Draining the swamp

From the President-elect's actions and appointments, Trump's strategy is straightforward. He wants to reduce the size and actions of government. To do that; he appointed adversaries to nearly every department presumably so that the directors will purge what they don't like or want. The caveat to that is that the Executive Branch cannot act without Congressional approval because the bureaucracies are created and funded by law to perform legislated services. Arbitrary actions by the Executive Branch would be illegal in many, if not most instances.

On another front, and Trump has opened many, he has launched attacks on prime defense contractors. Important to understand is that military defense contractors employ people who are part of the critical industrial infrastructure without which national security would be at significant risk.

Already, since the 1970s, the U.S. manufacturing base has been eroded to the extent that machine tools and metrology instruments are no longer made in America. The knowledge and skills to produce them are crucial to passing the baton from one generation to another. Therefore, we have created knowledge, engineering and manufacturing experience gap.

The rate at which military weapon systems is produced is determined by obsolescence, threats, and the nation's limited capacity to produce them. Given the debt, deficit, and dependency problems that include having China being a principal lender, it is imperative to keep the industrial based healthy as it is already not.

When the federal government decides to shrink in size, that also means that the commercial industry must be growing to employ those who are displaced. It also means that the federal government executives must understand the situation in the industrial base as its policies could make matters worse while further increasing national security risks.

Attacking the Chinese with aggressive foreign policy gestures doesn't seem prudent without having studied the situation.

"Trump strikes fear into defense contractors 

President-elect Donald Trump is putting a target on the defense contracting industry.

Trump’s criticism of projects from Lockheed Martin and Boeing has put contractors on notice, suggesting that the incoming administration intends to put a new emphasis on cost-cutting at the Pentagon.

"There's a lot of concern within the industry," one defense industry official told The Hill. "You don't want to get your program called out by the president." 

Email from The Hill

Attack dog

Vetting presidential candidates

The process of vetting presidential candidates in America is historically ad hoc and accomplished by American institutions that include:

1. Political parties
2. The press
3. The voting public
4. Electoral College
5. Law enforcement agencies at every level

The book, How to Select an American President by James A. George and James A. Rodger (c) 2016 Archway Publishing, suggests a process for voters, political parties, and candidates for presenting their resumes for evaluation, validating and verification.

Political parties have a responsibility to endorse and approve candidates bearing their brand. That includes ensuring that the candidates are free of conflicts of interest and of any legal impediments that include Constitutional minimums and more. "The more" part is ensuring that taxes are paid and that the presidential candidate would pass musters for obtaining the highest security clearance. That would require a background check.

The Electoral College is the last institution standing between a president-elect and becoming a sitting president.

Because president-elect Trump has not been forthcoming with his IRS filings and because he appears to have conflicts of interest with Russian entities through his associates, if not directly, the Electoral College must ask for a briefing by the CIA and FBI to ensure that Mr. Trump has no conflicts or impediments.

Much more work needs to be accomplished by political parties to improve the process.

"IS DONALD TRUMP EVEN VETTING HIS CABINET PICKS? 

His two latest rumored appointees suggest that loyalty and image, not qualifications, matter most to Trump. 

BY ABIGAIL TRACY 

NOVEMBER 23, 2016 11:20 AM" 

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/11/donald-trump-cabinet-vetting-process

Getty Image/ Vanity Fair

Trump, emboldened by ignorance

Apparently, President-elect Donald Trump shoots from the hip and is emboldened by ignorance. From observing his behavior throughout years of campaigning and television performances, Trump's personality is no secret. Being brash and arrogant on a tv show, or being that way in his company, he is accountable only to him. 

A sitting President has more responsibility and is expected to act with preparedness, armed with knowledge and facts about situations before acting. That is not his style.

Trump is a dangerous President because he exposes the nation to significant risk resulting from his temperament and deficient command of the facts before acting.

He attacked the Boeing Company with allegations about the high cost of two new presidential jets before he had the facts. Now, he is doing the same by attacking Lockheed Martin over the expense of the Joint Strike Fighter. It is not bad for a President to review high-cost profile programs. However, he is not yet sworn into office. He and his staff have not had the opportunity to study the situations. He is just "mouthing off."

He is also Tweeting to the Chinese about his opinions that do not yet change American policy. He may think that it is diplomatic negotiating, yet, his actions are premature and unprofessional. If he acts like a one-man band, he will mount a heap of trouble not just for himself, but for the nation. That is worrisome.

