I wrote this in the morning before numbers started coming in. As I post this it looks like Donald could pull it out. It’s certainly going to be close, but I wanted to post this. It’s a pretty scattered post, but I think I need to post the bad ones sometimes in order to get better at posting regularly. Sorry folks, and have a good night.
As my neighbours to the south (those that haven’t already voted) go to the polls I find myself thinking a lot about the bizarre nature of the campaign so many of us have watched with a mix of horror and amazement.
I really want to post this before I go to work, so I have to make this quick, but I’m struck by the polarity of the claims that are being thrown around. If Trump is elected it will be the end of America as we know it, but then again it will also be the end of America if Hillary is elected. The things people are saying are so far apart. What is real? What is about to happen?
As I like to do with these things, I like to take a look at myself and wonder what false things I am believing to be true. I tend to be a pretty partisan guy, although I try to be open-minded about it. I lean left and share similar feelings to the many other people who lean left, and I’m in the camp who is horrified by many of the things that Donald Trump says. I also think he would be a bad leader.
But then I realize that I’m not exactly sure what it is that the President really does. At least, what is it that makes a good head of state? What’s the job description? Okay, so I’m a little bit ignorant about some of the finer points.
As I think further, I have to be honest that I follow politics a little bit like I follow sports, which is a bit troubling. You’d think that voting should be done rationally by looking at all the pros and cons and thinking about who would do the best job, but I think for most people they pick a team, they begin to have feelings for that team and they throw their support for that team.
Then, there are all the people who are supporting an ideology, which maybe makes it sound bad, but I don’t think it is. If you think that the government is the best way to take care of people who are marginalized and who need help you’ll probably vote differently than someone who is a firm believer in small government and wants to get taxes down. That makes sense. In this camp there are a lot of people who are holding their nose and voting for either candidate, just because they are the best hope for the kind of country they are rooting for.
So then we come back to the claims that people are making and you have to wonder if maybe we should do two rounds of voting. First we vote for the kind of country we want and then we vote for the person who can do the job. Because at this point, you have only one vote and you have to vote for the vision of the country each candidate is putting forward but you also have to assume that the candidate is able to deliver.
What if you like the vision (that is polar opposite to another candidate’s vision) but you don’t think they can deliver, but you are quite certain the other candidate can deliver on their promises? What do you do? Vote for the incompetent person with a good vision or vote for the capable person who is taking the country in the wrong direction?
On top of this, both candidates are saying so many things. Is America really in trouble? Is the system rigged? Is Hillary crooked? Is talking about grabbing women in vulnerable places really just locker room talk?
There are so many lies and innuendos flying around that one vote is really not enough to make a statement. It’s a mess. It’s an utter mess, and somebody’s going to come through in the end, and the chances are that the presidency will not deliver on what is being promised. Is that the way democracy is supposed to be? Or am I just being really cynical and things are not that bad.
But even in a mess, there is always a better choice to be made and I suppose that’s what people have to figure out. I’ve been focussing on the situation and the craziness of it and I think I’ve probably been presenting a cynical picture of damned if you do, damned if you don’t, I have to be honest, even in this mess I’m pretty sure Trump is much much worse than Hillary.
Politics aside he’s just a bad candidate to lead and I think that’s the frustrating thing. With everything that’s flying around, it seems to be difficult for people to just line up the candidates and to identify what is true. Because there is so much noise, it’s become possible for many people to, in good conscience for vote for someone who is utterly and completely unfit for the job, and who probably stands against a lot of things they believe in. It’s quite stunning to watch someone who just lies and lies and lies and after a while, it just becomes part of the story.
I just hope this won’t be the end of America one way or another. I suspect it won’t be, but, man, what a crazy crazy ride.
