This Campaign, This Damn Pain: Friends In Low Places

Let’s be blunt: the idea of President Donald Trump scares the shit out of us. 

And when I mean us, I mean people who know better. Last week, I posted about how Donald’s support springs most from Non-College Educate Whites or, if I may be politically incorrect, Stupid People.  Yes, I know there’s the segment of society who thinks the world has passed them by for the last 8 years. If there’s been an economic recovery since the Great Recession of 2008, they haven’t seen fuck all from it. And nobody’s denying that. Yes, even President Obama who makes the case (and rightfully so) that things have improved considerably since those dark days 8 years ago, even he will acknowledge (and rightfully so) that it hasn’t improved for everybody and there is still way more that needs to be done. 

But if you’re part of that Non-College Educated White class that thinks Donald Trump is the man to save the day, well, sorry, but… Stupid People. That’s what you are. 

But for every damn body else who thinks (and rightfully so) that a Donald Trump presidency is just completely abhorrent, the good news is the polls say, fear not for the polls bring tidings of…. Well, not great joy but considerable relief. 

Right now, Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump in virtually every poll both nationally and individual states and not just leading but leading by a whole hell of a lot. Those are some damn fine poll numbers. 

And they have the Clinton campaign scared to death. 

We’re staring down 80+ days between now and the election on November 8^th. In a world of 24 hour news cycles and the unrelenting din of babble from social media, one never knows where the next problem will come about. 

Think about it. Did anyone anticipate that of all the stupid things Donald Trump has done, he would actually get into a feud with the parents of a slain American soldier? No, that was on nobody’s radar at all. 

While that is an example of something unforeseen that incredibly and finally hurt Donald Trump, you never know what silly, stupid gaffe Hillary Clinton could utter that would wind up dominating the news and starting peeling away at that big lead in the polls. It doesn’t matter who’s ahead today. What matter is who’s ahead on November 8^th when the last vote is tallied. Even if Hillary actually avoids any self-inflicted wounds (and no politician can’t do that forever), there are forces at work in the world beyond anyone’s control. A major terrorist attack or an unexpectedly dramatic economic downturn. 

And then there are the forces at work who would deliberately seek to undermine Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. 

The never ending “Tales of the Emails” continues to unwind with revelations last week of contact between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department with someone who was a donor to the foundation looking for a favor from the government. There is no direct connection to Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State but the implications are cause for concern. Many Clinton opponents on the right have made the Clinton Foundation a talking point, raising concerns about who gives money to the foundation and what connections it has with the government. Stuff like this doesn’t help. For now, it seems like the lid has been tamped down on this particular scandal. It helps that Donald Trump keeps sucking up all the air time with whatever stupid thing he said in the last 5 minutes. But if further emails are released with more stuff like we saw last week, that could poke a hole in Clinton’s support. 

And let me change that from “if” to “when” because Julian Assange of Wikileaks has made it known that we have yet to see but a portion of the information they have on Clinton and the Democratic Party.  (And on a side note, I find it disgusting—to quote Donald Trump’s favorite word—that the American electoral process could be at the mercy of an accused rapist who has avoided answering  for his reported crimes.) 

From the highs of incredibly strong poll numbers, Hillary Clinton, her campaign staff, the Democratic Party and every single sane intelligent soul who doesn’t want Donald Trump anywhere near the White House, we’re all looking down nervously. Are there friends of Hillary and Bill in low places who have looked for favors? And are their enemies in even lower places prepared to expose them? 

Everybody, be good to one another.

Dave-El

I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You