Election day is November 8th. The fate of our republic hangs in the balance. Should the Democrat nominee win, we’re in big trouble. Should the Republican nominee win, we’re still in trouble but may be able to stop the bleeding some and buy time to solve our many problems. But the months leading up to the election could see turmoil in both parties.

Now that it’s official that the FBI is investigating Hillary Clinton, who is expected to be the DNC nominee, what happens if she is indicted AFTER their convention and she is the nominee? Does she stay in the race? Does the DNC pull her and throw in a substitute? Surely she can’t stay in the race awaiting court action. Who will that substitute be? Sanders? Not likely. Biden? Warren? Bloomberg? And what does this do to their chances? Will the citizenry flush the Democrats at the polls? Will the DNC implode?

On the other side, what if Trump doesn’t become the nominee and instead one of the Cuban-Americans wins it? Specifically, what if Ted Cruz becomes the GOP nominee and AFTER that a federal court rules that he is not constitutionally qualified? I am of the strong opinion that both he and Rubio are not natural born citizens and thus the Senate is as high as either one of them can go. Ted Cruz may not even be a U.S. citizen, let alone natural born, and even the Senate should be off limits to him. If either he or Rubio is the nominee, you can bet the DNC will play that card trying to discredit the GOP and their candidate. Never mind that they had the same situation with Obama in 2008 and 2012 and let it slide. With Obama on the way out, if it looks like the GOP will win the election with either Cruz or Rubio as the nominee, you know they’ll challenge their qualifications.

And for the record, Cruz, Rubio and the GOP all know there is a possibility of a court challenge. They also know that neither Cruz nor Rubio are natural born citizens but all choose to turn a blind eye. Cruz has recently been challenged on several occasions by pundits and constitutional experts, and even by Donald Trump. What if Trump himself challenges Cruz in court should he lose the nomination? Politics is a dirty game played by those of less character, integrity and honor than most Americans have. If that happened, and Cruz loses a court battle, what does the GOP do? In that case Cruz couldn’t stay in the race. Who do they throw in as a substitute and what does that do for citizens’ confidence in the party? Does the GOP implode? 

Should both situations occur, and it’s not beyond the realm of possibility, does a third party candidate become a serious possibility? Does a third party become viable going forward from there? Dissatisfaction abounds in both parties. Can you imagine last minute candidates in the DNC, GOP and a third party and the citizenry having insufficient time to vet them before voting? The months leading up to November 2016 could indeed become very chaotic and historic, having a lasting impact on politics in America. A circular firing squad among political leaders within each party leading to a revolution of sorts. Maybe it would lead to the end of career politicians and the return of statesmen in Congress who actually follow our Constitution.

Should both these issues be settled before the party conventions and neither Clinton, Cruz nor Rubio are nominees, our electoral process would be the better for it. Yet it still says a lot about politics today that such people can even be in the running with these issues hanging over their heads.

(Mr. Reams is a Christian, senior citizen, family man, veteran, conservative and retired small business owner. www.AllianceOfConstitutionalPatriots.com; http://VeteransVent.Wordpress.com)