Today's Panelists: Greg Baker, David Markun, and David Pollack
Today's Topics:
1. Donald Trump and Nikki Haley are in. DeSantis, Pompeo, Hogan, and others likely are en route. With multiple candidates of relatively high political stature in the race, and putting on your long-range specs, how do you think this plays out? For example, it seems like the more the merrier as far as Trump is concerned. He keeps his base and the others take small slices of the rest. On the other hand, one of the others might show real strength, stepping into the void created by Trump's fatigue. Who is the most likely to do that? Who would be their strongest opponent for Biden? Putting partisanship aside, who do you think would be the best president should he or she win?
2. The labels “conservative” and “liberal/progressive” mean different things to different people. What is a “conservative” to you? What is a “liberal” or “progressive” to you? What should these labels stand for? (even if they don’t).
3. What is going on in Israel? From an American point of view, it looks like an ugly power grab by Netanyahu as he tries to neuter Israel’s Supreme Court, akin to an American president trying to somehow deprive the USSC of its power to declare laws unconstitutional. Is such a simplistic comparison more or less accurate, or is there something in the Israeli constitutional framework that makes a comparison of this sort off-base? Bottom line: is Israel in the throes of a constitutional crisis? If it persists, do you have any fear that one or more of Israel’s enemies (Iran?) will try to take advantage in a way that could create an international crisis?
4. There is a bill in the NM legislature to open up our political primaries. Is that a good idea?