Reprinted from Wallwritings
As the nation enters 2016 in search of a new president, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton seems certain to derail Bernie Sanders while anti-immigrant Republican candidate Donald Trump is expected to recover quickly even if he loses the Iowa Republican caucus, February 1 and the New Hampshire Republican primary, February 9.
The South Carolina Republican primary is next on February 20. After that, the nation will experience a series of primaries, caucuses, and endorsements, that will beg for our attention even though the Trump versus Clinton outcome, at this point in time, appears a foregone conclusion.
It is precisely at a this point where the enthusiasts for good government, as it should be practiced, must not lose hope. Bernie Sanders may catch enough momentum with a New Hampshire victory to pose a threat to Clinton.
Ted Cruz or Jeb Bush may break through to stop Trump. Don't lose hope until the summer conventions. Or as we say in my business, the Lord works in mysterious ways.
The Republican Convention will be held at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, July 18-21. The Democrats will gather July 25-28 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Not a promising sign for good government as it should be practiced. The names of the two convention sites celebrate the true religion of the nation and its political structures: Big Money.
Quicken Loans and Wells Fargo embody what the U.S. Supreme Court codified in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, granting corporate contributions unfettered access to political candidates.
Unless the voters rebel and determine a different path, Big Money will dictate which two candidates are named.
The national media, meanwhile, has to keep advertising dollars flowing through their coverage of the dual national horse races that will continue week after week after week.
It will get ugly. Trump has promised, for example, that Bill Clinton's conduct that led to his impeachment proceedings, will be fair game. The Clintons will fight back with whatever mud they are currently planning to toss.
Trump's possible losses in Iowa and New Hampshire will make the remaining dual national horse races good media fodder.
His possible losses will not slow his bullying brand of media manipulation. Trump's solid core of supporters thrives on hating the national media for its treatment of their leader.
This dismal scenario is how 2016 looks to this observer of U.S. politics, and I find it enormously depressing. I fervently hope I am wrong.
I first tipped a tentative toe into the treacherous active political waters in the 1972 campaign, 44 years ago, in two races, first, as a George McGovern-pledged candidate for convention delegate from Illinois, and second, as a Democratic congressional candidate in Illinois' 14th district.
I won the delegate race and became McGovern's Illinois delegation chairman. I lost, big time, the race for Congress. After those campaigns, I returned to the quieter life of writer and editor for religious publications, where politics cried out for some degree of ethical comment.
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