Presidential search 2016

Unless something happens soon, the 2016 presidential election is shaping up to be a lackluster matchup that promises little change when what we need most is radical change from eight years of big government, runaway spending and racial politics that have brought this nation to its knees.

I have yet to see someone emerge on the national stage who will face down the terrorist threats or address a massively flawed economic policy or return values to a nation desperately in need of a return to sanity.

Barring some unforeseen development, the Democrats will put yet another Clinton on the ticket, which amounts to little more than Obama light.

Yet, in an era when union money and racial politics trump sound economic policy and a strong defense position, Ms. Clinton is poised to stroll to the Democratic nomination in some nostalgic return to better times.

But rest assured, her path to the nomination will be much smoother than her path to the general election.

The Republicans, meanwhile, are a party in search of a leader. At this point, that's a problem.

Space does not permit a full listing of the GOP names mentioned as potential contenders. That wide range of options is viewed by some as an asset, but they are just kidding themselves.

In some ways, this run up to the campaign is similar to 2008, which was the last time we had an election without an incumbent on the ballot.

Both parties at this point had a virtual smorgasbord of hopefuls. And anyone handicapping that race would never had bet on an unknown and untested junior senator from Illinois. By any metric, that race belonged to Bill Clinton's wife.

The Republicans went with a relatively safe bet in well-known but charismatically challenged John McCain and then threw some spice into their vice presidential pick. It proved to be the wrong spice and the wrong candidate at the wrong time.

So the electorate chose style over substance. And for eight long painful years we have paid the price.

Mitt Romney's departure from the scene is welcome news. The real problem in the current political environment is that Romney is a man of value and character and integrity. But, increasingly, that matters little.

With the media's obsession with politics of destruction, we search first for flaws above policy, with out-of-context sound bites over proven and successful experience, with theatrics above reasoning.

And when the electorate lacks the skills to discern style over substance, you get what we've got.

Like a lot of conservatives, I keep looking for that voice to articulate those values I hold dear. I yearn for that voice that says there truly is American exceptionalism. That voice that says clearly the path to success as a nation is not in an all-powerful federal government but rather in the exceptional role of personal responsibility, sacrifice, family and faith.

It will take a special person to rebuild this nation from the broken financial model that we have been handed. Someone who can explain our essential role in a world spiraling out of control and then who can back up those words with actions. Someone who truly believes that the key to personal success is not found in the form of government handouts but rather in the freedom to achieve those dreams without the heavy hand of government regulation and interference.

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Sikeston Standard Democrat.