In the U.S, primaries, we are watching what is known in politics as the bandwagon effect. We have been watching it build for American billionaire Donald Trump. In a lacklustre mob of Republican primary candidates, it was no surprise that Trump started with a lead of around 30 per cent of the Republican votes. Against the long line of others that could not garner 10 per cent, he was a winner. That was all he needed to become the phenomenon of the GOP campaign.
The buffoon that he is, Trump could not restrain himself from pointing out that he would not be where he is in the race were it not for the corruption of the system choosing him. The fondest hope of clear thinking Republicans who have any influence in the party is that they can reform the system so a Trump can never happen again.
But the Republicans have created this situation for themselves. The party of Abraham Lincoln needs to hang its figurative head in shame for the state of American politics that has lead to this fiasco. The frustration that the Tea Party and the other crazies in the party feel about politics in America was created by over-reaching Republican politicians trying to impress that facet in the party with their determination.
What they have now is a presumptive candidate for the presidency who is disliked and distrusted by a sizeable majority of American voters. Changing that perception of their candidate might be possible if he was one who would do as he was told. And fat chance of that.
The apparatchiks of the Republican party have been racking their brains trying to come up with a way to derail the Trump bandwagon. The problem they have is that there is no heir-apparent. Even if they could have had a contested convention, they could never put together an effective organization for either Ted Cruz or John Kasich—the last pins standing in the Trump Bowling alley.
It seems there will be much more written about Donald Trump over the months to the November election. If Hillary Clinton is smart enough to stay out of a Trump style of campaign, she should have an easy victory in November. If we had our druthers, it would be great to see a Trump-Cruz line-up for the GOP and a Clinton-Sanders line-up for the Democrats. Now that combination would give us political commentators something to get our keyboards rattling!
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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