All politicians lie. That's par for course. Political campaign seasons are exercises in rhetoric. Appealing to certain constituent bases is par for course, too. It's seen as necessary by pundits and operatives as a way to allow for a campaign to gain some sort of traction. What I am seeing in this 2016 election, at least on the Republican side, is appalling.
Let me first start off by saying, this election is not about "outsiders" versus "insiders" as much of the politicos, the candidates themselves, and some of the voters try to frame it to be. This is clearly about resentment, largely among white, Christian, social and fiscal conservatives that has manifested over an entire presidential term and the politicians (career and amateur) that are aiming to capitalize on said resentment.
Then again, angry white, Christian, social and fiscal conservatives is a permanent part of the Republican voter base just like unsatisfied social justice liberals is a permanent part of the Democratic voter base. Candidates of both parties campaign relentlessly on ideological discomfort and dissatisfaction, the public eats it up, and the public manages to continuously divide itself into paralyzing hyper-partisan factions that believe that they're right and everybody else is wrong.
I digress.
What you're seeing in the GOP (and I'm picking on them more on than the Democrats because it so brazen) is not too surprising. After all, Richard Nixon successfully used it in his "law and order" campaign that propelled him to victory in 1968 even though he ended up governing as more of a moderate than what would his outward conservatism implied. Ronald Reagan pulled it off with resounding success in 1980, despite the fact he ended up doing, as president, the vast majority of what he complained (spending, raising debt ceiling, racking up debt) about his 1964 career-making speech.
I should say it is not necessarily a symptom of party politics, but rather a reactionary political style. The Democratic Party before 1960 was more reactionary and outwardly racist than the GOP could ever be accused of being and many Democratic politicians -- including George Wallace, Orval Faubus, Strom Thurmond, and James Eastland -- used conservative white resentment as a resistance tactic to the American Civil Rights Movement in the South. But even then, however, governing and legislating took precedent over endless political jockeying.
This 2016 campaign season has taken on a different tone, however. It's no longer about governing, really. It's emotional. Democrat Bernie Sanders is running a campaign that's an emotional response to perceived unfairness and immorality in capitalism (or, as detractors would say -- an unfulfilled left-wing fantasy). Republican Donald Trump is running a campaign that's an emotional response to an unfulfilled, right-wing fantasy that is deeply rooted in racial and religious discomfort and, yes, resentment.
However, in a political campaign season where lies and exaggerations is apparently wholly permissible (and encouraged) now, its unsurprising that candidates like Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson have managed to gain traction. Both are vociferous in their lying and their immature, armchair approaches to foreign policy, yet they managed to strike a nerve with bitter conservative voters who resent "political correctness", are disgusted with "social justice", and are dismissive of pragmatism. It didn't matter how untrue their statements were. They appeal to these voters' emotions.
But welcome to the Post-Truth Political System -- a clear result (and indictment) of our incessant drive to draw lines in the sand at every turn. We assemble into partisan factions, and instead of legitimately engaging in problem solving to actually progress with the realities of society, we choose to endlessly try to score ideological points to no real avail. We champion underdogs, conspiracy theories, "outsiders", claim heightened enlightenment because we're going against the "mainstream" grain, but we end up being as foolish, if not more, than the "mainstream" that we rail against. If you really need evidence, feel free to check out the 2016 presidential race.
If you were expecting me to give a nod to Chuck Todd for grilling Donald Trump this past Sunday on Meet The Press, I'm not. Meet The Press is a joke and hasn't been worth a damn since Tim Russert served as moderator.
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