David Webb: The 2016 Cinderella story: How the fantasy could cost us the castle

The story of Cinderella is a classic in American literature and pop culture. It’s hopeful, magical — and more important, it’s fantasy. But fantasy and politics don’t mix well. In fact, this is often a recipe for disaster. Let’s examine the cast of characters in this modern-day political Cinderella fairy tale that in the end will become all too real for all Americans. Cinderella wasn’t qualified to rule the kingdom.

On the Democrats’ side there is Hillary Clinton, who more closely resembles Lady Tremaine, the wicked stepmother. She is cold, calculating and willing to use her subordinates (the daughters in the fairy tale) to achieve her goals. Clinton is a dangerous opportunist, as demonstrated by her history in both her professional and political life. What may exist in her emails regarding the Clinton Foundation — deleted and hopefully all recovered — could be a significant scandal. For those concerned about power and influence being misused at the highest levels, can you imagine Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton in the White House again? 

{mosads}Bernie Sanders, who is running on the Democratic ticket but is an avowed socialist, is a borderline communist who rehashes old and failed ideas that cannot be supported by economics or history. Far beyond unqualified by his ideas, no matter how much he dresses up his socialism it simply doesn’t work. Sanders isn’t a Cinderella in this political drama — he’s more like the old grandpa who never got to be king but is still hoping for a coup. 

As an aside, for those of you who support Clinton or Sanders, remember how our constitutional republic works: If either were to be elected president, they would face a Republican House and Senate urged on by a center-right nation to stand firm against leftist and socialist policies. 

On the Republican side we have first the outsiders, businessman Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. 

Trump is a complicated political Cinderella, running for the highest office in the land with very little political past. He’s leading in the early polls significantly, but in order to be qualified to run the kingdom he has to begin to build a policy-based structure and amass advisers to support his statements. 

Carson is a man of exceptional intelligence who has not been successful in projecting his strengths beyond his core supporters. A political leader needs to be able to do this — the projection of strength is at times as important as the intelligence behind it. If the slipper doesn’t fit this Cinderella, he would do well as a senior adviser in the court. 

Ted Cruz is a Tea Party conservative Cinderella who fought almost everyone at the ball on principle but hasn’t delivered a big win to hang his political slippers on. He is gaining in the early polls, though he needs more mass appeal to win over the voters.

What can be said about Jeb Bush? Jeb Bush should have run as Jeb Bush this whole cycle; whoever advised him to first run away from his last name and then pivot back to it, as he is doing in South Carolina, gave him bad advice. Amassing a lot of money and establishment support cannot change a basic human response in trust when you don’t run openly and honestly. There are many in America who like the Bush name, and even those who don’t I would guess prefer a level of honesty rather than one of seeming deflection. The former Florida governor isn’t really a Cinderella, so I’ve added another character to the original cast. If he is not the nominee this year, there is still a lot of work to be done in Florida — that is, in Bush Country — to bring in electoral votes in November.

Marco Rubio is a young, politically attractive, almost to the point of inexperienced Cinderella who has a Cinderella story of his own, as he often reminds us. That only carries you so far. It’s been evident in how he is easily rattled at times, as in the New Hampshire debate. If Rubio is not the nominee, he needs to go home to Florida with Bush and bring those electoral votes in for the Republicans.

John Kasich needs to stop the biographical history lesson and paint his vision for the future. His Cinderella story has both legislative and executive experience, so maybe he’s more of a prince in waiting. If not the candidate, he needs to be a team player, and bring Ohio home for the GOP. 

The fantasy of instant political gratification by either side is just that. Don’t buy the hype — learn how the process works and how we make it work properly. We need qualified leaders and advisers to deal with other qualified leaders throughout the world, good or bad. The current and soon to be past Cinderella story of Barack Obama is an ongoing failure we do not need to repeat.

Webb is host of “The David Webb Show” on SiriusXM Patriot 125, a Fox News contributor and has appeared frequently on television as a commentator. Webb co-founded TeaParty365 in New York City and is a spokesman for the National Tea Party Federation. His column appears twice a month in The Hill.