What We Need is A Good Write-In Candidate

America is bordering on the brink of political angst. This is by far the most contentious political race for president in history because of the advent of social media. Can you imagine what it would have been like if social media was around during the time of Thomas Jefferson or Warren G. Harding? President Harding, is it true that you have a child out of wedlock? President Jefferson, it is reported that you are having sex with one of your slaves, a Sally Hemings, and that you are the father of one or more of her children, how do you respond to the allegations? In the immortal words of Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan, “for the times they are a changing”. Never in the annals of recorded history have there ever been a presidential race like this 2016 season. We have two candidates, one from the Democratic party and one from the Republican party and neither are likable enough, endearing enough, marketable enough and trustworthy enough in the minds of many voters. The term of “holding ones breath and pulling the lever” has been bandied about in several quarters of the country. This is not the way to feel about a presidential candidate. This is what I like to refer to as “regretful voting”. You vote for a candidate because there are no other choices and the choices that you do have just doesn't fit into your ideology so you settle for the lesser of the two. But what can a person do? Well, there is another choice that hasn't been exercised in a while. I know that the political machine has been entrenched for a long time and that any deviation from that is met with a full on assault, just ask Bernie Sanders. Here was a candidate who had the odds stacked against him by his own party. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) had made up its mind to anoint Hillary Clinton even before all the votes were tallied based on leaked emails from their offices and their opposition towards Bernie Sanders.

So how do you, the regular citizen, take back your rights to choose a candidate when the pickings are slim to none? There is a way and that is the write-in candidate way. It's legal and its been successfully done by a least two candidates, South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond and Ohio Senator Charlie Wilson. Thurmond was a write-in candidate in 1954 who went up against Democratic State Senator Edgar Brown following the death of Senator Burnet Maybank in 1954. Wilson had a successful write-in campaign back in 2006 where he campaign against two for the Congressional seat in the primaries. He won with 66 percent of the votes. He went on to with the Congressional seat in the general election with 61 percent of the vote. So why can't this be done in the presidential election? Maybe because this is a lost art form or maybe because we haven't looked closely at other alternatives. I present you with a list of candidates who are better suited for the office:

Michelle Obama. If you want to elect a woman as president, why not Michelle Obama? She doesn't carry any of the baggage that Hillary Clinton have and she is way more trustworthy than Clinton. Hillary Clinton has that Mob Boss air about her. She's been around for decades, won't go away, has her hands in everything and when trouble comes her way, she's like Teflon, nothing sticks but others around her seem to fall. With Michelle, there would be no need to make a move, they could just stay there for the next four years saving the taxpayers millions in moving fees, security, etc. She has proven that she can get things done and both sides in the Senate and The House could easily get along with her rather than what Hillary could face from a contentious divided party.

Joe Biden. Joe Biden should have ran for the office earlier but he was dealing still with the loss of his son, Bo Biden, to cancer. Time doesn't lessen the pain of burying your child because everyone can relate to that. He is an excellent choice even though he has been known to be a little handsy on occasion but after the whole Donald Trump Grope-Gate controversy, I'm quite sure he'll be keeping his hands to himself in the future. He knows the leaders of foreign nations and he has support from both the Senate and The House.

Rick Caruso. Rick Caruso is a self-made billionaire. He began his path to wealth in 1990 managing real estate. An educated lawyer by profession, he did serve as commissioner for the Los Angeles Water and Power at the age of 26, the youngest to do so at that time in 1985. In 2001, he was appointed and elected president to the Los Angles Police Commission. While in that role, from 2002 to 2006, crime rates drop 37 percent. He has dome a commendable job while in the the duties as a public servant. He's 57, married to his original wife and has four children. He doesn't fly off in tirades, uses social media to go after people, doesn't have juvenile behavior, and doesn't kine the color orange.

John Kasich. John Kasich is the governor of Ohio. Of all the Republican candidates running for office, Kasich was overshadowed by the bombastic legions of buffoons that surrounded him. He was the substance over all of that empty fluff. If the old adage that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, his wheel was already oiled up but because his demeanor was that of a rational calm person, he ran well below the radar. It's time for America to give him a second look. The country would be a lot saner and less angst ridden if he was running a campaign.

America, this election is starting to wind down. The voters are angry at both candidates. How can you possible elect someone from either party where they will be facing a hostile House and Senate? Nothing will get done. WE need a candidate that not mired in a sex scandal or inappropriate behavior. Donald Trump has an abundant of skeletons in his closet and his closets are HUGE. Hillary Clinton baggage is several foot lockers full, from her and Bill's time in the governor's office, to Whitewater, to billing records showing up mysteriously in White House conference rooms, to Bill's infidelities, to her demeaning the women accusing her husband, to the email scandal, to why the FBI let her off on the email fiasco and why they overstepped their boundaries by making the decision not to go after her when it was the Attorney General's job to do that.

Let's look closely under a 1000 times microscope as to what we are about to elect. The next four years can go by smoothly are go by agonizingly slow. I have made a point to avoid any speeches these two may give during this campaign season. I like my flat screen TV and don't want to throw anything at it in frustration. Thank goodness for the mute button.