Trump vs Clinton

I suspect I am not the only person horrified by the choice that American voters will have in the next election to fill the most powerful office in the world - Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.

The Economist magazine argues that the nomination of Donald Trump by the Republican party is a disaster for Republicans and America and I think they have a point.

I see that in CAPX has run complementary articles by Tim Montgomerie which show respectively that 44% of Americans are terrified at the prospect of President Trump and a majority terrified or disappointed; a similar majority are also disappointed or worse at the prospect of President Hillary Clinton, and 41% of Americans would like the opportunity to vote for a third candidate who is neither of those two.

Iain Martin, the editor of CAPX, wrote that

“The Republican party is lumbered with a candidate who has made the most appalling remarks about women, the disabled, Muslims and Mexicans. He is a trainee demagogue who burbles on like a pillock at the bar about his pet hates. And he will be the GOP’s candidate against Hillary Clinton. For America, this is a shameful day. For the rest of us it is terrifying.”

An article in Forbes magazine shows that while Trump is deeply unpopular, Hillary Clinton is nearly as unpopular too and it is almost unprecedented for the two main candidates in a US Presidential election to be viewed so negatively.

Where things get even more difficult is that some people do not appear to have twigged that, unless a credible third-party or independent candidate stands, this is a choice which cannot be fudged. Several leading Republicans have said that they cannot support either the Donald or Hillary.

Well, in that case they'd better hurry up and arrange for a third party candidate to get nominated, which cannot happen unless such a person starts making arrangements to be on the ballot paper - which I understand is a much more complex business than getting nominated is in Britain.

The National Review ran an article this week, mainly taken up with criticism of Donald Trump and comments about why he is unfit to be President, most of which I agree with, but with the absurd title,

"This election is not an A/B test."

Guys, sorry to bring an unwelcome dose of reality to you, but unless a third candidate can get on the ballot that's precisely what it is.

The voters can only chose from the options on the ballot paper.

And what a terrible choice it looks like they're going to have.

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