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Is Donald Trump cool?
On the one hand, he’s been around forever, his tastes are cheesy/expensive, and the media has, as you may have noticed, been squealing nonstop for months that he’s Not Cool.
On the other hand, he’s not from Flyoverville. He’s about as New York as you can get.
And yet, he’s an old-fashioned in-your-face New Yorker of the kind celebrated by Colin Quinn. But then that’s also the “problematic” type who make new SWPL New Yorkers uncomfortable: What would our stylistic betters in Europe think of this crass American? How could the very American Trump be sophisticated and urbane, like, say, soccer?
Except, that Trump’s winning issue, what has distinguished him from the pack — immigration — is exactly the issue that obsesses Europeans in 2015. For example, above is a new graph from The Economist showing immigration as an important issue in Britain hitting a new historic high in the latest poll.
So Trump is on the cutting edge of Euro fashion.
It’s complicated …
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Hebrew
Hindi
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Persian
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Turkish
Vietnamese
There’s also the social media angle. Social media is cool, and Trump is a master of it. Hillary and Jeb probably have 20-something staffers man their Twitter accounts, with each tweet crafted in a conference room, before being sent out to consultants for feedback.
Predictions:
Trump does better with non-whites than SWPL, parasitic pundits and GOP donors would ever fear. Name recognition (everyone I know overseas knows of and “likes” Trump in the way celebrities are liked) dominates as does the inate American desire to root for a winner. Mexican apathy plays a big role in 2016 to the chagrin of self-appointed leaders and conquistodor-Americans like Jorge Ramos. Why do black people vote for Trump to be a question for the Joan Walshes of the World. But dare they put it in print or in blog?
Jorge Bush’s brother, the tongue-tied jefe, loses support do to an ongoing series of Bushisms, and his inability to successfully triangulate. Clinton pulled off triangulation in the 90’s because the Internet was less of a force. Biden-Warren ticket poses the biggest threat to Trump. Walker and Cruz and perhaps Fiorina kiss the ring. Donor class and punditry inceasingly try to ingratiate themselves with Trump or get pettily snarky. Uncle Rupert continues to kiss Trump’s butt. Last ditch effort behind Rubio fails; Bill Kristol cries at home, when nobody watches.
Does this result in reevaluation, some fruitful soul-searching? Nope, more naval-gazing and plotting.
If anyone thinks the GOPers in Congress were obstructionist with Obama they haven’t seen anything get.
Will they stymie Trump? I’m not sure. I don’t think so. They have institutional infrastructure, networks and money on their hands. But a fire in the gut they don’t.
Here’s Colin dolled up to look like a 19th century riverboat gambler/1970s NY Guido doing a bit from his latest one man show.
Is Joe Biden cool?
Beat the crazy old Republican (Trump) and your own crazy old guy (Sanders).
Not sure what else to think about it, but Biden probably is going to run, perhaps as an Obama proxy.
Well…
From TNR’s review of Art of the Deal, way back in 1988:
“Almost nothing about Donald Trump, apart from the magnitude of his ambition and the fact that it expresses itself in real estate, seems to evoke Manhattan. He is an alien from the outer boroughs, the big spender with the sports fan’s vocabulary and the wrong haircut. Sophistication, the quality Manhattanites plume themselves on, is the quality he most despises.”
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/122283/triumph-trumpery
A few years back Jon Stewart did a bit about how Trump eats his pizza with a knife and fork instead of folding a slice and eating it with his bare hands like a REEL PNEU YAWKER. Even when the situation demands a lack of sophistication for the sake of sophistication, Trump manages to run afoul of decorum. He has an anti-eye for taste and fashion, an anti-ear for SWPL conventional wisdom. Both faculties are inerrant in their anti-ness.
I'd say it depends on your definition of cool, as a former president might say. The tastemakers' cool? Of course not. Even the Euros digging him are the wrong kind.
That said, he's certainly found a way to ride a popularity wave appealing to everything a Manhattan sophisticate would hate, and that is a form of cool, the sort a country singer might have. Whether it can get him elected President is another story (though I admit I'm rooting for him).
Another thing, people outside New York don´t understand. You don´t have to live within the NYC city limits to consider yourself a New Yorker, at least I don´t and a lot of people I know think like that too. They are kids of New York ethnics that for the most part were very successful, and they work in New York, and still have relatives, distant or close in the City. So you can live in CT, but not consider yourself a New Englander, but fully New Yorkerr. I don´t even watch the local news, I read the NY Post, and watch New York 1.
Colin’s coming back to the Drury Lane theater in Lower Manhattan in the fall to do more of his one-man show on ethnicity.
I thought it was funny when Colin Quinn mentioned that Puerto Ricans in New York City start having sex as early as 6th grade, LOL. If this was Los Angeles, you could replace Puerto Ricans with Mexicans.
Trump’s only characteristic that matters to me is that he promises to fix birth-right citizenship.
Any candidate who won’t do that is not serious about immigration reform.
The outer boroughs are still part of New York.
I’d say it depends on your definition of cool, as a former president might say. The tastemakers’ cool? Of course not. Even the Euros digging him are the wrong kind.
That said, he’s certainly found a way to ride a popularity wave appealing to everything a Manhattan sophisticate would hate, and that is a form of cool, the sort a country singer might have. Whether it can get him elected President is another story (though I admit I’m rooting for him).
Manliness and confidence backed up by competence never go out of style.
Yes, he’s cool.
Rest assured that your “stylistic betters in Europe” do their best not to obsess about immigrants. If anything they obsess about how to welcome them, etc.
As for those polls that show large percentages of Europeans hostile to immigrants and/or Islam — they are a problem insofar as they remind us of our dark past, and if anything they are a sign Europeans need to be better educated about racism and so on. It’s likely the problem will somehow solve itself after the critical mass of immigrants has been attained.
Or something.
Chris Matthews points out the lack of Black bodies at Donald Trump campaign rallies. Yet no mention from him about the lack of Black bodies at Bernie Sanders rallies.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/matthews-plays-race-card-with-trump-ignores-overwhelming-white-crowds-for-bernie-hillary/
Blacks make up 13 percent of the U.S population, yet I am quite confident no crowd at any Bernie Sanders campaign rally has ever been 13 percent Black or higher.
Bernie Sanders could have a rally in Baltimore and it would still end up being lily White. There is nothing like a Crypt Keeper looking White fossil who looks like he should be retired in The Villages in Central Florida, to make many Black voters sit at home on election day.
If Hollywood ever does a remake of “Cocoon”, Bernie Sanders should star in it. Or if they ever brought back the television show “Tales From The Crypt”, he should star in that as well.
There is nothing that turns off Black voters the most than senior citizen Whiteness. African American voters 2 favorite presidents Hussein Obama and John F. Kennedy were both relatively young by American politics standards when they were elected POTUS.
The Villages commercial jingle should be the official presidential campaign song for Bernie Sanders.
At the heart of it the GOP is supposedly not the party of big government. One can debate that, but the democrats clearly are. Whereas many whites think FedGov interferes too much and support the GOP's message about restraining government, many blacks think FedGov is necessary to ensure they get their rights and support the democrats for this reason. FedGov hires them, makes the private sector hire them, freed them from slavery, forced people to sell their homes to them, etc., etc. So blacks will support the democrats so long as they are the party of big, intrusive government.
Now let's say 10 percent of blacks do support the limited government role espoused by the GOP. That means this small group of pro-GOP blacks would be about 1.3 percent of the US population. With that demographic there is no way you are going to get anything more than a smidgen of black faces at a typical GOP rally.Replies: @Maj. Kong, @Jefferson
I think of Trump as the Ric Flair of politics. The wrestling heel who is so over the top with his boasting and bullying people actually root for him. Its not his performance in the ring that wins him fans, it is his performance during interviews that makes you believe he is the all conquering champion nobody is the equal of.
If you want to understand Trump, look at the women he has dated or married. Everyone of them is a 10+. Trump is a stud alpha male, on the order of Tom Brady, and people instinctively follow him.
After the Mobile rally, Ed Rollins said that Trump has a better than 50% chance of becoming President. If he does, he will be a successful President.
I’m not sure it is a case of him being “cool,” as much as the other candidates being utterly horrid.
Pretty much the whole slate of Republican candidates is terrible. I’m talking about charisma and campaigning skills, without any consideration for any of the positions they hold on issues. Just straight out how they would do campaigning for the school board.
