The elephant and donkey have long represented America's two major political parties, but as the Clinton / Trump contest continues to inspire disgusted Republicans and Democrats to cross party lines, a political beast never seen before has been birthed: A half-assed hybrid.
The two "most unpopular" presidential candidates in U.S. history -- and their vicious knockdown dragouts -- have alienated so many people this election cycle that it's feared a good number of voters may not cast their ballots at all now, in a quiet protest some pundits blame on "election fatigue."
However, an even larger percent of the remaining *animated* electorate, as well as their elected representatives, have begun switching parties altogether, because, they say, they can't identify with and refuse to endorse their party's nominee.
This by far is the situation for Donald Trump, whose poll numbers continue to nosedive as the end of the 2016 campaign nears, despite his claims to the contrary or the FBI director's 'October Surprise' regarding a "possible" Clinton-aide link to ex congressman Anthony Weiner's x-rated emails.
Trump's own potty mouth and his hallmark bigotry appeals to an exceptionally loyal subsection of the American populace who observers describe as mainly "angry" and "uneducated" white men "feeling threatened" by this era's remarkable sociopolitical gains by women, gays and minorities.
But that same hate rhetoric is also a liability for The Donald, since it's steadily eroded support from embarrassed GOP faithfuls, including many prominent Republicans and businessmen, who believe Trump is mentally unsound and long ago abandoned his listing ship.
Trump's incoherent rants, taped sex-assault claims, dubious financial dealings, and apparent illicit alliance with America's longtime enemy, Russia, are just some of the thorny issues which have allowed his historically more-democratic opponent to take disgruntled Republicans into her fold and seize the moral high-ground too.
Yet Hillary Clinton has still failed to prove herself the "lesser of two evils" for certain important voting demographics, like Millennials and former Bernie Sanders supporters, who continue to harbor some doubt about her "truthfulness."
And, according to a recent poll conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, the hostilities generated by both of these controversial candidates in their bid for the highest office in the land has not only caused unprecedented tensions among traditional GOPers and Dems, but also increased strife in the workplace.
For large, midsized and small industries alike, this presidential election's overpowering negativism is now also negatively impacting employee relations and "business-as-usual," confirmed one weary HR consultant whose corporate clientele includes Cisco Systems and Microsoft.
Clinton versus Trump is "the biggest and best reality-show we’ve ever seen,” she cynically said.