Several higher profile candidates have ended their quests for the White House in recent days, and weeks, ending much of the speculation about a crowded field and overlap. For those that merely dabble in the political orbit, the new language is “suspending” rather than “dropping out”. It’s virtually the same but sounds lighter and fluffier. In the interest of complete transparency, I ended my campaign quite some time ago, and my exploratory committee, in addition to my entire campaign apparatus is missing. (Should you see them someplace, please ask them to “phone home”.) Sadly, however, few of my followers noticed, and even fewer noted their despair at the void this would leave in the field. (But thank you, Rebecca in Billings, Montana, for kind words of support.)
It’s tough to mount a serious challenge without the Biden name recognition or the Bloomberg fortune. Neither did that lady from Hawaii or the gentleman from Colorado. My ads in a bunch of rural weekly Iowa newspapers didn’t match the media advertising that other candidates lavished on the populace. For future reference, a quarter page on the back doesn’t really carry much of a punch. My PAC’s were mostly for sandwiches and snacks, which I will say were delightful on the campaign trail but they didn’t provide the splash of publicity for which we’d hoped. I didn’t really have a “campaign bus” other than the Boston Express that I’ve used for the occasional daily runs, and my old Toyota was not up to coast-to-coast travel, although it’s done well around town. And, it seems that, at 67, I’m just too young and inexperienced. I’ll wait ten years and jump back in again, if I’m not napping or ordering a pizza.
What will happen to many of the more prominent planks in my platform, you ask? Well, I can only hope that the universal appeal of my humble, every day approach, as well as the many benefits they’ll provide, will be embraced by the candidate pool that is left. Here are just but a few of the ideas that I’ve championed in my race to the White House: hacker-proof coffee apps that never need updating, tax-deductible wine purchases, carbonated beverage containers that don’t tip over, “no charge” popping up on the little screen when you stop by the drugstore to pick up your prescriptions. In that vein, I propose a constitutional amendment that prohibits register receipts from being no longer than six inches. That should be a mandate. The Founding Fathers never imagined register tapes, so we’ve got some catching up to do. Actually, that may have less and less urgency and voter approval now as our medications come in the mail. I must say, I did like Andrew Yang’s concept of a guaranteed yearly income. That extra thousand bucks each month would buy a lot of K-cups and boost my gardening budget.
I will tell you all that my Supreme Court nominees would have sailed through the Senate confirmations at lightning speed because we wouldn’t need to worry about “leaning right” or high school rapists. My cabinet nominees would have at least a working knowledge of what they’re overseeing, as decidedly different from owning stock in . . . . . . As I don’t own any resorts, I most likely would not be jetting off each weekend. I would be around to mingle with DC residents at CVS and Shake Shack.
Probably too radical for the country, but I see immigration as an opportunity to restock the workforce with honest, hardworking folks seeking a better life, rather than as a threat or a drain. And when it comes to healthcare, many Americans take “mine is fine, so leave everything else alone” approach. Not quite so good for the uninsured or the underinsured. As a side note, I could only shake my head when I saw some people-on-the-street interviews with Joe and Mary Mainstreet, who clearly didn’t know that Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act were the same thing. They’d vigorously oppose one while using the other. I know, right? You can only pray that these folks don’t participate meaningfully in any elections, because making a mark on a ballot is clearly beyond their level of understanding. Or the voter at a rally for, well, guess who, that during the impeachment hearings kept saying insistently to the reporter, “Read the transcripts, read the transcripts!”. When he was then asked if he had in fact read the transcripts, he responded, “Well, no. I trust the president.” Ah . . . .
While I’m an independent and tend to be a centrist, I am delighted to see that the voters have winnowed the pool of potential candidates in the party for whom I typically vote, to . . . . two old white guys. We’ve spoken definitively on women, people of color, gays, and most anybody else that doesn’t look like us true Americans – in other words, white males. The world of democracies that have elected Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkle, Teresa May, Golda Meir, and Indira Gandhi must be shaking its collective head and wondering, “Americans – what is your problem?” The current administration has given us pause to reflect on the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Anyone that builds their base on fear leaves a populace that is anxious and sleepless, cowed, powerless, and with a diminished capacity to reason. So, let’s fix the things we can, move forward, and accept that change is coming whether we like it or not. Let’s not take two or three steps backward for every one that we take forward. Perhaps, and here’s a novel thought, we could even begin to evaluate issues and solutions that benefit everyone rather than just me. Or, “I have most everything I need and I comfortable. To heck with everyone else.” Or my personal favorite, “Those that are suffering just don’t work hard enough.” Yup, that’s a good one. Tell that to a Guatemalan refugee, or a Puerto Rican whose home blew away in a hurricane. The upcoming election will be a clear choice – either “It takes a village”, or “I don’t like villages, they’re all socialists.”
Have to sign off now – my coffee app needs to be updated and pick up some tippy bottles of seltzer.
I'm Thinking...No! 