Ted Cruz Exhibits His Desperation

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, one of the most disliked politicians in America, has chosen a vice-presidential running mate -- Carly Fiorina. I must admit that I was a bit surprised at the choice. She brings nothing to the campaign, being a loser in both business and politics. Why this choice?

I suppose it could be the old Republican idea that putting a woman on the ticket will make women forget all the anti-woman policies of the party (policies that are wholly supported by Cruz). This same tactic was used by John McCain, who chose a woman so stupid she can't make a coherent speech. I'll give Cruz some credit. The woman he chose can make a coherent speech (even though the point she is usually making is nonsensical).

Republicans don't seem to understand that picking a woman as a token doesn't fool female voters -- especially when those women are as incompetent as Palin or Fiorina. American women (and many men) would like to see more women in positions of power in this country, but they must be competent and intelligent women.

Frankly, I think Cruz just showed his desperation at realizing that whatever slim chance he had to be the GOp nominee was fast slipping away. He just wanted to do something to grab some attention. But what he did just emphasized that he makes poor decisions, and should never be president.

Clinton & Sanders Both Do Well Against Leading Republicans

The charts above reflect the results of a new McClatchy / Marist Poll. The survey was done between October 29th and November 4th of a random national sample of 1,465 adults, and has a margin of error of 2.6 points.

The poll is good news for Democrats -- both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters. It shows that both of them would do well in a general election against the current leading Republican candidates. Only one GOP candidate comes close -- Ben Carson. Clinton leads Carson by 2 points, while Sanders trails him by two points (but both are within the poll's margin of error).

I still don't see Carson winning the GOP nomination, but even if he somehow does, I think his rather strange beliefs will eventually turn off the voters. It's still a long way to the next general election (about a year), but right now the Democrats are in a pretty good position -- no matter who they nominate.

Fiorina Debate Blunder Insures She Will Never Be President

(This caricature of Carly Fiorina is by DonkeyHotey.)

It seems that most of the GOP candidates think the path to the White House lies in demonizing the media (as they happily did in Wednesday's third GOP debate). I can understand why they would want to do that. They lack any solutions to the nation's problems -- still relying on the failed "trickle-down" economic policy and the more war foreign policy. They refuse to admit that both of those policies have been disastrous for the country, and would prefer to put the blame on the media for not praising their failures.

But I think one candidate stood out in stupidity during the debate, and in doing so probably ended any slim chance she might have had to become this nation's president. That candidate is Carly Fiorina. She did that by attacking two of the most popular things the federal government has ever done -- Social Security and the minimum wage. And she showed her complete lack of understanding about our Constitution by claiming that both were actually unconstitutional. She said:

“There is no Constitutional role for the federal government in setting up retirement plans. There is no Constitutional role for the federal government to be setting minimum wages.” 

She doesn't seem to care that the Supreme Court has ruled both Social Security and the minimum wage to be constitutional -- ignoring the fact that the Constitution gives the federal government the right "to lay and collect taxes" and to "provide for the. . .general welfare of the United States". Surely, allowing workers to invest in a government program that will insure they don't have to live in abject poverty when they retire, and insuring that those who are willing to work a full-time job don't have to live in poverty, are programs that insure the general welfare of this country.

She also ignores the fact that both of these government efforts have been largely successful. Before Social Security was enacted, over 50% of the nation's senior lived in poverty. Now that figure has been reduced to about 10% (and with an expansion of benefits could be even lower). The minimum wage gave workers a livable level of income. That has been eroded by government inaction and needs to be raised now, but Fiorina is in that group of far-right Republicans who would not only not raise the minimum wage, but would eliminate it altogether -- a move that would insure millions of working Americans must live in poverty (and put a downward pressure on the wages of all American workers).

She shows us that she simply doesn't care for Americans that are not rich. But that is not an attitude that the general public in this country will tolerate. A hefty majority of Americans support both Social Security and the minimum wage. Poll after poll has shown that the public wants Social Security protected (and oppose any cuts to the program). And those polls also show that the public wants the minimum wage raised. The debate is not over whether the minimum wage should exist, but over how much it should be raised (and a significant majority would like it raised to at least $10 and hour).

Fiorita's ridiculous assertion that Social Security and the minimum wage are unconstitutional might win her some support among far-right-wing Republicans, but it is not going to fly with the general public. And you can bet if she were to somehow win the GOP nomination, the Democrats would make sure every American voter knows that she opposes Social Security and the minimum wage (and would be happy to do away with both). That would kill any chance of being elected. Americans are simply not going to vote for anyone who would kill Social Security and the minimum wage.

Debate Propels Fiorina To Join Trump/Carson In GOP Lead

For the last few days, there have been a lot of opinions from the pundits and talking heads of the media about who won the GOP debate last Wednesday. I think these two polls answer that question pretty emphatically. They are the first two polls released showing GOP presidential preference since the debate -- and it looks like Carly Fiorina is the hands-down winner.

Why? Because she is the only candidate to substantially improve her position since then. She moved into a tie with Carson in the CNN / ORC Poll -- actually besting him by a single point (which is well within the margin of error). And she finished only 3 points behind Carson in the NBC News Poll. What was a two-man race last week, has now become a three-person race. Carson and Trump basically held their positions in these new polls.

The really shocking thing (at least to me) is the free fall Scott Walker is experiencing. He once led the polls, but now scored less than 1% in the CNN / ORC Poll, and got only 3% in the NBC News Poll. Is it over for Walker?

The CNN / ORC Poll was done between September 17th and 19th of a random national sample of 444 Republicans, and has a margin of error of 4.5 points.

The NBC News Poll was done between September 16th and 18th of a national sample of 5,118 voters, and has a 2 point margin of error.