What happened to Carly Fiorina? After great performances in the first two Republican debates vaulted her into third place behind the front-runners Trump and Carson, she’s gone AWOL. The media has all but forgotten about the only woman running for the Republican nomination.

After her middling third debate showing, the one-time media darling will be fighting for her political life in tonight’s fourth GOP debate sponsored by Fox Financial Network and the Wall Street Journal.

Fiorina, along with Trump and Carson, are the only candidates who are true Washington outsiders. But unlike Trump and Carson, Fiorina has not been able to exploit her political inexperience.

Fiorina’s claim to fame has always been her business acumen. But as her profile grew, thanks to a cooperative media that needed a new story other than Trump or Carson, so did scrutiny of her stint as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard. The picture presented by the media of the rising political star soon became that of a failed corporate executive.

Without a new narrative to take its place, her political fortunes took a dramatic turn for the worse. The most recent polling has Fiorina in the middle of the Republican presidential pack, in the low single digits, along with second-tier candidates Kasich, Paul and Huckabee.

Another possible reason for Fiorina’s dramatic fall from grace among Republican voters could be the simple fact that she is a she. While Americans have become dramatically more willing to elect a female president over the last quarter-century, there still remains some reluctance, especially among Republicans, as YouGov found in March.

Whatever the reason(s) for her collapse, look for a feisty Fiorina to come out swinging among the field of seven men who will be looking to land some punches of their own.

Photo | huffingtonpost.com

Speaking at the National Religious Liberties Conference in Iowa last week, Republican presidential candidate, Sen.Ted Cruz, was quoted as saying, “ Any president who doesn’t begin every day on his knees isn’t fit to be the commander-in-chief of this country.”

The statement was made after right-wing pastor, Kevin Swanson, introduced Cruz to the stage and asked him how important it was for candidates to submit to Jesus Christ as “the king of the President of the United States.”

Wow! Exactly how, and when, did the Republican Party become the Party of God? When did Jesus become a Republican presidential candidate? The MSM completely missed that one!

Of course, Christian fundamentalism is a big part of Cruz’s appeal. Since being elected to the Senate in 2012, he has railed against “radicals and liberals” trying to strip religion out of the public sphere.

The problem for Cruz, Carson and some of the other “holy” panderers is that there just aren’t enough “religionists’ to ever elect one of them president. Thank God!

What I pray for everyday, Sen. Cruz, is for the day when someone like you is not seen as a viable candidate for the White House but one for the psych ward; when a candidate espousing views like yours is deemed mentally ill and automatically disqualified to hold public office.

I know that day is in the distant future, but a man can dream cant he? I’m guessing that day of the “New Enlightenment” is 100+ years away.

Like Martin Luther King Jr., I dream of the day when politicians will not be judged by their professed belief in a mythical sky creature but by the extent of their rational faculties.

Photo | Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

In a severe blow to his presidential bid, Gov. Chris Christie will not be one of the Republican presidential candidates taking part in next week’s debate hosted by Fox Financial Network. Christie failed to average 2.5% in the four most recent national polls used by the network to determine eligibility.

What a stunning reversal of fortune for the Republican once viewed in the same light as Hillary Clinton: a lock for their party’s presidential nomination. The New Jersey governor was arguable the most popular politician in the country not that long ago. Now he will be sitting at the kid’s table for the upcoming debate, along with Huckabee, Jindal, and Santorum.

Ironically, much of Christie’s fall can actually be traced to the liberal media. It was Rachel Maddow who picked up on a little known story about the closure of some lanes on the George Washington Bridge that eventually turned into a national scandal.

The closure of two of the three access lanes from Fort Lee to the Washington Bridge turned out to be political payback for the town’s Democrat mayor, Mark Sokolich, refusal to endorse Christie’s reelection bid for governor. Of course Christie, to this day, has denied involvement in the ordering of the lane closures and has basically thrown members of his staff under the bus.

But the damage was done. As more reporters picked up on the story, the American public learned what citizens of New Jersey knew all along: the man is a vindictive bully. Other New Jersey politicians started accusing Christie of misdeeds. The mayor of Hoboken, to name just one example, claimed that Christie’s office pressured her to approve a big development project represented by a Christie crony—or risk losing recovery aid for damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.

