Why You Might Vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump

By Chuck Marshall

After a terribly contentious election year,  which is now drawing to a close,  I've decided to write a positive blog elaborating on the good in both candidates-- to help anyone who is feeling so flustered or concerned about their selection.  Don't fret too much about the whole thing.  We still live in a free society where the fact of the matter is, whoever is elected will have their power checked by the other branches of government and the press. In fact, that's one of the keys to my complaints about the election process is the candidates are never engaged with questions as to what they would do to work with Congress.  President Obama was, in my humble opinion, a failure in this endeavor.  

Why you might vote for Hillary Clinton:

1)  Hillary has a great degree of experience having served 30 years in various forms of the government.   Most importantly, as Secretary of State for 4 years.   An essential aspect of the American President is diplomacy and foreign affairs.   There is no learning curve here.

2)  Hillary served as a US Senator.  This experience should prove invaluable in her quickly getting to work,  in cooperation  with Congress,  to accomplishing  things done at the top level.   Can you imagine a government that actually gets things done ?  Again, there is no learning curve here.

3)  Having been married to the President of the United States for 8 years, surely she learned quite a lot, and with all due acknowledgement to Bill Clinton's problems, the 90's were a very prosperous decade.  As she learns the process, her husband should be an enormous asset for her and for the country.

4)  I think Hillary is (underneath all the rhetoric)  a moderate Democrat not a left wing Democrat like Obama., therefor she's more likely to work with Congress.  Again, one of the most important aspects of being President is working with Congress.  She has the knowledge and ability and political wisdom to get things done no matter which party is running Congress.

5)  She's obviously very intelligent.  I think we all want our President to be as highly intelligent as is possible.  The stakes are so very high.

6)   People say "she's not likable".   Not being "likable" is not a reason to dismiss a candidate.  As Oprah Winfrey put it;  "She's not gong to be coming over to your house".   In addition, she seems to be a good mother to Chelsea., and Chelsea seems to be a fine and successful young woman.  You can't fake good kids.


Why you might vote for Donald Trump;

1)  Donald has been an important part of raising his children, despite being divorced from their mother (except for the youngest, of course).   All of his kids seem to be very bright and successful and happy.  That takes a lot of doing, commitment and love.  Again, you can't fake good kids.

2) A successful businessman,  Donald understands how to negotiate and deal with situations in the best interest of his business and his family.   As the President he will be negotiating and dealing in the best interest of the American people.  I'm not sure we've ever had a good  negotiator as President, so this could yield even more than anyone thinks.

3)  Donald is unpredictable, which I know Wall Street hates, but our enemies also hate it.  I feel like ISIS  is far less  likely to attack our country when  President Trump has openly questioned why we don't use nuclear weapons "since we have them".  That will jolt them  awake from their sleep during any of their barbaric plans to harm our country.

4)  Tireless.  I am very, very impressed with his work ethic.  The man does not stop, and he is more determined than I've ever seen anyone to succeed.   That sort of determination is what we need in a President, and on the side of the American people.

5)  Although Republican, I think everybody knows the Republican hierarchy see Trump as a highly unfortunate nominee.  A political nightmare.   They have demonstrated this by not lifting a finger to help the man out.  Because of this, I think Trump will be in a prime position to be one of the least partisan Presidents we've had in a long time.  The government must get back to "doing things"., and stop arguing about everything.  Perhaps Trump, of all people, could be the one to do that. Can you imagine the irony ?

6) Trump owes nothing to anyone, he self financed his election and is already financially successful.  It's  nice  to consider there aren't little "deals" going on after he's elected to help wealthy interests get what they want ahead of the American citizen.  We come first, and that has been one of the more convincing mantras coming from the Trump camp;  "I am going to be working for you".

Finally, I say a prayer for  our country;  "God please direct our nation to the best outcome for all considered"    Amen.

Gary Johnson For President

By Chuck Marshall

     As I'm sure most of you know,  like the name of this blog indicates, I am a political moderate.  That does not mean I'm boring.   I would safely say the same for Gary Johnson.  The man has quite a life experience including climbing Mt. Everest,  and his even temper and tenacity make him an excellent choice for President.  His Libertarian ideas of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism bring him in synch with  most Americans way of thinking.  I believe his balanced approach to governing and his ability to bring the two political parties together to get things done make him the only logical choice this year.

I wrote a letter to the Orlando Sentinel today griping about the lack of media coverage for Gary., so as part of my endorsement I am including what I said to them.   This has been stirring in me for months, but I've been so busy criticizing the other two candidates I didn't do my homework and clarify why I prefer Gary Johnson.  That's "my bad" for sure., and shame on me for piling on the existing candidates.  But, part of  my reluctance has been that it just seems so hopeless for him, but it suddenly occurred to me that's always been the case with new ideas.   There is hope, and hope is a lot better than criticism, doubt, and divisiveness.    

