First of all, thank you Iowans for hosting the first presidential nomination electoral contest. The time you have given to the process is commendable. Making the effort to listen to so many voices is a truly democratic exercise and sets an example for the rest of us.
It would be terrific if the candidates would spend as much time as they spent with you in all other states. Maybe one day it will happen. I certainly hope so.
In the meantime, what can we learn from your experience?
The results will show your particular preferences. The rest of us will then take your advice and reevaluate all candidates and make fresh choices.
What’s good for Iowa may not be good for another state. But that’s to be expected.
From what I read, Sanders is edging out the rest of the field in your state. Very good. I’m very glad for Mr. Sanders. He is a passionate man with a sense of mission.
However, I do not think Sanders will win the nomination. If he does, then the democrats will lose to Trump, impeachment or no impeachment.
Inequality is a huge problem for the nation. We need to address it forcefully. But Sanders is not the person for the job.
Why? The man is too unbending. Two of his famous remarks come to mind. One is that in his first day in office, he will approve the idea of Medicare for All. With the stroke of a pen, Sanders imagines he can blot out the whole private insurance business. Just like that.
But it is pie in the sky. Sanders sees the pie but doesn’t realize it’s in the sky.
Getting to Medicare for All may well be a worthwhile objective but it will take time. Time to see if government is up to the task of running efficiently a program on that scale. Does the idea work for the English, you say? Great. It works for the French, too? Fantastic. But we’re neither English nor French. We like our ideas to be home baked.
The other famous Sanders remark is that there should be no billionaires in America. Well, that won’t go down well with many of us, either, and not because it dashes our hopes of ever becoming billionaires — most of us have no interest in pursuing such objective — but because the thirst for riches, with all its problems, is a motivator for ambitious men and women in our midst. Have a problem with Jeff Bezos’ riches? His company should be broken up? Maybe it should, so let’s talk about it and weigh the pros and cons. I’m all for more competition. Is Amazon stifling it? Or Apple or Facebook or Microsoft or Google? Let’s discuss it, but please don’t hand me down the pronouncement that there should be no billionaires in America. It seems toxic, as if laced with resentment and venom.
So, back to Iowa. The polling is telling us that Sanders may edge out the competition. Good for you, Iowans. You’re expressing your opinion.
But for some of us, Sanders is not even in the ballpark.
For some of us, choosing Sanders as a democratic presidential candidate, equals paving the path for Trump’s reelection. In a landslide.
Remember Nixon and McGovern?
