Watching the demise of the Republican brand

It seems the big news this week was not along the most conservative stretch of Old Route 66 but near the Mother Road’s eastern starting point.  The City of Chicago has quite a history when it comes to the confluence of political events, crowds demonstrating them and violence.  I remember watching the network news coverage as a wide-eyed school kid on summer vacation of the 1968 Democratic National Convention and wondering what all the brouhaha was about.  Not really understanding what was happening at the time, it wasn’t until years later that I realized what we were eyewitness to via network TV was the demise of the Democratic brand and a further fragmentation of the American Left.  That damage done in the late 1960s, with a few exceptions, relegated the Democratic Party to also-ran status for the better part of a generation.  Although Congress did remain in Democratic control through 1994, there were no serious contenders for President on the Democratic ticket until the emergence of Bill Clinton in 1992.

Chicago 1968 The Whole World Is Watching

Jimmy Carter did manage to get elected eight years after the conflagration in Chicago in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal but despite threats of a primary challenge from the left of the party,  he failed to sell enough voters on his reelection bid in 1980.

Now I feel like we are watching the demise of another political party’s brand in prime time.  Friday night GOP front runner Donald Trump cancelled an appearance at the University of Illinois, Chicago under the threat of widespread violence and rioting.  The difference this time is that a candidate actually has publicly encouraged and incited his supporters to engage in violence against protesters at his campaign events.  Last night his campaign appearance was cancelled due to the threat of impending violence.  The candidate has stated he has no regrets for his incitements to violence.

Donald Trump: I have no regrets

Chicago 2016

Republican Party leadership remains apoplectic in the face of Trump’s sustained lead in committed delegates.  They are having to confront the specter of having Trump as their party’s nominee.  As a bystander I don’t really care about that as much as I do about the segment of the electorate to which he appeals.

As a media talking head so eloquently stated on a Sunday news talk show a few weeks ago, “Trump’s supporters will be very telling about the Republican party.”  Indeed, they will be.  I pointed this out in my post from last August, and nothing has changed.  I stand by my assessment:

“It should come as no surprise that so many in the GOP base and especially to those in the far right and fringe of the party are drawn to the traits displayed by Mr. Trump.  He has been saying all the right things to appeal to the disaffected elements of conservative America.  His blatant refusal to walk back rants about and confrontations with media people and other candidates and his over-the-top backhanded assertions on whatever issue are not seen as liabilities but strengths.  All of Trump’s boasting and grandiosity, his visions of unlimited success for America, his stated belief that only he knows how to fix what is wrong with the country, his overt sense of entitlement and indulgence in his own admiration of his achievements, his willingness to take advantage of anyone or anything to achieve his own goals, his repeated assertions that others envy him, his patronizing arrogance and his dearth of anything resembling empathy are characteristics that so many of those on his bandwagon identify with.  They see in multi-billionaire Donald Trump at least a little piece of themselves.”

Image by K+MC

Forget about the baseless falsehoods oozing from Candidate Trump on any given day.  Assertions that America is not great, the US Military has been gutted and America has become weak because of political correctness will never hold up under scrutiny.  What is most worrisome is that the “culture of the bully with the loudest mouth will win” has been allowed by the corporate media to run amok, unchallenged and unchecked such that the candidate himself can, with seeming impunity, encourage and incite his assembled minions to commit violence on anyone that appears different or who is suspected of thinking differently than them.  Friday night was not the first time an air of hostility pervaded a venue of a Trump rally.  This has been an ongoing problem for some time as Rachel Maddow thoroughly documents in the video below.  With Donald Trump clearly leading in the primary delegate count, the likelihood of him being the GOP nominee is becoming a looming reality with each passing day.  This is what the Republican brand has devolved to in 2016.  I shudder to think what life in the United States will be like should this man become President.

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