Bernie Sanders...

As far as Bernie Sanders for president is concerned, I will admit that I have never considered him as a possible candidate I could vote for. I know this is dangerous ground as so many of my friends and relatives (the ones NOT voting for Trump) are totally enamored of him and what he stands for.

The huge crowds he draws (many young people) shows us that his message is a message many want to hear and act on. That message is basically an economic message based on taking from the demonic rich and giving it to the angelic poor; a true Robin Hood story.

As an entrepreneur and former business owner, I see nothing wrong with trying to get ahead and in the process becoming wealthy or at least comfortable. I also believe that we as individuals are responsible for our welfare and our future and not depend on or demand from, others to somehow help us get ahead.

I am not naïve enough to believe that our system of capitalism is perfect but think changes should be made to the system to get it back to its original form; the system has been corrupted over time and mainly to satisfy interests that are not always good for the general public.

Yes, socialism has worked great in other countries but those other countries are not like us, the world leader, the world power, the country everyone else wants to live in, the country where dreams really can come true. So why do we want to change what made us great?

Bernie is similar to Trump in that he is a populist, espousing ideas and goals that are popular at this time but with no realistic way to achieve those goals; they are mouthing what the masses want to hear.

Yes there is dissatisfaction in the country and yes, people have legitimate gripes they want addressed by the government. But our government is a dysfunctional government which the president cannot fix; only voters can fix that by electing a functional government populated by statesmen beholden to voters and not their own party hags and rich donors.

Our economy is changing and therefore people’s lives are being affected by these changes. The old middle class is disappearing and a new middle class is forming. The natural inclination is to fight change, any change and not to adapt. Bernie and Trump are telling people they will fight change and bring back the good ole’ days and make us great again…really, what does that mean?

One of the things that made this country great is that we adapted to change, to progress, to new technology, to an evolving new economy that includes globalization and we need to continue doing that and going back to isolationism is not the way to go and history has proven that to be true but that is what people want to hear so Bernie and Trump will keep telling them what they want to hear.

What about Hillary...

I was never a fan of Hillary Clinton. I think when I saw her defend her husband over his MANY sexual transgressions when she knew full well they were true, made me think of her not as a real woman or wife but a hard, ambitious politician that would do anything to reach her political goals; this was a flawed individual as far as I was concerned.

I do not deny that she is smart and can hold her own with any man she came up against including Trump. I think she has loads of experience and would be the “safe” candidate for the presidency mainly because she would step into the role as if she never left it.

I say she would be the “safe” candidate because as president she would not “shake” anything up but continue in the footsteps of her predecessor. If Congress remains in the hands of the so-called Republicans, it would mean another four or eight years of stalemate.

She appears to be the presumptive Democratic nominee and will battle Trump in the fall. Her victory is not assured as she is not a very well-liked woman and she is after all a woman, which in itself carries a lot of negative implications for some male voters and believe me, Trump would definitely play that up as much as possible.

If it was her against Trump, would I vote for her? She is the safe candidate with a verifiable history, Trump is not and we know next to nothing about him and his “real” agenda.

Would Trump be a disaster for the nation if elected? I don’t think so and in fact he may bring fresh thinking to a stagnating government. The fact that he is not really a Republican or Democrat actually is a plus for the nation which has seen nothing but dirty party politics for way too long.

A strong third party candidate could change everything. I kind of expect the GOP or what is left of the core party, to try and run a candidate on the Libertarian ticket.

Trying to understand Trump support...

The political discussions among family members and friends must be getting pretty interesting at this stage of the game; I know they are in my circle.

Everyone admits that they have never seen an election season such as this one. I love listening to all the so called experts try to analyze what is going on and why while admitting that all their expertise failed them to even see this coming.

Trump’s primary victory was partly based on the failure of the primary system and mostly on his unique and new use of populist and reality show rhetoric (bullshit) to win over primary voters (who were Republicans, Democrats and Independents) voting as cross-over voters.

Some reality shows are all about winning and to win you need to destroy or defeat your opponents by any means possible and that is exactly what Trump did.

What interests me the most is how and why his populist rhetoric is resonating so much with certain people and I mean a lot of people some of whom happen to be my family members and friends.

I am perplexed by the fact that Trump really does not stand firmly for any ideas and/or principles but constantly flip-flops on practically all issues. When asking people I know why they will vote for Trump, I get a lot of different answers which makes me think that people will believe about Trump what they feel like believing or what they make themselves believe because that is what they want to believe.

People watch FOX News because FOX News reports the news the way they want the news to read and not be bothered by facts; they hear Trump say what they want him to say even though he is not saying anything.

I guess what attracts all these people to Trump is his bravado, his confidence in all matters and his answers to all problems…don’t worry, I will take care of it!

What does this say about his supporters? Some are calling them plain stupid for reacting to populist sound bites from a clown who really has no answers just promises.

I think Trump has tapped into disgust among Americans towards our ineffective political system in Washington and a genuine disgust with politicians in general, who make it ineffective. These people have also had it with political correctness at all levels of society and don’t want the tail (minorities) wagging the dog (majority).

They want a dictator albeit a benevolent dictator to cut through the crap and get things done and make the nation and its people great again…whatever that means.

If Trump picks someone for his vice-president with political experience and knowledge making up for Trump’s lack of both, then I think Trump has a good chance of winning the election and then what…

More on Hillary, Bernie and a Trump win later.

THIS IS ONE CRAZY ELECTION YEAR...

Many people in the know are scratching their heads and wondering why and how DONALD TRUMP ended up a Republican nominee for the office of President of the United States.

Many, if not all, predicted that Trump would never become the nominee; never in a million years and yet, here we are.

I assumed that Jeb Bush would be the nominee as did he. He had everything going for him and then he got hit by the Trump freight rain.

This presidential primary and election will go down as a historical event no one foresaw but why did absolutely no one foresee this outcome.

The people in the know are very slowly analyzing what has happened.

I think the Republican Party has become a party that no one likes anymore, not even Republicans. I blame that on the Tea Party and the idiots they helped elect. These idiots scared the rest of the Republicans from doing what was right and basically just opposed everything Obama and the Democrats tried to do; they became the party of NO which made them WORTHLESS to the nation and its citizens.

Also, the primary system in this country is flawed. The system was intended to help each party select the most popular candidate with the best chances of winning in November. It failed to do that because people did not vote within the party they support; it was a free for all which allowed Trump, who is not really a Republican, to win in the Republican primary.

Trump does not support Republican principles so the Republican Party has to change or Trump has to change…good luck with that.

Most Republican leaders and supporters are turning away from Trump and probably will not vote at all in the election. What has this done to the party? What will they do now that Trump is the leader of the party?

These are really interesting times…