The “Bridgegate” scandal is ongoing. While one Christie associate, David Wildstein, pleaded guilty in May on two criminal counts, the federal trial of two other allies, Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni, is still pending. Originally scheduled for this past July, and then September, the trial has now been delayed to April 2016.

What has been most amazing about Christie’s presidential run is that he chose to seek the Republican nomination while still not out of the woods on “Bridgegate.” More people could face charges connected to the notorious Fort Lee traffic jam, including Christie himself.

Unlike the access lanes to the bridge, this scandal is far from closed.

Photo | huffingtonpost.com

All hell has broken loose between the Republican presidential campaigns and the Republican National Committee (RNC). A mutiny is afoot! It appears after this week’s presidential debate hosted by CNBC – a disorganized disaster widely panned by political observers – the candidates want to take control of the debate process going forward.

To a man (and woman), each candidate complained about the tough questions they were asked and the apparent bias of the CNBC moderators.

Sparked by Iowa front-runner Ben Carson and second-tier candidate, Bobby Jindal, a meeting will take place this Sunday in Washington D.C. among representatives of the various campaigns. Think “The Godfather” and the meeting of the “Five Families.” Most, if not all, campaigns will be represented at the meeting.

It appears there will be one notable player missing from the Sunday meeting, RNC chairman Reince Priebus. The campaign reps want to be left alone to plot how they will alter the party’s debate process without the entity responsible for scheduling and co-sponsoring each of the officially sanctioned debates!

So it will be the cranky children conducting their own meeting without any adult supervision.

Good luck with that!

While all the candidates may not like how some of the debates have been conducted so far, each campaign will come to the big meeting with it’s own set of wants and gripes. Some candidates have complained about unequal speaking time. Others have griped about how polling is used to determine who qualifies for the prime-time and undercard debates. Some have insisted on opening and closing statements.

You thought the last debate was a free-for-all?

There is one simple way to make the debates better and more meaningful. No, it is not to take Ted Cruz” suggestion of having the next debate moderated by Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. It is for the top-tier candidates to tell the wannabes within their ranks to exit stage door right, pronto … for the good of the party, of course. But that sensible idea might not go over well with New Jersey’s favorite bully,  Gov. Chris Christie. “If some unlucky accident were to befall Gov. Christie,” said campaign manager Luca Brasi, ” I am going to blame some people at that meeting.”

Photo | nytimes.com

I occasionally will watch Fox News. You know, to see how the Republican propaganda machine will spin the day’s news (OK, I like to gaze upon Fox’s foxy Megyn Kelly!).

Last night Megyn had a group of about 25-30 Republican voters she quizzed on their take of the third Republican presidential debate. The most interesting segment of her show came towards the end when she discussed a few of the “untruths” spouted by some of the candidates.

Marco Rubio was asked about his poor handling of his personal finances:

MODERATOR: Senator Rubio, you yourself have said that you’ve had issues. You have a lack of bookkeeping skills. You accidentally inter-mingled campaign money with your personal money. You faced foreclosure on a second home that you bought. And just last year, you liquidated a $68,000 retirement fund. That’s something that cost you thousands of dollars in taxes and penalties. In terms of all of that, it raises the question whether you have the maturity and wisdom to lead this $17 trillion economy. What do you say?

RUBIO: Well, you just – you just listed a litany of discredited attacks from Democrats and my political opponents, and I’m not gonna waste 60 seconds detailing them all.

Megyn told her panel, after some fact checking, it was determined that everything the moderator said about Rubio’s poor financial acumen was true.

So not only is Rubio a poor manager of his personal finances … he’s a bald-faced liar!

Megyn then asked her Republican panel members if any of this mattered to them. I believe two people raised their hands.

News outlets have a field day fact checking statements made by politicians after debates. It is very clear that facts, or lies, do not matter so much to your average Republican voter. How else could one explain the level of support for Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson (or the entire Republican field for that matter!).

Photo | salon.com

At a Houston gathering earlier this week, attended by Jeb Bush’s richest donors, the Bush brain trust huddled together to salvage the Bush family name and Jeb’s flagging presidential hopes. As has become clear to everyone in the Bush camp, Jeb, as a political candidate, is just not meeting the expectations of the Bush brand.

