For, above all, this campaign has been about rebellion: Rebellion over the status quo. Rebellion over the wealth gap. Rebellion over the power of party leaders. Rebellion over the prerogatives of party establishments. Rebellion over the norms of political campaigning. Rebellion against the conventions of language and manners in politics. Rebellion even over whether a presidential campaign is the proper forum for rebellion.
Campaign retrospectives may change our view of this campaign, but they almost certainly will not change the notion that this has been a year when every assumption, every expectation, every premise, of politics has been under siege and, in financial terms, under water.
To all the questions in play above we might add: Is this campaign a turning point in how we conduct our politics, or is it an aberration so odious, so out of character with the country’s traditions and aspirations, that the 2020 campaign will look less like the contentious struggle between Mr. Trump and Ms. Clinton and more like, say, the 1976 competition between Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter?
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