I read a quote today that I think is appropriate here: "Politicians are like sperm. One in a million turns out to be an actual human being." I am afraid that we haven't met the lucky one yet!

Things will get worse. Whether they ever get better is highly debatable.

As a country, we ARE doomed to go down the socialist path like Venezuela. In fact there should be a TV series showing how government becomes more and more restrictive as the economy gets worse and worse

Hello Abaco,
I have watched them too. Sad really to believe that so many are taken in by this nonsense. The last one with the Dems had me thinking the whole time, these three are just trying to outbid each other for votes with more money we don't have. Every solution offered was a statist government one... as if the problems they wanted to solve weren't originally created in the same manner....
Respectfully,
O.A.

hear hear

Looking at the front runners all I can say is that America has declined from the hope of humanity into hopeless humanity.
Your son is most likely a better candidate than the likely nominees, but I would hate to put such a burden on one so young.

In one of the earlier debates, Rand Paul sounded like his father calling for a federal government so small that you don't see it...

Sanders occasionally sees the problem but his solutions are worse. Hillary is so hell bent on winning the White House I think she would blame the Republicans for the Titanic sinking. Some Republican ideas are good but it seems to me I heard them in 2012, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1996, 1992....

Listened to earlier R debates and Cruz and Paul did talk about and would make government smaller.
We'd all like to have it all done at once but I think the smarter way would be a 'defined' little at a time.
After, of course, after taking out the Fed, The IRS, the BLM and the dept of education. Along with disempowering HLS and the EPA.

But truthfully I would be satisfied if we just attended to the constitution and the principle ideas of our founding, maybe one of us or others like us might do our part as being representative of America in our government.

most of the time, I wish that we all could hide our stuff
from these plunderers who are doing their best to money-grub
their way to wealth and power. . disgusting. -- j
.

Not that he is the perfect candidate, but the only Republican that does talk about smaller government, less intrusion, etc, is Rand Paul and he has been ignored by the media. They have done a great job at ostracizing him. I try not to look at them as Democrats vs. Republicans... I try to look at them as Statists vs. Individualists. Watch out for leftist Republicans.

It's all about expectations. There is a natural expectation that society progresses, both materially and morally, with the ideal being that eventually anyone being poor or sick will have to make some really bad decisions to get that way, and major conflict will be a thing of the past. Utopian vision, admittedly, but it's at the core of nearly everyone's ideal world.

Politicians get elected primarily on how well they appeal to our Utopian desires, rather than how well they address the more immediate, mundane problems. Those politicians that make a concerted effort to detail exactly how they're going to fix the various near term problems usually lose, as the interest of the voter is simple minded and fickle.

Regardless of what the political candidates promise, any success will depend on how pragmatic they are, and how gifted they are are making the deal with the various interest groups on the Hill (did I just use a Trump term?). Given that reality, I assess each competitor on their personal history and performance. O'Malley ranks at the bottom, since the city he mayored (Baltimore) and the state he governed (Maryland) are socialist economic and crime basket cases. Ted Cruz doesn't fare much better, as his only major accomplishment has been getting elected, and he's proven to be an unproductive pain in the backside in the Senate. Trump has a history of success based on tremendous negotiating skills, and Kasich has an admirable track record, both in Congress and as a governor of Ohio.

Trust and integrity are also important, with Clinton at rock bottom on that score. Sanders is more trustworthy, which is frightening in a way, as you can believe he'll try his best to institute a socialist government. Rubio looks and sounds good, but he's a toady for the sugar industry.

I was a Rand Paul supporter, but I've lost faith in his ability to promote the small government message effectively enough to win broad support. Intellectually he makes the most sense, but he lacks Trump's skill at gaining the media attention necessary to capture the crowd's emotions.

Are we screwed? While I'm skeptical anyone can easily overcome the friction of an incompetent, corrupt unelected civil service institution, I don't think we are - yet. If a Democrat President captures the SCOTUS, the heart of our republic is in serious peril. Like the candidate or not, I'll vote Republican, as a vote against, as Will Rogers advised.

"Talking to Fidel"... Lol, he took off and immigrated to The Soviet Union for several years to live in his communist utopian fantasy. He brought his new bride with him and she was going to go back to the US with or without him.

Assuming either will win is not rooted in reality, Obama turned filibuster-proof democrat majorities into the largest Republican control of the House and Senate in 70 years in 2 cycles, it's looking like another 10 seats this time. Maybe you live in a left district or something, but doesn't square with electoral counts, polls are just a poll, not electoral points in the winner-take-all state by state system.

