It doesn’t matter whether I write about Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, there are always emails that follow telling what an idiot I am. One person in particular keeps sending me the same thing – why does anyone even bother to read my posts. I am still not sure how they want me to respond to that. However, regardless of which politician I write about, there seems to be an underlining theme in the emails that I get; “wouldn’t”, insert either Clinton or Trump, “be better than”, insert either Clinton or Trump?
In other words, I am being told that I have to choose one or the other because one will be the next president of the United States. The argument is that I should focus my writing on the candidate that I believe is the worst of the two and ignore the other one. One writer in particular has been pushing me to write about how Bernie Sanders has been marginalized by the news media to help Hillary Clinton.
On social media and in general conversations I have noticed an underlining theme. It is that voters must rally around their party’s candidate, whether they like them or not. For example, the Bernie Sanders supporters are being urged to rally around Hillary Clinton because otherwise it gives Donald Trump the win.
From both sides, there is the notion that neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump are the candidates that the voters would have liked to see. But they are the party’s representative and thus voters must vote for their party’s candidate. “The lesser of two evils” has become the battle cry.
Many Democrat voters do not like Hillary Clinton but, nonetheless, they are being pushed by the party operatives to support her in order to keep the Republicans out of the White House. Because of Donald Trump, the GOP is in disarray, however the party operatives are nonetheless demanding that Republican voters get in line behind Trump.
In many ways, both of the party peer pressures are the reason why the two leading candidates are Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Clinton is the Democrat’s leadership favorite and thus dissention was discouraged early on. The party leadership clearly has supported Clinton as the Democrat’s presidential candidate from the onset, and continues to do so today.
There is also the notion that as a woman, Hillary Clinton should be elected so that the United States gets its first female president. Really? Forget honesty and basic integrity, some people actually believe that Hillary Clinton should be elected just because she is a woman. I’m dumbfounded by this notion.
It is not so clear yet for the Republicans, although Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee, there are some GOP party leaders that have yet to fully commit to Trump. However, the two-to-three movements to usurp Trump’s nomination through convention rules changes are being discouraged under the guise that any attempt would only benefit Hillary Clinton. In other words, the party peer pressure will likely lead to the end of the GOP, should Donald Trump officially become the nominee, just because of the fear of challenging the party rules. The GOP would rather see its demise then to disrupt party unity for a better candidate.
The other thing I must point out is the “dedazo” of party politics. Some of you are familiar with the term from the many years of the PRI party in Mexico designating an apparent heir to the throne. The PRI, like other political parties in other countries, including the United States, would designate the next presidential candidate to run for the party. For many years in Mexico, because the PRI party was dominating politics, the designated party presidential candidate was assumed to be the next president of the country. As the party leader, the existing president would announce the next party candidate, or the dedazo. The PAN does this, and so does the Democrats and the GOP.
The Republicans are in turmoil because of Donald Trump. Trump is the outsider of the party and of the establishment. That is one of the driving forces behind Trump’s candidacy. However, if you pull away the political grandstanding you will see that Hillary Clinton is the heir apparent for the Democrats. Clinton was showcased by Barack Obama recently and there are many who believe that the Democrat Party has been pushing forth Hillary Clinton as their candidate for the November elections. Although many of you do not want to see it, Hillary Clinton is the dedazo for the current party controlling the executive branch.
In the end, neither candidate – Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump – is worthy of your vote. That is a sad state of affairs for the US political system.
Totally agree. This is a terrible election year. Even Sanders is not a good choice unless you prefer socialism.
Here in El Paso there are terrible choices as well. The only changes are the choices are getting worse.
Something has to give, we can not continue down this path of hate, chaos, no leadership. How in the heck do we expect to survive as a country ? There is no unity whatsoever. Everybody demands special treatment and no regard for civic responsibility. We should be able to disagree without the hate. The politicians no longer vote for what’s best for the country. Their votes are decided by ideology and personal gain. What happen to the days when elected officials voted for the right thing not expediency?
Perhaps, we should return to the old days when transportation was slow so the DC politicians had to stay there sharing living space and soccializing. Basically they had to get along. Thus more good legislation. Should it be a requirement that they stay there only returning for national holidays or special family events. Sure it mean less face time with constituents but that maybe they won’t return to DC with all the hate that is alive at the local level.
We are in a major mess regardless of the party. Somehow we gave to come together and decide what’s best for America not every special group.
It is truly a sad time for our country. In a nation of brilliant minds, and strong leaders, these two are best we can come up with??? One is a liar and the other a carnival barker…I weep for our nation…smdh
But if you are a threat to either candidate or their party, chances are you’ll live. Not always so for opponents of the PRI or PAN.