BloggeRhythms

While the three frontrunners in the Republican race for POTUS have literally no hands-on governing experience, people who really know what they’re talking about are finally stepping up in support of a seasoned leader. Tom Ridge, who was the 43rd governor of Pennsylvania and first Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, posted an open letter on Friday, supporting Jeb Bush.  

Most important about Governor Ridge’s release is that it lists and defines Jeb’s accomplishment's in office, while the top contenders can offer nothing but personal slights against each other. Continually spouting ridiculous promises any of them would come into the presidential office having not a shred of accomplishment in any governing endeavor among them. 

  

The governor began his rationale by writing: “As former governors, we are endorsing Governor Jeb Bush because he stands head and shoulders above the rest of the field in terms of having a proven record of delivering conservative reforms that empowered people to improve their quality of life. In Florida, Jeb set the gold standard that many of us looked to when bringing about conservative change in our states. Conservative columnist, George Will, declared earlier this year that Jeb Bush was the most consequential big state governor since Ronald Reagan. Will is right.” 

Then Ridge listed specific accomplishments: “During Jeb’s governorship, Florida earned a AAA bond rating upgrade, saving taxpayers significant money. He cut taxes by $19 billion, balanced eight budgets, shrank state government by 11 percent and accumulated nearly $10 billion of budget reserves, protecting Florida from rainy day situations. 

“Governor Bush’s leadership on the economy was also stellar. During his administration, Florida became the national leader in job creation and small business creation as 1.3 million new jobs were created and middle class incomes rose by $1,300. 

“Jeb also made Florida the national model for conservative education reform. He beat the teachers union to enact three statewide voucher programs and to nearly triple the number of charter schools in the state. Jeb focused on high standards for student learning and held educators accountable, driving significant improvements in student achievement that are illustrated by the fact that the high school graduation rate in Florida has increased by nearly 50 percent since the Bush school reforms were enacted. 

“Most importantly, Jeb is a strong leader with a steady hand who is ready to be Commander-in-Chief and keep our homeland safe. Jeb has been endorsed by 12 Medal of Honor recipients and more than 40 retired admirals and generals because he is a crisis leader who has been tested time and again. From 2004-2005, Florida was hit by eight major hurricanes and four tropical storms. Governor Bush led an unprecedented response and recovery effort that brought his state together and contributed to him leaving office with a 67 percent job approval rating.” 

And then, Governor Ridge delivered as undeniable closer, making the most important point of all: “Governors are different than Senators in one key way. We are held accountable for delivering results and cannot get away with offering amendments, issuing press releases and declaring victory.” 

13 other governors signed in support: Bob Riley, Alabama, Jock McKernan, Maine, Lincoln Almond, Rhode Island, Jim Edgar, Illinois, Mike Johanns, Nebraska, Fife Symington, Arizona, Judd Gregg, New Hampshire, Luis Fortuno, Puerto Rico, Sonny Perdue, Georgia, Bill Owens, Colorado, Frank Keating, Oklahoma, Jane Swift, Massachusetts, and Tommy Thompson, Wisconsin. 

On another topic reflecting presidential character, Sarah Wheaton and Eliza Collins @politico.com, write about the POTUS deciding not to attend the funeral of Supreme Court Justice, Anton Scalia, as follows:

“President Barack Obama is preparing for a fierce battle with the Senate over the Supreme Court vacancy, but he’s not planning to attend Justice Antonin Scalia’s funeral — a decision that puzzled even some of his allies and incensed conservative media.” 

Thus, instead of taking an extremely sad, but nonetheless highly visible opportunity, to display togetherness when tragedy occurs, the POTUS continues to play politics instead. As usual. 

Even his own former "car czar" Steven Rattner tweeted with a link to a headline about Obama skipping the funeral: “If we want to reduce partisanship, we can start by honoring great public servants who we disagree with." 

However, at this point, with his term nearly over, the POTUS’s small-mindedness isn’t going to bother anyone very much. Even this story had to be searched for, because no major media ran it as important news.

Bringing us to today’s update on Bill Clinton’s wife.

FoxNews.com reports: “The State Department released more than 500 new documents from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email account Friday,  including 64 that contained classified information.

“The 562 new documents posted online totaled 1,116 pages of emails. The latest public release brought the total number of pages released to 46,946, or about 85 percent of the 55,000 pages originally surrendered by Clinton. 

“Friday’s release brought the total number of public Clinton emails containing classified information to 1,731.” 

So, as the evidence continues to mount, the FBI must certainly be building an even stronger case regarding Bill’s wife’s eventually facing charges for her conduct. Which is why the next item has significant importance.   

Carol E. Lee @blogs.wsj.com via Drudge, report about recent comments from Joe Biden. 

“I am surprised,” Mr. Biden said of the tone of the Clinton and Sanders campaigns. Mr. Biden made the comments in an interview with Politico and the Washington Post. 

“I think both Hillary and Bernie are basically on the same page, with different emphasis, on college, Wall Street, the 1%, civil rights, etcetera,” he said. “What I don’t think they’re spending enough time doing is pushing back on the story line that what we did to get us to this point was a failure and a mistake.” 

“As to why the campaigns are taking a downbeat tone, Mr. Biden said: “The only thing I can figure is, they both have large campaign organizations, with a lot of smart people that are probably politically smarter than I am. They must say there’s no way to sell a positive message.” 

So, in a non-confrontational manner, Biden has kept his hand in the race from the outside. Indicating on one hand what he finds fault with from both Democrat candidates in their campaigning, while presenting what he would stress if he were a candidate himself. 

And what that suggests is, that he senses one or both contenders are vulnerable enough that he might be the one to play “savior,” if and when that occurs. 

Bringing up the ongoing question: Mayor Bloomberg, Jerry Brown, and Starbuck’s chairman and CEO, Howard Schultz, are you guys reading this?   

That’s it for today folks.   

Adios