by Nicholas Schmieg
Frequently seen atop the media headlines over the last year were titles that included “Why the GOP is Failing,” “Democratic Division Worsens,” and even the occasional “Libertarians Fail in the Year of the Third Party.” America’s media was in love with watching the parties crumble in division, tyranny, and a former governor not knowing what Aleppo was. It poses the question, is it even remotely possible to decide on which party actually did the worst?
The Republicans
Let us start with the “winners” of the year, the Republicans. At the beginning there were sixteen candidates, all vying for the nomination. Several Senators, such as Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Governor Jeb Bush held strong conservative ideology. One would think that the accreditations, in this case the titles of “Senator” or “Governor,” could be enough to persuade a majority of Republican voters. In the end however, for Cruz, Rubio and Bush, the credentials weren’t enough. The boisterous businessman, Donald J. Trump, who had virtually no political experience and whose inappropriate, and twisted morals ultimately beat out all of the fancy titles, is now our President-elect.
It’s true, you can be successful in politics with or without political experience. However, what is most disturbing about Trump’s success is that it was built on vitriol. Trump got away with ridiculing nearly every minority demographic, including Mexicans, the disabled and women. Anyone whose opinion challenged his was also fair game for ridicule. Taking to Twitter to attacking anyone who didn’t agree with him on absolutely everything. Getting personal was not something he was afraid of. We all saw the Republican debates, right? Chills.
The Democrats
Now, the Democratic race for President started out with a much smaller group of candidates than their rival party, and only two, Senator Bernie Sanders, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, would really even contend. It was on April 30, 2015 some local media personalities conferred outside to see Sen. Sanders announce his Presidential campaign. The two contenders revealed a deep divide within the party. There was much contention when either side had to think about voting for the other. For Sanders though, it would be just over a year from his announcement when he was knocked out of contention for President by Clinton. Leaving half of the democrat base in tears.
Examining Clinton, especially under the context of the failures of political parties in 2016, results in probably the largest flop of them all. Though she won the Democratic nomination, she completely blew the general election. Clinton managed to take a campaign built upon the experience of a former Secretary of State, competing against a bullish and inexperience businessman, and lose in an electoral landslide. The idea that the Democrats’ lack of unity in 2016 has been thrown out there by some as an excuse as to why the party ultimately failed in the election. Should I even mention the E-word?
The Libertarians
With a potential “criminal” representing the Democrats, and a petulant bully representing the Republicans, its no wonder that voters were looking for a third party to support. Trying to capitalize on this, the Libertarians, being the third largest party in the US, spoke up. Former Republican Governor Gary Johnson attempted to carry the party flag. He was haunted by his awkward media moments. Incidents such as his “What is Aleppo?” gaffe, or his inability to respond to the statement “Name a foreign leader-ANY foreign leader,” became his hallmark. This was unfortunate for Johnson as he had some good ideas. It led to many believing that if the LP nominated a stronger public speaker, 5% of the national vote could’ve been easily in reach.
The Green Party
As mentioned previously, this was supposed to be the year for the third party to rise up, the year to give America another valid option. An idea that the Green Party also believed they could capitalize upon. Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka respectively, had an open door in making a pitch as the “poster children” for Bernie Sanders, post his exit from the race. And Indeed, that was more or less what the route they too. Unfortunately for her, her misplaced stance on vaccines, especially as a doctor, may have been the largest problem people had with her. Add to that Stein’s crazy appearances in the news: one for an arrest warrant in North Dakota , another for an implication that 9/11 was “a controlled demolition” by “patsies,” and for a weird anti-WiFi stance.
The Green Party was on 44 state ballots and on the District of Columbia’s as well (DC). They may have a legitimate chance to become the fourth party to be on the ballot everywhere in 2020 but for 2016, they knew they had no chance. Stein herself even implied that late in her run for the Presidency. She wanted to make an impact and start a movement. All they had to do was roll by the textbook, stay cool, calm, and collected in front of the media, and make an effort to succeed, and honestly? The party that ironically supports gun control the most was the party that used 2016 to fail, and shoot themselves in the foot.
When’s the next time the United States is going to see another election as ugly as this one was? Hopefully, it won’t be for a while. And with that question, comes another one: When’s the next time the Green Party is going to have another opportunity as good as this one was, to make some noise? The Greens had every election since Ralph Nader’s 2000 run to play it safe and go through the process, in hopes to persuade maybe, at best, half a percent of the popular vote. 2016, however, wasn’t the year to do this. It was the year to throw the hail mary, and to go for the unthinkable. The Green Party didn’t put their best foot forward. They calmly sat down with an umbrella and endured the storm that was the 2016 election, and I believe in turn, failing the worst.