As for Trump, first, understanding the basics. This comment of his indicates to me, he doesn't understand the basic power structure and what's at stake:
"Maybe let Russia do it. Let them get rid of ISIS. What the hell do we care?"He doesn't get what Russia's presence in Syria means now, what's really going on.
So, that's one example of why he gets my thumb down as far as understanding the basics.
The second criteria is choosing the right advisers/team. Trump thought Hillary would be a good choice to negotiate with Iran.
Strike one.
Strike two is his judgement of Obama's advisers one year in to his term:
He has also surrounded himself with very competent people, and thats the mark of a strong leader. I have confidence he will do his best, and we have someone who is serious about resolving the problems we have and will be facing in the future.So, on the understanding the basics and judgement and picking the right advisors.. I rule Trump out.And I'm not sure that I'd rate his multi-national business experience as highly as others. I do think this is a plus for Fiorina, but I'm not sure Trump's experience is up to this level??
- Donald Trump "Think Like A Champion" 2009
And, I'm guessing we agree about Paul. :)
“Maybe let Russia do it. Let them get rid of ISIS. What the hell do we care?”
I think he probably gets it but knows there is not much we can do about it. I do not see accepting reality on the ground as a bad thing but it gets back to the original question, what to do about it short of fighting Russia? I have not heard a lot of ideas from any of the candidates so far.
Lots of people said nice things about Obama when he first got elected. Obviously many people at that time agreed with what Trump said as I seem to recall that Obama had very high approval for the first couple of years or so of his Presidency. I think that is one of the reasons the DC Republicans are still afraid to go after him. It is what people started saying once he showed himself to be a disaster that matters. McConnell, Boner and other DC republicans are still bending over backwards to work with Obama. The only one running who has really tried to stop him is Cruz. What have any of the other candidates in a position to stop Obama done?