Donald Trump--I'm veering off of privacy and law. He reminds me of Ulysses Grant in his dynamic popularity, his coming from nowhere to the top, and also in how likely he is to be able to handle the job of president. Grant, in case you're not up on your 1870 political history, was a mess as president and got to keep being that same mess for 8 full years. Trump has just won the Republican primaries in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Actually "Trump as the Second Coming of Grant" could be its own post--or its own book. By contrast, in Nevada and South Carolina the strong-left candidate Bernie Sanders was brought down to reality by Clinton's voters. Now Jeb Bush is gone and the clock is ticking on Marco Rubio, who looks like a great possibility for president in about 2024. Where is Paul Ryan when we need him? I guess he's sitting over there with Jeb Bush, except that Bush didn't play it safe. He took his shot but it wasn't his year. Also Ryan did take his shot with Romney in 2012 and lose.
What If? Call it a vision of 2025.
What if Trump wins the nomination in spite of the fact that he can't seem to get more than 35% of even the Republican vote? He does seem able to keep anyone else from getting that many.
What if Clinton wins the nomination?
What if she beats him by a lop-sided margin and we have another four or eight years of Democratic President and Republican Congress?
What if the mainstream old Republicans blame the Tea Party for pissing away a great chance to keep a second Clinton President from the White House?
What if the Tea Party portion in Congress stays virtually as big as it is now?
What if the Tea Party hand in state legislatures and governorships stays as is?
What are the odds that the Tea Party will split from the Repubs in the next few years and we will end up with three parties?
What are the odds that centrist Democrats will join the center-Repubs in a new Center Party and the Sanders Socialists will turn into the third party?
It's a vision I keep finding in my head as Trump keeps winning.
As president, nation-saving war hero Grant ended up being a buffoon.
Trump, hero only of his own business empire and Mitt Romney has doubts even about that, is a buffoon 20 times over already. He doesn't have nearly as good of character as Grant had.
Mitt Romney in 2012 at least was a businessman who looked like he could listen to people who disagreed with him and treat them with respect, who sounded like he could think things through before shooting off his mouth, and who seemed to really care about interpersonal relationships at least as much as his own chance at power. Trump shows no sign of being able to do those things, but a president has to do them All Day Long or govern less effectively as a result.
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