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Over the years, frustration has fermented about our two-party political system. In this election cycle, the electorate has changed all that. As cracks in the Democratic and Republican ranks expand exponentially, we now effectively have at least a four-party system.
An anemic economic recovery, explosive growth of government, debt, taxes, regulations, etc., have America looking for alternatives. In rankings of "economic freedom," we have fallen to our worst score ever - 11th in the world. We have fallen to 14th in education. We have finished fourth on the "World's Favorite Countries" poll, again our worst finish ever. Hopefully, this is like the NFL: The lower we go, the higher our draft choice for our next president.
Within the Democratic Party, which historically enforces party discipline with draconian measures, there is a split. Secular progressives, led by Bernie Sanders, want to see this country become socialist. Hillary Clinton, knowing she is going to win, has had to tack left, but still tries to say she is "kinda" religious. She even said she "speaks to God several times a day." Her agent later clarified that she does speak to God but never charges him the full $250,000. And she would not reveal her fee or what political favors God got in return.
Sanders represents the economically naïve Left: young people who have been conditioned by our education system and by Democrats to believe they are owed something for free. Sanders is just Obama with more integrity.
Smug leftist late-night comics like John Oliver, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Bill Maher recruit entry-level, liberal, uninformed, young, white, hipster wannabes by telling them that anyone with opposing views is racist. With their smirky condemnation of Trump supporters, they presuppose a moral high ground.
Hillary, a pawn of public sector unions like SEIU, teacher groups and plaintiffs' lawyers, represents the old DNC hierarchy. Democrats no longer care about hard-working, law-abiding citizens. Rather, they want to divide the country into aggrieved classes, then exploit them. They want unsecured borders because illegal immigrants come here for our freebies, which they are more than willing to exchange for their votes.
Conservatives, meanwhile, are tired of establishment Republicans who have allowed the Democrats to take this country further and further left. Their monopoly on power has been based on: "We are spineless, but at least we are to the right of Obama or Hillary," and "You really have no choice, so hold your nose and vote like a good boy."
The donor class of GOP candidates like John McCain and Mitt Romney are in a tizzy that someone outside their sphere of influence might get the GOP nomination and upset their Washington insider cabal. Both former candidates have said Trump's nomination "is a threat to democracy." So unless the establishment approves, letting us decide who will be our candidate is now undemocratic?
Enter Donald J. Trump. The "J" stands for genius.
He capitalized on his outsider status by tapping into Americans' anger. His make-it-up-on-the-fly policies and free-floating populist stances do not seem to matter to people who enjoy his strength, candor and pro-America bravado. Trump was partially created by weak Republicans but mostly by a divisive Obama who blames others, apologizes for America and seethes with a pessimism that is un-American. Obama denied blame for the rise of Trump; he was too busy deflecting blame for the rise of ISIS.
The prospect of a Trump presidency has liberals feeling scared. Twenty-five percent of them said it makes them feel anxious that Trump is winning, and 40 percent said it made them feel Canadian, which just makes the rest of the country pull for Trump even more. Just think of all the whiny leftists who might leave our country if he is elected. Talk about making America great again!
Contact Ron Hart at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.