Both former presidents, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, attended the pow-wow organized to help breath life into Jeb’s once thriving presidential bid. But what all the Bushes and mega donors do not seem to understand… the brand is toxic. No amount of money spent on advertising will make a skunk smell like a rose.

What is so odd about trying to resuscitate the Bush brand is that at the start of his campaign, Jeb did all he could to run away from the family name. But that wise strategy didn’t last long. Before you could blink an eye, Jeb was praising his brother W. for his service as president, especially on his foreign policy. Not only did he claim on a debate stage that W. “kept us safe,” but also later doubled and tripled down on the absurd comment.

The Bush brand has come to be associated with the 9/11 attack, the Iraq invasion, Hurricane Katrina and the largest financial meltdown since the Great Depression. While it is true voters have a short memory, all the slick ads in the world will not dispel the disastrous associations with the Bush name.

On the other end of the Republican presidential spectrum, you have the front-runner, Donald Trump, and his own ubiquitous brand. But unlike the negative connotations of the Bush brand, the Trump name is associated with success, excitement, sincerity and being a winner. It is easy to see why Republican voters are shunning the Bush brand for that of Trump’s.

The candidate that once talked about being “his own man” has now fully embraced the family brand. Why Jeb and the campaign intelligentsia have done such a complete reversal from the original, sound campaign strategy is a mystery to all. It seems like a sign of desperation; a Hail Mary pass. It is abundantly clear to all but the group gathered in Houston that Jeb will not secure the Republican presidential nomination as long as he is wearing the same brand as one of the worst presidents in modern history … the Bush brand.

Photo | all-len-all.com

Here we go again! House Speaker John Boehner has announced the formation of another House Select Committee.  This one will “focus on the grisly practices of big abortion providers,” (wink, wink, Planned Parenthood). You have to hand it to House Republicans; they sure know how to waste time and money.

Pandering to their base through the use of taxpayer money, House Republicans are setting themselves up for another debacle akin to their Benghazi probe. It appears Jindal’s “party of stupid” just doesn’t learn. (The Party Of Stupid Just Can’t Help Itself)

Having had three other House committees investigate “abortion providers,” Boehner explained, “At my request, three House committees have been investigating the abortion business, but we still don’t have the full truth.” You have to give Boehner some credit. This new Select Committee was setup after only three prior investigations, unlike the Benghazi Select Committee that was setup after seven prior inquisitions.

The House committee will be lead by none other than Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican and fellow graduate of Batsh*t University along with Michelle Bachmann. It should be noted that she and her other seven committee appointees have 100 percent ratings from the National Right to Life Committee.

Like its Benghazi predecessor, Democrats have called the new committee just another overly politicized panel that wastes taxpayer dollars. Their hope is that this new exercise in futility will yield the same negative results for Republicans as the Hillary witch-hunt, otherwise known as the Benghazi investigation.

I cannot think of a better way to show the American public that Republicans are not engaged in a war on woman than to go after a health service provider that is more popular than the National Rifle Association, the Supreme Court, both political parties, every presidential candidate and President Barack Obama! (NBC News/ Wall Street Journal).

Pandering to an ever-shrinking base is no way to win elections.

To View / Post Comments

Photo | bulletintimesnews.com

Jeb Bush just cut his campaign payroll by 40 percent in order to spend more money on ads in the early primary states. According to Bush, this will allow his campaign to operate more “lean and mean” going forward. When asked if the changes signaled trouble for his presidential bid, he said, “It means I have the ability to adapt.”

Campaign officials have said they will be directing more resources into early voting states such as Iowa, South Carolina and, most importantly, New Hampshire. “We are moving our resources into the states to ensure that voters in primary states and caucus states are introduced to his record and vision of the future, “ Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell said.

Jeb and company may want to rethink their new campaign strategy. His campaign recently spent $5 million on ads in New Hampshire and his poll numbers increased by a paltry .03%. At that rate, Bush may need a few of Donald Trump’s billions to see any meaningful upward tick.

