I normally try to avoid political issues and discussion because really it does me no good. I am sure to tick someone off because I have clients who are on both sides of the aisle and some that are not political at all. But since the Iowa Caucuses enjoy first-in-the-nation status, I’ve decided to join in to give a little political commentary limited solely to small business issues (the centerpiece of this blog). From my standpoint, when you think of business and the candidates, Donald Trump instantly comes to mind. But isn’t it interesting that several Iowa business leaders come out in support of Marco Rubio recently? And what about the other candidates?

So I decided to take a closer look to find out just what the candidates have to say on small business issues by looking solely at their own campaign websites. After all, what’s most important to candidates should actually appear on their campaign websites, correct?

What I found is that most candidates did have positions on taxes and the economy. They may have also mentioned issues impacting business such as US-China relations, immigration reform and health care reform. But what I was really looking for were candidates that directly mentioned small business on their sites. And surprisingly, I noted that only two major candidates, Marco Rubio and Hilary Clinton, mentioned small business as a part of their campaign platform on their websites.  Rubio and Clinton were also endorsed by the Des Moines Register this past weekend.

Are these really the best candidates on small business issues? I am not entirely sure because in reality there wasn’t much to read about their plans on their respective websites. But they did have more than the other candidates in my opinion and by at least mentioning small business they set themselves apart from the rest of the pack.

Read Rubio’s small business plan here.

Read Clinton’s small business plan here.

I am interested in hearing what you think. Please note though that all comments are monitored and only thoughtful comments on candidate positions relating to small business issues will be published.