Trump is part of the reason you are suffering. Trump is the one playing on the not-so-level playing field where he wins and you lose.

I have never analyzed a presidential election as much as I did the Trump-Clinton race of 2016.

In the 1990s, the Democratic Party began to cozy up to their long-time enemies: Wall Street Bankers. They took their money and relaxed their regulations until the Great Recession forced the Democrats via Dodd-Frank to re-regulate the banks.

Rural voters believed the Democrats traded millions in campaign cash at their expense. Along came a guy named Trump to give these voters a political voice.

As a former presidential campaign manager, I remember the final week of the campaign as being the longest and most important week of the campaign. The week doesn't seem to end.

Some credit is due to Trump for seizing the anti establishment mood of the country, but most of his success can be attributed to pure luck.

In 2016, Trump, with his outsized ego, his anti-immigrant and anti-trade positions, coupled with barely disguised racism and deep-seated sexism and a willingness to lie whenever it suited him, was a near perfect fit.

On the road to the GOP nomination, Trump earned the reputation as a good debater by slandering and bullying his opponents, knocking them out with cheap shots and lies. On a crowded stage, Trump got away with these deplorable tactics.

Many good journalists have attempted to confront Trump about his many lies and failures, and have failed.

In 1984, I managed Walter Mondale's campaign for president. Mondale won the nomination after a bruising battle with Colorado Senator Gary Hart and Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Where most politicians would have abandoned a supporter like Jeremiah Wright and the community he served, Obama, while strongly criticizing him, did not throw his friend overboard.

Anger in the black community towards Republicans is established and immutable.

Iranians have suffered economically under the U.S.-led sanctions.

Iran would have become a nuclear power had President Obama not united most of the world in boycotting Iranian oil sales, which crippled Iran's economy and forced it to negotiate. Other presidents tried to stop Iran's nuclear program. They failed. Obama succeeded.

Both parties are so entrenched in their ideologies and a desire to score political points and hold on to power that we never seem to agree on a problem, much less find solutions.

I do oppose repealing Obamacare, because it's working for growing numbers of previously uninsured Americans.

Congress votes for things the military doesn't want, and planes and other weaponry that cost a lot but don't work.

I have long believed there is a lot of waste in the defense budget.

I understand why foreign government contributions to the Clinton Foundation could raise ethical issues should Hillary run for president.

Money is at the root of most that is wrong in American politics.

It's time to review what damage the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has done to our political system.

Congress continues to pass laws to limit lobbyists' influence, but people find ways to get around them.

Unless public officials are wealthy and fund their own campaigns, the only place they can turn to is lobbyists and institutions like labor unions and corporations.

Unfortunately, some politicians think they are immune from allegations of ethics abuse.

Carmakers do not lobby to remove safety regulations on their vehicles, but the NRA constantly lobbies to keep restrictions off deadly weapons.

There is a huge difference between gathering intelligence in foreign countries, even our allies, and secretly getting information on U.S. citizens.

Ever since 9/11, our intelligence agencies, as part of the 'war on terror,' have expanded their operations to include American citizens. I was 'terrorized' when I learned that the National Security Agency was intercepting information on Americans.

Domestic wiretaps, government television cameras blanketing our streets, spy drones by the thousands flying over our heads. It makes you wonder if the very foundation of this great country, which is liberty, is eroding right before our eyes.

I am not opposed to government efforts to stop terrorist plots. We are still seared by the memory of 9/11, and we should be.

As a life-long liberal who has engaged in protests against the government and for civil rights, I am saddened at efforts by some of my fellow liberals to silence commencement speakers with whom they might disagree on some issues.

Academic freedom and free speech mean the right to consider ideas with which you might disagree.

If pluralism and academic freedom are to be used to defend liberal speakers and ideas, they ought to be equally valid for conservative views.

Liberal arts colleges have traditionally provided a forum for debating ideas. Avoiding controversy and 'playing it safe' by not inviting - or disinviting - speakers with 'controversial' views stifles debate.

Putting fear into people is the principal goal of terrorists, and they have been successful.

Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis had enormous talent, and Elvis was the major contributor to an entirely new genre of music. Sometimes their exploits were distasteful to people, but they left behind an enormous body of work that endures.

Not only has celebrity dumbed down our politics, it has become intertwined with it.

I would be delighted not to see another celebrity, regardless of their political beliefs, come to Washington to make yet another appeal for some cause about which they know little.

Too many younger people seem to prefer following celebrities instead of doing the work required to get an education that will someday lead to a job. If students today spent as much time on math and science and history as they do following these shallow celebrities, they might actually become contributors to society someday.

Hillary Clinton is in political trouble and perhaps even legal trouble over her use of private e-mail accounts and bypassing government-issued accounts containing substantial amounts of information that belongs to the federal government. But ultimately, I don't think this latest controversy will hurt her presidential ambitions.

In presidential campaigns, experience as a candidate is an invaluable asset.

When issues emerge that might harm a campaign, like the Clinton e-mails, you have to get all the facts out right away, but not before you have all the facts.

I've been involved in five presidential campaigns, once as national campaign manager for Walter Mondale.

We've come a long way from the days of Jim Crow, and yes, we elected a black president, but racism lives.

Politicos talk a big game about bringing jobs to devastated cities like Detroit, but rarely succeed.

Republicans need to stop complaining about blacks voting over 90% for Democrats. If they're not willing to compete in those neighborhoods, they will keep losing those voters.

The media role in highlighting racial incidents only serves to exacerbate tension. We rarely write about racial harmony.

Republicans just don't get that their idea of scandal is not what the average American thinks is a serious scandal.

There have been plenty of Republican efforts to go to the extreme scandal zone. Impeaching Bill Clinton was a classic example. Fortunately, the Senate had enough sense to acquit Clinton, and the American people were behind him in huge numbers.

If politicians of both parties would spend more time legislating and less time attacking each other, we would all be better off.

As tragic as Benghazi was, its importance pales next to killing Osama bin Laden.