CHARLES PRITCHARD
Staff Writer
Spring is in the air.
The weather is growing warmer, the birds are returning home and the race for the 2016 presidential election is in full swing.
The promises that politicians make around this time let the farmers know when to plant the crops.
Speculations outnumber actual declarations, as both Democrats and Republicans eagerly await the perfect candidate to announce their bid for the presidential race. At the moment, Republican Senator Ted Cruz, Republican Senator Rand Paul and Republican Senator Marco Rubio have announced their campaigns for presidency, with Cruz doing so over Twitter.
“I’m running for president, and I hope to earn your support!” he declared over social media.
Cruz has made all manner of preparations for his campaign trail, from the usual speeches to renouncing his Canadian dual citizenship to show that he is serious.
Paul, son to Ron Paul, has also taken the social media route and has posted his announcement to run on YouTube, along with a speech on how he is “running for president to return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government.”
Rubio, on the other hand, announced his intent to run to his financial donors over breakfast, noting how he strives to bring back the “American Dream.”
And while the Republican Party has come out strong in the beginning, as of the publication of this article, Hillary Clinton has been the only Democrat to announce her intentions to race for the presidency.
There are, however, quite a few possible bids.
Vice President Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Jim Webb and even governor of New York Andrew Cuomo are all possible presidential candidates for 2016, as reported by the New York Times and Politics1.com.
Their strongest name, Clinton, has had multiple scandals follow her, stemming from Benghazi and her emails.
The Gallup polls are reporting a 50 percent favorable rating and a 39 percent unfavorable rating for the presidential hopeful.
Meanwhile, Biden sits with an even 39 percent favorable/unfavorable rating each, as reported by Gallup, with 11 percent undecided.
Republicans aren’t exactly doing the best either, with Cruz having a 22 percent favorable rating and 28 percent unfavorable rating, as reported by Gallup Polls, but also having 50 percent undecided.
There’s no way to tell who else is going to declare their presidency bid at the moment, and all that is left is to speculate, keep an eye on the people more than likely to run and put them under a microscope.
Biden is remembered for such stellar statements such as this during an interview for CBS: “When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’”
He seemed to have forgotten that TV sets weren’t in use at the time, or that FDR wasn’t the president when the stock market initially crashed.
This goes along with asking Missouri State Senator Chuck Graham, who is wheelchair bound, to stand up.
Clinton’s aforementioned history will definitely come back to haunt her, as much as her husband’s history will. Nonetheless, she’s in the race now, and has all sorts of problems to face come November, like telling Politifact back in 2014 that she and Bill were “dead broke and in debt” when they left the White House.
And Hillary’s biggest asset, Bill, could turn into her biggest issue if the media sees fit to drag the Monica Lewinsky scandal back into the light.
Meanwhile, Cruz isn’t excused from the same problem that Biden is subjected to, and that’s what he’s gone on record saying: “…Net Neutrality is Obamacare for the internet.”
Cruz even goes on to bash climate change, and that might just cost him the race if he isn’t careful of what he says.
This could actually be the big lesson that all politicians should learn: think before you speak.
The internet never forgets a thing, and if you slip up, it is going to be documented forever.
Few might remember how bad the BP oil spill was, but thanks to the internet, everyone can remember how Paul criticized Obama for attacking BP and calling it ‘Un-American,’ actually defending the oil company.
Politicians are under a great deal of scrutiny in the information age, and it’s up to the American people to put them under even more scrutiny when they announce that they wish to lead the United States come November.
Voters should keep this in mind this coming election.