The modern circus has taken a beating in recent years. Ringling Brother's recently announced they're phasing out elephants due to concerns about cruelty after years of protests from animal rights organizations. Even Quebec's own Cirque du Soleil, the legendary animal-free acrobatic spectacle has hit hard financial times and has been recently sold. And of course so-called "freak shows" were rightfully declared completely distasteful and exploitative years ago.
There still is a big circus in the United States though. It's called the Presidential election campaign. The election is still over a year away, but this travelling show, complete with it's fair share of ringmasters, carnival barkers, and freak shows is already on the road. One of the parties (the Republicans) even uses an elephant for its logo! And trust me, most of what the average Republican candidate says piles as deep and smells as bad as anything an elephant leaves behind. I'm not excusing the Democratic Party at all here either. Their logo is a donkey, and that completely explains itself.
So far, nobody running for either of these parties deserves to be President. At last check, there were 19 people running for the Republican nomination. The most prominent names are Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. These two men are prominent for all of the wrong reasons. They represent the most reactionary, angry, contemptuous elements of the Republican Party. The single positive fact about both of them is that they are Hispanic, and their candidacies are thus a major footnote in American ethnic history.
Due to the US Constitution, it still is not clear if Senator Cruz will even be able to legally run for President. He was born in Calgary, and the Constitution says the President has to be born in the United States or any of its territories. Strangely though, there does not appear to be a birther movement opposing Senator Cruz like the one that developed against President Obama, composed of those who insist he he was born in Kenya. If you thought the Tea Party Republicans of recent years and the administration of George W. Bush were ridiculous, Cruz makes them look sophisticated. Among his ideas are "voluntary conservation." That means corporations would only have to preserve the environment if they felt like it. He also wants the Internal Revenue Service disbanded and a single flat federal income tax. A flat tax is great if you are rich. It's a bargain because you end up paying far less of a share than you would under a progressive income tax system. The poor pay the same amount, even though they don't make nearly as much money. Cruz's crowd assume that the whole trickle down idea will work instead. Rich people and corporations will just feel so compassionate and benevolent that they'll instantly burst forth with charity and sprees of job creation. Yeah, sure, right, and Elvis is still alive.
And then there's Marco Rubio. He too is a flat taxer, and judging by his views on climate change, he very likely believes the Earth is flat too. He's known as the "Crown Prince" of the Tea Party movement. This is an ironic title to have in a country that ditched the British Monarchy during the rule of George III. He's also continually supported the PATRIOT Act and opposed legislation to deal with violence against women.
The other Republican candidate who is getting some attention is Senator Rand Paul, son of former Representative Ron Paul. Together they've developed a cult-like following. Both are doctors, and their possessed fans are always very vehement to refer to either of them as "Dr. Paul." Senator Paul, like his dear old Dad, thinks that just about anything the US government does is too intrusive. He has a literal interpretation of the Constitution that if adhered to, would have the US government with less governing capacity than a Board of Selectmen in a small New England town. To the Paul family, the US Postal Service and the Interstate Highway System are likely intrusive tools of tyranny. Rand and Ron tend to appeal to a segment of the population who don't like the rule of law. This includes everyone from far-right conspiracy theorists to aging hippies who just want to spend their declining years stoned. They have a big following among college students with a rebellious streak, which sort of indicates an immature segment of their fan base. What happened to the good old days when rebellious college students just staged sit-ins in the Dean's office or trashed a mainframe computer?
Speaking of politics on the family plan, another Bush could be in the running. George W's more moderate and articulate brother Jeb, a former Governor of Florida. At first glance, Jeb doesn't look so bad really. If victorious, he would be only the second Roman Catholic President, and the first Republican Roman Catholic. Both would be positive firsts, however Jeb has recently proven though that Bruce Jenner is not the only man in his 60's with an identity crisis. It was recently discovered that in 2009, Governor Bush identified himself as Hispanic on his voter registration card. No Jeb, you are not Hispanic. You are from an old, white, English-speaking, Yankee establishment family. Just because you are married to a Hispanic woman does not mean you are Hispanic too. And then there's the issue of family dynasties. One of the reasons behind the foundation of the United States was to get rid of the domination of the political process by wealthy elite families. Having a President Bush III wouldn't exactly honour one of the reasons behind America's founding.
The same argument applies to the only Democratic candidate so far, former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. First of all, she's too right-leaning and corporation friendly to be a Democrat, and she's too trigger happy when it comes to military intervention. Arguably, most of her popularity comes from the fact that she's former President Bill Clinton's wife. 15 years after leaving office, Mr. Clinton remains immensely popular. The idea of having his wife as President probably makes many Americans nostalgic for the 1990's when the word terrorism seldom got used and the economy was roaring. And of course Mrs. Clinton, with her steely resolve seemed to take the words of late country music performer Tammy Wynette literally. When the bad news surfaced that Bill had been a bad boy with Gennifer Flowers, and then Monica Lewinsky in the sex scandal of all sex scandals, Hillary stood by her man. It would be as unhealthy for American democracy though to have another Clinton as President as it would be to have another Bush (or Kennedy for that matter) as President. If either Hillary or Jeb are elected in 2016, that will mean that two families will have controlled the White House for 20 of the past 30 years as of 2020.
None of the people who should be President of the United States are running, and if they do run, they don't stand much of a chance. Their support is too based upon ordinary people, and not the wealthy establishment or the corporations who buy election campaigns with their donations. Independent Senator and self-proclaimed socialist Bernie Sanders of Vermont has not yet stated his intentions. Senator Elizabeth Warren, the liberal Democrat from Massachusetts has not indicated her plans either. Former Clinton-era Labor Secretary Robert Reich has already said he will not run. There are two Republicans in the should run but would probably lose category. North Country Public Radio in northern New York recently ran a story indicating George Pataki, who served as New York's Governor during the 1990's is considering a run. Pataki however would have very few friends in extreme right-wing factions that seem to dominate the Republican Party right now. The same applies to Ohio Governor John Kasich, an unusually independent Republican who while adhering to many conservative approaches, has however significantly increased funding for Medicaid and public education and has even expressed support for private sector trade unions.
So, there really is a big circus still going in America. It's almost as loud, obnoxious, tacky, and full of freaks as anything found under a big top tent! Watch the acts taking place in each ring over the next few months as candidates come and go until there are just two left. One will be riding a blue donkey and the other a red elephant.
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