Eight years ago, the Republican Party nominated John McCain as their presidential candidate. He lost, obviously, and the Tea Party, nee the Teabaggers, were formed soon after. Ostensibly, they were for lower taxes and smaller government, but in reality, they were just pissed that a black man had won the election and was going to be the boss of them. The GOP recognized this and decided that the Tea Party would be a useful tool for them, so they (the GOP) sent out a stream of dog whistles that were perfectly obvious to everyone who heard them. Instead of controlling the Tea Party, however, the GOP was slowly taken over by them. When Mitt Romney ran in 2012, he had to skew as far as he could to the right in the primaries before trying to hew back to the middle for the general election. It was an almost Herculean task back then, and it only got worse in the ensuing four years. This is a very brief synopsis of the past eight years, obviously, but it’s why we are where we are today–with Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president.
Even as I type out that sentence, I have a hard time believing that this is reality and not just a reality television show. I keep waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out and yell, “You got Punk’d!”* But, no. Despite the three-ring circus atmosphere surrounding this shit show, it’s real life. Unfortunately. Republicans are jumping ship left and right, but we cannot let them forget that they are the ones who brought us to this low in our fairly short history. They are they ones who pandered to the lowest common denominator, confident that they could control their base. I don’t know exactly when the base took over the party, but now, the moderates are on the outside looking in.
As much as I should be gloating over this, I’m not. I don’t think it’s good to only have one functioning party. I think a healthy Republican Party is needed in order for us to exchange robust ideas, and may the best party win. It’s too easy to get complacent and corrupted if you don’t have anything pushing against you. I would honestly like it if Trump was thoroughly trounced this election, causing the Republicans to reassess their strategy of inflaming the hatred of their base. I would be very happy if they welcomed the moderates back in their party and slowly moved back towards the middle-right instead of teetering off the far right edge. I know the possibility of this happening is slim because they didn’t do it after 2008 or 2012. The problem is, they need their base because they are losing everyone else at an alarming rate. People of color, LGBTQ folk, immigrants, people with disabilities, etc., understandably, don’t want anything to do with the current GOP. Republicans would do well to just resign themselves to losing this election and maybe the next, rejiggering their party, and planning for 2020, but they’re not known for their long-term planning.
They’ve become the party of opposition, with McConnell saying after Obama was elected that the Republicans plan was to make him (PBO) a one-term president. They’ve been united in their hatred of him ever since, and it’ll only get worse with Clinton as president. The Republicans HATE the Clintons, and with the added bonus of Hillary being a woman, we’ll have all that lovely sexism to deal with to boot. The only thing they’ll take away from a Trump loss, I think, is that they have to keep the absolute extremes out (if they even learn that), but he’s really just an extension of the shit they’ve been peddling for years without the polished veneer of a, say, Paul Ryan. Who, by the way, probably isn’t sleeping very well at night right about now. His party is in shambles, and he’s told House Republicans to do what they need to do to save their careers, even if it means disavowing Trump. Consequently, Trump has turned on Paul Ryan (who’s seen as too establishment for the Tea Party as it is), which means Trump’s supporters have turned on him as well.
I would feel some sympathy for Ryan if this wasn’t a debacle totally of his own making. He and other Republicans who are floundering right now had a choice to make many months ago when it became clear that Trump would become the Republican nominee. They could have put their country before their party, refusing to endorse Trump, but one by one, the dominoes fell. Even Ted Cruz who held out until well after the convention–and for once, I understood Cruz’s motivation for declining to endorse during the convention. Trump had talked some major shit about Cruz’s wife and father–posted his endorsement of Trump on his (Cruz’s) Facebook page last week or the week before. There’s a photo of Cruz phone-banking for Trump/Pence, and it’s one of the most pathetic pictures I’ve seen in quite some time. I have no idea why Cruz finally endorsed Trump except to speculate that the RNC promised him some plum committee position if he did it, but I’d wager he’s regretting it right about now.
Trump is like the reverse-King Midas; everything he touches turns to shit. So many people who’ve hitched their wagons to his star have proven what craven shitheads they are. Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, and, of course, Trump’s second-in-command, Mike Pence. Who is an evil shithead himself. I’ve puzzled as to why Pence accepted the VP call from Trump and why the GOP hasn’t tried harder to put a stop to Trump. My unsubstantiated theory is that the Republicans thought if they got Pence on the ticket, at some point Trump would get bored and drop out or if elected, let Pence do most of the actual work. In other words, Pence would be Dick Cheney to Trump’s W. They presented this vision to Pence who signed on because he wanted the power.