Add to that; he attacked the intelligence community.

Oh, and he is still at war with the Republican Party. Trump is a divider, not a uniter. It surely appears that he is leading with ignorance, and that is basically how the Chinese summed it up.

"Trump targets Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet costs 

Donald Trump on Monday criticized Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet program as too expensive, the latest attack by the U.S. President-elect on large defense contractors." 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-lockheed-idUSKBN1411HF?il=0

"The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" Carl Sagan

'Ignorant as a child' say the Chinese

How to make Democrats a winner

While leading Democrats wrestle in real time with lessons learned from the Hillary disaster, they won't want to hear that this is a large problem requiring a longer view and process to engineer a fix. The word "engineer" is purposeful as it implies skilled and artful crafting based on having performed an audit of the Democratic Party processes and organization.

Winning the presidency is not necessarily a win for the party. Obama proved that. He won based on organizing skills and intellectual brute force. He won by winning hearts and minds with smooth talk. His policies and actions rescued the economy and nation from certain disaster.

However, the Democratic Party failed to hold control of the Congress. It failed in the district and state trenches to gain confidence in their competence to manage communities. All politics are local, and Democrats forgot that.

Obama didn't help the party by establishing Obama for America (OFA) either. That side-brand usurped the clout of the Democratic Party host. Subbranding dilutes the national political organization.

Along the way, the Democratic Party's leadership, such as Deborah Wasserman Schultz, failed to do what the party needed her to accomplish. First, she needed to deliver Florida. Second, she needed to deliver women. Third, she needed to provide minorities of all kinds. She failed.

A short article cannot provide all that the party needs to address, but it can point to several things:

1. Produce superior qualified candidates by a new higher standard. (Define that)

2. Produce a superior platform to which constituents and candidates can align with confidence (Define that too)

3. Audit the entire Democratic Party processes and organization from top to bottom. (Hire a performance auditor)

"Dems grapple with lessons from Clinton disaster
BY NIALL STANAGE - 12/12/16 06:00 AM EST

Democrats are grappling with how to draw the right lessons — and avoid the wrong ones — after an extraordinary presidential election. 

Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump is an unmitigated disaster for Democrats, who want to ensure nothing like it happens again. But Clinton’s popular-vote lead over Trump is so large that it complicates the question of how to recalibrate for future elections.
Clinton led Trump by almost 3 million votes as of Sunday, according to a Cook Political Report tracker, with some final results still to be tabulated. More than 128 million votes were cast for the two main candidates nationwide, and Trump emerged as the victor by winning three Rust Belt states by margins of roughly 11,000 (Michigan), 23,000 (Wisconsin) and 44,000 (Pennsylvania).” 

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/309483-dems-grapple-with-lessons-from-clinton-disaster

James George, Author and Independent Journalist

How to Select an American President: Call for a new election

How to Select an American President: Call for a new election: The evidence likely shows and confirms that the Russians and WikiLeaks interfered in Election 2106 with criminal acts and with the intent t...

Call for a new election

The evidence likely shows and confirms that the Russians and WikiLeaks interfered in Election 2106 with criminal acts and with the intent to change the outcome of a free election. Interference came several ways:

1. Hacking and leaks
2. Fake news and propaganda
3. Hacking and attempts to manipulate voting results

When candidate Donald Trump directly called for interference by Russians to act on his behalf, that act crossed the line to make him a collaborator. His continued praise for Vladimir Putin reinforces bad behavior. Furthermore, Trump's personal conflicts of interest remain a secret because he has failed to make his IRS filings public.

Actions and alternatives lie ahead. One action would be for the Electoral College to void the election. Another would be for the Electoral College to seat the winner of the popular vote. Neither of those alternatives is as clean as having another vote.

If the court agrees that the process has become hopelessly flawed by manipulation, then perhaps the entire election should be done again including all of the Senators and House Members since their elections were also swayed by a corrupted presidential election.

This is no longer pie-in-the-sky conjecture because the charges and findings are deadly serious.

"Ex-CIA operative: We may need a new vote 

Former CIA Operative Robert Baer says if the CIA can prove that Russia interfered with the 2016 election then the US should vote again.Source: CNN" 

http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/12/10/robert-baer-new-election-russia-hacking-nr.cnn

Do it again.

