Looking Backwards

With the new crazy season upon us it may be instructive to look back on some thoughts from a few eons ago -- that would be 2016, the year America fell off the cliff, apparently -- and see where things were heading a few months before the election of Donald J. Trump to the presidency:

There is an awful lot of noise out there, folks. That’s because–like it or not–the political season has begun (this year, earlier than ever). Unlike other civilized societies (Britain, much of Europe, and even a few third-world countries) the Presidential season in America lasts as long as the politicians feel the need to spew their verbal commercial vomit. In those other countries the campaign season is limited and brief. The UK just elected their new (and old) Prime Minister in a campaign that lasted a whole six weeks!

Here in the U.S. we are faced with the spectacle of a Republican Party where almost every possible candidate has declared, is about to declare, or is threatening to declare a candidacy. The “front runner,” is not even officially running but everyone has decided he’s the one to beat. And by the way, that front runner is the candidate that most people say they do not want to see running at all, Jeb (brother-son) Bush. Why is Bush the front runner? Because everyone thinks he is. On the other side we have the equally distressing spectacle of a Democratic Party that has all but thrown up its collective hands, deciding there is no–and cannot be any–alternative to the presumed party standard-bearer, Hillary Clinton (or as the pundits and anti-Hillary folks like to call her, “Hillary.”

So once again, American voters are confronted with a choice between a Bush and a Clinton. Boring! Boring! Boring! And, of course, this raises the obvious question: if we are going to have to choose between two oh-so-very well known candidates, why is it necessary to have an election cycle that goes on and on for almost two years?

The answer is this: there is so much at stake in the next few years, and there are so many interested parties here, that the parties (that’s small p) want to carry on the discussion as long as possible. And let’s be frank: an awful lot of people love this stuff and want it to go on as long as possible. And there’s money to be made by all those officials, consultants, planners and potential future diplomats.

It’s going to be a long campaign season, the longest ever. Fasten your seat belts, America. There’s going to be a bad case of jet lag after this one.