I wanted to wait until after the South Carolina GOP primary to pen this column. The polls that I don’t often trust and many people I talked to told me it would be former President Donald Trump in a runaway. This was my gut feeling also; however, it was Nikki Haley’s home state, and I figured if she were going to mount a charge to be the republican candidate come November, it would have to begin there.

Well, the South Carolina republican voters let us know what they thought of the 3-term state representative and first female governor of the Palmetto State, and it sure wasn’t that she should be President. Former President Trump defeated her by over 21% of the vote. A statement win for Trump, which also had financial implications for Haley.

The former governor vowed to stay in the presidential race but lost her major financial backing from Americans for Prosperity and billionaire conservative Charles Koch. At the time when it was announced that Koch’s money would be backing Haley, some thought it would provide her the war chest needed to make a serious run at the nomination. This coupled with the perceived undermining of the Trump campaign as the organization supported another candidate.

Well, as most things seem to do when it comes to attacks or planned political strategy, it only strengthens Teflon Donald Trump within the republican party, not only in South Carolina but nationwide.

As far as Haley, what this tells me is that Koch sees no path for her to the White House, even if she would win the republican nomination. Which remember — could still happen if she remains in the race and Trump is forced to drop out either due to legal troubles or the tide of the republican voters changing. I think both are unlikely; however, we are talking about Donald Trump. You cannot ignore the position he is in legally, in a multitude of ways, or his ability not to put the cell phone down and often let his mouth get ahead of his mind.

I will leave the GOP primary side of things with that it appears former President Trump has a stranglehold on a rematch with President Joe Biden.

I’ll move on to our current President and what I average out to be about a 35% approval rating. Again, I don’t put much belief in any poll, but it’s hard to ignore this number.
I found it interesting that President Biden had his annual physical this past week. His Dr. Kevin O’Connor stated President Biden is a healthy, robust 81-year-old male who remains fit to execute the duties of President successfully. This was later followed up by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s answer to the question, has President Biden undergone any cognitive test during his physical? No, because Dr. O’Connor and President Biden’s neurologist just don’t believe he needs one.
I will leave this alone for this week and only say who do they think they’re fooling? I get it; the people who will vote for President Biden are going to vote for him no matter what, but it only takes about 30 seconds of watching him try to find the podium or listening to his confused speech to realize this man’s got a problem.

I think any 81-year-old who would be 86 at the end of the second term needs to have cognitive testing no matter what party he is representing. And that goes for former President Trump if he’s re-elected. I mean, that’s just a little common sense for the office of President, and the people you’re serving.

I have stated before that our Nation does not need an 80-year-old president, but it appears that’s where we’re headed again. The American people deserve so much better than the candidates we are getting. So, here’s where I think we should focus our future voter energy.

Please educate yourself on the two well-seasoned candidates as our Nation navigates its way to November. The time has come for everyone to accept this and simply let the American people decide at the voting booth. This includes the remainder of the primary season. I can’t even imagine the time, effort, and money spent trying to discredit, imprison, or force Trump or Biden from the race.

Yes, we are a divided Country, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. However, I only see the taking away of this choice from the American voter as a path to a bigger problem.

One of the keys to our future is the refocusing of our elected on the long list of problems facing our Nation and getting things done. We the People must force both party’s hands to clean house and get rid of the troublesome focused on self over Nation. The world has gone mad around us, but as I often write, our greatest threat is from within.

God Bless America.