UPDATE: Trump followed his playbook to perfection. No, I do not have a crystal ball. Anyone who realized the pathetic quality of opposition of both parties could have seen this.
Donald Trump continues to soar in the polls and suck up all the air in American politics. The elites continue to console themselves by saying he is unelectable. The election of Donald Trump would violate all we know about politics, say the Wise Pundits. But maybe, just maybe, the Old Rules don't apply anymore. Maybe,just maybe, the poor and middle class have been pounded so hard by greedy, cruel and short-sighted elites that in their desperation, the powerless will turn to a strongman. Fascism might be an overused word, but that is exactly what is happening before our very eyes.
For Trump, getting elected is just a two step process. First, win the nomination of an insane Republican Party. Then defeat a squishy and effete Democratic Party. Both scenarios are disturbingly possible.
We are already seeing the Donald steamrolling over the midgets in the GOP Clown Car. Why not? As it has been explained many times now, Trump is just playing the same racist riffs that the GOP has been playing since Nixon's Southern Strategy and Ronald Reagan railing about "strapping young bucks" and "welfare queens". He just does it better, with a showman's flair. How many times have you heard conservative blowhards say, when you were stuck in that family gathering, that we should just build a big fence to keep the Mexicans out? America's most beloved billionaire reality TV star is saying the same things the racist yabos have always said. Trump is successful! He's a billionaire! And he is playing our tune! See, we always knew we were right!
Please tell be who in the GOP Clown Car is going to stop the Donald? Jeb Bush? That mean spirited personality challenged rich boy with a unquenchable sense of entitlement? We really need a third Bush term because the first 12 years of Bushism were so good for the country, right? . Scott Walker? Exposed as a cruel hothouse flower who cannot exist without exploiting the special race problems in Wisconsin. Marco Rubio? An empty suit, as I have explained in my blog before. Ted Cruz? All of the meanness of Trump without the superficial charm. John Kasich? Who? Ben Carson? Are you serious? The Donald has already cut Rand Paul another butthole and is now working on Jeb. This would be funny for liberals except for one little thing: The Democratic Party is in a weak position to stop this fascist menace.
What has not gotten much ink is that the Donald is outflanking the flabby and corrupt Democratic party on the LEFT on two very important issues. The first is Social Security. The Donald has pledged to protect Social Security in contrast to elitist Washington "liberals" who have mostly accepted that SS must be cut. We have liberal columnists like Tom Friedman pushing the Simpson-Bowles budget "reforms" with its cuts to Social Security. We have President Obama, desperate to cut a "Grand Bargain" with the Republicans which are all but certain to include drastic SS cuts. Contrast this with the 99 percent, which hates the idea of any SS cuts. And the Donald seems to be taking their side! The Democrats are so out of touch that they are getting outflanked by Donald Trump on the Third Rail of American Politics. Amazing.
The second issue is jobs, the issue that Barack Obama promised to "pivot" to but never quite got around to. As tens of millions of jobs have been shipped overseas and as Obama desperately pushes yet another job killing free trade agreement, the Donald promises to protect jobs by ending free trade agreements. This is extremely appealing to the 99 percent and I must admit, to me also . The middle class has been battered for 30 years now by these "free trade" agreements and the Hillary-Obama wing of the Democratic Party has actively encouraged them. After all, NAFTA was pushed by the Clinton Administration and passed with majority Republican support. Do you believe the Donald that he is going to protect American jobs? Does it matter? The Democrats have done almost nothing to address income inequality. The 99 percent does not believe that the economy has recovered. Certainly they have not benefited from it . The fact that the Democrats would be vulnerable to Donald Freaking Trump on economic fairness and Social Security is nothing more than a total disgrace.
Again we have to ask, who is going to beat the Donald in a general election? Hillary? A walking scandal machine who has shamelessly pimped for free trade agreements and winked at efforts of Social Security "reform" that are really cuts? Who has not proved that she can run a decent campaign? Bernie Sanders? As readers of this blog know, I love Bernie. But the plutocrats will spend billions to tattoo the word "Socialist" on his forehead. Americans don't know the difference between socialism and Communism but they know the Donald is a Genuine American Hero who Gets Things Done and will Make America Great Again. At least that's what his adoring press says. Joe Biden? His last two campaigns have been disasters. The Democratic Party has a very weak bench. Why? They lose a lot of elections because they do not stand up for the middle class. One shudders. at the Donald getting a chance to cut into their mamby-pamby centrist pap. Oh where have you gone Elisabeth Warren...?
Wait a minute. The Blue Wall will save the Democrats! Maybe. Trump's racism is repulsive to minorities, indeed to all decent people. But I worry that the 75 percent of the population that is still white is extremely vulnerable to Trump's snake oil, especially if they continue to be economically stressed. I am terrified of the Donald squeaking by in a racially polarizing election where he stokes white people fears. The Donald cant take Florida, Ohio and Virginia? Will minorities come out for a weak Democratic candidate? Will they come out for Bernie Sanders should Hillary crash and burn? We might have to depend n minority voters to stave off a fascist takeover of America. Women? Married white women vote just like their white male counterparts. Besides, isn't there something dangerous about having to rely on demographics instead of nominating a strong candidate who speaks to legitimate middle class concerns?
In short. as Matt Taibbi says, Donald Trump has stopped being a joke. He has started to become a threat. Are you sure it can't happen here?
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