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OPINION
Aug. 4-10, 2016 » Page 7A
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The political season: this too shall pass
From now until November, we
likely will be bombarded with paid
and unpaid political messages,
endorsements, analysis and
mudslinging the likes of which we
have never before seen.
Most have already seen the
ugliness begin even prior to the
national political conventions that
have just played out. Social media
is a hotbed of nonstop political
debate and many friends and
family are divided on their choice of
candidates.
Both major parties have
candidates who are not likely
to exhibit decorum or respect
for the public, or for each other.
Both are over-the-top, power-
hungry egomaniacs who have
John Hewitt
johnh@dekalbchamp.com
demonstrated early in the process
that they will not hesitate to sling
mud, exaggerate, lie, distort facts
and intentionally deceive the public.
We’ve even seen ugly politics
on the local level with Sharon
Barnes-Sutton slinging the
racial mud against opponent
Steve Bradshaw—who came
out victorious and defeated the
standing District 4 Commissioner
with 75 percent of the votes.
Mudslinging on the local level
holds no comparison, however,
to what we will likely hear, read
and see over the next few months
with Hillary Clinton and Donald
Trump.
Emails leaked show that now
former chair of the Democratic
National Convention Debbie
Wasserman Schultz led a
concerted effort to derail Bernie
Sanders’ campaign and make
certain that Clinton was the
Democratic presidential nominee.
The Clinton camp is already
claiming that the email hacking was
the result of Russian intelligence
and is an attempt to influence the
U.S. elections so that Trump has a
better chance of being elected.
The Trump camp is suggesting
that it would be beneficial to have
Russia as an ally in the fight against
global terrorism.
One can only imagine how
ugly this will get before our next
president is elected.
It seems to me that American
voters would be better served and
politicians more respected if there
are candid discussions of pertinent
issues with substantive suggestions
on how best to address the many
issues our country and the world
are faced with.
We have just more than three
months to go; it will be painful, but
this too shall pass. We will have a
new president, like it or not.
What’s a Libertarian, and why should I care?
“Every face on Mt. Rushmore
was a third party candidate at
some point or another, ” former
New Mexico Governor, Gary
Johnson, Libertarian Party
presidential nominee 2016.
George Washington
was a Federalist, Thomas
Jefferson helped birth a third
party among the Federalists
and Whigs, Teddy Roosevelt
became President following the
assassination of Garfield, was
re-elected as a Republican, and
later ran as a Progressive (Bull
Moose) third party candidate. In
addition, Washington, a recently
retired General, hated politics
and political parties, though
labeled a Federalist believed
that the office as conceived
might hold too much power for
any one man.
America’s third political
party was originally called
the Democratic-Republican
Party, which split into two
factions during the 1820s, the
National Republicans and the
Democrats. After losing his first
presidential bid in 1824, Andrew
Jackson organized his
supporters into what we now
know as the Democratic
Party around the election of
1828. Though the Democratic
and Republican parties both
claim Jefferson as being among
their founders, Jefferson
first ran for president as a
National Republican, against
Federalist John Adams,
whom he had served as Vice-
President in 1800. Jefferson
attempted to run on a ticket
with Aaron Burr as his running
‘One Man's
Opinion’
Bill Crane
bill.csicrane@gmail.com
mate. The Electoral College
made no distinction between
candidates for president and
vice president. Jefferson and
Burr tied, with rival/peer and
former President Adams and
his running mate, Charles
Pinckney finishing a close
second. With no Electoral
College majority, the election
moved to the U.S. Flouse of
Representatives. Jefferson won
the White Flouse on the 35th
ballot, and Burr was selected as
vice president.
This brings us back to the
present election year. At no time
since modern day polling data
has been available have both
major party nominees had such
high negatives and unfavorable
ratings among voters. Though
each nominee has their
strengths and followers, millions
of voters are already lamenting
their choice of ‘the lesser of two
evils.’
The most established third
party in America today is the
Libertarian Party. Though an
over-simplification, Libertarians
believe in state’s rights, a very
limited federal government, little
or no social policy/laws and
are often described as fiscal
conservatives/social liberals.
The Libertarian Convention
nominated two well-regarded
former GOP governors,
Gary Johnson of New
Mexico and William Weld of
Massachusetts. When re
elected to his second term in
“Tax-achussetts”, a state long
controlled by Democrats, Weld
won by the largest majority in
the history of the office or the
state. He was nominated by then
President Bill Clinton to serve
as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico,
to assist with the implementation
of NAFTA. After stepping down
as governor, his nomination
was blocked by Senator Jesse
Helms who considered Weld an
unacceptable social moderate.
If Libertarians average
15 percent in national polls
during August, they qualify for
participation in the presidential
debates, which begin in
September. A popular vote
showing anywhere near 15
percent would likely deny
both Hillary Clinton and Donald
Trump the required number of
270 Electoral College votes to
win the White House.
President George W.
Bush won the Electoral
College by 271 votes over
Vice President Al Gore (265
votes) during the 2000 election,
though Gore had won the
popular vote. The last time a
president had won the Electoral
College while losing the popular
vote was in 1888. Following the
12th Amendment process with
no Electoral College victor, it
would be the current and seated
members of the U.S. House
who would select the president
from among the top three vote
getters; and the Senate would
select the VP from among the
remainder. This could lead
to a split ticket in the White
House. There is precedent
for this as well (second
term for Lincoln and V.P
Democrat Andrew Johnson of
Tennessee).
Lincoln was assassinated in
the spring of 1865 after winning
with the National Party and
a Democratic running mate.
President Andrew Johnson was
never well received by Lincoln’s
Cabinet, nor the majority
GOP Congress, and he was
impeached over a dispute about
ousting Lincoln ally, Secretary
of War Stanton, replacing him
with war hero and later next
President, Ulysses S. Grant.
The Libertarian Party may
not cause such pause, hanging
chads or a historic vote by the
U.S. Congress, but even a
double digit ballot count in most
states would give the party
permanent ballot access (such
as the Libertarians already enjoy
in Georgia), giving birth to a third
national party. They don’t always
win, but as history shows, they
often play a significant role in the
outcome of elections, at pivotal
points in our nation’s history.
Bill Crane also serves as a
political analyst and commenta
tor for Channel 2’s Action News,
WSB-AM News/Talk 750 and
now 95.5 FM, as well as a col
umnist for The Champion, Cham
pion Free Press and Georgia
Trend. Crane is a DeKalb native
and business owner, living in
Scottdale. You can reach him or
comment on a column at bill.csi-
crane@gmail.com.