Finchley 1959 - Explore new Perspectives

The First Republican Debate of the Year happened last night. It was all about Trump vs. Cruz, Rubio vs. Cruz and Cruz vs. everyone. Ted Cruz was the ultimate winner though. Cruz spoke the most and was the most talked about as well, together with Trump. Earlier this week Trump narrowly retook Iowa from Cruz, but now it really will be a 50/50 race in the first voting state. They used to be on pretty good terms, but as Iowa votes in just over two weeks time, on February 1st, gloves are off and it is all about blood now. Trump and Cruz had several big battles last night. Trump again attacked Cruz on him being born in Canada. It probably doesn't really matter, cause he does seem to be qualified, but some Cruz voters might stay away from him, and in a close race like this, that could decide everything. And by everything we don't only mean Iowa. If Trump wins in Iowa, and then in New Hampshire too, he could have enough of a momentum to go all the way. Yeah, it is scary. So someon...

There is an alternative way of predicting who will be the party's nominee in a Presidential Race. And no, it's not polls. It's the endorsement count from current and former politicians. If a few important and influential politicians back your campaign, they can sway a lot of their supporters towards you. And that could make the difference. Some candidates deliberately want to get the support of a few famous faces, and not that of the general public. Let's see how this applies to 2016. On the Republican side, Donald Trump leads in the polls. By a lot (as he would say). But there has not been a single politician in Congress, or within any higher levels of state government who backed him. Not one. He got one former Virginia representative and a few state legislators from a variety of states, but no one important. Jeb Bush on the other hand leads the endorsement primary. By a lot. Apart from two former Presidents and First Ladies and a Vice President, he a...

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham became the latest Republican Presidential candidate to suspend his candidacy. While Graham consistently received positive feedback from his debate performances, he has failed to convert them to higher poll numbers and fundraising. The veteran Senator had a very strong foreign policy credential, but will be most remembered for his quarrels with frontrunner Donald Trump. Graham's exit leaves 13 candidates in the contest, although the number of candidates with even decent chances is about half of that number. Graham's campaign was always considered to be a long-shot one, but with the endorsement of 2008 nominee, John McCain early on, he was taken more seriously. However even with McCain's endorsement, Graham failed to lift off. Early on he received heavy criticism for being too boring and lacking public speaking skills, but he actually performed really well during the undercard debates. But the emphasis is on the undercard, as he nev...

Carly Fiorina out shined everyone once again. Wednesday saw the second Republican Presidential Debate take place at the Reagan Library in California. It was a glorious yet terrifying setting, as the candidates stood in front of President Reagan's plane, with which he effectively ended the Cold War.  Once again there were two debates, and once again there were two clear winners. In the second tier debate, a surprise victor emerged, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. No one expected this, but it was a very clear victory in the end for the veteran. And in the main event of the night, there were several interesting performances, but Carly Fiorina clearly collected her second victory of the debate season. If you didn't do it so far, you definitely have to watch out for her from now on. Let's start with the earlier debate and say that it was much better than expected. It was a huge opportunity for the four participants, as they now had more ...