The two major political party conventions are history and they beg the question -- is this the best America has to offer future generations and the current world? A self-described billionaire reality television star with a beautiful family and a lady who has years of political history and a raft of integrity issues. It is difficult to see a wholesome political change coming after we go to the polls in November.
When we consider Arkansas as a small part of America's past and potential future, it requires that we consider Hillary Clinton was once Arkansas' First Lady as Bill Clinton worked his way to the presidency. Didn't one of our deceased former senators note in his papers left to the library at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, something to the effect "the Clintons would do anything to get elected"? In a diary entry early in the '80s, former Arkansas Sen. Dale Bumpers described Bill and Hillary Clinton as "the most manic obsessed people I have known in my life." (Foxnews.com, Chad Pegram in a report dated Jan. 2, 2016.) The true motivation for a sacrificial act or acts such as Hillary claims, determines the depth of the commitment. Did Mother Teresa ever achieve wealth for her sacrifice?
And, Republican candidate Donald Trump has managed to insult almost every class of American citizen or foreign nationals during his campaign. So far we only know he wants us to take it on his word that he can "Make America Great Again."
A recent report of interviews with Arkansas' current senatorial candidates covers incumbent Republican John Boozman, the Libertarian candidate, Frank Gilbert, and the Democratic candidate, Connor Eldredge. My purpose is not to endorse any of these candidates because the only one I am familiar with is John Boozman. There is nothing, to the best of my knowledge, to say John Boozman has been good or bad as a senator or member of the House of Representatives during his tenure there. What I do want to point out is that this is Mr. Boozman's second campaign for the Senate -- a six-year term -- after serving 10 years in the House of Representatives. That is 16 years and, if re-elected, he will have served 22 years at the federal level.
When does one become a career politician? If we talk about the inept congressional delegations that have led to the thing we call "the Donald Trump backlash," shouldn't we ask ourselves if we created this condition by sending the same people back to Washington election after election? This is not a statement about John Boozman nor his record.
If it questions anyone, it is the head of the local parties -- Republican and Democrat -- who are doing the same thing as the San Francisco area of California that keeps Nancy Pelosi in Washington rather than at home in California. If the risk of giving up key committee seats means we lose sight of our role in local candidate selections, change will not come no matter who we choose as our president.
We will elect a new president out of a choice that divides Americans against other Americans. Between the two major political parties, we will probably vote for the lesser of two evils in our own minds. However, until we clean up the leadership in the political parties themselves and establish some kind of term limits, we are doomed to repeat this drastic dilemma in the future.
•••
Editor's note: Leo Lynch is an award-winning columnist. A native of Benton County, he is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Editorial on 08/03/2016