The fact that Trump is in the race just illustrates how pissed-off the public is with the system/status quo. Sure, he's a crappy choice, but he was the only choice from the GOP that was not from within the system. Of course, the Dems had Bernie, who also came pretty close to getting the nomination. Sum those two together and it's pretty clear how the population feels about the state of both party's offerings.
I really see no way Trump gets in, especially with all that has transpired the last week or two. What will be interesting is what happens in 2020. Will the GOP rebuild itself to a unified party again? Will Hillary run for a second term? She will be 72 in 202 and will have served 4 years in what will no doubt be a turbulent term. I for one, doubt that she will run again. I think a big part of her motivation for running was to go in the history books as the first woman president. Once she has that title, I think she'll lose interest in reelection.
I don't necessarily think it's the public at large that's seething at the status quo. A lot of people who do seethe, though, are reactionaries (not just conservatives,
reactionaries) who feel that the decades' worth of progress we've made toward equality somehow diminishes their own standing as White Male - Top of the Heap ... when often, that seemed to be one of the few things they had going for them.
These people feel -- even though the vast majority of them couldn't articulate the concept to save their lives -- that others getting closer to equality has somehow eroded their own social status and, consequently, their sense of self worth. Which strengthens their animosity for those whom they feel (quite wrongly) are stealing their status.
Trump represents the unchecked, unabashed id of the GOP allowed to run loose, and these people who've been told to feel ashamed about their reactionary tendencies have latched onto him as their, pardon the expression, Great White Hope. They think (again, quite wrongly) that Trump can somehow restore their place at the top of the pile based on their gender and/or skin color. When he says "Make America Great Again" they hear "Make America White Again" and Trump has cynically and opportunistically tapped into and reinforced that undercurrent. But even if he were unthinkably elected, his entire history is a one long object lesson in narcissism: he wouldn't do anything for them, he'd do things for Trump, and Trump alone. And if they crossed him in the slighted, most imperceptible way, he'd brand them losers and haters and throw them to the wolves.
As far as the "Will the GOP rebuild itself" question goes, after their 2012 defeat, the GOP commissioned
a study to tell them where they went wrong and what they can do to reverse their fortunes.
Unsurprisingly, the main points of the study's report included:
- Pass immigration reform and stop trying to scapegoat immigrants for things that aren't their fault
- Give minorities (particularly blacks) a greater voice and opportunities, and not only when they "Uncle Tom" it up
- Address the right's long-standing animosity toward gays, because they are not going away
- Perhaps putting undue focus on the well-being of the rich has been a mistake, because (deep, dark secret y'all) trickle down economics has been proven to be bullshit for almost 4 decades
- Listen to ideas from outside the party, because apparently we've been living inside an echo chamber that (surprise) doesn't reflect the nation as a whole (aka, epistemic closure)
So, given these internally-commissioned lessons from just 4 years ago, what does the GOP do in 2016? They run a raft of presidential candidates, each crazier than the last (with perhaps two exceptions), and they end up with the batshit craziest of them all as their final nominee. And he keeps doubling down on idiocy.
You tell
me if the GOP will learn from this.
