\ Now that the GOP establishment is reconciling the fact that their new leader is Donald Trump, you would think the Democrats would begin to enjoy the showdown between Clinton and Trump in the General election. But the Democrats, unlike the Republicans, continue to face significant turbulence in their flight to November.
Despite considerable reluctance, Republicans are realistic by accepting the fact many of their members prefer Trump and he will be their nominee. Instead of hearing more and more chants of "Anybody but Trump" we hear more and more static from the Bernie Sanders' crowd chanting "Anybody but Clinton." And this is exactly what the GOP establishment wants to hear - talking points and narratives that divide the Democrats early enough in the election cycles so that while the Democrats fight amongst themselves, the Republicans will gear up for a unified campaign for the White House. And it appears, the Sanders' folks are more than willing to win their battles by losing the war.
All week I have encountered Trump and Sanders supporters and there has been a palatable shift between them. Trump detractors are reluctantly accepting of his eventual nomination under the guise of solidifying their Anti-Clinton coalitions while many of Sanders' folks simply want to disrupt as much as possible. "To hell with the actual election, Clinton must go down" is a commonly expressed Sanders related sentiment on social media. Except the Sanders' crowd ought to be careful what they wish for. While they like to cite many polls showing him winning against Trump, they do not understand that a Party divided by rancor - even through a contested convention- may cost them the White House and put Trump in the Oval Office. Yet no matter how many Sanders supporters I speak with, they don't seem to care. Ironically, they slam Democrats AND Republicans for their "Ideologies of the Establishment", ignoring that absent a viable third Party, the reality is that one Ideology will win - and it won't be one anywhere close to the Left Side of the Ideological spectrum. Who cares right? It's all about "Feeling the Bern!" Unfortunately, it won't be the type of "Bern" they may feel in November.
What many of Sanders' supporters also fail to recognize is that the rules they are constantly carping about (allegedly used by the Party solely against their candidate), were designed decades before their candidate reached the scene. Closed Primaries, Super Delegates and the like were created decades before Sanders declared his candidacy. But facts seem to escape many of Sanders' supporters.
The other fallacious argument I have seen is that Clinton is falling behind in the polls to Trump and as the summer goes on, voters better choose Sanders instead because Clinton can't win in November. One problem though with those alleged polls. Clinton has been beat-up in the media now for YEARS. Some of the negative press against her is warranted. Much of it is not. Yet she still is within the "margin of error" to defeat any GOP nominee - even Trump. But the media has thus far been star-struck with the entire celebrity candidacy from the Apprentice. As a result, very little media attention has been focussed on The Donald's business dealings, bankruptcies and/or his secretive tax returns. Now some Trump supporters naively believe that any negativity in the media will surely be turned around by Trump and that his supporters will ignore the revelations. I have my doubts. I believe that Trump's own words and records (that he typically claims have been misrepresented by an irresponsible media) will in fact come back to hurt him. Once the media latches onto Trump as the actual GOP nominee for President, they will begin to uncover things that damage his candidacy. How much more can Clinton be hurt by the media (short of an indictment relating to the email nonsense)? Probably not much - especially when real facts begin to come to the surface (like the partisan Benghazi oversight committee ignoring their own expert who determined Clinton had nothing to do with any of the deaths in Benghazi or the fact Clinton simply reasonably relied upon talking points hastily given her by the CIA - all which proved later to be erroneous).
What does this all mean? Probably that the Republicans will unite under Trump and he will be making a seriously competitive run at the White House. Sanders and his followers may do everything to destroy the Democratic Party in an effort to rebuild it into something more resembling the liberal progressive party of the 1960's. Ironically, the GOP wants to go backwards to the 1950's and the Sanders folks want to go back to the 1960's. No wonder Clinton's campaign is about "Going Forward!" Do many Americans really want to turn the clock back on our world views? Do Americans realize that the '50s and '60's were not the greatest decades for America? Regardless, this unaffiliated voter is still not favoring one candidate over another - unless someone like a Roosevelt comes around - but I'm not holding me breath. 2016 is going to be an election year for the history books. Hopefully, America will still be around in 100 years to reflect back upon it.
When it comes to this year's final two candidates vying for the presidency, think deeply about what President Abraham Lincoln once wrote; "If the great American people will only keep their temper, on both sides of the line, the troubles will come to an end, and the question which now distracts the country will be settled just as surely as all other difficulties of like character which have originated in this government have been adjusted." Let's hope Americans of all ideologies believe that our difference can and will come to an end! Have a great week!
