Between now and Election Day, November 6, expect to hear a lot about how politics is “the art of the possible.” Then, as the results sink in and are processed, expect to hear more.
That old bromide is true, of course, but also ambiguous because “possible” can mean anything from “remotely feasible” to “easily attainable.” With the electoral circus about to rev up full blast, the time is right for reflecting on some of those possibilities.
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To the dismay of mainstream pundits across the spectrum, all the way from the center to the right — which is all the spectrum there is in the American mainstream these days — both duopoly parties are in crisis.
For the GOP, the proximate cause is, of course, Donald Trump. In all but name, the Republican Party is the Trump Party now — lock, stock, and barrel. This could change in the blink of an eye, but if and when that happens, it will not be in time for the midterm elections.
Trump has violated so many well-established norms so egregiously that it can seem as if the cult-like movement that has crystalized around him materialized out of nowhere.
In fact, it is only the latest wrinkle in a story of mounting cultural contradictions that have been festering within the Republican fold since even before Richard Nixon and Pat Buchanan launched their “Southern strategy,” their ultimately successful effort to turn the formerly Democratic Solid South Republican.
The general idea was to play racist and…