Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
February 17, 2016
I attended the Port of Tampa Steel Conference (their 27th) and it was one of the strongest programs I personally have seen the Port of Tampa produce over the past eight years or so. This being an election year, the Port provided an exceptional speaker to put the whole process of selecting a president in perspective. Andrew Card, Former Secretary of Transportation and White House Chief of Staff, spoke about the nomination process for both the Democrats and Republicans (he is a supporter of Jeb Bush).
He discussed the process and how messy it might become. There is a chance that this year we might go right up to the conventions and not have one candidate with enough votes to get nominated on the first ballot. There is a chance we could actually see a “brokered” convention which can end up with someone other than one of the candidates who are currently running. It has happened before.
You may not recognize Secretary Card’s name but you have seen his face many times at a historic moment. He was the person who bent over and whispered into President Bush’s ear that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center and the country was under attack. He told those at the Port of Tampa conference that George Bush became president on that day.
He then challenged everyone in attendance to think of that moment and then vote for the person we want in that seat at that point in time. The President of the United States has to make life and death decisions on a almost daily basis. The President is the Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces and has the responsibility to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution of the United States.
Little known facts: Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States. He was not one of the top front-runners for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President. When the three front-runners deadlocked at the convention Franklin Pierce’s name received a vote on the 39th ballot and he was nominated on the 49th ballot… So, crazy things have happened before.
Another crazy possibility for this election cycle – There is a chance you could have Donald Trump running against Bernie Sanders. If that happens you could have a 3rd party candidate like Michael Bloomberg. There is a possibility that none of the candidates received enough electoral votes to become President. If that happens the decision goes to the House of Representatives and each state gets one (1) vote. They are not bound to any candidate and the next President could be Paul Ryan – Speaker of the House…
I will have more about the conference in Sunday night’s issue.
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John Packard
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