THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN ABOUT NOTHING
by Michael Dobson
With a few days remaining before our collective sighs of relief and good riddance to the 2016 presidential campaign, in reflection, one can only say that it was like a Seinfeld episode. You know… the show about nothing.
We will be voting for president in a season when even if someone had a gun to your head, you could not tell them where any of the candidates stood on education, the environment, or social security. There has never been a presidential campaign in my adult life when education and social security were not discussed. Yes, Hillary has reams of policy positions on her website for those brave enough to spend a day reading them, but Mr. Trump relies on bumper sticker slogans, name calling and too many falsehoods that one gets tired of pointing them out. We walk out of the voting booths feeling dirty and realizing that we've heard little to nothing about the things that directly affect our daily lives the whole time. It was dirty, scary and at times entertaining , but in the end, it was also about nothing. What do they see as the role of the Department Of Education, the EPA, the FCC, or the host of other agencies and governmental bodies of which the President will influence. What about Medicare expansion or the SCHIP program. We never heard an in depth and important conversation about funding for higher education, vocational training or the handling of student debt that our nation deserves.
In one of the primary debates, Jeb Bush retorted to Donald Trump that Mr Trump would not be able to bully his way to the White House with mere bluster. Well, I think history will show that he almost did. Even at the end of the campaign, Trumps campaign is applauding themselves because the candidate is reading the teleprompter and so called “ staying on message”. But when these seasoned political professionals carved out a message in this campaign, it was not one about the policies that affect our lives. The latter would be in a normal campaign. But today, the message is that Hillary is “crooked Hillary”, that she should be “in jail” and other digressions of name calling and false allegations. The word "corruption” has been thrown around as if by simply saying it, that its true. For Hillary’s part, against her better instincts and wishes, she has given up on having a serious policy discussion. She’s in the mud and knows it, so because she is no shrinking violet, she has gone all Chicago on Trump.
But, a larger discussion to be had after the dust is settled, is this: when did HACKING someones email account become legal and acceptable ? And, is HACKED EMAIL , resulting from an illegal activity, something that should be treated as fair game by the press? Could you imagine the turmoil in your personal and professional lives if all of your email was hacked and shared, in some cases with people who were insulted in some way or dismissed in some way in a communication assumed to be private. Yes, I’ve heard that you should never write an email in anger or say anything that you would not want the world to see, but who adheres that?
This little nuance about computer espionage and our faux belief that we are safe to communicate in confidence electronically is an interesting dinner topic and all; but, we should not base the leadership of the free world on the misunderstanding of such nuances in modern electronic communication. Do we really want to determine an election based on chit chat between John Podesta and others about essentially nothing of import? Or, some off handed half baked musing from a young campaign staffer? Further, what about Anthony Weiner and his wife’s exchanges, all of which has NOTHING to do with Hillary Clinton? But, in the end, that is what this campaign is about.. emails.. he's a con man.. lock her up..bimbos.. pussy.. tits..tweets..small hands..womens' looks..a woman's weight.. Mexican are rapist (wrong)…. building walls (that will never be built)…nude statutes… committed sexual assault (slanderous?)..put the bitch down, and it goes on and on. Yes truly, It has been the CAMPAIGN ABOUT NOTHING, from which the next president will be like a Cracker Jack prize. We deserved respectful, thoughtful and serious dialogue about our challenges, but didn’t get it. Glad it’s going to be over. God bless us.
Michael Dobson is a long-time Tallahassee based Governmental Relations Consultant, political consultant, columnist, Founder/ President of Florida Renewable Energy Producers Association, and Managing Member of Dobson Craig and Associates. Can be contacted at Michael@michaeldobson.org
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