The situation is the same on the Democratic side. I mean the two favorites right now are Clinton and Sanders? Neither has the charisma I mentioned, nor are they strong campaigners (unlike Hillary’s husband). And god, Hillary’s speaking voice…
And the individual details on what I guess you’d call their “demographic” are terrible. Hillary’s age (and we have no idea how that plays in elections for a woman, this is pretty new really). Sanders has the same problem. I doubt Sander’s ethnicity comes up, but I doubt he plays well outside of Iowa and New Hampshire. He will fade very quickly if he doesn’t win either. Well he’ll pick back up in New England, but the die is cast then.
It’s not even a debate as to whether Trump is cool really. The alternatives just plain suck beyond belief.
I have no idea if Trump’s candidacy is going to get buried somehow. So far he seems like he has Teflon. I can’t imagine something like the Dean Scream working on him.
My take is he is unstoppable for the Republican nomination, barring some shenanigan, because the other candidates are so terrible.
I’m kind of expecting Biden to jump in (Warren would make a lot of sense as a running mate) and win the Democratic nomination more or less by default. Otherwise the Democrats run Clinton, a candidate just as feckless as Romney maybe (I mention him because he is the worst campaigner I’ve seen in my lifetime to win a party Presidential nomination).
If you are a political junkie this is the lead age of presidential politics.
I’m not really sure what I think about the Donald, what he would actually do if he won the office. But if the election is “fair” I think he takes it all. Because everyone else really, really sucks. Scott Walker… how did he get up on that stage? He has no gravitas.
Trump is Jesse Ventura, with less experience. So he could ride public anger to a win, and could get something done in office. But he could disappoint, too, like Ventura, or even get bored. Jesse pretty much pulled a Sarah Palin, quitting after two years, but without actually leaving office.
Anyway, Trump's main issues of immigration and trade are in the hands of Congress. Unless Congress abdicates, as with the TPP.Replies: @International Jew
Matthew Schmitz at The Federalist has written an interesting article about Donald Trump and Norman Vincent Peale. Here’s an excerpt:
http://thefederalist.com/2015/08/24/is-donald-trump-an-agent-of-divine-judgment/
Real Italians and other Europeans eat their pizza with a knife and fork.
Not really off topic, but those whites are fencing up everything lately.
Deer roundup evicts plant-eating interlopers from Holden Arboretum’s gardens
Donald may be trending cool to some but others cooler than him are already here. They definitely understand what is at stake!
Of course Donald Trump is cool. He is not afraid to be himself, in contrast to all the other candidates (except Sanders) who seem to be stuck in the process of figuring out who they should be.
Bruce Lee: “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”
Rex Weiner wrote an article for High Times in the 1970s called “The ABCs of How to be Cool.” Here are excerpts of some of the attributes that fit Trump.
Attitude: If you’re absolutely convinced that what you’re doing is cool, then it’s cool. With the right attitude you can get away with anything.
Competent: Cool people are always competent (but not necessarily the other way around). The coolest way to take over a scene is to be better than everybody else.
Danger: Cool people are always dangerous because they take risks. Danger is cool because you know you’re not going to live forever, and knowing that let’s you relax. When people find out exactly how relaxed you are …when taking a controversial stand on some issue, they tend to give you the respect you deserve.
Energy: Cool people have a great deal of energy. . . They get everything done on time and always have about three or four things going on at once. [Trump sleeps four hours a night.]
Irrational: Get a reputation for being unpredictable and crazy. You’re the kind of person who’s likely to do anything anywhere anytime. But also gain a reputation for consistency. Paradox is the absolute essence of cool.
Jerks: Cool people always keep a few around, just to catch flak. [Jeb and Marco.]
Mainstream: Go against it. If everyone around you is busy being hip, be square. In a roomful of nervous people, be calm. Talk loudly in libraries. What the hell.
Opinions: Have lots of them. Like or dislike people immediately and don’t be afraid to say so. [Rosie, Megyn] Too many people go through life without ever deciding whether they want mustard or ketchup on their hamburgers.
Sex: If you’re cool, you’re sexy. [“Best sex I ever had!’ says former Trump girlfriend.]
Unique: Eminently cool people are always unlike anybody else. Nobody knows quite what makes them so, but they’ll spend hours trying to figure it out. What they come up with, often enough, is, “Boy, I sure hate that son of a bitch!” [see: Charles Krauthammer, George Will, Jonah Goldberg, Greg Gutfeld, etc.] Being hated is no less cool than being loved.
Work: Cool people are always busy. It’s cool to work. Cool people are always busy. But cool people never work up a sweat.
Extra: If you’re cool, you invariably ask for a little more, and if you’re cool, you invariably get it.
Europe’s Quisling lefties are terrified that Trump will be elected, will build the wall and will deport all the illegals.
They’ve gone quiet about Aussie PM Tony Abbot’s successful policy of turning back the boats.
OT Chinese investing in Detroit – Suckers!
http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/jul/22/does-multimillion-dollar-chinese-investment-signal-detroits-rebirth
What’s interesting is many more people take to him than they did for Buchanan with similar message.
Why?
Was there something too grim and moralistic about Buchanan?
Do Americans like someone with a sense of fun?
It's bizarre how this stereotype of the grim, moralistic Christian persists. I don't believe it applies to more than a couple of Christians I've ever met. Liberals on the other hand . . . they're all like that.Replies: @Steve Sailer
What seems to really get Pat going is foreign policy and moral issues. I take it that economic populism is something he came to only later. He was born in DC, after all.
For whatever reason, Trump has been an economic populist as long as he's been writing. More importantly, he produced a successful middle-brow TV program. Pat is high-brow.
IMO, Trump needs to release more position papers. He should also make an offer to Cruz to be VP.Replies: @iSteveFan, @Divine Right
In the 2010 census, there were over 50M. From 9%, heavily concentrated in a few states, to 16%, still concentrated but noticeable most everywhere.
I dunno, Steve. Is Europe still cool as it becomes increasingly hard to use it as a code word for “white”?
In one of his books (Never Give Up?) he said he hates to go to fancy dinners with the fancy food. He said he will not really eat anything there and will stop off for a bag of chips and soda afterwards. I loved it. Being sophisticated requires a lot of work and it’s an affectation. I like real.
During a time of extended and severe crisis, what are the chances that the ruling elite could run out of squirrels?
And yet Trump is an Episcopalian. His mother is Scottish and his paternal grandparents are German.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/matthews-plays-race-card-with-trump-ignores-overwhelming-white-crowds-for-bernie-hillary/Blacks make up 13 percent of the U.S population, yet I am quite confident no crowd at any Bernie Sanders campaign rally has ever been 13 percent Black or higher.Bernie Sanders could have a rally in Baltimore and it would still end up being lily White. There is nothing like a Crypt Keeper looking White fossil who looks like he should be retired in The Villages in Central Florida, to make many Black voters sit at home on election day. If Hollywood ever does a remake of "Cocoon", Bernie Sanders should star in it. Or if they ever brought back the television show "Tales From The Crypt", he should star in that as well.There is nothing that turns off Black voters the most than senior citizen Whiteness. African American voters 2 favorite presidents Hussein Obama and John F. Kennedy were both relatively young by American politics standards when they were elected POTUS.The Villages commercial jingle should be the official presidential campaign song for Bernie Sanders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL8gYPEawTYReplies: @D. K., @iSteveFan, @Don't drone me bro!
My sister and brother-in-law, from Upstate New York, just bought their retirement home there, although I think that they intend to use it seasonally, for the foreseeable future. I can fairly well guess that they did not vote for “The One,” in either presidential contest, and will not be voting for his White torch-bearer, whoever he or she turns out to be, next year!?!
It’s not just immigration but trade that Trump is about. And while one is reversible and the other not, they both have a similar impact on wages and employment, which is why he is liable to attract a not inconsiderable number of immigrant (the legal kind) and African American voters. We could be witnessing not only a coup within the Republican Party but a fundamental realignment of American politics. Liberal nationalism may be the wave of the future, both here and in Europe.
Incidentally, liberal nationalism may be a better moniker that citizenism for essentially the same thing. (It’s “liberal” because its aim is to preserve the welfare state, which in Trump’s case means a middle-class society with Social Security and universal health insurance; and in that sense it is conservative too).
