Given that this blog is now fiction based in reality, I am going to rely on coverage from real news sources' coverage of the person I pick to be president. The decision on January 6th will basically be a referendum on how well the news media covers a candidate. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please read the first post in this new chapter.
Next week, the Republican-led congress will pick the president and vice president of the United States. As we discussed last week, the Electoral College was not able to pick a winner, because the woman who won the plurality of the votes, Hillary Clinton, was an unpopular candidate. Now, despite the fact that the Republican Party did not field a legitimate candidate, they get to pick a president from their own party.
The candidates who appear most likely to win are:
- House Speaker Paul Ryan
- Senator John McCain
- Ohio Governor John Kasich and
- Indiana Governor Mike Pence.
Let's look at the way they have responded to various international incidents in the past few weeks. The three issues I will be addressing are the Russian hacking, the recent UN vote condemning Israel's settlements in Palestinian territory, and the Chinese confiscation of an American science drone.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan
Speaker Ryan has been very concise in his criticism of the current administration's responses to world crises. He simply said that the current administration has lost credibility in terms of Israel. His response to Russian Hacking is the patriotically correct response, that interfering in our elections is completely unacceptable. Paul Ryan didn't respond to China and the drone.
Senator John McCain
Senator McCain is a strong candidate with strong opinions on most subjects. As a war hero and as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he is frequently asked his opinion on matters of foreign policy. He believes that we should investigate the Russian hackers thoroughly, that our refusal to stand up for Israel is "dangerous", and that China is attempting to destabilize the Pacific region with a series of actions including the confiscation of our science drone.
Indiana Governor Mike Pence
Mike Pence is a Christian ideologue who wants to destroy the country. He has passed laws requiring funerals for miscarriages, and has spoken and written in favor of "conversion therapy" for homosexuals. Pence came out against the Russian hackers who influenced our election, saying that there should be harsh consequences. Pence made no specific comment on the Obama administration's failure to block the UN vote in Israel, but he has said in the past that Israel has no better friend, because support for Israel is an extension of his Christian faith. Pence also did not respond to China's confiscation of an American scientific drone.
Ohio Governor John Kasich
During the Republican primary race, Kasich was one of the last two candidates to drop out of the race, and the last who actually got along with the Republican establishment. He is a popular two-term governor of a purple state, who somehow thinks that women do not have the right to control their own bodies. Kasich did not respond to the Russian hackers, because there was a chance that he could benefit from the investigations. Though Kasich did not respond to the Chinese confiscation of the American science drone, he has both bragged about his success at bringing Chinese investments to Ohio, and has supported the TPP which was designed to antagonize China. This makes Kasich's China doctrine hard to predict. He also didn't directly respond to the recent UN actions on Israel, but has in the past defended Israel's settlement policy.
I think I know who will be president now, and if you read this post, you can probably figure it out. Whom the Senate will chose as vice president still needs to be worked out, and is actually important, just in case the president dies while in office.
