Author's Note: (This was written in the early morning hours the day after Super Tuesday primaries.)
I couldn’t sleep. Trump victories on Super Tuesday kept me awake worrying about the future of our country. Did that really just happen? People actually think someone who has called himself "The Donald" will make a good leader of the free world? It left many with many questions.
First, how will he maintain diplomatic affairs? Part of being a super power is maintaining positive relationships with other countries. He seems to alienate (and offend) everyone. He insults anyone who disagrees with him, or challenges him. This is not diplomacy. This is bullying.
Second, are we (Americans) so swayed by sound bites and hyperbole that we use our one voice to vote for someone who has not explained how he will address any of our problems? Again, I’m not talking about sound bites “we will make America great again” “build a wall”, I’m talking about HOW. How will these things be done. What tactics, what strategies will be used? Who will you get to help you in this endeavor? These are things I need to know before I cast my vote. That once voice, that one lone act that allows me to participate in the leadership – and future direction – of my country is too precious to waste on mere sound bites and fear mongering.
I believe in listening to each candidate before I make up my mind. I read news articles – many, not just from one source – I read commentary from those who spend their days immersed in the world of politics – surely, they have picked up a few insights – and then I go to the candidate’s website to read how they describe the issues. This tells me which issues they view as important. I visited Presidential Candidate Donald Trump’s website recently. Under his Issues tab, he lists four categories. I visited Hillary Clinton’s website, she lists 28 issues and describes how she will address them. Marco Rubio breaks issues down into around 30 categories – he lists Russia and China as issues instead of lumping foreign relations under a nice tight umbrella (nothing wrong with that, I guess). He also lists “immigration” as an issue and has a separate category for “Sanctuary Cities” which could easily fall under immigration. But whatev. These are the types of nuances that, to me as a voter, I find worth looking into. I look at what candidates have to say under these headings. What is the substance? Do they convince me that they have studied this issue, that they understand how to solve the problem? Or are they just strewing key words together like “discouraging corporate inversions, adding a huge number of new jobs, and making America globally competitive again (donaldtrump.org). What does this mean, exactly? What jobs? What number is "huge" exactly? Give me something meaningful.
I couldn’t sleep. Trump victories on Super Tuesday kept me awake worrying about the future of our country. Did that really just happen? People actually think someone who has called himself "The Donald" will make a good leader of the free world? It left many with many questions.
First, how will he maintain diplomatic affairs? Part of being a super power is maintaining positive relationships with other countries. He seems to alienate (and offend) everyone. He insults anyone who disagrees with him, or challenges him. This is not diplomacy. This is bullying.
Second, are we (Americans) so swayed by sound bites and hyperbole that we use our one voice to vote for someone who has not explained how he will address any of our problems? Again, I’m not talking about sound bites “we will make America great again” “build a wall”, I’m talking about HOW. How will these things be done. What tactics, what strategies will be used? Who will you get to help you in this endeavor? These are things I need to know before I cast my vote. That once voice, that one lone act that allows me to participate in the leadership – and future direction – of my country is too precious to waste on mere sound bites and fear mongering.
I believe in listening to each candidate before I make up my mind. I read news articles – many, not just from one source – I read commentary from those who spend their days immersed in the world of politics – surely, they have picked up a few insights – and then I go to the candidate’s website to read how they describe the issues. This tells me which issues they view as important. I visited Presidential Candidate Donald Trump’s website recently. Under his Issues tab, he lists four categories. I visited Hillary Clinton’s website, she lists 28 issues and describes how she will address them. Marco Rubio breaks issues down into around 30 categories – he lists Russia and China as issues instead of lumping foreign relations under a nice tight umbrella (nothing wrong with that, I guess). He also lists “immigration” as an issue and has a separate category for “Sanctuary Cities” which could easily fall under immigration. But whatev. These are the types of nuances that, to me as a voter, I find worth looking into. I look at what candidates have to say under these headings. What is the substance? Do they convince me that they have studied this issue, that they understand how to solve the problem? Or are they just strewing key words together like “discouraging corporate inversions, adding a huge number of new jobs, and making America globally competitive again (donaldtrump.org). What does this mean, exactly? What jobs? What number is "huge" exactly? Give me something meaningful.