EXCUSE ME, BUT I LISTEN TO EXPERTS

When I want to know something about music, I ask my son. He’s a walking encyclopedia of every musical genre except classical music and a very accomplished guitarist to boot. He has a collection of over 5000 CD’s, and he can tell you the history of the music and the musicians on each one.

When I want to know something about automobiles, I ask my friend Pasquale. He is as encyclopedic about cars as my kid is about music. Pasquale owns nine classic cars from the years 1938 to 1966, and he’s still actively buying and flipping old vehicles as a hobby and to make a few extra bucks. Any car that goes by on the road, as well as any car that’s ever been on the road, he can identify and tell you what it’s got under the hood.

If I want to know about painting, I ask my friend Mick. He eats, sleeps, and drinks painting. He’s an artist who doesn’t use a canvas but rather a wall, a window, or a cabinet.

So if I want to know about political candidates, I’m open to listening to people who make their living handicapping political races and the candidates who’ve thrown their hats into the ring. They’re the folks who work on campaigns, and they hate to lose. When it comes to their views on who is or isn’t electable, in the immortal words of Frasier Crane, “I’m listening.”

This year those pundits, or experts, on both ends of the political spectrum have something unusual in common. They’re tearing their hair out over their leading candidates, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz on the Republican side, and Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side.

Because in their expert view based on years of experience, none of these candidates could win a general election. Worse than that, they have the added negative aspect that they can cause other candidates down the ballot to lose as well. It’s one thing to lose the presidency, but quite another to lose the House and Senate.

Establishment Republicans are appalled by Mr. Trump, but if it came down to a choice between him and Cruz, they’d go with the Donald. It has been said about Ted Cruz that people either dislike him intensely or they loathe him.

Trump and Cruz are a grand poison to the Grand Old Party.

A Democratic presidential victory was destined to be a slam-dunk for the Democrats and Hillary Clinton until Bernie Sanders came along.

Young, middle-aged, and even some senior citizen voters are “feeling the Bern.” They’ve managed to find fault with Hillary and have convinced themselves a superannuated (that means really old) Jewish Socialist from Vermont who is making promises that will be impossible to keep can actually win a general election.

They completely disregard some vital facts, not only that he could never get his proposals through a hostile Republican Congress if he did get elected, but that at least half the country wouldn’t vote for a socialist in a million years. They point to polls showing him doing better against Trump or Marco (Lord Vacant) Rubio in November, but they forget he hasn’t been attacked yet because the Republican candidates are concentrating their fire on the lady they assume will get the nomination, Mrs. Clinton.

Two days ago in New Hampshire both Mr. Sanders and Mr. Trump won resounding victories. It’s a bizarre scenario in a bizarro election year.

What the establishment pundits on both sides have to pray for is that both men get the nomination, because then things would be even.  It’s quite possible the only candidate Trump could beat would be Sanders, and the only candidate Bernie could take the measure of would be the Donald.

Both establishments need to take a deep breath and not panic. A woman could get pregnant tonight and deliver a child between now and the nine months until the November election. There’s still a long, long way to go, and it’s a good bet that other players will look at this craziness and decide to take a shot at the big prize. Then things will really get interesting.

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