{"id":1730,"date":"2016-02-11T19:42:24","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T01:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/?p=1730"},"modified":"2016-03-14T18:30:53","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T23:30:53","slug":"an-exceedingly-strange-presidential-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/an-exceedingly-strange-presidential-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"An Exceedingly Strange Presidential Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

Print this entry<\/a><\/p>

The Onion<\/em>, a satirical magazine and website, frequently contains \u201cstories\u201d that are simply hilarious. The day after the New Hampshire primary, it published a Photoshopped image of a dejected Jeb Bush sitting on the ground, his back against a mud-spattered concrete block wall. The headline: \u201cDemoralized Jeb Bush Succumbs to New Hampshire Heroin Epidemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The headline cracked me up before I even got to the story. The lede (that\u2019s how we newspaper folks spell it): Plunging into a downward spiral of despair and self-doubt after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses, a demoralized Jeb Bush reportedly succumbed this week to New Hampshire\u2019s ongoing heroin epidemic.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you have never partaken of the Onion<\/em> and need a laugh or three, visit the onion.com. Today\u2019s top story: \u201cObama Resigns from Presidency After Michelle Lands Dream Job in Seattle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, I know at least a few you reading that wish it were true. Just remember two words: Joe Biden. Actually, I like Joe Biden. He has handled great tragedies in his life with grace and courage. I\u2019m just reminding those who want Obama gone that good ol\u2019 Joe would succeed him.<\/p>\n

At one debate, Chris Christie (who dropped out the day after New Hampshire) bizarrely claimed he was going to kick Obama out of the White House. No, the 22nd<\/sup> amendment to the Constitution will handle that quite nicely. As of Jan. 20, 2017, no matter who is elected, he will be former<\/em> President Obama. Christie\u2019s statement was one of the dumbest of a campaign filled with outrageous assertions.<\/p>\n

To say that this has been a strange presidential campaign so far is as understated as noting that Donald Trump has the World\u2019s Largest Comb-Over. He does, hands down. He also won the Republican primary rather decisively in my native state, noted for its cantankerous and unpredictable citizens. I know. I am related to a few of them \u2014 aunts, uncles and cousins. I have no need to know which candidate won their favor Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

My late mother was famously cantankerous, downright ornery at times. I say that with love and wish she were still around to give me her two cents about this election. She was an atypical Granite Stater in that she would flat tell you her opinion. I suspect she would think Trump was a do-do brain, a favorite expression. She probably would not like Hillary either, just because she has been the heavy favorite from the get-go. She might have gone for Bernie Sanders, the first Jewish person to win a presidential primary. I am also betting that he is the first Democratic Socialist to win a primary as well.<\/p>\n

Bernie\u2019s convincing win over Hillary did not surprise me. Nor did Trump\u2019s victory. As I said, New Hampshire residents by and large are a contrary lot. Many times they have confounded the establishment pols. They propelled Jimmy Carter into the top tier over better-known candidates in 1976. Bill Clinton finished a surprising second in 1992, salvaging a campaign marred by sex scandals. Obama finished a close second to Hillary in 2008, breathing oxygen into his race. On the Republican side, Pat Buchanan beat Bob Dole in 1996, though Dole ended up as the nominee.<\/p>\n

Like Iowa, New Hampshire\u2019s electorate does not reflect what most of America looks like. The state is 94 percent white, according to the Census. Its median household income at nearly $65,000 is nearly 20 percent higher than the national average. And well, they live in New Hampshire, where Manchester with 110,000 is the largest city, and the capital, Concord (in whose hospital I was born), is a little larger than Lufkin at 42,000. The entire state\u2019s population is less than the Austin metro area. People who live in New Hampshire take great pride in having the first true presidential contest in the nation. (Sorry, Iowa\u2019s caucus strikes me as lame. Just vote, for goodness\u2019 sake.)<\/p>\n

I take pride in it as well, and have made a vow to physically be present at the next primary, probably 10 days in advance. I want to roam my native state, to which I try to return every August, be a fly on the wall as candidates vie for attention among an electorate more uniquely attuned to retail politics than anywhere in the country. After all, the state legislature, called the General Court of New Hampshire, has 400 members in the House and another 24 in the Senate. That is one rep for every 3,500 residents. You can\u2019t go to the state-run liquor store \u2014 another quirk \u2014 without running into a legislator. Unfortunately, it is doubtful the 2020 primary will be as interesting as this one. Wish I had planned ahead.<\/p>\n

Like most pundits, I figure Trump is going to flame out and this was his moment of glory. I am not so sure about Bernie. The one thing The Donald and Bernie have in common is an interesting way of saying yuge<\/em>, which in the rest of the country is pronounced with an \u201ch\u201d sound.<\/p>\n

I have a 1975 N.H. license plate on my study\u2019s mantle, which I bought at a yard sale in Concord a few decades ago. It sports the state\u2019s \u201cLive Free or Die\u201d slogan. I have always loved that slogan, even though it has been co-opted by wacko survivalist-types and white supremacists.<\/p>\n

I guess it\u2019s because I am from New Hampshire, and inherited some of my mother\u2019s cantankerousness. And, no, I am not going to tell you how I plan to vote in the Texas primary.<\/p>\n

Print this entry<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Print this entryThe Onion, a satirical magazine and website, frequently contains \u201cstories\u201d that are simply hilarious. The day after the New Hampshire primary, it published a Photoshopped image of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[51,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-51","category-columns"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1730"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1732,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1730\/revisions\/1732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}