By the time we write our next column, there will be less than two months until the election day, or as Chuck Todd reminded us that today there are 65 days until the November 8th. Unless something utterly extraordinary happens during the debates (like Sec. Clinton breaking down and crying - Mr. Trump might), short of getting arrested, Hillary Clinton looks to be the next president of the United States.
Going to the last first, The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza broke down the race in the most American manner, a practical one. With both candidates historically unpopular, you're going to go with "the least worst choice." And as much as Alex Castellanos, who now appeared on today's program and is now advising Mr. Trump, would like to think the least worst is not Mr. Trump, it isn't. Wow, there are a lot of 'negatives' in that last sentence, which is indicative of this political season, for sure.
However, we'd like to keep the focus on the practical perspective, and that what you saw from Gov. Mike Pence (R-IN) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in their respective interviews. Chuck Todd said that Mike Pence seemed to have made his peace with what it means to be Donald Trump's running mate. But so has Sen. Sanders made a peace... with the fact that Hillary Clinton is the nominee instead of him.
Chuck Todd explained that Gov. Pence would leave the explaining to Donald Trump's decisions to Mr. Trump, such as having advisors like Roger Ailes and Steve Bannon or the fact that the candidate's immigration position on 11 million undocumented people is still unclear. Conversely, Sen. Sanders in his interview said that it wasn't about the candidates but about the American people and moving the country in the direction more akin to his own vision, despite his previous argument that Sec. Clinton is too close to Wall Street and that she has incredible trustworthiness issues with the electorate due to an ever-evolving email scandal. As NBC's Kristen Welker said, it's not the content of the stories at this point, but the fact that the stories keep breaking. Yet, Sen. Sanders is heading out to campaign for Mrs. Clinton.
In the practical sense, it's easy for these two public officials to be at peace with their stance because if your like Mike Pence, you think that Hillary Clinton is the most dishonest politician Richard Nixon, a sentiment that he stated twice. But if you're like Bernie Sanders then Mr. Trump is the most xenophobic and unqualified candidate in our lifetime.
So which is it?
We keep thinking that a potential Trump presidency is like standing at the edge of the rocks above a reservoir before you jump. You look down and you wonder if the jump is too high, is the water where I'm going to land deep enough, are there rocks just below the surface that I don't know about or is my body going to smack the water and break my back? And when it comes right down to it, a potential Clinton presidency by comparison is deciding that you don't have to jump at all. Don't be fooled though because not making the leap has its own drawbacks as well because it means your headed back down the road from which you came.
The above question still needs an answer.
Chris Cillizza said that this past Wednesday where Mr. Trump traveled to Mexico to meet with its president showing that he had statesman-like capability then traveling to Phoenix where he was supposed to give an immigration policy speech that turned into a xenophobic, alt-right rallying cry as a microcosm of his campaign.
We call that an unpredictable nightmare of a presidency. That one day gave us a clear window into what it would be like if Mr. Trump were president. On the international stage he says one thing and then comes back and says completely the opposite. At the end of this particular day, Mr. Trump decided to just tell people what they wanted to hear and not how things really are. Another way to term it is 'empty rhetoric.' We know that a day like Wednesday - a complete embarrassment if that was a U.S. president - wouldn't happen if it were Sec. Clinton in that situation. Being honest here.
In the fight for the least worst, Sec. Clinton wins because we know a lot more about Hillary Clinton's emails than we do about Donald Trump's finances and until he releases his tax returns, Chuck Todd is correct that Mr. Trump can not claim any moral high ground on transparency.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Maria Teresa Kumar, MSNBC contributor; Alex Castellanos, Trump Campaign Advisor; Chris Cillizza, The Washington Post
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