In Joshua, Texas
No. It has validated my concerns that we are becoming more polarized as a nation. Although we have had many power struggles within our political system, I am concerned that the people that are allowing themselves to become more extreme in their views are forgetting history. They are forgetting the lessons from the past. I am just as concerned that more and more people in our nation have very skewed and unfounded beliefs that are exacerbated by a profound lack of boundaries and refusal to educate themselves with the facts. These are the red flags that were present before the Civil War. So far, the current "Civil War" has continued to play out in our political process. That political process, however, is becoming more rigid. There must be flexibility within our political process, just as there must be flexibility within personal relationships. Rigidity leads to a brittle system that is much easier to break.
I thought that Rubio had the best chance of bringing the country together as a moderate rather than splitting it further. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are splitters, not uniters. John Kasich has the knowledge and experience, but lacks the charisma needed to be a uniter of many. I don't trust Hillary Clinton to think about consequences of her decisions (other than her own personal consequences). Bernie Sanders has awesome ideas about what is the right thing to do, but I differ from him regarding how to get it done. I would prefer to utilize my money to help the person in front of me, rather than to pay someone else (many someone's in our bureaucracy) to take care of them. To me, it is similar to paying someone else to worship God for me: Not very effective or worthwhile. Also, it puts me in a position of having to tell my "neighbor in need" that I, personally, can't help you -- but you might be able to get some help from the government. I agree that there needs to be a safety net because we live in a pretty selfish society, but not to the point that we are "dependent" on the government to provide the entire net. We are a middle class family who is being squeezed between the rising cost of living, taxes and the stagnant economy. We can't afford to, nor do we want to, pay someone else to do what we should be, and want to be, doing ourselves.