Both parties melting down

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

WILL THE MAJOR PARTIES SURVIVE AFTER 2016?

  

The 2016 Presidential election, while still in the pre-primary season, has captured worldwide  attention. We see proposed bans of US presidential candidates in Britain and comments by Vladimir Putin on the US election, all this while not one vote has yet to be cast. This has been the most watched primary that I can remember and it may well go down as having the largest voter participation in US history. Much of this can be attributed to the candidacy of Donald Trump and to a slightly lesser degree of Bernie Sanders. Both candidates have distressed their parties to a point of obvious breakdowns. We see Hillary Clinton, the presumed nominee, labeled as the "establishment" candidate, which she is. She was billed as the "Wonder Women " of the Democratic party and she has turned out to be the poorest performing candidate they have put up since Michael Dukakis. We also hear howls of outrage when Democratic support groups are labeled "establishment" by Bernie Sanders, which they are. We see Hillary labeling Sanders, who calls himself a socialist, as being too conservative on the issues. The usual labels are not working this election cycle. The voters like Sanders, who has the credibility that Hillary will never have. I  have questioned his wanting to win, maybe Bernie has finally seen the light and realizes that maybe he can actually win this election. 

On the other side we have Trump, who has been called everything from bigot to Islamophobic to not a real Republican,  but it has not put a dent in him so far. They all predicted how he would wilt when his plans were exposed to daylight. The whole pack of candidates then confronted the alpha dog of the pack, and they were soon tearing at each other, fighting for the scraps of votes left after Cruz and Trump solidified their positions. One by one they attacked and were sent to the rear of the pecking order. Giving up on the establishment candidates to knock him down, they have now enlisted the self-described spokesmen for conservatism in the likes of Rich Lowery, National Review, Bill Kristol, Weekly Standard, David McIntosh, Club for Growth, David Boaz, Cato Institute, Eric Erickson, Red State.com. and many others. They have even allowed Glenn Beck, who up to now they would have not gotten onto the same stage with, to endorse their plan to stop Trump.  Beck, a supporter of Ted Cruz, who is a good man, has allied himself with the Jeb Bush supporters to stop Trump. Does he really think that if Trump is destroyed they will support Cruz?  Now they have even had Bob Dole come out and say nice things about Trump, this must be a Machiavellian  attempt to damage Trump. What can they promise Bill Cosby and Charles Manson to endorse Trump? Trump's and Cruz's opposition has been strongest among the Republican elites. They still have hopes for Jeb Bush. He was supposed to be the "Superman" of the Republican party, but turned out to be more like Gomer Pyle. It was all about the money; he had the most to spend and everyone was expecting some of the largesse to flow their way. He has spent over 100 million to the combined 8 million of Trump and Cruz. There is a depression in the Republican consultant class. 

Now, what do Trump and Sanders have in common that has the establishments of both parties melting down? Number 1 is trade - both believe in real fair trade that will help American workers raise their standard of living. No one seems to talk about the facts that China has tariffs on American products and requires turning over plans and intellectual property to the Chinese government for products made there. Both will also re-examine our interventionist foreign policy. I believe this is the crux of the opposition. The huge amounts of money that are dependent on these two policies, whether it is buying sneakers in China for $5.00 and selling them for $100, or Smart Phones for $85 and selling them for $500. These trade policies were passed during the Clinton presidency and supported by Democrats and Republicans. We have military personnel stationed in over 100 countries. There is lots of money to made on these policies. Both policies have been consistent for years with both parties and both Democratic and Republican administrations. We have been brainwashed for years that nationalism is a bad policy, equated with fascism and extremism. It's like saying making your priority the well being of your children and families is extreme.

We will see how this all plays out. It will be a show that no one could have made up, this may be the Super-Bowl, World Series and Daytona 500 all wrapped up in one and there are 10 more months to the checkered flag.