"Will the majority pull the handle for independent, accomplished, and vigorous, or incompetent, corrupt, and sickly?"

Sunday night Donald Trump had a rally in Albuquerque. Robert Gore was there, and wrote about it.

...New Mexicans and New Yorkers are different types of people, but Trump connected with his audience immediately. He didn’t talk down or up. Relaxed, with a ready smile, he spoke in an unaffected manner, sticking in some Big Apple sarcasm and humor. Until the Internet played it up, Hillary Clinton acquired a drawl in front of Southern audiences, which is just plain weird. Trump reminded the crowd that he’s visited New Mexico four times and Clinton has made no appearances. His speech ran about fifty minutes. It was the standard stump speech with a few factoids and appeals inserted for New Mexico. He’s given it hundreds of times, twice earlier that day, but like all good actors he delivers his lines with an enthusiasm and verve that makes them sound fresh.

...Whether Trump wins or loses, the traditional media is toast; it will never regain the presumptions of impartiality and veracity it once enjoyed. Its performance during the election is its death knell, hastening the triumph of the Internet.

...Even as he may be on the verge of the most audacious feat in the history of American politics, few disparagers acknowledge what came through loud and clear at his rally: he is smart and successful, competent and confident, outspoken and independent.

America is headed for difficult times. Most Americans who aren’t drawing a paycheck from Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Wall Street or Washington know this. Do the majority pull the handle for independent, accomplished, and vigorous, or incompetent, corrupt, and sickly? In the privacy of mail-in balloting or the voting booth, a surprising number will choose the former, regardless of what they’ve told family, friends, and pollsters. Trump looks like a winner.