Quay County Sun - Serving the High Plains

Former QCS Managing Editor

Well, the primaries are done, but this campaign will probably get even sillier.

Here are our choices:

1. The world’s worst blow-dry combover that camouflages a proven business prodigy now hidden in a self-generated fog of schoolyard posturing.

2. A smug heir apparent with a high-level track record, but who tows a submerged line of unsavory objects that occasionally surface and smell bad.

How did we get here?

Start with the Democrats. Hillary Clinton, the heir apparent, and possibly her husband, Bill the First, managed to arrange things so that Hillary was the only candidate the party lights were allowed to shine on.

Then, without party permission, Bernie Sanders, a fresh face at age 74, dropped in.

Bernie called himself a Democratic socialist (gasp), which in Europe means he advocates allowing people to get rich but never too poor.

A whole lot of people decided it was OK to be sort of a socialist and crowd-funded Bernie’s campaign with small donations and lots of love.

Bernie campaigned hard and well, but a few too many thought that while Bernie’s heart was in the right place, his math was off.

The Republicans swarmed around apparent blood in the water after mid-term victories.

Early on, a dozen candidates fought mostly over who could most loudly denounce President Barack Obama.

They competed to pay the highest, unquestioned homage to conservative ideals.

Those who veered even slightly to the center got eliminated early. Chris Christie became water under the bridge. Down went Jeb Bush, who insisted on fighting by Queensbury rules in the age of Ultimate Fighting Championship. Only John Kasich among the moderates held out.

But then, down went the pure. Ben Carson, Marco Rubio and finally Ted Cruz, the least loved by the party leadership, fell to Trump, who hadn’t even been on their radar.

Like Bernie, The Donald fell from the sky, a rocky slab version of that monolith from “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

The other candidates circled around him in wonder and confusion as he blustered his way into the hearts of millions of voters by speaking to them in their own rough way.

Next, I think, comes the usual: menacing soundtracks and raspy announcers telling us the opposition advocates either evil or certain disaster. Lots of “gotcha” news coverage.

Brutal and totally misleading.

Clearing up the issues? We’re on our own, as usual.

Steve Hansen writes about our life and times from his perspective of a retired Tucumcari journalist. Contact him at:

[email protected]