Washington Post
Jennifer Rubin
- The Democrat front-runner knows how to reach out to Republicans, while her GOP rival Trump will need to spend a good deal of time and effort merely mending fences with his own party
Last week, we saw examples of no less than 10 reasons that Hillary Clinton is going to sweep to victory in the United States presidential election this November:
n 1. The economy is good enough. The jobs report (160,000 jobs created, the unemployment rate steady at 5 per cent) is not stellar, but there is no sign yet of a serious downturn. Conservative economist Doug Holtz-Eakin emails: “The other good news from the employer survey was that average hourly earnings rose by 0.3 per cent; up 2.5 per cent over the past year. The work-week edged up modestly. Put together, average weekly earnings rose solidly.” Unless there is a serious economic crisis (as there was in 2008), the incumbent party has the strong upper hand.
n 2. Donald Trump is so reckless and scary on economic issues that he scares even Republicans. He bizarrely suggested he would negotiate the sovereign debt of the US. That is a default and has never been attempted in US history. His recklessness on this is likely a preview of things to come.
n 3. The GOP is badly divided, if not on the verge of a split. It is Politics 101 that the party in turmoil (Democrats in 1980, for example) loses. Already, donors are closing their wallets, and Republicans, including two past presidents and both halves of the 2012 ticket, are refusing to endorse Trump.
n 4. Trump’s crew is so tone-deaf to the split that it is likely to make it worse. Whether criticising Mitt Romney for being pro-adoption or claiming to be clueless as to why the party’s idea man House Speaker Paul Ryan would object to Trump, the Trump team evidences little dexterity or self-awareness.
n 5. Trump lacks a money operation to match Hillary Clinton. He is no longer self-funding and yet his finance chair is unknown to many Republicans. Many big and mid-sized donors have no intention of giving Trump money.
n 6. Trump cannot possibly learn in six months how not to appear racist or sexist. When Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus lamely says of Trump’s “burrito bowl” gambit that Trump is “trying”, one realises how far beyond Trump’s capabilities this may be.
He has shown no ability to rein in insults and slurs; with Hillary willing to bait him, we can only imagine the insulting comments he will make about her and all women.
n 7. We’ve come up with six reasons Hillary will win without any effort on her part. When all you have to do is say, “I’m for adoption”, or, “No, the US stands behind its obligations”, you are in really good shape.
n 8. The ads write themselves. Hillary is already using the accusations and claims made by Republicans to attack and ridicule Trump.
n 9. Hillary knows how to reach out to Republicans. In the Senate, she worked well with many Republicans, and her team is reportedly beginning to make introductions to Bush donors. Trump will need to spend a good deal of time and effort merely mending fences with his own party.
n 10. The media will finally get tough on Trump. Somewhat chastened by the free media time given to Trump and some outlets’ lack of tough questioning, the media is anxious to score points. Conservatives will claim this is liberal bias, but since many of Trump’s critics are themselves very conservative, there may be a newfound appreciation on the right for the MSM’s journalistic skills. Politics does in fact make strange bedfellows.
