Throughout every
election year there seems to be a recurring outcry: "Is this the best we
can do?" Now that both party conventions have been completed, that plea
takes on a more official, albeit more ominous sheen for this election year of
2016. Except that this year, I'm confident in my answer of "NO – it's NOT
the best we can do."
Let me take you
back to June 22nd of this year – just a few weeks ago – to the
Democrat party's sit-in/protest over gun control legislation (of the lack
thereof) that took place in the U.S. House of Representatives. Agree with the
maneuver or not, agree with the politics or not, we saw and heard a series of
5-minute spiels from one seemingly smart, honest, passionate, capable politician
after another. And I'd be willing to bet that on the Republican side of the
house, there are also plenty of smart, honest, passionate, capable politicians –
with no name recognition and no money – certainly not for the kind of
high-powered financial run that a presidential bid requires.
Which is why I
give Bernie Sanders a lot of credit, despite my general disdain of him. Sanders
didn't have the name or the money, but he had the balls. One might
instinctively say the same thing about Trump, but the fact is that Trump HAD
the money and the name – which makes it pretty easy to have the balls.
Maybe there's a
chance we'll wake up from the current nightmare to find Martin O'Malley and
Paul Ryan at the top of their respective ballots – a couple of decent guys who,
despite their own requisite faults, represent the mainstream interest of their
parties with sincerity and passion. But they – or some heretofore unknown –
will have to wait until next time. For now, we're stuck – with Hillary and
Trump.