How to Select an American President: State of the Union Epiphany

How to Select an American President: State of the Union Epiphany: I had an epiphany after having written the first draft of a new book. It goes back to a book that I published in 2010, Smart Data, Enterpris...

State of the Union Epiphany

I had an epiphany after having written the first draft of a new book. It goes back to a book that I published in 2010, Smart Data, Enterprise Performance Optimization Strategy, (c) Wiley Publishing. In that work, Dr. Rodger and I advocated the creation of a U.S. President's Performance Management Dashboard. The dashboard would provide performance metrics, aggregated from all of the programs and service initiatives under the Departments and Agencies of government such that the President and Congress can see metrics at any level that they desire. It is absurd that the federal government doesn't have such a thing already, but it doesn't.

If it did, then the State of the Union would be readily available for all to see at any point in time. The epiphany part is that the State of the Union report from Presidents is probably not delivered always at the right time.

The U.S. Constitution is rather casual about it.

"The formal basis for the State of the Union Address is from the U.S. Constitution: The President “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” Article II, Section 3, Clause 1."

Historically, it has been an annual message, of a sort.

Think about it. A new President arrives in January. Would it not have been useful to have a State of the Union report from a credible system having been delivered, say in October, before the national election? That way voters can evaluate the past performance and understand the stepping stone to the next administration.

The next government could be a continued incumbency for a second term. Or, it could be a new presidency.

The dashboard and its metrics would be inherited for the next incumbent to assume control to produce new metrics.

Having a standard system and approach would ensure continuity in accountability. Now, that does not mean that the dashboard would not change. In fact, the contents would reflect the actions of the Executive and Congress at changing and amending legislation, funding, and schedules. Otherwise, it must be dynamic and accountable for real-time results.

A Presidential Dashboard is a management tool for which the results are the U.S. Government Performance Dashboard that should be available and accessible by Congress and the citizens with some caveats particular to national security.

Democrats search for a leader

Unfortunately, the Democratic Party can't call a timeout to retool. It has to go to battle with the leaders it has. A story in The Hill today points to the party's decline in sources of leadership.

Since the number of states with Democrat Governors is way down, there are few choices. Therefore, they turn to the Senate for leadership.

In my new soon-to-be-released book, How to Select an American President (c) 2016, Archway Publishing, Dr. James Rodger and I suggest a template for building a candidate's resume. Here is a sneak preview:

"Describing the ideal candidate for President of the United States

Here we have developed an outline to guide your consideration and to encourage candidates to tell their story following this guide.

•    Candidate name:
The kind of candidate I am: (Their words)
•    Met the statutory requirements: 1) Citizen born in USA, 2) Age 35 years or greater, 3) Lived in the country for past 14 years
•    Birth date:
•    Place of birth:
•    Residences during the past 14 years:
•    Intelligence Quotient (IQ): (Provided by candidates from an accredited source)
•    Education:
o    High School (School Name/Location)
o    College Graduate (College/University Name/Location
•    Degree Type:
o    Major areas of study:
o    GPA:
o    Honors/Distinctions:
o    Post Graduate (University Name/Location) (for each)
•    Professional Certifications:
o    Bar
o    CPA
o    Engineer
o    Medical Doctor
o    Other
•    Occupation/Vocation/Profession:
•    Health Status: Healthy, sick, recovering, recovered: Verified with doctor’s report
Voter’s assessment of candidate age: (Will the candidate be able to complete two terms? Does the candidate have sufficient knowledge and experience as evidenced by the time spent to acquire it?)
•    Young 35-50, Middle 51-60, Older 61 >
•    Affected Class:
•    Candidate description:
•    Verified by Census filing
•    Voter assessment of character and behavior
From reviewing past president’s we identified certain terms that are helpful in differentiating and describing candidates listed in alphabetical order.
•    Adaptive
•    Allegiant to the Constitution and nation
•    Brave in the face of adversity
•    Leader, follower
•    Listener, talker
•    Passionate, impassionate, easy-going
•    Process-oriented (how), task-oriented (what), results-oriented (outcomes)
•    Thundering or reassuring
•    Visionary, administrator, integrator, independent, loner
This category is refined further, though this is a thought starter.
•    Voters’ assessment of leadership style
Similarly, we captured some words used to describe leadership styles.
o    Collaborator
o    Creative and inventive
o    Delegator
o    Detailer
o    Do it yourself
o    Hands-on
o    You’re fired
•    Education and Training (Professional Development)
Life-long learning – It is beneficial to observe how presidential candidates have stayed abreast of contemporary knowledge and skill requirements.
•    Knowledge:
o    American government system
o    Concept of operations
o    Concept of the role of the president in optimizing the nation’s government performance
o    Constitution
o    Economics
o    Entitlements
o    Foreign policy
o    Information and communications technology
o    International trade
o    Knowing each governmental department and primary expectations for them
o    Knowing how to create laws
o    Knowing how to work with Congress
o    Law
o    Operational architecture
o    Primary presidential tasks and associated outcomes

