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Conrad Black Exactly Right: Trump the GOP Nominee
Conrad Black is a bit of a curmudgeon and definitely a contrarian but his analysis this morning of the March 15 primaries is very accurate in all regards and I endorse what he is saying in this NRO article. Here’s a sample:
Those who initially saw the Trump candidacy as an exercise in buffoonery and exhibitionism, and gradually accepted it as an insurgency, now see it as an attempt to hijack and ravish the Republican party and even to hoodwink the entire electorate. The alternative interpretation has been that Donald Trump, though a billionaire, had the genius of expressing public grievances in an Archie Bunker style that mocked political correctness and was popularly seen as plain talk from the only candidate not in any way complicit in the terrible blunders of America’s political class since the end of the Cold War.
And all he did was address the 900-pound gorilla that everyone else studiously avoids (except for Cruz, of course):
Trump alone recognized the significance of a few basic numbers, such as the percentage of Americans who think government officials are largely crooked – which increased between 2000 and 2015 from 30-something percent to 50 to 60 per cent, depending on whether they are Democrats, independents, or Republicans. In the same period, the percentage of Americans who thought the federal government was run by a few big interests increased from about 50 percent to about 70 percent.
And here’s the money quote:
Those collectively responsible for governing the country through the last 20 years, as these ominous levels of public discontent accumulated, showed no apparent recognition of the gathering storm. Marco Rubio, as he graciously departed the race, called it a “tsunami none of us saw coming.” Future historians of American politics will probably be astounded that the political system ignored the 900-pound gorilla of illegal migrants in the country and imagined that such an immense number of unskilled entrants could be tacitly accepted.
And Trump is simply doing an Archie Bunker routine. It’s really that simple:
One of Trump’s talents is to harness the rage and fear of the low-income and marginal groups by his Archie Bunker routine, while maintaining contact with the party’s moderates and the vast center of American politics by having relatively uncontroversial views of most issues except illegal and Muslim immigration.
And here’s how he will clinch the deal:
There is no reason to doubt that Trump can get 54 percent of the remaining delegates now that he has been polling over 40 percent regularly before it even became a three-candidate race. If Cruz withdrew in favor of Kasich, it would, as I wrote last week, be possible to give Trump a run for it, but even that would not work, and none of it will happen. If he runs into problems, Trump can trade the vice-presidential nomination for a final push of delegates.
And here’s the finale:
He’s not complicit in the failures of the last 20 years and he is new to politics, yet has huger name recognition. There is no more mud to throw at Trump and Clinton has not begun to answer for her long record of untruthfulness, evasion, cynical speech-making for exorbitant fees, and influence-peddling through the Clinton Foundation while she was secretary of state, even if she avoids indictment on Emailgate.
It is a bizarre turn and a startling gamble, but the great office is seeking Donald J. Trump, and will probably find him; he’s hard to miss.
It’s over: Trump has the nomination. I’m for Cruz but I’m ready to face the fact that Trump has it in the bag.
Published in Politics
I did not know what to think about the appeal of Trump or Sanders who seem to both have a Jim Jones vibe, but they appeal to a wide range of people (me included sometimes). Even some intellectual liberal types I watch on You Tube kind of like Trump for his stance against immigration from the Middle-East and his non P.C. talk. Next cats will be marrying dogs and the world will end.
Black has known Trump for years. They’re old friends.
And how does this make him any worse than the GOP establishment? Rubio was against amnesty when he was running for office. Once elected, he hooked right up with Schumer to push for amnesty.
When it comes to lying and just plain betrayal, Trump’s got nothing on the GOP establishment.
I just came back from a business dinner, and several of my colleagues claimed to be Trump supporters because “it was fun.” When I asked if they really wanted someone in the White House briefing room calling the press “disgusting horrible people”, they acknowledged they didn’t really, in fact, they all got quite somber just imagining it.
What if the description of the press is accurate? What then?
I don’t want my president calling the press disgusting horrible people at a press conference.
Are you honestly saying that is what you want from your next President?
The press are disgusting horrible people.
It depends on the accuracy of the statement.
Takinng the Friedman perspective that you actually believe this, I think you will cheer the first couple of times he says it, increasingly cringe the next dozen or so times, and then be completely embarrassed that you ever voted for the man after a while.
I’m shocked that anyone wants our President to routinely insult everybody. But obviously the country has moved a long way from me.
I guess I do need to leave the country before I am forced out.
Who said that? The question was about the press. They are controlled by the most leftward people in the country and they need to be put in their place at the back of the bus. They need to start being professional and they must be sufficiently damaged to force them out of the controlling spotlight. They are anti-America in that they despise or belittle the average traditional American.