My letter reads;

Over and over again in this election and in all elections we are served two dishes, the Republican dish and the Democratic dish.   The media, both print and cable continue to box us all in to the same old way of thinking.   Your endorsement last week and your  "letters to the editor" column that you had today was all about the two main candidates as if there is no other choice this year.  There is another person on the ballot named Gary Johnson, the Libertarian. I know he's not "polling well" but he IS another choice.  He's fiscally conservative and socially liberal which means he is a "moderate" to either party choice.   He speaks in full sentences.  He's not a product of our dysfunctional, corrupt and bloated federal government.   He served as governor of New Mexico for 8 years, so he has the exact experience to be a chief executive, unlike the other two candidates.   People say "he can't win", but the reason he "can't win" is nobody pays attention to what he says unless it's a mistake.  I've watched him in interviews and he's intelligent and fully capable.   His ideas are logical and would help steer our country to finally shake off the tyranny that is the dominant two-party political system.  Best of all, he's neither of the other two candidates.  So you see,  there is a choice, "none of the above" would be Gary Johnson.  

I will note/edit this blog if they do print the above letter.

Is Donald Trump A Shill ?

By Chuck Marshall


Shill,/SHil/:  an accomplice; a person who helps and abets another for the purpose of manipulating the thoughts or actions of a third party.

     Our favorite Chocolate Mousse Cake, Donald Trump is again being openly accused of being in the midst of some sort of conspiracy to purposely lose the Presidency for the benefit of Hillary Clinton.  Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R) of Florida publicly contemplated the possibility that "The Donald" is acting as a sort of "shill" and is purposely losing the presidential election in order to assist Hillary and perhaps the Democratic party to win back control of Washington, DC.   “I have no hard proof for my theory, but I think the relevant question is do people actually think that Donald Trump is trying to win?” Curbelo asked on the Fernand Amandi Radio Show.….“To all my passionate friends who are Trump supporters,” he continued. “And I understand why, there are a lot of people who are angry and frustrated in this country, they really don’t like Hillary Clinton for some obvious reasons — put together his recent conduct together with the fact he’s a close friend of the Clintons, they attended his wedding, the pictures are there to prove it. Donald Trump spoke to Bill Clinton three weeks before launching his campaign. I mean, again, I don’t have any hard proof, it may be nothing, but is this the conduct of someone who is trying to win? I just, I don’t see it.”  

I mentioned this theory in my last blog "Donald Trump is Chocolate Mousse Cake", as a reference to my wife's suspicion which she has had since she was a Marco Rubio supporter back during the primaries.  I've always chuckled (no pun intended !) at the possibility as do most people.  BUT, why did Bill Clinton meet with Donald Trump 3 weeks before he declared his candidacy last year ?.  The Clintons HAVE been friends with "The Donald" for a long time.  The Trump family WAS in the Democratic party until just this past couple of years.  

So--- Let's Paint a picture;

Hillary and Bill, the two most powerful Democrats meet with Donald and discuss a way for them to get into the White House with his help.  But it isn't money they want, they already have plenty of money from their charity "The Clinton Foundation" of which they are the main beneficiaries.  No, what they want from "The Donald" is his showmanship, his pizazz, his capacity to entertain the masses.  "Get into the race, Donald and throw a wrench in the works of the Republican party and we will reward you.  Not with money, but with enormous power.  Be our friend and you and your family will have front row seats at the most powerful address in the world.  At the same time we will be the "good guys" offering help and influence to "our old enemy, Donald Trump" who said such awful things about us during the elections, yet still we extend the olive branch."  Finally, bipartisanship in Washington, DC thanks to Hillary and Donald  !  There's nothing anyone in the Republican party could do about it.  They would have no choice but to work with President Hillary Clinton.    

During the primaries it was "kind of" believable that Donald was winning because he was catering to the right wing of the Republican party and the frustration so many have with the lack of action on the part of our so called leaders.  Donald "tells it like it is"  which turns out to be the BIGGEST desire of the Tea Party wing of the Republican party (never mind the budget deficit, the constitution, or any realistic solutions to our nation's problems) so he was swept to the nomination for his "plain talk" and his monosyllabic sentences that they find easy to follow.  "That, I promise you".   Donald himself must be truly mystified that he is the nominee for a position he truly does NOT want.  Now, he has to lose the election to avoid getting the job he doesn't want and back into his garish penthouse in Manhattan.   How does he do that ?  He continues the same behavior in the general election as what worked in the primaries. Not because he thinks it will work., but because he knows it won't work. 

Just a thought.  The idea of something so devious and crooked is hard to even imagine for most people, that's why it's shrugged off by decent people.  But we're not talking about decent people here.  We're talking about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump - If there is ANY couple of people on earth willing and capable of doing such a devious thing it's these two.  "That, I promise you". 

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