What's different with Trump is not that there is a "fundamental realignment", but that he is directly and explicitly appealing to these blocs. And he's very effective at this because he's from Queens and knows the people, he's a good salesman, and much of his brand and business is marketed towards this sort of middle/lower-mid class demographic e.g. his clothing line, ties, cologne, etc. His recent Mobile, Alabama rally was pure Southern strategy.
Perhaps another word for socialism, maybe progressivism. But calling a protectionist Liberal is really a horrible twisting of a word.
Good point. I think the welfare state in its current form in all Western countries is unsustainable. However, a more sustainable form like a guaranteed minimum income, with a protected economy, is probably what we'll have in the long run. A populist is probably the only type that could ever really implement reform. That's the advantage of Trump.
He was asked by O’Reilly (shudder) if the Chinese president came to see him, would Donald feed him a steak dinner, like Obama. Donald said, no, he’d get him a Big Mac and say, “Now we get to work.” When O’Reilly challenged him, Donald said, “Okay, you’re right. I’d get him two Big Macs.”
Now, that’s the kind of cool cucumber I like.
In the old days you would’ve said Trump is quite a character, larger than life. He’s probably too old to be cool or even to run. Too bad! If only he had run before Dubya and Obama ran the country to the ground!
Being genuine and a successful entrepreneur sets him apart from other candidates. He’s no empty suit but the real deal. Also, he’s the greatest public speaker in action today.
Cool doesn’t matter in his case.
People just like that he’s manly and treated Megan Kelly the good ole American way.
More women need to be spanked.
TWO beatings of women, drunken Indians, a total caricatures of Asian cook and a Jewish shopkeeper...I guess John Wayne makes it all OK.
I wonder… what if Buchanan had been pro-abortion and gone easier on the homos.
Beat the crazy old Republican (Trump) and your own crazy old guy (Sanders).
Not sure what else to think about it, but Biden probably is going to run, perhaps as an Obama proxy.Replies: @Bill, @Hibernian
That’s going to be awesome. Are the media going to try to pretend he is smart, do you think?
Not to overly critical of Steve’s readers, but you know what this all reminds me of? A little kid watching a horse race. His favorite horse – the one with the brightly adorned jockey – is leading the rest of the pack after only 100 yards out of the gate, so the little kid says, “Oh look! We’re winning! We’re winning!”
What I’m worried about with Donald Trump is that he’ll miscalculate the extent to which his personality is a motivator for voters. He may not entirely understand the extent to which his support is a manifestation of anger towards the GOP. He may not understand the extent to which it isn’t all about him.
He can get away with that at this stage of the game, but doing things like getting in fights with journalists over past issues will be wearing thin with voters a year from now. From yesterday:
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2015/08/25/bimbo-donald-trump-uses-twitter-to-mock-megyn-kelly-jeb-bush/
Let’s hope I’m wrong. And let’s hope he can keep it together and focused for the rest of the campaign. And folks…that’s going to require a whole lot of hope.
They've gone quiet about Aussie PM Tony Abbot's successful policy of turning back the boats.
OT Chinese investing in Detroit - Suckers!
www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/jul/22/does-multimillion-dollar-chinese-investment-signal-detroits-rebirthReplies: @AnAnon
detroit is next on the to gentrify list. They are apparently on the cusp of disenfranchising the locals over budgetary issues.
What I’m finding fun to exam is how loyal Red Team members are slowly coming to realize that being on Red Team is not worth their time. It’s different than what we’re seeing with Blue Team, where the freak show is slowly breaking away from the main. Red Team has always defined itself in opposition to Blue Team. They are socialist and we are capitalists!
On Red Team, you see people suddenly confronting the fact that their team has always sort of hated them. At the same time, the old guard is struggling to figure out why the trouble makers appear to be mocking them, rather than fearing them. Calling Donald Trump a Nazi, for example, was met with laughter.
In Europe the realignment is easier and further advanced. You have existing parties into which dissidents can find refuge. if you have become fed up with Muslims in France, you the FN. In America, no such refuge exists. The fringe parties are nuts and the main parties are locked in a passionate embrace.
I don’t think he’s Episcopalian. He’s non-denominational Protestant. He attended Marble Collegiate Church, which isn’t Episcopalian. And German and Scottish Protestants generally aren’t Anglican or Episcopalian.
Trump is running a right-wing populist campaign, not a liberal nationalist one. I’m not sure where you’re getting that from.
Trump is from Queens, which is not cool.
Trump is not cool, which is a good thing. You can’t be a bombastic, cheesy, salesman type and be cool at the same time, and it’s being a bombastic, cheesy, salesman type that’s driving his success right now in the primaries.
It’s funny but not for one second has Donald Trump ever struck me as an “Alpha”. More like a fake alpha scheister, or a gangster rapper, and I don’t even dislike the guy (not to any unusual degree anyway).
Lots of slick salesman types have hot wives and shiny things, that’s just all about selling a dream, and I’ve met some of the best.
I can’t imagine a real “alpha” continuing any discourse, positive or negative, for this length of time, with Megan Kelly or Rosie O’Donnell. Ultimately you only quarrel with people you consider equals.
My own preference would be that Trump not pursue little squabbles with the likes of Megyn Kelly. I find it weird. Then again, maybe he's playing a game that I don't understand. Judging by our relative levels of success, that's entirely possible.
Can't believe this is a gold box comment. Megan Kelly is Ailes/Murdoch PROXY. Wake the hell up. Fox tried to end Trump's political career that night. There is no bigger opponent for Trump now. Exactly because Trump is an alpha with killer instinct is why he pursues his opponent relentlessly. Trump has the potential to do real damage to the Fox brand and Roger Ailes knows it.
He hasn't been tested yet, as the ankle-biters have proven that they're not up to the task. Trump's real enemies will have to don the armor soon, lest his numbers get too large.
All pols are salesmen. Your only choice is the brand of snake oil.
Why?
Was there something too grim and moralistic about Buchanan?
Do Americans like someone with a sense of fun?Replies: @Bill, @Maj. Kong, @Discordiax
Go watch some old episodes of Crossfire. Buchanan is about the least grim and moralistic person ever. His liberal counterpart, however, fits that description to a tee.
It’s bizarre how this stereotype of the grim, moralistic Christian persists. I don’t believe it applies to more than a couple of Christians I’ve ever met. Liberals on the other hand . . . they’re all like that.
Trump calls himself Presbyterian , not Episcopalian. I think Fiorina is sort of Episcopalian and Kasich is a former Catholic who became Episcopalian and then split with them to become Anglican. FWIW
Not Episcopalian; Trump’s a self-identified Presbyterian.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/matthews-plays-race-card-with-trump-ignores-overwhelming-white-crowds-for-bernie-hillary/Blacks make up 13 percent of the U.S population, yet I am quite confident no crowd at any Bernie Sanders campaign rally has ever been 13 percent Black or higher.Bernie Sanders could have a rally in Baltimore and it would still end up being lily White. There is nothing like a Crypt Keeper looking White fossil who looks like he should be retired in The Villages in Central Florida, to make many Black voters sit at home on election day. If Hollywood ever does a remake of "Cocoon", Bernie Sanders should star in it. Or if they ever brought back the television show "Tales From The Crypt", he should star in that as well.There is nothing that turns off Black voters the most than senior citizen Whiteness. African American voters 2 favorite presidents Hussein Obama and John F. Kennedy were both relatively young by American politics standards when they were elected POTUS.The Villages commercial jingle should be the official presidential campaign song for Bernie Sanders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL8gYPEawTYReplies: @D. K., @iSteveFan, @Don't drone me bro!
Take your thought process a little further. Blacks are 13 percent of the population, yet 95% voted Obama and probably 90% will vote for whatever passes for the democrat nominee. At best 10 percent of blacks might, I say might, be open to republican party views on issues.
At the heart of it the GOP is supposedly not the party of big government. One can debate that, but the democrats clearly are. Whereas many whites think FedGov interferes too much and support the GOP’s message about restraining government, many blacks think FedGov is necessary to ensure they get their rights and support the democrats for this reason. FedGov hires them, makes the private sector hire them, freed them from slavery, forced people to sell their homes to them, etc., etc. So blacks will support the democrats so long as they are the party of big, intrusive government.
Now let’s say 10 percent of blacks do support the limited government role espoused by the GOP. That means this small group of pro-GOP blacks would be about 1.3 percent of the US population. With that demographic there is no way you are going to get anything more than a smidgen of black faces at a typical GOP rally.
