It’s that transition time. The 2016 national election has come and gone and for the most part, the counting is over.
The incumbents are either breathing a sigh of relief if they ran for re-election and won, or planning their next steps if they ran and lost. Some never ran and they didn’t have skin in the game, so their future plans were made months ago.
We have seen a real ugly side of politics this election cycle and both the Democrats and Republicans should be scared.
Why?
Because both of their parties were rejected.
I’ll start alphabetically with the Democrats.
If there was strong support for the Democratic party, then Hillary Clinton would have own the presidency with both the popular and electoral votes. But I saw this campaign season as a rejection of not just her, but the Democratic party “business as usual” platform.
Here’s my case:
Bernie Sanders.
Eight years ago we saw the same with a different name: Barrack Obama.
Both elections were supposed to be shoe-ins for Hillary. 1st female president, most qualified, most experienced, you name it, she was a winner on the achievement tally sheet compared to her primary opponents.
But in 2008, the candidate that beat her had the enthusiasm vote. It was a vote for Hope and Change. We were tired of the war and distrust of the government under the Bush years. Barrack offered a clean slate and there was not a damn thing the Clinton’s could do to stop him.
Eight years later they were better prepared with enough Democrat Party Super Delegates in their back pocket that there was no way Hillary would not be on the ticket in November.
Problem was this old Socialist dude from Vermont who looked like the crazy Uncle that everyone dreads coming over for the holidays, Bernie Sanders. The Democrats expected him to be nothing more than a pesky mosquito but instead Bernie created a movement.
Bernie was the Hope and Change for hundreds. Those hundreds became thousands and then millions. The Democratic party panicked and stooped to dirty tricks to help Hillary. There was no way that Hillary was going to be tossed out of the general election but then came “commie lovin’ Bernie”. But did you see the crowds that Bernie drew versus the crowds that Hillary gathered when they did campaign stops? Here in Fort Wayne, Indiana the number of people who were, “with her”, were outnumbered by those that “felt the Bern”.
Bernie should have been the Presidential Nominee for the Democrat Party, but the math of delegates with the Super Delegate factor made it impossible.
At the moment the leader of the Democrat Party is not named Clinton. The leader is named Obama, and his time expires in January to hold office. The Democrat Party is leaderless.
The Republican Party isn’t in much better shape either. Imagine the people who wanted some one with conservative values were so dissatisfied with the field of nominees that Donald Trump beat all of them.
Donald Trump doesn’t represent the Republican Party. They tried everything they could to prevent Trump from winning enough delegates to secure the nomination, but they failed. Then when he won the Presidency, many sucked up to him who were in the nasty fight just months before. Those Republicans are not sure if they should ride on the Donald’s coat tails but they certainly don’t want to be left behind.
The only reason we still have just two major parties is the idiotic choices the other parties have offered.
Gary Johnson may be a nice guy but when he failed to name a foreign leader that he respected during a national television interview, he lost credibility big time. When I saw that clip, I know how I would have handled it. He was sitting with his V-P partner, and he should have simply said to Mr. Weld, “Gee, Bill, I’m not sure which one to pick, who do you think would be on the top of our list?”
That shows the ability to think on ones feet and maybe it’s because I’m in sales, but I know how to answer questions that I’m stumped on. And most questions I am asked, I know ahead of time what my answers will be.
So the Republicans have lost their party to the likes of Donald Trump and the Democrats have simply lost and need to find a spokesperson.
Bernie and Donald both represented the 2016 Hope and Change that Barack Obama presented in 2008. Each of those three men simply offered Hope to different segments of the voting population who wanted Change that would affect their own interests.
Now…
What are you and I to do?
It’s time to do some thoughtful thinking and have some open discussions with people of all political leanings.
Pick issues that are important to you. If you need a list, you can use a website like https://www.isidewith.com/ and look at the issues and choices listed. A word of caution with this website, is that some of the questions are geared to steer you towards a certain mindset, so feel free to challenge the questions wording and perhaps rework them to your own liking.
I suggest doing this exercise on your own first. When I did it, I discovered that I don’t have opinions on some issues. That’s because I don’t know enough to decide where I stand on the topic, or it’s not as important as other items on the list.
Forget about liberal or conservative labels. Forget about party positions. Think through your ideas and beliefs and then share with others in a discussion.
Every action will have unintended reactions. Nothing operates in a bubble. We cannot predict the future but we can learn from the past.
I want to be part of a better future for myself, my family and for strangers too. Are you with me?
The Political side of Scloho 