After an election season that has me wondering if Stephen King can see the future, we're finally nearing the end of this madness. By this point, the outcome of the election is pretty much baked in one way or the other. So, i'm not going to get too far into the weeds as far as the candidates themselves are concerned. Regardless of who is elected, I'm worried the wrong lessons are going to be learned.
We'll start with what I'm told is the most likely outcome. If Hillary Clinton is elected President, I think there's a very real possibility that a faction of the Republican party is going to splinter off into a third party. What that could look like is anyone's guess. But personally, I think the modern day version of the Rockefeller Republicans is going to be in search of a home. The problem is that there's no one that I can see who might be a standard-bearer for for such a thing. Evan McMullin doesn't have it in him, Jeb! has the charisma of Eeyore on a bad day, Romney is done, Rubio doesn't have the balls and Cruz whiffed on his one shot at displaying something resembling honor. So, it'll be interesting to see who fills the void.
Even if I'm wrong about an official split, or which side of the split ends up being the one to walk, one thing is for certain, the Republican party is going to be a mess for quite some time. While they get their shit together, there's going to be an opportunity for the Democratic party to decide what direction they want to take the country, and who they're going to bring along for the ride. My concern is that they're going to look at the demographics and come to the conclusion that they don't even need to pretend to give a damn about poor and working class white voters. There's already some sign of this in the way that many liberal voters view Trump supporters. For many liberals, it hasn't been enough to simply say that their candidate is more qualified or that their ideas are better. Instead, they've effectively written off at least 40% of the electorate as being racist, sexist, illiterate rednecks. Don't get me wrong, racism and sexism is a very real problem in the Davd Duke wing of the party. But, there are going to be a lot of reasonable and decent people who will end up voting for Trump. These are people who spent their whole lives hearing about how once upon a time you could raise a family pumping gas or driving a bus. They've worked hard, played by the rules and done their best. And yet, that hasn't been enough. Maybe they're saddled with college debt and they can't find a job. Or, college was dream that never materialized and now they're grinding away at some shitty minimum wage job with no end in sight. They've been sold a bill of goods by both parties for decades and they're tired of being screwed over. So yea, they'll vote for someone like Trump, because that's the only way they can express their rage and frustration. When he says "what in the hell do you have to lose?" they look around at their lives and come to the saddest conclusion possible, "nothing". So, if burning it all down is their only chance to get someone to pay attention, they're going to do it, and I don't know if I have it in my heart to blame them. What worries me is that if Hillary wins, the Democrats are going to decide once and for all that they don't need to even pretend that they care about the very real issues that these people have. In fact, it's already started. When was the last time a Democrat made a serious play in a state like Mississippi or Kentucky? Hell, let's get a bit more granular about this. For all the talk of North Carolina being a 'battleground', take a look at the county results from 2008. With only a couple exceptions, the Democrats ceded the whole western part of the state. Frankly, if you're a rural white voter, the Democrats haven't given a shit about your vote since Bill Clinton was President. I think that's a mistake and I'm worried that if Hillary Clinton wins I think it's a mistake they're going to double down on.
Now, lets look on the other side of the equation. What if Trump wins? Honestly, this is the only election that has frightened me. As a political junkie, his campaign has been fascinating to watch. But, as a person, I'm terrified by what it would mean if he wins, and I'm saddened by the fact that there's so much anger and frustration in the country that there's even a possibility that he could get his tiny hands on the nuclear codes.
My biggest worry with Trump is that the very people who the Democrats have turned their backs on have chosen a saviour that gives precisely zero fucks about them. I'm amazed at how well a New York billionaire has managed to repackage himself as some kind of a populist superhero. But, he's pulled it off. If Trump wins, what do you think tomorrow is going to look like?
Personally, I think he's going to weaponize the rage of his supporters and use it against anyone who has slighted him in some real or imagined way. He's already flirted with this at his rallies in terms of aiming crowds of people at protesters and the media like they're a giant loaded gun that he can pull the trigger on anytime he wants. Imagine that on a national scale. I have a great deal of sympathy for the folks that feel like the 'new economy' is a sham. But, is that really what we want? Is that who we are?
Regardless of the outcome, I think something of a reckoning is on the horizon. I just can't imagine how things can function as they should when the nation is so polarized. Unfortunately, I can't see anything in this election that's going to make a positive difference. If anything, there's every chance it's going to be much worse in the near future.
Anyway, I have scotch to drink and the potential end of the world to ponder. So, I'm out!
