Friday, October 7, 2016

Trump Comments on Women

Donald Trump...we knew what we were getting when we selected him as our nominee.  Republicans as a whole deserve this.  That being said, let me clue the world in on a few things.

In the locker room, when there are no women around, men speak differently.  I'm certain that women speak differently when there are no men around, although I'm not certain of the language.  You all know what I am talking about.  If you do not, then consider yourself lucky.  However, Donald Trump's remarks go beyond either disgusting locker room talk.  Sure, its the same language, but is it not the same type of talk.  He justifies abuse and adultery.  Most locker room talk never goes to that level.

He is giving advice on one of the advantages to being a celebrity when it comes to taking advantage of the opposite sex.  This is a privilege accorded to so few outside of the world of celebrities.  As bad as they are, I would like to find some male who has not made similar remarks outside of the rich and famous who would get a away with comments like that.  Remember what we all thought of Bill Cosby a few years ago?  We simply don't know how those who are on the public pedestal talk like when they are in the locker room.  I'm not shocked by what I heard, just disgusted.

I do not wish to excuse Donald Trump, nor do I wish to endorse him.  Vote for the person who you feel represents you the best, even if it leads to Hillary Clinton winning by a landslide...which it will as long as Trump remains in the race.  I am calling for the presidential election process to be reformed to prevent someone like Donald Trump, who knows how to manipulate the media to his advantage, from ever again becoming a major party nominee.

First and foremost, we need more faith in conventions.  For the most part, the convention delegates have put in time and effort it takes to produce an acceptable nominee.  Today the delegates are called on to rubber stamp what has been produced in the primaries.

Second, we put way too much stalk in the early primaries.  Iowa and New Hampshire shouldn't be the states that narrow down the field.  Between the two, there are only 10 electoral votes.  I think we can have the primaries take place nationally, or have a calendar reduced to 4-12 weeks.  Try this out for a primary schedule:

Week 1: States with 4 or fewer electoral votes: Alaska, DC, Delaware, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

Week 2: States with 5 to 7 electoral votes: Nebraska, New Mexico, West Virginia, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Nevada, Utah, Connecticut, Oklahoma and Oregon.

Week 3: States with 8 to 12 electoral votes: Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Colorado, South Carolina, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Washington.

Week 4: States with more than 13 electoral votes: Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, New York, Texas and California.

Third, no winner take all primaries.

Fourth, end the "Utah" rule.  The Utah rules states that if the candidate that the state's delegates are pledged to is no longer in the race, the state's delegates will go to the candidate with the most votes.  It should be that if the candidates that the state's delegates are pledged to is no longer in the race, the delegates are free to vote their conscious.

Fifth, suspending the campaign is not dropping out.  If a candidate suspends the campaign, they are still an active candidate at the convention.  The only way their campaign ends is if they drop from the race.

If someone is so totally awesome that they get to the convention as the sole candidate, the convention can be a coronation.  Otherwise, the delegates will have the final say.  Remember that Donald Trump won 60% of the delegates with only 40% of the votes.  With these rules, likely there would have been four or five active candidates going into the convention.  Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich and possibly either Jeb Bush or Ben Carson.  In the end, we may have ended up with either Marco Rubio or John Kasich as the final GOP nominee.