Some of the Republican candidates running for President of the United States need to walk away. Now.
Walking away from your dream, your passion and your calling is tough. Really tough. I know. I walked away from mine in U.S. Congress after some bad, life-changing decisions.
However, sometimes walking away is the best thing you can do for you, your family and your party. More so, for these candidates, it can lead to new opportunities to effect change in this country, if that's truly what their heart is set on.
While I'm the eternal optimist and want to think that all of these men and women have good intentions, some may be there to simply further their own personal brand to work the lucrative speaker's circuit. For those seeking the nomination with the best intentions in their heart, they are part of a crowded and qualified field with prime-time players.
The unfortunate part is when you have a crowded field, you cannot talk policy, you cannot talk philosophy and you cannot talk about ideas. Hell, there's barely enough time to talk about problems and no time to talk about solutions.
So what do we have now? An overwhelming majority of the media coverage is devoted to nothing more than candidates calling each other names and straight dissin' one another.
The nomination to run for president of the United States of America has become a giant rap battle.
Many hip hop artists make names for themselves by calling out or insulting another artist. Whether it's East Coast versus West Coast, Nas versus Jay-Z, Tupac versus Biggie or that random dude who tried to call out Drake, it's how they get popular, elevate their brand and sell records.
But in these battles, it's Chris "Big Pun" Christie versus Rand "Eazy-P" Paul, with Governor Christie trying to call out Senator Paul on national security issues. Has it worked? Before the Paris and San Bernardino attacks, not so much. Now? Maybe. Paul's off the next main stage, demoted to the kiddie table.
In the fight of Pitbull's Primo, Rubio, versus MC Ted "Cruzin' to give you a mofo lecture on the Constitution," it's the same -- national security. But this attack is peppered with Senator Rubio accusing Senator Cruz of joining in on the -- gasp! -- path to legalization for undocumented immigrants. Is it working? Meh. A lot of D.C. mumbo jumbo including amendments and provisions makes things murky, and murky ammunition in a political gunfight just doesn't work when guns are blazing. However, that message may heat up if the strategy is worked out right, and if anyone knows about effective messaging strategy, it's Rubio and his team.
Then, there's the Notorious J.E.B. versus whoever his consultants tell him. Jeb, who is trying to live up to the exclamation point behind his name, is taking an ISIS approach. It's a scorched earth strategy out to destroy Rubio, Trump and anyone in between. However, Governor Bush can't seem to significantly climb in the polls. Furthermore, he has a problem unique to this election cycle. In past elections, money used to talk big. While he might have an ungodly amount of cash to unload attacks, the field is too full to cut through and effectively communicate to voters.
Ben Carson, meantime, has become Kool Moe Dee, which is such an obscure hip hop reference tied to LL Cool J, you should go Google it now. As for Doctor Carson, his polling is and will continue to drop faster than Democrats blame climate change and Republicans blame terrorists. Sorry, bud, but when you don't know the difference between Hamas and the stuff my Lebanese dad taught me to make and spread on my pita, ya gotta go.
Finally, like Tupac, after all this damn time, it is still Trump Against the World. Also like Tupac, Trump just DGAF. That has worked well for him. In fact, back to the money issue, Trump's barely spent a dime. No camera can get enough of The Donald!
Then, there are the lowest polling candidates barely worth mentioning. Santorum, Fiorina and Huckabee should have left weeks ago. These candidates need to come to grips with the fact they have no chance of winning. Furthermore, for the few candidates who think they are "steering the conversation," I'm sorry but you're not. A conversation requires listening and speaking. Right now, there are just too many people talking over each other and the loudest, most bombastic is dominating.
The next few weeks will begin to expose cracks in campaigns. People like Governor Bush and Governor Kasich will need to start seriously thinking about their next moves. Bush just can't seem to connect, and Kasich has been more off-message than Mike Huckabee at a pro-ISIS rally or Bernie Sanders whacking down martinis at a Wall Street happy hour. Unless Bush and Kasich start climbing fast, it's time to go. And while the libertarian in me has an affinity for Senator Paul's policies, his time is drawing near too.
Former Governors Rick Perry and Scott Walker deserve respect and admiration for stepping down early. Both men have the skills and resumes to run the country but quickly realized it was time to cull the herd.
This cycle is an entirely different playing field with excellent talent but different dynamics. In fact, in his sign off, Governor Perry wrote, "We have a tremendous field- the best in a generation." He's right. Others should follow his lead, step down and do what's right, not just for the party, but for the country.