Mark Meets World: Don’t settle for the lesser of two evils

Mark Feuerborn

This year’s presidential election has been a rollercoaster, Ichabods. We’ve seen the rise of a Troll doll-haired, wannabe tyrant with a talent for bringing out the worst of America, the wife of a former President and Guinness World Record holder for number of times switching stances to win voters, a very angry democratic socialist whose wispy white hair gives that fascist a run for his money, and even the Zodiac Killer running for the big seat in the Oval Office. (Yes, I went there.)

With all of the extremes in play here, Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians and Independents are all getting a little nervous for their respective parties. Many Democrats supporting Bernie Sanders were terrified when Hillary Clinton won big during Super Tuesday. The entire GOP also erupted in panic when Donald Trump crushed the opposition during the same primary voting day. It was a time when many began to seriously consider switching sides, disgusted by the thought of ever voting for their party’s frontrunner, and some even considered abstaining from the democratic process altogether.

I believe that we all need to push these kinds of thoughts out of our heads. We are much too far away from nomination time to even consider dropping our respective beloved candidates. Just four days after Super Tuesday, we saw another round of primaries that yielded much more pleasant results. Trump no longer exhibited dominance over the Republican delegates as Ted Cruz swooped in for a string of victories, and Bernie Sanders also had a comeback in three states, including our state of Kansas. Kansas, you did great.

It’s not enough to root for your candidate from the sidelines. Get in the game, get educated and help get them from the primaries to the general election. Kansas’ caucus may be over, but one can still volunteer for their candidate’s campaign to help rally their support.

We are far enough into the election to know which candidates will compete for the nomination, but not far enough to know which one of those will secure it. We must keep supporting our chosen candidate. Their chance for nomination dies when our support does. I believe that all of the candidates at this point have a healthy chance. Except for Trump; Trump supporters please stay 50 yards away from your nearest voting precinct. Granted, Republicans at this point are choosing between a fascist and a serial killer, so I don’t know what to tell them. (I’m kidding.)