Mirsky: Candidates for President 2020: The Center Must Hold

Exeter, New Hampshire – This is Attorney David Mirsky reporting from New Hampshire, on the current state of the 2020 New Hampshire Presidential Primary as I see it.

This year, 2018, is an election year in the United States and here in New Hampshire. You need to pay attention and vote for someone with a sense of decency this November.

Some very disturbing things have been going on down by our Sourthern border. Children are being tortured by our government, there is no other way to describe it. We as Americans need to control our borders, but those who hold power in our government also need to gain control of themselves.

I don’t care what side you are on in politics, just face it, what is going on in the United States right now is not normal. Attention must be paid.

If we in America do not start valuing moderate, honest, calm behavior, we will lose our democracy.

But do not freak out. Stay calm. Attend local political gatherings, stay informed by learning about the news from a wide variety of sources. Support our democracy by participating in voter registration and candidate meetings. Be calm and serious about this.

Which leads me to what I am saying here today. I am back to my old New Hampshire pastime of musing upon the strongest candidates for President in 2020. In New Hampshire, we host the First-in-the-Nation Presidential Primary every four years. It is therefore our duty to learn about the candidates and make an informed choice. It is also our duty to vote.

What I am providing to you here is a list intended to indicate people likely to have a chance to win the Presidential election in 2020. I am making no endorsements. I am trying to be objective.

So here is my list of the strongest candidates for President of the United States in 2020, as viewed from the ground level here in Exeter, New Hampshire:

DEMOCRATS

1. Sherrod Brown, U.S. Senator from Ohio, currently running for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Sherrod Brown is a 100 percent solid advocate for the rights and interests of working people in America. That gives Senator Brown a strong base of support. Ohio is a huge state with a large number of electoral votes. A person who has already been elected as a U.S. Senator from Ohio has a strong chance to win national support as well, because Ohio is a large, diverse state, full of mild mannered people of all races and ethnic groups, hardworking people. They like Sherrod Brown. Maybe you will too.

2. Eric Holder, former U.S. Attorney General under President Barack Obama. Eric Holder has been to New Hampshire very recently. Unlike Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, Eric Holder is extremely controversial because as U.S. Attorney General he was an active and outspoken opponent of entrenched governmental racism. All Americans, regardless of their ethnicity, would appreciate Eric Holder as someone who fights for the people who are counting on him. Holder is controversial, yes, but in this age of social media communication by cell phone, that may now be what is required to break through to the consciousness of American voters and to actually win a national election in the United States.

REPUBLICANS

3. Donald Trump, U.S. President. You have heard enough about this president to make up your mind. The current president is always a potential contender, and so is Donald Trump, unless he drops out of the race like Lyndon Baines Johnson did in March of 1968. There were pressures on President Lyndon Baines Johnson in March of 1968 that our current president simply could not even imagine. Lyndon Johnson's predecessor, the much beloved President John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated, and had left President Johnson with a war in Vietnam that was not popular and which many people believed was not winnable. What we have today in Donald Trump is a president creating unnecessary and inexcusable pressures for all of us. Many would prefer him to drop out. He probably won't.

4. Governor John Kasich of Ohio, formerly a very powerful and important conservative U.S. Congressman. John Kasich is an underdog, because he is a moderate Republican in an immoderate age, and because to win the New Hampshire Primary he would need to bring a large number of Democrats and Independents over to the Republican side to vote for him. The best thing you can say about John Kasich is that he is not afraid of anyone, including Donald Trump. As John F. Kennedy pointed out in an earlier time, it would be best if the leaders of our nation had some courage.

There are many many other candidates out there, but I’m not talking about those people right now, I’m talking about these people, because I believe they are real contenders.

And lastly, I will say, with regard to what is currently happening in this country, those of us who practice politics or report on the news need to stay calm, stay serious, and do not give in to conduct that you know to be evil. Evil exists. We must fight against it.