I read and listen to quite a bit of liberal commentary (I believe it’s my obligation to seek and hear the best arguments from the opposing side), and I’ve been struck at the extent to which no one seems to be seriously contemplating a Trump victory. Sure, they think of it in theoretical terms, but it’s simply not sunk in that he could actually win this thing. Heck, even Republicans seem to preparing the ground more for a post-Trump civil war than a Trump presidency. But what happens if Trump wins? Three things, right away:
1. The more extreme edges of the Left (and some on the mainstream) will immediately attribute the loss to “voter suppression” or “voter intimidation.” If Trump wins, that means black voters almost certainly turned out less for Hillary. If that happens, watch for apocalyptic, inflammatory, and irresponsible rhetoric about Jim Crow, voting rights, and disenfranchisement.
2. Smarter Democrats will drop Bill and Hillary Clinton like a hot potato. They’ll understand their party’s colossal blunder — nominating the one Democrat who could have lost to Trump. After a quarter-century of tawdry scandal, the nation will finally be rid of the Clintons. This one fact will keep me happy for days on end . . . until I remember that we’ll still have an unfit president in the Oval Office.
3. Conservatives will understand their place in the new pecking order — somewhere behind Ivanka’s clothing line. The win will be all about Trump and Trumpism, not conservatism or the GOP. It will be the vindication of a man, his most loyal followers, and his made-up ideology.
Of course, there are other things that will happen (I say this to reassure my progressive friends) — the sun will rise in the east, the markets will open on Wednesday, and the NBA will still be the greatest show on earth. In other words, our nation has to break through quite a few more firewalls before any one president can truly do catastrophic harm, and most of those firewalls remain intact.