Principle and the 2016 Presidential election

We Democrats can learn from the Republicans' mistakes this year. The Republican Party is at war with itself, and it's not just the Establishment vs. Trump. The Evangelical wing is also battling Trump. His conservatism is not pure enough, and his lifestyle is not approved. All but the dimmest among them recognize his "New York values."

I have noted previously that, in the race for purity, the Republicans who rational people would assume could not be farther to the right are displaced and distrusted by ever purer politicians. For example, Grover Norquist, architect of the slashing-of-spending pledge that once marked the true conservative is now distrusted by people to his right. Solidly right-wing congressmen, such as Paul Ryan and John Boehner are unable to control their party members.

Purity is poisonous.

There are Democrats who, citing principle, cannot vote for Hillary Clinton. Principle is a fine thing, but sometimes fidelity to one principle can blind the faithful to another, higher principle. The higher principle of which I speak will surprise nobody: We must defeat the Republicans in 2016, and beat them decisively. I want to run up the score to LBJ-Goldwater proportions.

If this election amounted to a contest between Hillary and one of the reasonable Republicans (who, unfortunately, seem only to have existed in the past), the "Hillary is a corporate shill" principle would hold up under scrutiny.

But 2016 is no ordinary election.