For the past few months I have been trying not to give any of the little press that I would contribute to any of the candidates in this years presidential race. I feel that I have given more than enough of my opinion on all the ones who would care to rule our little part of the world and that was sufficient. The last thing that I want is to turn what I do into some kind of platform for any cause, situation, candidate or agenda. With that being stated and keeping with the voting motif I began last week on our local scene, a few issues have risen on the national front that I feel deserve a certain amount of mention.
Although it comes as no surprise to most of us, it seems that we now have our candidates for the showdown in November in place. Apart from some kind of major party dissention at either convention (and with this race it wouldn't surprise me in the least) with Donald being the presumptive nominee for over a month and Hillary winning a little over a week ago, the sad reality that we have to face is that one of these two will more than likely be sworn in this coming January. As Trump stands alone, save a contested convention, Clinton still faces Sanders as he claims he is "not going anywhere" until their convention. Ultimately I think he will bow out and get behind her before then. For as even keeled as our political system can be, which is not saying much, Clinton did in fact win fairly and Sanders will eventually acknowledge that. As delusional his goals for the presidency were, he was not without integrity.
So essentially the election is set. Trouble is..... nobody cares. Respectively, both candidates have achieved a distinction that no other single candidate has in modern history. They are the two least popular candidates..... ever. In fact, in a recent NBC poll, more than half the registered voters who claim that they will cast a ballot this fall say they will do so because they oppose their candidates rival more than they support their party's choice for the chief executive. Wow!!... So in essence, in what may very well be a history making election, voters will go to the polls this year with the intention of voting for what they believe will be the lesser objection of the two candidates. Now that's the way to elect a president, folks. You might as well just ask an arcade fortune teller machine or flip a coin.... wait... never mind... that was Iowa. Another Hail to the Chief tidbit is that the numbers are also showing record breaking statistics in party crossover votes. Even their own party members don't like either of the candidates they have. Maybe someone should explain to them that they chose these two. One could not imagine a worse case scenario within a political choice, my fellow Observers, until you explore the possibility that we may not have had a choice since the beginning of all this.
I'd like to share with you a theory I suggested to my wife a few months ago while watching coverage of the primaries and debates. Outside of hoping that Trump would expose an elaborate "April Fools" joke 11 weeks ago, I began to consider the feasibility that his campaign could be a planned ruse that was intended to gum up the political machine in order to get Clinton elected. It may sound far fetched to some, but the more I Observe what has transpired, the notion became more credible to me and not in a conspiracy theory, "they're all out to get us" kind of way either. Bear with me as I go over a few points that may sway you to jump on the Donald for Hillary wagon with me.
First off, this is just my own curiosity, but why does Trump want to be president in the first place? One could answer that he really wants to create change in our country, but since he's been dealing with how slow politics work in implementing change within the boundaries of his own business dealings he must know how unlikely he will effectively be able to achieve it. Maybe its ego. That he revels in the prospect of having people refer to him as "Mr. President". Although that could be the reason, I don't think he needs it. From what I've seen, he thinks pretty highly of himself already and he certainly has enough sycophants to keep his ego happy. I find it more likely that if he really wants to be elected he has a more personal motive to seek the office. To use it as a resource that would benefit him more than the people. What that is.... only "The Donald" knows. So, if he wants to be the president, why is he alienating as many people as he possibly can? Now that he is the republican's guy, wouldn't now be the time to start working to get all the votes he can? I presume he knows the general election is a mere 4 months away. At least one would hope he does.
Now let's take a look at the way Trump is campaigning for our votes demographically.
Trump may now say that he is supportive of LGBT rights, same-sex marriage and back in 2000 he seemed to not have a problem with any lifestyle presented to him with his "love who you love" attitude, but it appears that his views have ping ponged since his presidential bid. That's Ok, Hillary throughout her husband's presidency stood only for traditional marital values and is now in full support of same-sex marriages along with LGBT rights. But, seeing as Trump stated on the Christian Broadcasting Network that it's viewers could "trust him to defend traditional marriage" and in a CNN interview said that he would look into "overturning" all same-sex marriages (presumably by executive order) or "putting certain judges on the bench that could change the law" it seems like Hillary would capture the gay vote with his blatant indecision and vague threats.
