A Democrat, who is an strong supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton, writing this column may seem counter-productive but I believe in a strong two-party system. One in which both Party's discuss ideas rationally allowing voters to make decisions based on real information and facts, including scientific evidence. That kind of a race would help people decide in which direction they want the country to go.
At this time it appears reality is bearing down on Republicans who still believe in the Party of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and even Ronald Reagan. They are quickly understanding they are between a "rock and a hard place" with not much time to decide whether to save their Party, even with big losses, for another day or see it go down in flames with Donald Trump.
With each succeeding day Trump demonstrates he is not only a racist, misogynist sexist bully but rather is totally deranged. He is no longer a candidate one can call "plausibly different," but rather one who is incoherent and proving himself simply an out-of-control ego-maniac with no real interest in actually running the country or ability to be President.
Since announcing his campaign on June 16th with a tirade against Mexicans he has consistently made outrageous statements the press willingly glossed over and attributed to his being a 'new kind' of candidate. Those individuals who he insulted like John McCain appeared to accept those insults meekly, moved on, and even endorsed him for President. Light-weight candidates like Marco Rubio tried to trade insults with Trump and came off looking ridiculous. Not one of the other sixteen Republican candidates who announced for President figured out how to appeal to the Trump voters who didn't make up the majority of the Republican primary voters but with so many in the race were able to determine the winner.
Trump did get more primary voters than any other Republican candidate in history. What people don't focus on is his top three primary opponents together got more votes than he did. Trump got 13,300,472 votes leaving him with the task of finding 47 to 49 million more voters if he is to have any chance of winning the Presidency. Barack Obama won in a low turnout election in 2012 with 62,615,406 votes.
The question for responsible Republicans is deciding even if he can get those votes whether they actually want that to happen. With his threat to weaken NATO, his close personal business relations with the Russians and praise of Putin and other dictators Republican leaders must decide if they will stick with the man who appears to be a dangerous and deranged ego-maniac or dump him in favor of the future of the country and the world. Not an easy choice for those who have dedicated their life to the Republican Party.
If they are honest with themselves they will accept this is a dilemma of their own making. What has become the Tea Party began in secret in the spring of 1993 with the entry of the Koch brothers. It sprang into the public realm in 2009 with the Tea Party movement's first major action, "a nationwide series of rallies on April 15, 2009, that drew more than 250,000 people. The movement kept gaining strength and its members came to congressional town hall meetings in every state and made their focus attacking any reforms to the our healthcare system." This group of Republicans has spawned Donald Trump who is even a leap-too-far for the Koch brothers who have said they cannot support him.
If Republicans of stature like Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and others want any credibility after this election is over they must do more than constantly apologize for and even criticize Trump. They must not only separate themselves from the constant vicious attacks he makes like the recent one against the gold star family of Army Captain Humayun Khan; or previous ones such as the attack against Indiana born federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel; rather they must actually rescind their endorsements of him. Anything less shows them as spineless hypocrites, clearly not the lasting image they want for themselves or their Party.
We have just three months until Americans elect their next President on November 8th. Current polling shows Hillary Clinton winning big. Three months for responsible Republicans to decide whether they will have a viable Party to take into the future after this election.