Electing a president-by-default

By LeRoy Goldman

Columnist

BlueRidgeNow.com

Times-News Online

Published: Sunday, August 21, 2016

Can you hear the fat lady singing? I can. It’s all 

over for The Donald.

Of course, I may be dead wrong. And, if so, I’ll have a lot of deserved egg on my face. But for what it’s worth, here’s my thinking on why I believe the race for the White House is over before it has been seriously engaged, before any debates between Trump and Hillary Clinton, and before the expenditure of north of a billion dollars on television advertising and the get-out-the-vote ground games by the two campaigns.

Remember, most Americans don’t usually begin to pay serious attention to the presidential election until after Labor Day. By then, the 2016 Olympics will be history, family vacations are over, and the kids are back in school.

The faceoff between Trump and Clinton breaks the mold in so many unprecedented ways that it renders conventional analysis almost useless. Let’s count the ways, saving the coup de grace for Trump’s ill-fated candidacy for last.

For openers, Trump is no Republican. In a CNN interview in 2015, he said, “I probably identify more as a Democrat.” And Trump has put his money where his mouth has been. He has contributed between $100,000-$250,000 to the Clinton Foundation, and he contributed to Clinton’s political campaigns in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007. At that time, he described Clinton as a “terrific woman” and went on to say, “I think Hillary would do a good job.”

Nonetheless, over the course of the past year, Trump has hijacked the Republican Party and become its presidential nominee. Understanding how and why are vital. The GOP has come apart at the seams. Its elected leaders and apparatchiks in Washington are despised by millions of rank-and-file Republicans.

And for good reason. In their arrogance, they have deluded themselves with the notion that they can do as they please, while thumbing their noses at those who sent them to Washington. Trump presented the GOP rank and file with an opportunity to vent their anger at their leadership by voting for him. And that’s just what they did.

The best way to grasp the gravity of the crisis facing the GOP is to understand that if the Republican Party had nominated Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, John Kasich or Paul Ryan this year, they would have recaptured the White House this November. Any of those individuals would have painted an untrustworthy Clinton into a corner from which there would have been no escape.

Yet, had Trump not won the nomination, it is clear that the GOP would have nominated Ted Cruz. Against Clinton, he would have flamed out more spectacularly than will Trump. Let that bizarre reality sink it.

On the campaign trail, Trump has been nothing short of unhinged. Over the course of the past year, he has gone out of his way to deliberately and deeply offend women, Hispanics, Muslims and African-Americans. In addition to being morally reprehensible, such a strategy is politically suicidal.

The white vote in presidential elections has been declining since 1992. Then it was 87 percent. In 2012, it had plummeted to 72 percent, and this year it’s projected to be 70 percent. Moreover, the Hispanic population in America is growing rapidly because it is younger than the white population. The GOP can’t survive if it permanently alienates Hispanics, which is exactly what it is doing.

About two weeks ago, a group of 50 former national security officials who served Republican presidents co-signed an open letter saying Trump is unfit to have control of the nation’s nuclear arsenal. They stated that “we are convinced that he would be a dangerous president and would put at risk our country’s national security and well-being.” They also stated, “Most fundamentally, Mr. Trump lacks the character, values, and experience to be president.” This from Republicans!

Since President Dwight Eisenhower was elected in 1952, six presidential elections have been blowouts: Adlai Stevenson was the sacrificial lamb in 1952 and 1956, Barry Goldwater in 1964, George McGovern in 1972, Walter Mondale in 1984, and Michael Dukakis in 1988. Each only received between 37 percent and 45 percent of the popular vote. The Electoral College results were even worse for all of them. And, unlike Trump, all of them were considered qualified to be president.

In a normal presidential election, each side attempts to demonize the other in the minds of the voters. This one’s not normal. It’s nuts. Trump has systematically demonized himself in the eyes of the voters. He’s half narcissist and half masochist. He will be demolished on Nov. 8.

And that will leave us with a president-by-default who in very different ways is also unfit to lead the nation. Hopefully, the fat lady will return for an encore performance in four years.

LeRoy Goldman is a Flat Rock resident. He can be reached at:

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