But not in the ways he suggests. Here are my theories on why the election may be rigged.

Limiting and restricting the opportunity to vote

In the past several years Republicans have been very successful in winning governorships and state legislative seats. In many states the party controls the executive and both houses of the legislature.

These victories have consequences. First and foremost, the victories make it easy to gerrymander congressional and state legislative districts, and those actions usually last for ten years (some states’ re-districting of congressional seats have been thrown out by the courts, requiring a second drawing of the lines).

Gerrymandered lines and effective electioneering on the state level, when it results in in one-party control of the executive and legislature, also allows the party in charge to implement its programs with minimal opposition. This has resulted in legislation attacking union rights (think Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan) and slashed taxes, a la supply-side economics (Kansas). Kansas is interesting. Governor Brownback’s tax programs have forced cuts in popular things like education, which has in turn fostered internal Republican fights aimed at restoring services.

There have also been one-party-controlled-states’ attempts to impose views of morality and civility – Mike Pence’s Indiana and North Carolina come to mind. That does not seem to have worked out so well.

And then there is the election rigging. Here is some information compiled by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University:

• In 2016, 15 states will have new voting restrictions in place for the first time in a presidential election. Those 15 states are: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. [Of those fifteen states, 12 have Republican control of both the executive and legislature; 2 have Democratic control of both branches.]

• 8 states have curtailed early voting since 2011.

• 8 of the 12 states with the largest Hispanic population growth between 2000 and 2010 passed laws making it harder to vote.

• 7 of 11 states with the highest African-American turnout in 2008 have new voting restrictions in place.

So yes, Mr. Trump, there does seem to be some rigging going on.

He seems to be throwing the election

Trumpisms have certainly taken over the national conversation. We are getting inundated with the vile, uncivil, disrespecting and downright crazy things that Donald Trump has said and done recently and over the past several months. There is no need to go into details about these things that include mocking a disabled person; attacking a war hero; criticizing a Gold Star family; encouraging violence against Hillary Clinton and/or federal judges; saying that Barack Obama “founded” ISIS; etc., etc.

Trump says he is avoiding political correctness, but that is not true. He is politically correct to the crowd he has attracted. It does not matter what he says, they believe and/or accept it. He loves doing it because he knows they love the crap that comes out of his mouth.

While his politically correct rants to his base stoke his ego, they don’t seem to be going too well among the general electorate. It is much too early to read too much into the polls, but there has been no favorable news for him in a long time. That’s why he thinks the polls are rigged too, unlike the polls in the primary season by the same pollsters which mostly had him running ahead of the Republican pack and were obviously objective and well done.

The craziness seems to be getting worse with such things as the wink-wink threat of violence and the ISIS dribble.

(An aside on the “second amendment people” stuff. Speaker Paul Ryan and other surrogates like Rudy Guiliani basically defended Trump and blew the whole thing off. Ryan thought it was “a joke gone bad.” Really? You might want to read the op-ed in the Washington Post about such things by the sister of John and Bobby Kennedy, Jean Kennedy Smith, and her son.)  http://wpo.st/voWr1

Trump now seems to be musing about how losing the election might get him back to his former “very good way of life.” In an interview with CNBC he concluded “it’s either going to work or I’m going to, you know, I’m going to have a very, very nice long vacation.”

So is Trump actually trying to throw the election? That sounds bizarre, but how much more bizarre than all the screwball things he has been saying and doing? So maybe the election is rigged, and the joke is on the Republican Party and the entire country.

Emails from Donald

To add to this narrative, it’s time to update you on some of the latest emails from Donald Trump. I read dozens of these so that you do not need to. Here are some of the best.

For just $184 you can buy an out-of-print autographed copy of The Art of the Deal. What a deal!

Or here is an even better one. For a limited time only, you can purchase an Executive Membership on the Trump Team, which usually costs $100, for just $35! Act now and you can get two for $70! (Shipping and handling are extra.)

And then there is this. I knew that my McAfee computer security software was good, but I didn’t realize how good until I received an email inviting me to participate in the “Trump Campaign Platform Survey.” Before I could get to the survey, McAfee warned me.

More to come. Stay tuned.