Trying to keep up with the election process for the next U.S president is no easy task.

What we see happening as candidates campaign for the most powerful office in the world seems to be unprecedented in American history. Call it a roller coaster. Call it surreal.

Media has gone bonkers covering the campaigns 24/7. It makes my head spin with 95% of the news about the upcoming November election.

One thing that’s real – people are divided like never before about what is needed to fix this country. Political pundits claim there are two Americas, the division is that huge.

On the one hand there’s Hillary Clinton, the Democrat socialist, and there’s Bernie Sanders, the ultra socialist. Hillary is running on Obama’s record, perhaps even left of him, and Bernie is far left of Hillary and our president.

On the other hand are conservatives Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Donald Trump claims to be a conservative but that’s open to debate. Trump, who has never held national political office before is, therefore, considered an “outsider” and has the media’s attention like no other presidential candidate in modern U.S. history.

GOP candidates John Kasich and Ben Carson have a lot to offer voters, but hanging on by a thread.

What readers should keep in mind is that Hillary and Bernie’s socialism (or call it liberalism and progressivism) represents a totally 180 degree opposite vision for this country than that of conservatism. Socialism and big government go hand in hand as is currently the case with our present Obama government. Conservatives want more liberty for individuals through free market capitalism and less government in our lives. That difference, my friends, is huge

Obama ran for president on transforming America, and in many ways has succeeded. Now we have Republican candidates who also want to transform America, but that goal is to change our government of today, back to a large extent, the way America was in its conservative past. However, one could argue the GOP establishment that has Republicans in a turmoil would prefer things as they have been the last seven years rather than support Trump or Cruz, both totally disliked by those elites in Washington. I have reason to feel like my head is spinning. Dems have their turmoil also with a radical Bernie versus Hillary the career politician currently being investigated by the FBI.

Voting Democrat or voting Republican in the upcoming November election is not presidential elections as usual. There’s far more at stake this time around. What kind of America do most voters want with a new president – and congress? As mentioned, the divide among voters is huge!

I believe this to be the most important election of my time as do many others. The belief is that making the right decision about our next White House occupant will make or break us as a country, perhaps forever.

Can Trump, the frontrunner for the GOP (disliked by the GOP establishment and elite) “make America great again,” as he claims? It makes my head spin thinking about it. Can he (or will he) make us great again if he becomes our next president? Can he unite the Republican Party?

If not for Republicans in congress last election Trump may not even be a candidate. Republicans were given the charge to stop Obama’s agendas, but reneged on that promise and Trump became a big factor. Not only are millions of voters fed up with Obama, but also fed up with all politicians in general, including Democrats and Republicans alike. Trump has weighed in on the anger and frustration of millions especially about runaway illegal immigration and our economy. He was an instant success weighing in on those two issues.

Yogi Berra said in one of his famous Yogi-isims “the future isn’t what it used to be.” That’s really funny, but does our past need to be stood on its head and not count for anything? Buyer beware regarding what kind of future you want for your children as you vote. Do you want a return to the past or an overreaching big government as you ponder the huge difference between the two?

We know what has worked in the past and it hasn’t been socialism.

Les Knoll lives in Victoria and Gilbert, Ariz.