The argument that Trump is being unfairly singled out for conduct of which every president or presidential candidate is guilty has a long pedigree. I remember talking to my dad about Nixon ages ago. He knew Nixon was guilty, but he grew up in a region of the nation where people had largely supported Nixon, and were reluctant to face up to the fact that they had backed an especially corrupt candidate. My dad paraphrased their attitude as, "He didn't do anything that all those other politicians don't also do."
At a certain point, "All politicians are the same" is just a justification for voting transactionally: You put up with a corrosive level of corruption in return for the handful of policies that matter most to you.
The thing that's annoying to me is that they immediately deflect to Clinton and Biden, but not because they're genuinely interested in prosecuting actual crimes. Their interest is truly partisan, while masquerading as caring about fairness. That's also why they have to pretend that what Clinton did was worse than what Trump did - if they equate them, that still leaves it open to prosecute Trump since they're so gung-ho on prosecuting her.
I think you got it exactly right and that attitude is what allows single issue voters to exist.
The argument that Trump is being unfairly singled out for conduct of which every president or presidential candidate is guilty has a long pedigree. I remember talking to my dad about Nixon ages ago. He knew Nixon was guilty, but he grew up in a region of the nation where people had largely supported Nixon, and were reluctant to face up to the fact that they had backed an especially corrupt candidate. My dad paraphrased their attitude as, "He didn't do anything that all those other politicians don't also do."
At a certain point, "All politicians are the same" is just a justification for voting transactionally: You put up with a corrosive level of corruption in return for the handful of policies that matter most to you.
The thing that's annoying to me is that they immediately deflect to Clinton and Biden, but not because they're genuinely interested in prosecuting actual crimes. Their interest is truly partisan, while masquerading as caring about fairness. That's also why they have to pretend that what Clinton did was worse than what Trump did - if they equate them, that still leaves it open to prosecute Trump since they're so gung-ho on prosecuting her.
I think you got it exactly right and that attitude is what allows single issue voters to exist.