A couple of points / thoughts from Thursday’s Donald Trump event now that I have seen him in person – the attitude of the crowd and the mainstream Republican Class in a stream of conscienceness (re: not necessarily well organized):
- I had heard most of his talking points before – TV, YouTube. Nothing really new so a bit disappointing. To me, being a political and news junkie, it was a bit “surface levelly” – nothing deep, no fine details. Nor could I, if really pressed, attach deep philosophical foundations to his speech / talking points. Thus, to me, it left a lacking and I think this is why a lot of folks who look at this “sport” like me, especially with Establishment GOP pundits, are disdainful of The Donald.
- This is extremely wrong headed and they totally miss the most important part of what is going on here and in my estimation, The Donald is actually the lesser part of that whole.
- Even being that lesser part, he has picked up on what the Republican base is aching for – and has found pretty much lacking in most of the field. Ted Cruz gets it from a Constitutional standpoint, Carly Fiorina gets it from a results standpoint, and I think Bobby Jindal gets it from the Liberty standpoint (re: Religious Liberty, he is standing tall where Mike Pence dropped like a wet cheap suit).
- Aching – what unites Trump’s base is an unabashed pride in America and that it IS the best Country ever in history. They realize that it has flaws and it will continue to have them but that it has been and can be a moral good for the world.
- They are bewildered in the changes in their country brought to them by the Communist / Marxist cabal that has been put into place in and around the Oval Office that looks in disdain at the US and has been doing what they can to turn America upside. These in power now consider America to have been wrong at best and evil at worst and are not proud of their countrymen, their traditions, and their beliefs. The US is the problem – and they are the cure and we are to be made to be a part of it. We are unconstructed and must be made to evolve from our past.
- That said, THESE PEOPLE AT THE EVENT are tired of being run down by those who consider themselves their betters and the REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP is seen as part of that problem; weak, self-serving, and once elected, become the good old boys interested only what is in the Beltway (listening, Kelly Ayotte?).
- The Republican Elite and Smart People – they complain that Donald Trump is self-seeking at best and a buffon at worst. They MISS THE POINT that it is their failure that has brought the Donald to the top of the polls. They complain about Trump – and totally miss what their “consumers” actually desire. These people want an America to be proud of again and not the “fundamental transformation” that has been hoisted upon them – and they, in no small part, blame these self-styled Republicans for screwing it up as they have watched their lapdog antics. They see that even with the Democrats in the minority, they see the Dems pushing the Rs around.
- This can be seen as “Losers syndrome” or Stockholm syndrome. There is no fight in them and the folks at the event are tire of no one fighting for them. Period. Certainly, Jeb Bush is not seen as a fighter, for example.
- Trust has been wasted and I see a base R electorate that is no longer willing to be taken for granted. They are no longer willing to believe the BS from DC (and Concord) and while Republican officials would nominally be seen as fighting for them, they see them as doing nothing but caving into or even joining in with Democrats. They are beginning to understand that while the Dems do as they say, Republicans talk to placate – and then accomplish nothing with the majorities we gave them. Look, what should Republican voters think when for years we are told that we had to give them majorities in the House and Senate to repeal Obamacare, we do it, and JUST THIS WEEK, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that repeal of Obamacare is not in the near future. That’s seen as lying and cowardice by the base. The disdain that the Ruling Political Class is now returned in the anger held towards them.
Like it or not, the folks at the event see positives in Trump where the Political Class see crassness and self-promotion.
Sidenote: like running for President ISN’T self-promotion? Oh, I get it – it isn’t by the Established rules.
They see someone who is a true winner in business, not afraid to say that, that it is OK (contra what Obama has been saying the last 8 years) to be successful (and be “really, really rich”) and more importantly, is willing to say things that will tick off others and when attacked for it, stands right there toe-to-toe and takes no crap from no one. In fact, he doubles down and attacks back, be it other politicos OR the media – and when the cloud of dust clears, those across from him admit he has a point.