If Trump becomes the nominee, his populist views on economics/immigration, could depress black D turnout, and he might get a fifth of those that do vote. That's what it takes to win OH, MI, WI, MN, PA.
The lie of the donor class is that Jack Kemp style politics will somehow gain black votes, and simultaneously serve donor class interest of low wages and low/no capital gains taxes. Blacks are the least likely group to be entrepreneurs, and those that do are likely to be dependent on minority set-asides in contracts.
Appalachian whites have shifted to the GOP out of fear, for both the coal-based economy, and from cultural displacement. It's possible that a sizeable minority of blacks might do the same. But the ordinary slash-and-burn GOP policies on fiscal issues will go nowhere.
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/Felsenthal-Files/October-2014/Rauner-and-Blacks-More-than-a-Marriage-of-Convenience/
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/matthews-plays-race-card-with-trump-ignores-overwhelming-white-crowds-for-bernie-hillary/Blacks make up 13 percent of the U.S population, yet I am quite confident no crowd at any Bernie Sanders campaign rally has ever been 13 percent Black or higher.Bernie Sanders could have a rally in Baltimore and it would still end up being lily White. There is nothing like a Crypt Keeper looking White fossil who looks like he should be retired in The Villages in Central Florida, to make many Black voters sit at home on election day. If Hollywood ever does a remake of "Cocoon", Bernie Sanders should star in it. Or if they ever brought back the television show "Tales From The Crypt", he should star in that as well.There is nothing that turns off Black voters the most than senior citizen Whiteness. African American voters 2 favorite presidents Hussein Obama and John F. Kennedy were both relatively young by American politics standards when they were elected POTUS.The Villages commercial jingle should be the official presidential campaign song for Bernie Sanders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL8gYPEawTYReplies: @D. K., @iSteveFan, @Don't drone me bro!
Yes but how many of those “white” people identify as black hmmmmmmm?? #istandwithrachaeldolezal #brothershaunking #whiteblacklivesmatter
Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant! Liberal nationalsm love it!
Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant! Liberal nationalism love it!
I didn't come up with the phrase liberal nationalism; read it in the comments to another site, can't remember where. Ditto for the idea that what Trump is doing to the Republican Party is a coup.
Also, I've never been right on politics yet, so don't get your hopes up.
Why?
Was there something too grim and moralistic about Buchanan?
Do Americans like someone with a sense of fun?Replies: @Bill, @Maj. Kong, @Discordiax
Buchanan has never held an elected office, he had an experience deficit along with little name recognition.
What seems to really get Pat going is foreign policy and moral issues. I take it that economic populism is something he came to only later. He was born in DC, after all.
For whatever reason, Trump has been an economic populist as long as he’s been writing. More importantly, he produced a successful middle-brow TV program. Pat is high-brow.
IMO, Trump needs to release more position papers. He should also make an offer to Cruz to be VP.
As for his moral take, I believe he will have been shown to be correct about trying to defend the culture. Unlike the GOP who did not want to fight the culture war, Buchanan saw a retreat on cultural matters as leading to more and more concessions as the progressives can never be satisfied. This of course is evident as Steve has parodied this unquenchable thirst in his endless World War posts in which we are currently on WWT. Buchanan correctly saw the expanding moral rot that would ensue by backing down even one inch on cultural matters. It's too bad the GOP did not back him on this given that is a major reason why their base even voted for them.
I'm not sure there is much benefit in putting Cruz on the ticket. Trump has already built a following on Cruz's immigration views, so adding him does nothing on that front. Also, Cruz is from Texas, a state that will almost certainly vote republican anyway, so he doesn't guarantee the electoral votes of a swing state. Furthermore, I don't think Cruz matches Trump's theme of economic populism very well (Cruz once co-signed a bill that would have replaced the income tax with a massive 23% national sales tax). Cruz is more likely to be a liability than an asset. Honestly, if I were picking Trump's VP, I might consider Kasich. Putting him on the ticket secures Ohio and makes it much easier to win as a result; he's also a bit of a beta male who will 1. not outshine Trump 2. reassure voters concerned about Trump's temperament.Replies: @PistolPete, @Polynikes
Obviously this isn’t a “fundamental realignment” of American politics, but rather a consolidation of electoral trends going back almost 30, 40 years now to Nixon’s Southern strategy, whereby white, formerly Democratic voting blocs such as Southerners and northern working/middle class and Catholics have shifted to the GOP. The GOP is traditionally a northern WASP party of the respectable, bourgeois, pro-business middle/upper-middle and upper class and not very attuned to or interested in these formerly Democratic voting blocs, but have had electoral success for the past several decades through indirect appeals exploiting their discontent with liberalism and the Democratic Party. However, the GOP has not substantively delivered anything to these blocs, and their appeals to them have been indirect enough so that they haven’t had to make hard and fast deliveries.
What’s different with Trump is not that there is a “fundamental realignment”, but that he is directly and explicitly appealing to these blocs. And he’s very effective at this because he’s from Queens and knows the people, he’s a good salesman, and much of his brand and business is marketed towards this sort of middle/lower-mid class demographic e.g. his clothing line, ties, cologne, etc. His recent Mobile, Alabama rally was pure Southern strategy.
At the heart of it the GOP is supposedly not the party of big government. One can debate that, but the democrats clearly are. Whereas many whites think FedGov interferes too much and support the GOP's message about restraining government, many blacks think FedGov is necessary to ensure they get their rights and support the democrats for this reason. FedGov hires them, makes the private sector hire them, freed them from slavery, forced people to sell their homes to them, etc., etc. So blacks will support the democrats so long as they are the party of big, intrusive government.
Now let's say 10 percent of blacks do support the limited government role espoused by the GOP. That means this small group of pro-GOP blacks would be about 1.3 percent of the US population. With that demographic there is no way you are going to get anything more than a smidgen of black faces at a typical GOP rally.Replies: @Maj. Kong, @Jefferson
The GOP would get more black votes if it followed Bruce Rauner’s strategy in IL. Reward black church ministers who switched, punish and investigate those that don’t.
If Trump becomes the nominee, his populist views on economics/immigration, could depress black D turnout, and he might get a fifth of those that do vote. That’s what it takes to win OH, MI, WI, MN, PA.
The lie of the donor class is that Jack Kemp style politics will somehow gain black votes, and simultaneously serve donor class interest of low wages and low/no capital gains taxes. Blacks are the least likely group to be entrepreneurs, and those that do are likely to be dependent on minority set-asides in contracts.
Appalachian whites have shifted to the GOP out of fear, for both the coal-based economy, and from cultural displacement. It’s possible that a sizeable minority of blacks might do the same. But the ordinary slash-and-burn GOP policies on fiscal issues will go nowhere.
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/Felsenthal-Files/October-2014/Rauner-and-Blacks-More-than-a-Marriage-of-Convenience/
You have to distinguish between what the average polled European thinks and what the “right people” aka BBC, academia, intellectuals, civil servants, Eurocrats, etc. think.
Much as in the US overwhelming majorities for immigration restriction have been ignored as ignorant/racist/trashwhite opinion of the hoi polloi, in Europe a similar phenomena occurs. So sure maybe the average European is more aware of the problems of race relations and immigration than in the past; that’s certainly a step in the right direction.
But I think if you poll the intellectual/media/academia/NGO/bureaucracy crowd, i.e. the progressives who actually run things, you’ll find a fanatical devotion to egalitarianism, mass immigration, the EU, and making this all “work” no matter what the idiotic working class racists think or feel.
He’s cooler than Mrs Bush and Mr Clinton.
From the Hill: http://goo.gl/tBeM0u
While the Republican establishment has long been skeptical of Trump’s chances, one leading GOP pollster says he’s becoming a believer.
After a two-hour focus group on Monday evening, Frank Luntz expressed disbelief at how recordings of Trump’s political flip-flops and remarks on women did nothing to dissuade his supporters.
Luntz said it’s time for Republican leaders to “wake up” and realize the grassroots has “abandoned them.”
“You guys understand how significant this is?” Luntz asked reporters, according to Time. “This is real. I’m having trouble processing it. Like, my legs are shaking.”
Jabe's leg shaking is a few minutes in.
Interesting comment at Hot Air:
Trump’s popularity is a mystery until you compare him to Putin.
Regular Americans feel emasculated, weak and disrespected in the world… and ignored/hated by their own elected officials.
