A little background on me: I am one of those annoying people who come around to KOS every four years because, of course, the presidential election is exciting and I’m a bit of a political junkie. I live in Vermont (Yep, Bernie is my Senator and the guy is a class act, no matter what anyone says.)
Over the past several months I’ve been watching the debates, cable news and reading blogs, though not leftist blogs. Mainly blogs on the right. And at the same time, arguing with a friend of mine who happens to be a die-hard supporter of Bernie for president — our main disagreement being that I would support either Bernie or Hillary for POTUS. I, of course, love Bernie’s ideas, and at the same time I also believe Hillary would move us forward as a country, albeit at a slower pace.
When Bernie lost Nevada, ( and all you Bernie fans out there, don’t give up hope — Obama lost Nevada too) I finally dropped my overall analysis of the republicans on my friend; That Bernie is calling for a political revolution on the left, but that he didn’t recognize a revolution of sorts was already happening and has been for some time.
I have no idea if this has been pointed out here or debated, but just have a look at the republican blogs. The republican party is fractured. The moderate wing of the party literally has no idea what is happening. Redstate (a far right blog) posed the question to its members: Would you support Trump if he wins? — the answer was a rather resounding NO. Some, by the way, even said they would vote for Hillary rather than Trump.
If Trump wins the nomination, and that is looking very likely, can you picture moderates (republicans such as John McCain, Lindsey Graham — even Mitch McConnell) coming out in support of things such as banning an entire religion from entering the country? Firing squads with bullets coated in pig’s blood? Mass deportation? These are some of the things Trump is running on and, if he wins, he becomes the standard bearer for the party. These ideas will become part of the republican platform in the general election.
Our friends in the republican party who are moderates take extreme positions, quite simply, because they are scared of losing their jobs. But, regardless of how angry you may be at them, most have a line they will not cross. Most see the office of the President to be a sacred place, befitting only the best of us, and they will not be part of a party that chooses to put a person like Donald Trump in that position.
I believe you will see one of two things happen over the next six months;
1) Trump wins the nomination, and the moderate and far right wing of the party (finding him completely unpalatable as a nominee) will break away.
2) Trump does not win the nomination and being the self absorbed, bombastic gorilla that he is, decides to run as an independent — taking all his support with him. And the “Trump” party is born.
Picture, if you will, moderate folks from the right no longer beholden to the extremists or, for those who want blood, an extremist from the right no longer backed up by the behemoth support of the republican party.
When I hopped over here today (for the first time in four years) I expected to find Democrats, at the very least, expressing some happiness over the train wreck that has become the republican party. But instead I am seeing nearly as much infighting and anger here as on the far right blogs.
The democratic party as a whole, everyone included, has a real chance here to put away the far right for generations to come, and with that will come real change, regardless of who wins the presidency.
I realize this is a process and the democratic party, being what it is, can get messy at times, but please have some joy over the republican debacle unfolding across the country, and try to recognize that you, at the very least, have that in common with the Hillary or Bernie supporter sitting next to you.
For those of you who may be cynical about what I am saying — hold your nose and read some republican perspectives ( and btw there are a ton and I mean TON more out there):
George Will — Donald Trump Relishes Wrecking the GOP
Varad Mehta — why Donald Trump can’t win the Whitehouse
Redstate — If he wins, do we stand with Trump?
Ed Rogers — railing against Evangelicals
Cheers,
and I love you all,
Bernie or Hillary fans