Landslide?

Dear Donald, The other day you talked about a landslide. You said that you had won all over the US by a landslide. That's interesting. When I think of winning by a landslide, I think of 70%, 60% at least 55%. As I look around, you've passed 50% of the vote in only 6 states. Your overall average is about 39%. What that means is actually the opposite kind of landslide--60% of the voters voted against you. I know that politicians often exaggerate, and even redefine things to their advantage, but this is not even close. That reminds me, you keep saying that the system is corrupt and delegates are getting stolen from you. You like to say that it should be the people's vote that counts. So, does that mean that you want to give back some of those delegates that were given to you which you didn't really earn. Like maybe South Carolina, where you only won 32.5% of the popular vote, but were given all of the 50 delegates. So, maybe you should keep 16 delegates and free up the other 34 from South Carolina. And, that's just one example. If the system is really corrupt and unfair, here's your chance to show you want to make things a lot fairer and let the people's votes really count. You have won more votes than any one particular candidate, but you're still not even close to winning a majority of the popular vote. This 'corrupt' system is working to your advantage, far more than for any other candidate. But, you still want more. You complain when you feel it works against you, but you brag about winning delegates when it works in your favor. I guess that's why you're a billionaire real estate tycoon. That's why you complain about illegal aliens, but hire them to work on your own properties. You're in it to win, but it's not really about justice and fair play for Americans. It's about the Donald. You have win, and when you don't, you blame the system. You're a businessman, and not public servant. But, Donald, the presidency is not all about you. It's not for you to buy. It's about America.

Prove it!

Dear Hillary (and news media), Bernie keeps talking about your ties to Wall Street and I can imagine that that can be a bit frustrating. Several times your response has been to challenge anyone to show that contributions from banks and wealthy contributors have affected your vote. Recently a reporter has repeated that challenge as a question to Bernie. However, I think you both have missed the point. Think about it. If I get stopped for speeding (just hypothetical, not saying that I actually would break the law, you know), and I hand him a 50 to give to the Fraternal Order of Police for me, both of us would be at risk of getting arrested if found out. We might say that there was no proof that my contribution affected his treatment of my alleged speeding, but as you know very well, that wouldn't work. You see, the whole point of the questions about influence is not just whether someone can prove that you actually did any favors for them. The point is that the current campaign fundraising system that requires you and other candidates raise such obscene amounts of money puts you (and us) all at risk. You see, it's not really even about some overt favor. When someone does something really generous for you, it's hard to not lean toward them in some way and even if you try not to, it just happens. You're not the only one with that problem, but it doesn't help to just paper it over and put out a challenge for proof of an offense. You can say that you have studiously avoided being influenced, but don't treat the issue so flippantly and with disdain. We know the saying, "you are what you eat," and maybe you are also what donations you take. It's certainly more than just a possibility that politicians are influenced by who is paying the bills for getting them elected, sometimes in such subtle ways that they don't even realize. It's a legitimate question and points out a serious problem in our current campaign finance system. You could even use it as a point to bring up the issue as something that we all need to deal with. But, please don't feign indignation. You went for those donations. Did you really think that no one would ask what they thought they were buying?