Same way Russians felt crapped on and ignored (by Gorby) after the end of the Cold War.
As a backlash, they now have Putin. He might be a bully… but he’s their bully. Which is preferable to being under a wuss who cares more about the UN and world opinion than he cares about his own people. Everyone hates Putin… except for the 90% of Russians who love him.
It’s the same thing with the US today. People are tired about the President selling out to Iran. They’re mad at electing two houses of GOP Congressmen… who act like Democrats. They’re mad that their jobs are gone to Mexico and China. And they can’t figure out why the US military isn’t crushing ISIS in two weeks.
Trump is rude, crass and bombastic, but he knows his audience. And that audience would rather have a braggart, US-loving bully than another mom-jeans-wearing, UN-loving sellout.
Just watch. The more he acts like Putin, the more Americans will embrace him. It’s only natural given what they’ve been through.
Trump said recently that he is Presbyterian.
He's really only been Pro-Biz-tarian.
Luckily Trump isn’t a deep thinker paralyzed by complicated, or as the faux sophisticates say, complex issues. Mexicans are a lesser breed? Stop importing them! Simple. And more important not suicidal, a la every last position the sophisticates take.
At the heart of it the GOP is supposedly not the party of big government. One can debate that, but the democrats clearly are. Whereas many whites think FedGov interferes too much and support the GOP's message about restraining government, many blacks think FedGov is necessary to ensure they get their rights and support the democrats for this reason. FedGov hires them, makes the private sector hire them, freed them from slavery, forced people to sell their homes to them, etc., etc. So blacks will support the democrats so long as they are the party of big, intrusive government.
Now let's say 10 percent of blacks do support the limited government role espoused by the GOP. That means this small group of pro-GOP blacks would be about 1.3 percent of the US population. With that demographic there is no way you are going to get anything more than a smidgen of black faces at a typical GOP rally.Replies: @Maj. Kong, @Jefferson
“Take your thought process a little further. Blacks are 13 percent of the population, yet 95% voted Obama and probably 90% will vote for whatever passes for the democrat nominee. At best 10 percent of blacks might, I say might, be open to republican party views on issues.
At the heart of it the GOP is supposedly not the party of big government. One can debate that, but the democrats clearly are. Whereas many whites think FedGov interferes too much and support the GOP’s message about restraining government, many blacks think FedGov is necessary to ensure they get their rights and support the democrats for this reason. FedGov hires them, makes the private sector hire them, freed them from slavery, forced people to sell their homes to them, etc., etc. So blacks will support the democrats so long as they are the party of big, intrusive government.
Now let’s say 10 percent of blacks do support the limited government role espoused by the GOP. That means this small group of pro-GOP blacks would be about 1.3 percent of the US population. With that demographic there is no way you are going to get anything more than a smidgen of black faces at a typical GOP rally.”
But if Bernie Sanders gets the DNC nomination, a high percentage of Blacks who voted for Hussein Obama will not even bother to vote and sit out the 2016 election. He does not have mass appeal among Black voters because he talks way too much about economic issues like the unions and healthcare and not enough about racial issues like Black bodies. Bernie Sanders is the old school color blind Liberal from back in the days. To be a new school Liberal you have to put Black bodies at the top of your political agenda list above everything else. The Democratic politician who will get the most Black voter turn out is the one who believes Black bodies trumps every other issue in this country in terms of political importance.
Bernie Sanders does not make Black voters feel like they are the number 1 most important demographic group in this country.
“Trump said recently that he is Presbyterian.”
He’s really only been Pro-Biz-tarian.
“Colin’s coming back to the Drury Lane theater in Lower Manhattan in the fall to do more of his one-man show on ethnicity.”
I thought it was funny when Colin Quinn mentioned that Puerto Ricans in New York City start having sex as early as 6th grade, LOL. If this was Los Angeles, you could replace Puerto Ricans with Mexicans.
Like how you notice how New York, Donald Trump is. I´m not sure if the average American can notice it. They either think of a Mafioso or a Swipple when they think NYC. But he is Queens, with Manhatten thrown in, to the core. He reminds me of my Irish Catholic family from queens so much it´s scary, except they´re not billionaires and being Irish they are slightly more violent and alcoholic.
The new Suburban whites colonizing New York have truely ruined it. They add absolutely no flavor to the place, which I think is one of the reasons they are so obsessed with vibrant, flavorful non-whites. They are truely Authoritarian in their wierd way. That makes for safer streets, but has destroyed New York, and it is quite a loss.
Apparently the youths are fans:
That's an interesting point. I don't really feel any kinship with these guys. Or any interest in them honestly, except as to how they affect me.
Seem a dull lot too, now that you mention it.Replies: @JerseyGuy
My Grandfather is from Manhattan, from back when working class whites lived there and he reminds me of Donald very much so. Those people probably don´t exist within Manhattan nowadays, but they certainly did back in the 80´s when Trump became famous. Although thin, and thinning on the ground. But, those tough Manhattanites exist in the suburbs and outter boroughs, and their descendants, (such as myself) feel a connection to Manhattan because of it. Also the successful sons sometimes move back to Manhattan to work and live the life, and they retain some of the old ways. They are sophisticated Townies, hard to explain, even my grandfather could be characterized that way.
Another thing, people outside New York don´t understand. You don´t have to live within the NYC city limits to consider yourself a New Yorker, at least I don´t and a lot of people I know think like that too. They are kids of New York ethnics that for the most part were very successful, and they work in New York, and still have relatives, distant or close in the City. So you can live in CT, but not consider yourself a New Englander, but fully New Yorkerr. I don´t even watch the local news, I read the NY Post, and watch New York 1.
He’s a good golfer, people think that’s cool. And Howard Stern thinks he’s cool too.
Yeah he’s cool. A proud, bold, traditional, heterosexual, successful Alpha Male, intelligent, has logical and appealing ideas for the country, is good looking, competent, great sense of humor, excellent swagger, a born leader who is seemingly not beholden — a truly free man, and an actual D.C. outsider and not a politician.
Before now I’ve never really thought much about him one way or the other and his existence was to me just part of the background noise, what with me being an Idahoan far from N.Y., and I never saw his reality show.
I’ve voted for a few Dems way back when they were decent folks, and became disgusted with all manner of Republicans in these later years. I favored Ron Paul but ended up voting Romney and this time thought Rand was a bit better than Cruz, but both have disenchanted me so far. Neither is electable in the General, they simply aren’t appealing to a wide electorate. Rand is trying to be a politician and is coming off flakey and odd looking, and Cruz has the face of a preachy feminine Bassett hound, smart man but not photogenic.
I had decided to sit this one out, a first, but now I’m stoked and hope Trump doesn’t stumble or get forced out by the Powers that be.
If he’s in, whether as a Republican or an Independent in November, I’ll happily vote Trump.
This Mexico-bashing and China-bashing are ultimately meaningless since those nations have no direct control over the US.
Trump, like everyone else, is totally mum on the people with the real power. He doesn't even have the guts to take on the homos.
In the end, it's all about style. There is no real substance here.
And suppose Trump wins. Anyone who thinks he will make a difference is like the fools who thought ARNOLD could really change California.
Hasta La Vista, Baby.
Right, but Americans don’t always get that. We think, for example, that soccer is sophisticated because Europeans like it.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/422993/benghazi-committee-clinton-aides-testimony
Hillary turned out to be worse than Nixon.
And it’s worse for us now because the media are totally in cahoots with the government.
At least the media turned on Nixon. Obama, Hillary, and Co. have been getting away with everything.
The new Suburban whites colonizing New York have truely ruined it. They add absolutely no flavor to the place, which I think is one of the reasons they are so obsessed with vibrant, flavorful non-whites. They are truely Authoritarian in their wierd way. That makes for safer streets, but has destroyed New York, and it is quite a loss.
Apparently the youths are fans:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLa9YxV1XpsReplies: @Sunbeam
“The new Suburban whites colonizing New York have truely ruined it. They add absolutely no flavor to the place, which I think is one of the reasons they are so obsessed with vibrant, flavorful non-whites.”
That’s an interesting point. I don’t really feel any kinship with these guys. Or any interest in them honestly, except as to how they affect me.
Seem a dull lot too, now that you mention it.
Before now I've never really thought much about him one way or the other and his existence was to me just part of the background noise, what with me being an Idahoan far from N.Y., and I never saw his reality show.
