An Unimaginable Dilemma

An Unimaginable Dilemma

By

Leonard Zwelling

I’ve been following domestic politics since 1956. I remember the campaign of President Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson in that year and surely the 1960 contest between Kennedy and Nixon. I did watch the Kennedy-Nixon debates. Kennedy won the country over with his performance on television. He looked the part.

Fast forward to 2024.

We have clearly digressed a long way in the debate arena as I touched upon with a recent blog. In essence, Trump was vibrant, combative, prevaricating, and feisty. It’s what his followers like.

Biden was a grey, old man who looked like he should be chasing kids down the block for playing ball on his lawn. He most surely did not appear presidential and no one in his or her right mind would allow either of these two guys anywhere near the nuclear code buttons. The United States is in a full-blown crisis.

How did we get here?

Trump is a once in a lifetime phenomenon. He came into the race for president in 2015 with a high visibility personality and the illusion of being a successful businessman. He was really running on his father’s money and had actually had to declare bankruptcy more than once. He’s not a brilliant capitalist, but rather a constant on page six of the New York Post with porn stars for girlfriends along with Jeffrey Epstein as a buddy. Trump runs in less than seemly circles.

Nonetheless, Trump captured the imagination of the working class of America and vaulted to a narrow electoral college victory in 2016. His presidency will probably be best remembered for the huge tax cut for the wealthy and Covid. Trump did enable Operation Warp Speed and got the vaccines out even as his followers minimized their value and besmirched Tony Fauci for being honest even if inconstant.

Trump lost in 2020, but, unlike other presidential losers, did not go away. His followers were loyal and wanted him back. He swept through the GOP primaries and is the presumptive nominee.

Biden also went through a primary fight in 2020, but it wasn’t a fair one after House leader James Clyburn ceded the South Carolina primary to Biden after Biden lost Iowa and New Hampshire. Everyone else dropped out and we were left with Joe who has had a pretty successful presidency, but has clearly declined severely in his physical and mental capacities. Why he won’t just take a victory lap and retire in 2024 is beyond me, but the American people will retire him if he continues the Don Quixote- like pursuit of another term, by the end of which he would be 86.

So, we have two dreadful candidates and my friends are all telling me I have to decide and vote for one of them. Surprise—no I don’t!

I am sure that Donald Trump will be the GOP nominee and he’s earned it, but not my vote.

Biden must be replaced by the Democrats or surely they will lose the election. Only the most loyal of Democrats could vote for the man they saw on their screens on June 27. I am not one of them.

This race is over if Biden stays in it. It may be over even if he drops out. With the stubborn Democratic streak to retain Biden, they may well forego the White House and both houses of Congress.

Now that the Supreme Court has swung so far right that Presidents are above the law, I’d say the United States is in a bit of a bind. I hope I am around to see the contest in 2028, because that one could be for the soul of the nation. If we last that long.