“I will never vote for Donald Trump.” That’s a direct quote from your’s truly in February of this year. But as a middle-aged white guy, I also remember the Clinton years. For those of you from that vintage, you remember; Whitewater, Monica Lewinsky, Hillary Healthcare version one, impeachment, Vince Foster – you get the picture. I’m not trying to impugn Hillary for the behavior of Bill. It just seems that 1) controversy and scandal follow the Clintons and 2) their explanations don’t seem to ring true. I see them as the prototypes for Frank and Claire Underwood. For Hillary’s part, the Benghazi explanation really stretched credibility. The email scandal, while probably blown out of proportion by critics, reached new heights of spin (to be charitable) or lying (to be honest).
It really doesn’t matter, though. As negative as I am about the Clintons and the Democratic Party in general, I was done with the Republican Party with the second Obama term. I figured if they couldn’t beat Obama after his first term performance, they had truly lost their way. They have confirmed my assessment by creating Trump. That’s right – I said the Republican Party created Trump. He is a natural outcome of outrage from the party of Lincoln really not having a clue how to win. I mean, REALLY. If the best the party can field is Jeb Bush, we have a problem. Cruz and Rubio don’t count as as they are not true Republicans. Even if we go back to Mitt Romney, while a fine man, he wasn’t the kind of leader we needed. And to lose to Obama after a first term liberal performance reminiscent of French politicians but not as stylish, the Republican Party is dead.
So what is a fiscally conservative, socially moderate (except when it comes to the sanctity of life), environmentally liberal voter supposed to do? Our electoral system is so skewed toward the two-party system that third-party candidates are not taken seriously. The Libertarian and Green Parties are really out there. Should I write someone in? Elmer Fudd perhaps? Should I make a political statement by throwing away my vote? Texas will undoubtedly go to Big Hair. I don’t know that I can vote for either The Donald or Hillary without feeling shame. Maybe I’ll stay home that day.