"Every Republican politician and commentator who continues to say that Trump is a superior or even morally equivalent choice to Hillary Clinton will now own their temporary leader’s brutality for the rest of their political careers. . . .Folks, at this point, I think there's at least a 50/50 chance that Donald Trump will not still be the Republican candidate for president on the November ballot. He's already making noise about the election being "rigged" against him, which he could use as his excuse for bailing out on a losing battle. Just as he's making a big deal of the fact that two of the debates are scheduled opposite NFL games --suggesting that maybe he'll use that as an excuse to refuse to debate. The debates were set almost a year ago, before the NFL schedule was available, long before Trump was the nominee; so it's a little far-fetched to claim it's Clinton rigging the system against him.
"This is a moment of truth for GOP leaders who passively accepted and sometimes encouraged an extremism that trafficked in religious and racial prejudice and painted President Obama as an illegitimate, power-hungry leader. . . .
"Clinton Republicans and ex-Republicans could thus be this generation’s Reagan Democrats. In repudiating Trump for Clinton, they will not be abandoning their ideology. They will be making a moral statement that their movement will not tolerate an opportunist so corrupt and so vile that when given a choice, he pandered to religious intolerance rather than honoring the sacrifice of a brave young American."
Pultizer Prize winning Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson wrote yesterday: "I thought Donald Trump was crazy like a fox. Now I am increasingly convinced that he's just plain crazy. . . . At this point it would be irresponsible to ignore the fact that his grasp on reality seems tenuous at best."
Meg Whitman, a prominent Republican fund raiser and candidate herself for the California Republican senate nomination in 2012, has endorsed Hillary Clinton and will be raising money for her. She wrote on her Facebook page: “To vote Republican out of party loyalty alone would be to endorse a candidacy that I believe has exploited anger, grievance, xenophobia and racial division. Donald Trump’s demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character." A former aide to Chris Christie will vote for Clinton, and a political adviser to Jeb Bush has left the Republican party and will vote for Clinton. Even Sarah Palin's son-in-law, Dakota Meyer, himself a Medal of Honor Iraq war hero, said that Trump cannot be commander-in-chief until he starts acting like one, beginning with an apology to the Khans.
It's still possible that the RNC and leaders like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell might abandon him, as he continues to prove by his daily behavior that he is not fit to be president. Which is exactly the question that President Obama posed today for the Republican leaders: "If you are repeatedly having to say, in very strong terms, that what he said is unacceptable, then why are you still endorsing him?. . . What does it say about your party that this is your standard bearer? . . . At some point you have to say 'Enough.'" Calling Trump "woefully unprepared and unfit to serve as president," he emphasized that: "It's not just a matter of policy differences."
Trump responded with a tweet, saying that Obama is the one who is unfit for office and has made the world a more dangerous place. And I say: However this plays out, it's probably going to get worse before it gets better.
Ralph
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