Trump’s New Right-wing Bedfellows

Ending one of the most amazing campaigns for the party nomination in modern politics, Donald Trump is on the verge of becoming the Republican presidential candidate, and his chances of reaching the White House are growing more and more with the most recent poll placing him just 1 point behind Hillary Clinton.

The dilemma is whether his party colleagues, who so strongly opposed him along with the rest of the world, are about to hop into bed with him, marry him, follow him and support him, even though his candidacy could damage the American right for generations to come. The highest ranking Republican, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan, has said that he is not yet ready to follow Trump, but is resigned that sooner or later he will.

Other Republican symbols of the party, such as former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, as well as former candidate Mitt Romney, have said that they will never back Trump, will not attend the convention in July, and, according to Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, would be looking to launch an alternate, independent candidate which, experts say, would guarantee a Democratic victory.

Nevertheless, others who strongly opposed him for months and were harshly and cruelly criticized in turn by Trump, such as Sen. John McCain and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have lined up right on cue behind the mogul, claiming that voters have decided, and they have no choice but to align themselves with the least prepared presidential candidate in history, who offers demagogic rhetoric filled with empty, racist, isolationist and xenophobic promises, all in the name of, according to his slogan, “Making America Great Again.”

Even groups from the country’s powerful ultraconservative social movement that for months looked upon him as if he were Lucifer are now starting to change their minds and are convincing themselves that it is better to give Trump the White House than leave it to his liberal rival. Totally opposed to divorce, these groups no longer see any flaw in Trump’s three marriages or in the millionaire’s much criticized reference to the Eucharist of the Christian communion, which he called “my little cracker.”

And the support coming out is not only symbolic. They are organizing to spend millions of dollars to mobilize the electorate and going house to house seeking votes. It turns out that they see him as championing their cause and seem to forget that this man has attacked women, ridiculed Jews, Latinos — especially Mexicans — and that he proposed a ban on entry to the United States for every Muslim.

Right-wing media, such as the capital city’s Washington Times, have said in their editorials that defeating Hillary should be more important than sticking to the orthodox principles of the right. Meanwhile, The New York Times has said that Republican leaders are to blame for the emergence of Trump. They have concentrated on rewarding the millionaires who donate money to politicians, forgetting the middle class who have lost their jobs, their homes, fought the wars of the Pentagon in the Middle East, and turned their anger into getting onboard with Trump.

So we are on the threshold of what will be one of the most aggressive political campaigns we have ever seen in this or any other country, with Hillary Clinton having no guarantee of success at the national level because of weaknesses and controversies such as her legal problem regarding emails, the fatal events of Benghazi in Libya, and her husband’s infidelities.

Trump for his part certainly has plenty of weak spots that sooner or later will affect him, like his terrible and cruel attitude toward women, his business failures, his ignorance, and his constant repetition of lies.

Neither one will be short on cash or ammunition toward the other. Just be prepared and have patience while watching this campaign for the Oval Office that will be ruthless, brutal and, above all very, very long. Nobody knows how it will turn out, and we are all just stuck in the middle.