Meanwhile, polls are showing that the Trump GOP is in a heap of trouble.
Who will follow Trump off a cliff? George Will, National Review Online
Now, regarding realities: In 2012, 93 percent of self-described Republicans who voted did so for Mitt Romney. Trump probably cannot receive 80 percent of what probably will be, because of discouragement and revulsion, a smaller Republican turnout. Romney lost 73 percent of the Hispanic vote; Trump is viewed unfavorably by 82 percent of Hispanics and very unfavorably by 62 percent. Trump probably will receive significantly less than Romney’s ruinous 27 percent of this vote. And because of demographic trends and Trump’s motivating policies and insults, Hispanic turnout probably will be significantly larger than in 2012, as the white percentage of the electorate continues to shrink. Romney won just 37 percent of young voters (18–29); Trump is unlikely even to match this.Hispanic voters, many of whom should be natural fits inside a GOP that could lose the racist language, might accidentally use this to wake up and vote in numbers more closely reflecting their population. Could a red state like Texas turn purple?
Trump Anxiety Spurs Latino Voter Registration. Lomi Kriel, HoustonChronicle.com ($$$)
Since last summer, when Trump ignited a furor by labeling Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers, average monthly citizenship applications nationwide spiked nearly 15 percent to about 64,800 between August and January compared to the same period the year before.
Of course, registrations don't equal votes but they do show that the Democratic Party seems to be on the verge of a historic win IF, and given their history this is a big if, they don't overplay their hand. There's evidence already that they are intent on doing so.
The Democrats are built to win. Peter Beinart, The Atlantic
The bad news is that the Republican Party will now almost certainly nominate the most dangerous presidential nominee in modern American history. The good news is that the Democratic Party is built to defeat him. The reason is straightforward. The Democratic Party has become, to a significant extent, an anti-racist party. The Republican Party has not.
In an anti-racist party, politicians who demonize historically discriminated-against groups are either forced into retirement or, at the least, forced to apologize. Obviously, what constitutes bigotry is not always self-evident. But if many of the members of a historically discriminated-against group perceive something as bigoted, that’s usually a good hint.
Beinart, of course, is totally incorrect. The Democrats are not an anti-racist party, they have just chosen to use minority anger, direct it if you will, in an effort to belittle their political opponents without having to debate ideas (and discuss outcomes) or focus on the fact that, despite their high-minded rhetoric, their power structure is just as, if not more, lily-white and 1% as the Republicans.
The Democrats have become the party of old money, extremely wealthy Caucasians who view themselves as America's uncrowned royalty. As such, their proclivities are to rule, not govern. But to rule you need to distract the people from the fact that they are being ruled. In this case the GOP is playing right into their hands.
What a competent GOP would be doing is pointing out the flaws in the Democratic model. Because the party of the Donkey is not built to win, it's built to fall in upon itself when the largesse runs out. It's also full of competing forces who are going to find it difficult to reconcile.
Can Muslim Democrats ever coexist with GLBTQ Democrats? Can Hispanics ever coexist with unions? Who gets in line first to receive the handouts? Whose neighborhoods and communities are given priority over the other? Which jobs are more important?
While it's true that the Democrats should be able to rally together to beat THIS candidate, a man who is so much a parody that there is still the belief that he is a plant place inside the GOP to mess them up by Hillary. A plan that, while intelligent, requires a level of strategic competence that I don't think the Anointed One possesses. Instead, I think that the Bronzed Ego is on an ego trip. Running for the fun of it and because he thinks it's good for the Trump brand.
But an anti-racist party is going to have to come to grips with the fact that its own leaders are very Caucasian and, to date, very unwilling to share power. Already the Democrats are going through the opening stages of Hillary remorse. Do you think expanded roles in power for Pelosi and Reid are going to help them? Or hurt? Do you think seeing in full bloom a lily white power structure is going to lend credence to their claims of inclusion? Or leave voters questioning why this is?
The good news is, after all of this mess has settled, there will be an opening for a re-worked GOP to come in and sweep up these dissatisfied voters, to approach them with a message that displays hope, not hate. That talks about criminal justice reform and not increasing penalties for petty crimes. A GOP that talks about freeing up the economic system from over-burdensome regulation (while, it should be noted, keeping some regulation to ensure safety and prevent against bad actors) and putting to an end the crony capitalism that is doing nothing but funneling money and power to well-to-do party backers.
The new GOP needs to reignite the vision of social mobility, that people can start off poor and wind up wealthy, that having wealth is not a bad thing, and that profit is fuel for an economic engine, not companies keeping money out of the worker's hands. People need to believe that they can start a business and make it, without the government moving in, at the behest of other companies providing patronage, and trying to shut them down through regulation.
The Democrats are correct about one thing. The deck IS stacked against the worker. What they get wrong is who is doing the stacking. Whatever follows the GOP after the Trump debacle needs to figure out post-haste how to get that message disseminated. Because failing to do so could mean a generation in the political wild. And by the time they come out it could amount to too little, too late.
