Bob Meade - The more things change, the more they stay the same. . .

The Democrat presidential candidate list has been pared down substantially as a number of candidates dropped out after the “Super Tuesday” results were tallied. Among the now recently departed are Senator Warren, Mayor Bloomberg, Senator Klobuchar, Mayor Buttigieg, Tom Steyer, and others. Only Senator Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard still remain in the active mix.

While the departure of a number of candidates has brought some excitement to the Sanders-Biden fray as their “numbers” have had significant increases, we must recognize that those increases came from those who had preferred and voted for someone else; the departed losers if you will. Although the survivors may take some pleasure in their increased numbers, they should humbly recognize that the increases are a reflection of how much Democrat voters preferred someone else. The increases don’t represent a gain of trust in the candidates, they simply mean that the votes cast in the primaries are getting distributed among those still standing. Whether or not those votes will likewise be cast depends on each candidate's ability to earn the trust of the people-sellable positions on the economy and taxes-understanding of international issues and past positions on various topics-etc.

— Age: On the day of inauguration Senator Sanders will be 79 and Vice- President Biden will be 78. It should be noted that President Trump is the oldest president ever to be inaugurated for his first term; he was 70 years old. Senator Sanders recently had a heart attack and former Vice-President Biden has been an on-going gaffe machine, forgetting just about everything.

— The economy and taxes will be a huge hurdle for each of the candidates. Senator Sanders’ desire to turn our country into a socialist nation, giving everyone everything for free is obviously unsustainable. If elected, it is hard to imagine the legislation and funding for what he has been proposing will have any chance of being passed by the Congress. VP Biden hasn’t seemed to have gotten down into the weeds on this issue and will probably try to avoid saying much about increasing taxes or assuring businesses that we want them to stay in this country and continue to grow. As a personal note, I just don’t think either candidate has enough business savvy to deal effectively with this issue.

— One of the strong points for President Trump has been his ability to make things easier for companies to migrate back into this country, bringing their factories and their jobs with them. Since neither of the Democrat candidates has a background in business, it is difficult to know whether businesses will feel safe in an unknown business/tax structure. It appears that Senator Sanders believes more in the government owning/running everything than he does the free enterprise system. As to Mr. Biden, about the only measure we have as to his domestic business positions is that when he was VP, President Obama had the fewest number of business advisors of any president in history; only 8 percent. And, Obama’s number one business advisor was Jeff Immelt, GE’s chairman, and he moved GE’s entire elevator manufacturing operations to China.

— How each will deal with international issues is somewhat scary. President Trump has attempted to go face-to-face with potential foes such as North Korea, China, Russia, Iran, and others. And he has been direct with our allies in having them face up to their financial requirements in providing for their own/NATO commitments. He has used pocket-book issues instead of the military wherever possible. He has also worked hard to reduce our involvement in far-away places, such as Iraq and Afghanistan. To this point, there has been little or nothing from the Democrat candidates on what, if anything, they will do to halt the endless wars/involvements around the world. Quite frankly, it is hard to imagine Senator Sanders standing up to or confronting any foreign power.

Of course, there are many other issues with which to be concerned and about how they will be addressed. Try to think of how each of the candidates will represent your interests, and the interests of this wonderful nation. Are they up to the task? Are they physically and mentally able to do the most difficult job in the world? If your life and the well being of your family depended on the person, who would it be?

(Bob Meade is a Laconia resident. He may be reached at bobmeade13@gmail.com)