Another Way to Make America Great Again

It’s been a busy week, starting with the AM 590 GOP Debate Review at the Riverside Convention Center; as the primary sponsor, I was honored to lead things off with the Pledge of Allegiance. Talk radio legends Dennis Prager and Larry Elder were the guest speakers, and each one offered his own take on last week’s Republican presidential debate. Here are some highlights I took away, with proper credit given to each of them for their statements. My comments appear in parenthesis.

• Dennis Prager reminded the audience that, “You’re debating both your opponent and the media if you’re a Republican.” He also asked how many people in the audience had been called by a political pollster in their lifetime, and very few hands went up. (His point was that polls are not necessarily indicative of true “likely voter” opinion. I believe that may be true.)
• Larry Elder called Scott Walker an “afterthought” in the debate – (and now that he has dropped out of the race, it looks like Walker would agree).
• Dennis Prager pointed out that while Democrats love to claim the Republican party is only made up of “old whites,” their candidates are Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden – all old, and all white!
• Larry Elder believes that the two candidates most likely to stand for issues of faith are Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee. The least likely? Donald Trump.
• Dennis Prager, speaking of faith, said: “If I know a candidate goes to church every week, I still know nothing about their values.” (I couldn’t agree more; President Obama went to church, and now we know what his values are. They couldn’t be more at odds with Christianity. And speaking of the President’s former church, Elder pointed out that when Jeremiah Wright retired, his congregation pitched in to buy him a $1 million mansion in an all-white suburb. Chew on that for a minute!)
• Larry Elder stated that for him, the biggest disappointment of the debate was Dr. Ben Carson – not just on debate performance, but policy as well. He named some of Dr. Carson’s positions that were not talked about before the debate, including his opposition to the war in Iraq. (That might help him with Democrat voters, though. Regardless, Dr. Carson needs to wake up – literally. I have met this kind, intelligent man and was an early supporter, but unfortunately, Trump is correct about Carson’s “lack of energy.”)
• Dennis Prager called Carly Fiorina “imminently electable” – and I completely agree. (What I may not necessarily agree with him on, though, is his lack of concern for Ted Cruz’s birthplace of Canada. I asked him, why did people who questioned Obama’s birthplace use it against him? Why was that an issue for Obama seven years ago, but it’s not an issue for Ted Cruz now? His reply was, “I never considered that”).

The next day, my wife and I traveled to South Carolina to attend Lieutenant Dan Band Weekend, an annual patriotic event organized by actor Gary Sinese (who played the Lieutenant Dan character in “Forrest Gump”). We were there at the invitation of the Independence Fund, a veteran’s charity that does incredible work for our nation’s vets. Earlier this year, my employees raised $28,500 for this fine organization; the Independence Fund used a significant portion of that money to purchase an all-terrain track chair for a deserving wounded veteran. I’m excited to say that I was able to meet one of the Indy Fund’s many track chair recipients at the event; his name is Dale, and he is a double amputee who told me about his overwhelming gratitude for this charity. Later, my wife summed up her feelings about the night perfectly: “Tonight was worth the whole trip!” And I 100 percent agree.

If you have the means to get involved with veterans’ charities at any level, I highly encourage it. You don’t have to vote for Donald Trump to make America great again; you can simply give of your time and resources.

Ed Hoffman is host of The Main Event on AM590, which airs Saturday 9:30 AM- 10:30 AM and Sunday 4:00 PM- 5:00 PM. Follow him on Twitter @EdHoffman, and like him on Facebook by searching The Main Event 590.