"America's Last Hope"

Spiegel (the German news magazine) runs a front-cover piece this week with Hillary representing America's last great hope.  I didn't really go past the first ten lines.  They do lay out the chief issue....there is no real enthusiasm among Democrats in 2016....compared to 2008 or 2012.  Hillary isn't a Barak Obama.  But their selling point (from Spiegel's intellectual view) is that Donald Trump is not good for America and not good for Germans.

I sat yesterday observing a French political chat group, which got onto the subject of Trump, and the two American intellectuals quickly went onto the anti-Trump tirade and noted how crazy it would be if Trump were President.  Anyone watching their 'act' or behavior.....would have been mostly amused (it was like having a conversation with a 14-year old kid and they repeated special phrases without any idea of the meaning).

There are probably a dozen reasons that Trump isn't the best or most positive candidate in the running.  The problem is....when put up against Hillary....then asking about her reasons why she's not the best or most positive candidate in the running....your reason total goes to twenty....maybe even twenty-five.  It is an election where you have marginal people for the job.  Trump has a full-page resume but he's not really a Republican or Democrat....meaning he's an executive who will do things differently from the past forty-four guys to occupy the position.  In Hillary's case, it's a 3x5 card resume, and her chief selling point is that she's the wife of Bill.

Why do the German intellectuals drift into the anti-Trump situation?  Well....it's good press to help the SPD in a bad election year (2017).  In the past, with a anti-US, anti-NATO, anti-Bush slant.....this always helped the SPD pick up another six to ten percentage points.  Right now....the SPD sits at around a 20-percent point nationally.....which is the worst they've seen in fifty years.  They need massive help, and a big anti-Trump thrill by the German public would really help.

The problem in 2016 selling this Spiegel message?  Last year, there was a poll which said that roughly two-thirds of all Germans do not trust the news media anymore.  They aren't talking about just the Channel One (state-run TV) folks.....they also mean print-media.  Germans in general.....have prioritized their issues and problems.....and having some fraudulent journalists pretend there's some bigger issue.....well....it just won't work this time around.

With the way that Spiegel wrote the first couple of lines of their article....they are preparing the German public for the likely outcome.....Trump does end up beating Hillary....mostly because of a lack of enthusiasm.  On that, they are probably right.

So as summer drags on in Germany, and you happen to note hours and hours of coverage on the US election and amusing pictures of Trump always used to highlight the "unclever or dangerous" Trump....you get dragged into discussions with Germans over how screwed up Trump is.  So you might get your German associate to pause for a moment and you just say.....you know....we sure do wish we had someone like your Merkel in America, that we could get behind.....like you Germans do, and support.  Remind them.....Merkel in a way....is "Germany's Last Hope".