I plead "no contest" to being a Baby Boomer which definitely influences what follows.
Given the three remaining candidates for president, I believe Bernie Sanders is the best choice. I have not come to this opinion hastily or impulsively, although any of you reading this are free and I'm guessing will gleefully ram my words down my throat.
The reason for my conclusion is that Sanders is best positioned to facilitate the transfer of power and influence from the Baby Boomer generation to Generations X and the Millennials. The main function of the next American President - and if the world is fortunate - presidents around the world (are you listening Justin Trudeau) will be to serve as "place holders" until the Gen X's and Millennial can get their experience, skills, judgment and wisdom up to speed to run the world. I already think there values of care and concern for humanity and the planet far exceed those of baby boomers.
When that happens, I am optimistic that they will do a better job of making the world better than we baby boomers left it for them.
Baby boomers were definitely not the greatest generation (those who fought and died in WWII) and they have been the longest generation to keep their snouts nose down in the trough of world resources. Coincident with their focus on health and vitality more than generations before them is they now have the stamina to fight tooth and claw and to follow Dylan Thomas' words and "not go gently into that good night, but instead to rage and fight against the dying of the light."
Many Baby Boomers have not planned well financially and have multiple families strewn across the geographical landscape that they barely keep in touch with much less have deep relationships with (kind of the revenge of the "Cats in the Craddle" a la Harry Chapin). What that latter means is that boomers may not be able to rely on their children to take care of them as they age and become more dependent and infirm. It may also explain why I have heard not infrequently the expressed intention by boomers to take their lives before their "boomerangst" of not having the money to grow old plus burdening their children overtakes them.
This was no more on display than when I recently attended a large evening event celebrating an organization that helps prepare millennial college graduates and twenty something adults eyeing a career in politics and public service and at which a significant percentage of elected "lifetime" politicians in Los Angeles were in attendance.
I had never been in such a "political" gathering and the collective tentativeness and insecurity that shown through the sea of disingenuous smiles among the lifers was palpable and made me sick to my stomach.
The good news was that these lifers' anxious energy was in stark contrast with the true enthusiasm and alive idealism of the the younger generation that was eyeing a life in public service.
To me these older politicians represented Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Clinton is a "lifer" politician and Trump is a "dyed in the wool" power hungry person who needs look no further than Sumner Redstone to see the future arc of his life.
You may say, but isn't Sanders a baby boomer of even older than a boomer? Age wise that may be true, but to many he represents the grandpa they always wanted instead of a boomer parent that they've had a lifetime of conflict with.
And even though he is also a lifer when it comes to public service, he for some reason doesn't seem as insecure and in need of holding onto power and fighting tooth and nail to make sure he doesn't lose it.
Although nobody likes to lose, he strikes me as a better loser than Clinton or Trump. I haven't seen him demonstrating the same petulance the other two candidates show when they lose. Winning and losing seem much more personal to the Clinton or Trump than to Sanders.
Trump might say, "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser." Clinton may not say the same thing, but she certainly doesn't seem like a happy camper whenever she loses.
Maybe I am a Pollyanna, but show me a good loser and I'll show you a good winner. Before you laugh me off the page, think Steph Curry.
Years ago one of my late and early mentors, death and dying pioneer, Dr. Edwin Shneidman was fond of sharing the wise and prescient words of his mentor, Harvard psychology pioneer, Henry A. Murray, regarding the definition of a good death. To me his words were way more appropriate than Dylan Thomas' advice to "rage against the dying of the light."
And Murray's definition of a good death? "Dying so as to be as little a pain in the ass to your family as possible."
Maybe that's something the baby boomers need to do as they graciously hand over the baton to the next generations instead of holding onto like a dog with a bone.