Schieffer: Trump Candidacy Is Radical Departure In Party In 'Identity Crisis'
CLEVELAND (CBSNewYork) -- CBS News contributor Bob Schieffer said the 2016 Republican presidential campaign is a radical departure from typical politics and represents a party in the midst of an "identity crisis."
"This one is different," Schieffer said. He noted that the GOP is betting its future on a candidate who has never served in public office or the military and differs with the establishment on many policies.
"By any conventional reasoning, he is a long shot, but this is not a typical year," Schieffer said. "Republican primary voters chose him because he says he speaks his mind and they feel abandoned by party leaders."
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But Schieffer noted that Trump's nomination has left the GOP "deeply divided." Even Ohio Gov. John Kasich – the last GOP candidate to withdraw from the race and leave Trump unopposed for the nomination – decided not to attend the convention, Schieffer noted.
"Modern history shows that candidates outside their parties' mainstreams don't do well," Schieffer said.
He noted that among other candidates outside their parties' establishments, Republican Barry Goldwater lost to President Lyndon B. Johnson in a landslide in 1964, and Democrat George McGovern won only one state against President Richard M. Nixon in 1972.
"Donald Trump may or may not win, but in a party facing an identity crisis, the overarching question here is, is he changing the party for better or worse, or as many establishment Republicans worry, destroying it altogether?" Schieffer said.