I've voted for a few Dems way back when they were decent folks, and became disgusted with all manner of Republicans in these later years. I favored Ron Paul but ended up voting Romney and this time thought Rand was a bit better than Cruz, but both have disenchanted me so far. Neither is electable in the General, they simply aren't appealing to a wide electorate. Rand is trying to be a politician and is coming off flakey and odd looking, and Cruz has the face of a preachy feminine Bassett hound, smart man but not photogenic.
I had decided to sit this one out, a first, but now I'm stoked and hope Trump doesn't stumble or get forced out by the Powers that be.
If he's in, whether as a Republican or an Independent in November, I'll happily vote Trump.Replies: @Priss Factor
Fun guy, this Trump, but it won’t go anywhere.
This Mexico-bashing and China-bashing are ultimately meaningless since those nations have no direct control over the US.
Trump, like everyone else, is totally mum on the people with the real power. He doesn’t even have the guts to take on the homos.
In the end, it’s all about style. There is no real substance here.
And suppose Trump wins. Anyone who thinks he will make a difference is like the fools who thought ARNOLD could really change California.
Hasta La Vista, Baby.
After the Mobile rally, Ed Rollins said that Trump has a better than 50% chance of becoming President. If he does, he will be a successful President.Replies: @Anonym
Young Trump was a relatively good looking guy, tall, very confident and rich. After a while he was known for dating 10+ type women. It is no accident he was able to draw that type of female.
on.msnbc.com/1UJrLYV
Jabe’s leg shaking is a few minutes in.
Trump’s parents attended Norman Vincent Peale’s church, which was part of the Reformed Church of America, which is, I think, kind of like Presbyterian but a little more liberal.
Peale was the author of the huge self-help bestseller The Power of Positive Thinking. I suspect there are all sorts of connections between the thinking of Peale and of Trump.
One interesting aspect is that Trump comes out of this pro-business power of positive thinking Protestant background, but without the Ned Flanders-style nicey-niceness that usually goes with it. Romney was kind of dragged down by his related Mormon nicey-niceness, and George H.W. Bush had to struggle with his.
Peale's positive thinking is definitely evident in Trump's attitude and speaking style and presentation. Trump is relentless in applying positive thinking. Everything he says about himself and his projects and goals is unequivocally positive.
The positive thinking "philosophy" was very much a part of bourgeois, pro-business, Protestant American mainstream culture, but now largely persists among some evangelicals e.g. Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Life" and in a non-Christian, New Age context. The self-help tropes about having a positive attitude, thinking positive, waking up in the morning and staring at the mirror while repeating positive mantras about yourself to yourself every day, etc., derives from positive thinking. Mainline Protestants today find it declasse and are sort of embarrassed by it.
Part of the Ned Flanders nicey-niceness comes from positive thinking philosophy, whereby being effusively positive towards other people is believed to lead to positive outcomes, just as thinking and speaking positively about yourself is. Trump's brashness and ego however adds a twist to this formula, and he won't speak positively to or about someone and will put someone down if it leads to himself thinking, feeling, and looking more positive.
If you wanted to lumber it with a more accurate name, it would be something like Semitically acceptable non-expansionistic National Socialism. Unfortunately Hitler has given an irrevocable connotation of anti-Semitism and war-mongering to the two words National Socialism, when combined together.
Perhaps another word for socialism, maybe progressivism. But calling a protectionist Liberal is really a horrible twisting of a word.
It's bizarre how this stereotype of the grim, moralistic Christian persists. I don't believe it applies to more than a couple of Christians I've ever met. Liberals on the other hand . . . they're all like that.Replies: @Steve Sailer
Buchanan survived for decades in an ideologically hostile media environment because he’s a wonderful individual who is deeply liked by most people who know him well.
I remember being surprised when I read The Great Shark Hunt at how much Hunter Thompson liked Pat Buchanan–of all people.
I’ve often wondered whether similar interpersonal dynamics explain certain otherwise inexplicable careers in the entertainment industry. It’s a long day on the set, and it’s nice to share it with people you like–even if a few of them maybe aren’t so talented.
It wasn’t those things that angered the media. It was his perceived antisemitism/anti-Israel/anti-black views that got the media riled up.
What seems to really get Pat going is foreign policy and moral issues. I take it that economic populism is something he came to only later. He was born in DC, after all.
For whatever reason, Trump has been an economic populist as long as he's been writing. More importantly, he produced a successful middle-brow TV program. Pat is high-brow.
IMO, Trump needs to release more position papers. He should also make an offer to Cruz to be VP.Replies: @iSteveFan, @Divine Right
Pat had a lot of experience as part of the Nixon and Reagan White House teams. Though he was not in elected office, he probably knows more about the functioning of the President than does Trump. As for the economy I have to give Buchanan credit. He was initially a free trader as part of the Reagan White House. Then when he saw the effects of what free trade wrought, he changed his tune and became an economic populist espousing the tariff system that the US had used from the Founding to the mid 20th century. He ran his 1992 campaign on that, and of course immigration.
As for his moral take, I believe he will have been shown to be correct about trying to defend the culture. Unlike the GOP who did not want to fight the culture war, Buchanan saw a retreat on cultural matters as leading to more and more concessions as the progressives can never be satisfied. This of course is evident as Steve has parodied this unquenchable thirst in his endless World War posts in which we are currently on WWT. Buchanan correctly saw the expanding moral rot that would ensue by backing down even one inch on cultural matters. It’s too bad the GOP did not back him on this given that is a major reason why their base even voted for them.
Steveosphere is a little bit behind the curve here.
Whether Trump is cool was hashed out over the past ten years on Apprentice. It’s all right there.
Buchanan survived for decades in an ideologically hostile media environment because he’s a wonderful individual who is deeply liked by most people who know him well.
True. And Trump is similar. Trump has an amazing rolodex of family, friends, contacts. Tom Brady to Bill Clinton. All sorts of people. Trump’s exes like him.
Trump can get anybody to show up for private events. Anybody. For public stuff it becomes a political question. It’s not necessary to ask if Trump is cool.
Like PJB people who meet Trump for the first time end up liking him. A lot.
In Trump’s lecture to Liberty University, Trump described himself as Cbristian, and specifically, Presbyterian. In several of Trump’s success books (e.g., Think Like a Champion) he recommends NVP’s The Power of Postive Thinking, as well as The Art of War and The Prince.
Romney was kind of dragged down by his related Mormon nicey-niceness
There were a few points during the 2012 campaign that I felt Romney blew it. The ball was coming at him, he had a chance to hit a home run, and instead he choked. The one that really sticks in my mind is when Obama brought up Romney’s “self-deportation” proposal and threw it in his face as if it were the most outlandish thing he had ever heard.
Romney should have said, “Mr. Obama, why shouldn’t the people who are in this country illegally leave it the same way they came in–on their own two feet? I call it self-deportation. If you have a better idea, I think America would like to hear it.”
Instead Romney stood there with that weak, sickly smile on his face and said nothing. I thought, “He’s lost.”
Lotta wishful thinking in these comments. “Cool” vs. “Uncool” is not the way to think of it. All the other GOP candidates are uncool (definition: not charismatic outside a co-dependent base of followers). Sanders also is uncool though a hack like, I dunno, Maddow might argue otherwise due to some quotient of followers aged 16-25.
Trump is only cool to the extent Al Roker is, which is to say, the character he plays & has owned w/ great longevity is fairly popular. The Koch brothers have more money but are uncool. Bill O’Reilly is the closest thing, in Q score terms, to Trump-minus-being-historically-rich (not to say Bill is poor now). Bill O’Reilly is definitively uncool and in fact his geriatric followers identify with that. Before O’Reilly there were many more who capitalized on anti-cool, notably Rush Limbaugh.
What makes Trump’s recent movement interesting is who supports him — uncool people. “Juggalos.” Turns out there are many millions of unpledged uncool which suddenly becomes serious as a heart attack for democratic processes. Now someone as cool as Rihanna or David Beckham has plenty of lower-class fans too but he or she rightfully associates with other celebrities on yachts. Any # of aristocratic people visibly including you (especially wealthy gays) is a coolness force multiplier. Trump has the genuine loyalty of certain elements among the rabble and the tactical loyalty of others who support him the way wrestling fans support a “heel.” For any politician not named Arnold Schwarzenegger this would be a great start. However Donald will have a harder time passing the po-mo cool benchmark. He’ll need the public backing of other cool people and I don’t mean some lousy glam-metal band that had a hit in 1982. It would need to be on a Stephen Colbert or cisfemale Jenner level. As you can see, pursuing this honorific might just be a huge waste of time as it was for McCain
One of Trump’s 80s sports ventures was the Tour de Trump, a cycling race based on the Tour de France, hosted in the US with of course Trump’s name slapped on it. It was unsuccessful and only hosted two times. Makes you wonder if it had been successful and became an annual event, whether cycling would have become as popular as it has over the past decade among SWPL types in the US.
