A friend recently asked me if I prefer Trump to the other Republicans in the field. My response was that this was like asking if I prefer rat poison to the bubonic plague? I know we all agree it would be a disaster to allow any of those fools anywhere near the White House.
I set out my thoughts as follows:
Trump isn’t a movement conservative. He’s a megalomaniac and complete loose cannon. Right now he’s riding a wave of anger, racism and nativism. That’s the crowd to which he’ll be beholden in the extremely unlikely event he could overcome the antipathy of liberals, women, Latinos, other minorities, other Democrats, Independents and those with educations beyond the 8th grade and IQs over 70.
I guess if forced to choose, I’d say Cruz is the scariest because he appears to believe the nonsense that spews from his mouth. However, in some ways Rubio is far scarier because he’d be more electable and way more effective once in office. Kasich in his heart of hearts is politically closest to you and me. But he’d know who butters his bread and it’s not us.
One could say this for Trump. If elected, he’d have no real friends. Since he doesn’t believe most of what he says, he might sell out in favor of another constituency. That’s what happened with Schwarzenegger in California. He rode into town as a celebrity spewing a nativist, angry message. Once in office, he governed that way for a time and, when his polls dipped, began to moderate. As he was rewarded for his moderation, he moderated yet more. Eventually the Republicans came to detest him and the Democrats found they could work with him. By the time he left office, the Republican party in California was a shadow of its former self (for reasons broader than but inclusive of the governator) and it remains both weak and dysfunctional to this day.
I think movement conservatives fear Trump most of all for the potential impact on their party and movement. Many of them would likely vote for Clinton or at least stay home. Others would get on board and hope for the best.
It’s fascinating that a party whose real agenda has always been deregulation of industry and eliminating taxes on the wealthy has been more than happy to ride a wave of xenophobia as long as they could control it. Then along comes Trump, with his arrogance, disrespect for institutions and education, and willingness to give voice to the most extreme ethnocentrism and co opts the entire ugly crowd and dark energy that’s been driving the Republican party to victory in mid-term and regional elections.
The Republicans created Trump by not standing up to those who questioned Obama’s citizenship and those who suggested he was Muslim (or, for that matter, that there’s anything wrong with being Muslim). They created the opportunity for Trump (and the inevitability of someone like him) when they embraced the teabaggers. They sold their soul (if they ever had one) and now they’re paying the price. From a karmic perspective, I love Trump. There isn’t enough popcorn in the universe to cover this particular train wreck. I’d love him to win the nomination and then for the forces of nature and politics to take over and rip him to shreds, together with the sad excuse for a party that lent him the tattered remnants of its legitimacy.
