The 'Terrification' of the GOP... And Our Allies

The 'Terrification' of the GOP... And Our Allies
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As I predicted in a previous Blog, the time may be near when the presumptive GOP Presidential choice "The Crusader in Chief from Queens" decides to take his ball and leave the court if the Republican Party is not willing to honor their promise to him and play by his rules!

The Establishment Wing of the GOP is running scared, unable to control "The Donald" who they now view as a monster who might break the house that the GOP built and devour the Convention Center in Cleveland.

In a year when a Republican Party win looked like it might be a sure thing, "Donald the Lionhearted's" rise to power threatens to take down the GOP, fracture it beyond repair and insure a Hillary Clinton victory in November.

Donald Trump has tapped into the darker side of the American psyche, appealing to the disenfranchised voters who believe the control of America had slipped away from them.

No one can argue that "Mr. Trump" - as his surrogates, toddies and staffers have clearly been told to call him - has brought excitement to the race. He has increased interest in the campaign and voter turnout. And he has also brought revenue galore to the news and entertainment business - but at what cost?

Donald Trump is a media master and manipulator who has bested the worst of the Republican strategists and spinmeisters throughout the past several decades - using bigotry, scapegoating and now loyalty oaths to pump up his supporters into a frenzy to a point that has our European Allies asking the question - What on earth is going on over there?

So, who are these Trump supporters, these new voters, and does anyone really want them in their tent?

Well, the Republicans have had a demographic challenge. After their last two losses they re-examined their party and decided they needed to find a new message to appeal to a broader coalition of voters - which included among others women, Hispanics and African Americans.

Trump and the message he is peddling has done exactly the opposite - much to the dismay of the Grand Old Party.

The thought of Donald Trump as their nominee and his contemptuous message of divisiveness is so alarming to the traditional Republican Party of Reagan and GHW Bush that their last two standard bearers Mitt Romney and John McCain have taken the unprecedented step of publicly denouncing Trump as unfit for America's highest office. Clearly a violation of Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment: "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."

At the same time Trump's competitors have lowered themselves into the mud to battle with him with mixed results.

Marco Rubio may have ruined his chances for elected office forever, since his gutter snipping simply looks so out of character and unbefitting his image of the wholesome young savior of the soon-to-be crumbling Republican Party.

Ted Cruz on the other hand seems to be savoring the experience of going mano a mano with Trump wallowing in the mud and slime.

And to his credit Ohio Governor John Kasich, a veteran public servant, has continued to stay above the fray.

In an effort to put a public Band Aid on this massive election year hemorrhage, Reince Priebus RNC Chairman, has been saying that the party will support its nominee whomever that may be.

At the moment everyone knows that the nominee will be Donald Trump unless an unexpected event, event, event...intervenes.

For example if Republican voters take up the challenge presented by Mitt Romney to block Trump by voting for Rubio in Florida, Kasich in Ohio and Cruz in the other state primaries then Trump could arrive at the Convention with less than the required number of delegates to win on the first ballot.

At the Convention after the first or second round of voting most delegates become unbound and can vote for any candidate - even someone who is not in the current field of contenders.

So if the GOP cannot stomach Trump as their nominee and tries to sabotage him and undermine the will of the people who voted for him as described above, at this point Trump could possibly walk away from the GOP for an independent bid for The White House taking all his staff, friends and his millions of supporters along with him.

For several years my goal has been to try to explain the American political process to audiences beyond our borders.

The fascination of foreign audiences with the unique American process of electing our leaders has always been at a very high level.

Just the idea of a woman and a black man competing for the nomination of their party in 2008 had heads of foreign news organizations packing planes with presenters, producers and crews and pushing them on their way to DCA, LAX, JFK - you name it.

In 2012 the inevitability of an Obama defeat of Mitt Romney had eased the flight traffic across the Atlantic and the interest in our election process considerably.

However, this year the spiked interest is overwhelming!

This time it is not because of the fascination with our system or our election process but because of the extreme sense of panic that has overwhelmed what was once amusement about the possibility of a Donald Trump presidency.

What would that presidency mean to the U.S. and its role in the world?

Trump is long on rhetoric and very short on details.

So if you take Trump at his word... He would "Make America Great Again." But what is not clear is just what his idea of "Great" actually means.

For Trump "Great" means taking America back to an earlier time - when America looked quite different both at home and abroad.

It had a whiter, less diverse population, where women played more traditional roles and America and American business led the world.

From Trump's perspective "Great" means restoring America as a world leader but not as a world leader in freedom, openness or as a symbol of Democracy - instead as nation to be feared.

Trump does not seems to be preaching isolationism, instead he wants a more muscular America with a HUGE military big enough to intimidate all of our foes and anyone even thinks of becoming a foe.

There will however under a Trump Presidency be no more "free lunch."

If America is asked to assist its Allies that assistance will come with a price tag...Negotiated by the master negotiator himself President & CEO Donald J. Trump.

So just imagine our NATO Allies asking for America's assistance to fight ISIL or any of our common foes but they cannot pay for the services of the U.S. Military - what happens?

Does America's military now become a mercenary force for sale to the highest bidder instead of a member of unified coalition for good on the world stage?

Trump is building "The Great Wall" at our southern border. He is eager to close the door and turn off Lady Liberty's lantern to Mexicans, Muslims and any other immigrants he does not want here.

So what will this mean to America's future competitiveness and our ability to attract the best and brightest? Will Americans faced the same challenges when they wish to travel and work abroad in this borderless global economy?

Trump does not like our current treaties and agreements, so if he is elected president will he do his best to overturn or ignore the ones he does not like?

Trump has proved to be unpredictable and a real wildcard, so the world community has good reason to view this possibility with trepidation.

Under a Trump Presidency will America be the nation that still stands should shoulder to shoulder with our Allies?

Will our next president be like Woodrow Wilson, FDR or JFK or that Republican Icon Ronald Reagan who commanded Mr. Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall?

Or will our new president be someone whose goal is to remake America according to a vision that is unrecognizable to our friends abroad?

With the passing this week of former First Lady Nancy Reagan, one can only imagine what she and her beloved 'Ronnie' would think about the current state of their Grand Old Party and the future of the United States they both loved and served.