WASHINGTON—With the two most unpopular candidates for the presidency neck and neck for the Oval Office, one political analyst offered a sobering and even troubling assessment of politics in the U.S.—but also offered a ray of light that brighter days could be ahead for the country.
In remarks to NAFCU’s Congressional Caucus, S.E. Cupp–who observed “I often do this for members of Congress, so it’s nice to meet with someone who actually knows what they are doing with their members’ money”—said she had initially titled her remarks, “State of the Election, but at the last moment I decided to change it to ‘WTF’.”
S.E. Cupp on CNN.
Cupp, a conservative Republican who is a consultant, CNN commentator and author, said that she has covered three presidential elections and four mid-term elections and “It’s fair to say I haven’t seen anything like this, both professionally and personally. It’s been a roller coaster.”
Cupp offered a frank assessment of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, whom she knows personally, in her remarks. Indeed, once a Trump supporter who even lived in Trump Tower in New York, her opposition to his candidacy has put her on the list of those subjected to Trump’s infamously negative tweets, including, “Why does CNN bore its audience with S.E. Cupp?”
“Believe it or not, years ago Trump and I were friends,” she said. “I know his kids. I was excited for Trump. I was a New Yorker for 13 years. I knew he was an an institution in New York. New Yorkers are, or were, proud of Trump. I knew there would be issues if he chose to run. He’s a former Democrat running as a Republican. He had the birther stuff. He’s unfiltered. I thought this will be colorful. I should have known (of problems) right away when he sent me his speech a couple of hours before he announced his candidacy, and then he completely abandoned it. It’s that refusal to stick to script that gave members of his party angina.”
Very Dark Places
Cupp, who noted on several occasions she remains a strong supporter of conservative philosophy and the Republican party, will not be voting for Trump—or Clinton, for that matter.
“What gave me concern as a conservative was he took the campaign into some very dark places very quickly,” Cupp said. “The things he said weren’t helpful, and were pretty hard to defend, and I like to defend my party. Many things he has said don’t seem Constitutional.”
But Cupp didn’t reserve her ire for just Trump, as she went on to share her objections to Democrat Hillary Clinton. As she made clear, the 2016 presidential race is not much of a choice for anyone.
S.E. Cupp speaking at NAFCU's Caucus.
“Only 10% of Americans voted for Trump or Hillary in the primaries,” Cupp said. “These are two of the least-liked people to ever run.”
Cupp called it “astounding” that a 74-year-old, unknown junior senator from Vermont who is like your “crotchety uncle” and a socialist to boot, Bernie Sanders, nearly won the Democratic primary.
“He almost won because people don’t like Hillary Clinton. She polls worse with men than Trump does with women,” said Cupp. “She has been under investigation and time and time again she has been caught in lies and dodges. Whatever you think of her politics, her character is arguably contemptible. And even her biggest defenders in the liberal media have serious questions about her health. Bernie goes out into the woods and sees a banker behind every tree, and his model of government is Sweden, which has totally rejected his version of democratic socialism. Bernie ran as a Washington outsider after spending 30 years in elected office, and yet he was competitive with Hillary Clinton. Let’s be honest: the Democrats are out of options…The voters in the Democratic primary had to choose between a criminal and a kook.”
Doing The Autopsy
Looking to the GOP, Cupp said that in 2012 after Mitt Romney lost the presidential race to Barack Obama she had been tasked with helping with the autopsy on why the GOP had lost.
“I thought the talk (during the 2012 race) about takers and moochers and ‘legitimate rape’ meant we needed to take a hard look at our soul and what are we about,” said Cupp. “We made tremendous gains with Millennials and women and minorities and I saw it first hand.”
Coming out of that post-mortem, said Cupp, she and the party were excited about what the 2016 elections would hold. But they didn’t see one person coming.
“In the end 17 people would run making it incredibly crowded, and with Donald Trump as one of the 17 it often felt like only one person was running,” she said, before going on to use automotive metaphors to describe those 17 candidates. “To me at the Republican primary felt like a used car dealership, with Donald Trump the fast-talking salesman who made you feel good. Jeb Bush the Kelly Blue Book best sedan of 2016; good value, but when was the last time you slowed down to take a closer look at a Kia Optima. Marco Rubio was potentially the self-driving car of tomorrow if only it could make it through R&D without exploding. Ted Cruz was the giant truck and an F-off attitude and a lift kit. John Kasich was the family friendly minivan you swore you’d never drive; no one finds this car exciting, but everyone understands why you bought it. Ben Carson was the vintage, classic car that reminds you of simpler times, but it has no place on modern roads and you keep it in the garage where it can’t say totally crazy things.”