Nothing else makes sense. I’ve heard the theory that the Republicans thought they could control Trump, but I don’t believe that because Trump clearly does whatever the fuck he wants. To be fair, he did make some concessions like occasionally glancing at the teleprompter and adding Pence to the ticket. I have a hunch he would have preferred Chris Christie or someone of that ilk. However, there’s no keeping Trump from imploding. His rampant narcissism demands that he do whatever it takes to feel good, and he’s feeling like shit right about now. Since he feels bad, he’s going to make sure everyone else feels bad with him.
The one thing I can thank him for is forcing the rank-and-file Republicans show their true disgusting natures. After the tapes of him talking about sexual assault were leaked, many Republicans had to find ways to defend the indefensible. Jeff Session said that he wasn’t sure grabbing someone’s genitalia was assault, so I tweeted:
If Jeff Sessions doesn’t think grabbing someone by the genitals is assault, then I should be able to grab him by the nuts and twist, right?
— Minna Hong (@asiangrrlMN) October 11, 2016
I wasn’t kidding, either. Well, OK, I was, but I was trying to make a point how fucking ridiculous this has gotten. We have Republicans who are explicitly defending sexual assault or trying to say it’s not actual assault. Limbaugh actually said tonight that the only thing liberals care about when it comes to sex is consent, that anything is OK as long as all people involved say yes to it. Um, yeah. And? It’s also telling that not one of Trump’s primary opponents found any of this in their vetting of him. Sexual assault is not a priority to them (indeed, they often question whether or not it actually exists except when it’s convenient for them to believe in it), so this caught them completely by surprise.
By the last count, four women have said that Trump has made unwanted advances towards them. There’s a video of him telling a 10-year-old girl that he could be dating her in ten years. He was 46 years old at the time. This is getting uglier (and harder to deal with as a survivor) by the day, and it’s not going to end any time soon. Trump has threatened to sue the Times (who published the story of the first two women accusing Trump) if they don’t retract their story. If he does sue them, however, then he opens himself up to having his whole life subpoenaed, and I have a hunch that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Trump also has to stand trial for possible racketeering charges concerning Trump University. There is also a rape trial (of a 13-year-old girl) that is looming over his head. I can’t believe I’m typing this about a presidential candidate. I can’t believe that the Republican Party is allowing this to happen. It might be too late for them, however, as they appear all-too-willing to go down with the ship. Or rather, the right-wing extremist branch is. But, I don’t know if the moderates can retake the party or fashion a different party in its place. I don’t know how far gone the GOP is and if they can even be saved.
I do know that Trump is determined to burn it all down around him. If he can’t win, then no one else is allowed to win, either. As things get worse, so will his paranoia. Everyone he perceives as being against him will be targeted as an enemy. Clinton needs to trounce Trump by at least double digits, preferably by twenty points, for at least two reasons. One, Trump will contest the results if he loses. He’s already made noises in this direction. If he loses by a large margin, however, it’ll be harder for him to drag it out interminably. Second, we need to send a message to his supporters that we’re moving forward, whether they like it or not. This election is a statement about who we are as a country, and the fact that Trump has made it this far, doesn’t make me feel very good about us.
What’s more important, however, is that the Democrats take back the Senate and the House. It doesn’t matter if Clinton is president if she doesn’t have a congress with whom she can work. It seems as if Trump is having a negative effect down the ticket, which is exactly what we (Democrats) want and need. I’m a bit perturbed that there has been so little about any race other than the presidential one this election, even if it’s understandable to keep your eyes on the train wreck. It looks as if the Democrats will reclaim the Senate, and if we can manage to turn the House despite the gerrymandering, then I’ll consider this election a success, albeit one with many casualties.
I said earlier that I would feel sorry for Paul Ryan if he hadn’t willingly sold his soul for…what? I know it’s because he hoped against hope that Trump would be president and that he’d be more able to work with Trump than with Clinton, but he has to realize by now that it was folly.** I feel the same about the Republicans in general. They chose this deal with the devil, and it seems as if they’re going to be paying for it for some time to come. I would probably be enjoying it more if it weren’t for the fact that they’re dragging the country down with them, just like Trump is. For that alone, I hope the Republicans are exiled to the wilderness for some time to come.
*This dates me, but not as much as if I’d said Alan Funt and, “Smile! You’re on Candid Camera!”
**The fact that he’s told the other House Republicans to do what’s best for themselves indicates that he does know how awful the situation is.