George Graham

The Enthusiasm Gap

donald-trump-hillary-clinton

In a sane universe, Hillary Clinton would easily win the US presidency. She is by far the most qualified candidate. But this universe of ours is not sane.

Strange things happen. Danger is everywhere. Unpredictable. Unmanageable.

I was just reading about the threat to earth from random meteorites and asteroids hurtling about in space, for example.

There are random meteorites in politics, too.

Yes, like Donald Trump.

He boasted last night – after his big primary win in Mississippi – that he would beat Hillary easily. And then he gave a sneak preview of how he would do it. He lied.

In almost the same breath as his claim to be “a good Christian, a very good Christian, Trump bore false witness against Hillary, accusing her of unspecified crimes, which he suggested might prevent her from continuing her campaign.

To me, he sounded just like that Pharisee whose prayer of self congratulation was denounced in the Gospels.

Unlike the Deity, a lot of voters must like self-congratulating Pharisees. Trump is well on the way to capturing the Republican nomination.

He is doing it by a bizarre mixture of fact and fiction,posturing and pandering, jibes and jocularity, bragging and bluster.

He seems to be giving Republican voters what they want. And Independents. Even some Democrats. His supporters are turning out in droves, flocking to the polls in record numbers.

Meanwhile, voting in the Democratic primaries is down – down a lot – from 2008.

I hope the explanation is that Democrats like both of their candidates and aren’t motivated to choose one over the other. But I fear they may be weary of the fray. It’s been such a long, hard fight, and there have been so many dirty tricks, so many dispiriting disappointments. Could it be that many Democrats are simply giving up?

The poll numbers indicate that African Americans are turning out for Hillary and young voters are flocking to Bernie. But the overall Democratic turnout is much lower than in past presidential primaries. And you know it was poor turnout that caused the Democrats to lose so badly in the last general election.

I can’t image why anyone would stay home in November. So much is at stake. America faces so many challenges, so many hazards, so many mind boggling threats…

Like random meteorites hurtling toward us. Like Donald Trump.

Click for Trump’s speech.

More on dangerous asteroids.

About the author

gwgraeme

I am a Jamaican-born writer who has lived and worked in Canada and the United States. I live in Lakeland, Florida with my wife, Sandra, our three cats and two dogs. I like to play golf and enjoy our garden, even though it's a lot of work. Since retiring from newspaper reporting I've written a few books. I also write a monthly column for Jamaicans.com