Posted on

Trumping His Way to the Presidency

Donald Trump (photo credit: Gage Skidmore)

As Joshua Pinho pointed out in a recent post, Donald Trump has surged to the top of several presidential polls recently.  But not everything has been going well for the famous blonde magnate.  After his official announcement, Trump has also reached the highest spot in the “most-hated-personality” list of several media companies (i.e., Univision, NBC, Televisa) and of some Hispanic organizations.  These companies’ reaction has been to cut professional and business ties with Trump after he stated in his announcement speech:

The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems.

Thank you. It’s true, and these are the best and the finest. When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.

But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we’re getting. And it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They’re sending us not the right people.

Trump’s words have created a domino effect in which various networks and companies have made public their discontent with Trump, one after another.

First, Univision abandoned a mega deal signed earlier on the year with the Trump Organization, in which they had agreed to air the Miss America and Miss Universe telecasts on their network, stating they would not have any business relations with the candidate (it’s worth noting that Univision is the most watched American Spanish-language network and as of 2013 had the most viewers in the 18-49 age block, more than FOX, NBC, ABC and CBS, which means a lot of prospective voters watch this network). Continue Reading

Posted on

Jeb Bush, the Social Conservative

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (photo credit: Gage Skidmore)

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush made his presence felt at the Faith and Freedom Coalition meeting in Washington D.C. last week, where a handful of presidential hopefuls intended to make a splash with their speeches.  While Politico’s reporting on the event highlighted Ted Cruz’s impressive reception with the conservative crowd, it was probably Bush’s speech that surprised the most given that many have been ‘preaching’ everywhere about his supposed lack of support among conservative audiences.

Contrary to those expecting a lack of support with crowds like the one gathered at the Faith and Freedom meeting, Bush connected very well with people who were attending, in great part because of his comments on his record and accomplishments as governor of Florida.  During his time in office, his faith and beliefs were tested on several occasions, and yet his actions were always guided by social conservative principles, especially on the issue of life.

Succinctly reviewing his record on abortion, Bloomberg summarized Bush’s conservatism on the issue:

In 2000, Bush signed measure to ban a late-term abortion procedure. In 2005 he enacted the Parental Notification Act, which mandates that doctors notify parents of a minor at least 48 hours prior to terminating a pregnancy.

The article also quoted a part of the governor’s speech at the D.C. forum in which he said:

“When I became governor I was shocked at the total lack of regulation of abortion clinics, and that parents had no legal role in their minor daughter’s abortion decision,” he said.

Continue Reading
Posted on

Pelosi is Not the Pope: Rubio is Right on Marriage

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (photo credit: US Department of Labor via Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

In a recent interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Marco Rubio took a firm stance on his views on same-sex marriage. Rubio expressed his opposition to same-sex marriage and contended that there is a clear and present danger to Christians who defend traditional marriage based on their faith since those behind the same-sex marriage rhetoric nowadays refer to traditional marriage supporters as homophobes and characterize those beliefs as hate speech:

“After they [same-sex marriage supporters] are done going after individuals, the next step is to argue that the teachings of mainstream Christianity, the catechism of the Catholic Church, is hate speech. That’s a real and present danger,” Rubio said.

After Rubio’s interview, Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi appeared on “MSNBC Live” attacking Marco Rubio’s ‘failed’ Catholic faith, arguing that based on her “mainstream catholic” faith and upbringing, Rubio’s position was intolerant and against our nation’s direction on the issue. She then went even further, asserting Pope Francis would not subscribe to Rubio’s faith-based position towards marriage:

I thoroughly disagree, being raised in a Catholic family, raising a Catholic family, mainstream Catholic – well, the Baltimore catechism, to get back to our hometown of Baltimore, was what we were raised on. And I think that this statement by Senator Rubio is most unfortunate. It’s a polarizing statement. The fact is, is that what we’re taught was to respect people in our faith and to say that this endangers mainstream Christian thinking is so completely wrong.

Continue Reading
Posted on

Which GOP Candidate Makes Sense on Immigration?

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (photo credit: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Presidential candidates from both sides of the political spectrum have been taking on a very busy agenda these past few weeks, and as expected, the immigration issue is taking over the discussion.

It started with Hillary Clinton’s “policy speech” at a school library in Nevada last week in which she said she was for a path to full and equal citizenship for all undocumented immigrants.  Then, Jeb Bush gave a TV interview Monday on Fox News’ “The Kelly File”, in which he clarified he is for an immigration reform proposal that allows for a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants. The next day, Ted Cruz took to “The Kelly File” and responded to Jeb’s position on the issue, categorizing it as as pro-amnesty and presenting border security as his own main topic of concern.  What we are seeing is an angry dispute between presidential candidates who are desperately trying to convince constituents that their position is the right one on the issue and that once again, on the presidential trail, immigration is and will be a hot-button topic.

And as we analyze each candidate’s position on this topic, we will have to take their words cautiously, since politicians tend to go through an “evolution” process over the course of a campaign. Instead of taking their recent statements as their definite position on the topic, I would suggest that we go back to each candidate’s record and give them points based on their consistency and the results of their actions. Continue Reading