By Craig Andresen – The National Patriot and Right Side Patriots on americanpbn.com

If America is to continue to be what Ronald Reagan described as, “the shining light on the hill,” what we need, what we must have, is leadership. True leadership. We must have the sort of leadership that holds the vision of the Founders and Framers in the highest regard and the sort of leadership that realizes that our Constitution regulated government, not guns, placed strict limits on the power of the presidency rather than on the power of the people and made government accountable TO the people rather than making the people accountable to the government.

2016 could well be our last chance to reclaim the vision of our Founders and Framers. It could well be the last opportunity we have to save our exceptionalism and to save our liberties.

What we need, what we must have, is the sort of leadership that is laser focused on what’s best for the nation, how to rebuild our place on the world stage, how to implement national security, rebuild the trust of our allies and how to stop our economic bleeding that is the result of too much government interference in every aspect of our personal lives, too many government mandated regulations and far, far too much government waste in our government’s spending habits.

From the left side of the aisle, the candidates are Bernie Sanders, a confirmed and admitted socialist and Hillary Clinton, a corrupt politician who is under numerous investigations that could, should and I believe will result in indictments including espionage against the United States.

Both of the liberal/socialist candidates intend to raise taxes, increase our national debt by trillions of dollars and expand the entitlement system to unprecedented and unsustainable levels. They intend to woo zero-information voters with promises of free this, free that and free everything else. What they won’t tell the gimme, gimme crowd is that nothing they get for free, is free. Somebody has to pay for all of it. It all comes from somebody else’s money and the pool of somebody else’s money is drying up.

As Reagan said…”Government is not the answer to the problem…government IS the problem.”

Our nation was never intended to be a socialist nation. It was never structured for socialism and there is nowhere on earth that socialism has worked.

Voting for either of the socialists, Sanders or Clinton, is akin to voting a 3rd term for Obama as their desired outcome is dependent upon finishing what Obama started…the fundamental transformation of America…from a nation of the people, by the people and for the people into a nation of the government, by the government and for the government.

Meanwhile…on the right side of the aisle…

As more of the 2016 Republican candidates drop out of the race, the field has narrowed but it needs to narrow even more.

It’s about leadership.

What we have witnessed, after the Iowa caucus, has been astounding to say the least. It has also separated the leaders from the pack and right now, we are left with but two.

Before I continue, allow me to point out something I believe has been lost in the melee.

What we are, or should be voting for during the primaries, is the candidate who offers the best plan, the best strategies and has the best, clearest vision for our nation’s future. What we should not be voting for is which candidate is the most entertaining to watch or listen to. There is simply and frankly too much at stake to muck about with candidates whose primary agenda is their own personal agenda and building their own name as a brand.

That said…

John Kasich has publicly stated that if he “gets smoked in New Hampshire, I will go back to Ohio and end my campaign.” This may only come as breaking news to Kasich but…you are going to get smoked in New Hampshire, just as you did in Iowa so…pack it up and pack it in.

That will leave seven in the field.

Jeb Bush isn’t going to finish any better in New Hampshire than he did in Iowa and he has done nothing throughout his months on the campaign trail but level personal, ad hominem attacks, against Marco Rubio. Jeb Bush has never gained any traction with his policy vision and his donors are ready to jump ship and start writing checks to the Rubio campaign. It’s time for Jeb to go home and get out of this race as he has nothing of substance to offer when substance is exactly what is required.

Chris Christi, like Bush, has never been able to get a stamp of approval from voters on a national level throughout his months on the campaign trail and now he is resorting to the Jeb Bush failed tactic of attacking Rubio. If that’s all Christi has left in his tool box, and judging by his appearances over the past week in New Hampshire…it is…it’s time for him to catch a cab and head back to New Jersey.

Carly Fiorina does have substance, she has strategies and she does have a vision for the future of our nation but unfortunately, mostly due to media bias, she has never had the bully pulpit OF the national media to gain name or strategy recognition. It’s a shame as she brings an awful lot to the table including strength of mind and character but I sense we haven’t heard the last from Fiorina as whoever garners the Republican nomination could do a whole lot worse, but little better, than to include Carly Fiorina on their ticket with a VP nod.

