With all due respect to Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway's explanation that when Mr. Trump sticks to the issues, he's a better leader for America. But Mr. Trump can not do that and never once has he given us the inclination that he will. Simply, Mr. Trump does not have the rudimentary knowledge to know what has to be done in order to run The United States of America. Thus, the only issues he can fully address are his own, not those that are of the American people's concern.
To Ms. Conway's credit, she did acknowledge that her candidate is behind but that he is still stating his case to the American people; however, Mr. Trump had three opportunities in front of tens of millions of people and all he did was illustrate how uniquely unfit he is for the office.
Conversely, there are two aspects of Ms. Conway's answers that we take strong exception to, the first of which is her and her campaign's use of the term 'rigged' in any context. Pushing the unjustified, irresponsible notion that the election is rigged in any form goes against the very foundation of American democracy. What good is it that 45 percent of Trump supporters think the election is rigged and therefore will not accept the outcome of the election. That's what the Trump campaign would have you believe, and Trump supporters make up 75 percent of the Republican party.
The New York Times' Thomas Friedman said that the Republican party has to be blown up and rise up from the ashes as something different. Republican strategist Stuart Stevens (who worked on Mitt Romney's campaign) added that if that were to happen it has to be "based in reality," which is in fact an admission that the Republicans' rhetoric to its base has not been based in reality.
That's not what is going to happen. Despite wishful thinking on the part of the Democrats, they are no going to win control of the House of Representatives. (Democrats will, however, gain enough seats to put pressure on the Republican majority to move some legislation.) Given that, Republicans in the House will try to move along as if nothing ultimately happened given the Trump candidacy. They'll ignore questions about the legitimacy of the election and simply say that it is over, a the while limping along crippled by internal bickering and revolt.
It makes us wonder about the future of the Trump supporter if he doesn't win. They can not remain just a movement because Trump himself, unable to stay the course especially if he doesn't win, will move on and go back to real estate where he can 'win.' But come 4 years from now, these same supporters aren't just going to come around in a practical sense to an establishment Republican candidate after Republicans in the House have surely stoked the fires with investigations into Mrs. Clinton over 'what ever they want,' frankly.
Forming a separate 'alt-conservative' type party is the only way to satisfy the extreme right base, and Republicans, as a party organization, have to decide whether or not that's the direction in which they want to go, but for the establishment we don't think so. Two conservative parties - one more so than the other. The actual viability of two conservative parties is another story all together.
The other exception, more a clarification, is when Ms. Conway says that Mrs. Clinton took money from foreign governments for access to the state department, for which there is no evidence of quid pro quo. However, was there close communication - most certainly. Preferential treatment - most definitely. Lack of transparency - absolutely. But, it wasn't Mrs. Clinton taking the money; foreign governments made donations to the Clinton Foundation, not Mrs. Clinton. That doesn't have to change your mind about the general notion of the donations themselves, but the distinction should be made because of sensible questions of legality. And before a Trump support gets all up in arms about this, do not cast the stone because the Trump Foundation, Mr. Trump's charity, has purchased items that now belong to the Trump Organization, his company, which is certainly not on the up and up, as it were.
With that said, we can in no way say that this election is over. Just as Cubs fans know, it's not a sure thing until the final out is put away. Despite the discrediting of Wikileaks as a whistle-blower organization since they are basically serving as the distribution arm of Russian state-sponsored cyber-espionage, there is always the possibility that some more damaging information could be released that is too big to ignore. Tim Kaine would not as easily be able to deflect revelations from the discredited source as he could today during his interview.
The National Review's Eliana Johnson described the Democrats' different positions on trade as a looming crisis, not equal to the Republicans' internal discord as she attempted, after the election because a Clinton administration are secret free-traders (our term) which goes against the Democratic base, confirmed by Yamiche Alcindor of The New York Times, who had followed the Sanders' campaign who explained that his core supporters, the far-left, don't trust Hillary Clinton.
Is it a crisis - no, but it will be a source of contention because as Chuck Todd assessed, and we agree, that progressives are more tolerant of incrementalism than base conservatives are.
Is Sec. Clinton's position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership a flip-flop? Giving her a little bit of the benefit of the doubt because we've all witnessed so much worse, no. Was it a 'save face' move for political reasons? Of course. Our guess is that if the deal doesn't pass in the lame-duck session, some form of it will eventually go through that will be a little bit easier for the left to swallow, but there will still be scorn about it. Interestingly, what wouldn't have normally been a wild-card in such a deal, is the Republican-controlled House. In ordinary circumstances, a deal like this would get done and the Republican governmental minority (not controlling presidency or Senate) could claim victory. However, with a Trumpian-base firmly in place, who knows?
Lastly, this brings us to the down-ballot races, specifically the Senate because we've already outlined that the House will not go Democratic but will have more balance. The Senate, on the other hand, is another story and it couldn't be a vice-presidential tie-breaking situation where it's 50-50. Ultimately that is Democratic control, which will then move forward on Supreme Court nominations and hence confirmations.
Bottom line is that Trump will severely damage the down-ballot seats for Republicans but will not accomplish the inadvertent mission of completely destroying them. For example, Mr. Trump's candidacy has twisted Senator Kelly Ayotte's (R) reelection bid in New Hampshire into a knot that she can't untie. After saying that Mr. Trump was a role model for kids, she had to eventually cut the rope and disavow him but by then it was too late. This same phenomenon is happening in other Senate races, and Ms. Conway complained that her candidate and Republican Senate candidates are being hit with $66 million in negative ad buys by the Clinton campaign. Right, but if her campaign had that same money to spend, she wouldn't be complaining.
Who's fault is that?
Mr. Trump can't raise money because of his irresponsibly, outrageous, ill-informed rhetoric so that's on him. The rise of his candidacy and the subsequent shattering of the Republican party, that's on Republicans themselves.
Panel: Eliana Johnson, The National Review; Yamiche Alcindor, The New York Times; Thomas Friedman, The New York Times; Stuart Stevens, Republican Strategist
No comments:
Post a Comment