Wednesday, January 20, 2016

A year from today, we will inaugurate...

... God only knows who...

Everybody will be gathered around the West Front of the Capitol, either in person -- the closer, the more important the person -- or hovered around their TV sets or computer screens, as the case may be, to watch the winner of the November 2016 election take the oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution in the process of being sworn in as the next president of the United States of America.

Ronald Wilson Reagan being sworn in as the 40th President of the United States on U.S. Capitol's West Front

Who will he or she be?

Well, I have some clues.

Every year since 1987, I have picked the candidate out of crowded campaign fields who would not only win their respective party's nomination but would go on to win the presidency.

President George H.W. Bush  (June 1987; I started working for him in August 1987.)
President William Jefferson Clinton (January 1992)
President George W. Bush (June 1998)
President Barack Obama (January 2008)

That's a pretty good record.

But, it's far too soon in this particular election cycle to divine this year's winner.

Yet, I will say: For months, I have been sensing it will be Trump. That he is sincere in his desire to "make America great again" and that he could be a good, if not a great president since the dirty little secret in Washington is all you need is good judgement, the ability to communicate and connect with voters, good advisors, whom you trust, and a deep and abiding love of America. (If it is Trump, his VP pick, perhaps the one who places or shows in most primary elections -- or maybe someone like Senator Joni Ernst -- will loom far larger than in previous years.)

But, this year there are far too many wild cards.

If you trust the polls at this point, the Democrat and Republican nominees will be respectively, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.  And, Senator Sanders will be elected the 45th president of the United States.

As I say, it's far too soon.

Though, as I look out my window at the lightly snow dusted roads in Washington this evening, I realize it's not too soon to begin thinking about the perfect gown for the Inaugural Ball honoring our next president, who, God willing, will be a great one!

Jacqueline Kennedy's Inaugural Gala Gown. Ivory silk satin evening gown, designed by Oleg Cassini, 1961. Worn by the new First Lady to the Inaugural Gala.