One of Trump's platform issues since the beginning of his campaign has been immigration. So much so that every republican candidate that debated him made the issue their pet peeve as well. He and the others called not just for immigration reform as most rational lawmakers and citizens were asking for. Nope, not Donny and his anti-immigration crew, not hardly. His plan is to stop immigration as much as possible, ban people who belong to certain religions from entering the US and suggested it should be illegal for those religions to even be practiced here, building a wall at both borders to keep illegals out and deporting over 11 million illegal immigrants that would cost us billions and be virtually impossible. Hillary has been in support of a "clear path to citizenship" and a not so radical approach to immigration reform. Couple that with the fact that the KKK endorses Trump's campaign and you can put a check in both the immigrant and minority columns for her come November.
Although he claims he "cherishes women", he certainly has a unique way of showing his admiration by calling them "fat pigs", "dogs", "slobs", "bimbos" and "disgusting animals". He has also stated publicly "Women, you have to treat them like shit." And that it would be a "pretty picture" if a certain woman dropped "to her knees". I suppose that it's alright that I write that about him since he thinks he "has a nice piece of ass". No brainer, my loyal reader. He's handing Hillary the woman's nod with his mouth.
Another thing that adds a certain amount of credibility to the theory is that historically he has supported democratic candidates more than republican. Specifically both of Hillary's senate campaigns, her husband's presidential bid and John Kerry when he ran against Bush despite his running mates exorbitant hair-cuts. He may assert that as a businessman he has to play to both sides of the fence and he indeed supported John McCain in 2004, but recently calling him a "loser" and not a war hero because he was captured during the Vietnam war as well as taking the support of McCain's former running mate, Sarah Palin, who has been considered by many to be the reason he lost, it's no surprise he's named in at least 169 federal lawsuits if he conducts business in the same regard. What is curious is why he would give up the military and veteran vote so easily.
That leaves the so called "white" vote. Now, I'll be the first to admit that there are enough people (not only white) that buy into his no pulling punches, down with political correctness, tell it like it is, America, love it or leave it technique, but for the most part, you'll primarily find the conservative racist attitude he promotes among white people who want to make America great again by getting rid of what they consider are the dregs of society.... namely non-whites. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of racism to go around against all ethnicity and that's exactly why the aforementioned "white" vote won't be near enough for Don Don to win. In 1980 Ronald Reagan won in a landslide victory over Carter with 56% of the white vote. In 2008 Mitt Romney took 59% of the white vote and lost in a landslide to Obama. There are simply not enough "white" voters to make an effective difference in any election. So even if Trump gets the majority of them, it won't matter and he knows it. So why is he only preaching to one choir?
With his outlandish statements and views, his confrontational nature, apparent racist trends, chauvinistic attitude, homophobic tendencies, contempt for the press, disregard for veterans and sheer hatred for his own party, it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to come to the conclusion that he is cutting his own political throat. The question that bothers me is.... why? That and the fact that there is more than a few of his actions to question. Why does he continue to put his foot in his mouth? Why hasn't he brought in consultants to help him repair the damage he has done to himself? Why isn't he searching for ways to bring his divided party together instead of inciting the rift further? Why does it seem that he is doing everything he can to get even the most stout of conservatives to vote against him? None of his actions make any kind of political sense for a person who wants to be elected to any position, let alone the oval office. He is not only facing the questions of these dilemmas, he also will be contending with what most political analysts predict will be a record number of people not registered to vote signing up to "stump" the Trump. I've stated on numerous occasions that Trump must have his own agenda in his bid to be president. Maybe I've been mistaken. Maybe his plan has nothing to do with him getting elected. Maybe, just maybe, the "April Fools" joke I was waiting for was to obtain his party's nomination for the sole purpose to get us to vote against him. It's just a theory. I could be wrong.... and I hope I am.
The political machine that our government has become is bigger than it's forefathers could have ever imagined. Hand in hand with corporate America it has also become unstoppable and wrought with the corruption of it's influence. If there is one thing that we would hope could be above the reach of misconduct, it should be the electoral process. Although it would be naïve' to think that elections couldn't be affected by those who would coax us to choose their candidate, I have found solace in the fact that the ultimate decision resided in our votes. Now it seems that even our individual choices have fallen victim to the same gullibility in that we hoped they counted for something. In an election that appears to matter to no one, if what I theorize may be happening is in fact the case, we face losing much more than our votes having merit. We will have lost democracy itself. Strictly an Observation. If you'll excuse me, I have to dig up my Magic Eight Ball.
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