•    Skill:
o    Administrative
o    Budgeting
o    Strategic planning
o    Writing
o    Speaking
o    Negotiating
o    Collaborating
o    Debating
o    Planning
o    Problem-solving
o    Decision-making
o    Sense-making
o    Predicting
o    Modeling
o    Recruiting and staffing
o    Organization development
o    Program evaluation and management
•    Life History (Childhood to adulthood status)
The kind of person that can relate to me; the kind of person to whom I can relate; my kind of person:
o    The person next door
o    The person who lives on the best street
o    Successful
o    Hobo (like Harry Truman)
•    Ability to manage the economy: The job of president is to create an environment in which private enterprise can flourish as that is what increases revenues.
o    Optimization = Increasing GDP and higher quality service for the least cost and labor intensity
o    Presidential Platform and Agenda: Priorities, Issues, Causes, Programs, Solutions, Vision
o    Banking
o    Fossil fuels
o    Energy independence
o    Entrepreneurs
o    Food supply
o    Green renewable
o    Housing
o    Infrastructure
o    Job creation
o    Manufacturing
o    Nation-building
o    Nuclear
o    Peace-building
o    Preemptive war
o    Promote democracy
o    Sustainable economy
o    Transportation
o    War is last resort
•    Relationship with Powerful Forces: Military Industrial Complex, Wall Street, PACs and Lobbyists
•    Political Party
o    Relationships with party leadership
•    Values:
o    Attitude about big business
o    Attitude about campaign contributions
o    Attitude about educators
o    Attitude about free speech
o    Attitude about government regulation
o    Attitude about gun control
o    Attitude about health care
o    Attitude about immigrants
o    Attitude about organized labor
o    Attitude about public service
o    Attitude about rural America
o    Attitude about small business
o    Attitude about women and minorities
o    Attitude toward immigrants
o    Attitude toward monitories
o    Patriotic
o    States’ rights versus Central government
o    Work ethic
•    Military Experience:
o    Rank
o    Combat Veteran
o    Unit
o    Command
o    Wars and battles
o    Citations and awards
•    Public Office Experience:
o    Vice President
o    Judge
o    Department Secretary
o    Governor
o    Senator
o    House Representatives
o    Mayor
o    State Legislature
o    Other Public Service
•    Private Sector Experience:
o    CEO/President
o    Large Corporation
o    Medium Corporation
o    Small Business
o    Vice President
o    Director
o    Professional Manager
o    Entrepreneur
o    Inventor
o    Patents
•    Memberships: Organizations and Leadership positions
•    Voters’ assessment of candidates on religion: Faith matters; Faith is irrelevant; Faith is private."

How to Select an American President by James A. George with James A. Rodger (c) 2016 Archway Publishing.

Senators Warner, Warren, and Gillibrand scored well. The leaders may reside in the private sector. Keep looking.

"Depleted Dems look to Senate for 2020 nominee 

BY ALEXANDER BOLTON - 12/08/16 06:00 AM EST  1,174 

The Senate is emerging as Democrats’ most promising recruiting ground for a presidential candidate in 2020 — in part because of the party’s deep losses in gubernatorial mansions.  

The ranks of Democratic governors have been hit, with a string of losses reducing their numbers to a paltry 16. 

That’s leaving the Senate as perhaps the most likely place for the next Democratic star to rise." 

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/309360-depleted-dems-look-to-senate-for-2020-nominee

Democrat Senators who are good leaders

How to Select an American President: Operation Military Overload

How to Select an American President: Operation Military Overload: President-elect Donald Trump has nominated a third former general to the executive branch, raising eyebrows among some about the possible bi...

