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The Screaming Moderate

Can Trump/Clinton do themselves more damage?

7/6/2016

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On one hand you have a candidate for president, a former secretary of state, who was “extremely careless” in handling classified information according to the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

On the other hand you have a candidate for president, a self-declared billionaire who says he can solve the world’s problems but offers no solutions, who is retweeting anti-Semitic messages from white supremacist web sites.

These are the two stories battling for the most attention from our two presumptuous candidates for President of the United States.

Do I think Hillary Clinton intentionally was careless in handling classified information? No, but I think she arrogantly had her own email server for her selfish convenience rather than for the country’s best interests. Very bad decision.

Do I think Donald Trump is an anti-Semite? No, but he sure says anti-Semitic and racist things and hangs on by his fingernails before condemning haters like David Duke because of his self-interest of not alienating even the worst among us when it comes to such issues and because he feels he can lose no support at all to have a chance at winning the election.

In a cynical profession – politics – Trump is the most cynical ever to have run for president. In a profession – government – that requires the highest integrity, Hillary Clinton is not demonstrating that trait. (By the way, wouldn't now be a good time for her to hold her first press conference in many months to demonstrate the transparency she claims to have and to answer questions about the email controversy?)

And so it goes.

Practically, the FBI director’s blunt press conference, rebuking the woman who may be his next boss, absolves her of a legal threat, but certainly did her reputation no good. Question is, can that reputation be any more damaged than it already has been?

Practically, is Trump’s anti-Semitic tweet any worse than the horrible tweets he’s already tweeted, and never apologizes for?

In other words, each candidate has such flaws that will the American public even pay attention or have they already been discounted in their minds? Can either hurt themselves more than they've already done?

The FBI director has served up plenty of fodder for negative ads against Clinton to last through her re-election campaign four years from now. If Trump is disciplined enough to take advantage of that.

The anti-Semitic tweet, since it’s far from the worst thing Trump has said or done – and likely further from the worst thing he will ever say or do – is another blip on his march to…where?

It’s July, folks. These candidates have yet to name their running mates (can you imagine the “fun” if Trump selects Newt Gingrich. If you think Bill Clinton’s personal dalliances are fodder wait until we have to relive Newt’s personal life) or hold their conventions (Trump’s will be entertaining, for sure. Not substantive, but entertaining, believe me).

There’s a new book out which lays out what it will be like if Trump were to win the election. It’s a satire not non-fiction.

As to the Clinton-Trump campaign thus far, it is the real-est of reality shows. We will not wake up from this nightmare. But we are the major players in how it ends.

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    B. Jay Cooper

    B. Jay is a former deputy White House press secretary to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He also headed the communications offices at the Republican National Committee, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Yale University. He is a former reporter and is the retired deputy managing director of APCO Worldwide's Washington, D.C., office.
    He is the father of three daughters and grandfather of five boys and one girl. He lives in Marion, Mass.

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