Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
There are two main theories cooperating to explain the Trump phenomenon:
- Donald Trump is today's best self-promoter and professional opportunist.
- The Republican field of presumptive candidates for president is lame.
But neither of these, nor even both together, can adequately explain what's going on. We can't even turn for supplemental help to subtheories that emphasize the rise of celebreality culture, the fall of Sarah Palin, or The Continuing Story of Bungling Barry. These variables all appear somewhere in the equation that has produced the Trump phenomenon. But none of them explain it.
Trump is suddenly "winning" as a political figure because the political class has failed. The authority of our political institutions is weak and getting weaker; it's not that Americans 'lack trust' in them, as blue ribbon pundits and sociologists often lament, so much as they lack respect for the people inside them.
There is a lot of crazy surrounding the Trump phenomenon -- some excellent, some embarrassing. But the massive fact dominating it all is that never before has such a famous outsider jumped into national politics with such an aggressive critique of a sitting president and the direction of the country -- and never before has the response been so immediate and positive.
For now, that's good news and bad news -- as anyone knows who's acquainted with Churchill's dictum about eagles and parrots. No amount of His Trumpness can renew or replace American political authority. Republicans make a dangerous mistake when they think of politics as a pathological farce that can only be cured by a business worldview that sees economics as the master science. Even though, as Tocqueville observes, money really is more important in democratic times, money is not the measure of all things. We -- we Republicans, we Democrats, we Americans -- still need politicians who can rule wisely, bravely, and well. Look at what's behind the huge novelty of Trump's rise, and you find a venerable truth. There is no substitute for statesmen.
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May '10
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
Actually, what I think is really going on is that while people have been becoming less serious, and more entertainment-oriented for years, social media and the Internet have, to quote Mr. China For A Day Tom Friedman, flattened politics. What this means is that we can get facts and arguments from many sources, thereby diminishing the relative need for a politician to be serious, fact and policy-oriented. So with that serious/gravitas hurdle lowered, send in the entertainers: Obama, Trump, and even, to an extent, Sarah Palin (sorry C4P..she is entertaining).
Edited on Apr 9, 2011 at 10:57amAug '10
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
So true, and I think it's because our Ruling (political) Class has been modeling itself on the European Union. Rumblings indicate they're hankering to switch to the Chinese model. Thank you Thomas 'Kinky' Friedman.
I've lived in England and a number of EU countries, and the people there don't have anything like the passion for politics we have in America. They abdicate their power, trusting in the education and supposed wisdom of their leaders. A rude awakening is taking place while we speak.
It's not too late for the GOP to awaken and smell the coffee. They must embrace and assist Tea Party candidates.
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
Yes, indeed, Trump is a clown, and he is making the most of it -- for this is the silly season. You will have to admit, however, that The Donald, as he once was called, is entertaining.
Who else could get a letter published in The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/08/opinion/lweb08trump.html?_r=3), in which he says that he has "great respect for" the newspaper's editor "Ms. [Gail] Collins" for having "survived so long with so little talent"? Like the fool in a Shakespeare play, he speaks a mixture of nonsense and truths that no one else dares say.
Edited on Apr 9, 2011 at 11:17amSep '10
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
I've come to believe that the United States has become too large, too diverse, and too ethically unwieldy for a federal system to work (in the sense of exhibiting the values and demands of the vast majority of its citizens). I doubt that even the very thoughtful commenters here on Ricochet could agree on what our national interests are, much less have that agreement square with the values of the multitude of other groups comprising the citizenry. Without such a shared meaning—and given the incessant battling over what "we" believe—is it any wonder that the fallable, attention-seeking human beings running for national office are stumbling before the dais? I do not wish for this to happen, but I could see the United States splitting up into regions, and though I like to think of myself as open-minded, I'm so weary of the media propaganda and its grip on the citizenry that I've kind of begun to wish that we would. As Rose Wilder Lane once noted, she adored America but would leave it in a second if the values of liberty and personal freedom were no longer part of the American mindset.
Oct '10
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
This sums it up. He is so brazen, so apparently un-rehearsed and immune to embarrassment that listening to him is refreshing. I'm sure it's the same phenomenon that swept Jesse Ventura into office. My hope is that his plain speaking encourages someone sane, electable, and Republican to adopt the same policy.
Jul '10
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
Pity the poor artist commissioned to paint President Trump's official portrait.
They say hands are the hardest part to get right, but that hair....
Jan '11
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
We don't want a talented businessman in politics, because he'd be tempted to use political power to engineer a business success. And that's exactly what we don't want. We want the government to stay out of business. If the business experience teaches the politician how to leave well enough alone, OK, I'd be happy with that. But if the suggestion is that we need someone to lead the economy by using presidential power, count me out.
I don't want a "business" president to avoid social issues because it will "distract" from the economy. I don't want a "business" president to make political decisions based on the economy first, all other issues second.
Trump is attractive because he's a proven manager, and he's shown leadership of his own company. But political management is different. The simplest reality is that a manager can motivate an employee with the threat of firing him, but Trump couldn't fire a Congressman from whom he needs a vote. Management is a lot tougher when you can't fire people.
Trump is excellent, but right where he is.
Jun '10
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
Trump is the guy who sprints out to take the lead at the start of a marathon, gets the commentators to say his name, and then never finishes the race.
Jun '10
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
Do we as a nation even know how to produce statesmen anymore? Seems to me statesmanship is a dying breed.
Jan '11
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
With respect, I disagree.
