The Burn of the Bern

Who would ever have thought that not only would Donald Trump be the Republican nominee but that he would be a serious opponent. And who could imagine that Bernie Sanders, (the now angry old Jew from Brooklyn, I’m Jewish so I can say that), would still be in the race ?    Does the name Ralph Nader resonate?   At some point, when a person spends so much time campaigning to be President, their ego and perspective prevent them from thinking rationally. By this time I am sure they have negotiated a Bernie night at convention, as well as Bernie supporters on the platform committee. So, at this point why is he still presenting a political distraction, and anger at Hillary and the DNC. But that’s not what I wanted to blob about.

This morning, on Morning Joe, they showed the two new Hillary commercials. I don’t know who produced them but they are awful. (Personal opinion). Last semester one the groups of undergraduate students in my Presidential Politics class (Emerson College / LA)  produced a commercial for Marty O’Malley that was so good Marty asked if he could use it for future whatever. Here is the link,

http//www.you tube.com/watch?v=nZS4tLnrXYg

The commercial was a great introduction to the candidate, but more than that, by the end of watching it you really felt like you knew him.  That you liked him. And that you would vote for him. Ok it was after he dropped out, but it was still terrific.

There is no reason for Hillary to be struggling at this point. Yes, she stayed in the race through
all the primaries in 2008. But once it became clear that Obama would be the nominee she did
the classy thing and asked her supporters to work for him. This was not easy. Presidential politics never is. But a great many Hillary supporters were not going to vote, and what a disaster that would have been.

During the Vietnam war there were a great many protests. People yelled and screamed and
despite National Guard murder of students at Kent State. But I have never seen that kind of disruption happen at a campaign event. Until now. The boo’s and chair throwing that we have witnessed at the Nevada Democratic convention are horrific, and even more important disrespectful. My guess is that Bernie really thinks he can swoop in and scoop up some super delegates. He might have been able to do this at some point before he went nuts, but not now. People are afraid of that kind of noise. And my other guess (two is better than one because your chances of being right increase), is that there is NO one in the Clinton campaign who has the guts to tell Hillary that, with a few tweaks, she can do better. If you want to hear about tweaks (not tweets), check in with us tomorrow. Right now I am going to stick my head in the oven and
hopefully, when I take it out, this will all have been a miserable nightmare.  We’re just sayin’…Iris

It Has Come To Our Attention.....

It has come to my attention that the author’s of “Were Just Sayin"… have not been saying much lately.  How can there be a blob when no one is writing it.  We have been remiss. And we have turned our attention to other projects. But we are back to talk about this ridiculous Presidential election.  Who would ever have believed that Donald Trump would be the Republican candidate and Hillary Clinton would have to worry about it.  

For the last four months I have been teaching a course called Presidential Elections and Campaigns with mostly Millenials in the class.  Bernie Sanders was their candidate of choice because, although nothing he said had anything to do with reality, at least he had a vision. At least the things he talked about were things that were important to this important group of potential voters (emphasis on potential).  

It was a most enlightening 4 months. When the class began the students asked how a person becomes a political expert. It’s simple, you just have to have a title in some campaign and you have to be available. I explained that each person in the class knows as much as the people who appear as “strategists” on the 24/7 news channels.  Point in fact, they designed a political commercial for Martin O’Malley that was so good, the Governor asked if he could use it for future whatever.  

But that’s not what I wanted to blob about.  The description of young reporters as “Road Warriors” is inaccurate. They are on the road, but they are hardly warriors. They are covering campaigns where the candidates want them to be there as much as possible, because they are the link to free media for the campaign. They get paid for what they do. Yes there are long hours, but there are no battles, other than perhaps wrangling some old bittie’s iPhone out of the way of a Selfie.  The real “Road Warriors” are the Advance people, who fight every day to make sure that the candidate is seen in the best possible light. These people cannot afford to have dignity as we know know it.  These folks have to work under the worst possible circumstances. No one wants them in any community because they do the things they need to do to win the war. Things like flushing all the toilets in the places where the candidates, their staff and the media stay.  The advance people are flushing toilets while the media “Road Warriors” are drinking in the bar with their press pals.  Those of us who were Advance people in the 60’s and 70’s never had a break.  We started, usually on our own, early in the day, and went to the bar at night, not to drink, but to convince the media that they needed to cover us the next day. (And we did all of this in an era lacking the invention of cell phones.)

But that’s not what I wanted to blob about.  It’s hard to wrap my head around that concept, (I never understood that concept. How do you wrap your head around something? That must hurt).  Anyway, Donald Trump could be the next President of the US.  At first, all the Republican elected officials were as horrified by this as am I. The Democrats simply laughed and said, “Well this will be easy Ha Ha Ha.” Guess what, it’s not funny.  This media star/bully, could win the election. Not only that, but now all the people who dissed him for months, are “jumping on the band wagon”, (also not something I understand because there is no band).  

Moving on.  The irony is that this guy with the stupidest hair anyone has ever seen, has to become part of the establishment or he won’t win. He is not doing it in the traditional way, he doesn’t have to do anything in any way he doesn’t want to do. He controls the “purse strings”. (Can you imagine the Donald carrying a purse — well maybe, but it would be a designer item).

While Hillary would make a great President, she needs her staff to recognize her campaign weaknesses, simple stuff, like she appears to be the disciplinarian that we all feared.  Like Gore, who would also have made a great President, no one is comfortable with the smartest kid in the class. And in conclusion loyal reader, we are in for quite a ride.  We all have a ticket to this circus. But at what price.  “We’re just sayin…Iris