What will follow Trump?

I’ve watched both Democratic Party debates and have loved them.

Seems to me that was, almost without exception, a group of excellent people: smart, experienced in government, passionate about the issues and values — most of which were generally agreed upon, and therefore could represent a first draft of a Democratic Party platform.

I was talking this morning to my cousin Thomas Spear, who had watched the second debate. He pointed out something I hadn’t thought of but find wonderful to contemplate: the shifts in the American presidency, recently at least (I’m not well versed in our history), can be marked not by conventional left-right political positions but by ethics or a lack thereof.

Consider: Nixon to Ford to Carter to Reagan to Bush to Clinton to Bush to Obama and to Trump.

If Thomas’s perception holds true, the knee-jerk destruction, rage, lies, ignorance, lawlessness, witlessness, sadism, stupidity, misogyny and chaos Trump represents should lead us to…

The opposite. Wow. We might be looking at a thrilling new American age.

So show them the money.

Thanks to a bunch of ugly Supreme Court decisions, we all must face a painful fact: it costs a lot of money to run for office. Because of the obscene numbers produced by the Kochs, et al., we don’t really have a choice. For our candidates to present themselves to the country, we must parry the dark money with money from those of us who are not obscenely wealthy.

At this stage after the two debates, we all can pre-vote, in effect, by sending a buck or ten or twenty-five — whatever we can afford — to the candidates who most impressed us and who, per the Thomas Principle, will be stunning rebukes to the current horror.

I just sent some money. How about you?