Like rats leaving a sinking ship, Republican faithful are abandoning Donald Trump in growing numbers. The latest to abandon the Trumpet, as of this writing, is Meg Whitman the billionaire C.E.O. of Hewett Packard. As she noted in switching her allegiance to Hillary Clinton:
“As a proud Republican, casting my vote for President has usually been a simple matter. This year is different,” she said in a statement released Tuesday night. “To vote Republican out of party loyalty alone would be to endorse a candidacy that I believe has exploited anger, grievance, xenophobia and racial division. Donald Trump’s demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character. . . .
“Trump’s reckless and uninformed positions on critical issues -– from immigration to our economy to foreign policy — have made it abundantly clear that he lacks both the policy depth and sound judgment required as President,” Whitman said. “Trump’s unsteady hand would endanger our prosperity and national security. His authoritarian character could threaten much more.”
Whitman went on to praise Clinton for her “temperament” and “global experience” that she said would make the former Secretary of State a “far better choice” for President.
Whitman thus joins such Republican luminaries as Warren Buffet, Michael Bloomberg, Mark Cuban, and Representative Richard Hanan in swimming away from what appears to be a sinking ship. My blogging buddy Keith suggests that Mike Pence might be next as he tires from trying to explain what his boss meant to say but, typically, screwed up. Can we then expect Trump himself to decide the effort is simply not worth it and throw in the towel? I suppose in this crazy election year anything is possible. I have already suggested in a prior post that he really doesn’t want the office anyway. If he does abandon ship he will make it appear to have been someone else’s fault. That much we have learned.
There are two major concerns here in this comedy of errors: to begin with, there is the real possibility that Hillary’s camp will become complacent and decide to try to jog to the finish line. That would be a serious error and I suspect that Hillary is astute enough to try to see that this does not happen. But her followers will need to be sufficiently energized to continue the race to the finish.
At the top of the list, however, is the concern over what Trump’s followers will do if and when he withdraws or (worse yet) remains in the fight and loses. That fear has already surfaced among those who know the man and who have seen the kinds to scum that crawled out from under the rocks the Donald kicked over during the past few months. This is a major concern. One “expert” predicts it will be a “bloodbath.” Certainly, there will be massive protests, some violent, one would surmise. In a word, when it’s over it may not be over.
hughcurtler 
Yes, once he overturned those rocks under which all the bigots, all the haters, were hiding under, the damage was already done. No matter what happens, I think it will be a long time before we see peace in this nation again … if ever. Sigh.
Indeed. It doesn’t appear to be the sort of process that can be easily reversed.
Nope. Once those slugs come out from under their rock and get a taste of freedom, there will be no way to get them to just simply crawl back under the rock. Sigh.
Excellent article, hughcurtler… The last paragraph, about the “rock dwellers” haha… also bothers me–a lot—the thugs (in the old sense, not meaning black (God I hate having to always worry about political correctness) are not just harmless nut-cakes screaming insults and stupid chanting….we must always fear the rabble! I’ve been writing about Trump and his dangerous spectre ever since he came on the scene…
“Rats” indeed. By the way… can you attribute the “bloodbath” comment mentioned in the last graph?
I wish I could, but I have been reading so many sources of late I doubt I could find it. I will give it a look, though, and if I come up with it I will pass it along.
thanks Hugh, just curious. I would like to follow through, as that is one of the things that worries me so much, i.e. what will happen IF —
I have been unable to find it. Sorry. But it was a quote. I don’t tend to use hyperbole if I can avoid it!
A man named Roger Stone said it. Here’s the link.http://crooksandliars.com/2016/08/roger-stone-foments-violence-says
Anything is possible. We also haven’t seen the last of WikiLeaks, so I am sure there will be stuff therein talk about. Of course, fair play would be to see what the GOP emails would tell us.
Speaking of GOP emails, when the Appellate Court said the NC Voter ID law was unconstitutional, a lot of the evidence was in emails. The judges said the GOP was very surgical in their discrimination, with each facet of the law designed to suppress Black votes.
Interesting that Trump worries about the election being rigged by the Democrats but he chooses to ignore the fact that he and his Russian friends are leaking damaging information to scuttle Hillary’s chances.
Trump has benefitted from a rigged system to make his money through exploitation and misrepresentation. Plus, the media gave him free air time to spew hateful and inane rhetoric. Now, he is reaping what he and the GOP sowed. I don’t want to let the GOP off the hook – they have set the stage for many years for this demagogue, by harping on negativity and divisiveness. Trump is just the ugly reflection in the GOP mirror.
Indeed. The media must take their share of the blame. They repeat his every word or gesture.
Since we are a swing state, they are running clever commercials for Clinton and against Trump. The latest one shows Trump on David Letterman where Letterman shows him his products and asks where they are made. Trump said he did not know, but the answers were Bangladesh, China, etc. This is a very effective commercial.
Hugh – Let’s just hope he stays in the race and loses the real way 😉
Indeed. If he drops out the Repubs might choose a candidate that could actually win!