I am going to declare my belief that the next president of the United States of America need not take the country into the ditch lined with “democratic socialistic” policies.
I want the next election to produce a president who takes a more centrist, mainstream, traditional view of government.
Donald Trump got elected president in 2016 because he managed to appeal to enough voters looking for a radical change in the way a president did business. They got what he promised: radical change. The consequence is that it has produced chaos, confusion, controversy throughout, from top to bottom.
Democrats have lined up a thundering herd of candidates who want to replace Trump in the White House. Some of the loudmouths of the bunch want things like “Medicare for all,” they want to redistribute the wealth, they rail against “income inequality.”
These are the so-called progressives in the Democratic Party.
Among those who are running to be nominated by their party is a group of what I would call “traditional liberal” politicians. They talk about using government to lend a hand when needed. They speak about border security in terms that I can embrace. They want to maintain a strong military establishment, which I also embrace. They seek to shore up our international alliances. They understand the reality that the world is shrinking and that the United States cannot stand alone against the rest of the planet.
I think of Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker and perhaps even Kamala Harris as the candidates I find most appealing even at this early stage of the 2020 campaign. I’m still trying to wrap my head around Beto O’Rourke, Julian Castro, Pete Buttigieg.
I won’t embrace one- or two-issue candidates, such as Jay Inslee, Bernie Sanders, or even Elizabeth Warren.
I want this nation to elect a president with some practical political experience. Does this sound like an endorsement of, say, former Vice President Biden? It might but don’t take it to the bank.
This “experiment” we launched with the election of Donald Trump has proven — to my way of thinking — to be a bust, a loser, a festering pile of bullsh**.
I have expressed my desire for a newcomer to burst onto the scene. I wanted someone to burst out front the way a formerly obscure ex-Georgia governor did in 1976. Jimmy Carter’s election as president produced decidedly mixed results and he got thumped in the 1980 election. That was then. The here and now seemed to call out for another newcomer to upset the race for the White House.
I don’t think that candidate will emerge. We are left with a smattering of centrists who will fight it out for the presidency. That’s all right. I will await someone from that group to emerge as the individual I want to show Donald Trump the door in January 2021.