Well, I was wrong about many things this cycle, but I am happy to say that I was not wrong about Trump by the time August rolled around.
Like most, I dismissed the man's candidacy as a joke. Surely the most qualified field of candidates since the Founding Era of our country would be able to buttress the advance of a reality show star with a terrible comb-over and skin like that guy from the old Ritz cracker commercials.
By August, I had wisened up, however. Believing that it is possible for him to win. I came to this conclusion while I was perusing a Barnes and Noble in Meridian, Mississippi. A friend of mine and I had mentioned Trump in a conversation and this older lady popped out of nowhere to talk with us about how much she adored him. By that point in time, I had weathered three presidential cycles as an...active observer. No candidate has generated this kind of excitement.
That's when I took him seriously and as the conservatives of the party lay writhing on the floor from the thorough beating they've undergone, I wish smarter and more influential conservatives than myself had seen what I saw.
But it was a tightrope to be sure. Bash Trump as a conservative and you would immediately get eviscerated like Rick Perry or Rand Paul. Lend credence to Trump like Ted Cruz and you survive today only to rue it tomorrow.
We can say the field was too crowded to let one person rise, but numbers prove that a one on one match wouldn't save anybody unless the angel of timing had a trick up her sleeve.
All of this said, Americans sense that the same-old, same-old will kill them. They are right. They also sense that they are losing the culture to the fascist grandsons of the flower children. Trump is, for better or worse, their chosen remedy.
I do not know what will happen from here on out. Perhaps the two American political parties will split in to four. Perhaps both parties will be contorted and polarized- the Democrats shifting farther Left while the Republicans embrace a more populist, not completely Euro-style brand. We will have to wait and see how things transpire. I'm both excited and slightly frightened of where we'll go from here.
Either way, this has been a good conversation and a great thread. The past year and a half or so have been a fun one. But all good things must come to an end. Thank you for reading and participating. What a cycle!