Operation Military Overload

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated a third former general to the executive branch, raising eyebrows among some about the possible bias. It isn't a military overthrow they are concerned about, yet.

"Trump hires a third general, raising concerns about heavy military influence 

Trump picks Kelly for homeland security; the third general tapped for his administration. 

By Philip Rucker and Mike DeBonis" 

Washington Post 

Actually, in my book, How to Select an American President by James A. George with James A. Rodger (c) 2016 Archway Publishing, points are added for military service. In fact, the military has a system of advancement and promotion that is worthy of reference as a model for performance management and personal and professional development. Advancing in the military system is based upon certifications that are verifiable.

The government Senior Executive Service has a similar system. The federal government Office of Personel Management does too.

The trouble is that some presidential appointees could not pass the standards for the hiring of the people and organizations over which they will manage.  There is a complete mismatch among some nominees who have never managed a sizeable bureaucracy and now are made the senior executive. That reflects upon the President as being incompetent and irresponsible. The Senate still must approve. However, they are not guided by specific standards either.

Hostile takeover

What we have here in America is what business people call a hostile takeover.

"A hostile takeover is the acquisition of one company (called the target company) by another (called the acquirer) that is accomplished by going directly to the company's shareholders or fighting to replace management to get the acquisition approved."

In the case of President-elect Trump, he is the acquirer. Voters are the shareholders, and Trump is fighting with governance, Congress and the bureaucracy to install his team and his brand. The trouble with this metaphor is that the US government is not a private enterprise, it is a pluralistic democratic republic. The rules are different.

Given that more people voted against Trump than for him, and given his and his party's penchant for attacking programs and services that help people, sooner than later, he is going to run into a buzz saw of public opinion.

Like him, or not, his actions are inappropriate.

"The Six Ingredients of Trump’s ‘Hostile Takeover Playbook.' 

By FRANK GREGORSKY Published on December 7, 2015

How many political insiders do you know who are opposed to Barack Obama and his nefarious works — IRS abuses, corporate bribes, climate fantasies, bailouts for Iran, importing saboteurs — yet save their peak agitation for Donald Trump, a presidential candidate they say “can’t” be nominated? 

If it “can’t” happen, why sputter to the point of apoplexy? Perhaps because “it” is being defined too conventionally. 

Let’s try a different lens: Trump’s terrain-shifting methods fit the Hostile Takeover Playbook. The rules of corporate raiding are quite different from the ordinary rules of primary politics and seem to fit the mood of over a third of the Republican rank-and-file, who favor Trump over his primary rivals and over the timid “Directors” they sent to Congress to stop the Obama Onslaught. Seen in this light, what we’re watching is one heck of a Proxy Fight for “GOP Incorporated.” 

(1) Trump is a long-suffering “shareholder” himself. He speaks of backing John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012. He described the latter as a competent golfer who starts to choke on the final three or four holes. Isn’t that the way one business guy sizes up another? 

(2) His track record is pragmatic and opportunistic. Trump has backed candidates from the other party, including Hillary Clinton for Senator in 2000. Like classic corporate raiders Carl Icahn and T. Boone Pickens, he treats consistency as the hobgoblin of small minds. Lucky for him that many Republicans no longer see “ideological correctness” as Priority One. 

(3) As of June 2015, the stage is set: He opens the Takeover Campaign by floodlighting an issue — one product line, one pulsating niche — starved for attention by the existing Management: Border Control, Sanctuary Cities and most graphically the violent crimes committed by illegals. 

(4) Because every another presidential candidate except Ted Cruz has been evasive on that matter, Trump’s candidacy quickly gains critical mass, which grows further as he shows how to escape the boxes long used by Big Media to constrict Republican officeholders and policy options. 

(5) As personal attacks arrive, he either flicks them off — e.g., handing out Lindsey Graham’s phone number — or responds with tactical nukes. Yes, the latter has made Trump look like a hypersensitive Tweet-monger. But such pinpoint aggression also shows he’s comfortable sustaining a battle. And it strongly indicates he won’t be a calculating controversy-dodger in 2016. 

