It’s over. Donald Trump, a man utterly unfit for the position by temperament, values and policy preferences, will be the Republican nominee for president. He will run against Hillary Clinton, who is easily the lesser evil but is trailed by clouds of scandal and misconduct and whose party’s left wing poses its own threats to liberties of speech, religion, enterprise and association.
It is time for a third candidate, and probably for a third party.
Even if a third candidacy still yielded a Clinton victory, it would be worthwhile. It would, first, deny the Clinton campaign the illusion of a mandate from American voters who would have, en masse, turned out to reject Trump. If nothing else, a strong third-candidate vote would send her a message to govern from the center, rather than in deference to her party’s increasingly powerful left wing.
And in any case, the party founded by Lincoln is sick. The influence on it of ranting reality-television players, talk-show hucksters and monomaniacs of various stripes may not recede. The temper that led a supposedly responsible party of governance to repeatedly attempt to shut down the government may, in turn, shut it out of executive power for a long time.
The hour is late, the task is urgent, and the cause is great. Let us hope that some politicians will summon the courage that their country requires, and act.
Translation: A lot of Republicans feel they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. At least one Republican is willing to chew off his hand to get out.
The next few months are going to be fascinating. Trump is already trying rapprochement with the party, calling Cruz "One hell of a competitor" only a few hours after linking Lyin' Ted's father to Lee Harvey Oswald and the Kennedy assassination.
The Republican Convention will not be a contested convention, but will the party unite behind Trump?
"I am confident I can unite much of" the GOP Trump said Wednesday on NBC's "Today Show, as several prominent Republicans said they'd prefer Democrat Clinton over the New York billionaire. In a shot at his critics, Trump added: "Those people can go away and maybe come back in eight years after we served two terms. Honestly, there are some people I really don't want."
I don't think John McCain or Mitt Romney will be giving the nominating speech. Who will be his running mate? Will the choice indicate that Trump is reaching towards the old rank and file, or will his choice further alienate the old-line GOP? And who, after examining the cost/benefit ratio, will be Trump's Veep?
And if Trump doesn't get a post-convention bump in popularity, expect intra-party squabbling to reach new levels of intensity.
PREDICTION: Trump's acceptance speech will have the highest ratings in political Television history. Expect one talking head after another to solemnly pronounce that Trump needs to give the speech of his life tonight.