RULE 1: “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood. (These are two things of which there is a plentiful supply. Government and corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and usually do so almost exclusively with economic arguments.)
I’m gonna file this under Humor. There might be another Rule, but it escapes me right now. Anyways, I once had a quick discussion with Corey Lewandowski – Trump’s campaign manager – about the rocket ride he was on. I DID ask about, as being the campaign manager, how it was to be trying the manage The Donald (er, tongue in cheek). I got the very answer I expected: with a slight chuckle, he said “No one manages Mr. Trump“.
Hmm, the national GOP seems to believe it does (reformatted, emphasis mine):
The Republican National Committee (RNC) thinks it has leverage to control GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s messaging if he were to be the party’s nominee heading into the general election, according to Politico.
Hmm, that other Rule just keeps escaping me – what EVER could it be? Oh well, back to the rest of the post:
“Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus has begun stating in private meetings that the party has sway over its at times unwelcome front-runner because it has tools Trump will need to use to win a general election — voter data and field, digital and media operations that a nominee typically inherits from the party infrastructure,” Politico’s Daniel Strauss reports.
Riiiiight. Has sway. Which means the ability to control. Which means owning. Only if you own something can you manage it. THIS is hilarious! Have they not been watching how he campaigns? Have they not watched him on the stump?
Dangling access to these resources, Priebus thinks he can help steer Trump toward partywide policy goals and away from the inflammatory rhetoric that Republican officials see as divisive and dangerous, especially outside of the primary, according to two Republican sources who have spoken with the RNC chairman. The RNC’s chief strategist and communications director Sean Spicer told Politico that it’s a relationship. “Every nominee — it doesn’t matter this cycle or last cycle — understands now that the role of parties is critical in terms of the manpower, the data, the press operation, the research. The bottom line is no nominee can win without the party.”
I am still fully behind Ted Cruz to be the nominee. That said, if Trump runs the table on Tuesday, I think what he will have done is what Reagan did to Congress – Ronaldus Magnus went over and around Congress (and the media) and went directly to the People. Trump has done exactly that in going around the “normal” campaigning process and took his campaign to the People – thousands at a time. Having already broken most rules in the book, what is to say he can’t continue to do so and win? If Trump has come this far “without” the Party, who is to say he can’t do it without them now? Perhaps far fetched? Maybe.
Oh wait, that other Rule?
RULE 2: “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone. (Organizations under attack wonder why radicals don’t address the “real” issues. This is why. They avoid things with which they have no knowledge.)
Is the RNC just trying to make itself feel “secure”? And it certainly has seem that mucho confusion, pain, and angst has roiled the Establishment thus far? Are they just trying to “paper over” with a bit of PR, or are that that bumbling and clueless?
Sidenote: After all, look at who they let moderate yet another RNC debate – does Reince Prebus hate his candidate crop to let even more Lefty Democrats with bylines act like junkyard dogs in provoking fights (not that it took much) and harassing them?
Last question: who is the tail and who is the dog? As in “wagging”?
