I always laugh at "experts" who routinely use ill-advised words like "unprecedented" when describing negative politics in modern elections, because nothing can really beat the nastiness of the elections of 1800 or 1828 where sitting presidents were accused in the established newspapers no less of everything from being hermaphrodites to pimps.
But the physical violence that's ensued at Trump rallies really does look like it's going down an unprecedented path. I'm not sure the Trump campaign or the Secret Service can keep the peace at these events going forward. And that's the final major advantage for Hillary Clinton, who's made choreographed political events her bread and butter for decades now. And thanks to Trump's extremely high negative polling numbers, those choreographed Clinton rallies will have every incentive to be centered around the leitmotif of Trump as evil incarnate.
It will be a nasty race through and through. And when things get nasty, voters often go with someone they don't personally like but they see as the only reasonable option. That's exactly how Nixon won the White House in '68, to use one last example from that very similar and instructive year.
Trump's unexpected and meteoric rise to the GOP nomination is about to be secured after Tuesday's primaries. But this is as far as he goes. General elections, even in crazy years like 1968 and 2016, are a different kind of deal that even The Donald can't close.
Commentary by Jake Novak, the supervising producer of "Power Lunch" and former supervising producer of "The Kudlow Report." Prior to joining CNBC, Novak co-created and oversaw the "Varney and Company" program on FOX Business Network along with anchor Stuart Varney. He also spent seven years at CNN, producing financial news programs including launching the successful "In the Money" show with anchor Jack Cafferty.
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