“He was asking me a rhetorical question, and I gave an answer. And by the way, people — from an academic standpoint, and asked rhetorically — said that answer was an unbelievable academic answer.” (Donald Trump, MSNBC 5/4/2016) Source: You Tube.
Many of us in the United States are sorting through the ramifications of what Donald Trump’s political rise means. Like countless others, I am bowled over by how his primarily unscripted and ad-hoc campaign for president has rocketed him to become the presumptive nominee of his party. His surge has been nothing short of bewildering, in a kind of Rod Serling fashion anyway.
Trump’s success is the product of offering of ludicrously incomplete and ill-conceived policy positions, many of them deliberately provocative. He uses inflammatory and incendiary language in which he assails political opponents and critics alike to maximum effect. His language and tone — overwhelmingly loud and coarse – is also deliberate, knowing and understanding as he does that he is striking a chord with an angry and disenchanted electorate. Unlike his 16 earlier opponents who are no longer in the race, Trump completely gets the disillusionment and frustration of the voters to whom he is selling his vision. He has tapped into their anger.
He has on occasion encouraged crowds to use violence on those who protest during his speeches. This in turn has resulted in violent counter-protests by anti-Trump groups. It has made for very ugly scenes on the evening news.
Not since George Wallace have I seen an American politician use this kind of rhetoric so powerfully and effectively in a national campaign.
What I do find both comical and baffling is that it hasn’t mattered how outlandish Trump is on the stump or in his many media appearances. He plays fast and loose with the truth in a completely transparent manner, with his own version of events ultimately being disproven by journalists and other third parties. Yet amazingly, he doubles down and insists that all of his tall tales are true (i.e. muslims in New Jersey celebrating the fall of the twin towers on 9/11, “scores” of recent migrants inside U.S. borders have been charged with terrorism).
Remember when we gasped at candidate Ronald Reagan’s thoughts that trees are responsible for pollution? How quaint that was!
Likewise, where others who run for political office are skewered when they flip-flop on a position or policy, Trump does so repeatedly and receives little to no punishment from voters (taxes on the wealthy, raising the minimum wage).
Move over President Reagan and John Gotti, we have a new Teflon Don.
There’s even now an online test about Trump’s many shifts, revisions, and reversals. For the alert newshounds out there, give it a whirl and see how you do. Your humble blogger got two wrong, but I’m sure the intelligent readership here can do better. Make me proud!
Watching Trump on the campaign trail, I can’t help but think back nearly 50 years ago to a “candidate” whose own version of candor was handled in a slightly different manner. In fact, when Trump first began this campaign I was convinced that he too was only in it for the fun, and probably to further his business interests or television career.
Comedian Pat Paulsen’s satiric campaign for president in 1968 was also during a time of seismic voter turbulence. He deflected attacks by using phrases such as “Picky, picky, picky” when criticized for the fake policies and outlandish positions he announced. It was all done tongue-in-cheek, spawned from the very heady comedy show of that time, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
What I recall best was Paulsen’s slogan for that ’68 campaign: “Just a common, ordinary, simple savior of America’s destiny.” And everyone felt that they were in on the joke. Whether you worked an assembly line or ran a corporation, you understood that this “shtick” of his was just an act. You laughed and saw him as a clever caricature of the so-called modern politician.
And so when When Donald Trump began his campaign with his slogan of “Make America Great Again,” my mind immediately went to Pat Paulsen. Oh, sure, Trump entertained all of us with that whole ridiculous birther thing about President Obama’s citizenship. But I just saw his campaign as yet another in a series of transparent, self-promotional attempts to further his eponymous brand. Trump is the P.T. Barnum of our time, selling us on the glories of his own self. Ayn Rand would have at least admired his outer display confidence, though I’m also fairly certain The Donald has never heard of her.
But right out of the gate Trump sprinted to the top of the polls and never fell. To the shock and awe of the Republican Party establishment, he is now their titular leader. Unless they pull the rug out from underneath him at their July convention in Cleveland (something that could at least theoretically still happen), he will be the GOP standard-bearer this fall. Fasten your seat belts.
Trump has already managed to insult and disparage huge swaths of the American electorate (i.e. Hispanics, women). He’s also branded an entire religion as dangerous enough to propose barring any member of it from entering the United States. This has created a fissure within the Republican Party that I longed predicted would happen to conservative friends of mine. No one could have predicted someone like Trump, of course. But the GOP gleefully got into bed with fundamentalist religious groups back in the 1980’s, and this pattern has only grown with the Tea Party and economic tax zealots such as Grover Norquist. Their troubles are of their own making.
As a liberal, I find no joy in watching what’s happening to the GOP. Although I occasionally look wistfully at the parliamentary systems of Canada and much of western Europe, I still cling to a belief that America’s two-party system can somehow survive the current madness. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s recent comments about forging a more civil path forward gives me hope. No matter the outcome of next November’s election, I will be watching with anticipation to see if any of this can come to pass. We pointy heads are nothing but hopeful optimists.
So keep the faith and stay close to your own version of Truthiness. It seems to be the thing to do now.
Until next time…
Snakes in the Grass 
You make great observations here. As a Canadian, I watch and listen to the US news thinking it surreal. I keep waiting for it to get better or for something to make sense.
Donna
http://www.retirementreflections.com
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Surreal is an understatement! But hats off to you for Justin Trudeau. His election is proof that sanity can still happen. Thanks for reading!
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Trump brings back memories of class officer campaigns: Vote for me and there’ll be candy machines in every classroom!
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I’m fairly certain he sees this all as a high school, ‘er, military school in his case, experience!
