John Kasich got it right in his statement, released Saturday afternoon, concerning the video of Donald Trump making vulgar comments about women. “Nothing that has happened in the last 48 hours,” the governor began, “is surprising to me or many others.” This was Trump being Trump, part of “an accumulation,” as the Ohio governor added, going back to the start of his successful bid to capture the Republican Party presidential nomination.
The governor has done himself proud through it all. He hasn’t decided suddenly that Trump now has gone too far. He has withheld his support, and in his statement declared, “I will not vote for a nominee who has behaved in a manner that reflects so poorly on our country.”
Perhaps the governor finds the circumstances easier. He isn’t on the ballot. He has his eye on the 2020 presidential race, not to mention playing a role in repairing the damage to the party. Yet his stance matters, just as state Sen. Shannon Jones, Bob Taft, Betty Montgomery and others have distinguished themselves in long ago separating from the boastful, nativist, narcissistic and uninformed Trump.
Return to earlier episodes in the campaign, for instance, Trump mocking a disabled man, insulting the Gold Star Khan family, stereotyping Muslims, calling Mexicans “rapists,” and holding to many wild assertions long proved false. He has unleashed, yes, deplorable instincts, his unfitness for the office plainly established.
Rob Portman is seeking re-election to the U.S. Senate. He made the calculation that he could keep Trump at a distance while holding those who back the nominee. Over the weekend, Portman announced he had seen enough, saying he would not vote for Trump. The senator had argued that he wanted to respect the result of the party nomination process. Ordinarily, that makes sense, yet, in Trump, the party has a candidate so contrary to Portman in judgment, temperament and preparation.
All the hedging by the senator has not reflected well on him.
Matt Borges, the state Republican chairman, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the presidential debate on Sunday provided Trump with an opportunity to show, as he claimed, that the campaign had changed him as a person. Hard to see how the candidate met the test. Put aside the dismal scene of Trump at the table with past accusers of Bill Clinton in the hour before the debate. During the 90 minutes, he reinforced the impression of a man with little clue about governing (a single senator can change the tax code?) or grasp of the issues, trading in whoppers about such things as the tax burden, poverty rate and the Libyan oil captured by the Islamic State (none).
Trump continues to show a disrespect for the presidency by failing to take seriously the task of becoming better informed or disciplining himself to make a mature presentation. He accused Hillary Clinton of having “tremendous hatred in her heart.”
Vox tallied how Trump and Clinton used their words. Clinton applied nearly two-thirds to answering the actual questions. Trump? He devoted 37 percent to that task, all while reaffirming what long has been obvious.