10 reasons why General Mattis should be nominated for President:
1) He’s not a politician. He has spent his entire adult life so far serving in the military, the institution that enjoys the most respect among American citizens, including young people. He’s not involved in any scandals or other evil deeds, and he has never done any political buyoffs, “kickbacks”, lobbying, “grand bargaining”, or any of the corrupt, sell-out things that politicians, especially those in Washington DC, do daily. He’s as clean as a hound’s tooth. Not only has he served, he has served honorably.
2) As a Marine, he believes deeply in, and has always practiced, the values of the Marine Corps: selfless service to the country; loyalty to and sincerity with your country, your superiors, and your subordinates; doing your duty no matter the difficulty; behaving with dignity; being dependable; showing justice and good judgment. That would be a great choice for all “values voters.”
3) Having served as an officer at all levels of command in the military, up to a Unified Combatant Command, and having commanded troops in wartime, he understands both the need for a strong national defense and for wisdom in deciding where and when to apply that strength. Unlike George W. Bush and Barack Obama, he will not involve America in any nationbuilding exercises or other amorphous, promiscous military crusades unrelated to vital US national interests. He will intervene abroad only if crucial US interests require it and there’s no other way to protect those interests.
4) While his nickname is “Mad Dog”, he’s actually a great intellectual who has studied and collected thousands of books on warfare, history, and related subjects, including Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Thus, he knows how to win wars, when to fight, and when not to fight. He knows how important it is to have competent military commanders, leaders (military and civilian) who set up good personal examples for their people, and to obey all other advice given by Sun Tzu.
5) Related to #4, he’s a rare leader who actually leads by example. A story will illustrate this. During the 1990s, when Gen. Charles Krulak was Commandant of the USMC, he and his wife would prepare Christmas cookies every year for Marines on guard duty in the Washington metropolitan area during Christmas, and Gen. Krulak would then deliver those cookies personally to those Marines, driving himself to USMC installations in the area.
One Christmas, when Gen. Krulak arrived at Quantico and gave some cookies to a Marine on guard duty, he asked that Marine who his commanding officer was on that day. The guard said, “Brigadier General Mattis.” At first, Gen. Krulak couldn’t believe that, but then BG Mattis suddenly walked in. Krulak asked him, “Jim, what are you doing here on Christmas day? Why do you have duty?” General Mattis told him that the young officer who was scheduled to have duty on Christmas day had a family, and General Mattis decided it was better for the young officer to spend Christmas Day with his family, and so he chose to have duty on Christmas Day.
This is a rare example of a leader who really cares for his people and leads by example; he shares their burden of service. There are few such leaders to be had. But America can have one as President. And that’s General Mattis.
Wouldn’t it be better to have such a leader as President, instead of a nut-bar libertarian rookie Senator or yet another McCain-like RINO?
In 2016, the Democrats will nominate yet another scandal-plagued career politician like Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden. Republicans will have an opportunity to nominate someone different, someone entirely from outside Washington DC and its political establishment, someone entirely from outside the political class: General James Mattis.
6) He knows the Democrats very well and thus knows how to defeat them. As CENTCOM commander from 2010 until last March, General Mattis knows all Obama admin officials – Obama himself, VP Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and others – very well. He knows their strengths and weaknesses. He knows how to irk them and make them feel uncomfortable and insecure. In fact, it is precisely by asking hard questions and insisting the Obama administration’s rush to war in Syria that Gen. Mattis irked them so badly they forced him to retire.
As Sun Tzu taught in the Art of War, “If you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither yourself nor the enemy, you will succumb in every battle.”
And it would be great to see a debate between him and the eventual Democratic nominee – be it Hillary, Joe Biden, Martin O’Malley, or whomever else!
7) He will deliver a great RNC acceptance speech if he’s nominated, unlike Mitt Romney’s almost content-free speech at the 2012 RNC.
8) As a fierce fighter, he would campaign very actively and very lively, right until Election Day.
9) The Democrats have nothing on him. Neither do his prospective primary rivals. His sometimes colorful statements are not scandalous or offensive; they merely reflect the nature of war, the Marine Corps, and the world in which it must operate. General Mattis does not shoot straight from the hip without thinking about what he’s about to say. He can be diplomatic and polite, or tough and threatening, depending on the need.
10) If he commands the respect and prestige that I think he does, and if he does run for President, he will likely clear the primary field easily, thus sparing Republicans another protracted, bloody, destructive primary battle they engaged in last year.
General James Mattis for President!
