Donald Trump’s big presidential announcement mostly went over like a lead balloon here at Legal Insurrection. For me, it felt like just another announcement; in terms of political theatre it was huge, but in terms of substance…to be honest, I’m still distracted by all the theatre.
Professor Jacobson did a radio hit after the announcement, and described the impending Trump Candidacy like this:
“Donald Trump entering the race is pretty much like somebody throwing a hand grenade into the room. He is going to get attention, he’s probably going to cause some casualties, and he is going to absorb a lot of the oxygen in the room.”
Remember what I said about political theatre? This is what that looks like—someone who comes in and sucks the life out of the cycle just by being there.
This weekend, Neil Cavuto hosted a panel for a debate on whether or not America “needs to hear” Donald Trump’s message on wealth.
At around the 6:30 mark, the panel discusses how past candidates—think Mitt Romney, John Kerry—attempted to “ignore” their wealth as part of their appeal to the lower and middle classes, and wonders whether or not it might be better for Republican candidates to own their wealth. I made this point the day Trump announced, arguing that the particular tactic of owning wealth as opposed to trying to make obvious privilege disappear.
This doesn’t have anything to do with Trump. I believe that in the end, his manner will alienate more voters than his wealth ever could; but this tactic, toned down, should be something that candidates consider as they make their way across the country.
There’s no better way to destroy your credibility than trying to hide what’s already in plain sight.
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Not sure why Trump is being singled out as there are numerous other very questionable ‘candidates’ crowding the clown car with one-dimensional, if not totally awkward, messages.
GOP demonstrates it’s totally clueless: whether it’s McConnell and Boehner, or the race to the White House.
And George Soros will count the votes.
So, what difference does it all make, anyway?
Hear! Hear!
Except none are clueless, a lot are Soros minions and push is coming to shove. In the short time the willing tool has left as president he must push a huge agenda (we hardly know what all) and he is meeting resistance. That is why McConnell and Boehner have to break cover even more than they usually do.
Even Representative Jason Chaffetz had to crawl out from under his rock to kick Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) out of his sub-commette chairmanship in order to punish him for voting his conscience (and representing his constituents instead of Boehner and McConnell).
http://www.redstate.com/2015/06/22/rep-jason-chaffetz-turns-leadership-lapdog-and-attacks-conservatives/
A true shame, I liked Rep. Chaffetz, but then I guess he just had me fooled.
It’s not about McConnell and Boehner or the GOP being ‘clueless’ anymore. It’s obvious they’re either corrupt or are kindred spirits with the likes of Obama. Or a bit of both.
McConnell, Boehner and Prebus (remember that putz – the current chairman of the GOP?) did for the GOP what il Puppet is doing for the Catholic Church.
The latest left b.s. hysteria about mass extinction may be right about one dodo: the GOP. It is a dead party. Fortunately, we have the Tea Party, which won great victories in 2010, 2012 and 2014. No reason 2016 will be any different. This time around, we cannot let the GOP hijack the victory.
With all the very wealthy people involved in politics, it is hard for me to see great wealth as a drawback. Of course, Mitt Romney was attacked for his wealth, and he could have given a good answer: “My family had resources which were entrusted to me, and I put those resources to good use. As President, I would put those same skills I learned in managing my family resources to management of the country. I think my record shows I have a lot to offer.”
John Kerry could not make quite the same statement, but it would have been fun to watch him try.
It’s be fun to watch Clinton talk about her (now) great wealth, if anyone has the stones to press her on it.
Most comical is that the corrupt old crow got most of it illegally.
But since no one has those stones, what difference at this point does it make?
Our candidate isn’t going to be the rich one in this election, so money will be a complete non-issue as far as the media is concerned.
When Hillary’s made billions of dollars selling influence to foreign governments, the issue is going to be whether we can trust guys who are still paying off school loans, or something like that.
We do nobody any favors by feeding oxygen to this vanity candidacy.
Trump is not a politician and it shows. And that’s what I loved about his announcement. The Donald was talking so people could understand him, and his message was what people wanted to hear. That’s not going over “like a lead balloon” in my book.
I just don’t see Trump as the nominee, but I hope he makes it to the debates. My guess, however, is the GOP Elites will do everything to keep him out. I don’t usually watch the debates, not since Reagan, but I will definitely tune in if The Donald is debating.
Donald and Karly Fiorina – If they aren’t allowed to debate with the other candidates I hope they live stream their own debate and issue invitations to all the other candidates, that would sort the men from the boy.
Oh, I think he certainly has some attributes of a very BAD politician.
He lies, for one.
He is a BIG GOVERNMENT fan and a crony capitalist of the WORST kind.
He sticks his finger in the air, and tells people what they want to hear, even if that’s the precise opposite of what he said a few years ago.
And he’s a con. He hasn’t even filed the paperwork to run. That seems kinda un-serious, to me.
Plus, he hasn’t a consistently conservative synapse in his head. Never has had.
Trump is a complete farce. He’s not ‘sucking the air out’, media, including LI, is giving it to him free.
There are other candidates besides Bush and Trump, btw.
Nature abhors a vacuum. Trump is merely filling the vacuum left by the GOP — just like the loons of the left filled the fact-vacuum left by Bush during his presidency. at the advice of perennial GOP idiot Karl Rove.
If nothing else, he will broach the merits of issues that have been suppressed or disguised. And for that, he should be welcomed.