4th seeded Agnieszka Radwanska last night defeated unseeded Casey Dellacqua 6-4 6-0 in a match that went to schedule. Radwanska only really had one scare, in which Dellacqua came back from 5-1 to 5-4, before Radwanska broke Dellacqua’s serve to win the set.
Quick Wrap: A Sad Day for Journalism
Yesterday in a Cairo court, Al Jazeera journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and producer Baher Mohammed were given 7-10 year sentences for what can only be described as responsible journalism. The Egyptian government, with Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has made its intentions clear from the outset, to eliminate all traces of the formerly ruling Muslim Brotherhood party from public life. They have already given a death sentence to 182 of the group’s followers, and Mohamed Morsi, the party’s leader, is currently on trial for murder, inciting deadly violence and espionage. What, in effect, el-Sisi is trying to do in ridding Egypt of the ruling party and its followers, is to do to the Muslim Brotherhood what the United States under George W. Bush did to the Ba’ath party in Iraq during the war from 2003, through imprisoning and killing members, including Saddam Hussein himself. This, in Iraq’s case just led to more sectarian violence and a situation now, where Barack Obama has to face a similar situation as President of the U.S as Bush did back then. All I’ll say is, for the sake of the Middle East, I hope history doesn’t repeat.
Wickmayer defeats Stosur in R1 Wimbledon
Samantha Stosur’s first round defeat to unseeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-3 6-4 means the 3rd time she has been knocked out before winning a match in the past 5 years at arguably the biggest stage in tennis. The 69 minute match in which Stosur looked shaky continues her dismal run on grass.
My Take: The Republican Party in 2016
The Republican Party in the United States faces an interesting decision heading into the 2016 election. Do they go with a candidate who is a known heavyweight (Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, or even Chris Christie) or do they go for someone a little out of left field (Ted Cruz, Mike Lee or Rand Paul). This has been a decision Republicans have had to make ever since the Tea Party and even further back to Barry Goldwater. In 2012, as we know, they chose former Salt Lake City mayor Mitt Romney from the heavyweight group to run against the incumbent President Barack Obama. He lost in what was a tough race. Ever since the election, Republicans have been searching for their next candidate.
My take is that they should end up going for someone like Rand Paul or Chris Christie, due to a couple of reasons.
1) Mitt Romney will surely not be given a second go, given his 2012 failure and political baggage.
2) Mike Lee is too much of an unknown quantity to a party that knows it will face an experienced campaigner.
3) Ted Cruz is unpopular in many critical swing states due to his part in the Government shutdown last year, and is one candidate who, due to his age, will be around for years to come, and therefore their will be more opportunities for him to run later down the line.
Of course, another name to discuss is Jeb Bush, who to my mind is the dark horse in all of this, because he is just far enough away from his brother, George W. Bush to have negative political baggage. However, many people do still remember his role in 2000 election when he was Governor of Florida. It is for this reason that I don’t see him as a main contender for the Republican nomination.
Which gets us down to two, libertarian Rand Paul from Kentucky and Governor Chris Christie from New Jersey. Right now, in the aftermath of Bridgegate, I think Chris Christie would do well to play his cards close to his chest, due to the potential negative popularity impact from that fiasco. Rand Paul is not the Governor of a state, instead a humble Senator, who has steadily been building popularity not only with fellow Republicans due to his ability to stand with the Constitution, but also with the average person, due to his attacking of the Iraq invasion in 2003 and solid beliefs.
To my mind, Rand Paul would be a very difficult candidate for Democrats to hit hard, due to a lack of political baggage. Unlike many Republicans, he is not a Tea Party maniac, who the average voter can’t identify with, and he’s also not an ultra-establishment Republican who the average person is fed up with. Another thing that augurs well for Rand is that he doesn’t seem to be the enemy of Fox News and conservative talk radio shows that his father, Ron, used to be. This is a major plus for Rand, who has just seen the fall of ultra-establishment GOP heir apparent Eric Cantor to Tea Partier Dave Brat, due in no small part to Brat’s endorsement by such personalities as Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin. It is this backing by conservative personalities that will be one of the more interesting subplots as we get closer to 2016.
In closing, I think Rand Paul would be my pick if I were the Republican Party nominating a candidate for the 2016 election.
What the Paddy File is all about
The Paddy File is going to be a blog about difference, not afraid to have a different opinion from the rest. Independence will always be the main aim here, because at the end of the day, the most truthful side of the story isn’t always the one you get spun. Here you’ll hear every issue from the AFL’s problems to why politics is all about vision.
The Paddy File 