Presidential doctrine dictates to hold party above any candidate and the good of the country above any party, but there's only one problem with this. It doesn't exist, either in written form or as a notion in the mind of any politician.
We completely understand why some one like Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) would say that he would never vote for a Democrat under any circumstance, but there is still something disheartening about it because you know by reading this column that voting for Donald J. Trump over Hillary Clinton if those are the only two choices is not only irresponsible but un-American. Now, one may say that America needs some one like Mr. Trump as the president to shake things up, which most assuredly he'll do, but it won't be for the betterment of the country. That is also a certainty.
No more exemplified by Mr. Trump's five different answers on abortion in a 48-hour period as Chuck Todd pointed out. With all the various answers it seems that Mr. Trump has an answer for himself as to where he stands on abortion, but doesn't know the right conservative answer, which should tell Republicans something. Conversely, as Helene Cooper pointed out, Sec. Clinton can state her view and then go in depth as to why she has that view, and the record to match. In particular, when Mr. Todd asked the secretary about legal protections for the unborn, Mrs. Clinton rightly, knowingly, said that no such laws exist and that ultimately women have full rights over their bodies. Whether you agree with her view or not, it's clear that she is more thoughtful on the issue than Mr. Trump. It speaks to the comfort level that New York Times columnist David Brooks mentioned that Democrats have with Hillary Clinton. And as we've said before, if Mr. Trump is the Republican nominee, she'll enjoy the support of Republican women as well.
As distressing as those comments were, even more troubling is Mr. Trump's comprehension of U.S. nuclear policy, or the lack thereof. Mr. Trump has said that he'll keep all cards on the table, even nuclear, when it comes to combating ISIS and that maybe South Korea and Japan should have nuclear arms instead of us protecting them with the deterrent. Once again, Mr. Trump has tried to take what he thinks is the most hard-right position on an issue just for the sake of taking it without understanding the consequences of such a position. It's ridiculous, and the Pentagon is worried.
Despite the worst political week that Mr. Trump has experienced to date, Mr. Brooks is convinced at this point that a Trump nomination is a foregone conclusion but he'll then go down in a 'crushing defeat.' that will be remembered 100 years from now. (Yes, he will get a tweet.) And from what we've written so far, you'd think we, like Mr. Brooks, are already looking toward the general election, but not really as it's more a critique on the depth of knowledge the front-runners from the respective parties have on issues. By that score, the Democrats are way ahead, and if there are two choices, well...
Sec. Clinton does has a transparency problem, whether she actually has been matters not because the perception is there so the problem exists. Having said that, despite the pressure from the Sanders campaign to release the transcripts of her Wall Street speeches, she shouldn't do it. She made those speeches as a private citizen and she's entitled to that privacy, like it or not. Senator Sanders says they should be released because he believes that Sec. Clinton is too closely tied to Wall Street because of contributions, but here's a fact. Wall Street firms were part of fmr. Senator Clinton's constituency. Regardless, we agree with The Cook Political Report's Amy Walter in that the Democrats are having a skirmish.
We'd also agree that the Republicans are in the midst of thermo-nuclear war. And the Dr. Strangelove of the bunch, Reince Priebus aka "The Worst Guy In Politics" acts as though everything is going great while the party all around him is crumbling. Even if you consider his circular answers about delegate math, he still does seem to comprehend that the party is broken. If Trump is the nominee, Mr. Priebus will be the one held responsible for tanking the party and jeopardizing Republican majorities in Congress. If Mr. Trump isn't the nominee, all those new Republicans brought into the process that Mr. Priebus likes to boast about, we'll leave the process and go with a third-party Trump run. Reince Strangelove had his finger on the button and he pushed it.
It truly seems as though Mr. Priebus really has learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.
Panel: Amy Walter, Cook Political Report; Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Charles Benson, NBC News - Milwaukee Affiliate; David Brooks, The New York Times
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