I am a Republican, and I hope the Democrats pick a candidate I can vote for

January 9, 2020

Source: Link

By Sheila Bair (original source Washington Post)

“Over the past 40 years — about as long as I’ve been of age to vote — the country has seen a downward spiral in the qualifications of the individuals we have elected as president. We arguably hit a new low with Donald Trump, who had zero years experience in public service. He was able to defeat a highly pedigreed Hillary Clinton not because he was a compelling candidate but because a large segment of the electorate wanted to register a vote against her perceived elitism and disinterest in the working class.

Voters often use their ballots as weapons of punishment; indeed, Oscar Wilde described democracy as “simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.” But an unfortunate side effect of negative voting is for elections to favor naifs over pros, because the pros have amassed so many years’ worth of activity for the public to get mad at.

Trump now has three years of experience as president. While he has had some policy victories, he has also given opponents plenty of issues with which to bludgeon him. Democratic partisans are almost maniacal in their eagerness to oust him. They seem most interested in finding the candidate best positioned to do so, regardless of qualifications.”

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