The only issue in the American political world anyone seems to talk about these days is Donald Trump. Everyone appears to have an opinion, and since we're on the tail end of the giving season, I figured I would add mine: Donald Trump is extremely important to the current dynamic of American politics, but not for the reason that you (or he) may think.
In the fairness of full disclosure, I was completely wrong about Trump. When he first came on the political scene, I thought he was a fad -- a clueless businessman with an ego the size of New York City, a crude guy who would spike for his 15 minutes of more fame, and then ultimately crash and burn. I trusted that the intense media scrutiny and Republican primary electorate, turned-off by his limited understanding of issues, would ultimately whittle him down to little more than a temporary embarrassment to the great ideals of this singular country.
Given the current state of things, as the primary season is only about a month away, it is safe to say that my prediction was way off. I have no problem admitting that Trump has been brilliant at manipulating the media to control his message. His momentum has struck fear in the hearts of many who are left wondering, "He can't be serious?!" Those people, both Republican and Democrat, need to stop doubting Trump and take him at his word that he is a demagogue, bigot and thug. But more importantly, what does Trump's durability tell us about the state of American politics -- specifically about the state of the Republican and Democratic parties?
The Republican Party has worked itself into a lose-lose situation. In its quest for electoral victory, the GOP has done anything and everything to chase a winning strategy. Once upon a time, and by that, I mean what feels like yesterday, the Republican Party stood for internationalism, free market capitalism, and a smaller government -- values that even I, as a diehard Democrat, could support and even possibly vote for.
By contrast, today's Republican Party seems to stand for who is angriest at any person who has ever worked in Washington, D.C. Today's Republican Party appears to represent whomever can say the worst thing about minorities but fall short of actually saying, "We don't like minorities." Today's GOP seems to equate internationalism with belligerence and never agreeing to international treaties.
Our current Republican Party has become one to prize personal freedom in all things except which health choices women can make for themselves, whom homosexual citizens can marry, and how well we can repeat the mistakes of WWII by locking up Muslims. This is not a Republican Party that has any connection to its recent past.
The reason for this disconnect is that the Republican Party has fashioned its message and focus more and more towards its most conservative elements. Rather than seeking a broad coalition, the party has made a deal with the devil by embracing what defines its "base voters" -- the core volunteers during an election cycle -- and coupling this relatively narrow voting block with various conservative "purity" tests that President Reagan himself could not have passed.
This has led us all to the phenomenon of Donald Trump, a blowhard narcissist of the worst kind, marching along to a drumbeat that all things wrong in the world are due to the federal government, and more specifically, due to President Obama. It's not a difficult leap to appreciate that when Republicans fan the flames of fear and hatred, a disaffected group of white men are going to listen and respond. And the older, whiter and more male the GOP's core supporters are, the more the party has to embrace candidates who will keep that portion of the electorate happy -- candidates like Donald "someone's doing the raping" Trump. At the end of the day, it's not only a morally wrong strategy, but a losing one; every demographic predictor shows that those white men are going to become a smaller minority in America.
Contrary to his own and popular belief, The Donald is not important to American politics because he might become the President of the United States. He's important because he is accelerating an already dangerous losing strategy for the GOP, making them more accountable to a small, volatile part of the electorate. One, which has frequently held the government and the global markets hostage in order to make their point, its almost as if the want to watch as Rome burns. That thinking has and will continue to have serious consequences for governing this country.
In the meantime, may God save our country from Donald Trump.