Randy Fricke

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Where are we on the presidential campaign? Let’s start with the Republican Party. Donald Trump clinched the party’s nomination in early May with his convincing win in the Indiana primary.

Even though Trump is the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party, many establishment Republicans in Congress as well as some GOP campaign donors continue to resist endorsing Trump. They had been in denial for months that Trump could blow away the competition from the ranks of their establishment such as Cruz, Rubio, Kasich and Bush. Though many Republicans are falling in line, there remains confusion and discomfort among the party establishment with Donald Trump as the party’s nominee.

Where does this leave Trump or, more importantly, where does this leave the Republican Party? Trump is not going to yield to calls for him to be more presidential. He’s tried that briefly and finds that boring and lacking the controversy upon which he thrives. Trump changes his positions on major issues daily. The neoconservative think-tanks in Washington, D.C., cringe every time Trump ticks off one of America’s major allies over his foreign policy statements. Trump has taken the Republican Party establishment way beyond damage control at this point.

Trump is in the driver’s seat of the Republican Party bus right now. Trump will use the party’s label for his own political gain. Once the convention is over and Trump has officially secured the nomination, he will drive the Republican bus over the cliff and leave the party behind.

The Democratic National Convention in July could be a highly contested event. There is chaos brewing now. The Democratic National Committee’s chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, is being asked to resign by a large number of Bernie Sanders supporters. The issue concerns possible rigging by the DNC of several closed primaries won by Hillary Clinton.

Recently, Sanders accused Schultz of rigging the convention in Clinton’s favor. As Clinton faces further legal scrutiny by the FBI and the State Department over her e-mail controversy, her level of untrustworthiness increases. Sanders still faces an uphill delegate battle in his attempt to win the nomination. If Sanders wins the California primary, the win could sway numerous uncommitted delegates and super delegates to his side. A Sanders win in California raises questions about Clinton’s strength as the nominee. The political fireworks are just beginning.

National polls continue to show that Sanders beats Trump head-to-head by several points. Clinton and Trump change leads with very slim margins in the same polls.

Chuck Todd, host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” stated after the Indiana primary that Clinton and Trump would be the most unpopular presidential candidates in American History.

Sen. Sanders’ popularity has been downplayed and blacked out by the mainstream media most of the primary season. Sanders has by far held the biggest rallies around the country, especially on the West Coast.

The Democratic Convention could possibly be rigged in Clinton’s favor. Realizing this, I am aggressively supporting a national movement along with thousands of independents and Bernie or bust supporters to officially nominate Sanders for president as an independent.

Over 26 million Independent voters were denied access to the primary voting all over the country. A large portion of these voters were Sanders supporters. If Sanders cannot negotiate the number of super delegates and regular delegates to gain the nomination, he should walk out of the convention and jump on the independent bandwagon, where millions of Americans are waiting to support him. This will be a nationally coordinated effort to draft Bernie as an independent candidate for the presidency immediately after the convention. This move would rock the political establishment and shock the mainstream media in America. This could be the making of a historical event.

Choosing a truly good presidential candidate should be a no-brainer by now. A vote for Donald Trump is condoning bigotry, hate, racism and general fascism. A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for selling out America for greed and profit. A vote for Bernie is a vote for a brighter future and economic growth for Main Street America. As an independent, Bernie would beat Trump and Clinton in the general election.

Whether Bernie is a Democrat or independent, America needs his steady hand and his wisdom to guide the country. Bernie is the revolution that America so desperately needs.

Randy Fricke of New Castle is an environmental advocate and political activist. He is the author of “If I Were President/Saving Main Street America.” His column appears on the first Friday of each month.