And in doing so, he has changed the trajectory of the campaigned and is forcing some Republicans like Jeb Bush to confront the ugly truths of illegal immigration and the negative it brings to this country. Trump is brash, brazen, and is campaigning by HIS rules and this is one item that shows that while Trump is being derided as a buffoon, there is no doubt that they have to acknowledge that his political jujitsu is effective and is taking other candidates off their game. And the base, which always loves a winner, is rewarding him for articulating what the base really wants.
More importantly, I saw on Thursday something that I saw in people in the churches I’ve attended – they already had “the belief”, now they wanted to be fed. In part from Trump in that it is absolutely OK to love America, traditional America, just the way it was in that political connections are not needed to succeed. If you work hard, you are rewarded and not made a target. That if you are moral and religious, you are not a bigot to be outcast. That you don’t exist just to be plundered so that others get to sit in the wagon or hammock while you toil away (re: Obama is now giving Internet to those in public housing even as they have to pay for it). They are ok for believing that their Government is not being fair to them even as those in charge say that because you are “privileged”, you must be taken down. They resent to feel guilty for things they have had no part in (like slavery) and resent the implication of guilt for being unconsciously racist and that America is racist to its core and they are part of that.
They are ANGRY that their sons and daughters pay the ultimate price in defending Freedom and are considered to be murderers (this from folks that promulgate and celebrate the most brutal of all murders – children in the womb and are being made to participate in it. They are ANGRY that their school employees actively denigrate their morality and seek to cut the knees out from under these parents.
They see this country in decline. They are not willing to stand for it. And are also finding most of the field wanting.
Because. Just because. They may not be able to articulate it themselves but they “know it when they see it”. Trump is allowing them / helping them to articulate it.
They got “fed” at that event. If you are unchurched or an atheist, you will not “get” that analogy – and it is only a rough analogy because I cannot really nuance what I am trying to say. No, they are NOT there to get their jones for Trump. Rather, it is a feeling of “Hey, I am not alone – others love America as much as I do, warts and on. Just ordinary, “flyover people in the Northeast” who have a deep abiding faith and love of country and are sick of seeing this country being transformed to just another European Socialist country – re: no longer “American”.
And the Republican Party has missed this. Almost completely. Checkers vs Chess. Queensbury vs MMA. Completely orthogonal – not even on the same plane. And that is a mistake, not as the pundits and “strategists” believe, by this subset of the base but by those same strategists themselves.
No, this rally was not about Trump although he was the catalyst – my take was on the people that came. Sure, there were true Trump fans there, but it was clear that the event was about the attendees themselves. Sure, the more Smart People are going “hey, he can’t win because Trump isn’t playing by our rules”. His supporters, however, are giving them the finger – they do not see them as part of the solution.
He is speaking to their inner core. And here is the larger lesson for the Republican Party:
the people who showed up were NOT the regular base – while I recognized a number of faces, there were a lot that I did not. In fact, a TON of them. And some that I recognized I know NOT to be Republican – yes, Democrats, so so much for the gutter talk that Trump will kill the mushy middle come the General Election.
So the lesson for the Republicans? What I have said for years and over and over:
We may not win but you will surely lose.
Look, I am not a Trump supporter. I do not oppose him; I just have not made a decision yet (although I do have favorites already as well as a list of “they will never receive my vote”). These are just my thoughts, some being repeated, after watching the crowd on Thursday as they withstood horrible heat and humidity in the building and waiting hours (some arriving at noon for a 6pm scheduled start time). They came to be fed. I don’t think many left hungry.
BTW, I do have to say this – the stagecraft, choice of venue, and attention to detail, SUCKED. Little thought given to seniors that could not stand that long. Keeping the media out of the room until an hour before start time when there was little observable reason to do so. Yes, it is always nice to be able to brag about overflow crowds but the staff (in the selection of the venue) seriously made a big mistake. More than a few people left, extremely redfaced and perspiring badly, left because of the environment.
