Both major parties — Democrat and Republican — are in crisis
The 2016 presidential election is like no other seen in living memory. Both of the major political parties—Democrat and Republican—are in crisis. People angry over abandonment by government and the existing establishment are drawn towards new faces seen as offering fresh new solutions to their problems.
Anti-government sentiment and low public-approval ratings of elected politicians have rarely been so strong as today.
On one extreme, many who once had a decent standard of living and have lost it, are drawn towards the brash, demagogic, no-nonsense oratory of billionaire Donald Trump. He glibly blames immigrants and Muslims, attacks women’s rights and minorities, and encourages thinly veiled violence against any who oppose him.
Ted Cruz was similar, though his main support is sought from among the fundamentalist religious right. Both serve as a source of embarrassment to the traditional Republican Party which sees them as too extreme to be electable.
On the other extreme, democratic-socialist Bernie Sanders, running as a Democrat, has made public discussion of socialism acceptable.
Youth and many who feel abandoned by the direction the Democratic Party has been going, are drawn to his support of single-payer health insurance, making the wealthy pay their fair share, tuition-free public education, immigration reform, and other proposals to bolster social programs that benefit working people.
Under attack from both extremes are the establishment candidates and leadership of the Democratic and Republican Parties.
Hillary Clinton is running as an electable woman with Senatorial and cabinet-level experience, and as wife of a former president. Among other things, Bernie condemns Hillary for receiving over half a million dollars for speeches from Wall Street. Secret transcripts subsequently leaked out purport to have Hillary promises not to go against Wall Street interests if elected.
There are those on the left who fear that Bernie is not going far enough. Moreover, they fear that his campaign is mainly intended to capture the disaffected vote and deliver it to Clinton so that Trump won’t be elected. Sanders has in fact stated that Hillary is “infinitely better than Trump.”
Some say they won’t vote at all if Bernie doesn’t win the Democratic nomination. Others state that they will throw their vote in support of Trump rather than support an establishment candidate like Hillary, if Bernie is not the candidate.
So what is going on? What does all this mean?
