2016's Race to the Bottom
“Politics ain’t beanbag,” but the Republican race is extremely not beanbag: a mix of Tea Party rally, “Real Housewives” and “Game of Thrones.” It’s about who can be the most offensive, paranoid, petty, xenophobic, apocalyptic and attention-grabbing candidate. In other words, it’s about Donald Trump, who tops our FIRST TO LAST list of 2016 blunt-force instruments.
How did it get this bad? There are 16 candidates and no frontrunner, so everyone is desperate to be noticed before the first debate, on Aug. 6, which is limited to the top 10 candidates in national polls. Conflict always is king on cable, but especially when GOP candidates aren’t offering big new positive ideas. Campaigns and the coverage are heavily showbiz: vivid soundbites, gotcha videos and TV attack ads. Dark money is a gusher of anonymous venom.
GOP candidates are playing to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, where two terms of Barack Obama have left Republicans fearful of cultural isolation and cynical about politics and even their own leaders. They want angry, nasty, accusatory, anti-establishment talk. But do they really want Trump? "Party leaders" don’t, but that term's an oxymoron.
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| Candidate Photos: Getty, Associated Press |