Carly needs to drop out, but stand by.

Ben Carson is learning what those of us who know the score have said from the moment he entered this 2016 race. One good speech at a prayer breakfast does not a viable Republican candidate make…especially when, by his own admission, he was a liberal, and a rather far left-leaning liberal up to just 6 months prior to announcing he would be a Republican candidate.

There is a place for Dr. Carson in any president’s cabinet but when Carson is in the Oval Office, he should be sitting in front of the desk…not behind it.

Donald Trump…

The last time we witnessed an epic public meltdown of this proportion was when Charlie Sheen crashed and burned in 2011. Sheen’s meltdown was the result of narcotics. Trump’s meltdown is the result of narcissism. He has spent his entire career, as an investor, as a builder of casinos, towers, shopping centers and golf courses, building and trading upon the Trump name brand. While he has been successful in that regard, his only strategy is to proclaim himself as the be all, end all and to trumpet his greatness through the megaphone of the media.

Trump is a reality TV sideshow barker and nothing more. He has no plan, no vision and no strategy for the words printed on the hats he distributes at his rallies…at least none that he has ever bothered to articulate even though he has commanded the attention of the mainstream and social media.

Donald Trump has never been in this 2016 race for any reason other than furthering his own brand. What we need, what we must have, are candidates who are ready, willing and able to put their own aspirations aside to make our country better than it has ever been before. Trump just wants to make HIMSELF more important that HE has ever been before.

We don’t need, nor can we, as a nation, afford another president, like Obama, that believes in the press releases he writes himself far more than he believes in the Constitution, the spirit of the American people or in the exceptionalism that has, for better than two centuries, made America the champion of liberty around the world.

What we need, is a steady hand, a clear head and a president of  principle. A leader not prone to rhetorical insults, not consumed with his own name, not dependent on bombastic sound bites and one who knows that the best way to rebuild our economy and place in the world is by unleashing the power of the American people…not by trying to tear them down because they don’t see things as he sees them or because they did what they had to do in the face of government regulations, overly burdensome taxation and tyrannical agendas.

This was Donald Trump, just a couple of days ago, speaking in New Hampshire.

Just so we’re clear on this…Trump says he will lower the corporate tax rate and eliminate some regulations to bring businesses back from the foreign countries they fled to, to avoid government sponsored oppression, and then, once they have returned to a less anti-business America…we should all tell them to...”go fuck themselves.”

That’s akin to wooing them back after they’ve been punched in the nose so that you can kick them in the nuts. It’s not a sound strategy, it’s a damned set up and no company who managed to stay in business by moving their operation to another country would ever want to return with that mindset steering the ship.

Donald Trump is completely unhinged and so are those who, on social media, continue to make excuses for him. He is not at all what America needs. There are more than enough unhinged dictators in the world…we cannot afford to add Trump’s name to the list.

Christi, Bush and Trump need to be made aware of one very important thing…employing a strategy of rhetorical insults against your competition isn’t a leadership quality unless your master plan is to distract from your failures by leading from behind.

That leaves us with a two man race. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz…both of which are focused, both of whom have the vision necessary, the articulated plans necessary and the strategies necessary to be the leader that America and the world needs at this most crucial point in history.

While both have their die hard supporters, we must all come to grips that there has never been a perfect presidential candidate, there is not one now nor will there ever be one.

Both Cruz and Rubio have their own ideas, their own strategies and their own visions regarding how to right the wrongs done to our country over the past 8 years. They both have their own plans, visions and strategies regarding how to rebuild our economy, how to reposition our nation as the true leader on the world stage, how to protect our nation and strengthen national security and how to cut back government intervention in our personal and business lives.

Despite all the rhetoric being spread by supporters of both these candidates, neither is an establishment troll or shill, neither is a RINO, neither is unscrupulous, neither is pro amnesty and neither are open border, agenda 21, NWO or puppets of Wall Street.

