Donald Trump's bizarre outbursts are losing him swing voters and uniting America like never before

Crazy conspiracy theories and catchy, xenophobic idioms helped The Donald to divide and conquer the Republican Party in record time. Now he thinks it’s the easiest path to the White House – but he's wrong

Trump addresses supporters in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Tuesday AP

For decades, America’s well-oiled and meticulously programmed political machine runs off the toxic fumes of partisan spite. Mulish Democrats and pig-headed Republicans are raised to believe that they are right, that everyone else is wrong, and that compromise is for sackless morons. Party lines are etched deep in stone, not to be crossed under any circumstances.

But thanks to Donald Trump and his increasingly belligerent outbursts, that looks about to change.

When that oddly orange presenter of The Apprentice first announced his intention to run for President of the United States, every political pundit on the planet split their sides laughing. Fast forward 12 months and Trump has drowned the Republican establishment in a tidal wave of petty squabbles and hateful rhetoric.

By fashioning himself into a rallying point for an allegedly marginalised White America, Trump has gagged the competition. He thinks that, in return, he’s earned a free pass to say anything that pops into his head.

What sort of things pop into Trump’s head? His remarks suggest that he thinks all Mexicans are rapists, Muslims shouldn’t be allowed in America and women should be punished for having abortions. He’s asked the Russians to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails, kicked infants out of his rallies for crying and openly condones illegal torture methods.

Last week, Trump even started a pointless feud with the grief-stricken parents of a genuine war hero because they said they didn’t like him. The guy appears to have gone completely off the rails – but he clearly thinks that this is the way forward.

Crazy conspiracy theories and catchy, xenophobic idioms helped The Donald to divide and conquer the Republican Party in record time. Now he thinks it’s the easiest path to winning the White House, too. But he’s wrong.

In order to defeat Hillary Clinton, Trump will need to look beyond the conservative right that he has mobilised and appeal to a strong minority of politically-engaged independents who claim to vote based upon reason rather than political creed. That doesn’t bode well for him, given that he’s exhibiting less reason by the hour. Even senior GOP figures have finally worked up the courage to publicly state their presidential nominee is “psychologically unbalanced” – unthinkable in previous elections, once party loyalty had kicked in at this late stage of the presidential race.

At the rate he’s going, Trump is probably only three or four crazy tweets away from losing every last independent voter in the country. That leaves the undecideds with three viable choices: back Hillary Clinton, spoil their ballot, or embrace a third party candidate such as the Libertarian Gary Johnson or the Green Party’s Jill Stein. In practice, all these options equate to a surrogate vote for Clinton.

Pollsters believe Johnson’s presence alone will siphon off at least 4 per cent of Trump’s increasingly fickle support base, clearing the pathway for a decisive Clinton victory.

It’s not just independents jumping ship. Over the past few days, GOP congressmen have started to pledge their support for Hillary Clinton, one of Jeb Bush’s top campaign advisers has left the party, and major Republican donors have announced they’re planning to organise blockbuster fundraisers for Hillary.

They took their time, but Republicans are finally snapping out of their partisan comas and agreeing to work alongside Democrats to try and bridge America’s notorious political divide. Voters are admitting that sometimes it’s okay to make a compromise or two in the name of progress; that stepping over party lines in this unique circumstances won’t destroy American democracy.

If that political unity is the ultimate legacy of Donald Trump’s hateful approach, then let the man preach. Not only is The Donald shooting himself in the foot each and every time he opens his big mouth, but he’s also reminding the world that we more in common than we think.