download

The primary season is over. Democrats and Republicans are now moving forward with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as their party’s nominee. The unfortunate aspect for America is that both candidates are reviled nationwide.

This election isn’t about who has the best policies for the country. The general election will be built around a mutual destruction of the other candidate.

At the beginning June, Hillary Clinton gave a passionate speech on foreign policy. Nothing in her address gave any indication of her vision for foreign policy. Her speech was more of a stinging rebuke of why Donald Trump is unfit to be Commander-in-Chief.

The same can be said of Donald Trump’s blistering rebuke of Hillary Clinton, unfortunately. Trump offered little in the way of detailed policy of how he would be different from Clinton.

Since the campaign for president has begun, many people have speculated that the time is ripe for a third party to enter the fray for president.

Can a Third Party Win the White House?

Presently, no credible candidate of national stature has thrown a hat into the ring. At this point, it may be too late.

The only other candidate running for president besides Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is Libertarian Party candidate and former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson.

The filing deadline has passed in many states and especially in the largest red state, Texas. In other states, you need almost 100,000 signatures just to make the ballot.

Newsweek documented the issue of third-party candidacy in a recent article. According to the article, the Libertarian Party has met the hurdle to be on the ballot in each state, but the byzantine requirements and rules of each state make it virtually impossible for any third-party candidate to become a presidential candidate.

Even the well-funded billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg contemplated a presidential run. Ultimately, Bloomberg decided the task of running as an independent candidate was too daunting of a task, since he would have needed to gain enough signatures for his name to be on the ballot in all 50 states.

Arizona is one of the states where an independent candidate can qualify for the ballot, but a “recognized political party” must nominate that individual. A “recognized political party” is one that has received five percent of the vote in the previous presidential or gubernatorial election or whose members amount to “at least two-thirds of one percent” of the state’s registered voters.

The Newsweek article also states that the party or candidate who is not affiliated with a recognized political party would need to qualify via petition, but that requires thousands of signatures.

Clinton Faces FBI Investigation

Clinton currently faces a criminal investigation by the FBI over her use of a private server and email to conduct government business while she served as Secretary of State in the Obama administration. In another concurrent investigation, the FBI is conducting a conflict of interest probe of possible collusion between the Clinton Foundation and her time as Secretary of State.

Many reports have surfaced in which companies, countries and individuals gave to the Clinton Foundation, while they had business dealings with the State Department. Peter Schweizer detailed much of this questionable activity in his book, “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.”

Trump Also Under Investigation for Fraud

Last month, many people made comments about the fraud case being handled by U.S. District Court judge Gonzalo Curiel. The Washington Post article about Trump’s fraud case reported that Trump University marketed its seminars and mentorship packages that cost up to $35,000 as opportunities for “students” to learn tricks of the real estate trade from mentors and instructors said to be “handpicked” by Trump.

Both cases before Curiel are class-action lawsuits from former students, claiming fraud and demanding their money back. Students in California, Florida and New York filed a lawsuit in 2010. A plaintiff also filed another suit in 2013, alleging that he was misled and upsold, so that he needed to pay for a $35,000 upgrade.

At the same time, many in the GOP establishment are petrified by how vindictive and downright petty Trump has become. Trump used racist language in going after Judge Curiel over his Mexican heritage.

This is only one aspect that concerns the Republican Party establishment. Party leaders are downright terrified of Trump as the party’s nominee, especially his often bizarre policy statements. They feel that Trump’s bellicose manner and lack of conservative principles will doom his candidacy and the Republican brand in a general election.

If the Republican Party is to keep control of the House and Senate, many Republicans feel that with Trump as the party nominee, his nomination would be catastrophic for them in November.

America is now left with two highly unpopular choices for president. Whoever wins in November, Trump or Clinton, we will elect a candidate by January 2017 who is deeply unpopular to a vast number of Americans.

How will that new president be able to govern? That remains for America to discover.