Presidential candidates must unite nation

Kudos to Richard Cohen for illuminating the fact that the nation is weary of Hillary Clinton already. To me, it appears she has not announced her candidacy because the Democrats in charge have realized it, too. The longer she is out there, the Benghazi TV snippet and other issues will be easy fodder for the Republicans if not her own Party opponents in the primaries.

None of the potential candidates from either party have what Barack Obama had in 2008. Disgust in George Bush and the Republican Party and a promise of "hope and change" paved the way to the White House. People were genuinely excited.

As Obama discovered, the solutions are not easy for the United States and the politics of Washington are maddening. Huge mistakes have been made on both sides, and the way out is not clear. The first candidate with a vision of a strong, unified America where both parties work for the benefit of everyone will have a leg up on the rest.

It is sad that many people, if not most, vote because they are disgusted. Is it folly to imagine people voting in 2016 because they are genuinely excited about the future? Paraphrasing Bill Murray from "Stripes": We are the United States of America! We've been kicking it for 200 years! We can do this!

Brian DeValk

Palatine