For the first time in our political history we are on the brink ( no pun intended) of nominating two of the most despised candidates for the highest office in the land. How in the heck did we get to this point?? The latest poll shows the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton at her lowest approval rating yet, just 40% while her negative is sitting at 55%. Normally that would be disqualifying but wait…….her presumptive opponent is even worse!! He is polling close to %70 negative!! If those poll numbers continue into November ( and there is no indication that they won’t), we are probably headed to the worst turnout in our political history as well. How in the heck did we get here??!! There is a must read on Salon.com right now from Andrew Ohehir www.salon.com/...that asks that very question. The whole article is great, but Ohehir nails it in his second paragraph :
So here is whats happening: Our political system is profoundly broken, and although many of us have understood that for years, this has been the year that fact became unavoidable. Both political parties are struggling through transparently rigged primary campaigns that have mad that ludicrous process look more outdated than ever. Nobody cares about the Democratic vote in Wyoming , and it’s not going to matter, but when Bernie Sanders dominates the caucuses in that empty, dusty Republican dominated state and wins seven of its 18 delegates, doesn’t that sum up the whole damn thing?
So this is what our democracy has become now, trying to decide which candidate we detest the least? It is Ohehir’s conclusion, of which I agree 100%, that this election could well signal the death knell for both parties, or at least the two party system.
The nationwide Clinton-Trump hate-fest can be viewed as the continuation or culmination of a long-term downward trend that is easy to summarize : The American people don’t much like either political party or the people they nominate
Why can’t I, as a voter in the “worlds greatest democracy,” vote for someone who shares my ideals and values? In November I have to vote for someone I don’t particularly like because I have to keep someone I really detest out of the White House. In Europe you can vote for anyone from a Communist to the Green Party and everyone in between.
This primary campaign has been called chaotic. Well, that’s only if you are sitting in the same section as Debbie Wasserman Shultz or Reince Preibus for the rest of us in the peanut gallery this campaign makes perfect sense. The people are finally waking up to the fact that neither party gives a rat’s ass about them or their vote. They want to keep power and control over the electoral process above and beyond anything else, even if it means losing an election.
So we are left to decide between the two most unpopular candidates in political history. You would think the two political parties would be upset or embarrassed by this polling data. According to Ohehir they are living on that river in Egypt…..
I can only conclude that many people who are embedded in the two party system glance at that kind of data and shrug it off as a meaningless aberration, because it doesn’t conform to their understanding of the world. They carry on pretending they haven’t noticed the gorilla in the room of American politics, which is that their parties are visibly crumbling beneath them.
That Gorilla is going to have its day sooner or later. My bet is on sooner….