Donald Trump and the lowest common denominator

Imagine Donald Trump becoming the president of the United States of America. It’s not a pretty sight. No, let’s not tone it down. Let’s comment on this possibility in the way Trump would speak: Awful! Terrible! Horrendous! Ridiculous! Farcical!

{mosads}The unimaginable could become a reality if the Republican Party doesn’t wake up and realize that this person would not only embarrass the party, but everyone of us who is proud to be an American. I do not have to list all the divisive, ugly utterances that have come from his mouth. Trump is far worse than a mere demagogue; he is dangerous. His view of politics is not just to divide, but to stigmatize and exclude entire segments of the population.

There is still time to remove this kind of politics and this type of person from being in any way considered for the highest office in the land. The voters, when they actually start voting, can reject and repudiate this odious strain of venom and send Trump back to oblivion.

For me, the final straw was his cruel and inhuman mocking of New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski. A personal note is in order. I know Serge Kovaleski. I was friendly with him when he was previously a reporter with The Washington Post. I have had lunch with him and enjoyed his company at social events. He has a personal disability that in no way limits his ability to perform his duties. He is an excellent and widely admired reporter.

When I saw Trump imitate Kovaleski’s physical infirmity, I was appalled. His impersonation of Serge was uncanny. This was not, as Trump said, him acting out “a flustered reporter.” No, this was a deliberate, purposeful attempt to humiliate, insult and demean another human being. I don’t believe for one second that it was anything but that.

How low can one go? When Trump was confronted, he just lied and said that was not his intention. Does character play any role in judging whether or not one is suited to be president?

My grandmother, Sophie Rosenthal, who was born in Manchester England, would sum up Trump with her most unfavorable remark: She would call him “common.” I would go further. Trump appeals to the lowest common denominator. He brings out our worst instincts. Those who are supporting him are fanning the flames of intolerance and bigotry.

Make no mistake, Trump is here for awhile. He is drunk with the high of all those poll numbers. More than anything, he craves and needs the attention. If the GOP voters determine by their actual votes that he is indeed a know-nothing buffoon and reject him at the ballot box, he will not leave the stage. He will be at the convention in Cleveland and will demand a speaking slot. (Remember Pat Buchanan’s address at the 1992 Republican convention?) After not getting the nomination, he then will mount another campaign and draw enough votes away to elect a Democratic president, a Democratic Senate and even a Democratic House.

Donald Trump was never a Republican in the first place. He is of no party. He is of no philosophy. He is for himself. Hopefully, we will look back on Trump and his candidacy as an obscene aberration of the American political way. Something that was weird and off, and profoundly wrong, never to be repeated again.

Plotkin is a political analyst, a contributor to the BBC on American politics and a columnist for The Georgetowner.