If Donald Trump wins the election, Horizon Investments chief political strategist Greg Valliere hopes that Inauguration Day is "really windy."
In a 50-minute talk yesterday at the Investment Management Consultants Association's annual conference in Orlando, Valliere voiced his deep disgust with the Republican front-runner. "I've never seen anything like this in my life," he said, calling it the "nastiest, ugliest election ever."
The nation is confronted with a wide array of major challenges in what should be one of its most important presidential elections ever. Instead of a serious discussion of problems ranging from entitlements to terrorism, it's become a low-grade reality show, despite the fact that the Republican party had many serious candidates.
In his travels across the country, Valliere has discovered "tremendous anxiety" about the economy in the center of America that he hasn't seen on either coast. Wall Street and Detroit got bailed out but many people in the mid-West have lost jobs or fear losing their jobs. Others haven't received raises for years. And they believe no one in Washington has done anything for them.
"Donald Trump connects with these people," Valliere said, adding there is "a racial element I find reprehensible." The same goes for Trump's dismissal of the war record of John McCain, who spent five years getting tortured while Trump was "chasing super models."
"I still think he will be the nominee," Valliere said. "He will win big in New York and win Caifornia by 20 percent. If he goes to Cleveland with 3.5 million more votes than [Texas Senator] Ted Cruz and almost enough delegates" he should be able to muster the handful of delegates he needs to put him over the top. If not, he'll do worse on the second ballot.
The great irony is that the GOP has "a great candidate" who could beat Hillary Clinton "easily." But Ohio Gov. John Kasich has only won his home state and isn't going anywhere because "he is not angry enough.'
So how does DT beat HC when his negatives dwarf her impressive unpopularity and untrustworthiness numbers?
First, there will be another terrorist incident. If one occurs before the election, which it may or may not, DT's "bombastic, outrageous" rhetoric will win some votes.
How weak is HC? Washington, D.C., has anointed HC as the next president, but she is hardly a prohibitive favorite. "History shows it is really hard for one party to win three presidential elections in a row," Valliere said.