Reason for Hope

Hope and Change was the Obama theme in 2008. Had we been able to see the future it might have been more aptly stated as Triage and Resuscitate.

What he accomplished by leading the nation away from financial catastrophe, to winning the first critical step toward national healthcare, and applying respected rationality to international affairs will make him historically relevant and a source of pride for most Americans alive today.

But what about the hope and change goal he first declared by addressing the Democratic convention in 2004? Remember: “no blue states, no red states, just the United States of America”.

Perhaps his slogan in 2008 should have been Yes We Could (?) instead of Yes We Can. His major political failure of not leading the Democratic Party to be competitive in the 2010 off-season election, a census year, cost him any ability to turn back the divisiveness and inequality that pervades American society.  And so it goes.

So now we have Donald Trump, which newsmen, pundits, and polls are suggesting could, in fact, be the next President.  Trump, a creation of both the divisiveness and the lack of solutions to it, should be no surprise. But he is a surprise…and maybe that’s a good thing.

I still can’t get myself close to believing he could win in November. It would be just too surreal. Trump makes George W. Bush look like an articulate genius.  His ignorance is mind boggling, nearly Sara Palin quality.  I’m not saying he’s stupid like Palin. However going to a quality University isn’t very meaningful when you spend the next 46 years reading nothing more perceptive than a balance sheet or longer than a twitter feed.

Did anyone not see him struggle to read his proclamation to ban all Muslims from entering the country? The only line he was comfortable with was the inane end punctuation “…until we find out what the hell is goin’ on”.  Five dollars says that’s the only line he wrote.  

The real fear I have, as I have written previously, is that he doesn’t lose big.  Because of the uphill climb Hillary Clinton has to motivate voters, she might end up winning no differently than Obama did in 2012, an electoral victory with little down ballot changes. Without at least a Democratic super-majority in the Senate this nation will continue to tread water.

The Republican Party to the rescue!!! What me worry?

The insanity of Donald Trump has been obvious to Republicans for nearly a year and they haven’t been shy to admit it.  Then when reality TV suddenly became reality the Republican political establishment had a choice; support him or throw him under the bus. It was touch and go for a while, but thankfully they chose the former.

Republican politicians, almost without exception, have now actively or tacitly rallied around the Donald.  They think; well the polls don’t look too bad, we sure hate Hillary, he could turn Presidential.  It’s like they’re putting icing on a cow pie and saying it looks pretty good, might as well dig in.

What they’ve done by not throwing Trump under the bus is attached him to every single Republican running for office, from dog catcher to Governor to US Senator.  Every quote of Donald Trump’s will be their quote.  It’s quite possible that many Republicans will be caught between a rock and a hard place having to answer for every idiot statement he makes or Twitters, or for that matter every absurd and asinine comment he has already made.

The Democratic Party better take notice and soon.

I expect Hillary Clinton to be a great President, better than her husband, clearly the stronger personality between the two…more intelligent besides. The fact that she is a woman will impact the nation in even a more positive way than did Obama’s race. What I’m not expecting is her turning into a great campaigner, which she is not.

But who knows. Hope springs eternal.  Maybe the Donald will get a little help from Hillary in deconstructing the Republican Party.  I, for one, would like to see the GOP rebuilt, but without the Rush Limbaughs of the world eating away at its foundation, like so many self-absorbed termites.