Friday , March 29 2024
The only “timber” I can associate with the current crop of presidential wannabees is the sound of falling trees.

Lamenting the Lack of Presidential Timber in Presidential Race

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I have written before about “presidential timber” or the lack thereof; however, I have never been this despondent regarding the candidates running for the highest office in the land. At this juncture I sadly must say that there is not one candidacy that I can support, and the only “timber” I can associate with the current crop of presidential wannabees is the sound of falling trees.

Looking at the Republican side of things, it has sort of been the case of a Ten Little Indians scenario – and hoping “then there will be none” is nothing but wishful thinking. The Democratic side is no less bothersome – questions about Mrs. Clinton possibly being indicted over the email scandal haunt her candidacy. Mr. Sanders, according to the polls, doesn’t stand a chance against her no matter how much rhetoric is spewed regarding her ethics. ‘Tis a muddle, a muddle indeed.

694940094001_4786485147001_6cee6178-4f73-4177-915d-4ace8b24946fWatching the last GOP candidate debate was a painful experience. Never in my life have I seen discourse so un-presidential. For it to degenerate so steeply into territory regarding Mr. Trump’s anatomy is repugnant – my children are watching this – and the general demeanor of three of the four candidates is like punks in the school yard. Mr. Kasich seems reasonable but somewhat reserved, and he simply doesn’t stand a chance to get enough delegates. These other fellows (Mr. Cruz, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Trump) are not presidential timber – they’re not even presidential twigs.

The two Democratic candidates are not much better. Mr. Sanders promised not to make personal attacks against Mrs. Clinton and then proceeded to launch into them. I understand he is fighting for survival in the race, but what happened to a campaign of integrity regarding the most important issues? It is certainly not Mrs. Clinton’s emails, her Wall Street speaking fees, or her husband Bill.

Mrs. Clinton has done nothing to help herself. The email matter could have been diffused last year, but she tossed it aside like an old shoe that now continues to hit her over the head. More importantly, she refuses to disclose the texts of her Wall Street speeches that netted her huge fees. What the hell could she say that would be worth $675,000 a pop?

bernie-sanders_650x400_41453087327So I am not even at a crossroads at this point because there are no candidates that impress me. Sanders almost gets me there, but all his promises are like what you tell a girl on the first date, and by the time you get to the fifth or sixth date, she knows you’re full of horse manure.  Trump at first impressed me as having no ties to anyone, but now he is like playing a caricature of himself. Truthfully, they do his shtick better on Saturday Night Live where we can laugh about him because it is not real.

Perhaps that’s the point of all this – the election is eight months away and none of this seems real to me. We are dealing with candidates who are like the Three Stooges on the Republican side and Lady Macbeth and Woodie Guthrie (hey, Bernie recorded an album if you didn’t know) on the Democratic side. All may be vicariously entertaining in some ways, but I wouldn’t want any of them as president.

Between now and November someone is going to have to step up and do something to get my vote. Perhaps a rogue third party candidate can sweep in – and no, not Mitt (I lost one election already) Romney or Al (I invented the Internet) Gore – and impress the populace as really being presidential timber. That’s a long-shot at this point in the process, but I have to tell myself there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Please, there has to be.

For now there are just too many debates full of sound and fury and signifying not much of anything. How do I answer my children when they ask about how is it possible that one of these candidates could become president? At this point I have no idea because I cannot even answer that for myself.

 

Photo credits: cnn, foxnews, nbc

About Victor Lana

Victor Lana's stories, articles, and poems have been published in literary magazines and online. His new novel, 'Unicorn: A Love Story,' is available as an e-book and in print.

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