I think Donald Trump may be the worst main party presidential candidate in American history. He would make Silvio Berlusconi (former Italian PM) look like a genius by comparison. He's a crude, uneducated, unprepared man who shouldn't be anywhere near political power.
Yet in the back of my mind I am tempted to vote for him. Why? It would be easy to say that Gary Johnson can't win and that Hillary Clinton is not a better option (she is, but not by much). I'm not sure that Donald Trump has the ability to destroy the freight train that is 'Merica, and part of me wonders how long he would stay in the job, that he might do it for a year, get bored or tired of the hatred he has to deal with, and just quit and leave us with Magical Mike Pence.
But let's say Hillary Clinton wins the election. The scandals (real or imagined) keep simmering, but more important is what actually happens in a Clinton administration. Let's say there's another big terrorist attack, or the economy bubble inevitably pops, or some other event that happens that crushes whatever approval rating she has. Trumpites come out and proclaim, 'This wouldn't happen on Trump's watch! We should have let him make America great again!' We draw closer to an election and Trumpism, in the form of Donald Trump or Sarah Palin or some other numbskull, rises above and claims, 'see, I told you so! Vote for us this time to get it right!' And Trumpism is legitimized, claims real power not just in the presidency but in the legislatures and governors and Congress. It's at this point that we'd be really screwed.
Because right now let's say Trump wins. He's already unpopular with a sizable majority of the electorate, and it's unlikely that he's going to bring a lot of Congress along with him, even if they are Republicans. Because, I believe, there are still principled real conservatives who, even though Trump is a Republican, won't support him with legislation. If he wins Trumpism and its emperor with no clothes (I would hope) will be seen for the fraud that it is, even if it really never really takes hold with actual governmental legislation. Giving it a little bit of power now might be enough to show America how worthless and empty is and drive a stake through it before it gets started.
But give it the opportunity to stay outside of power, to let it grow in a land of increasingly entitled idiots who are fueled by hate and rage and evil, and then it might really cause problems down the road. For the long-term health of America, shouldn't we let the cancer take over now for a short time so that we can become immune to it, rather let it simmer and build and come back as a bigger monster later?
I really, really hate these options.