(6) Trump mixes big-picture opportunity with kitchen-table directness. For the latter: “If I win, we will not have to listen to the politicians who are losing the war on terrorism. We will keep America safe. And we will make America great again.” The takeover sketch also includes new suppliers and new customers: Trump can win 25% of the Black vote in 2016, one poll suggested. No national Republican ticket has done that since the 1950s.” 

https://stream.org/six-ingredients-trumps-hostile-takeover-playbook/

How to Select an American President: Tyranical Unpredictability

How to Select an American President: Tyranical Unpredictability: What Donald Trump doesn't get is that he is not a dictator operating a family-controlled enterprise. The US government works in a plura...

Tyranical Unpredictability

What Donald Trump doesn't get is that he is not a dictator operating a family-controlled enterprise. The US government works in a pluralistic democratic republic with a division of power. Trump acts like a tyrant when he "tweets" pompously as if he is a one-man band.

Attacking businesses, one by one, is ludicrous. Oppressively acting as if Trump can without checks and balances (he cannot) makes him an abuser of power. As a result, that makes him a tyrant.

Trump and many American citizens have issues about corporations outsourcing jobs and about dodging taxes, for instance. However, Trump is the pot calling the kettle black.

If he wants to make a difference, he needs to settle down and show discipline that he can produce legislation and rules with Congress that will incentivize businesses while also imposing disincentives for doing the wrong things. He hasn't stepped foot in The White House yet, and he is off to a destabilizing start.

“Trump’s unpredictable style unnerves corporate America 

By Drew Harwell and Rosalind S. Helderman December 6 at 8:49 PM 
The turbulence began Tuesday morning with one of President-elect Donald Trump’s signature tweets of wrath: a public jab at Boeing alleging that the cost of building Air Force One had spiraled out of control.” 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trumps-unpredictable-style-unnerves-corporate-america/2016/12/06/6e3f3976-bbea-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.92cb4fd0dae5&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

Image from http://controversialtimes.com/

How to Select an American President: What is optimal employment in the US?

How to Select an American President: What is optimal employment in the US?: With monthly reports about job creation and employment statistics that span political administrations, the data presents a consistent pictur...

What is optimal employment in the US?

With monthly reports about job creation and employment statistics that span political administrations, the data presents a consistent picture of the circumstances. However, many citizens and some experts believe that the data may not adequately describe and explain the quality of life in America by these measures alone.

The years beginning at the end of the George W. Bush administration and continuing during the first term of the Obama administration portray economic disaster and a slow recovery. The second term of the Obama administration has employment and the economy on a better track. However, is it the right path, and to where is it headed?

President-elect Trump won the election because he wants to "Make America Great Again," and that means that he doesn't believe that the present course is acceptable. Critics of the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports believing that many people have given up looking for work and are otherwise not counted in the potential labor pool.

Having a precise understanding of the situation is imperative to producing a sustainable economy from optimizing return on national resources. If we can't agree on simple things such as the number of people employed and unemployed, that is a nonstarter.

The US Nation is confronting a pivotal time in history in which leaders need to have an accurate understanding of the economic situation and a vision for a sustainable economy that ensures a good life for all in the absence of poverty. The questions for today's leadership is what their assessment? What is their vision? What is the way forward?

This topic deserves more discussion.

Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics 

How to Select an American President: Failed Parties and the Flawed Political System

How to Select an American President: Failed Parties and the Flawed Political System: News today is that Democratic Party members and leadership blame one another for their loss to Donald Trump. It could just as well have been...

Failed Parties and the Flawed Political System

News today is that Democratic Party members and leadership blame one another for their loss to Donald Trump. It could just as well have been about the Republican's loss to Democrats, yet it wasn't.

Clinton won the popular vote. Trump won the electorate. Republicans gained complete control of Congress and control of communities across the nation at the local level. The latter fact underscores that the Republicans may well have secured a mandate, even as Trump did not win the popularity.

The facts are that Democrats lost local elections which are the trench warfare. Success begins in a Democratic, pluralistic republic by winning hearts and minds locally.

Most communities in America are corporations which are staffed and managed by a combination of elected officials and professional managers with citizen oversight.

If one wants to improve the American system of government, it begins by how local citizens select and elect their leadership. The basic tasks fall on citizens:

1. Know your government organization, how it is structured and the work to be performed.

2. Know the job tasks of officials in government positions.

3. Know and understand the skill, knowledge, and experience necessary for elected officials to be successful in attending to the citizens' needs.

Independent from political party affiliation, do candidates and incumbents have the requisite resumes for their offices?

The next question is how do political parties recruit and nurture superior candidates for public office?

Montgomery, Ohio