In this Presidential election cycle we have seen drastic change in how elections usually go. The United States is at a very important point in its history, the outcome of this election will ultimately decide which way our country will go. The reason I say there has been drastic change is because conventional political wisdom in this election has been thrown out the window, as things that usually work fail and things that never worked before garner huge crowds.
Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are at the forefront of this dramatic change, two candidates that would have never stood a chance against the political establishment but are now surging in popularity. The usually political tactic of the establishment is to push several different kinds of elected officials to run for president, usually a spectrum of people who cater to different demographics or are well known names in politics. Like every election cycle the leaders of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party did this and much to their surprise, the candidates they choose have either already failed or working hard to fight against the anti-establishment candidates.
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To give examples, first on the Republican side, Jeb Bush ran for the presidency and failed. He came from a political dynasty, being the brother and son of two former Presidents. Yet it did not help him in the slightest as he was completely blown out in delegate count by Donald Trump and dropped out of the race. After that the Republican establishment put their money on the young Republican Senator Marco Rubio, literally. He was a young, good looking, conservative Cuban American that in any other election cycle would have been the front runner, similar to Barack Obama’s popularity in 2008. He too dropped out of the race, failing to win even one state in the primary. In a desperate move to prevent Donald Trump from being the nominee the establishment is now backing Senator Ted Cruz, who is unpopular among his fellow senate members and who’s political views are comparable to those of Donald Trump.
On the Democratic side, similar actions were taken. A host of new political faces ran for office, however Senator Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee, dropped out almost immediately as polls had them at single digits. It came down to Former Secretary Hillary Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders and Governor Martin O’Malley. Governor O’Malley however was outshined by Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders as he put his political positions between both of them, in the Iowa Caucus he only gained 0.6% of the vote and dropped out of the race shortly after that. Since then the Senator and the Secretary have been stuck in a relative tie.
Hillary Clinton has the lead against Bernie Sanders even after Sander beat Hillary in the last eight states. The political fight continues on one side stands Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz, candidates backed by their respective parties who are putting up a hard fight against the two anti-establishment candidates, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. The Trump and Sanders phenomenon is proof that the age of establishment politics is nearing its end. Even if Bernie Sanders failed to win the Democratic nomination, he has made light of so many issues within the Democratic Party and their close relationship to Wall St. and their large corporate donors, that it is highly likely that during the next election cycle either the establishment must change or the people will vote against them and win.
