Well, here we are in September. And in just over two months, we’ll elect a new president.
Sigh.
It’s hard to remember a more dispiriting election campaign. And I can’t remember being more concerned about the country’s prospects as we prepare for a new presidential administration.
Even the candidates themselves are a problem. The uninformed, hot-headed Donald Trump has absolutely no experience that would qualify him for the presidency. He would be a terrible national leader – and he would very likely be a dangerous one.
And I’m not nearly as enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton as many people are; to me, she’s not the best person to lead this divided country right now. But Clinton is experienced, and she is bright, and I think she could make a fairly good president.
If she’s elected, though, odds are that her supporters’ celebration will be a short one.
For one thing, there seems little chance that Republicans in Congress will be any more willing to compromise with Clinton than they have been with President Obama. Big money has far too much influence with elected officials. And even without that pressure, the country is so deeply polarized that legislators who compromise can find themselves voted out of office.
All this at a time when the next president and Congress will be handed enormous, complicated challenges: climate change, health care, the country’s aging infrastructure, trade agreements, immigration, the economy, terrorism, criminal justice, racism, foreign policy. And it will take a strong, cohesive Congress working with an intelligent, experienced president to deal with them.
Making matters worse: the public’s lack of enthusiasm about both candidates. On a recent PBS NewsHour, syndicated columnist Mark Shields cited a Gallup poll suggesting that 51 percent of Republicans and 42 percent of Democrats wish their party had nominated someone else.
And New York Times columnist David Brooks noted the ramifications of Clinton’s large “unfavorable” numbers. Assuming that Clinton is elected, he said, “we go into an administration with someone the country fundamentally doesn’t trust.”
What, Brooks asked, does that do to the nation’s morale? “Somehow,” he said, “it just seems so dispiriting, if she does win, that we would go through four years where people feel this personal distrust for the commander in chief. That can’t be good for the country, if it stays like that.”
We need to find a way to heal the divisions in this country, and ideally, the healing would start with all of us. With us embracing our diversity – our diversity of ethnicity and religion, and our diversity of opinion. And with all of us being willing to respect different opinions, and to understand that in a democracy, we have to find a way to compromise and move forward together.
We haven’t done much of that for the past eight years. And we’re so deeply divided now, and so bitterly vocal about our divisions, that I’m not sure the healing can start with us.
If that’s the case, healing is up to elected officials. They’ll have to be not only our representatives but also our leaders. Our healers and role models. It’s hard to hold out hope for that, though, with elected officials on the right and left wallowing in the mud. (Subject line of an email I received last week: “Defeat this pathetic coward.” The sender: Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren.)
I’ve become fascinated with articles and books about American presidents who served in times of crisis, who led and inspired the nation. How did they do that?
“As Americans,” the Times’ Thomas Friedman wrote recently, “we were once summoned by our politics to be participants in a race to the moon. Lately we’ve been summoned by our politics to be spectators in a race to the bottom. We can do better, and we must.”
I wish I felt confident that the next president could help us do that.
This article appears in Sep 7-13, 2016.
It would be nice to see a mention of Gary Johnson in articles referring to the presidential election. I generally see articles in the media making it seem like it is Democrat or Republican. If Gary Johnson polls above 15%, he should be in the debates. Even if you don’t agree with him, I think having him in the debates gives a chance for some better conversations.
I can understand your negativism, since you are influenced by the dismal, hateful and biased media against Trump. Of course, many of your readers will agree with you.
I’m reminded of a mother who tells her son that he will not amount to anything in life because he rebels against her beliefs and control. Yet in spite of those discouraging words, he is driven to prove her wrong; and, he does.
I think Donald Trump is motivated to prove you, many of your left wing readers AND the Republican naysayers to be wrong.
Consider if Donald Trump becomes president , he’ll at least be given a chance to make right, much of what’s wrong in our country. Although you may not think there’s anything wrong with our country, I’m positive, along with many other people, to think he can do great things for the USA.
Only time will tell but he’s earned a chance, in my book.
I’m excited to see the results of this election and hope that if Trump is elected, you will stand by your words:
“We need to find a way to heal the divisions in this country, and ideally, the healing would start with all of us. With us embracing our diversity – our diversity of ethnicity and religion, and our diversity of opinion. And with all of us being willing to respect different opinions, and to understand that in a democracy, we have to find a way to compromise and move forward together.”
I believe that part of the problem with Hillary Clinton is that the nation has never had a woman president, or vice president, so we do not know how she should act.
