After 10 Glorious Years, Sunshine State News and I Are Passing the Baton

As we have been told for months now, this is the most important election of our lifetime which, by my measurement, makes for the 10th consecutive time since the new millennium that this has been the case. As the social matrix of the country has become deeply emotional about the political landscape, it's possible I was in a ground-zero location for the election.

When the president announced that he was sending the U.S. military to help secure our southern border, he received bipartisan praise from members of Congress. The Washington Post reported that the move was seen as "smart politics." The year was 2011, and the president was Barack Obama. The National Guard troops Obama sent to the border as part of "Operation Phalanx" helped apprehend nearly 18,000 illegal immigrants and seized more than 56,000 pounds of illegal drugs.

Healthcare is the political football of the midterm elections. But unlike the game of football, there are no rules. And the goal is to win -- not for the benefit of the team (the voters), but to gain status and power. Politicians are looking for a sound bite that catapults them into the spotlight. Spartacus was a dud. People like free stuff. Let’s try Medicare-for-All! Of course, the ads won’t mention that taxes will be doubled and private health insurance is essentially outlawed.

It has been a common refrain heard from many on the left since the August gubernatorial primaries: It's wrong to call Andrew Gillum a “socialist.” In the strictest application of the term, no, he doesn't fit the description. After all, he is not in a position of power to enforce true socialism.