Lots of slick salesman types have hot wives and shiny things, that's just all about selling a dream, and I've met some of the best.
I can't imagine a real "alpha" continuing any discourse, positive or negative, for this length of time, with Megan Kelly or Rosie O'Donnell. Ultimately you only quarrel with people you consider equals.Replies: @Harry Baldwin, @Anonymous, @Brutusale
What you’re describing sounds more like a gentleman, which is a different category than alpha. How can Trump not be an alpha? It seems to me he hits every criterion. How are successful rappers not alphas? Granted they’re not gentlemen, but so what? I recall Whiskey saying Obama is a beta. How can Obama be a beta? It doesn’t make sense to me. (BTW, Obama, like Trump, picks fights and holds petty grievances.)
My own preference would be that Trump not pursue little squabbles with the likes of Megyn Kelly. I find it weird. Then again, maybe he’s playing a game that I don’t understand. Judging by our relative levels of success, that’s entirely possible.
Lots of slick salesman types have hot wives and shiny things, that's just all about selling a dream, and I've met some of the best.
I can't imagine a real "alpha" continuing any discourse, positive or negative, for this length of time, with Megan Kelly or Rosie O'Donnell. Ultimately you only quarrel with people you consider equals.Replies: @Harry Baldwin, @Anonymous, @Brutusale
I can’t imagine a real “alpha” continuing any discourse, positive or negative, for this length of time, with Megan Kelly or Rosie O’Donnell. Ultimately you only quarrel with people you consider equals.
Can’t believe this is a gold box comment. Megan Kelly is Ailes/Murdoch PROXY. Wake the hell up. Fox tried to end Trump’s political career that night. There is no bigger opponent for Trump now. Exactly because Trump is an alpha with killer instinct is why he pursues his opponent relentlessly. Trump has the potential to do real damage to the Fox brand and Roger Ailes knows it.
Who would be plausible as a Trump VP? Giuliani is too old and relatively too liberal. Rubio is too politically opposite on literally every issue except maybe they both don’t like Iran. Vin Diesel probably will have scheduling conflicts. I’m figuring it might be a retired pro athlete with less of a paper trail… Like maybe from the ’76 Olympics decathlon… A twofer, or possibly tri-fer
True. And Trump is similar. Trump has an amazing rolodex of family, friends, contacts. Tom Brady to Bill Clinton. All sorts of people. Trump's exes like him.
Trump can get anybody to show up for private events. Anybody. For public stuff it becomes a political question. It's not necessary to ask if Trump is cool.
Like PJB people who meet Trump for the first time end up liking him. A lot.Replies: @Maj. Kong
Pat went to work on a left wing network (MSNBC), because he was a conservative figure that disliked Bush. Once Bush was gone, his utility to the network was over, and he was shown the door at the first opportunity.
Why?
Was there something too grim and moralistic about Buchanan?
Do Americans like someone with a sense of fun?Replies: @Bill, @Maj. Kong, @Discordiax
When Buchanan was running in 1992, there were 22M Hispanics in the 1990 census.
In the 2010 census, there were over 50M. From 9%, heavily concentrated in a few states, to 16%, still concentrated but noticeable most everywhere.
Rachel Maddow freakin loved him and sings his praises every chance she gets.
He's hard nosed, but he's well liked and respected because he's gracious and very intelligent. And he's not polemical, but makes reasoned arguments for all his claims. He also was close to Nixon and Reagan and worked in their administrations.
Trump and his family attended First Presbyterian in Jamaica, Queens before going to Peale’s Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan.
Peale’s positive thinking is definitely evident in Trump’s attitude and speaking style and presentation. Trump is relentless in applying positive thinking. Everything he says about himself and his projects and goals is unequivocally positive.
The positive thinking “philosophy” was very much a part of bourgeois, pro-business, Protestant American mainstream culture, but now largely persists among some evangelicals e.g. Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life” and in a non-Christian, New Age context. The self-help tropes about having a positive attitude, thinking positive, waking up in the morning and staring at the mirror while repeating positive mantras about yourself to yourself every day, etc., derives from positive thinking. Mainline Protestants today find it declasse and are sort of embarrassed by it.
Part of the Ned Flanders nicey-niceness comes from positive thinking philosophy, whereby being effusively positive towards other people is believed to lead to positive outcomes, just as thinking and speaking positively about yourself is. Trump’s brashness and ego however adds a twist to this formula, and he won’t speak positively to or about someone and will put someone down if it leads to himself thinking, feeling, and looking more positive.
is Fonzi cool?
Hey!
Pat seems to be a good guy, but did he sabotage the Reform Party?
Survey sez….maybe….
Univision’s Jorge Ramos thrown out of Trump press conference. So even the blue-eyed Hispanics can’t adhere to basic rules of civility.
trump be kicking culo…of course…
I stand corrected…Presbyterian..still pretty WASPY as far as I am concerned
Buchanan has slowed down a bit due to age and doesn’t do as many media appearances any more, but he was always on MSNBC a lot more than he was on Fox News, where he was rarely on, presumably because Fox didn’t really know how to handle his anti-neocon, paleoconservatism.
He’s hard nosed, but he’s well liked and respected because he’s gracious and very intelligent. And he’s not polemical, but makes reasoned arguments for all his claims. He also was close to Nixon and Reagan and worked in their administrations.
Jyst pwn’ed Jorge Ramos:
http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/08/25/donald-trump-ramos-press-conference/
Yeah, he’s cool.
As opposed to commenter “Truth”… a guy named Roger Ailes just announced to the world what a super alpha Trump is:
FOX BOSS ROGER AILES VOWS TO SAVE COUNTRY FROM TRUMP, CALLS THE DONALD ‘UNELECTABLE’
http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/08/25/report-fox-boss-roger-ailes-vows-to-save-country-from-donald-trump-says-trump-unelectable/
Hmmm…
Q: if the top media guy in the entire country vows to save the country from you, then does that make you
1) Alpha
2) Beta
3) Delta
“Because when people treat me unfairly, I don’t let them forget. And maybe we should have more of that in this country, and maybe the country wouldn’t be pushed around so much.”
There you go, “Truth”. Trump’s response tonight in Iowa as to why he keeps after Megyn Kelly.
And it means another bump in the polls and guys like Truth can’t understand it. Trump would wreck you, Truth, in any one-on-one situation.
What seems to really get Pat going is foreign policy and moral issues. I take it that economic populism is something he came to only later. He was born in DC, after all.
For whatever reason, Trump has been an economic populist as long as he's been writing. More importantly, he produced a successful middle-brow TV program. Pat is high-brow.
IMO, Trump needs to release more position papers. He should also make an offer to Cruz to be VP.Replies: @iSteveFan, @Divine Right
“He should also make an offer to Cruz to be VP.”
I’m not sure there is much benefit in putting Cruz on the ticket. Trump has already built a following on Cruz’s immigration views, so adding him does nothing on that front. Also, Cruz is from Texas, a state that will almost certainly vote republican anyway, so he doesn’t guarantee the electoral votes of a swing state. Furthermore, I don’t think Cruz matches Trump’s theme of economic populism very well (Cruz once co-signed a bill that would have replaced the income tax with a massive 23% national sales tax). Cruz is more likely to be a liability than an asset. Honestly, if I were picking Trump’s VP, I might consider Kasich. Putting him on the ticket secures Ohio and makes it much easier to win as a result; he’s also a bit of a beta male who will 1. not outshine Trump 2. reassure voters concerned about Trump’s temperament.
A women VP could break all the sexist accusation, as long as it isn´t Palin, she is as dumb as a stump in my opinion.Replies: @PistolPete
There you go, "Truth". Trump's response tonight in Iowa as to why he keeps after Megyn Kelly.
