Sailing into uncharted political territory
America is about to embark on a journey into an uncharted area of politics. Who knows what tomorrow holds in our search for a new president ? We stand on the threshold of the Republican Party’s convention to nominate a candidate to represent that party in search of the highest political office in our nation. Shortly after the Republicans have finished their convention in Cleveland, Ohio, the Democrats will start their convention in Philadelphia, Penn. Hopefully something good will come out of these activities. Other, less recognized political parties can have their convention without all the media fanfare — hence we learn little about their efforts to make the great American political stage. Regardless there will be no shortage of media attention on politics as we head into the November election.
At this writing, we know the presumptive Republican candidate, Donald J. Trump, has selected Michael (Mike) Pence, currently the governor of Indiana to join him in the path to the White House as the vice-presidential candidate. Mr. Trump has managed to bring into the campaign a man with extensive political history to off-set his own personal lack of political experience. It is inter- esting that a street-wise Mr. Trump, a native of New York City, with his degree in economics from Wharton School of Business, would select a relatively unknown Midwesterner as a running mate. Gov. Pence considers himself to be a born again, evangelical Catholic and has support from the Tea Party. He also has a law degree — but not from Harvard. We can hope Mr. Trump will continue to look for members of his inner staff (the Cabinet?) to fill in the voids in his lack of political experience. If he is successful in accomplishing that and brings unity to the party, we might see the most solid Republican prospects since Ronald Reagan. Certainly Mr. Trump does not lack in business experience and he has proven to be very successful in building a team that can handle constructing a building and laying out a golf course. If he can transfer that success to the political world, we might be on the threshold of change in Washington’s short-sighted political thinking. To accomplish anything, however, he must get elected in November. That is not a certainty at this point, since in the political arena only Hillary Clinton seems to be less popular than Mr. Trump.
We will soon learn who Mrs. Clinton will select to be her vice-presidential candidate. Politics seems to be a game of one-ups-manship when it comes to trying to draw media attention as we saw in the game of guessing Trump’s choice. An effort will be made to be the first to know who is the Democratic vicepresidential candidate in the “can you top this?” race. There seems to be less speculation about who she will select than we experienced with Donald Trump, but that shouldn’t be too surprising. Mrs. Clinton’s political savvy is not in question. Her liabilities seem to be character issues, such as transparency and honesty, where her position as Secretary of State was involved in security concerns and the lack of truth about activities in Benghazi. It does not bode well in the minds of those who were involved in the Benghazi activities that she so casually shrugged off the events. The lives lost in the indecision about the Embassy cannot be replaced and there is no consolation to the families of the victims that she failed to tell the truth when she spoke to the world about the ac- tual events. For those of us who admire the sacrifice of those who represent us in the world at large, it is difficult to swallow when we find they cannot be trusted to tell the truth — even under oath.
Why our political system continues to draw the wide range of individual personalities that we have seeking the White House astounds me. From the flamboyant Donald Trump with his exaggerated claims of what he will do, to Mrs. Clinton with her dishonesty, we are faced with uncertain choices. There doesn’t seem to be a George Washington cherry tree story out there to give us encouragement.
Where are the examples we can use to help us teach our children (or in my case, grandchildren) that they should engage politics, not shy away from it. If we don’t see change worth supporting in the two political party choices, where do we go to develop a new generation with the integrity we need to save America? Any sign of hope would be appreciated.
••• Editor’s note: Leo Lynch is an award-winning columnist. He is a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at prtnews@nwadg.com.
“The science of government it is my duty to study, more than all other sciences; the arts of legislation and administration and negotiation ought to take the place of, indeed exclude, in a manner, all other arts. I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.” John Adams Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife