Since its launch in June, Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign has been nothing short of a full-on, in-your-face, verbal onslaught, the shockwaves felt in the bellies of those of us who live and die by the politics of the minute. On any given day, Donald Trump can be seen on the campaign trail–almost exclusively covered live–a rarity in primary politics. The media soak it all in, confident Trump will make at least one outrageous statement that can be replayed, reacted to, or in some cases, re-formed into something he didn’t even say. It makes for entertaining television.
Contrast Trump’s campaign events to his GOP competitors’, what little is covered of all of the other sixteen of them. We mostly see recorded snippets of candidates giving a lackluster or poorly thought out response to whatever Trump was expounding upon the day before. Even worse, many of the more “experienced” politicians seem to be repeatedly caught flat-footed when asked their take on the latest Trump-ism. The defensive campaign is not a good one, and for a party that is always being attacked, the sixteen other GOP candidates aren’t getting better at defense. Trump leads, his opponents scramble.
Despite the polls, the pundits on both sides never fail to predict Trump’s imminent demise (or predict who will pick up his supporters after he invariably flames out) while simultaneously acknowledging Trump’s “entertainment” factor as the solitary reason for his stubborn seat on the top of the GOP candidate tree.
The media love/hate relationship with Trump is interesting. They love those great TV ratings that this reality TV star provides, yet while covering him they are helping themselves and the rest of the haters of the world to gather their ammunition against him. And the haters are legion. The political Left hates that Trump would be so insane as to state that a wall should be built to keep out the “illegals”; and they hate that he freely and willfully uses terms they find offensive, such as “illegals” or “Anchor Babies”. The Establishment Republicans hate him for his outsider status and the fact that he has essentially trounced the campaign of their golden sop, Jeb Bush. The conservative pundits are leery of Trump, given his previous stances on a whole host of issues not limited to abortion, global warming, taxes, his company bankruptcies, and his donations to politicians of all types. Both the conservative and the Republican pundits are concerned that he might go Left if elected, or worse, lose the general election to the Democrats because of a possible third party split.
But they all keep watching.
At the first debate of the campaign season, 24 million people tuned in to watch. Again, twenty-four million people watched a GOP PRIMARY DEBATE, something that before this year, would have been unheard of. The big “E” Establishment Republicans chalk up the record-breaking viewership to Trump’s entertainment cache. Others say it was the Megyn Kelly/Brett Baier/Chris Wallace trio of hosts. Sure, the hosts did a fine job of creating good TV; that is what they are paid to do. And yes, of course it is entertaining, and Trump had a large part in pulling in audiences, but I ask you: Is there more to the Trump phenomenon than pure entertainment value?
I think there is. Consider this…Donald Trump, in all his non-politically correct brashness and effrontery to the media and other candidates, is so totally entertaining simply because he has shown himself to be the epitome of a proud American man. Americans haven’t seen this rare animal in politics in so long that it is now a foreign concept to us; it is shocking. What other presidential candidate—on either side of the aisle–could be described as wearing his pride for his country on his shirtsleeves? Who would have the braggadocio to circle his 767 jet above his very large campaign event, at a cost of thousands of dollars per hour, just for the coolness of it? Everyone at that Mobile, AL baseball stadium last Friday night knew it was his effort, his business savvy, paying for that jet fuel on that flyby. As a successful American businessman, Trump did build that and he wants everyone else to know it, too. How brazen! How refreshing!
This is no small matter, to be a proud American. The point I am making is serious. Americans, PROUD Americans of all stripes, have been laboring under a suffocating blanket of political correctness, a pervasive anti-American sentiment emanating from the top levels of government, a class war fueled by the current administration, and a horrible, lagging economy for too long. We’ve been oppressed by the constant downplaying of our nation’s accomplishments, the finger-wagging at those of us who have the audacity to think that the United States of America is exceptional, that we are special, that we are generous, that we are a force of good in the world.
Last November, many conservatives and Republicans (me included) believed that the newly-elected, Republican-controlled U.S. Congress would be a source of relief, a stop sign along our forced march to the left. We wanted relief from some of the oppression. Small victories are still victories. With great disappointment, it is clear that the latest U.S. Congress has done little to nothing to alleviate that pressure. We’ve had no victories at all. The fact that candidates were put in office to right our ship but have failed instead has only INCREASED the pressure. Who would disagree with the statement that the status quo is still oppressive?
Donald Trump thumbs his nose at the status quo, kicks it to the curb, and is daily making his case for an alternative to it. Braggart, blowhard, salesman, call him what you will, but he has tapped into a great need for Americans. His campaign tagline to “Make America Great Again” is simple, no? The political elites certainly think so, but only in a disparaging way. Yet, making America great again is a clear acknowledgement that America was ONCE a great nation but has fallen on hard times. How nice for a candidate to state what is obvious to most Americans, but has been forcibly ignored by the current administration at every step? More importantly, Trump’s slogan offers the idea that we can make America great AGAIN. How interesting of a juxtaposition is this to “you didn’t build that” from our current commander-in-chief?
Trump does not apologize for his pro-American stance, he does not bow or cater to the media, he does not mince words. He says things that no one has said in a long, long time, or even has said at all. But many of us think the things that he says.
It is not just entertainment at play here. George Will got it wrong. Charles Krauthammer got it wrong. Kevin D. Williamson got it wrong and was not as kind as George or Charles about it. Trump is not just entertaining us, he is reaffirming that the United States of America is a great country, built by hard-working people, and we shouldn’t be ashamed for our accomplishments. Trump’s approach has brought much needed energy, excitement, and attention to the GOP. He is forcing the GOP candidates to step up their games, or step off the field. Most importantly, Trump, in his own brash way, is relieving some of that pressure we all know has been present for so many years now, just by airing our collective grievances. He is recognizing what we have been saying for years, that Washington D.C. is broken, and (amazingly) he isn’t beholden to any shadowy donor class if he should be elected to clean the place up. I don’t believe that I am the only conservative to read that statement twice and think, finally! No back door deals for the unnamed guys with the moneybags!
And if he isn’t the GOP nominee? Then, at the end of this process, our eventual GOP presidential candidate will have been as fully vetted as a candidate could be. All is fair in love and war. I am completely dialed-in to see how Trump handles the upcoming attacks against him, how the Republican National Committee handles Trump, and how the other candidates alter their stances and re-position themselves in his wake.
I bet you’ll be watching, too.
