CAN DONALD TRUMP BEAT HILLARY CLINTON?

     After reading the commentary below, please express your own thoughts.  Instructions on how to do so are written at the bottom of this column.  Thank you.

     Regular readers of The Controversy are fully aware that I - in my heart, in my soul and in every fiber of my body - feel that Hillary Clinton will be elected - on November 8th, 2016 - the 45th President of the United States of America.  As a result, Mrs. Clinton will take the oath of office as our next President on January 20th, 2017.  I have been conveying these personal thoughts and opinions, not only for the last ten months since the former Secretary of State announced her candidacy, but for nearly eight years after Mrs. Clinton was defeated in 2008 for the Democratic nomination by then-Senator

 
Barack Obama.  And when President Obama was re-elected for his second term in 2012, I again stated with great confidence that Hillary Clinton (and former President Bill Clinton) will move back in to The White House on Inauguration Day 2017.

     I believe all of the above will be true.  But beliefs are not always definite.  As the old saying goes, there are no certainties in life except for death and taxes.

     Not too long ago, I was involved in a political discussion with another liberal Democrat.  He happened to remark - that which I've been declaring all along - that Hillary Clinton beating Bernie Sanders

will be a slam dunk.  And when he echoed my sentiments, I replied with the following words.  "At least I hope so."

     Nobody - not even God - knows for sure what the outcome will be in the race for the Democratic nomination.  And obviously, the same applies for the general election for President.  So, "At least I hope so" does not translate in to, I think Hillary may lose, which is what the person I was talking with insisted I meant.

     I don't think Hillary Clinton will be defeated by Bernie Sanders...by Donald Trump...or by anybody else.  But is it possible?  As I wrote in an earlier commentary - "I recognize that with politics - as is with everything in life - anything can happen."

     In June 2015, I commented to the aforementioned liberal Democrat that "Donald Trump is a superstar."  Those five words sparked a heated debate between two liberal Democrats.  When most Americans - and certainly most journalists and pundits - thought that Trump would be "a flash in the pan" candidate who would be "thrown off the island" (to use a "Reality TV" term) and that his run for President would be over in weeks or surely in a couple of months, I, however, am on the record for insisting that Trump should not be overlooked.  I have always stated that although Donald Trump was a political "Apprentice"...he was indeed a "Celebrity."  As such, "candidate" Trump needed to be respected.  Not respected for his ideas - which nearly every one I vehemently disagree with - but Donald Trump should be respected for what he has accomplished in life.  For that reason, Trump's "super star" has been shining brightly for many, many years...and not just as the host and executive producer of a number one show on television. That being said, The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice were the rocket ship that propelled Donald Trump at the start of his campaign.  

     But to my surprise, Trump was, at least, somewhat popular - across the United States - long before he ever became a reality TV star.  As a real estate mogul and a giant in the construction industry, Donald Trump was also well-known nationwide decades ago...not just in New York and New Jersey...where - at the time - most of his properties were built.

   

     I was recently watching a 1985 episode - on the Game Show Network - of the CBS daytime series, The $25,000 Pyramid...hosted by the late great and legendary Dick Clark.  One of the categories in the two-team competition (not the big pyramid bonus round) was described as "Celebrity people whose last names begin with T."  Among the seven names that popped up on the screen were Elizabeth Taylor, John Travolta and - believe it or not - Donald Trump.  The celebrity's clue was, "He's a billionaire real estate guy in New 

York City."  The contestant's immediate response was..."Donald Trump."  And again, that was in 1985.  So Trump's prominence throughout our country didn't begin after The Apprentice was a huge hit on NBC.  As much as I don't like Donald Trump for President of the United States, I have to be fair about his longtime fame.

     Did I think that Donald Trump would be the Republican front-runner - at this point - in Campaign 2016...and that he would have won primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina...and a caucus in Nevada?  No.  I did not.  But for some strange reason, there are Republicans - albeit only about one-third of GOP-identified Americans - who think that no matter how vicious Donald Trump's remarks are...he is still their choice for President.

     Former CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent and former anchor of Face The Nation, Bob Schieffer, told the current Face The Nation moderator and CBS News Political Director, John Dickerson on Sunday, February 21st, 2016 that "Donald Trump speaks his mind.  He is really connecting with voters.  They're not even worried about what he says.  They just enjoy hearing him say it."  That's it.  Bob has hit the nail on the head.  "They just enjoy hearing him say it."  And that's the crux of the success - at least so far - of Trump's entire campaign.  Those who support him don't care at all about what venom he spews off his tongue.  They don't know, if elected, as President and Commander-In-Chief, if Donald Trump will actually be able to do the vile things he is crudely expressing...but in his supporters' minds...it makes no difference.  They just feel that if Trump truly thinks the way that he talks...that he might be successful.  And that's his strength.  And it has made Donald Trump an even bigger "superstar" than ever before...something I was absolutely correct about last June when I labeled him with that word.

     All of the above being said, I never thought Donald Trump had any chance of winning the Republican nomination...and I still am not so sure that such a feat will become a "reality" in this "Reality TV-type" of Presidential campaign.  I'd like to believe...and I want to hope...that Republican Americans are smart enough to realize that Donald Trump is not good for the United States of America as our President.  His radical concepts are wrong for our nation.  And it not only puzzles me, but disturbs me that there are so many Americans who back a man who wants to deport 11-million people...who calls Mexicans "rapists"...who feels John McCain is not a war hero...who wants to keep all Muslims from entering our country...and who will fight with the Pope - to mention only a handful of reasons why Donald Trump should never be President of the United States.  So why have Trump supporters not questioned all the hatefully horrendous statements that he has made?  It's shocking to think there are that many of my fellow Americans who - whether they believe him or not - are listening to Donald Trump.  But, as I wrote above, I don't believe that Trump's "tell it like I see it" plan can take him all the way to the Republican nomination...and I definitely don't think it can take him to The White House.

     John Kasich - on the other hand - is one who political junkies need to watch.  The Ohio Governor may currently be 4th in a 5-man race, but I would not count him out as the Republican nominee.  At present, that may seem unlikely, but with Campaign 2016, the unlikely has often become likely...and without notice.  The rules and the unexpected are done away with forever as a result of Campaign 2016.

     I was recently asked the same question by three people...a liberal Democrat who - like me - supports Hillary Clinton...a liberal Democrat who backs Bernie Sanders...and a conservative Republican who is, at present, undecided, but who would prefer not to vote for Donald Trump, although he would, if Trump was nominated.  Each person asked me..."If he is the Republican nominee...can Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton?"  My answer was..."I don't think he can.  I would bet that he won't.  I hope not."  Shame on Americans, if he does.  And if he does...God help the U.S.A.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

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Photo credits:  abcnews.go.com (former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton #1), observer.com (President Barack Obama), my.democrats.org (former President Bill Clinton), slate.com (Senator Bernie Sanders), slate.com (Mr. Donald Trump), acbatesy.com (Dick Clark), peoples.ru (Elizabeth Taylor), trendtopicc.blogspot.com and nbcnews.com (John Travolta), cbsnews.com (Bob Schieffer), cbsnews.com (John Dickerson), phoenixnewtimes.com (Senator John McCain), mrctv.org (Governor John Kasich) and usnews.com (former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton #2)

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