And it means another bump in the polls and guys like Truth can't understand it. Trump would wreck you, Truth, in any one-on-one situation.Replies: @Anonymous, @Truth
I like Trump, but he tends to cheapen his brand by putting his name on low grade stuff like bad clothes and cologne, and by feuding with people like Megyn Kelly. If he was as wealthy and alpha as he’s always telling us and doesn’t need the money, why cheapen the brand like that and have petty feuds? Why not go after Ailes directly?
Luke,
Good point. I think the welfare state in its current form in all Western countries is unsustainable. However, a more sustainable form like a guaranteed minimum income, with a protected economy, is probably what we’ll have in the long run. A populist is probably the only type that could ever really implement reform. That’s the advantage of Trump.
Beat the crazy old Republican (Trump) and your own crazy old guy (Sanders).
Not sure what else to think about it, but Biden probably is going to run, perhaps as an Obama proxy.Replies: @Bill, @Hibernian
He’s bidin’ his time.
That's an interesting point. I don't really feel any kinship with these guys. Or any interest in them honestly, except as to how they affect me.
Seem a dull lot too, now that you mention it.Replies: @JerseyGuy
New York has become just like any other modern, global city (eg San Fran, Boston, London). These cities have lost all of their character and are just shopping malls for transient worker bees and immigrants.
Sessions? Or is he too old?
I'm not sure there is much benefit in putting Cruz on the ticket. Trump has already built a following on Cruz's immigration views, so adding him does nothing on that front. Also, Cruz is from Texas, a state that will almost certainly vote republican anyway, so he doesn't guarantee the electoral votes of a swing state. Furthermore, I don't think Cruz matches Trump's theme of economic populism very well (Cruz once co-signed a bill that would have replaced the income tax with a massive 23% national sales tax). Cruz is more likely to be a liability than an asset. Honestly, if I were picking Trump's VP, I might consider Kasich. Putting him on the ticket secures Ohio and makes it much easier to win as a result; he's also a bit of a beta male who will 1. not outshine Trump 2. reassure voters concerned about Trump's temperament.Replies: @PistolPete, @Polynikes
Maybe Fiorina. Historical first women cred, plus maybe a chance at CA, but that´s impossible. Just a random thought.
A women VP could break all the sexist accusation, as long as it isn´t Palin, she is as dumb as a stump in my opinion.
It´s so sad that the US is so dumbed down that, that could possibly make a difference, but unfortunately it certainly can.Replies: @Reg Cæsar
A women VP could break all the sexist accusation, as long as it isn´t Palin, she is as dumb as a stump in my opinion.Replies: @PistolPete
Maybe a VP woman of color. That would shut down the SJW idiots. It would,possibly, guarantee his election. I dunno if it should be a hispanic or a black WOC.
It´s so sad that the US is so dumbed down that, that could possibly make a difference, but unfortunately it certainly can.
Next idea?
Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant! Liberal nationalism love it!
I didn’t come up with the phrase liberal nationalism; read it in the comments to another site, can’t remember where. Ditto for the idea that what Trump is doing to the Republican Party is a coup.
Also, I’ve never been right on politics yet, so don’t get your hopes up.
https://twitter.com/JohnRiversToo/status/634934228464070656/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
I think Donald is cool. The youngsters that made these prolly agree.
Who would be plausible as a Trump VP?
How about Jim Webb? If he switched parties that would create a political earthquake. Webb — Secretary of the Navy under Reagan and thus presumably sitting on the Democratic/Republican fence, has expressed no interest in being VP. On the other hand, in Trump’s case, he would be good assassination insurance — another alpha guy who could step in and do the job. He would also pull in African-American voters because of his stance on prison reform. (I know, I know, this is all a fantasy.)
I'm not sure there is much benefit in putting Cruz on the ticket. Trump has already built a following on Cruz's immigration views, so adding him does nothing on that front. Also, Cruz is from Texas, a state that will almost certainly vote republican anyway, so he doesn't guarantee the electoral votes of a swing state. Furthermore, I don't think Cruz matches Trump's theme of economic populism very well (Cruz once co-signed a bill that would have replaced the income tax with a massive 23% national sales tax). Cruz is more likely to be a liability than an asset. Honestly, if I were picking Trump's VP, I might consider Kasich. Putting him on the ticket secures Ohio and makes it much easier to win as a result; he's also a bit of a beta male who will 1. not outshine Trump 2. reassure voters concerned about Trump's temperament.Replies: @PistolPete, @Polynikes
Not bad except he risks losing the evangelical South. Virginia and NC are already threatening to sabatoge. That doesn’t leave a lot of candidates. Maybe Walker with his Baptist background could carry the religious right. He’s young enough that cutting a VP deal might be appealing.
Jim Webb. That’s exactly what I was thinking. A Trump/Webb ticket would be dynamite. I do think Trump should have Christian conservatives like Santorum and Huckabee on his team too. Needs to ensure high Evangelical turnout
The question presented by the issue of immigration to the people in charge is “which side are you on?
the Zman http://goo.gl/pKQZAi
His winning three out of two elections in five years, in a swing state, might have something to do with it. Batting 1.500 is quite the feat, especially when the pitchers are aiming for your head.
Trump is Jesse Ventura, with less experience. So he could ride public anger to a win, and could get something done in office. But he could disappoint, too, like Ventura, or even get bored. Jesse pretty much pulled a Sarah Palin, quitting after two years, but without actually leaving office.
Anyway, Trump’s main issues of immigration and trade are in the hands of Congress. Unless Congress abdicates, as with the TPP.
Is cool cool?
Or has it run its course, like hep and groovy?
Maybe Trump is working the ironically cool angle – like a 90s hipster in a 1980s heavy metal T-shirt. Perhaps he’s so flamboyantly uncool (most obviously, in the hair department) than some hipsters will actually start seeing him as a genuinely cool guy who doesn’t care what wannabe cool people think. Stranger things have happened.
It´s so sad that the US is so dumbed down that, that could possibly make a difference, but unfortunately it certainly can.Replies: @Reg Cæsar
Yeah. That worked so well for Pat Buchanan…
Next idea?
I´m the biggest Pat fan out there, but I don´t recall him ever polling at 30 percent. I can´t remember back then too well being only an infant. But so much has changed since then. Trump isn´t as ideal as Buchanan as president, but he is the best we got, And whatever to elect him is a good thing. We´re talking about the preservation of the American nation here fella´. Nowadays identity politics is much stronger, and possibly a well selected VP may ameliorate the “incoming” of racist\sexist accusations.
People just like that he's manly and treated Megan Kelly the good ole American way.
More women need to be spanked.
https://youtu.be/T12-qzPW9Gg?t=1m26sReplies: @Brutusale
I’m always shocked when TCM or one of the other Deep Cable stations shows McLintock in our PC times.
TWO beatings of women, drunken Indians, a total caricatures of Asian cook and a Jewish shopkeeper…I guess John Wayne makes it all OK.
Lots of slick salesman types have hot wives and shiny things, that's just all about selling a dream, and I've met some of the best.
I can't imagine a real "alpha" continuing any discourse, positive or negative, for this length of time, with Megan Kelly or Rosie O'Donnell. Ultimately you only quarrel with people you consider equals.Replies: @Harry Baldwin, @Anonymous, @Brutusale
Mostly true, but he does have to deal with the ankle-biters that his equals send out to do the things they’d not deign to do.
He hasn’t been tested yet, as the ankle-biters have proven that they’re not up to the task. Trump’s real enemies will have to don the armor soon, lest his numbers get too large.
All pols are salesmen. Your only choice is the brand of snake oil.
We know when we begin to see ironic Trump combovers in Brooklyn.
Trump is Jesse Ventura, with less experience. So he could ride public anger to a win, and could get something done in office. But he could disappoint, too, like Ventura, or even get bored. Jesse pretty much pulled a Sarah Palin, quitting after two years, but without actually leaving office.
Anyway, Trump's main issues of immigration and trade are in the hands of Congress. Unless Congress abdicates, as with the TPP.Replies: @International Jew
Haha, won three out of two elections, nice.
But can’t agree with you on this one:
Just enforcing the immigration laws we already have would be a huge deal!
There you go, "Truth". Trump's response tonight in Iowa as to why he keeps after Megyn Kelly.
And it means another bump in the polls and guys like Truth can't understand it. Trump would wreck you, Truth, in any one-on-one situation.Replies: @Anonymous, @Truth
If you are fantasizing about the “one-on-one situation” I think you are, I like my chances against a fat 65 year old man.
He’s already switched parties twice.