We are now two weeks away from finding out who will be our next president for the next four years with a possibility of extension into eight years! We will find out either early or late in the evening of November 8. This election year has been unusual in some respects, especially in view of the overwhelming support given by the news media to one candidate. The news media has always leaned to one side or another in the past, and television has played a key role in swaying public opinion and deciding the winner of elections since the 1960s. In short, whoever became the "media candidate" ended up winning the election. That has been the case since JFK.
Normally, a four-year-old could determine who would win the election based on television coverage. Today's TV coverage and support is so one-sided that it is embarrassing. There is a constant barrage of positive ads for one candidate and negative ads directed at the opposition. It is as if we are in a one political party system! A visiting foreigner commented on this phenomena on our television and said that he thought we had laws prohibiting such one-sided presentation, that equal representation was required. Yes, we do have something like that somewhere in our system, but apparently this election year all bets are off! The news media is embarrassingly biased and is showing its true colors as the "king makers." However, despite news media's overwhelming support of one candidate, nothing is for certain and there are no guarantees! Anything can happen in this crazy election year!
We are a nation of almost 300 Million souls with arguably some of the better informed population on this planet. Yet, we are unable to come up with two better presidential candidates? I am stumped! Surely we can come up with candidates with more integrity, honesty, and less negative baggage! But here we are, literally forced to make a choice between two candidates that are strongly lacking in many areas to be president! Personally, I wouldn't trust or consider either one of the candidates for any political office!
Now it isn't so much a choice between the lesser of the two evils as I have blogged before, it is simply no choice at all! How did we reach this point? It seems that our political system is truly flawed and only the very rich and corrupt seem to be able to survive running the political gauntlet to become the party nominee for president. The American people have to change the system, for despite all the talk about having the best political system in the world, it is obviously broken and not working like it is supposed to! Just because we have the best system doesn't mean it can't be made better. In fact, because we really haven't done much to tweak the system through the years, it has reach the point that it is in today. No system is completely perfect, not as long as it is run by humans. But that doesn't mean that it can't be made better, and right now we desperately need to make our system better.
When it comes to electing leaders, the people who vote are their own worst enemies. Many vote with their "hearts" rather than their head, and others vote simply because they have always voted the party line. Very few sit down and rationally determine who would make the best candidate! If that were the case, today neither one of the candidates would have been on the ballot, on the verge of taking the highest seat in the country.
In this election there will be those who will or have already voted for the candidate simply because they are of the same gender. Minorities are known to vote for minority candidates because they are minority members, and others will vote for a candidate because they are of that party, qualifications and background notwithstanding. In short, vast majority of votes will be cast based on the party line or the "heart." In the last two elections, minorities predominantly voted for Obama because he is a member of the minority! Unfortunately, that is not the way to elect the best candidate for the job, but that is how presidents have been elected, not only in America, but in other countries as well. How else do you think that someone as foul mouthed and vile as the current Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte could have been elected? Vladimir Putin, although hated by many, still has enough supporters to keep him in office. There may have been accusations of fraud in his election, but obviously he did receive many votes from his supporters! That's how it goes.
Yes, our system is flawed, it has become very much apparent in this election year. But, it is what it is. We the people have to fix it. The corrupt individuals in office will not fix it, why should they remove themselves from positions of power and influence? We have to vote-in the right kind of people, people who will change the system, not just mouth the words and once in office, continue as before. The American voters have to become more discriminating, selective. Note that I said American voters, not people. That is because, sadly, less than half of our voting age population actually is registered to vote or casts votes! People complain and grumble, but many never vote, it is sad, but it is true. Perhaps if more people voted, our political scene will change, who knows?
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