David Roberts

It now seems all but certain that the presidential election will see Donald Trump face off against Hillary Clinton.

We find ourselves at the tail end of a brief period of clarity. For the past few months, virtually everyone outside of the 40 percent of Republican primary voters who carried him to victory has agreed that Trump is not fit to be president.

Marco Rubio called him a "con man." Mitt Romney called him "a phony, a fraud." Cruz called him an "amoral pathological liar" and said if he is elected "this country could well plunge into the abyss." Lindsey Graham said Trump would lead to "another 9/11." David Brooks called him "epically unprepared to be president." George Will said that "his running mate will be unqualified for high office because he or she will think Trump is qualified." The house organ of conservatism, National Review, condemned him in florid terms. A Super PAC was created just to stop him.

As Cost emphasizes, the issue here is not (merely) ideological — it's about basic fitness and competence. A man with Trump's temperament and habits could do real, lasting, no-joke damage as the leader of the free world.

Hillary Clinton, for all her flaws, has demonstrated a basic level of competence. She understands how policy and government work. She's not openly racist; she hasn't encouraged street violence. There's no risk that she would disrupt the international order or cause an economic crisis out of pique.

That's a really, really low bar. But it's the only bar she has to clear in this contest. Almost irrespective of what you think of Clinton's politics or her policies, she is manifestly more prepared to run the federal government than Donald Trump.
The number of people who recognize this elemental fact about the election, however, has probably already reached and passed its peak. It will decline from here on out. The moment of clarity is already ending.



The political ecosystem needs two balanced parties to survive

Why is clarity passing? Because it appears Trump is actually going to be the Republican nominee. It's really happening. And the US political ecosystem — media, consultants, power brokers, think tanks, foundations, officeholders, the whole thick network of institutions and individuals involved in national politics — cannot deal with a presidential election in which one candidate is obviously and uncontroversially the superior (if not sole acceptable) choice. The machine is simply not built to handle a race that's over before it's begun.

There are entire classes of professionals whose jobs are premised on the model of two roughly equal sides, clashing endlessly. The Dance of Two Parties sustains the consultants and activists.

Paul Mitchell@paulmitche11 That giant clicking sound is 10,000 Republican consultants and activists deleting their #NeverTrump tweets.

Dana Bash Verified account @DanaBashCNN Trump campaign now being flooded with offers from seasoned operatives to help the campaign, Rick Wiley tells me.
It sustains the party hacks and grifters.

Reince Priebus Verified account @Reince.@realDonaldTrump will be presumptive @GOP nominee, we all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton #NeverClinton

Fox News ‎@FoxNews.@newtgingrich: "@realDonaldTrump may turn out to be the most effective, anti-left leader in our lifetime." #Hannity

Ari Fleischer ‎@AriFleischer There's a lot about Donald Trump that I don't like, but I'll vote for Trump over Hillary any day.

Sean Hannity ‎@seanhannity.@BobbyJindal: "Today we have got two choices. It's either @realDonaldTrump or @HillaryClinton." #Hannity
And it sustains the media, which is what I want to discuss below.

Among all these classes of professionals, all these institutions, that whole superstructure of US politics built around two balanced sides, there will be a tidal pull to normalize this election, to make it Coca-Cola versus Pepsi instead of Coca-Cola versus sewer water.

The US political system knows how to play the former script; it doesn't know how to play the latter. There's a whole skein of practices, relationships, and money flows developed around the former. The latter would occasion a reappraisal of, well, everything. Scary.

So there will be a push to lift Donald Trump up and bring Hillary Clinton down, until they are at least something approximating two equivalent
choices...........................The campaign press requires, for its ongoing health and advertising revenue, a real race. It needs controversies. "Donald Trump is not fit to be president" may be the accurate answer to pretty much every relevant question about the race, but it's not an interesting answer. It's too final, too settled. No one wants to click on it.

What's more, the campaign media's self-image is built on not being partisan, which precludes adjudicating political disputes.

How does that even work if one side is offering up a flawed centrist and the other is offering up a vulgar xenophobic demagogue?..................