Now that Super Tuesday's behind us and the primaries are coming into sharper focus, the Republican establishment is hell-bent to act like its Democratic counterpart and dictate who should be its nominee for the Presidency. Unlike the Democrats, who seem to prefer to give an advantage to a particular person through unorthodox voting, the Republicans have hewn to the more traditional one person, one vote concept, without any special add-ons. That is, until the interloper Donald Trump upset their party.
Make no mistake: I'm not one of the besotted many who think Mr. Trump is the answer to all our prayers. What I like about him is that he speaks his -- and, in is increasingly the case, that of many -- mind about anything without a filter. I like that he's not a part of the Beltway. But that's about it.
He has no defined plans. He is uncouth. He's a bully. He's a braggart. He's many unseemly things.
But he's not Cankles.
Apparently, the suicidally-inclined Republicans don't care. They want one of their own as their nominee fearful of the shame and embarrassment Mr. Trump may cause them (apparently, they don't own mirrors) or that he may lose to Cankles or both. I suppose any of these options is possible, but the truth of the matter is not one of them really matters in this discussion. There is only one issue that matters and Republicans are engaging in their own brand of cognitive dissonance by ignoring it.
The people want Mr. Trump to run against Cankles.
I suppose there could be conspiracies that explain Mr. Trump's rise in the primaries: Perhaps he's bought people off, perhaps Democrats are voting for him in open primaries knowing that Cankles is going to win the Democratic nod thanks to their weird voting. Or perhaps every voter has had a stroke and Trump's name is just easier to remember.
But the people are voting for Mr. Trump, and the Republicans look like fools for trying to derail him.
Trotting out the attack dog Marco Rubio, who stands no chance of winning this year, is ridiculous. It's just as bad for Mr. Rubio, who may not have won this year but who could have built a platform for future elections, given his relative youth. Having Mitt Romney enter the fray, after he wilted against President Obama after destroying him in their first debate, is laughable. Wags are noting that the Republicans and Mr. Romney in particular are fighting harder against Mr. Trump than any of them ever fought against President Obama. Career suicides aren't supposed to be this pathetic.
Ted Cruz is an outsider, sort of. He's a U.S. senator, but he rankles the establishment by his calls to do things the establishment would rather not do. He may himself have a birther issue, but at least he's not as bombastic as Mr. Trump. For the establishment, he's a more acceptable alternative, a lesser-of-two-evils choice to Mr. Trump. John Kasich is a governor, so he's part of the establishment, but he's an outlier because he's not in Washington.
Perhaps Plato was right. At least that's what the establishment seems to think. But the Republican party has no one but itself to blame: It allowed Mr. Trump to run as a Republican. I'm not sure what could have been done to prevent him from running as a Republican, but it would seem that the party is Dr. Frankenstein and Mr. Trump is its monster.
Again, if it comes down to it, I will vote for Mr. Trump instead of Cankles. I believe that, like President Bush the son, he'll at least surround himself with knowledgeable people. Likewise, Congress can restrain his more impulsive actions with its power of the purse. The Supreme Court, also, as it's been doing with the present President, can rein him in should he veer out of the constitutional lane. The same could be done with Cankles, true, but there's a huge difference between her and Mr. Trump. She's a liar, a cheat and a thief. Mr. Trump is just overwhelmingly obnoxious.
It's a sad commentary when the electorate has to choose between the lesser of two evils, but this is where we're at.
The Republican party, however, had the chance to restrict those who would run as their candidates. That it allowed Mr. Trump to be one of their candidates is its fault and the fault of no one else.
(c) 2016 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
No comments:
Post a Comment