Trump and Clinton and A Degree of Separation

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

I saw a Hillary for President bumper sticker and immediately thought, "How could anyone, especially in the conservative area of southwest Riverside County, even consider voting for Hillary Clinton."

I am sure when Hillary supporters see pro-Trump signs and stickers, they think, "How could anyone consider voting for Donald Trump?"

It brings to mind the time Nancy Pelosi said, "How did McCain get so many votes?  I don't know anyone who voted for him?"

There is an old story about someone in the film industry that said the same thing about Nixon in 1968.

We live in our bubbles.  We know what we know, and nobody can convince us otherwise.  I am not telling anyone that what you know is either true, or false. . . just that we are often convinced that we have a corner on the political information market, and the reality may not exactly agree.

For those against Hillary Clinton she is a pathological liar, a murderer (Benghazi), too sick to be an effective President, too corrupt to be trusted, and too far to the left to be reasoned with.

For those against Donald Trump he is a pathological liar, a sexist, a racist, too arrogant to listen to Congress, and too foolish to be willing to recognize the existence of constitutional principles.

As a result, the divide between the two candidates hasn't been this great since. . . well, every election.

There is always a degree of separation, but in this case here in 2016, it's a little more obvious - even if the Never Trump folks say otherwise.

Ronald Reagan had the ability to show how different he was from his opponents, but since then it seems that Republican candidates have been fearful about promoting that distinction.  Hence, the reason why the supporters of Trump like him.  He's loud, obnoxious, and obviously not Hillary.

The first presidential debate is coming up, and because of the obvious degree of separation, it is being suggested that the debate will shatter viewership records.  One wonders if it is because people want to learn more about the candidates, or because they are expecting it to be a fiery blistering entertaining show.

The younger people have been doing what they can to shut down Trump anytime his message comes near a college campus.  Celebrity leftist elites promise to leave the country if Trump is elected (I am willing to provide my services to help them pack, by the way).  Clinton's criminal accomplices are pleading the 5th Amendment as the legal pressure heightens.  And as Hillary's coughing fits keep side-lining the Democrat Party Candidate, Trump has been rising in the polls.

Therefore, if anything, this year's fight for the White House is getting very entertaining.

Well, that, and Donald Trump has done a good job of separating himself from the Democrats, and the policies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  This is why his supporters like him.  Finally, they have a candidate not willing to sacrifice his massive base to court a handful of swing votes who straddle a fence somewhere in a well-populated area - and will probably not even vote, anyway.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary