Menu is unappealing in election

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich by promising to protect each from the other.

- Oscar Ameringer

I love living in Sisters, it's bucolic nirvana. Once in a while the news seems to intrude, and nothing is more intrusive to me than this long campaign season for the presidency.

It is so tempting to change the channel or ignore it, but my mind thinks of the consequences of ignoring this seemingly endless circus and what that means to all of us here.

At times I wonder if this endless series of debates and campaign shenanigans have no bearing on life in Sisters - but then I remember how we all ignored national events back prior to 2008 and we suffered an implosion of our economy and the popping of the real estate bubble. We watched as our home values went into a free-fall and many lost much of their retirement savings. So, I guess, through all the muck and mire it does matter.

The issues of income inequality and bank regulation did not come up during either Republican debate. I turned toward the Democrats to address these issues (and the others that were neglected). The Democratic debate certainly had its "show" elements and was, in fact, not really a debate. It seemed more like a sports broadcast sometimes as the pre-debate announcer asked "...can Hillary overcome the email scandal" and can someone else "break out of the pack?"

The bottom line, however, is that it was more about issues than its Republican counterpart and there was no name-calling or junior-high behavior. Nonetheless, in my view, it fell a bit short.

Of the five candidates who were there, the two on either end of the stage, Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb, have since dropped out. Good riddance. Chafee was a pleasant enough Mr. Peepers type but seemingly from another planet. Jim Webb spent a lot of time complaining about not having enough time. The time he had was plenty. He and dinosaurs are extinct. Martin O'Malley moved from sub-basement to basement. The two remaining, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, are still in the running.

Let me be clear: I like a lot of stuff Bernie Sanders says. He seems to understand the consolidation of power in this country and the fact that a few hundred families control much that happens is this democracy. They fund campaigns and pretty much decide who our leaders are going to be. Or, as in this case, they present us with a couple of choices (which they have chosen) and both are agreeable to them. We are left thinking all is OK.

They have a huge amount of influence on our two final choices. They do it through super-PACs and other devices. Bernie seems to understand this and correctly identifies the problem and is stalwart in opposing big-money control of elections and the financial system. He proposes some needed balancing of the financial system. He seems honest, hardworking, experienced, real and focused.

The only problem is that he is probably totally unelectable. He describes himself as a democratic socialist and naively believes the electorate is going to vote for someone who characterizes themselves as a socialist of any stripe. (In reality all candidates on both sides are socialist to some extent in that they support many big-government programs: Medicare, Social Security, veterans programs, etc.).

Not going to happen, Bernie.

Then there is Hillary. I could write volumes about Hillary and some of it would be good and some not so good. I cannot say I am thrilled about Hillary but I can say if she gets the nomination I will vote for her. As in so many elections, she is the lesser of two evils.

The fact is, however, she has taken and will take sizable sums from PACs and I cannot think there will not be promises to keep. She was softer on the issue of bank and financial regulation than I would like and she will be beholden as well. Unless the opposition comes up with some well-timed revelations about her emails she may go all the way. Once again we will have two menu options, neither of them our favorite or close to it - but we have to choose.

Joe Biden, are you sure you don't want to run?