Fred Hiatt is the Editorial Page Editor for the Washington Post. He makes some obvious points about the implications of Donald Trump's presidential nomination. Democracy loses if the unlikely happens and he wins the elections, but it has also been harmed by his nomination. The rest of the world can't understand how Trump won the GOP nomination. He then turns his attention to Hillary Clinton and President Obama. He claims that the rest of the world has become less democratic during Obama's presidency and he asks whether President Clinton will reverse that trend. In other words, he largely ignores the state of democracy in the US and he shifts his attention to an impossible role for any US President. Donald Trump defeated the best candidates that the Republican Party could pit against him in the GOP primary. Over 40% if the electorate will vote for Trump in the general election. We have no business holding a US president accountable for the state of democracy in the world when it is in such serious trouble at home. Unless we address the problems at home we are in no position to preach democracy in other parts of the world. Democracy must go well beyond running elections. That is especially true when electioneering becomes the primary focus of our political parties along with raising millions of dollars to run political campaigns. It is also a problem in world that has not come to grips with globalization and economic stagnation. Political failures are at least partially to blame for the discontent that we have in the US and in other democracies. That should not be surprising when one of our major political parties wants to reduce the role of government in a world that requires an active and competent government to deal with rapid economic and social change.
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