The political scene is in a valley awaiting the outcome of California's primary on Tuesday, June 7. That result could be "make or break" for the Sanders' campaign and whatever happens it will provide fodder for the next few weeks media coverage. A recent survey of likely Democratic voters for California indicated a slight edge for Clinton with a 49 percent total and Sanders a 47 percent result. The margin of error however, was 4 percent, meaning Sanders could possibly have a 6 percent lead over Clinton at 51 percent to 45 percent or at the other end of the range Clinton could lead by 10 percent at 53 percent to 43 percent. So much for polls and their ability to actually tell us anything other than what we want to hear or see in the results.
Whatever happens in California and the other states holding primary elections on the 7th (Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota), Bernie Sanders' slogan "A Political Revolution is Coming," has proven to be true. It is interesting that the movements' "Feel the Bern" slogan has also been very applicable to the Clinton support if you listen to her paid staff. The "Bern" is truly becoming a "burn" in their effort to wrap up the Democratic nomination and move on the the "Trumpet Call" of The Donald. What Bernie Sanders has done with his campaign impresses me because he has succeeded in getting people to think about the possibilities of "government by the people and for the people" instead of "by Washington and for Washington." His website addresses 34 items (some issues, some comments) that can be a thought provoking read for those willing to take the time to read them. We may not agree with all of them or any of them, but there are millions of voters out there who believe in the overall goals of his campaign. I would guess that they feel our form of government would limit his socialistic views to an acceptable level if he is elected.
There are polls for everyone's tastes, purposes or causes and the reports of one recently indicates that the majority of the respondents do not believe either Trump or Clinton are telling the ruth. No one asked me, but I fit into that group. Apparently the "most people" who are asked direct questions don't believe Trump will build the wall along the Mexican border nor send undocumented aliens back home. The same response seems to come with questions about Clinton's answers to her email server and Bengazi. The part of her family history that is troublesome to me is the Clinton Foundation, the donors and the methods used to protect the identities of those contributors.
There are so many inconsistencies in the networks' coverage of the campaigns that it is hard to grasp what has true meaning in their reporting. It is fairly evident that some networks have a strong bias in the way they direct their coverage and Iʼm sure the same is true in newspaper coverage as well. It was reported by one Washington newspaper that they had assigned 20 reporters to unearth as much information as possible on Donald Trump. If they assign 20 reporters to cover Clinton and an additional 20 to Sanders to help us truly know the candidates they are going to be overstaffed when the November elections are over. This was a Washington newspaper saying they were informing us about the candidate, but I don't read the newspaper and will have to rely on the television news to be informed of their discoveries.
One television network did something creative in trying to help us understand that there are really more ways to view the presidential election than those we harbor for ourselves. They sent an Hispanic lady reporter to the states along the Mexican border to interview local Hispanics about their views of Donald Trump and his campaign. This was NOT a scientific poll by any stretch of the imagination and I'm sure it was selective in the people who were shown on television. However, assuming the people spoke candidly, they were supporters of Donald Trump and said they were going to vote for him. They covered specific items like distrust of Washington politicians, loss of American jobs, etc. Apparently the "Make American Great Again" theme resonates as a promise much more than we realize. The people this lady interviewed were both male and female and most appeared to be just average income citizens, not wealthy nor poor, Americans.
The prospect of a third party candidate was poorly timed and short lived. So, unless someone finds a way to offer "none of the above" as an option, it looks like the choices will come down to the three candidates mentioned. Maybe we go to the polls, hold our noses and make our selection.
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Editor's note: Leo Lynch is an award-winning columnist. He is a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Editorial on 06/08/2016