A neighbor of mine, a Trump supporter who tends to be quieter than the blustery liberals I also call neighbors, has long been hoping that Clinton would not be indicted. His reasoning, which I have now seen echoed all over the news and blogosphere, was that Clinton is an easier opponent for the GOP than any of the likely alternatives would be should she be forced from the race.
FBI Director James Comey’s statement was certainly not favorable for Clinton, with the New York Times calling it a ready-made attack ad. It certainly provides grist for the mill and arms Trump to the teeth going into the final four months of the campaign.
While this may be making lemonade from a great big giant FBI-shaped lemon, the argument is not without merit. There’s ample discussion of the idea out there, and Comey may have indeed done her quite a bit of harm by both detailing her transgressions and stating pretty clearly that others who did or do as she had would stand a good chance of facing prosecution.
It’s also, in hindsight, not a bad thing for those who wish to see libertarianism gain some traction this election cycle. Gary Johnson is being disappointingly feckless with regard to Hillary’s email business, and he’s far from an ideal libertarian candidate, but for average, non-libertarian voters, he and his running mate William Weld represent a solid alternative for people who can’t bring themselves to vote for Clump. Both are successful two-term governors, they are not selling hard-core conservatism or hard-core liberalism, they’re offering social tolerance to a society that’s increasingly embracing it, and they’re offering fiscal responsibility to a country that desperately needs it.
Were Clinton somehow forced out of the race by an indictment, it’s been suggested, I think with merit, that the DNC would have found a way to put Joe Biden up as the Democratic candidate for the White House. It’s also been suggested that Elizabeth Warren could be advanced as his running mate. Warren’s inclusion would capture the disaffected Sanders supporters who are leaning towards Johnson at the moment, and Biden would very likely draw a decent number of #nevertrump Republicans who might see a Biden White House with a Republican Congress as preferable to The Donald at the helm. Such a move would probably come close to knocking the Libertarian Party ticket back down to its traditional 1% performance. Maybe not all the way to 1%, but any dreams of pulling 10% in the general, dreams that aren’t outside the realm of possibility, would be dashed.
So, from a political-strategy angle for libertarians, it’s not such a bad thing that Clinton got past the risk of indictment. I still think the country would have been better served had she been indicted. The nation’s already suffering from a massive loss of respect and trust for the politicians and bureaucrats who run everything, and this sordid email server business added to it. Seeing one of the top-tier elites get taken down for actions born out of disdain and hubris would have done a lot of good.
It wasn’t meant to be, it seems. Trump’s fans, now that their blood has had a chance to stop boiling, should actually be happy that Clinton is still in the race. I can’t envision Trump having the slightest chance of success against anyone who is not reviled the way Clinton is. If you truly think that Trump is the man to fix things, stay mad about the non-indictment, but make your lemonade. Use it against Clinton every chance you get, because Trump isn’t going to win on his own merits.
As for the Libertarians, I’m hoping that they come out with a statement of disapproval. I get that Johnson’s trying to keep a cordial face re Clinton, probably to draw some Democrats into voting for him, but if he’s going to be presenting the party as the principled alternative, he needs to stand up for those principles.
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