Paul Krugman warns against “false equivalence” in the coverage of the presidential race between Trump and Clinton. I agree—with a stipulation. False equivalence is something the media should avoid yet pay close attention to: it could be Donald Trump’s ticket to the White House.
“Trump could commit a gaffe so outrageous that many of his followers would abandon him and the Republican Party would be forced to find a way to deny him its nomination.” Ditto with Clinton. She “could be indicted over her private email server. . . “
It’s in Trump’s interest to keep columnists and editorial pages befuddled as long as possible, too caught up in posing the big question, “What’s the difference?” to answer it. Trump’s own image is beyond rehabilitation, but he might win anyway by obliterating hers. If in November the race actually comes down to his ignorance and misogyny against her “long history of lies and deceit,” voters might decide to pull the lever for grandiosity.
