Republicans Have Only Themselves to Blame for Trump
Instead of picking an electable candidate, they fired a shotgun blast and blew off their own foot.
Rather than settling a lingering question hanging over this presidential race, FBI Director James Comey’s recommendation not to prosecute Hillary Clinton, and subsequent word from Attorney General Loretta Lynch that the Justice Department was closing the investigation, have conversely amped up anti-Clinton feelings among conservatives, Republicans, and other critics of the presumptive Democratic nominee.
My reaction is not terribly sympathetic. If Hillary Clinton is such a horrible person, so ill-suited for the presidency, why didn’t they unite behind somebody, anybody, while there was still time to beat her? After Donald Trump lost the April 5 Wisconsin primary to Ted Cruz, the door was open. But when Trump swept the Acela primaries on April 26, winning not only Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, but every county within each state, the race was over. The door had slammed shut.
The truth is that Republicans were not in a mood to nominate Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, or any other establishment-oriented candidate. They also despised Ted Cruz [who is a real conservative] so he would never do. None of the other alternatives measured up. They were so angry with the government that they wanted to fire a shotgun blast at Washington. They ended up shooting themselves in the foot. They got Donald Trump and a gimpy party.
In other words, Republicans thought sending a message was more important than beating Hillary Clinton and taking back the White House. So I guess Clinton and the White House weren’t important enough for them to dial back their lofty principles. The perfect was indeed the enemy of the good.
A national online survey of registered voters, drawn from a larger sample of 11,705 by Survey Monkey conducted June 27 to July 3, found that Clinton led Trump by 5 points, 48 to 43 percent, which was pretty much in line with most other recent polls. But when matched against Mitt Romney, the two were tied at 45 percent. House Speaker Paul Ryan edged Clinton by 2 points, 47 to 45 percent, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich bested her by 8 points, 50 to 42 percent. The poll found that while Trump pretty much pulled together the Republican vote, he was at a distinct disadvantage among pure independents and Democratic-leaning independents, groups that were happy with Kasich and satisfied with the others.
We are now starting to see Clinton widen her lead over Trump. The Pew Research Center conducted its first general-election poll between June 15-26. In a survey of 2,245 voters, Pew found Clinton leading by 9 points, 51 to 42 percent. Interestingly, 55 percent of Trump supporters conceded that they were voting against Clinton, not for Trump, with just 41 percent actually supporting the Republican. As for Clinton, 50 percent of her backers said they were casting a vote for her, but nearly as many (48 percent) said they were voting against Trump. A Democracy Corps national survey conducted June 23-28 among 900 likely voters by Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg found Clinton with an 11-point advantage, 48 to 37 percent, with a typical Democratic candidate for the House holding an 8-point advantage, 49 to 41 percent (the candidate names and parties are indicated to the interviewee when known, otherwise just the party is given).
Of course, this election is not over. It is still about four months away, but the volatility and unpredictable nature of the Republican nomination contest is now only a memory. Trump has his base and 10 tons of dynamite will not dislodge those voters. But as unenthusiastic as so many voters are about Clinton, few of the undecideds seem to be even considering the real-estate mogul. Trump’s habit of being a political and decidedly unfunny version of Don Rickles, insulting nearly everyone in sight, has marginalized him and minimized the elasticity of his support. If you are not for Trump now, the odds are pretty good that you aren’t going to be for him between now and November. He is either speaking for you or he is offending you, and seems not much interested in persuading you.
Some longtime Justice Department and FBI-watchers were a bit taken aback by the out-front role that Comey and the FBI played in making the nationally televised announcement of what normally would have been the job of career prosecutors. But given the politically sensitive nature and timing of this case, not to mention Bill Clinton stumbling onto the front pages of newspapers from coast-to-coast by deciding it would be fun to visit Loretta Lynch in her plane on a tarmac in Phoenix, giving the ball to Comey seemed like the only thing to do. He is, after all, a registered Republican and the former deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush. The Clinton haters are crying that the whole thing was a setup, but where were they when they could have nominated someone more electable and exploited her troubles?