CIRCUS POLITICS IN AMERICA

The 2016 presidential campaign has become a reality show and has gone down into the gutter. This has turned into a mudslinging contest and more importantly behind all the personal brickbats is the fact that the critical issues in this election are lost and never discussed even with some seriousness. No matter who wins the presidential election come November, it’s a sure bet that the losers will be the American people. Anyone who believes that this election will bring about any real change in how the American government does business is either incredibly naïve or woefully out-of-touch.

It is reckoned that political candidates, parties, and outside groups will spend at least $5 billion on the 2016 election (80% in advertising alone) , more than double the cost of the 2012 campaign. Indeed, the 2016 election will decide not just the White House but 34 U.S. Senate seats, 12 Governorships and ballots will include all 435 U.S. House seats. This staggering amount of money is being spent while  46 million American people live in poverty, nearly 300,000 Americans are out of work and more than 500,000 Americans are homeless.

Despite the fact that there are 218 million eligible voters in the U.S. (only half of whom actually vote), it is the electoral college, made up of 538 individuals handpicked by the candidates’ respective parties, that actually selects the next president.

Sadly, elections have turned into popularity contests by individuals better suited to be talk-show hosts rather than intelligent, reasoned debates on issues of domestic and foreign policy by individuals with solid experience, proven track records and tested integrity. Things like wisdom, sound judgment, morality and truth, have been replaced by lying people incapable of making fair and impartial decisions

In America today, there is a disconnect between an unrepresentative political class and the citizenry it purports to represent.The political process today not only is less representative than it was a generation ago and less supported by the citizenry, but the outcomes of that process are at a minimum no better.