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FOR SUBSCRIBERS | DECEMBER 8, 2023

(Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

 

Our Elections: Too Long, Too Expensive, Too … Corrupt?

 

I watched the fourth Republican Primary Debate Wednesday, in part because it’s my job—I was supposed to comment the following morning on NTD—and partly because since I’ve come this far with it, well, I might as well keep going to the end.

 

And I will.

 

But I have to say I didn’t learn anything new about the candidates I hadn’t known for some time, and I suspect many, if not most, people who bothered to view it felt much the same.

 

In the words of the great Yogi Berra, it was déja vu all over again, only in this case, we could say it four times for the number of debates—though in the last instance, with there being fewer candidates, they had even more time to repeat themselves.

 

And they did.

 

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie again accused former President Donald Trump of being a dictatorial bully while acting like one himself (and, possibly deliberately, echoing the latest talking points against the former president in The New York Times and The Washington Post.)

 

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy espoused many terrific ideas with which many of us concur and then couldn’t stop himself from going over the top in his ad hominem attacks and seeming distinctly un-presidential. (This is a shame, since I personally really liked the guy when I interviewed him.)

 

Ron DeSantis reminded us for the nth time of what a good governor he was in Florida. And that he was the only veteran running and… and… and.

 

Nikki Haley disputed whether he was that good a governor and said the others were jealous of her (not so spectacular) rise in the polls.

 

And, needless to say, as former candidate and talk show host Larry Elder said on X, President Trump, who again stayed away, won handily.

 

Personally, I missed Doug Burgum, who just bowed out and whom I recently interviewed for our Presidential Roller Coaster series. The North Dakota governor seemed more level-headed and—I’m surprised to be saying this, but I am—more presidential than the others.

 

But no matter. There are more important takeaways.

 

One is the overweening conundrum of what exactly being the best debater has to do with how good a president the candidate would be?

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While we put a great deal of weight on their debate performances, I’m not certain it tells us all that much about what they would be like in office. There may be better ways to find out what a candidate really thinks than the hurly-burly of debate when the aim is to score points against your opponent.

 

One-on-one interviews and their speeches could tell us more, even position papers, not to mention their records.

 

Of course we all love those famous zingers like “I knew Jack Kennedy and you, sir, are no Jack Kennedy” from then-Democratic VP candidate Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, or President Ronald Reagan’s quip about Sen. Walter Mondale that he “wouldn’t hold his opponent’s youth against him.”

 

But they were just that—zingers. (They did show President Reagan had a good sense of humor.)

 

More crucially, given the extraordinary expense of our elections at all levels, but especially the presidential, we have reached the point when, ironically, we are more likely to trust a candidate who is staggeringly rich, and therefore able to self-finance, at least to some extent.

 

Others become suspect for being more under the influence of their financiers, PACs, and so forth.

 

This was on display Wednesday night through mutual accusations of corruption being hurled back and forth between Ms. Haley and Mr. DeSantis and then Mr. Ramaswamy going full monty by holding up a handwritten sign saying “NIKKI=CORRUPT.”

 

Needless to say, both Ms. Haley and Mr. DeSantis assured us that they were their own person and the fat cats behind their campaigns would never influence their decisions.

 

Is this possible? Sure, I guess, but it’s clear our country, by making our seemingly endless elections unbelievably expensive, has put itself—all of us, really—in a position that gives wealthy and often covert entities, corporate and otherwise, more power than ever. (Mr. Ramaswamy wrote about this in his book “WOKE, inc.”)

 

I could say, then, that it’s all bread and circus, but there is good news: A large part of the public—including many readers here, I am certain—sees through this. They have their eyes open.

 

In part—possibly in large part—this may account for the continued popularity of President Trump. We recognize that he is not bought.

 

That’s it for now. Hannukah is early this year, starting the evening of Dec. 7, just a couple of hours from now.

 

To my Jewish readers, “Chag Sameach!” To my Christian readers, “Merry Christmas!” I’ll wish it to you again in a later newsletter.

 

Too bad, for reasons that were beyond my control, my new book “American Refugees” is not ready for the holiday season. It will be published Jan. 9. But you can still pre-order it for a cold winter night. It does have some humor in it. I can’t write without.

From the email:

 

Susan Jordan: “In this time of persecution now more than anytime is for the children of God to Stand and Deny the evil its presence before us. Eschewing our Faith in some sort of hope of appeasement with the world at large would be to me a denial of the original Word. We are in a spiritual war and being tested daily, the evil only appears to be overwhelming. Steady and Faithful we remain and watch them fall. Put on the Armor of God should be our mission without question."

 

Sandy: "I live in a senior community which is mostly Christian and has many Christmas trees and one former resident added a Menorah for her relatives and anyone else of Jewish faith. It continues to be lit even though that resident is no longer here."

 

Anita Fishbein: "Of course… you can run but you cannot hide from the insidiousness of the ‘progressives’ in our midst. I feel very sorry for the callousness with which yur Chabad Rabbi has been treated. You would have thought Nashville, of all places, would be above this pettiness, especially since more and more folks are clamoring to live there. Perhaps you could get rid of this mayor!!!"

 

John Burke: “I am a retired professor of Germanand Balkan history. I am furious with ‘Woke’ professors who twist history and silence those who seek the truth. As a professor, I knew many Jews and respected them. As a Christian, I stand with the Jews against Hamas and all terrorist organizations. Terrorists wish to destroy Jews, Christians, and Western Civilization.

 

Many years ago, I attended the Goethe Institute in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. On one occasion I found myself facing off with three large, young German thugs in an apple orchard. They had been throwing large, green apples at me, my wife, and two other American students (a Rabbi and his wife). Being a foolish ex-paratrooper, I chased them down. I was surprised to find the Rabbi right next to me. I did not expect him to do that—but I was grateful. Two against three was too much for the thugs and they ran off.

 

The three thugs were not terrorists, but they would have fit right in with the 1930s Brownshirts."

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