Never has the phrase “the lesser of two evils” been so apt than in this 2016 general election cycle. Essentially we’re faced with a choice of voting for one of two bad candidates: one a proven liar who already has failed miserably running the United States Department of State, and the other a fed up business tycoon-turned entertainment reality television host-turned outsider politician to whom speaking eloquently (and in some cases respectfully) is a challenge. We also have the option of voting for a third-party candidate or no one at all.

To say the least it has been a whirlwind affair but what the 2016 presidential campaign has done is shed a light on how corrupt and flawed politics is. Indeed, trying to find a politician without a scandal is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign and in fact her entire political career has been abysmal. But that doesn’t matter to the mainstream media (MSM) which is all too eager and willing to change the subject. The fact is that Hillary Clinton can’t lay out a litany of positive accomplishments because she has none. She has many negatives like lying about what happened in Benghazi, Libya where four Americans were killed, one a U.S. ambassador she claims was a friend but neglected to respond to his constant requests for more security. What kind of friend is that?

Other negatives she has going against her include 1) setting up a computer server in her home and using it for work-related emails, 2) deleting an estimated 33,000 emails she claims were mostly personal, 3) wiping the server clean, 4) the discovered email to her daughter Chelsea clearly stating that the Benghazi incident had nothing to do with a YouTube video, 5) her disdain for the Second Amendment and the NRA whose mission it is to protect it, 6) her continuing support for Obamacare, which shows how extremely out of touch she is with most Americans she claims to be fighting for, 7) her unabashed support for murdering unborn babies if that’s what a woman feels is in her best interest, and many, many more.

Despite all this her supporters couldn’t care less. But Trump’s supporters also seem blind to his many misdeeds, ill-advised remarks and the way he has run his campaign. Aren’t they bothered by how he 1) put down Senator John McCain’s service, 2) made vulgar remarks about Megyn Kelly, 3) sent out a tweet with photos comparing his wife Melania to Senator Ted Cruz’ wife Heidi, 4) his conversation with Billy Bush about how hot certain women were, or any other ridiculous things he says?

Or is it the MSM’s strategy? I understand that the MSM deliberately misstate facts in order to get the public to perceive something that isn’t really true. They did this once by claiming that Trump mocked a disabled reporter when he waved his arms around as if he was making fun of someone with cerebral palsy.

Let’s examine the facts. Now I get that Trump mocking a disabled reporter was about the reporter being dishonest and not his disability. As it turns out, the media again did the audacious and created a false narrative. The reporter apparently has a disorder, but not one that affects his hands and arms, not cerebral palsy. So when Trump waved his arms around it wasn’t mocking the reporter’s disability, it was displaying contempt for his dishonesty. The media wants so bad to paint Trump in a negative light so he won’t get elected. This is what they shamelessly do.

As far as Megyn Kelly is concerned, I might be able to believe that maybe Trump wasn’t referring to her menstrual function when he told a reporter that she was “bleeding from her eyes and wherever.” Maybe he just said “wherever” to bring that discussion to an end and move on to another topic. Okay, I could see that maybe he really wasn’t trying to be vulgar.

And maybe he wasn’t trying to insult John McCain personally with respect to his service to our country and his time as a POW. It could be that his tongue just got tangled with some other thought he had running through his head and he saw an opportunity to be funny at that moment, as we all sometimes do, so he took it and blurted out something to the effect that he likes pilots who don’t get caught. Obviously if that is the case he should apologize and move on. But political correctness is not his thing and he wants to be true to his commitment not to be politically correct. But it wouldn’t be politically correct to apologize for putting his foot in his mouth, it would just be correct.

One thing most people have a hard time with, even if they forgive him for the other remarks, is Trump’s tweet of two side-by-side photos, one of his wife Melania and the other of Ted Cruz’ wife Heidi, comparing their looks, respectively one glamorous and the other unflattering. It’s a rather childish but disrespectful thing to do, much less during a campaign.

Then I heard the infamous recording of a discussion between him and TV personality Billy Bush joking the way men sometimes joke, captured in a conversation intended to be private. Although the conversation led to objectifying women, they weren’t calling them bitches or whores. Trump was really bragging about how his celebrity affords him the luxury of making inroads with hot women. It wasn’t a hatred for women, but it wasn’t necessarily respectful. Laughably, Trump claims that no one respects women more than he. I can’t stop rolling my eyes.

What’s more unbecoming of a U.S. president, though, making private comments objectifying women or making a public statement that the September 11, 2012 incident in Benghazi was due to a YouTube video some kid made? What can Americans overlook more, Trump’s outlandish and childish behavior or Clinton’s outright violations within the State department? He has a proven record of getting things done. She has a record of failure.

For all Donald Trump’s negatives, he’s still a better and more attractive candidate than Hillary Clinton.

Tom Folden is a political strategist, conservative thinker, and Editor-at-Large of RightWingWriter.com, a website for conservative viewpoints. An original participant in the Tea Party, he takes part in pro-America rallies when his time permits. He is also a singer/songwriter and recording artist. For interviews and/or appearances, please contact him at spencergroup@hotmail.com.