Despite considerable reluctance, Republicans are realistic by accepting the fact many of their members prefer Trump and he will be their nominee. Instead of hearing more and more chants of "Anybody but Trump" we hear more and more static from the Bernie Sanders' crowd chanting "Anybody but Clinton." And this is exactly what the GOP establishment wants to hear - talking points and narratives that divide the Democrats early enough in the election cycles so that while the Democrats fight amongst themselves, the Republicans will gear up for a unified campaign for the White House. And it appears, the Sanders' folks are more than willing to win their battles by losing the war.
All week I have encountered Trump and Sanders supporters and there has been a palatable shift between them. Trump detractors are reluctantly accepting of his eventual nomination under the guise of solidifying their Anti-Clinton coalitions while many of Sanders' folks simply want to disrupt as much as possible. "To hell with the actual election, Clinton must go down" is a commonly expressed Sanders related sentiment on social media. Except the Sanders' crowd ought to be careful what they wish for. While they like to cite many polls showing him winning against Trump, they do not understand that a Party divided by rancor - even through a contested convention- may cost them the White House and put Trump in the Oval Office. Yet no matter how many Sanders supporters I speak with, they don't seem to care. Ironically, they slam Democrats AND Republicans for their "Ideologies of the Establishment", ignoring that absent a viable third Party, the reality is that one Ideology will win - and it won't be one anywhere close to the Left Side of the Ideological spectrum. Who cares right? It's all about "Feeling the Bern!" Unfortunately, it won't be the type of "Bern" they may feel in November.
What many of Sanders' supporters also fail to recognize is that the rules they are constantly carping about (allegedly used by the Party solely against their candidate), were designed decades before their candidate reached the scene. Closed Primaries, Super Delegates and the like were created decades before Sanders declared his candidacy. But facts seem to escape many of Sanders' supporters.
The other fallacious argument I have seen is that Clinton is falling behind in the polls to Trump and as the summer goes on, voters better choose Sanders instead because Clinton can't win in November. One problem though with those alleged polls. Clinton has been beat-up in the media now for YEARS. Some of the negative press against her is warranted. Much of it is not. Yet she still is within the "margin of error" to defeat any GOP nominee - even Trump. But the media has thus far been star-struck with the entire celebrity candidacy from the Apprentice. As a result, very little media attention has been focussed on The Donald's business dealings, bankruptcies and/or his secretive tax returns. Now some Trump supporters naively believe that any negativity in the media will surely be turned around by Trump and that his supporters will ignore the revelations. I have my doubts. I believe that Trump's own words and records (that he typically claims have been misrepresented by an irresponsible media) will in fact come back to hurt him. Once the media latches onto Trump as the actual GOP nominee for President, they will begin to uncover things that damage his candidacy. How much more can Clinton be hurt by the media (short of an indictment relating to the email nonsense)? Probably not much - especially when real facts begin to come to the surface (like the partisan Benghazi oversight committee ignoring their own expert who determined Clinton had nothing to do with any of the deaths in Benghazi or the fact Clinton simply reasonably relied upon talking points hastily given her by the CIA - all which proved later to be erroneous).
What does this all mean? Probably that the Republicans will unite under Trump and he will be making a seriously competitive run at the White House. Sanders and his followers may do everything to destroy the Democratic Party in an effort to rebuild it into something more resembling the liberal progressive party of the 1960's. Ironically, the GOP wants to go backwards to the 1950's and the Sanders folks want to go back to the 1960's. No wonder Clinton's campaign is about "Going Forward!" Do many Americans really want to turn the clock back on our world views? Do Americans realize that the '50s and '60's were not the greatest decades for America? Regardless, this unaffiliated voter is still not favoring one candidate over another - unless someone like a Roosevelt comes around - but I'm not holding me breath. 2016 is going to be an election year for the history books. Hopefully, America will still be around in 100 years to reflect back upon it.
When it comes to this year's final two candidates vying for the presidency, think deeply about what President Abraham Lincoln once wrote; "If the great American people will only keep their temper, on both sides of the line, the troubles will come to an end, and the question which now distracts the country will be settled just as surely as all other difficulties of like character which have originated in this government have been adjusted." Let's hope Americans of all ideologies believe that our difference can and will come to an end! Have a great week!
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