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Has America Been Trumped?

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Tuesday night was a monumentally important night for the future of our country. We learned two things:

First, Trump is a political force of nature and, though not unstoppable, is in a commanding position to win the GOP nomination. For all the talk about who among the governors and senators who got 12 percent and 11 percent and 10 percent, Trump won more of the vote than Bush, Rubio, and Cruz combined.

Second, Hillary is the Walking Dead. She isn't going to be president. Democrats are as glum as can be today because they realize they are going to nominate their version of Mitt Romney.  For the chosen to win less than 40 percent of the vote is a resounding rejection.

The fact that Hillary got less than 20 percent of the voters under the age of 29 speaks volumes about her electability. Hillary is so yesterday. She's a 1990s retread.

And quick: what is Hillary's message? A third Obama term? Voters overwhelmingly don't want that. She's reinvented herself so many times ‎she has no convictions at all.

And speaking of convictions, the FBI investigation is hanging over her like the dust surrounding Pig Pen of Peanuts fame.

The theme of Trump's splendid victory speech last night ‎was patriotism. Trump is the anti-Obama in every way. Obama blames America first for every problem on the earth, from global warming to terrorism. Trump emanates love for America and pledges to "make America great again."

His victory speech was all about patriotism.

- Obama hates business. Trump runs businessess.

- Obama is a pessimist. Trump is an optimist.

- Obama is an elitist. Trump is a populist.

- Obama ‎is a college professor and a community organizer. Trump is a job creator and a profit maker.

- Obama is incompent. Trump is a professional; he is exudes competence.

A few ‎thoughts and predictions going forward.

First, don't rule out another Democrat getting into the race, especially if Hillary falters in any of the next few primaries. Every Democrat pro knows that Sanders would lose a massive landslide election, and so the party will do everything -- even changing the rules of the game if it comes to that -- to prevent a Sanders nomination.

Possible entrants would be Joe Biden, Al Gore, Jerry Brown, Andrew Cuomo, or Elizabeth Warren.

The rub against Trump that he can't win in November looks to be wrong. Trump certainly has some profound defects and his problem with minorities and women cannot be ignored.

‎On the other hand, Trump could expand the Republican base to include independents and union Democratic voters. Trump is also getting better each day as he expands his base rather than shrinking it. Trumpmania is a Black Swann political event that we've never seen before and may not ever see again.

Meanwhile, the conventional wisdom that Marco Rubio is the most electable has been turned on its head. Rubio is an amazing talent, but for now ‎he seems not ready for prime time. Christie exposed all of Rubio's vulnerabilities in the Saturday debate.

Cruz has the best shot at dethroning Trump. If Cruz wins South Carolina it's looking like a two-man horse race.

Kasich took a huge leap forward in the race for vice president. A Trump-Kasich ticket would be very strong.

The odds of Republicans winning in November shot up at the end of Tuesday night. The Democrats had a nightmare of a night.

In February 1980 the Republican establishment said that a staunch conservative Hollywood actor could never be president ‎and he won two landslide elections. Trump isn't Reagan, but he's one of the most talented retail politicians in modern times.

For nine months everyone has been estimating this man saying that he was surely going to go away. He's not going away.

*Stephen Moore is a Freedom Works economics consultant and an economics contributor to CBN.

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About The Author

Stephen
Moore

Stephen Moore is a contributing author for CBN News. He was a senior economic advisor to the Trump campaign and is chief economist at The Heritage Foundation, a position he has held since January, 2014. Previously, Moore wrote for The Wall Street Journal and was also a member of The Journal'’s editorial board. As chief economist at Heritage, Moore focuses on advancing public policies that increase the rate of economic growth to help the United States retain its position as the global economic superpower. He also works on budget, fiscal and monetary policy and showcases states that get fiscal