July 4^th

No right wing columnists are trying to confuse the readers of our newspaper today. The result is that I have some freedom to change topics. I’m going to go out on a limb and fantasize about the future election. (As Yogi Berra said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”)

First, consider the Republicans: Donald Trump has thrown an explosive device into the ever expanding field of candidates. Trump’s derogatory comments about Mexican immigrants have earned him considerable criticism; Macy’s has stopped carrying his signature merchandise, various networks have dropped his shows and he probably has to give up the notion of an Acapulco vacation unless he buys the town. The curious thing about Trump is that none of the other candidates have criticized him. About the most severe was Governor Pataki who went out on a limb and called Trump’s comments “disrespectful;” really, that’s the best the Republican field can do to rebut Trump’s outrageous racist characterizations of immigrants? So what does this flabby response mean?

I’ll answer that: It means these candidates know that many of their supporters agree with Trump. Some, or perhaps all, of the candidates themselves agree with him too, but they are not willing to risk the loss of Latino votes by saying so. The evidence for this view is in Trump’s poll numbers. The commentariate claim his high standing in the polls is because of his name recognition. That’s partly true but much of his support is also because many conservatives are closet bigots. They can’t express their bigotry publicly (wouldn’t be prudent) but are happy to let Trump do it for them.

If the party does not reject Trump and his message they will surely lose much of the Latino vote and with it they will lose the election. But Trump has a message which is very popular with many conservatives; that doesn’t matter because party kingmakers (read donors such as the Koch brothers) will insist that he go. If he is rejected he will indeed go; his need to be admired and appreciated is as much a part of his nature as his iconic haircut. The result will be a third party; quite likely called the “Trump Party.”  Bumper stickers will read, “Party with Trump, vote for The Donald.”

If you think that Trump’s message doesn’t appeal to millions of Americans just read Ann Coulters latest effort, “Adios America” in which she spouts much the same racist rant as Trump does. She appeared on Bill Maher’s show and claimed that she agreed with Trump’s message. Coulter has to be taken seriously, just look at her sales; ten, probably now eleven, books on the “Times” best seller list. All of her books viciously denigrate liberals. People who don’t buy her message don’t buy her books. She is very smart and now she is very rich; what a great V.P. candidate to accompany The Donald.