Republicans should celebrate diverse field of presidential candidates
Republicans, as is their wont, are going meshugganah over the large, wide open field of candidates entered into the 2016 Presidential Sweepstakes. For the life of me, I don't understand the angst.
Republicans should be celebrating this extraordinary, highly qualified and diverse lineup which, as always, will winnow itself down as time goes on, just like "American Idol."
Consider this deep-bench roster of highly qualified contestants.
Jeb Bush: The son of one U.S. president and brother of another, who was also a governor.
Dr. Ben Carson: A world-renowned black neurosurgeon.
Carly Fiorina: One of the most successful woman executives in our nationâs history.
Rand Paul: A libertarian-leaning Goldwateresque senator.
Bobby Jindal: A governor of Indian descent.
Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz: Two Hispanic senators from two of our largest states.
Rick Santorum: A former senator and leading social conservative.
Mike Huckabee: A former governor, TV host and leading social conservative.
Chris Christie, John Kasich and Scott Walker: Current governors.
George Pataki, Jim Gilmore and Rick Perry: Former governors.
Lindsey Graham: A moderate "McCain Republican" senator.
Donald Trump.
Yes, only one of them can win the Golden Ticket, but imagine a national government populated with many of these individuals heading cabinet departments instead of the many incompetents President Barack Obama has surrounded himself with.
And can we give the Trump-hate a rest, please?
Donald Trump is no carnival barker. He's a master marketer. And the Robert Collier Principle of marketing is to "enter the conversation already taking place in the customer's mind."
As such, if you read what the man actually said about Mexico regarding illegal immigrants â as opposed to what the media and the manâs enemies are saying he said, he was right. And it also happens to be what an awful lot of Republican primary voters have had on their minds for a long time.
Trump, like Carson and Fiorina, is an outsider. He's not part of the political class. He also gives it to us straight, not how politically sensitive inside-the-beltway speechwriters spoon-feed it to us. And he's anti-GOP establishment.
An awful lot of Republican primary voters are attracted to those qualities even if Trump has taken decidedly non-GOP positions on certain issues in the past. His growing popularity goes well beyond ideology.
In any event, now consider what the Democrats are offering us.
Hillary Clinton.
Bernie Sanders: An avowed socialist.
Lincoln Chafee: A former Republican in Name Only poster child born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
Martin O'Malley: A former mayor of Baltimore (how'd that work out for everybody?).
And Jim Webb (who?).
The large and diverse GOP field is a strength, not a weakness. Don't fret it, Republicans. Celebrate it.
Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a conservative grass roots advocacy organization. He can be reached at www.muthstruths.com.
