Ryan Binkley

January 10, 2024

The Democrats’ Debate (without Biden)

Any Democrat who berates Trump for thumbing his nose at debates should be aware that Biden has done the same thing by refusing to engage with two other serious candidates, Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson. Both have standing in the polls and would have even higher numbers if there were not a concerted effort at suppression worthy of any Republican legislature.  Florida and North Carolina have gone as far as cancelling their Democrat primaries, claiming that Biden is the only candidate!  Maybe Biden is afraid to risk the contrast between an octogenarian and two more youthful energies.  That would be smart, but the voters are the losers. 

The debate took place in Manchester at New England College’s “College Conference” sponsored by AARP.   Speaking of geriatrics, why would AARP be involved in a student conference?   Well, there they were, some white-haired ladies behind a card table full of AARP brochures and buttons as hundreds of college kids milled around.  The hotel lobby was full of tables with campaign signs and fliers: Williamson’s, Phillips’, and even Ryan Binkley, the impressive Republican pastor from Texas who I’d seen months ago, had his table, but—metaphor time—no one was there to mind the booth! Just a bunch of sad-looking caps, shirts, and signs all on their own.  But even that was not as sad as the lonely merch on the untended table for Jason Palmer, a Democratic candidate from Baltimore who I had never heard of.  What a strange thing to have these people decide to run for president.  Why not start with mayor, or town council?   There was a place on the conference schedule later on featuring these candidates who are flying so far under the radar that they’re inches away from the inevitable crash landing. 

            The debate was moderated by the very effective Josh McElveen, formerly of a local Manchester TV station, who told us in no uncertain terms that we should restrict our applause to their introduction and their final speech, so no “whoopin’ and hollerin’” along the way.  Thank you, Josh! That was enough to make this a dignified exchange of ideas instead of the unwatchable chaos of the Republicans.  

Williamson arrived and was quickly surrounded by a swarm of acolytes, many wearing her t-shirts: “Peace, Justice, Love.”  Quite a contrast with the arrogant sloganeering favored by some of the Republicans.   Phillips’ made a more modest entrance, they took the stage, were introduced, they hugged (there was some whoopin’), and then they plowed through a number of key issues, efficiently and effectively.  Go to YouTube to watch for yourselves.  

They agreed on much, especially the key point, that if Biden is the choice, the Republicans will win—all the polls show that.  Williamson’s main issue is that corporations are running America and ruining the middle class.  The government is held hostage by them and DC has become a system of legalized bribery. 

Both trained their sights on the two main parties that are destroying democracy, placing party loyalty over all else as seen by the “invisible-ization of my campaign (Williamson).”   There is not supposed to be a political class but that’s what we’ve evolved into as dissent from the party line is suppressed.

They disagreed on some things.  Phillips admires Liz Cheney’s courage for standing up to the right wing and is proud of his own efforts at bipartisanship.  His cabinet would have members from both parties in it: “A team of rivals”.  Williamson rejects that idea, and is no fan of Cheney’s voting record in Congress.  She wants a Department of Peace and a Department of Children and Youth at the cabinet level. 

Williamson channeled Daniel Webster at several points, showing her fiery, passionate side, while Phillips was more contained, soberly laying out his plans.    Both have what sound like solid ideas to deal with the big issues like the border, social security, college costs, Putin, and Gaza, mostly falling in line with the progressives.   But as we all should know, no matter who the president is, you won’t get anything done unless Congress is behind it.  The President’s biggest power is the ability to slow things down through a veto. 

So, it’s time to make some choices. If you’re a Democrat you should take their warning seriously, that to back Biden now is to risk not just losing the presidency, but a Republican landslide in Congress in November.  Time for due diligence and a look at these two candidates.

It’s always possible that, as some pundits are suggesting, Biden will bail out before the convention, leaving it to the delegates to select someone else.  It’s a good bet they won’t pick either of these two who have dared to buck the system.

September 15, 2023

Compare the Candidates: Ryan Binkley is Running for President

Now before you go “who?” let me tell you something—this guy is worth listening to. He’s an articulate speaker with a big heart. He is nowhere in the polls but that may change if he can get his message out.  Binkley is a businessman from Dallas as well as a pastor who started his own church, but he doesn’t hit you over the head with the cross. “I’m a Christian, but I don’t want that to be a divisive factor. We’re all one family, children of the Father. Let’s just love each other.” One of his campaign workers told me beforehand he will never run other candidates down or insult anyone–wouldn’t that be a relief.  

