In 2008, I supported Hillary Clinton. This sounds weird, but I wanted her to beat Barack Obama in the primaries and I encouraged all my Democratic friends to vote for her. My logic was elementary: If the Republican lost, I would at least want an adult in the White House. Compared to Obama, Hillary was a bastion of wisdom and a fountain of experience. Instead, Democrats nominated someone completely unprepared for president. He won and look what happened. Let’s not screw it up this time.
I remember a friend returning from a national meeting in the spring of 2008 where Barack Obama had spoken. He described this experience and unfortunately I don’t remember his exact words, but I immediately replied that he had just described the perfect definition of a demagogue. There’s a lot of talk about some politicians on both sides of the political aisle who inspire people, but these potential candidates are completely unqualified to be president. Perhaps they will appear later, but not now.
A perfect example is Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). I pale almost every time the woman opens her mouth, but she has excited the left (almost the entire remaining Democratic Party today) with the rhetoric she regularly utters, which is why she is classified as a populist, which is quite a catch for a multi-millionaire, elitist, Harvard professor. Ms. Warren has only been in the United States Senate for two years, during which she has a modest track record of accomplishments, though they are more significant than Mr. Obama’s vague accomplishments when he launched his presidential campaign. Before she joined the U.S. Senate, Warren’s leadership experience was narrow to teaching law students and serving on some committees with long, fancy names. What qualifies this woman to be president of the most essential country in the world? Nothing.
On the other side of the aisle, I have already written about meeting U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). I was very impressed with him before I met him when I sat next to him at a compact group lunch in Los Angeles. I found him to be toasty, wise, informative and very verbal. I’ve seen him give a speech at the Reagan Library before and I think he may be the best speaker in the Republican Party. Rubio has served in the U.S. Senate for four years and previously served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. He has been involved in several sensitive issues during his time. Still, it was pretty clear to me that Rubio wasn’t ready right now. Perhaps in the future he will be an excellent candidate, but today he is not prepared for the office of president.
We need someone like Rob Portman, the U.S. senator from Ohio. This is a real adult. Although Portman was not governor, he held many positions that gave him in-depth experience preparing him to take on the challenges of the presidency. Portman has worked in the White House, been a congressman, a US trade representative (which gave him experience in foreign policy) and director of the Office of Management and Budget (he knows government inside and out). This is someone who has already run something and has extensive experience. He showed leadership and had gravitas. Mr. Portman is not flashy (very similar to former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels) and does not sweep you off your feet with velvety phrasing and rousing rhetoric. He just goes about his business and has gained wisdom from his extensive resume. He can be trusted to make a solid decision in a crisis and will not hesitate to make it. Mr. Portman withdrew his name from consideration in the presidential election.
Democrats could have about five candidates. Republicans have at least several dozen potential candidates. This number will fluctuate as different candidates are unable to attract qualified campaign staff, do not have sufficient funds, or simply decide they do not want to go through the painful process of running for president. My intuition is that there will be about ten Republicans and three or four Democrats running by the end of the year.
Now you know what I will look for and what I will not accept in a candidate. I hope that we will eventually find someone who has the experience, wisdom and gravitas to take on this distinguished position. As a Republican, I will not strive for ideological purity because I will remind my Republican friends that the Republican who offends them the most is someone they still agree with at least 85 percent of the time, and that person’s opponent will be someone with whom you agree 15 percent of the time.
Gosh knows we need an adult and, I believe, a Republican, to reverse the enormous damage this rank amateur has done to us both in foreign and domestic policy. I advise you to choose wisely.
