In 1987, during the heat of a Presidential campaign, then-candidate Gary Hart threw down the gauntlet in response to rumors of his womanizing. He challenged the press to follow him, saying "they'll be very bored."
The Miami Herald called his bluff, picked up the gauntlet, and discovered that he was carrying on a relationship with a young woman, Donna Rice (now Donna Rice Hughes).
As a result, Gary Hart dropped out of the race for president . . . until December, 1987, when he announced, "Let the people decide, I'm back in the race!"
His second attempt was as unsuccessful as the first. Michael Dukakis was the eventual Democratic nominee in 1988, and he lost to George H.W. Bush.
During this period, I remember hearing talk about, "does character count?" I thought, "Why are we even having this conversation? Of course, character counts!"
Apparently, the majority of the American people did not agree with me, because in 1992, Bill Clinton, himself the subject of allegations and suspicions of womanizing, was elected president, not once, but twice. We know the rest of the story, involving a young woman named Monica Lewinsky, a deposition where a sitting president committed perjury, and a press conference where Bill Clinton looked the public dead in the eye and lied. (Yes, Clinton should have been impeached because he was a sitting president who committed perjury. He lied under oath.)
And again, the question came up: Does character matter?
And again, the answer: Apparently not, because in 2016, the American people elected a man who's been openly unfaithful to two wives, bragged about how if you're famous, women will let you grab them by a particular area of the anatomy, been accused of sexual assault by a number of women, and, since his election, has used Twitter as a place to blast people he doesn't like or agree with.
Now, in 2020, our choices for United States President have come down to two men, both accused of sexual assault. In the past weeks, a former staff assistant for Joe Biden, Tara Reade, has come forward accusing Biden of sexual assault back in 1993. According to what I have heard, her story has evolved from "uncomfortable touching" to outright assault, and people who have commented on her allegations have said things from "she never described the assault to me" to "oh, yes, she told me exactly what happened."
Last week, my son showed me a news clip and said, "It's about Joe Biden". When the clip was finished, I asked him if he understood what they were talking about. When he said no, I said that Biden was being accused of treating a woman in a way she shouldn't be treated. I then said -- and yes, I used the exact word -- that I didn't know if he had raped her or kissed her when she didn't want to be kissed, but if he was guilty of any of that, I wouldn't feel comfortable voting for him for president.
The minute the words left my mouth, I realized the position I had just put myself in. You see, I've seriously thought of voting for Biden just to get Trump out of office. (Yes, I believe Trump is that bad. I think he's incompetent as a leader and he has done little, if anything, to discourage people from stirring up xenophobia and from leading armed protests about "stay-at-home" orders in certain states. Last week, after reading a headline, "Will a new great depression dictate Trump's fate?" my frustrated response was, "I hope it does!" When a friend asked me if I hoped for things to get worse, I said, no, I didn't; I just wanted him out of office.)
But, if I wouldn't feel comfortable having Biden in the White House, and I won't vote for Trump, what do I do?
As Jimmy Stewart said in It's A Wonderful Life when he discovered that Donna Reed was hiding naked in the hydrangea bushes, "This is a very interesting situation!"
Libertarian Justin Amash entered the presidential race last week. He could, if he knows how to work his campaign right, draw away enough votes from one candidate to get the other elected; or possibly split the vote enough to throw the election into the House of Representatives.
No, I am not looking for a perfect presidential candidate. No, we are not electing a pastor. Yes, other presidents -- see JFK and FDR -- have also been guilty of adultery while providing leadership to our country.
But is it too much to ask for a leader who has character and morality and self-control?
Is it too much to ask for a candidate that has character?
While we're pondering that question, let's sing our theme song:
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
And I feel fine!
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
No comments:
Post a Comment