There Are No Perfect Candidates

By John J. Duncan Jr.
duncanj@knoxfocus.com

There has never been a perfect candidate for any office and there never will be. In fact, the only perfect candidates seem to be people who have never run for anything.

I remember hearing or reading that a president many years ago said of one of his critics: “What does he know? He’s never even run for sheriff.” (or something similar).

The title of my column is “From a Distance.” This comes from something my father said to me a long time ago: “Everything looks easy from a distance.” I think this is especially true of sports and politics.

It is easy to sit at home, comfortable and relaxed, eating popcorn, and thinking of things a candidate should have said. It is totally different to think of things in front of cameras, knowing millions of people are watching, and being questioned by hostile (in Trump’s case) moderators. What tremendous pressure.

Having said and written all that, I have to admit that Trump’s performance in his debate with Kamala Harris was a disaster. It made me think of things three different people had said to me several weeks before the debate.

The first was my friend, Tom Seymour, a longtime member of the staff at Holston Hills Country Club. He said sometimes he thought Trump was almost trying to lose the election – that it seemed like he really didn’t want it anymore.

Then I heard similar things from my wife, Vickie, and my friend, insurance man Steve Cox. None of the three knew the others had said the same things, and all three do not want Harris to win.

Until marrying me, Vickie was very non-political. She said she could tell that I grew up in a family that talked about sports and politics around the dinner table, while her family never talked about either one.

When I was dating her, several people told me she was one of the sweetest women they knew. She has almost never said a critical or unkind thing about anyone.

But she told me early on that her late husband watched CNN all the time and that she did not like Trump. In fact, she thought he was a mean, bad man.

Then, in late spring last year, we were invited to have dinner with him in a very small group in Nashville. He spent over three hours with us and asked our opinions and did as much or more listening than talking.

Then, at about 11:15 at night, after a very long day, he called the restaurant staff in to talk with them and pose for photos and sign autographs for the workers.

Vickie was amazed. She thought he was very nice, likeable, and nothing like the way he was portrayed on CNN. Nor unfortunately, the way he came across on the debate with Harris.

Frank Luntz, a longtime Republican pollster and advisor to candidates, had a good response when Piers Morgan questioned him about the debate. Morgan asked, “Do you think Kamala won, and does that mean she may now win the election?”

Luntz replied, “I think more accurately is that Donald Trump lost. And this is not the worst debate performance I’ve seen in my career, but it’s very close to it.”

On the Sunday after the debate, Luntz said in response to some tirade Trump wrote on his Truth Social site: “I have never seen a candidate more determined to blow an election.”

Luntz also said on the Morgan program, “I think he loses because of this debate performance,” to which Morgan replied, “Wow.”

I have seen many elections turn in the final week or two of campaigning. I certainly hope Trump can recover, because Harris is not even close to being the moderate she tried to be on the debate.

Socialism has wrecked the economies of most of the countries in this world. People are fleeing those countries. People are fleeing the left-wing policies being forced on them now in California.

Harris is the most far-Left person ever nominated by one of our two major parties. She is a socialist, possibly even a Marxist. If given the opportunity, Harris would turn the whole country into California. This would be bad for us and terrible for our children and grandchildren.