What to do? Vote for the devil you know or the devil you don't know. That seems to be the question THIS election cycle. Good grief! Could it get any stranger?
I'm convinced that either way the vote might take us in November, it won't be long until our political situation will become even weirder, if that's possible!
If the Dems win, we're looking at imprisonment or pardon of the President. (Yes, believe it or not, the law IS "one size fits all.") If the GOP prevails, impeachment. (I've heard that steps are already being taken, just waiting for some unconstitutional reason to surface.) Either way, the office of the President will be vacant. SO...I've come to the conclusion that the candidates THIS TIME are not the issue.
As much as the media tries to make this about personalities, issues are always more important.
(I'm privately praying that BOTH candidates will voluntarily and safely remove themselves from the race, but I've been told that is ridiculous!)
We'd better start paying attention to the people that surround the candidates AND their party's platform. They will be the ones to pick up the pieces after the dust settles.
The Vice Presidential candidates are very important and the Party platform of the winning VP will sway the direction of the country.
I'm very content with Governor Mike Pence, he is a highly regarded conservative, very well spoken, strong, calm and extremely smart. He doesn't hesitate to disagree with Trump on some issues and I'm learning to trust his judgment. Rudy, Newt, Chris, Marco and Mike Huckabee are also common sense voices heard from time to time in the roar of the campaign and Trumps bombastic personality.
The jury is still out for me on Senator Kaine. He's a devout Jesuit Catholic with deep moral convictions and that's very appealing to me. ( He believes in the right of the unborn PERSONALLY, but declares that his private conviction will not sway his PUBLIC position. That's a little disturbing. YES, he must enforce the present law, but thankfully when slavery was legal there were statesmen that used the power of their position to encourage public opinion to demolish THAT ugly law. Isn't that the purpose of having and living out a godly conviction?) Senator Kaine leans to the liberal side which is being faithful to his party. I'll continue to investigate him. (Voices that support Clinton trouble me, such as Debbie Wasserman Shultz, Warren Buffet, Terry McCauliffe, Saul Alinkskey, Dianne Feinstein, and John Podesta. Then there's the Clinton "body count" to reckon with and the endless scandals that will return to the national stage.)
As far as the platforms: I found a chart. (In a nutshell)
It's pretty easy to align with one side or the other here..
DEMOCRAT higher taxes/more government regulation
REPUBLICAN lower taxes, free market sets wages, flat tax
D -social ideas based on community
R- based on individual rights and justice
D -decrease military spending
R - increase military spending
D - support gay marriage (generally)
R - oppose gay marriage (generally)
D - abortion should remain legal
R - oppose abortion and Roe v. Wade
D - government regulations protect people
R - government regulations hinder job growth
D - support universal healthcare
R - oppose requirement to buy health insurance
D - moratorium on deporting undocumented
R - no amnesty for undocumented immigrants
D - little concern for trillions of dollars of debt
R - see national debt as security issue
I'm convinced the American government is not great right now, but I'm absolutely positive that the AMERICAN PEOPLE are the finest in the world. In spite of the renegade examples interviewed on the TV regularly, we the people are good and kind and want the best for EVERYONE. We just pretty much ignored Washington for way too long and now find ourselves in this political pickle.
Common sense CAN prevail, but only if common sense is heard.
The voice IS more powerful than the vote these days. Lies told on both sides are believed by the masses even after they are exposed. (We naively want to believe what people say is true. We're good like that!) And once a lie is believed, pride keeps us from admitting we fell for it. We march on with signs in hand, supporting a lie meant only to garner votes. It works.
In three months, the lies, the shouting, the attacks, and the foolishness will be over. Hopefully, there will be a smooth, uneventful transfer of power. Then get ready for ROUND 2!