Perhaps if Clinton used more humor and silliness, the people would like her more and they would get used to the idea of a woman president.
As for Trump, I don’t see any promise. He has zero (0) experience in government and so he just keeps faking it. His presidency might be like opening “Pandora’s Box” with all kinds of craziness coming forth.
Let’s hope for the best…
The difference is that with Trump, he has actually DONE something. He has build beautiful buildings and resorts all over the world. You can see them. You can touch them.
What has Hillary actually done? In her own words she will tell you that she has flown around the world in a government paid for jet. As Carley Fioriana said, there’s a difference between activities and accomplishment. Where are the 200,000 jobs she promised to upstate? She has been in the public spotlight for what, 20, 30 years? WHAT HAS SHE ACOMPLISHED? She talks about the same stuff. If she was someone who could accomplish something, wouldn’t we be seeing those results by now?
Trump has zero (0) experience in government. He was never even elected “dog catcher”. Hillary has vast experience, but, she is not entertaining enough.
I suggest that Clinton pick up on Judy Garland’s “Be a Clown”:
“Be a clown. Be a clown. And the whole world loves a clown”: (2min)
————————————————————————–
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfk9ou0Y2k…
Perhaps, if Clinton loosens up with humor, the voters will warm up to her and she will soar in the polls…
I believe that having our first woman president would be huge for the nation, huge. THANKS H
Harry, just getting elected is NOT an accomplishment. This woman has not done one positive thing to better this country or the world. She’s done just fine for herself, though.
Dear Johnny, I agree with you that Hillary Clinton “has not done one positive thing…” The reason I agree is because YOU SAY SO! That is what Trump is all about. Whatever he says is gospel, because he is gospel. Trump trumps everyone, because he says so. But he has no experience in government to back it up, none.
I believe that if Hillary Clinton is elected it will be a yuge accomplishment not only for women but for the nation. I believe that it will remind millions of women and men that they too can rise up in the workplace, etc. It is human nature to benefit from the examples of others.
Not only that, but I believe that as more women rise up, this will stimulate the economy for years to come. Will stop there… THANKS H
I welcome a woman as president, just not someone who lies every time she opens her mouth. If she wins, it will be a huge setback for women, just like the utter embarrassment we are witnessing now for blacks.
Yes, Trump has no political experience. People are sick of politics. That is why he is doing so well.
So, seriously Harry, we can see Trumps accomplishments. Name ONE accomplishment of Hillary
Dear Johnny, If you really want to learn about Hillary Clinton’s accomplishments and her experience in government, you might state with WIKI. For comparison, I looked up Donald Trump on WIKI:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump
Yes, Trump has been thinking about politics and government for many years, but he never served one day in any office, in any capacity, as far as I can tell. So, how can we trust him to serve 4 years in the White House, (with a binding contract)? Surely, we should be concerned, right?
I will STOP here to make room for other people who wish to add their own comments… I yield the “balance of my time.” H
Oh, johnny, you do know that Trump has gone bankrupt numerous times, so actually doesn’t own those buildings? And that many of the contractors who built those edifices were never paid?
Bigoted, racist trolls endorse bigoted, racist candidate. News at 11.
Kathryn
You are misinformed
All Real Estate Developers set up the individual projects as LLC’s (limited liability corporations)
That is so if one project fails the other investments are not effected.This is legal and the common practice.
Donald Trump has has hundreds of successful investments and is worth about 5 Billion dollars. He has had a few investments file bankruptcy and the media has misrepresented this as personal bankruptcy.
His ratio of failures is extremely low for a Real Estate Developer.
Fgf–LLCs are great for obfuscation. And I imagine one of the reasons Trump won’t release his tax info is that it likely shows he’s not as successful as he pretends.
Kathryn, Trumps tax returns are probably 10,000 pages and no layman could decipher them. (thanks IRS). When you are at his level, and especially with real estate his income probably varies by hundreds of millions of dollars by the year. This would indeed confuse people and distract from the real issue of running for president.
The main thing you can get from this is that Trump is resilient. When he get’s knocked down, he gets up, brushes himself off and tries again. A very admiral quality.
Most successful people are proud of their failures as they have learned from them, leading to their next success. That sure beats out someone failing and lying and defending their failures, and never learning from them. And in this instance, the presidency, I want someone who’s already had their ups and downs and knows how to do better next time, not someone who can’t even accept their failures, no less grow and learn from them, all the while having the 80% liberal press complacency and covering their butts.
Johnny: Excuses.
