It's 2016 and we are embroiled in the dumbest election cycle in my lifetime. Ugh! At the beginning of the year I really didn't know what to think. I wanted to stay out of it. That appears to be impossible this time around. So, I did what any responsible citizen should: I opened my hears and listened to all of the candidates. All of them, not the just the big two. Whenever any of them spoke, I listened. Sounds crazy right?
It reminded me that you need a process for picking a candidate. It's kind of like buying a car. You do the research and take in numerous considerations. Then find the best value that fits your needs and the needs of your country. Unfortunately many voters rush into the sale. They latch onto one or two issues, one or two sound bites and pull the lever too quickly. The result is buyers remorse.
Let me fill you in on my political background so you know where I'm coming from. I grew up in the blue state of Massachusetts but my parents were self-declared Independents. They usually split the ticket, opting for Moderate Democrats and Liberal Republicans. My father, a Vietnam Veteran who had suffered from the horrors of war, generally leaned toward peaceful candidates. I adopted some of his thinking on that subject.
My personal political journey started when I was in the U.S. Army. During basic training in 1992 we were given forms with which to vote. This sparked a discussion among my platoon. My battle buddy Aaron explained his position this way: If you like the way things are, vote Republican. If you want things to change, vote Democrat. That made sense to me. Being generally unhappy when it came to the circumstances of my life, I wanted change. I voted for Bill Clinton. Sometimes we vote on a whim. Like I did for Billy Bob. I got lucky when it came to him but basing such an important decision on so little information is not a smart process.
Shortly after leaving the Army I was severely depressed. I was looking for an outlet, a direction for my life. That was when I found Rush Limbaugh. This was kind of like taking two steps forward and one step back. I was reading more about politics and history but it was being filtered through the narrow lens of ideology. I had become boisterous about political issues, trying to hurl my new found ideas at everyone. Didn't make many friends during those years. There were some issues in Conservatism that I could not embrace. Once I discovered that the commentators and their policies were riddled with greed and hypocrisy, it was over.
1996 was the first time that I truly paid attention to the Presidential race. I listened to the candidates and read a couple books by Ross Perot, who I ultimately voted for. In this case I did do my homework but was still severely limited in my knowledge about the issues. The misinformation derived from Conservative commentators had put everything into doubt.
By 2000 a new party was starting to make waves in Mass. The Libertarians were becoming an interesting option. I read books about them, went to meetings and met the candidates. During that cycle I worked on two campaigns (Congressional and Senatorial). This involved knocking on doors, asking for signatures and meeting voters face to face. This is when I learned about the huge gap between the voice of the voters and the whim of elected representatives. Dirty tricks often kept our candidates from having their voice heard on the big stage. I cringed at the laziness of newspapers who didn't want to cover anyone new. Their attitude was reflected by some voters who stuck with a favored party even if they didn't agree with their own candidate. Despite all of this, 99% of the people I talked to wanted a third option on the ballot. That year Libertarian candidates earned half a million votes in the State of Massachusetts.
By 2002 my fervor for Libertarian purity was waning. The Iraq war changed a lot of things, including my party affiliation. I was so angry at George W Bush that I joined the Florida Democrats. I took election training with the Orlando Dems, met Bill Nelson and volunteered for his Senatorial race. In 2004 I met the Libertarian candidate but wasn't impressed. Instead I voted for John Kerry.
By this point reading about Politics and American History had become a hobby. I surpassed 100 books on the subjects and consumed more everyday. I started writing political commentary for a website when a little known Senator from Illinois caught my eye. Barack Obama represented a lot of things to a lot of people. He was a black, left-wing rock star with the hopes of millions resting on his shoulders. I helped the campaign through the primaries and during the first election in 2008. I became disillusioned by 2012. It wasn't his fault really, it was ours. The voters asked and expected way too much. The best he could do was keep the ship afloat.
So here we are in 2016. Most people would agree that this is the craziest election ever! We are caught between an Ego and a Liar. Both appear to be blatantly irresponsible. Neither one seems to have our best interests at heart. Neither one seems to have any new ideas. What are we to do?
Here is a summary of what I have learned over the years. These are my personal guideposts for choosing the next President.
* No more Rock Stars! We have reached the point where celebrity translates as credibility. That is total crap. Experience is important. The ideal person for the Oval Office should know how to successfully run both a business and a government. They should be confident, capable and it might help if they were a little boring.
* They must stand for Something! We knew Obama would pass the Affordable Care Act, not because he had a Democrat Majority Congress but rather because his mother died of Cancer at 52. He stood for something and made it happen. His determination was obvious whenever he spoke of her. If he did nothing else as President, he was going to pass that bill.
* The old ideas didn't work! We have been stuck in left vs right mentality for so long that we can predict what is going to come out of their mouths just by knowing what team they play for. Here is how I know that the old ideas didn't work - Look where we are! The problems we have now were created by the policies formerly implemented. Duh! We can't get out of this rut by choosing the same people and same policies over and over again. That is the definition of insanity!
* The media is working against us! Luckily this is the one fact people have figured out. The cable news media in particular is on its last legs. They are soon to fall from the public eye and they know it. The only way they can keep the attention of the American people is with scathing 24 hour commentary on this embarrassing situation. Thus, the horse race is a fraud and the polls are a joke. If this year really is different then we deserve a new outcome.
I don't expect to change anyone's mind by telling them my personal history. The sad truth is that we are creatures of habit. Most often we take the path of least resistance. All I can say is that by my experience and using these guideposts, I will be voting for Gary Johnson. I'm not going to sit here and extol his virtues or defend his missteps. You can find that stuff elsewhere. I will ask that if you haven't heard him speak, please take a moment to do so. We have heard plenty about the other two. I believe Gary deserves a few minutes of your time.
Thank you, Alex Hutchinson
