What disturbs me at this point in the campaigns, though, is the fact that most people are now focusing on numbers and 'nominatability' ... while what should still be the primary issue in the election (i.e., the character, courage, consistency of conviction, vision, integrity and honesty of the candidates) has fallen by the wayside.
I spent this morning in Hershey, PA listening to among the most passionate speeches I have ever heard, delivered by a man who is the first man to come along in almost thirty years who may prove fully capable of filling Ronald Reagan’s shoes. And I spent this evening in Lebanon, PA at a meet and greet with Carly Fiorina, one of the most principled women in America today, entirely devoted to the restoration of the American vision, and unwilling to line up behind those who prefer to base their political endorsements on either empty promises or the bandwagon effect.
Then I came home tonight only to hear the dichotomy from the front-runner: snippets of the typical Trump whining, boasting, name-calling, character assassination, and superficial 'policy' enumeration on tonight's news, and I couldn't help but become even more determined to do my (admittedly small) part to see to it that those in whose presence I was privileged to be today prevail.
I have been campaigning for Ted Cruz here in Pennsylvania for almost four weeks now, and intend to continue to do so until next Tuesday’s primary. No, I harbor no pie-in-the-sky belief that Ted will win the popular vote in the Pennsylvania primary, but I believe he will garner a respectable number of Pennsylvania delegates through a combination of faithful, well-organized grassroots support, honest and tireless campaigning, a knowledge of and willingness to abide by, and work hard within the boundaries of, the primary rules established by each individual state, and a genuine love of, and dedication to, the U.S. Constitution and our Founders’ vision.
To know that running a campaign in that well-organized and completely upright manner has been fiercely and viciously denigrated by Donald Trump is infuriating to me.
Ted Cruz understood the existing ground rules going into this election cycle, set up an organization whose roots were in existence even before he announced his candidacy, and has run an absolutely brilliant campaign, within the prescribed rules, and by exhibiting an organizational ability that completely eclipses that shown by his 'brilliant businessman' opponent.
And yet Trump chooses to crucify an opponent who decides to play by the rules and run an honest campaign, while attempting to self-righteously elevate himself ... a man who knew those rules full well from the word go and, rather than expend the time, energy and research needed to win under them, chose to do nothing more than benefit from them, when he could (and he did, quite often), and whine about them, when they did not work to his advantage.
If Ted is successful in winning the republican nomination (presumably on the second or third ballot in Cleveland), those with whom I have been working here in Pennsylvania will redouble our efforts in looking ahead to November. If he is not successful in his bid for the nomination, we will simply re-group and search our hearts for how best to proceed in doing what we can to see to it that Hillary Clinton never takes up residence in the White House.
An aside: Donald Trump won sixty percent of the popular vote in New York yesterday, yet took home ninety-five percent of the delegates. I have not been able to listen as much of the news as I would have liked to today. Please fill me in on how vehemently he was tearing apart the ‘undemocratic’ primary process in New York, in that the percentage of delegates he won was a full fifty-plus percent more than the percentage of the popular vote that he won. He had to be screaming about the ‘rigged, 100% crooked’ unfairness, right?
Brava, Joanie. Thank you for your thoughtful, well-written perspective - and for getting on the ground and backing up your beliefs and convictions.