We are about to kick off the Presidential campaign season. I know, I hear the groans across the country. We just finished up elections. It seems like we might have election fatigue, no? The fact is, its sad that we only have the choice of Clinton or Bush, yet again. Why is it this way?
Recently George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, sat down with NPR for an interview on his upcoming book about his father, 41: A Portrait of My Father. Among the things he was asked about was his brother, Jeb Bush, and his potential run for GOP candidate for the 2016 Presidential election. There is a lot of buzz in the media about Jeb Bush running, speculation about how he might be out of touch with the current Republican party or how he is the savior the GOP needs to get votes in national campaigns.
What struck me though was the comment, was his perception about potential voters, the national mood, and about another Bush (or Clinton) running/winning the election:
“Some guy at one time said to me, ‘You know, I don’t like the idea of Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Bush.’ I said, ‘Oh, OK.’ I said, ‘How do you like the idea of Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Clinton?’ And the point is that these may be the two best candidates their party has to offer.”
I added the emphasis on the last sentence. Besides the former President being presumptuous about who will get the party nods, the fact is, sadly, to me it does seem like that neither party has anyone better. What a sad state of affairs!
In a country with a million potentially electable citizens, the two leading contenders for President of the nation are two people who derive power from the families and political networks they have. How can that be? How can we only have these two (potential) candidates as the best candidates that either of the two political parties have to offer? That should bother people, like deep down inside, make them question the state of affairs and how politics in the country functions.
It sure does bother me. We seem to be heading the way of so many other nations, like Pakistan. That nation comes to mind largely because of my own experience: namely, I have Pakistani roots. But in Pakistan, democratic governments that come into power are usually headed by people from the same family, so that over the years Pakistan’s democracy reads like a family tree, as one succession after another occurs over the decade, the last names stay the same- Bhutto-Zardari, Sharif. I am not saying that politics in the US is in line with Pakistan, its just we are way more sophisticated.
Politics- A Family Affair
Corner Office Shaikh 