Wednesday, July 1, 2015

The Hereditary Presidency

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

I had an email the other day from a group calling itself Roots Action.  It's aim was squarely focused on stopping the proliferation of America's two main political dynasties - the Bushes and the Clintons.  The email message pointed out that America was founded by people who were tired of the hereditary rule of the British royalty, yet here we are more than two hundred years later allowing the establishment of hereditary rule in our modern nation.

And that is a valid point.  Hillary will almost certainly be the Democratic nominee in 2016 - unless Bill gets caught trying to scale the wall of a high school cheerleader camp, and all of the major polls seem to have Jeb Bush among the top three Republican contenders.   They are lofty political animals who feel an entitlement to lead us.

George H.W. Bush was in the scramble for the Republican presidential nomination way back in 1980 before losing out to Ronald Reagan.  The Gipper chose Bush as his running mate, thus placing the former one-term Congressman on the national ticket - and on political easy street for himself and all of his progeny.  The elder Bush was on the national ticket again in 1984 as Reagan's running mate, and in 1988 he was elected President in his own right.

Bush ran for re-election as President in 1992, but thanks to a strong third-party effort by Ross Perot, he managed to lose the Oval Office to Bill Clinton.  Clinton was re-elected in 1996.  George W. Bush was elected President in a very close and bitter election in 2000, and he was re-elected in 2004.   Hillary Clinton tried to win the Democratic nomination for President in 2008, but she was edged out by a young political upstart by the name of Barack Obama.

The election of 2008 and the one which followed in 2012 represent the only two since 1980 in which a Bush or a Clinton has not been on a national ticket - and in 1992 both families were represented on the ballot.   Now 2016 is roaring down on us - and another Bush and another Clinton are waiting in the wings to receive their scepter and crown.

It's getting old, folks.  It's getting old.  Maybe the country should have two Presidents and then the families wouldn't have to be bothered with taking turns.

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