So, what happens now in the seemingly neverending presidential election campaign? The Democrats all join hands in party unity and go on to deal Donald Trump a resounding defeat and propel Hillary Clinton into the White House? Not so fast says Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone:
People are sick of being thought of as faraway annoyances who only get whatever policy scraps are left over after pols have finished servicing the donors they hang out with at Redskins games.
Democratic voters tried to express these frustrations through the Sanders campaign, but the party leaders have been and probably will continue to be too dense to listen. Instead, they’ll convince themselves that, as Hohmann’s Post article put it, Hillary’s latest victories mean any “pressure” they might have felt to change has now been “ameliorated.”
I don’t know what’s going to happen between now and November. I find this election season completely baffling. But I strongly suspect that the next five months will be more like the last five months than they will be like July through November 2008.
I don’t know what’s happening either. But then again it seems that nobody else does. I thinks that Mr. Taibbi’s observations come closer than any others that I have seen.
At times like these I sometimes visit the oracle.
“Because something is happening
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones ?”
or perhaps
“Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'”
Just my two cents. Of course two cents was actually worth something back in the day.
I don’t know what’s going to happen either. I’m not sure anyone does, we may be witnessing an emergence or it may just be a blip followed by more of the same. If it’s the former, I think Trump will win, if it’s the latter Clinton will win. A third alternative is that we are in the midst of an emergence but the establishment has a few gasps left – in that case, Clinton will win.
So, at this point, my guess is that Clinton will win.
I can understand someone deciding Clinton is so horrible that they will vote for Trump. I can understand someone deciding Trump is so awful they will vote for Clinton. I can’t understand why anyone would think that either Clinton or Trump is likely to address, successfully, any of our important issues. I really don’t understand the true believers touting either candidate.
Steve
Steve, to understand true believers, understand faith and for some, the profit motive.
As to what happens next, Clinton will eventually win, when Trump runs out of steam, barring the known unknowns. My concern is that the turnout will be less than the 49% seen in 1996. Neither candidate is likeable but, then things change.
My prediction: At some point, Trump will have systematically offended each and every American, and get 27% of the vote.
He will then wander through life as an orange periah going from town to town, getting involved in people’s problems each week. It will be like “The Fugitive” or “The Incredible Hulk”, but a reality tv show. Also, he won’t solve anything, he will just irritate people and threaten to sue them.
If true, it’s hard to underestimate how huge this is:
http://www.salon.com/2016/06/10/fbi_criminal_investigation_emails_clinton_approved_cia_drone_assassinations_with_her_cellphone_report_says/
Trumo has three groups working for him: those who think he’ll fix the system, those who think he’ll destroy the system and those who want a good show (I call this the Berlusconi effect.) Clinton has those who like things the way they are and those terrified of what he might do.
If the number of Sanders supporters who won’t vote Clinton is high as I personally think it is, Trump is likely to win.
What will happen next?? This speaks to disenchantment and desire for change.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-11/peddling-non-fiction-here-are-facts-about-americas-disappearing-middle-class
If Trump makes the case he can have some effect he will probably win. If the status quo seems preferable she will win. I think the latter will be the harder of the two cases to make. I’m not sure how many Clinton supporters fully realize what is happening out there outside of NY, SF, LA, Chicago and a handful of other places. And the obvious disdain for the Average Joe will probably preclude them from catching on.
HRC certainly represents the “status quo,” or what people are used to in a self-serving politician. And, Trump is the uncouth change agent who has taken on the reputation of the “blue collar billionaire.” He neither cares about nor does he entertain notions about PC conduct, being conventional or following political protocol. His speech, actions etc. are totally directed to the people at his rallies, blue collar workers, the middle class, and his sense of direction — right from wrong — is based on instinct not on a handlers’s words of caution, or the latest poll numbers.
I really don’t know how such a man will play out. He could either blow up the world, or he might actually be able to “will” it back together. Some days I think the former is more likely. Then there are other days something strikes me about him — something he says or does — where it seems he might possess what is needed to turn things around.
” blue collar workers,”
Most of his voters have above average incomes. I know this meme persists because it fits with a narrative conservative like, but blue collar workers are not his real base of support.
http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21697265-it-myth-he-owes-his-support-disaffected-blue-collar-workers-uptown-trump
Steve
“…but blue collar workers are not his real base of support.”
That’s not what I said, Steve. I gave a blend of supporters in that particular post. In fact, Trump seems to attract supporters from a vast demographic of people — including income brackets, education and even race. The commonality, though, between this mixture of supporters is that they all seem to feel a disquieting sense of disenfranchisement from not only their current government representatives but also their country. They are looking for something “different,” less politically correct (for sure), and someone, something that speaks to their own values and needs more.
Frankly, Obama only listens to those he agrees with — mostly those in his own self contained WH bubble of unelected advisors. HRC, is the matron of clever political abuse (now oozing over into the criminal realm) in her role of SOS and private citizen. How her life-long ambitious traits would evolve as POTUS is too grievous to even imagine. Trump, with all the stories of travesties in business and personal dalliances, still remains a relatively unknown entity regarding how he would actually function in high office.