Recent coverage of the U.S. Presidential campaign has been interesting in its perspective. After a 5% loss in Nevada, all of the prognosticators suggest that Sanders is done–one article suggesting that he’ll be at a disadvantage because his twenty-something army will be on spring break during upcoming primaries. This seems very premature.
On the Republican side, the chatter has focused on a supposed consolidation of anti-Trump support under Rubio. Perhaps the donors are heading his way, but there’s no guarantee the voters will. I wouldn’t bet on Rubio if he ends up one-on-one with Trump. Trump will likely beat him around the same way he did with Jeb.
This may be the only point where I agree with Trump, but I think it’s quite possible that he’ll get at least some of the other candidates’ voters as the field narrows. The current article of faith, both in the media and the party, that Trump’s ceiling is about 35% is also premature. The safe bet is usually to underestimate the intelligence of voters.
An interesting article in Politico discusses Al Sharpton’s experiences with Trump. He seems to think that Trump’s recent rhetoric is as much showman’s antics as an indicator of his true politics. No slouch of a showman himself, Sharpton may have been on to something.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/sharpton-trump-is-the-white-don-king-219601
I am less terrified of a Trump presidency than a Rubio presidency. I can imagine Trump governing a la Ahnold in CA (center-right pragmatist happy to co-opt workable liberal ideas; may Linda Ronstadt bat me about the ears if my gloss is too sanguine; I mean at least he left the state in a state [sorry] that allows Governor Moonbeam to do the things he’s doing). In brief, I think monstrous ego may be a shorter path to statesmanship than rampant ideology. After all, Donald doesn’t want to become president to look bad or not get things done. And he’s at least willing to combat the GOP dogma that 9/11 somehow didn’t happen on W’s watch.
And if Italy can survive Berlusconi, we can survive Donald. Then, again, Italy survived Mussolini and the Borgias (sort of), so perhaps my logic is fraying.
I love the issues Bernie is raising, but I don’t think his solutions are workable and I think he’d be a disaster as president. Also, he’s not even a registered Democrat, so he’s not even thinking about helping down-ticket races, which is where the real battles are fought.
This article from Norm Ornstein in the Atlantic captures my suspicions of Sanders in a nutshell:
All of which is pointing me in a direction I’m not quite ready to verbalize.
Interestingly, I just read today that the governor of Massachusetts (who lives in my town, still) is trying to raise money to keep the state GOP from being taken over by hyper-conservative wingnuts. Is that a hint that the weather is beginning to change?
Frank Schaeffer explains Donald Trump:
