Why presidential candidates lie and how they get away with it
I watched the Republican debate the other night and enjoyed the entertainment. Sadly, American politics is all about entertaining the public. If the viewing public isn’t entertained, they’ll switch channels and the TV media will lose money. That must not happen.
I understand that CNBC charged $250,000 for a thirty second spot. It explains the idiotic Fantasy Football question. So it’s all about the money which explains many of the dumb questions (and the dumber answers).
Here are highlights from the first debate –
The candidates have advisers that study human nature. That’s you… the voting public, or enough of the voters who actually vote and watch these shows. Statistically , not many do, or only vote on warm and fuzzy feelings. That’s crucial to the candidates.
They know that you are easily bored, can switch channels with a press of a button and want to hear how each of them will claim to be able to save our nation. They won’t, as the 21st century great(est) depression is being setup for 2018-19.
There isn’t anything that they can do about it, as Congress passes bills and presidents just sign them, or not, into law. Yes, he or she has the power of the executive order, but that is limited.
Only one bill can save our nation and it won’t happen. Our congresspeople won’t suffer; you will. Do they care? You are best at answering that question. I don’t hear many yesses!
With that in mind, here’s why they lie –
Because they can.
They know that the vast majority of viewers/voters will never question the lies. The few that do are rounding errors and can be safely ignored. All that matters, is that the people who watch and actually vote get the warm and fuzzy feeling.
Sadly, even the viewers/voters don’t matter unless they vote in the first few primary states. California is one of the last and most populous states to vote, but they don’t matter at all as the race is long over. So if you live in California, you have no say whatsoever about who is on the November election ballot.
The first states are the most critical – Iowa caucus, New Hampshire, Nevada caucus (D), South Carolina (R), Nevada caucus (R) and South Carolina (D). These matter as they have there primaries or caucuses in February.
California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota, DC, North Dakota, Idaho, Maine and Wyoming are at the tail end in June. They don’t matter.
Here are just three of the candidates lies from the Republican debate. If I cover all of the candidates, you’ll never finish this novella long commentary, so I won’t.
Donald Trump. He says that he is 100% self funded. Just check the FEC website and you’ll learn the truth. He is using donor’s money to pay his way, just like everyone else. He has learned like PT Barnum, that making a lot of noise and ridiculous claims actually works.
He will treat our nation as his personal kingdom and push for laws that lower his tax bill and eliminate death taxes so his kids will get all of the money when he’s dead. He’s sixty nine so it won’t be too long. He’s in it for personal gain. Period.
Marco Rubio. He said that he used the nearly one million dollar book advance to pay his student loans. How many student loans are for a million dollars? None. His reports show his student debt was $100,000, not $1,000,000. That (rehearsed) comment was a large rounding error, that went unchallenged. While telegenic and glib, I believe that his personal finances are a train wreck. That’s with a huge book advance, a $175,000 Senate salary and a Florida politcal career since 1999, starting at the age of 29. If he can’t run his household finances with that income, what job will he do running our nation. He’s a financial disaster in the making.
Carly Fiorina. I am in the tech business, and watch the fortunes of the tech companies every day. My opinion is that Mrs. Fiorina, known as Fail-orina, or Chainsaw Carly, almost destroyed Hewlett Packard. Yes, she is glib but her past has come back to haunt her. I suspect that she spends a lot of time working on canned answers to deflect blame away from herself onto others for the HP debacle.
The problem is, as President Truman said, “The buck stops here.” By virtue of being the CEO of a company, it’s all your fault if it all goes wrong. It did, but she won’t accept her failure. The same will go for her becoming president. When it all goes wrong, she’ll spend her time deflecting blame. Perhaps her new moniker should be Teflon-Carly.
Whenever HP was talked about in the debate, Mrs. Fiorina used the rehearsed lies to muddy the waters. Investigate the HP nightmare when she ran the place (into the ground) and I’m sure that you’ll agree.
Hillary Clinton. She wasn’t in the debate but I’m certain that she will be president. She has the most money and although her Democratic Party competition may get more delegates than her, she will still win the nomination! Why? I think that she controls the Superdelegates. That’s about twenty percent of the total votes, so even if she loses the voter’s choice, 42-58, that 20% will make her day.
My comments about the dysfunctional Republican candidates don’t really matter anyway as they’ll all lose,
Mrs. Clinton does bear a mention. My key comment is that’s she is a survivor and smart. She knows when to not say something, and is always keenly aware that every word and video will be used against her. I do not want her to become president, but she will. She knows the ropes.
This is from the Democratic Party debate so you can see the contenders.
If you have the most money you’ll almost certainly win. Period. It’s a money business.
