As we close in on Super Tuesday — when more than a dozen states and territories hold presidential primaries — it seems as good a time as any to assess the state of the 2016 presidential race.
My assessment is: Ugh.
Seriously, can we start over and recast this whole thing? It has the makings of an epic flop, particularly on the Democratic side. (If nothing else, the Republicans, with Donald Trump, have cast one of the all-time great villains.)
Let’s start with Hillary Clinton.
Former first lady. Former senator. Former secretary of state.
It’s a remarkable r?sum? for someone who is widely despised and even more widely distrusted. Between liberals who consider her a sell-out to the Wall Street crowd and conservatives who consider her evil incarnate, the core of voters who truly like Clinton is perilously small.
I don’t agree with the argument that she’s not qualified. I don’t agree with the argument that she’s not intelligent. And from a policy standpoint, I agree with most of what she supports.
But she is tragically divisive, and that should matter. Yes, Republicans will try to destroy any Democratic presidential nominee. But still, it would be nice to have a presidential hopeful whose baseline with people from the other side of the aisle wasn’t: She should be in prison.
Burdened by all this and widely viewed as only a so-so campaigner, Clinton is still the Democratic front-runner. And many still have to be asking: Is this really the best we can do?
Which brings us to Bernie Sanders.
Oh, Bernie. I’ve just about had it with you. Typing those words dooms me to an abundance of online scorn from Sanders’ fiery supporters, who strike with the tact and ferocity of Trump fans at anyone who dares speak ill of their hero.
I like Sanders’ focus on income inequality in this country, and I would technically love to see some of his ideas — free college, health care for everyone — come to pass. But the question of how that would all be paid for is a legitimate one.
Most of what Sanders promises requires a wide-ranging political revolution — including a complete ideological shift in Congress — that is a virtual impossibility. Would I like it to happen? Sure, to a degree. And I can respect those who say that you can’t achieve change without trying, even if you fail at first.
But failure at this moment in history means: a possible Trump presidency; the rolling back of almost everything President Barack Obama has accomplished; at least one and possibly several arch-conservative Supreme Court justices; and, it’s worth repeating, a possible Trump presidency.
And that’s the lineup, folks. It’s a short batting order in desperate need of a superstar.
With Trump winning big in Nevada on Tuesday night, he enters Super Tuesday like a roaring, preposterous freight train. Republicans don’t look like they can take him down, and the Democrats’ current firewall between that Trump train and the White House is a candidate most people don’t trust and a socialist whose core voters will turn out unless it happens to be spring break.
I’ll ask it again, for Democrats and Republicans: Is this really the best we can do?
And if it is, why?
Rex Huppke is a Chicago Tribune columnist. Email: rhuppke@tribpub.com.