The Swift Boat campaign is running already on Hillary, most of the strategy was to give Bernie enough help to either beat her or severely wound her.

Trump is actually much higher than he even looks because they poll 'likely Republican voters', 7 out of 8 of his attendees in Reno were unemployed steel workers, blue collar workers, etc., only half with a college education, and are never thought of as Republican. When the field collapses around him, he gets 100% of Republicans because we would never vote for a cackling witch or a communist, he is also going to drag a lot of the Union and non-union laborers... Would likely look like Carter v Reagan.

The guy hasn't spent a dollar on a TV ad yet... And looks like he just took out Cruz in Iowa for free.

"With the Republicans...if you really listen closely you see this overwhelming desire to use government to fix things."

You are right on with this.......They see government as a potential solution, not what it is....the problem.

Debates? What debates?
Has Bill Clinton been re-writing the dictionary again?

OK....A couple months later I'm more sure we're doomed.

I have made a decision recently. I have been a long time supporter of Ted Cruz. And recent events have only solidified my trust in Him. We have been looking, and as close to perfect as it comes, Ted Cruz is it. If the Repub establishment, If the Donald, et Al, run him out, I will, for the first time, support and advocate, and beg for Ted to start a True third party, no matter the cost. I have stayed in the GOP to try to effect form within. No longer. There is a real paradigm shift occurring, It will go Hard socialist, or return to a conservative renaissance. There will be no in between.

No doom for us. Doom toward the bad people. Not toward the good people.It's a boom there's no doom toward the good people.

The problem is our nation has lost motivation, I truly believe we have left the concept of working for what we earn, becoming tolerant of people holding their hands out, we can not however allow this, this altruistic state is truly going to undermine the once great United States. I was educated in the idea that we are to work for what we want, so we should teach those who wish for this altruistic system to continue that they do not have to lower their esteem and accept hand outs but instead work for their keep. To build their self esteem and feel the wonderful sense of achievement. Only when do we the people who truly understand this principle educate those who do not understand this will save our nation.

Just as a body with disease, it took years to find one's self in that state of health. Likewise, it's taken a bit over 100 years to get where we are today. So, it's clear: we ain't gona erradicate the kakistocracy over night, Hell, it might in fact take years to even discover all the damage we need to be repair.

I just can't imagine how it all will turn out. I dare not, in the face of many disappointments of the past, believe in one thing or another but I will do my part as best I can and prepare for the worst...I do not like feeling that way.

There's gotta be a Bernie remix video somewhere of him going on and on about other people's "MUNNNY!" It creeps me out to hear him...every statement starts with, "Day have plenny of munnny. We need to take it and..." I get the willies from it...

I listened to the recent Republican debate on my
radio. I just think the best idea is to vote for Cruz.
If Trump gets it, it will be very dangerous, as he
brags about being unprincipled and is not a free-
enterprise man. But who knows how it will turn out?

I find there's very little difference between the political parties anymore.
It's Lenin-ites vs. Trotsky-ites.

I watched the first few Republican debates, and Carly Fiorina is the only one I definitely remember talking about reducing the size of government, but there may have been a couple of others. Jeb Bush wasn't one of them, for sure. And John Kasich might as well be a Dimocrat.

And speaking of Dimocrats, I keep saying that they are only running old white guys. They are all socialists, but Bernie Sanders is the only one honest enough to admit it. Shrillary is only in contention because she is married to Bill, who will get his third and (maybe) fourth terms as the de-facto president. O'Malley is the only halfway qualified Dimocrat, and he is at 1% in the polls. Doesn't this speak volumes about how far left the Dimocrat party is? It wouldn't surprise me very much if Bernie Sanders is their nominee. The evening pundits on Fox News laugh at that possibility, but they also laughed at Donald Trump's chances. If Hillary gets into real legal trouble over her personal e-mail server, Bernie could very well be the nominee. The Obama Justice department will ultimately make the call to prosecute, and I think that decision turns on the political question of who Obama wants as his successor.

It's hard for me to watch the death of freedom in America, even harder when you consider that people are just throwing away their freedom in exchange for a litany of empty promises. The policies that the Dimocrats run on would have guaranteed that they would lose a presidential election by 60 percentage points 100 years ago. Now we're sweating out if a Republican can squeak out a 2 point victory over a socialist. This does not bode well for the future.