On Your Mark…
So here we are, on Labor Day weekend, and the final push is about to begin in this miserable, horrible race for the White House. No one can be sure how this is all going to play out, but there are a few things we know.
First, this race is Hillary Clinton’s to lose — and she might. She still has the lead over Donald Trump in most polls, but it’s shrinking. And the race is tightening not because Trump is making great inroads or massive numbers of voters are turning toward him — it’s tightening because more and more people are getting disgusted with Clinton and her email mess.
The truth is, Hillary is a serial liar. She has lied over and over and over about her use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State. She has lied about what the FBI director has said about that use. And she continues to lie to this very moment about that email mess. This drip, drip, drip of lies and scandal over her incredibly stupid use of a private server may end up destroying her run for the White House.
We also know that there is no “new” Donald Trump. There’s just “Trump” — love him or hate him. His supporters — most of whom are poorly educated white men but some of whom are those crazy, fanatical right-wing radio talk show hosts — just love the man because he says the things they’ve always wanted to say about women and minorities. And they love Trump because he’s still promising to deport millions of immigrants the moment he steps into the White House. My, my.
Another thing we know is the most voters don’t like either Trump or Hillary. In fact, most voters not only don’t like them — they distrust them and wish they’d go away. Unfortunately, our political system — which is in a shambles — has left us with the two most unpopular major-party candidates in memory. That’s both amazing and depressing, isn’t it?
And one more thing we know is that the first of the presidential debates — which is scheduled for Sept. 26 — will be the most-watched debate in American history. I mean, everyone will tune in to see this epic battle between two people hardly anyone likes or trusts. Will Clinton be able to “stand up” to the much more physically imposing Trump? Will Trump lose his cool — start ranting or start insulting her — as he did in several of the GOP primary debates?
So fasten your seat belts, everyone. This is going to be a wild, crazy, unpredictable next few weeks. And when it’s over, one of these two terribly flawed, unlikeable, untrustworthy people will be elected president.
Whoever it is will almost surely fail as president, but that’s another story for another time. Happy Labor Day!