Let’s start with quotes by some people who share Trump’s Republican party affiliation, political bedfellows if you will:
“Donald Trump is a jackass.” (South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham)
“Trumpism involves a toxic mix of demagoguery and nonsense.” (Rick Perry, former Governor of Texas)
“Mexican immigrants, as with other immigrants, have much lower crime rates than native-born (e.g. El Paso is the safest city in the U.S.). Trump is wrong.” (Rupert Murdoch, the 21st Century Fox/News Corp Chief)
In fairness, Trump maintains ardent support among a few political “experts.”
“I like Donald Trump. I think he’s terrific. I think he’s brash. I think he speaks the truth.” (Texas Sen. Ted Cruz)
“Mr. Trump should know he’s doing something right when the malcontents go ballistic in the press.” (Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska)
Ah, Sarah Palin. Remember her? The darling of the 2008 Republican Convention? She was cute and straight talking, a breath of fresh air, like, er, The Donald. And, a sobering thought, Palin nearly got elected to the second highest office in the land. How’s she viewed today? Well, 58 percent of Americans view her unfavorably. But Alaskans still like Palin, right? Er, no. Fifty-five percent of those polled in her own home state have an unfavorable opinion of their former governor. They discovered, better late than never, that the empress wore no clothes. That shining political comet has landed with a thud.
Maybe New York Times columnist David Brooks got it right when he wrote of the Trump phenomenon: “There has always been a large clump of voters who believe that America could reverse its decline if only a straighttalking obnoxious blowhard could take control.”
Does such a clump exist today? Sadly, yes. A recent poll revealed that a whopping 24 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning independents pick Donald Trump as the best of the 16 candidates in the GOP primary race. Ouch!
Big-time ouch when onefourth of any group of American voters believe that Donald Trump is fit to be President of the United States — or any other selfrespecting nation, for that matter. The presidential election is not a reality show, even though blowhards such as Trump provide great fodder for comedians and columnists.
Can any thinking person with a moral compass want a twice-divorced president who claims to be for traditional marriage? A playboy who was granted deferments during the Vietnam war yet now claims Sen. John McCain is not a war hero because he was captured? A craven capitalist who has overseen the bankruptcies of four businesses, yet wants to run America like a business? A loose cannon on the world stage who asserts, for example, that, “You can defeat ISIS by taking their wealth. Bomb the hell out of them. Once you take that oil they have nothing left”?
Democrats are delighted that Trump is sucking the oxygen out of the presidential primary tent. Most thinking Republicans, however — including a good conservative friend of mine who calls Trump a “buffoon” — wish that Trump would pack up his sideshow and go home. He’s hinted that he might go independent rather than go home, a move which Democrats across the country would cheer, because it would siphon votes away from the Republican ticket.
I don’t fault Trump for doing what he always does: Play the brash showman in order to gain attention. People of Donald Trump’s ilk — such as Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck — have made big bucks by making outlandish statements, stoking fears and demonizing “the other,” nuance and facts be damned. I do fault the people feasting on such garbage.
Meanwhile, the crazy campaign clown bus rumbles along. Next stop: The first GOP primary debate on Thursday night Aug. 6. The Donald’s presence will guarantee a large audience of Americans drawn to style, not substance. Get your popcorn, pull up a seat and enjoy the show. (But hold your nose.)
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David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes comments or suggestions for future articles. dtreadw575@aol.com.
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