A View From Inside The GOP Bubble

Jeb Bush is blaming someone for the rise of Donald Trump, and it ain't anyone in the GOP.  Here is what Jeb wrote in a Washington Post Op/Ed last week:

Eight years of the divisive tactics of President Obama and his allies have undermined Americans’ faith in politics and government to accomplish anything constructive. The president has wielded his power — while often exceeding his authority — to punish his opponents, legislate from the White House and turn agency rulemaking into a weapon for liberal dogma. In turn, a few in the Republican Party responded by trying to out-polarize the president, making us seem anti-immigrant, anti-women, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-worker and anti-common-sense.

Here's what I remember from the last eight years: The Republicans decided -- literally on Day One of Obama's presidency -- to obstruct America's first Black president on everything he tried to do. They did it not simply because the GOP is full of racists, but also so they could undermine America's faith in government.

But Jeb is sort of right about one thing:  Obama is at least partially responsible for the rise of Trump.  Most of the credit, of course, must go to the GOP itself and to the Media, particularly given that the radicalization of the Republican Party is easily the most under-reported political story in the last three decades.  Had members of the American Media done their jobs and reported on just how extreme the GOP was becoming, maybe the rise of Trump could have been avoided.

But Obama gets credit too.  He knew early on that the GOP was going to obstruct him on everything, so what did he do?  He repeatedly embraced Republican ideas.  A great example of this is his support of the individual health care mandate, a Republican idea.  Once he did that, the GOP had no where else to go with regard to health care reform because they made a determination to oppose Obama on everything.

There are more examples of this, but the result was that the Republicans -- with the help of Obama -- backed themselves in a political corner and the GOP is now fully radicalized as a result.  And that is why Donald Trump was able to so easily secure the Republican nomination.