While both Cruz and Rubio have differing approaches to fixing our immigration system, both are focused on the same result and that result, for both of them and articulated by both of them, begins with border security. Both advocate strengthening border security, enhancing border patrols and controls, deporting all illegal alien criminals, using any and all laws currently on the books to prevent future tsunamis OF illegal aliens from pouring across our borders and neither of them will allow “refugee” immigration from countries that cannot provide background intel or information from which we can properly vet those wanting to enter our country.

Yes, I know that Rubio was part of the gang of 8 but if that’s your argument against him, you haven’t done your homework. Rubio voted AGAINST the gang of 8 bill because HIS insistence that the border be secure BEFORE anything else was done was not accepted BY the rest of that gang and at the end of the day, as the final bill failed to reflect Rubio’s knowledge that first and foremost, the border must be secured, he voted against it and it should also be noted, that were it not for Rubio having joined that gang, we would be living under the Graham/McCain version of that hill today.

Yes, I know that Cruz spoke in favor, or so it seemed, of amnesty but I also realize that he did so as part of amendments TO the bill that highlighted the FLAWS in the bill which then led to it being killed on the floor of the senate.

I also know that Cruz has been a steadfast anti-amnesty, anti-legalization guy from the get-go and despite rumors and fabricated stories flotting about on social media, he remains against both to this day.

Were I to give Rubio AND Cruz a sound piece of advice, it would be this…quit telling us what the other guy did, what the other guy said and what the other guy stands for, and tell us what YOU stand for, what YOU did and what YOU will do to FIX our immigration system and rely on the American people, the American voters, to make an INFORMED decision, sans he said-he said, he did- he did rhetoric. Stand above the media initiated agenda of sniping at one another and clearly define your OWN stance rather than muddying the water by try to explain YOUR version of the OTHER guy’s stance.

We must also be aware that a pathway to citizenship, with requirements, and penalties to be met and paid, as a matter of laws passed by congress is far, FAR from blanket amnesty or instant legalization.

We, as voters, will never agree with any candidate 100% of the time. That’s just the nature of a people free to think for themselves, but as Allen West said, an 85% agreement is far better than a 0% agreement and when it comes to either one of these two candidates vs either or any of the liberal/socialist candidates…an 85% agreement is 100% better than the alternative.

I believe both Cruz and Rubio to be men of honor, men of substance, men of faith and men of vision. I believe both to have the leadership qualities we must have in the next president and I know that neither would even be in a position to run for the office had they not stood, and fought not only against the Republican establishment, but against the Washington establishment mentality as well.

Both candidates have taken stands against the congressional career politicians and Cruz has, time and time again, argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and won, with a solid stand on Conservative and Constitutional issues.

And yes, both are Constitutionally eligible…a fact not only confirmed last week by the Illinois Election Board in a challenge brought against Ted Cruz’s eligibility, but by long settled case law and U.S. codes so park that ineligibility bull outside…it’s a false and desperate argument with absolutely no substance behind it but one being pushed by the devoid of substance Trump.

Now is the time for true leadership, fresh ideas, substance and vision. Now is the time for a leader who will put the country’s best interests above his own, put the Constitution above his own agenda and put the people above the government. Now is the time for a leader who will be respected by our allies and feared by our enemies.

This is most definitely NOT the time to vote for someone just for the fun of it or for someone who tells us what we want to hear, makes promises he could never fulfill on his own, hasn’t told us how he would convince congress to follow him and refuses to give We the People even the slightest specifics regarding how he would do ANY of what he claims he would do.

And, if you intend to stand on some self-proclaimed island of conscience or principle to vote for any other than the nominee in November, from your island, you will have a clear view of our nation sinking to the lowest depths of the socialist abyss based upon YOUR actions.

Me? I will vote for whoever the Republican nominee turns out to be as even Trump, who I cannot stand, would be better that any on the socialist side of the aisle.

But we can, and should do much, much better than that.