Here you go:
A socialist who only became a member of the Democratic Party a year ago just slaughtered the party’s queen-in-waiting. A reality-show billionaire who has never before run for office just humbled two senators and three former and present governors in a runaway Republican victory.
The New Hampshire presidential primary has launched America into uncharted political territory. We’re flying blind here, people. Trust no analysis. Believe no prognosticator. Nobody knows anything.
Well, we know a few things.
First — assuming that Hillary Clinton survives this humiliation and becomes her party’s nominee nonetheless — we know Democrats have a huge electability problem on their hands.
This was revealed by a piece of information from Tuesday night’s exit poll. It said that for 32 percent of Democrats, honesty was a key issue. They went for Bernie Sanders — get this — 93 percent to 5. It turns out Sanders was right not to hit Hillary on her email scandal and the behavior of the Clinton Foundation, because he didn’t have to. Democrats know about it and are discomfited by it.
Project this out to November. Say 8 percent of the electorate has honesty and integrity as its main issue. That’s 12 million voters. Barack Obama won the 2012 election by 4 million votes. Now, maybe Hillary can successfully run down her Republican rival’s reputation for honesty and thereby mitigate some of that damage, but there’s almost nothing she can do to cleanse herself of this stain.
Second, it appears that Marco Rubio injured himself terribly with his debate performance on Saturday night. All reports are that he was rising into the 20s in internal tracking polls on Friday and Saturday — and after he looped his words three times, he cratered on Sunday and Monday. This is one of the worst self-inflicted political wounds in living memory.
The most important takeaway, though, is this: The politics of resentment won Tuesday night. It hasn’t had a showing like this in the United States maybe since the 1890s.
Donald Trump and Sanders have a remarkably similar and remarkably simple message, and it’s this: You’re being screwed. They agree that international trade is screwing you, that health care companies are screwing you and that Wall Street is screwing you.
Sanders says he’s going to throw bankers in jail, raise everybody’s taxes — and provide universal health care.
Trump says he’ll deport every illegal immigrant, keep Muslims out of the country until “we can find out what the hell is going on,” force Mexico to build a wall, levy a 45 percent tariff on China — and provide universal health care.
Simple, straightforward and catchy — that’s the key. And none of it is your fault. Everything bad that’s happening, everything that makes you nervous and worried and uncertain about the future, is the result of a great wrong that is being done to you.
Sanders says it’s being done by malefactors of great wealth. Trump says it’s being done by morons and idiots who run Washington and are getting their hats handed to them by canny malefactors in Beijing and Mexico City.
Will this message carry beyond New Hampshire? Of course it will, whatever happens to the candidacies of these two men.
On the Republican side, Ted Cruz has been trying to figure out a way to layer Trumpism on his own anti-establishment conservatism — and he may be Trump’s only viable rival after Tuesday night.
Last week in a debate, Hillary Clinton claimed Wall Street is simply terrified of her because she’s been so mean to it, which is hilarious nonsense, but whatever.
Don’t look for uplift. Don’t seek vision. This is probably going to be the payback election — America at its worst.