Editorial: Republicans get the 2016 debate going

The Republicans have produced a bumper crop of presidential candidates for 2016, and ten of them were in the primetime spotlight last Thursday evening on the Fox News Channel.

A few other also-runnings (including our beloved former governor) were on television earlier in the day hoping to break into the news.

I confess to tuning in a few minutes late to the debate. I skipped the self-aggrandizing opening statements.

With all the people running for office, you would hope you would have a lot of good choices. Instead, it’s more like buying shampoo… lots of products on the shelves and they all basically do the same thing. If the country elects one of these guys president, it’s like the results will be the same at the end of four years… government will still be big and Islamic terrorists will still hate us.

That being said, there are some differences in the group. Take Donald Trump… please. He’s got a lot of supporters. I even really like his straight-forward, no-nonsense comments on the issues of the day. He’s very successful financially, and he’s obviously got a lot of business savvy. I appreciated his honesty in not pledging to support the eventual nominee. I’m not taking that pledge; why should he?

Trump, however, reminds me a lot of H. Ross Perot. He’s done well in the private sector. He’s got a lot of support from regular folks. And he’s got the same “We just need to get under the hood and fix it” attitude that Perot had. But like Perot, I don’t think Trump would ever be elected president. (Although it would be nice to see someone like him in the White House and just tell it like it is.)

Let’s move around the dais and see who else we have on the menu.

Gov. John Kasich I think is a decent guy with a level-headed approach. He’s certainly good with government budgets and has the rare experience of actually balancing the federal budget. He makes a lot of sense and could be a good president given the chance. But I don’t see him getting much traction.

Gov. Chris Christie I’m not a fan of. He’s a little too much “to hell with your rights if means we might catch a terrorist some day” for my liking. He would be good for comedians though.

Dr. Ben Carson is likeable and clearly thinks things through. But like Kasich, he doesn’t seem to be getting traction.

I think probably the last thing we need is former governor Jeb Bush. Bushes have a habit of running conservatively and then dramatically increasing the intrusiveness of the federal government. Consider this: Daddy Bush gave us the Clean Air Act (which killed the evil gas Freon) and the Americans With Disabilities Act with has raised the cost of all kinds of construction projects and made life more difficult in lots of ways. (Ask hotels how much that lift chair in the swimming pool cost and how much it gets used.) GW then gave us Medicare Part D, No Child Left Behind, and, of course, the PATRIOT Act. Go home, Jeb. We don’t need you.

Former governor Mike Huckabee is very principled and a good speaker. I just don’t like him. Too preachy for me. Maybe it’s the former pastor in him. The State of the Union might turn into a hellfire and brimstone sermon, which could be fun, I guess.

Marco Rubio I don’t know enough about to form a good opinion. He seems to have some good ideas and is well spoken.

Ted Cruz. Oh, Lord. Can we get Rick Perry moved up to represent the Lone Star State? This guy is the Bozo the Clown of the Grand Old Party. I’m sorry, but I want to see Ted’s birth certificate before we risk having a Cuban-Canadian faux Texan in the White House.

Scott Walker has something weird going on with his hair. Hard to take him seriously.

And then there’s Rand Paul. He also has funny hair, but he does have a passion for libertarian principles. He has this insane idea that the government should respect our rights, follow the Constitution, not collect our cell phone records without a warrant. He’s crazy. But in a good way.

The interesting thing going forward will be to see if whoever’s the Republican nominee, can they possibly win against the overwhelming entitlement mentality in America. With a larger and larger group of people on the government nipple, it may be impossible for anyone other than a Santa Claus, give ‘em everything Democrat to be president.

The 2016 American comedy tour is getting well underway. Future episodes will no doubt provide a lot of good editorial fodder but little substance for the voters.