So… that guy. He’s still polling strong. Still a real possibility that he gets the GOP nomination. I know, right?
But, if he does, could it actually be a good thing? Hear me out.
Say Trump gets the nod. OK. You now have a LOT of registered Republicans who do NOT want to vote for the Republican candidate. Who are they going to vote for? Hillary? Be serious. Bernie? Come on. Martin O’Malley? Actually, they might, but he’s not getting the Dem nomination so it’s a moot point.
Let’s take this a step farther. Say Hillary is the one fighting The Orange Menace. There are a LOT of Bernie fanatics out there who will not vote Hillary. They won’t vote Captain Hairpiece either, clearly. So who will they be voting for? Bernie has really motivated and energized a ton of people. We could be talking large numbers. Numbers big enough to be noticed.
Let’s go the other way. Bernie gets the nod. Ok, you now have a lot of more “establishment” Blues who refuse to vote for the former Independent Senator. These folks have a ton of money behind them, and they are not pulling for White ISIS either. Really, really not. So where do their votes go?
And let’s say Martin…
Sorry Martin. I like you. I really do. But this is not your year. Big Money has declared it so.
So, where do those votes go? Could we truly, finally, see an independent or third party movement? Could having a cartoon villain as the GOP nominee finally break the hold of the two party system?
Probably not, but… stranger things have happened.