Donald Trump vs. America
Hes no longer running against Hillary Clinton. Hes running against our democracy itself.
By Jamelle Bouie
Is Donald Trump running against Hillary Clinton, or is he campaigning against American democracy?
After the first presidential debate, the Republican Party nominee called for monitoring and intimidation at polling places in cities like Philadelphia and Cleveland. During the second, Trump announced his plan to investigate Clinton using the power of the presidency, and promised to put her in jail for unnamed crimes against the state. He later turned that into a bona fide campaign slogan: Lock her up. For the last week, hes decried the entire election process as riggeda shadowy conspiracy meant to deny him a victory at the ballot box.
And at the final presidential debate at the University of NevadaLas Vegas, Donald Trump refused to commit to conceding the election, should he lose on Nov. 8.
I will look at it at the time. Im not looking at anything now. Ill look at it at the time, said Trump after moderator Chris Wallace asked if he would honor the election results. Wallace pressed the question a second time.
There is a tradition in this country, in fact one of the prides of this country is the peaceful transition of power, and that no matter how hard-fought a campaign is, that at the end of the campaign that the loser concedes to the winner. Not saying that youre necessarily going to be the loser or the winner. But that the loser concedes to the winner, and that the country comes together in part for the good of the country. Are you saying youre not prepared now to commit to that principle?
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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/10/donald_trump_vs_american_democracy.html?wpsrc=newsletter_tis&sid=5388f1c6dd52b8e4110003de