Why do you think Trump’s habit of insulting anyone that disagrees with him will stop at the press?
Trump doesn’t have policies, he has insults. What about that will change once he gets into office?
here is 10 hours of how you want your next President to act
Watch all 10 hours of that and then say that you honestly want your next President to consistently talk about people that way.
Only the press will enforce your language policing and then only against conservatives. So let them whipsaw you if you want. We must learn to be less squeamish and focus on winning the war. It’s going to get worse not better. If language is your worry the press will do due diligence for you and dig up a laundry list for you every day.
I remain shocked that anyone thinks insulting your way to white house is a good thing for the country.
I guess we really are well on our way to a President who was a porn star and five-time ultimate smackdown wrestling champion.
The best part about all this is that when President Obama does something unpresidential people like Larry are the first to jump all over him.
[It was funny, but those words are still prohibited under Ricochet’s Code of Conduct.]
That’s going to be a challenge if Trump becomes President.
A2, I’m not repulsed by the notion. I’m not pining for it either. Much of the press is terrible in their effort to fill the airtime of the 24 hour news cycle with whatever comes to hand, true or not, rational or not, edifying or not. We’ve known this on the right for decades to the point that we had to create an alternative media presence in talk radio and Fox came along to fill in the gap on TV. Well even our side isn’t immune; mountains regularly are fashioned out of molehills because the talking heads have to talk about something, and it works out better for them if that something is emotionally gratifying to their listeners.
I’m not so sure that it will be routine.
Based on evidence or hope?
I don’t share your assumption that that is all Trump is offering, that he has no policy only insults.
Based on my pre-campaign impression: I don’t recall Trump being known for insults. Based on my assumption that he’s not the two dimensional character people are painting him to be. Based on having known similar types (i.e. NYC type A’s with rough edges).
I could be wrong, of course. I just don’t understand the certainty going in either direction, plus the gutter campaign doesn’t exactly bother me. I think we’ve needed a knock down drag out and couldn’t find any willing participants until now.
On his website, his healthcare policy says the following
A key plank of Trump’s healthcare policy is to allow me to have an account that I’ve already had for 8 years that I’ve contributed to tax-free and been accumulating since then. Brilliantly insightful. Who wrote that, an intern?
I don’t think Trump has any real policies and if he has them, he is not running on them, he is running on his willingness to incisively insult people. People want our next President to be an unfunny Don Rickles.
Hope.
All I said was that I’m not sure that his campaign schtick will continue indefinitely; on the flipside, are you so sure it will continue based on evidence or on disdain?
A2, we’ve had a good relationship, let’s not spoil it because of frustration over differing assessments of Trump. Or is this now a litmus test for what polite company we’ll keep?
Here is my evidence
You don’t expect a leopard to change his spots.
But let’s say you are right. Why did Trump decide the best way to win the Republican nomination was to insult everybody who wasn’t him. What message does that send to American people? What message does choosing that person to be the Republican nominee for President send to the American people?
Trump is not campaigning as a builder, he is campaigning a destroyer. The people that want him in office want him to destroy stuff. And all the Trump supporters on here can say “I don’t think he will be a destroyer once he gets in office. We have to elect him to see what he will do.” Even if you are right and it is a schtick, he will be just another politician who completely failed to live up to his follower’s expectations but the next GOP primary will even lower class than this one has been because Trump will have shown that Republican primary voters want hate and insults not policies.
I don’t see the upside in that for the Republican party or the country.
You pick point three out of seven and that justifies writing everything else off? Even on the HSA point though: 1) these are not universally popular and making it a part of the replacement for Obamacare is nice to know, 2) the part about not being subject to death penalty can be interpreted differently but if it means that it keeps its character even for non-spouse beneficiaries then that’s an improvement I like, 3) I take it as a signal that there would be willingness to expand the provision.
I think he is running on real policies and that the overall campaign is communicating them well. The schtick is not front and center, positively or negatively, for everyone as much as it appears to be on Ricochet.
No, you can search for a comment from me like this if you want but I’m not offended by rough language. I’m offended by the principles of Obama and I’m offended that he’s a stealth candidate about them. I’m offended by anti-American presidents — even if they act presidential. You see what I’m doing here — I’m putting the country over symbolism and aesthetics. You guys are who are controlled by the media. Clutch your pearls a little tighter — it’s going to get much worse.
Can we just stop here? Maybe even run this on a continuous scroll just under the Ricochet banner on the main page. I really do deserve it, you know.