ARE THE AMERICAN FAMILY DYNASTIES COMING TO THE END OF THEIR LINE?

Here is an interesting list concerning presidential elections in the United States:

1980 - George H. W. Bush elected Vice President

1984 - George H. W. Bush elected Vice President

1988 - George H.W. Bush elected President

1992 - William J. Clinton elected President, defeating George H.W. Bush

1996 - William J. Clinton elected President

2000 - George W. Bush elected President

2004 - George W. Bush elected President

2008 - Hillary R. Clinton was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President

2012 - 

2016 - Hillary R. Clinton is seeking the nomination as a candidate for President; John Ellis “Jeb!” Bush was a candidate seeking the nomination for President

There have been 10 elections in the past 36 years. There was a Bush (3 people) or a Clinton (2 people) running or elected in 9 of these 10 elections. 

In other words, two American families have dominated American national politics for almost the past 40 years! Only one word describes this phenomenon: dynasty. (The Bush family also includes senators and governors; and Barbara Pierce Bush, wife of George H.W. Bush, was a cousin of the 14th President of the USA, Franklin Pierce.)

Is it any wonder that American voters are rebelling against these established rulers? The success so far of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are certainly partially due to the Bush/Clinton fatigue many voters are experiencing. 

The American political establishment is supported by the American economic establishment, and this has become the rallying cry of the disaffected. Think about it; Hillary Clinton is supported by the large financial institutions, among others, and Donald Trump is supported by a multi-billionaire - himself. 

This rebellion is breaking two ways. On the Republican side we have a member of the 0.1% in terms of wealth, who has never really been very active in the Republican Party and has never held political office, poised to win the nomination as the Republican candidate. On the Democratic side, we have a Democratic Socialist who has won elections to the House and Senate as an independent, who now has a shot at being the Democratic nominee. Wow!

On the Republican side of things, we see people who are angry about their situation in the world, and are eager to blame it on “big government,” the Establishment Republican Party, minorities, immigrants, non-Christians and other “others.” They trend way to the right, and are lead towards nationalism and fascism by Trump, Cruz and Rubio. The establishment candidate, and member of the Bush Family Dynasty, Jeb! Bush, dropped out of the race due to a lack of traction with voters. This gets uglier daily. 

On the Democratic side, a battle is waging between the establishment and dynastic candidate, Clinton, and the interloper Sanders. The battle for votes here is between establishment, business-as-Obama-usual politics versus - gasp - socialist themes and values. Some of the rhetoric, especially on-line, is getting ugly; however, it is not based on the fear and hatred in which the Republicans are wallowing. 

There is another interesting, and quite amazing, actually, facet to this race. The remaining candidates include: a woman, a Jewish socialist, two Cuban-Americans, an African-American, a white man, and a white man with a bizarre hairdo. We’ve never seen a group of candidates like this. 

I think, actually I’m hoping that this is the end of the Bush and Clinton dynasties in America, It is time to move on. This election is, in my opinion, a critical point in modern American politics. Do we swing way right or more left? I don’t think there is a middle ground possible any longer. 

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