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I have been around for many Presidential elections and remember most. I have usually voted Democratic, but have voted for a few Republicans along the way.
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But the election of 2016 is truly like no other.
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We have a candidate running for the highest office of the world who has never so much as served as a city councilperson.
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Many argue that Donald Trump is appealing because of his lack of political experience. "He speaks his mind!" they say. "He's not part of the politically correct establishment! We need change. We need to make America great again!"
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Well, okay.
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I just wonder who these same people call when their toilet is overflowing? A plumber or a florist? If they have a brain tumor, do they seek out an experienced surgeon or an auto mechanic? If they are in legal trouble, do they seek a credited attorney or a TV reality game host?
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Thinking over the past elections, it was always uplifting if my candidate won and disappointing if he didn't. But regardless of who was the winner and who lost, I think it is reasonable to conclude that all the Presidential nominees were qualified and experienced enough to be President. It was usually differences in policies and ideology that spelled either victory or defeat. Sometimes the country was in a more liberal bent and other times the political direction leaned more conservative.
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But no one can say for sure if Donald Trump is a liberal or a conservative. In fact, he has been a supposed Democrat for much of his life and now claims to be a Republican.
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Some democrats accuse Donald Trump of being a "racist," "misogynist" and "bigot."
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While true that Trump appears to attract many people who hold prejudicial and even racist views, I am not convinced the candidate himself is seeped in bias and hate.
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That's because I don't believe Trump thinks about anything long or deeply enough to hold actual ideological position, be it liberal or conservative, politically right or wrong.
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For example, when questioned on the issue of abortion, Donald Trump initially voiced the Republican line of being "pro life." But, when pressed on the issue, Trump stated that women who have abortions "should be punished" were abortion ever to be banned in the country again.
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Does Trump actually believe that women who have abortions should be punished?
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I doubt it.
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Rather, I believe that Trump doesn't care about abortions one way or the other. I doubt it's an issue he's given more than five minutes thought to.
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And therein lies the main problem with Donald Trump.
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He hasn't given anything other than the most shallow of thought to any issue. -- Thought that can usually be summed up in 140 characters on Twitter.
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Thinking back on all the losers of past Presidential elections I personally remember, some were Republicans and some Democrats; some conservative and some liberal.
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But one thing we can say about Romney, McCain, Kerry, Gore, Dole, Bush 41, Mondale, Dukakis, Carter, Ford, McGovern, Humprey, Nixon and Stevenson is that they were all qualified to BE President. They were all learned, thoughtful and experienced individuals. They all had policies and ideological positions. They all loved and wanted to do the best for their country.
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And whether we agreed with them or not, there is not one of these candidates that would have spelled sheer and utter disaster for the country had they become President.
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But now we are faced with a candidate who does not appear to put the country ahead of himself and his own ambitions.
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Said Donald Trump at a recent press conference:
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"I am only interested in winning. Once I win, I'll get along great with foreign leaders."
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Indeed, Donald Trump is only interested in winning. After that, it's a crap shoot for both our country and indeed the entire planet.
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Let it be said that one doesn't call a florist to fix a broken toilet. And one doesn't go to an auto mechanic to remove a brain tumor.
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And most of all, one doesn't elect a TV "reality show" host to deal with and manage a world of actual and potentially catastrophic realities.
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The election of Hillary Clinton this November is not just a choice or preference of ideology and policy, but in this case an act of suicide prevention. -- PCA
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