The Resulting Landscape
The result for the media, said Cupp, was a landscape that was difficult to cover. She noted many candidates complained of not getting coverage, but said many weren’t really saying anything interesting, unlike Donald Trump.
“I think a lot of major media over-covered him, because he was saying some interesting, crazy things, but they also thought by over-covering him it would expose him,” said Cupp. “Now that we’re in the general, we’re having a hard time covering him. He calls us out, by names in some cases, that we’re losers and liars. He’s telling voters to hate (the press) as a body and as an institution. And that’ s terrifying. He has promised to open up libel laws so he can sue journalists. This is Pravda level stuff. Then there are his surrogates. I know nearly all of them, and some are good people doing their best to message someone who is off-message professionally. Others have crossed the threshold of basic knowledge, civility, and common sense.”
S.E. Cupp's book.
But it isn’t just Trump who has issues with the media, said Cupp.
“Listen, Hillary, too, has been very difficult to cover for the press,” Cupp said. “She can go hundreds of days without talking to the media. She lies or withholds constantly. The press is sensitive to the constant lens of sexism in coverage; even women. There is a huge helping of contempt from both candidates for the press.”
Cupp believes much of the inroads the GOP made into younger and more diverse populations have been lost in the 2016 race.
“Trump has campaigned to a dark segment of a population who believes they have a problem because of someone who doesn’t look like they do,” said Cupp. “I think it’s unlikely Trump can win with just white guys showing up at the polls. He needs to win every state that Romney did plus 64 electoral votes. Republicans have to ask, was courting this segment worth it. If you ask me, I’d rather those voters stay home, even if it means losing to a Democrat. Both parties have at one time been aligned with outright bigotry, and those were our worst times.”
Ultimately, while Donald Trump has raised the profile of the Republican party, Cupp reiterated she believes he’s hurt the party as it heads to 2020 and beyond. “He is like a rented tuxedo and at the end it’s going to be rumpled in the corner with cigarette burns and bodily fluids.”
A Prediction For Next President
While saying it’s not going to be a lock, Cupp—admitting it pains her to say it—forecast that Clinton will win the presidential race, even as she described the Democratic candidate as “walking around like the corpse in ‘Weekend at Bernie’s.’ I know Democratic operatives afraid that Trump is going to win, and I know Republicans who say, I hate her, but she’s not going to burn the country down.”
So what now? Why such a mess and so many people dissatisfied with the process? Cupp doesn’t blame the two candidates; instead she blames all Americans whether they vote or not.
“I think most of us agree on that we can do better,” Cupp told Congressional Caucus. “We can find better candidates than this. This year we are getting the candidates we deserve. It is up to us to demand better. Ten percent of people showing up (to vote) is low, even for a primary. That’s not representative government. We’re getting candidates a few people liked and 90% didn’t. We need to start day one and not in four years.”
As for whom she will cast her own vote, it won’t be either Clinton or Trump, said Cupp.
“Hillary is contemptible and I also can’t support someone who supported Operation Wetback,” said Cupp. “So I’m going to write in, and going to focus down ballot. You should really give it some thought this year. There is more going on than just the presidency, especially when it comes to your issues.”
A Bright Spot?
Given all that and the troubling state of affairs in government and elections, one audience member asked where the country is headed and why would anyone want to run for office?
“I spend a lot of time with Millennials. I want to know what their values are and mostly I want them to run for office, and no group is less inspired to run for office than Millennials. And who would blame them,” said Cupp. “This is one of the most entrepreneurial generations in history, and they’ve seen the failure of the public sector to solve problems, while the private sector is making a huge profits and getting around government bureaucracy. They are very distrustful. They have grown up on perpetual war and seen collapse of housing and Wall Street and systemic failures. Why would they think government is a solution for any problem? It’s our job to say, no government can do good and government when properly implemented can be an effective change agent.”
Cupp also added an additional optimistic point that plays into a credit union strength, as well.
“I try to remind them that this is public service, and that’s the way into the Millennial heart,” said Cupp. “They attach everything they do to a social cause. It’s why Starbucks and these companies have added social causes to their mission statements. So getting Millennials into politics can’t just be about power, it has to be about change. We need their voices. As disappointing as this year has been I think we’re going to see an influx of young people who say ‘We just can’t do it your way.’”