This & That

RUBIO – If you can get past all the hubbub about Donald Trump you will see that one of the biggest winners coming out of last week's debate in the eyes of the conservative faithful was Marco Rubio. Rubio’s performance has provided him a bump in the polls and a place in the conversation that rivals the mercurial rise of Carly Fiorina.

Rubio likes to portray himself as the fresh new face of the new Republican Party. A candidate who can appeal to both the moderate establishment and the more radical Tea Party base. But like most of the conservative candidates he has a problem with women.

Rubio is a pro-life candidate that opposes abortion even in the instances of incest and rape. When asked about a possible exception in cases where the pregnancy endangered the mother’s life he said: “Well, of all the exceptions people talk about, certainly protecting the life of the mother is the one that I think holds the highest validity. And there is a debate today, given modern medicine, whether there is any condition that only abortion could save a mother’s life in a viable pregnancy.”

I have to wonder how Senator Rubio would feel if it was his wife or daughter whose life was endangered by continuing “a viable pregnancy.” Would he make the same clinical analysis?

HILLARY – Hillary Clinton has agreed to release her controversial personal email server to authorities. Secretary Clinton is reported to have scrubbed the server after releasing 55,000 pages of handpicked emails to the State Department. By all reports an estimated 30,000 emails were lost in the scrubbing process. The technology nerds tell us that you can never completely scrub a server and that the emails will still be retrievable.

My guess is that if the emails are recovered they will reveal some previously unreported communication that will paint the secretary in a bad light. I would expect there to be either classified information or correspondence that ties favors granted by Secretary Clinton and her State department to donations to the Clinton Foundation or monies paid to the former president for personal appearances. Why else would you scrub the server?

BERNIE – Bernie Sanders is the hottest draw on the stump. Sanders has drawn wildly enthusiastic crowds averaging 25,000 to each of his last four events…far surpassing any other candidate. His performance has garnered him a steady rise in the polls to where he is now within the margin of error of the presumptive Democratic nominee; Hillary Clinton. His message appeals to the middle class and his refusal to attack his opponents has resonated with the voters.

Could Sanders sneak up on Hillary like Barak Obama did eight years ago?