By Paul Waldman
October 24 at 12:34 PM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/10/24/republicans-told-their-voters-that-politics-is-inherently-evil-that-stuck-them-with-trump/?utm_term=.ec47c5b0aea1As the prospect of Donald Trump’s defeat becomes more real, Republicans are assembling an explanation for what went wrong. It says that even if Trump overstated the degree to which the system is “rigged,” there was still lots of voter fraud; that the media first elevated Trump to the nomination then destroyed him in the general election; and perhaps most importantly, that Hillary Clinton was such a terrible candidate that if only they hadn’t been tricked and manipulated into nominating Trump, they would have won the White House.
Mike Pence would have beaten Clinton. Or Marco Rubio would have. Even Jeb Bush might have. Peggy Noonan writes that a “sane” version of Donald Trump “would have won in a landslide.” She then goes on to describe this imaginary candidate who is absolutely nothing like Donald Trump, but is instead a thoughtful, informed, inclusive candidate with well-thought-out positions and impeccable political instincts.
This is the real lesson of their lament: Though they’d never put it this way, the Republicans’ biggest mistake was that they failed to nominate, guess what, a politician. But this didn’t happen by accident. Instead, it was the logical end point of everything they’ve been telling their constituents for years.
Republicans set the stage for Trump not only by stoking Tea Party anger, but by convincing their constituents that the very idea of politics is repugnant, and only someone untainted by it could lead their party. And then they’re amazed when the political neophyte they nominated turns out to have no idea what he’s doing.
For the moment, let’s set aside the question of whether Republicans would really be winning with a different nominee (I think the race would be closer, but Democrats would still have the advantage). What this hypothetical alternative would bring is the skills, experience, and knowledge you gain by being active in politics, exactly what Trump lacks. He’d know how to run a proper campaign. He’d have a grasp of substantive policy issues, and know how to communicate Republican positions to voters in a persuasive way. He’d understand how not to alienate key groups of voters. He’d be in control of his emotions, able to give a speech or participate in a debate without damaging outbursts.
In other words, he’d be a politician. You may notice that no Republicans are saying this election would be a lock if only Ben Carson or Carly Fiorina had been their nominee.
Yet for years, Republicans have been running against “Washington,” an irredeemable Sodom of corruption and malfeasance. Anyone who wants to actually make government work is immediately suspect, an “insider” whose motives can only be nefarious. They look for “outsiders” who can tell voters, “Elect me because I’m not a politician, I’m a businessman.” Granted, there have been a few Democrats who have made that claim too, but Republicans are particularly attracted to it, despite the fact that it’s ludicrous on its face.
If you hired a carpenter to build you a deck and you didn’t like the way it turned out, you wouldn’t say, “What we need to fix this deck is someone who’ll think outside the box. Like a computer programmer, or a librarian. Just as long as it’s not another carpenter.” No, if you were a rational person, you’d decide to get yourself a better carpenter.(more at link)
