Donald Trump: Come Kiss the Ring

Nah, if the teabag party "adored" her, she'd be running at about 30% of the vote instead of 3% or whatever she supposedly has. And the goober base with the perpetual hard-on for Trump loves him precisely because he says whatever he wants and doesn't give one fuck whether anybody likes it or not. He could have said the reason people won't vote for Fiorina is that her Call Us Next Tuesday smells like the fish truck that broke down in the backyard of the slaughterhouse and his fan club would still slurp it up.

 

By that rationale, I agree that, say, Hillary would've been much better off keeping up her initial response to the email thing, as in, "I did nothing wrong and I don't have to prove shit to you," than keep changing her tune and getting gradually more reticent as more came out. She ensured people would dwell on it, when with Trump, they just move on the next ridiculous thing, causing no one thing to stick.

 

Can SNL get Tina Fey to come back and be Donald Trump?

 

I hope he doesn't win, and I don't think he will. Basically because he's bereft of actual ideas. And experience, of course. But it's not ridiculous that he could be sort of "transformative" figure in politics by making it OK, once again, to be something less than Little Lord Fauntleroy. I've soured on Hillary Clinton - I don't plan to vote for her in the primary - and I know that one of the reasons is that Trump has made her cold calculated-ness look embarrassing.

 

I'm not sure Trump is bereft of actual ideas, I just don't think he's given a lot of thought to some of these issues in the past, and so he is making it up as he goes along.

As a presidential candidate, you need to have an opinion of, and policy for, any number of issues. Trump doesn't. He just doesn't.

And, I say this not as a criticism, nor defense.

 

For practical purposes, this seems like half a dozen of one, six of the other to me.

If you mean he's not like Sarah Palin, for instance, I agree. Given the time and space to think about it, I'm sure he'd be capable of formulating some ideas and grasping policy. I'm not convinced that she could figure out how to brush her own teeth. He's not that.

 

Trump's a smart guy. He is. He knows how to deal with, and charm, people one on one, and he knows how to command an audience.

He's built a brand over 30 years. He knows how to communicate on camera.

But, as a business man, he hasn't spent years focused on policy like most politicians. Now, maybe that should disqualify him from the highest political office in the land.

But, the truth is, and most politicians are unwilling to admit it, is that no one is an expert in all areas. The President really is akin to a CEO. He needs to surround himself with good people, empower them, and make the big decisions. What did Bush say, he was the decider?

Trump sees himself as a picture guy, who will focus on "Making America Great Again", and who will project strength, as opposed to what he sees as the weakness that we are currently projecting.

In that regard, and in his skills as a performer, he is not unlike Reagan. What he seems to lack is the sunny optimism that Reagan projected, and the sense of humor.

 

The main difference, of course, is when Reagan was questioned on his proposals, he responded a little more eloquently than with, "Yeah, well, you're just a doodyhead."

 

I think you have to have some experience in the public sector. And some knowledge of policy.

It's not exactly the same, but I think of the new United Airlines CEO, who has never worked in that industry in his life.

I bet the planes don't all start running into one another.

 

If Hillary had voted against the Iraq war, she would have been elected President in 2008, right?

I mean, there are a lot of things to like about Obama, but what set him apart, and why he caught fire was because he was the most anti-war candidate, and that was really important to the most committed Dem primary voters. And, there was nothing Hillary could do to combat that.

Obama was the candidate most unlike Bush, and with Bush becoming more unpopular every day, that was crucial. He was against torture. He was against Gitmo, etc.

Now, who's the Republican candidate most unlike Obama?

It's clearly Trump.

Where Obama is thoughtful and deliberative, Trump is bold and brash. Obama is soft spoken, Trump is loud. Obama has shied away from positioning America as a super power, Trump thinks we need to project strength around the world.

When the pendulum swings, we do look for the opposite of what we have now. 8 years is a long time. If you're tired of what the current guy is selling, you're going to be very open to someone selling the exact opposite.

Even Trump's criticism of his fellow candidates -- save maybe Fiorina's face -- is spot on. Calling Jeb! low energy is devastating. It's true. Is it a bad thing? Maybe not, but it's working, and Jeb! doesn't know what to do about it. Trump has been able to paint quiet and thoughtful as a negative.

 

The other side of that argument is John Sculley, though.

 

Yeah, I don't necessarily disagree with either of you.

The idea of a President learning on the job is not a comforting thought.

Politics is different from business. Someone like Romney or Bloomberg would certainly be better qualified in this regard.

The shame of it is that we can't ever seem to find someone with political experience who has some of the attractive qualities that Trump does have. Politicians are always so careful and calculating, and it drives us all nuts. Hell, we always like the guy more after he loses, and loosens up. "Where was that guy during the campaign!" We've seen it with Dole, Gore, and Romney.

And, despite this, we continue to see every candidate run a conventional campaign, managed by experts, where they mostly hide from the press, focus on the "message of the day", and try to project a focus group driven image.

Trump isn't going to wear a plaid shirt, drive around in a pick up truck, go hunting, or roll up his sleeves to chop wood. And, shouldn't this be viewed as a positive?