While our American democracy is being attacked on all sides by foreign interests, and at the same time decomposing from within by our discordant society punctuated by greed and consumerism, many of us are standing on the sidelines, head spinning, with no defense between us and an uncertain future but our singular 2020 vote in hand. And good luck with that.
Whether President Goldfinger is impeached or not, or even if he is removed from office ...or even if he is re-elected, you have to look ahead and wonder about America’s future, and specifically, about your and your family’s future. If Trump (Goldfinger) is impeached and removed, then you get Mike Pence for your president. That would be like receiving a door prize for just showing up, only more disappointing. After Pence, if he should resign or slip on a bar of soap in the shower, the Speaker of the House is next in line to be president, Nancy Pelosi. I don’t think that would be so bad, but I have to wonder if she is engineering this whole impeachment debacle to serve her own political ambitions.
More than ever before, America seems to be at a crossroads. Since its birth in 1776 and through our Civil War, then two World Wars ...from the satisfaction of a common unity to the burgeoning prejudice of a growing diversity and through to hateful division, America has suffered its growing pains and now, seemingly, is in some final stage of Alzheimer’s. That 243 years is historically and universally about the lifespan of most empires. Babylon, Rome, Greece, Hitler‘s Third Reich all failed at some point for vey specific reasons. America’s decline is coming from within. Abraham Lincoln said, “America will never be defeated from outside. If we falter and lose our freedom, it will come from the inside.” A sobering prediction which seems to be coming true and all brought on and escalated by corporate greed, political corruption, racial turmoil, the mainstream media, social media, a consumer-based/entertainment-based society ...and a Democratic Party that has lost its backbone while the Republican Party grows demonic horns.
The field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates is the weakest I’ve ever seen. They are dwindling down to five contenders ...Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and Kamala Harris ...and ‘dwindling‘ is the correct word. I don’t see a presidential contender among them, and the rest of the field are dropping out like flies. However, it looks to me that Elizabeth Warren wants it the most. But I am sorry to say that Trump (Goldfinger) out-shouts them all individually and collectively, and if he can brand his ultimate Democratic opponent as a 'socialist', he’ll have the edge in 2020. He’ll eat them alive if he survives impeachment ...and he is a survivor.
So, who will save us, who will save America? Who should be president? What is the magic formula to become President of the United States of America?
To even begin to answer these questions, let’s look back through history at what kind of person, or popular personality, became President ...
There were the celebrated military generals. Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower were heros with ambition. They ran for office and succeeded in politics as they did in war. However, and make a special note of this ...George Washington, America’s first president, didn’t run, didn’t campaign, didn’t particularly want the job. He was asked to lead the country by his peers and colleagues because they knew of his honesty and integrity, and trusted that he would do a good job. He was a proven leader. No hype, no campaign, no marketing.
Then there were the monied presidents with family name, history, wealth and ambition. John F. Kennedy and George W. Bush come to mind here.
The presidents who had a natural and well-developed charisma, like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama showed us the difference between an esteemed orator and a ‘silver-tongue devil‘.
Other popular presidential personality traits to add to our ‘formula for president‘ would be feisty Harry “The buck stops here” Truman, the calming Franklin Delano ‘Fireside Chat’ Roosevelt, the compassionate Jimmy Carter, a self-deprecating Gerald Ford (he pardoned Nixon), and of course the ‘Father Knows Best‘ Ronald Reagan.
Who among the current field of 2020 Democratic presidential contenders has any of these popular presidential personality traits? No one.
Trump is the anomaly. A showman, but in the format of a carnival barker. Blustery, arrogant, insulting, immature, racist, a poster boy for narcissism, lecherous, a bulbous and comedic con man ...W.C. Fields or Rodney Dangerfield come to mind, or Andrew Dice Clay. Presidentially, he is maybe something close to the “bullish” Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, but without the courage, brains or heart.
Trump more reminds me of Larry ‘Lonesome‘ Rhodes in the 1957 film, ‘A Face in the Crowd’. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050371/ Andy Griffith plays a silver tongue grifter who takes advantage of people. He’s a two-faced opportunist who becomes a popular television reality star and uses the media to advance his own obsession with power. He’s a monster with racial overtones. In this scene he advises a presidential candidate about how to create a populist persona and win the election. Even for 1957, this marketing strategy holds true today (the scene is almost 5 min. long but worth watching) ... https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=face+inthe+crowd+scene+about+how+to+become+president
The Democratic Dilemma is a matter of personality. Whoever has the strongest persona will win. They must go toe-to-toe and 'out-persona' Trump. It doesn’t even matter if there are negatives, no one wants a self-assuming boy scout (or girl scout) in the White House telling them what they want to hear, placating, that everything is good and he (or she) has all the answers. No, everybody loves a ‘bad boy’. Oddly, a trusting bond is created with the general populace with a slightly flawed alter ego. I call it the ‘Butch & Sundance Syndrome. But I’ll let the real psychologists tackle that one...
Take a look at this 1972 interview with Andy Griffith (1926-2012) talking about his character of Larry ‘Lonesome’ Rhodes in the film ‘A Face in the Crowd’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_m3vdPLQ68 Food for thought ...
I think, optimistically hope, actually, that a ‘dark-horse’ candidate, either Democratic or Republican, or better yet, Independent, will emerge and enter the 2020 presidential race.
It’s a critical time for America and an intervention is needed.
John Kushma is a communication consultant and lives in Logan, Utah
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-george-kushma-379a5762
Some past articles and op-eds
