Close to What I'm Getting At

The closest I've seen to what I was getting at while discussing politics with my mother-in-law is this article. Why would I discuss politics with my favorite mother-in-law? In general terms, we would vote the same way. What I bemoan is the way that the Republicans have just too many "potential" candidates for the 2016 election. One analogy is that they are all spaghetti being thrown against a wall to see which sticks. A second analogy is that it's a bunch of men acting like children. Children tend to think of themselves before others, though yes, of course, there are exceptions. Each of these "potential" candidates are trying to boost their own ego. In their attempts to rise to the top of this long list of men (and Sarah Palin!) who want to lead our country, it's a bunch of pushing each other down in order to rise. There's a collective philosophy that their chances of being "the candidate" that runs against the presumed Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, depends upon making the other guy look bad.

It's not a wise strategy.

I'll go on record and state, simply, all of these Republican "potential" candidates need to come to the same city and be locked in a room together. No aides, no donors, nobody but the "potential" candidates. They need to be kept in this room until they decide, among themselves, which of them is going to be the "real" candidate for president and which of them is going to be the "real" candidate for vice-president. Since there are so many, they may as well negotiate for other Cabinet positions. When they are released from this room, they need to immediately cease all this finger pointing and macho bullshit. As the article I cited above pointed out, the Democrats do not talk bad about each other - they "get" the game whereas I think the Republicans are letting their egos get in the way.

And I get it. Who wouldn't want to be in a position of power? We all seek power, in some way, whether it's within our families, within our career, or within other organizations we care about deeply. That power, though, especially in presidential politics, is divisive. At a time when the country, as a whole, is facing so many important issues - race, poverty, ISIS, environment, energy (and the list goes on and on) - we need someone to get us all on the same page.

Sometimes, I think it doesn't matter to me if the candidate for president is a donkey or elephant. I think it's more important if the candidate can quickly and decisively find common ground between the two and unite us. If the Republicans are going to do it, the quicker they quit pushing each other down, the better.