Every few decades, Time or Newsweek runs an article about the presidency being too big a job for one man to handle. They did it when Carter was president, but it was motivated by the fact that Carter couldn't handle the job. When Reagan came in, all those worries about managing government went away. Obama is such a poor manager that we revisit the old question, but the answer is still the same.
As it is, the moment the manager is responsible for more people than he can personally know, there has to be a transition of management style. The manager must manage in the abstract, rather than by personal engagement. At that point, a manager must persuade, not command. That's why political leadership has to be realistic and honest. Although it can't wallow in PR, it does have to communicate.
It can be done, but our current president ain't the guy to do it.
Sep '10
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
KC Mulville
With respect, I disagree.
...
It can be done, but our current president ain't the guy to do it. · Apr 9 at 11:49am
I very much hope you're right, KC. Thanks for the feedback.
Feb '11
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
Trump is the political P. T. Barnum of our time. Like a snake oil salesman of yore, he has a nostrum for everything that ails a body, no matter how far fetched the remedy compared to the symptom.
Trump panders to all who will listen as he strikes a chord in everyone with his shotgun approach to addressing concerns of the average American. And what Trump does not address directly, there is the implication from his other pronouncements, that he has a solution for everything. Ah, if like were so simple as that.
Trump does serve a useful purpose for Republicans in that he raises issues that many career politicians find too hot to handle. I consider Trump to be a useful tool for Republicans.
I, too, do not want to see a businessman come in and try to run the country like a business. It's one thing to apply certain fundamental business practices in leading and managing the affairs of state and another thing to treat the country as an economic laboratory to be tweaked, massaged and molded into a business model. Micro managing the economy is a proven recipe for disaster.
May '10
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
Has anyone compared Trump with Berlusconi?
Feb '11
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
Leslie Watkins I've come to believe that the United States has become too large, too diverse, and too ethically unwieldy for a federal system to work (in the sense of exhibiting the values and demands of the vast majority of its citizens).
I also disagree. I think what has happened is that the Federal monster on the Potomac has gathered nearly all the governing power unto itself, and thereby leached away nearly all the democratic flexibility a real federal system would have. Once upon a time the Federal government went through the arduous process of an actual constitutional amendment to ban alcohol sales, yet now unknown federal bureaucrats ban this or that substance on a whim with no consideration at all what the state governments or people might think of this. And don't get me started on the endless regulations that flow like a river to cover the nation with stupid.
So if we're now to unwieldy to be a one nation, blame Washington, DC, not anything else.
Edited on Apr 9, 2011 at 12:35pmRe: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
The comparison would be apt.
May '10
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
I wouldn't support Trump as a candidate, but he might do this campaign season some good. He can say the things politicians fear to say. He might remove the shock factor from hard topics by getting voters used to those topics.
KC Mulville:
Management is a lot tougher when you can't fire people.
Great point.
But that D.C. politics is different from business does not mean businessmen do not have ample relevant experience. Politics is not limited to government. Negotiation, representation and group action are common experiences.
I refuse to rely solely on career politicians. Experience and character are both vital. Experience is not always the more important of the two.
Our politicians haven't been serious. If they were, we wouldn't be in this fiscal mess. A serious leader isn't one who pays lip service to serious matters. A serious leader takes action.
Feb '11
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
I think it's merely the timing of the polls; people will knowingly give loony responses in early polls, just to keep things interesting. I myself am guilty of this, as my fantasy of a a Giuliani ~Sharpton presidential debate once caused me to give some appalling answers to a pollster.
But once it got closer to election time, I renounced my earlier "choices" and got serious.
Edited on Apr 9, 2011 at 12:52pmAug '10
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
Paul A. Rahe
The comparison would be apt. · Apr 9 at 12:43pm
And a warning against electing him President.
I do hope he runs though, that would be a lot of fun. I would vote for him in the primary just to send a message to the rest of them: man up and speak plainly.
Edited on Apr 9, 2011 at 1:06pmFeb '11
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
Let me offer something of a defense of Trump. I realize we're early in the presidential season, etc, and my opinion will probably change based on events.
But right now I'm a fan. I heard him on the Limbaugh show recently. He said something I've never heard from any potential president- that is, our "allies" and trading partners are screwing us. Since I've long thought the US has become essentially a merchantilist colony of the rest of the planet, I was thrilled to finally hear someone state the obvious. Plus, he's willing to ask questions about Obama's past, and hasn't crumbled when the Obamista media drones attack him for it.
It's not about the birth certificate, folks. If a president can't go up against TV talking heads successfully or worse will let them rule certain subjects off limits I humbly suggest that person probably should not be president.
Again, it's early. Maybe he won't even run, or something else could wreck his candidacy. But so far he sounds a lot more like a president than any of the other likely potentials, exemplary men and excellent governors they may be.
Sep '10
Re: Trump is Final Proof that the Political Class Has Failed
Xennady: I also disagree. I think what has happened is that the Federal monster on the Potomac has gathered nearly all the governing power unto itself, and thereby leached away nearly all the democratic flexibility a real federal system would have. ...
So if we're now to unwieldy to be a one nation, blame Washington, DC, not anything else. · Apr 9 at 12:34pm
Edited on Apr 09 at 12:35 pm
Just so you know, Xennady, I do not blame anyone. It just seems to have happened as a result of success and growth, both materially and culturally, and it doesn't surprise me that decadence is on show among the political elite. Making parallels to Rome is always perilous, of course—most especially at a site that VDH frequents!—but to me, contemporary American politics is much more similar to the divided empire under Constantine's sons than to united rule under Constantine himself.