In the words of Yogi Berra, “It’s like deja vu all over again.”

I think it must have been about four years ago that I lamented in this space about politics in general and the presidential primaries in particular.

Without looking back for sure, I think I wrote something like how I was upset with both the Democrats and the Republicans.

I was upset with the Republicans for giving me Donald Trump as a candidate for president, and I was equally upset with the Democrats for having Joe Biden as the alternative choice.

I did not want to vote for either one of them. And to perfectly honest, I am not sure who I did vote for.

Now four years later, it appears the two major political parties are going to give me, and the rest of the country, the same two choices again.

Really? They can’t come up with a better alternative? Two old guys is the best you can do?

I guess you could say that I am an Independent. I have voted for both Democrat and Republican candidates over the past many years, since I first voted in 1971. I like to think that I make my choices based on which man, or woman, will do the best job, whether that job is in the statehouse, the White House, the courthouse, the capitol, the city hall.

Sometimes that person is a DFLer, sometimes they are a GOPer.

I guess I sometimes lean a little bit conservative on some issues and a little bit liberal on some others. But leaning one way or another is a far cry from being far left or ultra-conservative. You can call me a moderate, I suppose. Yeah, a moderate. That kind of describes me.

My joke has always been that I used to be a Demican, but then I switched and became a Republicrat. Or vice-versa.

So, what is a person to do? There is no possible way I can vote for past President Donald Trump, for more reasons than I can list. But suffice it to say, he is an egomaniac and a bully. And he has said or done dozens of things that, in my opinion, make him unfit to be president.

Then there is current President Joe Biden, who appears to be getting close to being unable to be president. Yes, it is his age, but it is also because he seems to be moving and talking pretty slow. I have a few 80-year-old friends who are still very with it, both mentally and physically, and are not moving in slow motion. They are active golfers, hunters, fishermen, and talkers. They don’t move slow. They definitely don’t act like they are 80.

The other thing about President Biden is his vice president. To be blunt, I just don’t think she is capable of being president, should that need arise. And, it certainly could arise…

So there you have it. I am sure I am going to get some comments about this column, and that is fine. My Democrat friends will tell me Biden is way better than Trump and is doing a much better job of running the country. My Republican friends will tell me Trump did a great job of Making America Great Again when he was president and Biden has made a mess of it, so we need Trump back in the Oval Office.

Don’t waste your breath trying to convert me. Instead, give me a better candidate to choose from. There just has to be one somewhere. I would guess there are dozens and dozens of other possible choices. Maybe even hundreds. Go find one, you political party leaders.

Lately an awful lot of my friends and acquaintances seem to be echoing my thoughts exactly. Many folks are telling me they feel the same way. They don’t like Trump at all and he actually scares them with what he says and does. And they are not impressed with Biden either, and they, like me, worry about having Kamala Harris as president someday. So what is a person to do? Hope and pray that a candidate comes along that I, and others, can vote for? Or don’t vote at all? Write-in my own name? Move to Canada?

Stay tuned. Maybe by November I will have an answer for you. Or maybe by then there will be another alternative or two.

Perhaps it will be Nikki Haley for the Republicans and Minnesota DFL congressman Dean Phillips for the Democrats. He is running against Biden, by the way, in case you hadn’t noticed.

In fact, on the Minnesota Presidential Primary Ballot on March 5, you will see that the Democrats have nine names on their ballot (including Biden and Phillips) and the Republicans have five names including Haley and Trump – and the other three have dropped out of the race (DeSantis, Christie and Ramaswamy).

It is still pretty doubtful it will be anyone other than Trump and Biden who are nominated by their respective parties, so don’t hold your breath.

OK, there you have it. Thanks for letting a cranky old guy spout off and get this off his chest.

I will try my best to write a feel good, positive, happy column next week.