Presidential Hopeful Donald Trump takes “political theater” to entirely a new level.
Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, when 14 states – including Massachusetts – and one territory hold a variety of caucuses and primaries. After the slow start of the earlier primaries, it is the beginning of a fast and furious four months of primary voting, culminating in July with the meetings of the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention and, finally, the announcements of who has carried the parties’ nominations. Then we get to start all over again in the sudden death round for the presidency.
The electoral process in American is long, cumbersome and messy – just like democracy! – and it is made interminable by the media hoopla that surrounds it. Just two months into this election year it feels as though it will never end, and yet we have nearly nine more long months of this inanity ahead of us.
As of this writing, five candidates technically remain in the running for the Republican primary; Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Dr. Ben Carson, with six and four delegates respectively, are not serious contenders and are likely to shortly drop out entirely. Assume then that the three serious contenders are current frontrunner Donald Trump and Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
If the descriptor of Donald Trump – a man who has never held a political office and as a businessman declared bankruptcy four times – as “the current frontrunner for the Republican candidacy for the United States of America” doesn’t make your blood run cold, we suggest you check your pulse.
It is unfortunately easy to see how he rose to the top of the field. Bombastic, colorful and media-savvy, Trump is certainly entertaining (if you’re into that sort of thing). He speaks in soundbites and deflects like Teflon. He makes great television.
In an unprecedented move, the Boston Globe has called for unenrolled voters in Massachusetts to vote for Kasich in an attempt to derail Trump, but alas, our 42 Republican delegates are unlikely to make much of a difference. It is looking increasingly likely that Trump will triumph.
Given the space constraints of this column, it is impossible to list all of the pros and cons of all of the candidates – and for all of them, the list of cons is longer than the list of pros. It’s a poor crop of candidates this year and the Republican crop is particularly slim pickings.
Rather than endorse one of these sad excuses for candidates, we leave it up to you, readers; vote your conscience, vote for your business interests, vote for the future of our battered country, but for whom matters less than the act of doing. The best way to improve the political process is to participate in it.
So vote for Kasich and throw off Trump. Vote for Sanders and socialism. Vote for Clinton and gun control. Vote for Trump, even (if you feel you must). Just vote.
