John Divers: ‘Terrifying’ prospects

The disarray of the current Republican Party added to the last Republican administration disaster brings to mind the remark of the humorist P.J. O’Rourke, “The Republican Party is the party that says that government doesn’t work, and then they get elected and prove it.”

But this clear fact doesn’t mean that a Donald Trump might not win the presidency, which is “terrifying” (a form of the word Paul Krugman used in a Sept. 19 column “Fantasies and fictions at Republican debate”).

Given our polarized electorate, our electoral system where one state like Ohio or Florida can determine the election, combined with Republican gerrymandered districts, voter repression laws passed by many Republican-controlled state legislatures and other forms of Republican mischief (Supreme Court decisions included), the “terrifying” remains a possibility.

We can only hope that enough Independents, a larger than normal turnout of Democratic voters, joined maybe by Republicans who are more concerned for the future of the country than the future of their party, will thwart the “terrifying” possibility.

This story was originally published October 24, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "John Divers: ‘Terrifying’ prospects."