John Sutija / Contributing Writer
opinion@fiusm.com
Many candidates have thrown in their lots for the 2016 presidential campaign. While the democratic field has ten runners, according to 2016.democratic-candidates.org, I only recognize three names on that list: Bernie Sanders, who I’ve already written about, Hillary Clinton, who has become liberal media’s champion of light, and Lincoln Chaffee – Republican turned Democrat, whom I only know because he wants to convert the US to the Metric System.
But my purpose today is not to talk up the Democratic candidates – not even the Independents, or to talk down the Republicans, but to voice a serious concern for the Republicans, the Right as a whole, and the fate of American democracy about the clown car that is the GOP election pool. It is normal, and would be disconcerting should it not happen in American politics, that several representatives from each major party declare their intent to run for the office of President of the United States. However, for there to be so many is also disconcerting. It is telling of the increasing number of rifts appearing among the conservative vote.
There are so many declared, exploratory and interested Republican candidates that CNN made a parody of the Adult Swim sketch “Too Many Cooks” featuring all of them. To date, 20 announcements have been made officially declaring a candidate’s vie, eight more than there were in 2012. This does not include those exploring or interested persons such as Jeb Bush and Chris Christie, nor does it include Libertarian or Tea Party announcements, all of which push the number past thirty.
Historically speaking, there is a regular switch between polarities. After a liberal government, conservatives have their turn. The swing voters are inevitably displeased with the results of one cycle and vote the other way the next. In this system, after Obama’s run we could expect someone from the other side to take over, but in light of all these candidates with such different views and so much internal squabble, can conservatives pull themselves together in time for next November? There are a lot of names floating around right now; not all of the same scale, but enough of the larger, more popular candidates will find support spread thin come 2016 if they can’t learn humility.
Of course, someone will be chosen by next July next, but should the current competition irreversibly splinter voters, the left will steamroll. It’s something oft repeated, but the Republican Party needs to reinvent itself before it falls apart. The Libertarians have done well to pick up some of the slack, but should a left-right disparity arise, the American democratic process will be changed forever. Of course, the opposite could happen. The right could be crushed in 2016 and, out of fear, see a unifying resurgence in 2020, but that means waiting another four years – a wait that could make them antsy and desperate not to screw up again, which could in itself be a harmful situation.
I’m all for a splintered right with many parties representing many different aspects of the current body, but only with the same happening with the left. A diverse range of electable candidates would make US politics a much more reasonable place.
Photo credit
About Post Author
