Jeb Bush – CAFFEINATED POLITICS

Tonight’s Republican presidential debate is going to show many things. Among the things I will be watching for is how serious the candidates have studied up on the issues, and how they stand up to the pressure of a debate among others with Potomac Fever.

For some like Jeb Bush it will be about showing how seasoned and responsible he is as a member of a political family, while Ted Cruz will try and wage political jihad within the GOP with anger and bombast. Many will look for calm reflections and sage words from John Kasich. There will be many themes and moments during the two hour broadcast, but nothing else will matter after tonight if someone does not take the fight to Donald Trump.

After all, he is the one who has sucked the oxygen out of the political season which was to have showcased all the rich talent that the GOP has to offer the nation. That has all been turned upside down with Trump taking command of the campaign season and tonight literally taking center stage.

I want professional and seasoned politicians on that stage to take the fight to Trump. It is time to press and squeeze and scrutinize him. Tomorrow’s morning paper will either headline that Trump ran the show or that some plucky and determined candidate took the fight to him for the sake of the party and the nation. That candidate will then see his poll numbers rise.

Like everyone else I wait to see what happens.

Long time readers to this blog know I have no warmth for Ron Paul or his son Rand. To them government is something just to dismantle and scorn. They always like to make it seem they are so erudite and as such the people should hush, listen, and learn as they tell the story of how once upon a time our nation was stolen from us by unconstitutional means. There is always the sense that black helicopters are lurking just over the horizon.

I follow those who I find adrift from reality but seek public office. (Yes, my days are busy.) As such I am following the campaign of Rand Paul in his quest for the White House.

My first thought on the day he entered the contest is the same I have today. What is he doing in the Republican Party?

Paul does not agree with Republicans on many matters, such as foreign and military policy, and they do not think him worthy of their time. There seems no one willing to quench Paul’s thirst which results from Potomac Fever.

The latest story to make the news sums up the pitfalls that is now the Paul campaign.

Something is awry at the Rand Paul campaign. The main super PAC supporting his presidential bid raised just $3.1 million in the first half of 2015, about $100 million less than Right to Rise, a super PAC backing Jeb Bush. In fact, the pro-Paul group’s fundraising total was lower than that of every other major super PAC that is backing a Republican candidate and has announced its totals. On Sunday, a new NBC News/Marist poll showed support for the Kentucky Republican declining to just 4 percent in New Hampshire (compared with 14 percent in February).

The Des Moines Register and Quinnipiac University polls found that Paul’s net favorability had dropped in Iowa by 18 and 14 percentage points, respectively, compared with the beginning of the year. In New Hampshire, Paul’s net favorability rating has sunk by 15 percentage points according to the University of New Hampshire and 11 percentage points according to Suffolk University.