            It was a modest turnout of about 25, mostly students at New England College in Henniker and probably some of them had to come as an assignment.  As I listened to them giggling I wondered if all of us were that silly at that age.  Oh, and in case you were wondering, it’s still cool to wear your baseball cap backwards. 

Binkley is a tall man, a youthful 56 and easily the best-looking candidate of the bunch.   The evening benefitted from having a skilled moderator from the Manchester TV station.  The questions and answers kept coming at a brisk pace and covered a lot of ground without the applause that has characterized all the other townhall events. This was pure policy, no playing to the crowd. It was a thousand times more informative than any TV debate.

As I waited for it to begin I thought, “Why do these unknowns start with a run for president?  Why not congressman or mayor?” That, as it turned out was the moderator’s first question, and his answer was “I’m running for the next generation.” He has five kids and the country is in trouble.  He calls himself an economist at heart (he runs an investment bank) and the economy is out of control.  “The amount of money we owe and have to pay interest on is a disaster.  There is no plan in Congress for balancing the budget, for fixing health care, for inflation, for addressing poverty and if we don’t watch out people will turn to socialism.”  It’s the first time I heard a candidate mention the S word and it tied in with one of his slogans: Freedom. He means freedom from government overreach. Eminent domain takes someone’s land, and watch out, someone is coming for your freedom too.  “Socialism tries to buy your vote by offering you some benefit.  Giving free college tuition sounds great but year after year of that you’d have big trouble down the road because someone has to pay for infrastructure, for the professors.  That would mean raising tax rates, maybe even up to 70%. Inflation would result, pushing interest rates on mortgages up to 17%.    It’s like a credit card that will come due for your children and lead to a huge collapse.”  

The moderator hit the main talking points of the campaign and his answers kept coming back to finances and compassion.

Climate change: we can’t get rid of fossil fuels now. We need to get inflation down first. 

Abortion: I’m pro-life, but let’s change the conversation to show that we care.  Teenage mothers feel so alone. Churches, charities need to step in to help them and make adoptions more affordable (he has adopted a South Korean girl). Let’s make the men more accountable too.

Borders Plan: he has a “Security and Dignity Plan”—a path to citizenship and the Wall.

Trans: There are some things we will never agree on, but that doesn’t mean I hate you. Let’s listen to each other’s stories and respect each other. 

Foreign policy: We need a strong military, but we also need to be in shape financially. Only then will the world respect us.  China is in control and we are on the sidelines.  Putin will pay attention to us once we are leading financially again. 

Ukraine: We can’t have an endless war, but we also can’t let Putin win. So keep supporting Ukraine for now, but after the war we have to create a way for Russia to re-enter the world, to let them know we will help reintegrate them.  

Where he really got excited was when he began to talk about the need for a cultural change that hearkened back to Jimmy Carter’s appeal to morals or Bush the First’s compassionate conservativism.  “Most people hate politics, but would join in a movement to love your neighbor that would change the culture of America.  We need to encourage volunteerism, to give five hours a week to mentor someone, to help kids read in school.” 

If you voted for Trump because he was an outsider, Binkley, another outsider,  is nicer, more intelligent, a better speaker, doesn’t fly off the handle, and wins the sincere award.   At one point you could hear the emotion in his voice. “There are big crises coming and we’re not ready:  the economy, the border, race, health.”  That’s why he felt a calling to run though he knows it’s a long shot. But he’s also got a sense of humor. As he ended the night he held up the two hats he’s giving away: one says Binkley Believe –“this is my pastor side,” and the other says Way to Freedom, abbreviated WTF. The students laughed because of its more general meaning, and he laughed too, telling us when the double meaning was pointed out to him, he was urged to change it but he said, no let’s keep it.  “This is my business side.”  

    Nice guys finish last, as any baseball fan knows, but let’s wish him well in his quixotic quest. I’m sure many Americans would savor the moment in a future debate where he got to confront his opponents on the economy: “You just raised the national debt again! WTF!”