If you think that the two major political parties are in bad shape, you are 100 percent correct.
Believe it or not, in New York State, people registered as independents outnumber voters enrolled as Republicans. During the recent election, many traditional local Democratic districts voted for President Trump and Republican districts gave Vice President Joe Biden a big plurality.
But the best example of screwed-up politics is occurring at the national level. At this late stage in the calendar, with Joe Biden having won the presidency by an overwhelming margin, only eight Republican members of Congress have congratulated him on his electoral success.
The vast majority of the Republicans in Congress are shaking in their boots for fear that they might offend Mr. Trump if they recognize the Biden victory.
The formal vote of the Electoral College is scheduled for Dec. 14 and no federal or state court to date has challenged the results of the election.
The Trump lawyers have lost 39 cases and won only one on a technical point. Republican officials in Georgia, Arizona and Michigan have voted to certify the results in their states, over the objection of the president. By the time the college meets, all of the states will have certified their election results.
Despite the fact that the election of Joe Biden is now a done deal, President Trump is launching vicious attacks on the Republican governors of three states and is continuing to claim that the election was “rigged.”
He has gone as far as to suggest that the FBI and the CIA secretly worked against him to insure a Biden victory. Of all the presidential tantrums, the one that stands out the most is Trump’s assault on the Republican governor of Georgia and the Republican secretary of state.
On Jan. 5, Georgia voters are scheduled to vote on two U.S. Senate races, which will decide the balance of power in that body. Trump’s attacks on the two top state Republicans have unsettled the party establishment who are concerned that their loyal voters will stay home or fail to cast an absentee ballot.
The president’s daily assaults on the Georgia voting results may scare away enough Republicans for the party to lose both seats.
What is equally frightening to the Georgia Republicans is that over 800,000 people have applied for mail-in ballots. It is believed that the vast majority of those ballots will be cast by Democrats.
It is expected that over $200 million will be spent on this runoff and those numbers may be eclipsed in the final days. To add insult to injury, incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Purdue are under attack for possible insider trading, using knowledge gained in their official positions.
While the eyes of the political world are focusing on the Georgia runoff, the nation is facing its greatest challenge due to the dramatic increases in COVID-19 infections and a rising number of unemployed people who are crowding food banks.
State by state, most of them with Republican governors, hospitals are becoming overcrowded and lacking protective gear to keep them safe.
A logical observer would assume that a national emergency would force Congress to step up to the plate and pass a new stimulus bill. Regrettably, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is missing in action, unwilling to offer any relief at a time of crises.
Many of the Republican senators are afraid that any action they take will offend the president and he won’t help out the Republicans in the January Georgia runoff.
Things are not much better on the Democratic side. Progressives have started to express misgivings about proposed Biden appointments and are making demands for recognition that are unfair, this early in the game.
As the weeks go by, they will get even louder asking for things that they are not owed. That’s the condition of the two-party system and it’s quite an ugly one.