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Trump uses rhetoric in a way not seen since George Wallace, the last American demagogue. Can’t say I find it refreshing. But to have tapped into the angers and frustrations of so many was indeed a feat.
I say pay no attention to the Great and Powerful Trump. Pay no attention to the man who is not behind the curtain, rather he is standing in front of it. But you can still see him pressing the buttons and pulling the levers.
Demagogues eventually find that their reach exceeds their grasp.
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Well said!
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I am as stunned as you are. I recently had dinner with good friends. They have always been liberals. However, both are voting for Trump. They like that he says things that they think no matter how outlandish it is (yes, that’s what they said). They are smart people but they don’t see how illogical it is. I didn’t know they thought those things. Their grandparents were immigrants. They lived in California with Mexican staff who they loved. I don’t understand it. I keep wondering what I have missed. It’s like the regular people have been scooped up by aliens and replaced by Trumpsters. I remember George Wallace. Someone shot him.
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Wow… there are many like your friends out there — so disillusioned with the status quo that they’ll cast their lot with someone they absolutely know is a lunatic. Aliens! 🙂
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These are people I never would have imagined….well, you know the rest.
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Like so many, I never thought that he’d get this far… yet he has. I wish I could rest assured that Ms. Clinton (who I don’t love, but think she is smart and would make a good president – if the other party would only let her, which they won’t) will easily win, but everything is so crazy now. I listen to what Trump says and try to hear what his followers hear, but I just can’t. It will be an interesting, and scary, next several months.
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I’m with you, Janice. I have Clinton fatigue and R-E-A-L-L-Y wanted someone else to be in the position she’s currently taking. Unfortunately Bernie’s populism just wasn’t realistic enough for me, though I did cheer loudly at some of his speeches. In the end, again for me, they were feel-good moments only.
Yes, scary-scary times in the months ahead. Fasten your seat belt!
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Excellent post, Marty. I read it as Rachel Maddow was announcing that a new poll that said lice have a more favorable rating that Donald Trump. And you know, if it’s a choice between getting lice and getting Trump in the White House, I’ll vote for lice, too.
I managed 7/8 in the quiz — I messed up on the Israel question.
How did we get here? Rod Serling is laughing at us! Or is he in control?
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He’s in control, Elyse! This is all a diabolic plan from the grave. 🙂 Lice vs. Trump… oy!
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Why aren’t we hearing the tired suppositions that we heard about Obama? “This guy is the anti-Christ?” LOL
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It’s coming, Laurel. Fasten that belt!
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Good. For a minute, I thought I was the only one who “suspected.” LOL
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Speaking of lunatics, what about the people that will go out there and happily cast their vote with Hillary?? or Bernie?? I think the most frustrating part of all of this is with 330+ million people in our country, this is the best our 2 parties can put forth. People are sick of politicians from BOTH parties and Trump is stoking that for all it’s worth.
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Huzzah.
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My favorite conservative blogger speaks! 🙂
I had to keep my thoughts only to Trump otherwise it would have been a 3000+ word post! Trump has been such a force during this crazy, unprecedented election year. I wanted to write about him at least once… but like Lays potato chips, I do wonder if I can keep it to just one time????
I do wish the Democrats could have put somebody up besides Clinton. As I mentioned in an earlier response to another blogger, I have enough Clinton fatigue to last the rest of my life. They’ve both served long careers, and really, I’d have been happier to see a new generation come to the fore by now (such as the Castro brothers from Texas). But Hillary’s ambition is not to be deterred and so here we are.
I applaud Bernie Sanders for speaking out against Wall Street and being the populist liberal voice in a sea of sameness. He has drawn huge crowds and one does have to admire how he’s been able to fundraise– that’s been a remarkable feat. But his proposals would die on the vine because they are just too unrealistic. I love them but for the same reason why I love a good single malt only once a year: it’s otherwise too expensive and impracticable on my personal budget! 🙂
Thanks for commenting, Dave. And get off your ass and starting writing more!
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I consider myself a quasi-liberal from way back. I am prone to vote Democrat but have gladly voted GOP when I felt the case called for it. [I voted for GWB the first time. Remember that ‘I’m a uniter, not a divider’ thing? I fell for it hook line and sinker. If you look at his record as Governor, he had a propensity to reach across the aisle. What the hell happened?!] Anyway, I, too, am sad to see the GOP in such disarray. We need two parties. Preferably ones without the current candidates for office.
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I consider myself now a “DINO” (i.e. Democrat in name only). It’s mostly been the obscene fundraising that has turned me off of politics, and of course the advent of 24 hour cable news networks that has inspired them to treat politics more like SportsCenter. The sad thing is that I don’t think we’ve even hit rock bottom yet. How’s that for a cheery thought?
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Great observations, Marty! His rise baffles me but you are right about him tapping into the anger. I haven’t thought of Pat Paulsen for decades ~ thanks for reminding me. Now that was entertaining!
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Yes, we have to laugh at what’s transpiring before our very eyes. The only alternative is to cry our eyes out, which while sometimes healthy still won’t get us anywhere positive!
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Sad but true . . .
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Great piece, Marty. We, on the other side of the globe are watching in disbelief as Donald the Trump and his verbal blunderbuss assault our news screens as he stumbles his way to the White House. What can I say but … Only in America.
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I know, Linda. It’s tragic on so many dimensions. But, of course, Italy had to deal with a very similar character in Berlusconi. That doesn’t make it any easier, but I’m glad we’re not the only ones. I’m praying for sanity on this end till November.
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