Posted on 02/02/2016 8:57:16 AM PST by conservativejoy
Donald Trump does everything in a big way. Even losing. Not only did he lose to Ted Cruz in Iowa, but he came very close to a humiliating third place behind Marco Rubio. As recently as yesterday Donald Trump was saying he wanted to win in Iowa, and if he didn't, that it would all have been a big waste of time.
"Unless I win, I would consider this a big, fat, beautiful-and, by the way, a very expensive-waste of time," Trump said this weekend, speaking to supporters during a whirlwind tour of Iowa.
Well, I guess it was a big waste of time, then. But why exactly did Donald declare political bankruptcy in Iowa?
1) The Shamu-Seaworld effect. Trump had big crowds, the largest, at his rallies. What happened to all these people? Big crowds also used to go see Shamu the Killer Whale at SeaWorld. That didn't mean, however, that most people there wanted to see Shamu elected mayor of Orlando. They went there to be entertained. There was a recent estimate that only 8% of attendees at Trump rallies were planning to caucus for him.
2) Lazyness. Donald Trump was too lazy to campaign the traditional way, avoiding bus tours, small towns, and one on one meetings with voters. Instead he flew in on Trump Force One, spoke for an hour, and then flew home to his bed in New York. He felt he didn't have to follow the traditional rules of campaigning because he was Donald Trump. In a state where personal contact with the candidate is expected, Trump was wrong.
Not only was Trump lazy, but his supporters were lazy, perhaps taking a cue from their idol. On websites they would yell in all caps "TRUMP WILL WIN! TRUMP WILL WIN!" but they were so busy jamming down their caps lock key that many of them didn't even bother to vote. It was said that a record turnout would guarantee a Trump victory. There was a record turnout all right, but it was a record turnout for Ted Cruz.
3) A lack of ground game. Trump and his campaign manager, Corey "The Big Lebowski" Lewandowski never identified supporters. They never set up substantial phone banks. They never followed and tracked their followers. When reporters went to the field offices of all the campaigns, they were only excluded from the Trump offices, because there was nothing for them to see. Had Trump deigned to actually run a ground game, he might have won the caucuses. You have to wonder, if he is so lacking in political acumen to understand this, how lacking in political ability is he going be if he wins the White House?
4) Arrogance. Trump, so buoyed by the polls, wore his arrogance on his sleeve. He said Iowans were stupid if they didn't vote for them. He called Megyn Kelly a bimbo indirectly, and tried to be cute about it by saying "I would never call her a bimbo, but..." It wasn't cute at all, it was disgusting. He even said he could shoot people and not lose support. That's the language of a Kim Jong Un, not the President of the United States. And then Trump showed his disdain for the entire process by skipping the last debate. His arrogance was his undoing.
5) Attacking conservatives. Trump turned off a lot of conservatives (including Mark Levin, Rush, the National Review, and others) by attacking Ted Cruz from the left (for not supporting ethanol) and in vicious, personal terms, calling Ted Cruz a "Canadian anchor baby". There is a way to campaign against Ted Cruz but calling him a "maniac" for standing up to Mitch McConnell is not that way. Once it became clear that Trump was attacking Cruz from the left, he lost a lot of conservative support.
So who, then, are actual Trump supporters? They are a much smaller number of people than originally thought. Like Ron Paul supporters from 2012, they dominate chatrooms and online polls, but like vampires can't be seen in the light of day. They are followers of the cult of personality and turn on a dime as Trump commands: if one day Trump says he wants Megyn Kelly out of the debate, they agree; if the next he says he never demanded it, they engage in immediate 1984 groupthink, and say it never happened, just like Trump's liberal political past never happened or never mattered because he was liberal as a crony capitalist "businessman". Unfortunately, his followers, while devoted, are not large enough in numbers to get him elected President.
The fact that Donald Trump doesn't understand any of his missteps or the effect of his slash and burn rhetoric reflects a political autism that makes him unqualified to be president or even the GOP presidential nominee. (Abridged version originally published in American Thinker)
Yes he is a newbie and frankly coming in a strong second in Iowa is not a bad first go at it. I am pleased and I thought Trump looked pretty happy with it. He is perfectly positioned for NH and SC.
Of course the GOPe is coronating Rubio and its going to be Rubio 24/7 on Fox News and every establishment shill. They will run Cruz out and he will probably not win another primary so Trump really needs to turn his heat on Rubio.
The margin was 3.34%.
Thanks. Can you imagine what the results would have been if Trump and Cruz had not had this dust up? Rubio, Carson, and everyone else would have been <10%.
Even as a Cruz supporter, I understand that Trump is still the hands down favorite. Someway, somehow, I wish Cruz and Trump would get together in a truce like before, and reset the coalition against the upcoming GOP(e) Rubio Coup.
Wishful thinking, I guess.
Iowa won. Trump provided them with The Greatest Show on Earth for that time interval. A lot of the money he raised for Veterans is going to small endeavors in that state. He left with praise and gratitude for the state and expressed a very classy thank you for his experiences there.
Honestly I think Trump lost, because like most wealthy people, he wasn’t willing to spend his money. Cruz and Rubio outspent Trump
Cruz should enjoy every, single minute of it. It will be his high watermark.
Now Trump has come in 3rd place! How Orwellian.
Trump needs to curtail the post-Iowa grousing. Makes him look childish IMO. Fugeddabouddit and MOVE ON! If there’s something you, Mr. Trump, can learn from Iowa, so much the better. But enough of the whining and sniveling.
Oh, now Trump supporters object to the term “schlonged”?
“He’s the reason it was a record turnout!”
If he was the reason, he would have won.
Trump is spending his own money, hence the thriftiness.
Cruz is spending other people’s money. At least he gave them something for it, unlike Jeb.
The only valid point in the article was Trump’s lack of ground game. He put little effort into Iowa in that regard and also in regards to advertising. Straker acts like Trump got 2 percent of the vote. He got nearly 25 percent with less effort and money than Cruz or Rubio. Lost by a mere 3.4 percent and one delegate.
It’s all about NH now for Trump, just like it was all about Iowa for Cruz.
I have not heard anything from Trump since his classy exit speech last night. I hope he’s not out there whining about losing. Poor idea and I really want him to win.
LOL... that title made me crack up!
63 percent of Iowa Republican voters were evangelicals(I include myself in this)
Trump apparently motivated a lot of people to vote for Cruz or Rubio. “High negatives.”
Cruz will never get the big states, NY, NJ, California. I’m afraid we will lose if they run him against either Dem candidate.
Not therm term it is simply not true that Trump was beaten badly in Iowa. He came in a very respectable second and got one less delegate than Cruz. That is not getting schlonged.
Exactly right. They wanted Cruz to beat Trump in Iowa so they can knock off Cruz next. That will leave their Plan B establishment candidate Rubio.
Trump will need their votes at sometime to beat ‘Hitlery’ why not call them names until then? Yeah that will work.
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