1. President Obama has had a fawning press. Despite an anemic economy, failing foreign affairs, and growing civil unrest, Obama has been given blame for none of it. By contrast, George W. Bush had a hostile press that hammered him every time he played golf while troops were in danger. Which candidate, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, is more likely to restore an adversarial relationship between presidency and media?
2. President Obama is the first black president. His defenders have spent much of his presidency accusing his opponents of racism. Opposition to a black president has been regularly presented as evidence of racism. The Republican Party has largely accepted this argument and given him free rein. If Hillary Clinton is elected as the first female president, how likely is it that opposition to her policies will be evidence of sexism and that the opposition party will accept this and give her free rein?
3. A Clinton presidency will - with absolute certainty - tip the Supreme Court into a solidly liberal stance for decades to come. Hillary has announced her desire to limit the First Amendment (i.e. overturn Citizens United ruling) and openly expressed approval of Australia's gun confiscation. Her nominee(s) will likely share those views. By contrast, a Trump presidency may extend the conservative tilt of the court. Is preserving the Supreme Court worth the bitter pill of a Trump presidency?
My predictions:
A Trump presidency will find itself attacked by a hostile media even before the inauguration. A Benghazi, Fast and Furious, IRS bias, email deleting, or other similar scandal will cripple his presidency rather than be mostly brushed under the rug. He will not be able to undermine criticism with baseless claims of racism or sexism. His Supreme Court nominees are likely to be more Originalist if only because his administration will be composed of Republicans.
A Clinton presidency will inherit the lapdog media that Obama has enjoyed. In fact, with the departure of Roger Ailes at Fox, she may even have fewer media critics than Obama has had. By her election, both Benghazi and her email deleting scandal will have been absolved by the public. A new, and hopefully more secure, private email server will be setup. The Supreme Court will go full progressive, becoming a liberal legislature not subject to the voters.
The choices are bad but one does look worse from my analysis.
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