The strange state of American politics

Don’t ask.

America’s traditional Republicans don’t want to talk about it.

They just can’t process it.

Donald Trump.

The Trump phenomenon is a jaw-dropping political steamroller.

The American media seems to have become a Trump marketing machine. Some radio stations and TV networks talk of nothing else, 24 hours a day. Truly. If they run out of spokespeople, they interview each other about him.

When newscasts and current affairs shows trumpet “breaking news”, one might expect it to be some story about, well, news. Almost without fail right now, it will be some piece of Trump trivia. A tweet, perhaps.

If he hasn’t done anything today, they will be analysing what he did yesterday. The Trump machine is pumping it out non stop. It is as astounding as it is terrifying. Trump believes in repetition. He is quoted as saying that if you repeat it long enough, it will become true.

This is an old right-wing strategy, of course and it has been working against Hillary Clinton for years. So Americans now are trained to repeat the same phrases about her. Untrustworthy. Email server. Benghazi. Clinton Foundation.

But, while the Republicans have lots of snipes against the Democratic presidential nominee, words seem to catch in their throats when they are asked about Donald Trump.

Nervous laughter is a common response.

Oh, what you must be thinking about our country, they say.

I never thought I could feel sorry for Republicans, but these people are in pain. Their political ground has been ripped from under them. They are conservatives but they are not ratbags or extremists. They are educated, hard-working people. That Trump has turned out to be their main man has taken them rather by surprise. Embarrassment, even.

While he thunders and dominates the media, he seems to have thrust a huge portion of the American population into uncharacteristic reticence.

They don’t want to talk about him. They don’t know how they will vote.

They will start by referring to Hillary Clinton’s shortcomings. They definitely don’t want to vote for that woman. But…

They can’t dredge up any reasons they may vote for Trump.

They are in denial.

An elegant African American gentlemen with whom I was engaged in conversation in Richmond did a spectacular sidestep when I tried to gauge his feelings about Trump and the election. The most I could squeeze out of him was “he is an interesting man”.

Driving through New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee, it has been Trump signs on the roadsides. Not a single Hillary sign. The last one I saw was in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Commenting on this to a hospitality worker in Roanoke, a charming arty town in western Virginia, I was assured that it was not really as one sided as it looks. But the man, a “resting” actor, spoke in conspiratorial whispers. He actually looked over his shoulder as he spoke.

I’ve really tried to bring up the election issue with people I meet.

If they are solid Republicans, and they all have been in our travels through these states, they still can’t find praise for Trump. One woman responded to my curiosity with an attack on Obama.

The most common line which has been created and endlessly marketed by the media, is that America is suffering the “two most disliked candidates of all time”.

There has been so much attack on Hillary Clinton that I think people now are afraid to be seen supporting her.

But no matter how hard the media thrusts him down their throats, they can’t come around to Trump.The don’t like him. Yet, he is the man their party has given them.

These articulate and outspoken people have been muted.

America is profoundly uncomfortable.