Political Dynasties

There is a very good chance that the 2016 Presidential Election ballot will look identical to the 1992 Presidential ballot. While right now, more than a year from the election, it is too early to say for certain who the nominees of the two mainstream parties will be, it seems likely that voters on November 4, 2016 will see the same choices for president that voters saw on November 4, 1992: Bush (Republican) and Clinton (Democratic). The 1992 election featured former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, while the current leading candidates for the Republican and Democratic nominations for 2016 are former President George H. W. Bush’s son and former President George W. Bush’s brother, Jeb Bush, and former President Bill Clinton’s wife, Hilary Clinton.

According to Washington Post columnist Chris Cillizza, Jeb Bush and Hilary Clinton both share two advantages that other potential candidates lack: Fundraising ability and name recognition. Name recognition is important in the voting booth because voters are more likely to vote for a name they recognize. Fundraising ability, however, is important in determining which names are on the ballots in that voting booth. The ability to raise money from the extremely wealthy political donor class is the single most important factor in receiving a presidential nomination from either of the major parties.

So, of course, Jeb Bush and Hilary Clinton have the connections they need to guarantee support from wealthy donors. These donors, most of whom are corporate Wall Street tycoons or former politicians who now have jobs on the boards of these same Wall Street firms, have a history of dealing with both of these families. They trust these candidates to do what is best for Wall Street because their families have a proven track record of supporting Wall Street. They have each other over for dinner, golf together, and go to the same parties in DC and around the country: they are truly part of America’s ruling elite.

The Clintons and the Bushes are, of course, not the only political dynasties in American history. In recent memory, the Kennedys were a force in American politics for decades, and the Harrisons were a political dynasty that lasted for over a hundred years and produced two Presidents. A startling number of American Presidents have been related to one another, and there have been dozens of political families throughout American history. Since the United States became an independent republic in 1789, nearly 400 parent-child duos and more than 190 pairs of siblings have served in Congress.

Our country was founded as a response against the tyranny of aristocratic rule; our Declaration of Independence states in no uncertain terms that “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” We fought a war, and many patriots gave their lives, in service of the ideals of equality and self-rule. However, since the founding of our nation, the wealthy and powerful have conspired to create a new American aristocracy – an aristocracy whose rule is all the more sinister because it masquerades as a democracy and gives us all the illusion that we are choosing our masters. America’s superrich do not believe that all men were created equal – they believe that we are beneath them, that we are serfs whose only purpose in life is to help them acquire yet more money and power.

If Jeb Bush and Hilary Clinton do turn out to be the Republican and Democratic nominees for president in 2016, a vote for either one of them will be a vote for Wall Street and a vote for the new American aristocrats who want to enslave the rest of us. If you believe, like I do, in the founding principles of the United States, of freedom and equality for all, then you need to make a different choice. I hope that you will have the courage to stand with me by casting your write-in vote for me, Art Drew, in the 2016 Presidential election.