marriage etc. The lesser of two evils is still “lesser.” If you vote third party and the candidate who you agree with least wins, will you be okay with that, especially if your vote could have made the difference?
3) Which issues does your third party candidate support that the RNC or DNC does not? Are you really voting for someone different?
4) Voter turnout of eligible voters in the last presidential election was 57.5%, lower than the previous two presidential elections. The last mid-term election garnered just 36.4% of eligible voters, the lowest in 70 years. Most of those votes came from older white males. Imagine how vastly the results would have changed if just 10 percent more of eligible voters showed up, 20% more, 30% more. Are you really okay with old white men deciding the future of our political landscape?
5) Some people think their vote doesn’t matter, so they don’t vote. If your vote doesn’t matter then why do politicians and special interest groups spend billions every election cycle trying to convince you not only to vote, but to vote for a particular candidate and/or issue?
6) Bonus question. Sure, one vote might not make a difference, but here’s a list of instances in history when it did.
1910: Buffalo New York’s congressional district, where Democrat Charles B. Smith snuck by incumbent De Alva S. Alexander by a single vote, 20,685 to 20,684.
1910: Conservative Henry Duke eked out a victory against Liberal Harold St. Maur in the South West England city of Exeter.
1994: Wyoming’s House of Representatives race, Republican Randall Luthi and Independent Larry Call each finished with 1,941 votes. Following a recount that produced the same results, Governor Mike Sullivan settled the election by drawing a ping pong ball out of his cowboy hat to determine a winner.
1994: The National Assembly of Québec. The Saint-Jean provincial electoral was evenly split 16,536 to 16,536 by Michel Charbonneau of the Liberal Party and Roger Paquin of Parti Québécois.
2003: Champlain electoral district was split evenly split 11,852 to 11,852 between the Liberal Party’s Pierre Brouillette and Parti Québécois’ Noëlla Champagne.
2002: After a tied vote Republican Dee Honeycutt came up short,drawing a jack of diamonds to Democrat R.J. Gillum’s jack of spades for a seat on the Esmeralda County Commission.
2011: When Tanya Flanagan and Linda Meisenheimer tied in a North Las Vegas city council primary, neither candidate wanted to pony up $600 for the cost of a recount. Meisenheimer ended up drawing a king to Flanagan’s five.
These are just a few instances in history when one vote has or could have made the difference. So with that in mind I ask you, do you still think your vote doesn’t count?
The Hungry Dog's Lair 