It is time, once again, for forecasts of doom. I invite readers to post their predictions about what dire and awful things will happen if a specific candidate is elected President. While Trump and Hillary are the only viable contenders, predictions about the others are also welcome.
First, I think Hillary is the only viable contender. Trump is going to lose. The only question is how badly he — and the GOP — will be beaten. The nation will remain divided after the election. Trump may concede defeat election night, or he may claim the election was rigged. Trump supporters, even after Trump eventually concedes defeat, will remain defiant. I predict Trump yard signs will remain in place for years to come as an sign of defiance. Hopefully violence will not result due to Trump’s landslide defeat. But Trump supporters are cult-like and anything is possible once their world collapses. As for Hillary, I don’t expect much to change. Hillary is basically 8 more years of Obama, or 8 more years of her husband Bill. If the GOP sustains the damage I think it will it’s finished. If so, considering the national demographics, we could be looking at 70+ years of one party (=Democrat) rule.
I predict Hillary in a voting machine assisted landslide…….
POLITICO – TRUMP MORNING TWEET STORM — @realDonaldTrump at 6:51 a.m.: “100% fabricated and made-up charges, pushed strongly by the media and the Clinton Campaign, may poison the minds of the American Voter. FIX!” … a t 7:45 a.m.: “This election is being rigged by the media pushing false and unsubstantiated charges, and outright lies, in order to elect Crooked Hillary!” … at 8:23 a.m.:”Hillary Clinton should have been prosecuted and should be in jail. Instead she is running for president in what looks like a rigged election”.
THAT LAST TWEET illustrates a concern a lot of Republicans and Democrats have: Trump is saying our presidential election system is not on the level. That’s basically unprecedented. When John McCain lost to Barack Obama in 2008, he called to congratulate him “on being elected the next president of the country that we both love” and said “this campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life. And my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Sen. Obama and my old friend, Sen. Joe Biden, should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.”
CAN ANYONE see Trump saying anything like this if he loses? If he doesn’t, that could upend a bipartisan American tradition and a bedrock of any democracy: the peaceful transition of power. This is something that top officials in both parties have been seriously worried about for months. Trump’s recent tactics on the trail have heightened this concern. Republicans who think Trump will lose want to quickly move on if Clinton is the victor. And Democrats know Clinton will be hobbled if a swath of Americans think she is illegitimate.
MATT VISER and TRACY JAN of the Boston Globe nail it. “Trump says the election is rigged — and his supporters are furious”: “[I]f Trump doesn’t win, some are even openly talking about violent rebellion and assassination, as fantastical and unhinged as that may seem. ‘If she’s in office, I hope we can start a coup. She should be in prison or shot. That’s how I feel about it,’ Dan Bowman, a 50-year-old contractor, said of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee. ‘We’re going to have a revolution and take them out of office if that’s what it takes. There’s going to be a lot of bloodshed. But that’s what it’s going to take. . . . I would do whatever I can for my country.’…’Trump said to watch you precincts. I’m going to go, for sure,’ said Steve Webb, a 61-year-old carpenter from Fairfield, Ohio. ‘I’ll look for . . . well, it’s called racial profiling. Mexicans. Syrians. People who can’t speak American,’ he said. ‘I’m going to go right up behind them. I’ll do everything legally. I want to see if they are accountable. I’m not going to do anything illegal. I’m going to make them a little bit nervous.'” http://bit.ly/2drlcwK
AJ
How secure do you think the voting system is? Are electronic voting machines hackable? If the elite want Hillary(and only a deaf, dumb and blind retard could think otherwise) and fear Donald, what measures do you think they would be prepared to take to ensure her victory? Bearing in mind your presidents get whacked on a regular basis for not following instructions……
AJ
This might be a good time to have a discussion on the ethics of revolt in response to perceived or real electoral fraud.
Michael may care to guide us with his insights as to when it is morally permissible to refuse to recognise a dodgy election result…or is the electorate supposed to suck it up and move on in the interests of national unity/public harmony regardless?
What would your founding fathers have to say about a populace that can be blatantly stiffed without even a whimper in protest? Given all the forces arrayed against Trump,would a campaign of payback against them be in order, regardless of who wins(spoiler alert, you are going to get Hillary, it has already been decided by those who matter)? Would not paying them back( boycotts, demonstrations, dirt digging, public insults, harrasment etc) only encourage further acts of treason by the usual suspects? Can there be a democracy if the general populace are unwilling to enforce it, given the tendency of power to corrupt?
It could be an interesting hypothetical discussion.
Since the election campaign is basically media entertainment for a country that no longer plays canasta, bowls or attends church , expect the diversion to continue for the foreseeable future. The most coverage will be given to the deteriorating health of Mrs. Bill Clinton, already on a diet of drugs.