THE PRAIRIE EDITOR: Weekend Update 10

TRUMP POLL NUMBERS 
REMAIN HIGH
New York businessman Donald Trump continues to top the
polls in the Republican race for president. He was briefly in
2nd place when Dr. Ben Carson lead in a some polls, but
Carson now seems to be fading. Other candidates who seem
on the rise include Florida Senator Marco Rubio, New
Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
After weeks of decline, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
has seen his polls rise slightly. Almost perpetually involved
in controversies, many of his own making, Mr. Trump’s
support persists among many who are polled regardless of
his statements, claims or attacks on other candidates. His
persistent support appears to be tied to his larger-than-life
personality, his deliberate political “incorrectness,” and his
ability to grab headlines and free publicity in the media.
This indicates he will probably continue to lead in the polls
until the voting in Iowa and New Hampshire. Should his
popularity survive until Super Tuesday on March 1 and
beyond, his candidacy could become much more formidable.

A NEW GOP OPEN SENATE SEAT
Incumbent GOP Senator lost his bid to be elected governor of
Louisiana, and has announced his retirement from the senate
as well. As a result, his seat will be open in the 2016 election.
While the Democrat won the governorship, a Republican won
the off ice of Louisiana attorney general, and the seat is
expected to remain in conservative hands. Nontheless, if New
Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (with one of the best-known
political surnames in the state) decides to run for the seat, the
race could be competitive.

THE CULT PASSION TO PURGE
The publicity surrounding student and faculty protests at
big-name public colleges and universities, as well as private
prestigious higher learning institutions, including Ivy League
schools, is approaching a coverage of a “cult of an historical
purge.” The irony of this is that the protests arise from the
accurate historical revelations, most of them already known, of
the mistakes and prejudices of major figures in American
history, most of them being Democratic Party icons. But instead
of a calm and thoughtful contextual discussion of these flaws,
the conversation has been transformed into the compulsion to
purge the names of these figures, which include Thomas
Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Woodrow Wilson, from the
history of the Democratic Party and the nation. Years before,
some university professors launched an attempt to impeach the
memory of Abraham Lincoln for his shortcomings, and since
the most “indispensable man” in the American revolution, George
Washington, was a slaveholder, it is probably only a matter of time
until the radical left attempts to “erase” him. too. Next on the
list, of course, would be Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and
Lyndon Johnson whose human frailties are already well-known,
but who remain liberal icons. Not all Democrats, of course, agree
with this cult of denial, but unless many of them speak up soon
to stop the purging, the Democratic Party will become a party of
ciphers with unknown parentage.

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Copyright (c) 2015 by Barry Casselman. All rights reserved.