Let's Dial Down the Election Drama

It has been a raucous election season this year.

FROM THE HIP

By JIM PURCELL

There is no need for me to discuss how much of a carnival act the 2016 Presidential Election season has been. Though there are two candidates involved, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, they are not the only ones taking center stage during this contest. The sharp contrast between the political and social outlooks of Americans throughout this country are also clearly on display.

There are conservatives and liberals, and they are at each other's throats. Trump and Clinton, rather than convincing people about points, seem to just reinforce existing biases in people and polarize them for the sake of the election.

It would not matter who the candidates were, in some sense, because the Democratic and Republican candidates, respectively, represent certain schools of thought. I have been alive for 50 years as an American, older than most and younger than some, but in that time I have seen my fair share of politics. I cannot remember a time when political campaigns looked so much like armed camps.

At this point, it is Mr. Trump who is saying he may or may not accept the results of the General Election: He said he will if he wins and will not if he doesn't. Yet, this is dangerous rhetoric at a time when tensions are running so high between the major parties and the respective outlooks of those who are their adherents.

Innocent people should never be at risk because of politics. And, if Mr. Trump loses the election and continues down this road with his rhetoric, there may be violence if he doesn't have their way. Win or lose, American elections are sacred because they prevent domestic wars and violence. What Mr. Trump is saying right now isn't free speech as much as it is falsely yelling "Fire!" in a crowded movie theater.

Frankly, neither Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton can be accused of having sound judgment. Neither are the best choices for president of this nation and leader of the free world. They are the candidates we have and not the candidates this nation deserves.

Perhaps the most important thing to consider here is that we are one nation, will remain one nation, and have to learn to get along with each other to a certain degree. There would not otherwise be a Civil War. There would, however, be violent incidents where innocent people would get hurt for someone's politics. Our nation has enough problems with innocent people being murdered in its streets -- Americans do not need new reasons to shoot at each other or blow each other up. And, as adults -- any adults -- each of us should know that senseless violence solves nothing and serves only to broaden the gulf between people, not build any kind of bridge.

I have been to the Middle East, to Northern Ireland (during the Troubles in the 1980s) and to Central America (also in the 1980s) and all of these troubled areas have some things in common: Stupidity on a grand scale, the inability for people to respect one another, the need for some people to condescend to other people. If there is violence on the heels of this election, rest assured that Donald Trump will do none of it and experience none of it. He is merely instigating this nonsense. The election is the revolution that happens in this country every four years, and that is it.

Mrs. Clinton is not the world's greatest choice as president. She is leading in the polls now, so some see her as a favorite. During the November election, millions of people will come out and vote and it may be Mrs. Clinton who wins, or Mr. Trump. But, holding such an election with a metaphoric pistol to the head of the American people is not 'fine,' or 'OK.' It is skirting a line, which is not rebellious or crafty, but dangerous and unhealthy. Whomever wins, wins; whomever loses, loses. No more theater -- really -- there has been far too much of that, even for a Presidential Election.