The gift that keeps on giving, the American Presidential primaries has slipped into overdrive as if someone dumped a whole load of NOX into an overheated engine.
On the left Hillary Clinton won a points victory on super Tuesday by winning seven out of eleven states and a majority of delegates on offer. But Bernie Sanders has ignited the campaign in a way no one would have expected. The machine and the careerists may still win but at least Bernie has shown the deep unmet need for conviction politicians. I hope he stays in the race right to the end. And I hope that he wins (sorry Ad).
And on the right I do not know whether to laugh or cry. Trump, the frankenstein candidate, the candidate who finds that the more extreme he goes the more support he gains, is on a roll. And the Republican Party is reacting.
Nothing is sacred to Trump. References to the penis sizes of his opponents and a metaphorical description of previous Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney electing to go into a compromising position for political support have been made in the past couple of days without the slightest shred of embarrassment. The most advanced nation in the world has become engrossed in sexual innuendo and at least some of its citizens are happy for its potential next leader to show an advanced level of crudity.
It is as if a large proportion of the American population is programmed into responding positively to superficial banal comments on issues that should be subject to deep and intense discussion and analysis. Thank you fifty years of television culture.
Yes that sounds too intellectual. The left’s weakness is that we analyse the world’s problems too deeply and the right is happy to attack with completely superficial analysis that some still adhere to. We may eventually win the intellectual battle but the political battle for hearts and minds is another thing.
Mitt Romney has responded by as pointed and as public and as panicked a way as you can imagine. The Republican Party hierarchy is obviously very scared at the prospect of Trump winning.
Here is video of highlights from his speech given a couple of days ago:
I have never seen such a scathing take down of someone by their own party. It is fortunate that American defamation laws are so liberal.
It is not as if there is a shining knight waiting to take over and lead the Republicans to power. All the other candidates are awful and hated by parts of the party and it seems the more likely they are to gain the nomination the more hated they are.
Thursday was the collapse of a political party in real time: Its 2012 nominee trying desperately to stop the person who’s looking more and more like the 2016 nominee, all while 2008 nominee John McCain bounced from saying he’d support Trump as the nominee just Wednesday to issuing a statement on Thursday saying he shared Romney’s concerns — and then later that day clarifying that he’d still support Trump.
Meanwhile, the only other living GOP presidential nominee whose last name isn’t Bush — Bob Dole — has said he’d be for Trump if that meant stopping Cruz, the much-hated Texas senator who’s one of the few left standing against the loudmouth real estate mogul.
The Democrats cannot believe their luck:
From the presidential level on down to Senate and House races, Thursday was full of Democratic joy and glee.
“You think to yourself ‘Oh boy, your opponent is weakening themselves and giving us an advantage,’” said Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the House minority whip.
“If Republicans are already tired of questions about their party’s new standard bearer, they should consider calling it quits like Dan Coats did,” said Lauren Passalacqua, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee’s press secretary, referring to the retiring Indiana senator.
Romney got in his digs — “his promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University” — but all Democrats noticed was the thrashing, crashing mess.
“They’re pointing out the wackiness of Trump’s policy ideas and explaining how they won’t stand up to scrutiny in November. Trump isn’t bothered. Why should he be? For Trump, IT’S NOT ABOUT POLICY,” Goolsbee wrote in a follow-up email.
At this stage it still look like Trump will take the nomination. But he is a buffoon.
I am confident Hillary can defeat him. I am pretty certain that Bernie would defeat him. That great big unmet need for redneck opposition to politics as usual I can understand but the rednecks are aiming at the wrong target. Supporting an ultra rich dickhead who has squandered a large inheritance but talks like he is an ordinary guy is an insult. If he really wants to represent ordinary people he should talk about their problems, not divert them with talk about forcing Mexicans to build a wall.
Trump is a gigantic clown. It makes you wonder if we have a local version.
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