Pence

Don't you wish Mike Pence were the Republican nominee instead of Donald Trump?

The only trouble Pence had in out-matching Tim Kaine was Kaine's ability to bring up crazy things that Trump has said, or could be slightly misrepresented as saying. Trump was like an albatross around Pence ' s neck.

But wait. If Republican voters had wanted to run a Pence, they had every opportunity. There was no shortage of good candidates. They could have nominated Jeb Bush, or Marco Rubio, or Bobby Jindal, or John Kasich. They chose not to.

There has to be a reason.

And there is. Pence, with his courtly, gentlemanly manner, his refusal to stoop to questionable tactics, his reasonableness, his courtesy, reminded one a lot of Mitt Romney, or Paul Ryan debating an interrupting Joe Biden, or John McCain insisting Barack Obama was a decent chap. Or the Republican leadership in Congress. This is just what enraged the Republican rank and file into choosing Trump.

It is the wrong tone for the times. It reminded me of Hubert Humphrey, back in 1968, proclaiming "the politics of joy." When the Vietnam War was in full swing. It just seemed callous.

While Pence was being well-mannered, Kaine was talking over every point, and the moderator was obviously biased against him. In such circumstances, anger is called for. Act as if everything is fine, and you just look helpless. A loser.

Indeed, you will be a loser. If one side follows the rules of the game, and the other side cheats at every opportunity, the good will always lose.

You may think this is too harsh a judgement on the left. I disagree. Postmodernism has refused to be bound by any of the rules of civil society. Alinsky has refused. The Bible or the Ten Commandments no longer hold us together. The sanctity of marriage no longer does. Motherhood no longer does. Male and female are no longer fixed qualities. There is no longer a general consensus on the right to life.

That's why we got Trump.