Trump allies boast GOP unity as a 'sign of party dysfunction' lies lurking: columnist
The Republican party is fully lined up behind Donald Trump in the run-up to the general election while Democrats are in chaos, but one writer thinks things aren't actually as they appear.
According to MSNBC political analyst Zeeshan Aleem, the short-term view reveals Republicans are in high spirits after a successful convention while Democrats are trying to force out their own nominee.
When you look under the surface, Aleem argues, the Democrats are showing they are a healthy party while the GOP is doubling down on its mistake of picking a felon as their nominee.
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Aleem notes that, "in the longer view, the Democratic chaos is a sign of the party’s health, while the GOP’s unity is a symptom of its sickness as a political entity."
"Political parties win and govern effectively by producing candidates who can secure as big of a majority as possible among their constituencies. Yet entering the summer, both parties had opted for candidates who were, by any typical standard, remarkably weak. Trump currently may be ahead in most polls, but he remains a uniquely unpopular presidential candidate, plagued by low favorability ratings," the commentator wrote. "He has never won the popular vote. He was the first and only president to never breach over 50% in approval ratings. Independents remain wary of his criminal convictions and his personal character. And during his leadership of the GOP, the party has performed poorly in midterm elections."
Aleem added that, "while the polls indicate that Trump has a very serious chance of winning in November, his vulnerabilities ensure that he does not have a decisive lead."
"That the GOP is turning over and over again to such a divisive, risky candidate is a sign of party dysfunction. There are multiple sources of that dysfunction: conservative media, which thrives on deception and discord; the party’s diehard base, which buys every conspiracy theory thrown its way and worships Trump as a savior; and GOP lawmakers, almost all of whom tremble with fear at the mere thought of criticizing Trump," Aleem wrote. "But the upshot is that the Republicans have lost most if not all of their identity beyond Trump and his lackeys. Beyond him, they are lost, and with him they’re not much better off."
The latest activity by Democrats, on the other hand, "reflects a party with a sharply different, healthier goal," according to the piece.
"In the long term, any healthy movement or party must ultimately always balance commitments to unity with introspection and honest reckonings over whether it’s uniting behind the right things. That’s what the Democrats are doing, and it’ll serve them well for the future," Aleem concluded.