The Republican establishment is getting desperate. No one figured Donald Trump and Ben Carson would have the staying power that they’ve had. According to the most current New Hampshire poll (Bloomberg), Bush is in third place (10%) behind Trump (24%) and Carson (17%).

What Bush’s backers are refusing to see (or admit) is that Republican primary voters do not need to be “introduced” to Jeb and his “vision of the future.” They simply do not want him as their candidate.

With all the early money behind him, Jeb has proven himself to be a poor candidate (excuse the pun). It has been one continuous string of gaffes for the bumbling candidate. But most importantly, he is being weighed down by an anchor around his neck that cannot be removed. It is his family name.

It is only a matter of time before Jeb’s generous donors see the writing on the wall. Oh, how Mama Bush was right! (What’s Wrong With Jeb!)

To View / Post Comments

Photo | adweek.com

After 17 months of investigating and over $4.5 million spent, it’s finally show time! So get out your popcorn, boys and girls, this should be a doozy!

Tomorrow, Hillary Clinton will give her much anticipated testimony to the House Select Committee on Benghazi. The stakes couldn’t be higher for the former Secretary of State and leading Democratic presidential candidate. Coming off her commanding performance in the first Democratic presidential debate, a similar achievement at the hearing could all but nail down the Democratic nomination … and finally convince Joe Biden to stop teasing the American public about a presidential bid.

For Rep. Trey Gowdy, committee chairman, it’s a make or break moment. After House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said what everyone including your aunt Mary suspected, namely that the Benghazi hearing was a setup to bring down Clinton, Gowdy understands that the hearing can either revive the committee’s credibility or see it more widely discredited.

My money is on Hillary coming out smelling like a rose. Gowdy, the boyish-looking former prosecutor and three term South Carolina Republican, and his committee members, will be playing JV to Clinton’s varsity. With Democrats, and even some Republicans, labeling the House Benghazi investigation a “witch hunt,” expect Hillary to play the aggrieved victim like the pro that she is.

It should be noted that Gowdy had offered Clinton to come in for a private interview. But Clinton, with her extensive experience testifying in front of committees, seems confident the hearing will devolve into a circus, showing the American public the Benghazi committee is nothing more than a “partisan charade.”

My guess is Clinton will give Gowdy a buzz cut even shorter than the one he sports.

Oh, I forgot to mention… the spectacle will be televised on C-Span. Talk about must see TV!

Photo | deadlinedetroit.com

I am old enough to remember when being educated was considered a desirable thing. Believe it or not, there was a time when words had meaning and facts mattered. Oh, those were the days!

In seventh grade social studies, I remember learning about different types of world political and economic systems. We were taught the differences between capitalism, socialism and communism.

Donald Trump, the leading Republican presidential candidate, recently called Democratic candidate, Bernie Sanders, a “socialist-slash-communist.” Now I know that can’t be true; that those labels have different meanings; that Sanders is not a communist. But it doesn’t seem to matter. The Republican base that Trump is pandering too just loves it! The moniker has two scary words side by side!

To Bernie’s credit, he calls himself a democratic socialist.

“What democratic socialism means to me,” Sanders said during a recent speech in New Hampshire, “is having a government which represents all people, rather than just the wealthiest people, which is most often the case right now in this country.”

Bernie Sanders believes “democratic socialism” is just an extension of the New Deal and the Great Society, both of which defined the Democratic Party in the 20th century.

But can any candidate in the United States win an election with the word “socialist” attached to their name? Or was Bill Maher right when he told Sanders on his cable show, “They hear ‘socialist,’ and they think ‘herpes,’ Bernie.”

In a recent Gallup poll, Americans say they are more likely to support an atheist than a socialist for president next year. Just 47 percent of Americans would vote for a socialist if their party nominated one, while 50 percent said they would not, while 58 percent said they would have no problem voting for an atheist in their party.

Bernie Sanders is not a communist nor a true socialist, as Trump has accused him of being. But perhaps Bernie needs to lay off the socialist label, even if he tones it down with the “democratic” modifier. He may be overestimating the average voter’s knowledge of different political systems and underestimating their gut hatred of the dreaded “s” word.

Bill Maher could be right. No one likes herpes. And very few Americans know the differences between socialism, capitalism and communism anyway!