Sunday, June 12, 2016

Presidential Candidates 2016

Instead of TVB stars, I have been tracking down the 2016 presidential candidates.

#ImWithHer

I saw Hillary Clinton back in February when she held a rally in Boston. The theme of her speech was breaking down barriers in America, a contrast to Donald Trump's promise to build a wall. Of course, she talked about how electing the first female President would break down one of the greatest barriers. Her speech was more substantive, with specific details on how to achieve her policy goals rather just ideals.


#MakeAmericaGreatAgain

I saw Donald Trump at a rally in Washington DC. He gave a short speech which was clearly not pre-written. He just said whatever came to his mind. He focused on the military and veterans since it was the Memorial Day weekend. The one thing I was impressed with was his punctuality. The event was scheduled to start at 2 pm and he arrived on time, unlike the other two candidates who arrived hours late.


#FeelTheBern

I completed my "stamp collection" with a Bernie Sanders rally in DC. Since Hillary had already clinched the nomination, I was wondering if he would be dropping out of the race. He didn't drop out, but it seemed like he knew the end was looming. He reflected on how his campaign exceeded all expectations and urged his supporters to continue the revolution that they started. He talked about all the inequalities in America today.


Jeb!

Another addition to my presidential candidates collection, even though Jeb Bush dropped out of the race a long time ago. He was delivering a lecture at the Harvard Kennedy School about education reform. The crowd gave him a loud round of applause when he entered the room. He offered some good ideas to improve education in America. It left me wondering about what kind of debate we would have had if it was Jeb running against Hillary.


2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recap on the candidates.  This year’s Presidential race will definitely be interesting with Trump vs Clinton – regardless of who wins, it will be history in the making, no doubt about that.  Personally, I don’t like either candidate and similar to years past, I don’t plan on voting because I can’t bring myself to cast a ballot for someone I don’t like and whose ideals are so out of sync with my own.  Of course, just like most other working class Americans, I’m sick and tired of all the lies from the corrupt politicians and their horrible policies that do nothing except take more and more money from hard-working middle class folks like me, however I honestly don’t feel that either candidate will make things any better.  Trump is pretty much all talk and no real action, plus he is wishy-washy and even with the nomination secured he still hasn’t given any clear stance on anything.  As for Clinton – well, let’s just say that I never liked her and never will (not going to get into the details of why)….plus she is from the establishment and to me, if she becomes President, things will pretty much be the same as under Obama currently. 

    Interesting the point you made about punctuality.  I’ve always been a stickler about punctuality and hate that public figures always seem to feel like they are entitled to be late to everything.  I will say though that I’m not surprised Donald Trump has impeccable punctuality compared to the other 2, since he’s a life-long businessman and punctuality is extremely important in the business world.  Of course, I’m not unreasonable in that I’m ok with people being a few minutes late here and there, but HOURS late, and on a consistent basis?  To me, it’s disrespectful and any candidate with that tendency is already not worthy of my support.

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    1. I believe many people share your feelings that both candidates are bad, but personally, I think that despite Hillary's problems (and even as her supporter, I'll admit she has problems), she is much, much better than Trump, who has legitimized racism and homophobia. While Hillary is a politician through and through again, I do believe she genuinely wants to (and can) make things better. She has a proven track record of getting things done and that's sorely needed in today's government. Frankly, her "scandals" have been blown up by the Republicans to score political points. Just my thoughts and I respect your opinions, but I do urge you to go out to vote, regardless of who you support. Many people in the world would die for a chance to vote, it is not something that should be taken for granted.

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