By David Post

Imagine a Clinton versus Trump race without any negativity. Without hatefulness. With both being fit and neither claiming the other unfit to serve.

Imagine a race where they like each other. Where they have been friends for years, and aren’t afraid to say it or show it.

Imagine debates, like the Kennedy Nixon race in 1960, which were substantive and their differences on the issues were relatively narrow. Where they were friendly and cordial to each other. Businesslike, but professional.  Where both were so good that neither was a winner or loser.

Imagine both candidates, extremely smart and very accomplished, being well respected by the public and being respected by those who disagreed with their positions on the issues.

Imagine two candidates, both having been in the public eye for years and both with 70 percent plus approval ratings.

Imagine both talking about having great parents whom they love and admire and who loved them, provided a warm home, encouraged them to get great educations, and did everything they could to help them become highly accomplished.

Imagine like most children, both probably believed that they were their parents’ favorite child, so they tried even harder with a “I gotta succeed to make mom and dad happy” syndrome.

Imagine both having smart, attractive, successful spouses who don’t adhere to the gender roles of the male bringing-home-the-bacon and the female cooking-and-child-rearing mentality. Spouses who advise them, support them, and want and push them to succeed.

Imagine Clinton and Trump both having a passion to make lives better for everyone and wanting to focus their energies on those who are suffering. And having personal histories that reflect that passion

Imagine Trump and Clinton talking about the melting pot of America, being a leader who can work with people of all backgrounds, who can lead with a sense of fairness.

Imagine both Clinton and Trump being color blind and gender neutral, and having worked in environments where having women in top positions was the norm, not the exception. And more importantly, having done it and not having to talk about it.  Imagine both supporting equal pay for equal work, regardless of gender, not a country where women earn less than men earns and where married mothers earn even less.

Imagine both candidates talking about the discrimination that occurs when motherhood creates gender inequality. And of creating a workplace environment supportive of working mothers. And about making child care affordable and accessible to everyone.

Imagine two candidates who had succeeded at the highest levels in their educations and their work on the global playing field.

Imagine both candidates making a positive case for the next generation doing better than the generation before them. Where both have a vision and want that vision to become a reality for everyone.

Imagine Trump and Clinton talking about the injustice of college graduates being crippled with debt.

Imagine Trump and Clinton being willing to negotiate and to take on the big fights without regard to political differences.

Imagine the last weekend of a long campaign being about the issues between two candidates, neither being categorically red or blue. Without a word of negativity about the other.  For that matter, with no negative campaign ads at all.

Imagine two candidates who genuinely like each other. About the non-winner not feeling like a loser, gracefully conceding to the winner, probably hugging the other, and perhaps, even if improbable, in an effort to unite a divided country, being invited to join the cabinet of the winner.

Imagine a race between Ivanka and Chelsea.

David Post serves on the Salisbury City Council.