I am both disturbed and disappointed when I look at the 2016 elections. Regardless of party affiliation, most of the people I know are not happy with the choices, the divisiveness, and the rhetoric of the campaign.
By Barry Chalofsky
I am both disturbed and disappointed when I look at the 2016 elections. Regardless of party affiliation, most of the people I know are not happy with the choices, the divisiveness, and the rhetoric of the campaign. More importantly, they are already tired of the media coverage and there are still 21 months left until the election! While I am a registered Democrat, I really think of myself as an Independent, since I will vote for the best candidate regardless of party. I, along with many of my fellow Americans, think of myself as a moderate. I believe in different values and ideals that may sometimes be liberal, and other times be conservative. In other words, I vote my conscience and not according to party dictates.
I am disturbed because many of the Republican candidates, particularly the frontrunners, are spewing messages of hate and negativity. Like all Americans, I fear terrorists, but I also recognize that they come in all shapes and sizes. Contrary to the sound bites, they are not all Muslim, but rather they come from many different religious and cultural backgrounds. Clearly ISIS and Al-Qaeda, and other Islamist terrorist groups, hate America, Israel, and most other western countries; but they are a small number of individuals when compared with the billions of Muslims in the world. Clearly we must fight the terrorists for our own safety, but we need to be aware that even if we defeat them others will rise to take their place. I do not have solutions to solve this bigger problem, but I don't think the answer is to seal ourselves up and hope they all go away.
I think that history will show that President Obama was a pretty good president - most of our soldiers have come home, the economy has improved, unemployment is at record lows, many of the uninsured now have medical coverage, and we have had virtually no inflation. Where he disappointed me was in his inability to bring various political factions together. Too many of our countrymen and women simply do not like him. Whether it's because of his race, or his personality, there is a strong undercurrent of dislike that has marred his tenure. I found his early ideas and eloquence to be exciting, but even I became disenchanted simply because he was unable to overcome his enemies. Congress is dysfunctional, the political system has become a proxy for the rich, and the divide between the haves and have nots has increased dramatically. The divisions in our country are deep and destructive.
Divided politics has been the hallmark of our government since before the Revolutionary War. Over the years the disagreements led at first to duels, and ultimately to the Civil War. Unlike many other countries we do not have a homogeneous population. We are always changing our demographics, primarily through immigration. No other country in the world has the diversity and change that we have. Yet through all of the changes it was the voices of moderation and consensus that have allowed us to move forward. That is the essence of our democracy. We may not agree on all things, but we are usually able to discuss issues and find some sort of compromise.
However, over the last decade we have seen an erosion in that discourse. Most likely it's because the media and the internet don't allow for private conversations. Politicians can't debate ideas for fear that their base will turn on them. Constant fundraising leaves little time for policy discussions and compromise. The need to seek ever increasing campaign dollars means that more "favors" are owed. Even when a politician is self-funded there are risks since he or she is not beholden to anyone, and therefore may actually only represent themselves.
The ideal solution to this problem would be to have absolute campaign funding limits on both money and the election period. However, given the power of the country's elite, it is unlikely that we can ever hope to limit funding and while it would certainly be a great relief to the American public, a campaign period of say six months is also not likely. I'm sure that given our political system it would be easy to get around any legislated restriction by simply not "formally" running.
What we desperately need is a leader who can rise above the divisiveness and unite the country. Unfortunately, we are faced with are no good choices at this time. The Republicans are pandering to the rabid conservative minority and the Democrats are proposing choices that will not be acceptable to conservative Americans. The media promotes the sensationalism of negativity and will continue to turn off the public. Therefore, no matter who ultimately gets elected, the hatred and dysfunction is guaranteed to continue for years to come. There is no candidate of moderation who can speak to all sides. That is my disappointment and the disappointment of many others. Our only hope is that someone will surface who can truly represent the majority of Americans.
Barry Chalofsky, P.P., is a former manager in State government. He is presently an environmental, land-use planning, and management consultant; as well as an adjunct instructor of environmental planning at Rutgers University. Reach him at bchalofassociates.com.
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