The internals of a recent Monmouth University poll provide a lot to think about coming into the last 90 days of this election cycle. 

Question 27, in which 803 registered voters were asked to rate the level of threat they feel from six different sources, is most illuminating.

Do you feel your own personal way of life is under threat from – [ITEMS WERE ROTATED IN ORDER]

Let that sink in.  By almost 2 to 1, more registered voters in this poll felt threatened by Donald Trump as president than by illegal immigration from Mexico, the policy many Trump supporters cite as the main positive reason why they support his candidacy.  And by a 12-percentage-point margin, more registered voters fear Donald Trump than fear Hillary Clinton.  In most years, the fact that 42% of those polled feel that Clinton is a threat to their personal way of life would have made her a presidential also-ran.  In August 2016, she is her party's nominee and has a lead in the general election polls. 

Americans have become used to an abundance of positive choices in most aspects of their daily lives.  This year, the leadership of each major political party have given voters a slate of two bad choices many voters are highly reluctant to make.  There is an old saw that elections have consequences.  One of the biggest consequences of this election may be the survival of both major political parties

One of the constants in history is also that too many times, those who shout burn it down! in response to demagogues and fearmongers often lack the resources, the assets, the ideas, and the patience to rebuild what they destroy.