As she often does about non-local matters, where preoccupation with her own status and proximity to power in Rochester clouds her vision (IMHO) , Ms. Towler nails it. The corrupting role of money, and militant Know nothingism that has captured the once great Republican party are daunting. Here we are, September, and it is not even clear Clinton defeat the biggest clown a major party has nominated for president, probably in history.
I hope she wins. She still can win. My expectations for her presidency, based on her long career, are low. But I think this is an occasion to again remind people that we had an alternative. Sanders was an authentic progressive, an accomplished and successful politician, a break from the past — and her far out-performed Clinton against Republicans in every poll, over many months.
Despite this, establishment Democrats, timid and cynical Democrats (and Mary Anna shamelessly covers for them at the local level) shoved Clinton down our throats. Obsessed with identity politics, beholden to the same money the GOP is, comtemptuouss of democtaic process and cowed by decades of defeatism — this where we are. When is enough enough?
Some good points on both sides. Let me add a comment I am sending to the NY Times, today on the race:
================================================
I suggest that Clinton watch the doc. film, “DARK HORSE.”
(Not THE Dark Horse, fictional movie) Here is the trailer (2min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqh4wb9Q_s…
Dark Horse is the story of some Welsh English people from a mining town who breed a race horse called “Dream Alliance.” The horse wins, big time. It is a true story of imagination and hope.
These people need hope and they need imagination. Trump seems to be offering this, while Clinton is more of the same. She is so bo-ring, as she rambles on and on. Trump inspires, even if he frightens.
We need IMAGI-NATION for DETERMI-NATION.
———————————————————-
Can Hillary Clinton offer us a “Dream Alliance”?
http://www.SavingSchools.org
To Tom
Many of us are laughing at the reference to the Republican Party as corrupted by big money interests from someone supporting Hillary Clinton. I’m sure the 120 million they have accumulated since Bill left office was unrelated to anything like that!
The Trump as a clown reference coming from a Bernie supporter also brought some shaking heads.
I’m enjoying this campaign season. I have made this all about Jill Stein vs. Gary Johnson.
Democrats don’t seem to realize just how tainted Hillary Clinton is. From White Water when Bill Clinton started his run for the White House, through the accusations of Bill’s extramarital affairs to Hillary’s vote in favor of the Iraq war to the email scandal… real or fabricated, it’s just too much.
Then there is the total insanity and absurdity of Donald Trump. I still can’t shake the feeling that what started as and was always meant to be a joke, gained serious traction with racist haters in search of a fearless leader in the form of Trump.
For a sane and sometimes boring look at the issues, I rely on Jill Stein and, to a lesser extent, Gary Johnson. If these candidates would just catch on with mainstream voters, Clinton and Trump could be banished to obscurity where they belong.
More than any other current candidate, Jill Stein would not drag much, if any, negative baggage into the White House. According to polls, people are not happy with and do not trust the main party candidates. This should mean people would seek out other leaders to follow and support.
I support Jill Stein.
You mean, Ms. Towler, you are not all gaga over Hillary Clinton?!?! I can understand your feelings about Trump, but Hillary!!! I thought she was the second coming of Christ! Could the imbroglio about the unauthorized server or the millions pouring into the Clinton Foundation from petro-dollar-rich Arab countries or what happened at a place named Benghazi or her enabling of a philandering husband have something to do with it? When I read your column, I wonder what planet you live on. Experienced and bright? Hillary Clinton?
“Even the candidates themselves are a problem. The uninformed, hot-headed Donald Trump has absolutely no experience that would qualify him for the presidency. He would be a terrible national leader – and he would very likely be a dangerous one.
And I’m not nearly as enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton as many people are; to me, she’s not the best person to lead this divided country right now. But Clinton is experienced, and she is bright, and I think she could make a fairly good president.”
In comparing these 2 paragraphs, it seems pretty evident that it’s not the candidates, but the MEDIA that’s the problem.
Let’s examine:
Trump is uniformed, hot-headed, absolutely no experience, terrible and dangerous.
Hillary is experienced, bright and think she could make a fairly good president.
Journalism is dead. It’s all opinions and bashing now. No research. No facts.
Blaming the media is like blaming panhandlers for panhandling. If nobody bought their sad stories, then they’d stop trying to sell them.
Mike, the media has a fiduciary responsibility to report the news, and question the actions of those elected to office. From that, WE can decide. Far too many people buy what they are fed from the media if it fits their predetermined answers. The education system hasn’t helped one bit either. How many people in this country have been brainwashed by the “educators” as to WHAT to think instead of HOW to think?