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Potpourri of Candidates Lining Up for 2016 Oval Office Run


Whitehouse.jpgIt's show time on the American political stage. Candidates are rushing to show their best faces to voters weighing their ballot decisions on the Nov. 8, 2016 Presidential election. From where this columnist sits, however, the decision won't be mind-numbing.
 
After all the votes are counted (including the hinky-dink controversial ballots usually associated with Florida voters), Hillary Rodham Clinton, at 67, will become the 45th president of the United States and the first female to hold that office in 240 years.
 
Although she doesn't look presidential and doesn't speak presidential, the women of this country will not lose this opportunity again to bring her into the Oval Office. The former Secretary of State (2009--2013) went for the brass ring in 2008 but lost to 43-year-old President Barack Obama.  Her time was not then.  It is now.
 
She and her ace advisor, 68-year-old husband Bill Clinton (President 1993 - 2001), have 19 months to prepare winning strategies. They have another prime coach in John Podesta, a name familiar to only few American voters. Podesta and his team steered the Obama campaign to victories in 2008 and 2012.  He will do it again for the Clintons in 2016.
 
Looking just as less presidential as Hillary Clinton are a carload of candidates from both parties. Some have already dropped out. Others are still making up their minds.
 
There is no doubt Hillary Clinton will be the presidential nomination from the Democratic Party and Jeb Bush will share the same honor from the Republican Party, besting fellow Spanish-speaking Senator Marco Rubio. But there, comparisons end.  Clinton will beat Bush, governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007.
 
DEMOCRATS
 

Hillary Clinton
After Hillary, the Democratic bench of big hitters is slim. Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb (2007 - 2013) has the credentials but not the name, money or following.
 
Martin O'Malley, governor of Maryland from 2007 to Jan. 21, 2015, is not high on the list of nominee possibilities.
 
Former Rhode Island governor and Sen. Lincoln Chafee is a former moderate Republican and Independent. He is still thinking about running. He won't make it.
 
Other Democrats whose names were once on the Maybe List include Joe Biden, U.S. vice president, 2009 to present. Biden's often folksy approach to issues might have given him a start in the coming presidential horse race, but he now says even the $400,000 presidential salary plus a $50,000 tax-exempt living allowance isn't enticing enough. Biden makes $230,700 plus a $10,000 tax-exempt living allowance.
 
Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Senator since 2013, is one of the most knowledgeable officials on the Hill, but she, too, like Biden, is bowing out.
 
Still around, however is Sen., Bernie Sanders, representing Vermont since 2007. He is a lightweight.
 
REPUBLICANS
 

Governor Jeb Bush

On the Republican side, Rubio, a Florida Senator since 2011, is capturing headlines currently. But he won't make it against Bush's moneymen.
 
Ted Cruz of Kentucky, also a Senator since 2011, is showing a lot of energy but little else to stir the voting crowd.
 
Rand Paul, another Kentucky Senator since 2011, is appealing to the country's working class, whatever class that appears to be at the moment. But Paul, like many of his colleagues, doesn't have the green stuff or the name recognition yet to be considered a serious challenger.
 
Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to present, is a favorite with several big-name donors but not a favorite enough to best Bush or even Rubio for the nomination.
 
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, in office since 2010, once was considered a shoo-in for the GOP presidential nomination but the shine has gone from his pedestal.
 
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, that perennial presidential candidate, isn't getting anyone's serious attention.
 
Rick Santorum, governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007, could have been a serious candidate at one time but his gloss, too, has faded.
 

Senator Marco Rubio

And then there is Rick Perry, Texas governor from 2000 to 2015.  He stirs up a lot of wind but little substance.
 
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, the first Indian-American elected as governor in the U.S., is in the running but he, too, won't be able to come up with the millions that this campaign is expected to cost each candidate.
 
Carly Fiorina, a big name in big business circles, might have been a serious candidate had Hillary Clinton not been around. Fiorina was chairwoman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005.
 
Ben Carson, a retired Detroit, MI pediatric neurosurgeon, is still in the race but fairly far back.
 
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham could look and talk presidential but he will need to step up his campaign by a thousand lengths.
 
NOT RUNNING
 
Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts and also a perennial presidential candidate, says enough is enough.
 
Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan, currently chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, also has decided the race is not for him at this time.
 
Don't forget John Kasich, governor of Ohio from 2011 to the present. He is almost always in the running but this time he is stepping aside - with his usual fuzzy explanation.
 
And there you have it. The starting lineup at this date and time for the 2016 Presidential Election.
 
I have a dream.  I dream each night of owning one television station anywhere in this country's 50 states. I wake up on the morning of Nov. 8, 2016 with a bank deposit ticket in my mail box. The ticket shows a million dollars.
 
But that's just a trickle of the expected $10 billion in all media expenses the candidates are expected to drop over the next 19 months.  I can dream, can't I?
 
And that's the way it is at this moment.

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