Sandy Supposes....

September 18th

Prompt: The Sunday News! This week, Donald Trump once again alluded to the possibility of violence against Hillary Clinton in reference to her stance on Gun Control Reform, while Clinton called a segment of Trump's supporters a " basket of deplorables". Is any of this rhetoric really necessary in an already heated election season? Why is the focus almost always more on the sound bites and mudslinging than the actual issues and policies that should be debated?

         I suppose for the presidential candidates all is fair in the campaigning circus. They excel at deflecting. They hide behind the spotlight they aim at their opponent. They have less to explain while attention is elsewhere.

         Mudslinging involves throwing dirt, and hoping that some of it sticks. No one is perfect especially politicians. Neither of the candidates seems to have credibility, so they attack the other. They assume voters are not intelligent enough, nor involved to care and hear about issues. Voters react to innuendos. To slur a rival creates doubt. Scandal titillates. One minute, the press venerates, and the next it villifies.

         I believe people instinctively mistrust politicians. They question their motives, their decisions, their commitment. Any whiff of wrongdoing is accepted as inevitable thus the scandal sharks survive.