I remember last summer when everybody thought it was a farce when Donald J. Trump said he was running for president on the Republican ticket, but it’s not a joke anymore because he’s skillfully and tragically hijacking the GOP.
Before I delve into all that is terrifying of a Trump nominee, which the delegate count shows it becoming more and more likely, I should clarify that I’m not critiquing him as a hard-liner Democrat, liberal, progressive or Independent: I’m a Republican. For my very first vote, I casted my ballot for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in 2012 (who lost). Then in 2014, I voted for the Virginia Gubernational Republican candidate, Ken Cuccinelli (who lost). Then this year on the first Super Tuesday, I voted for Marco Rubio (who lost). With such a dismal voting record, I had to start giving an honest and hard look at the party that I count on to stand for my conservative values. After a massive midterm sweep in 2010, where did they go wrong?
The Republican party kept the mirage that they were united in 2012 simply because they could agree on one thing: they disliked the Obama administration. But the mirage has been dispelled when the 2016 race started with a crowded selection of 17 people and they’ve been pummeling each other while Trump struts to the finish line without a scratch. He doesn’t have to pass the conservative litmus test because all rules are off the table for him. He’s not a politican, so he doesn’t have to go along with their silly rules of conduct. He doesn’t have to present substantative answers on policy, explain his failed businesses or release his taxes. All Trump has to do is run an emotional campaign by tapping into voters’ anger and this dangerous tactic makes his rallies have “an undercurrent of violence,” according to The Atlantic.
He points his fingers at illegal immigrants, Mexicans, Muslims, the Chinese government, politicians, reporters, women, Weak Jeb, Lyin’ Ted, Little Marco, Loser Romney…you get the point. He’s made American politics into an embarrassing trainwreck, but the Trump Train is speeding throughout the country and people are buying into his fear-mongering brand. The anti-Trump cry of #NeverTrump has come too late. He’s gotten endorsements from politicans and Republican candidates and party leaders are still vowing to stand behind Trump come November.
I understand that their political lives are on the line and that they cannot fathom a Hillary Clinton presidency. Neither can I because another four to eight years of reckless big government expansion and spending is not an easy pill to swallow. On the flip side, Trump’s volatile character could crash and burn the Republican party; just take a look at his favorability numbers. His nomination also nearly guarentees Hillary’s win because 37 percent of GOP voters would consider voting third party. Yet I’m not sure if staying home in November will send my message loud and clear to the Republican party that they must revive or they’ll die off. It looks like Trump’s disrepsect and ignorance leaves me no choice but to consider voting for a criminal who should be in jail. Talk about having to choose between the lesser of two evils.
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore (Flickr Creative Commons)