Posted on 08/26/2015 5:40:12 AM PDT by LS
Last night I posted some of this on the thread about Trump's IA speech. I got so many requests to make this its own thread, that I enhanced and developed it a little, but I've said about the same thing for months.
If you look at the latest New Hampshire poll, for example, you find that Trump is leading big---but is leading in almost every single category and subgroup: women, men, younger, older, conservative, liberal, moderate. That is truly Amazing. He's preferred by almost 40% of HISPANICS in the latest Nevada poll. In national polls, he's up 3:1 over his nearest competitor---and that competitor changes from poll to poll. How do you explain this?
First, he is the only non-establishment candidate. Even Cruz, when pressed, reverts to "I introduced this bill or that bill . . ." But nothing ever gets DONE. There's always an excuse. Leaders find a way to lead. I love Cruz, and I love his attempted shutdown. But he got ONE GUY to follow (Lee). He hasn't even managed to put together a coalition with Paul, Ernst, Sessions, and other conservatives.
Please this isn't Cruz bashing---he is far and above the best we have. But it isn't 1996, when he would have been perfect. Times have changed. Today, like it or not, you do need a celebrity, just as in 1828 you needed someone who appealed to the "common man" (Jackson) and in 1904 you needed someone not controlled by Mark Hannah (TR).
Reagan owed some, perhaps much, of his success to the fact that he was an actor and was known by many people who never would have heard of Gerald Ford if he had not been veep for Nixon.
Second, Trump has mastered the 21st century social media as an election tool. Nobody else has. SamAdams76 has done extensive work on Trump's use of Twitter, which just buries all the other GOP candidates put together, and really exceeds Hillary's. He is running an incredibly expensive campaign and has barely spent a dime (Ok, some gas for that big jet). He gets millions of constant, unrelenting, free advertising. No one else comes close. This is truly revolutionary, as different as Van Buren and Jackson appealing to the "common man" in the 1830s and ignoring the "smoke filled rooms" of the caucuses. "King Caucus is dead," Jackson reportedly said. Pretty much. Well, "Traditional campaigning is dead."
Third, I believe we have gone way beyond ideology. This is NOT an ideological election. I think fieldmarshaldj, one of our brightest election historians, might agree with me on this. 2010 and 2014 WERE ideological elections---and it got us nothing. Mark Steyn has been on a great two-day rant about how we impose all these conservative litmus tests on candidates like Trump, but the guys who "pass" don't do a damned thing. They have one excuse after another. They couldn't even eliminate the crappy Import-Export Bank or get a defunding of Planned Murderhood. Really? With a majority in BOTH houses???
We keep hearing about how we need a guy who will "get things done." "I introduced legislation . . ." is NOT getting something done. I have to admit Walker probably has gotten more, of significance, done in the government sector than anyone, but he's sinking like a stone because he hasn't yet grabbed the flag and said "FOLLOW ME! I will reverse illegal immigration, I will get us trade policies that work in our favor, and I will smash ISIS." While Trump is on a different playing field, he negotiates all over the world, and just . . . wins. Like the old Oakland Raiders, the motto here is "Just win, baby." On everything.
This election pure and simple is about one principle, that "We the People" still get to choose our leaders, even when they aren't William F. Buckley, or Ronald Reagan, or 100% ideologically consistent ... because we can. We get to tell the elites, once a generation to piss off. We get to elect "our" guy for no other reason than he's "our guy" and we can tell the other side, "After all, we won the election" and have it MEAN something.
I'll end with this: if Trump only agrees with 5 of my 10 top issues, whatever they are, but once he gets into office THOSE FIVE are the ones he actually acts upon, then I've won 100% of my agenda and moved the ball a helluva long way down the field.
Right now, as Mark Steyn said, we're on our own one yard line squabbling over a "pathetic piece of grass."
Sen. Cruz threw his position away when HE enabled
ObamaTRADE and Iran’s arming and then accepted
Wall St. money (supporting both) through his wife.
After that, we will never vote for him.
Here's two of my top issues (even if they aren't acted on in the first term) ....
Donald Trump Defends Planned Parenthood, Calls Abortions ‘Small Part of What They Do’
Trump says it’s time to move on from gay ‘marriage’ battle: ‘The Supreme Court ruled.’
And with all due respect to Mark Steyn, each of these are INFINITELY more than a "pathetic piece of grass".
And we have Ted Cruz running, who is the entire conservative package.
Can Trump keep this level up all the way to the primaries? He’s on TV every day....
As it was four years ago. That's why I was so upset when Mitt Romney tried running a traditional campaign of the same old, tired "rallies" in which the party faithful in each city gathered to wave signs and cheer on the same old, boring speech.
No passion, just the same old politicking like it was Bob Dole and Jack Kemp back in 1996.
Meanwhile through social media, Obama was conducting a massive GOTV effort and cruised to a relatively easy win.
My weekend update will show that Trump will now have over 4 million Twitter followers, a pickup of nearly 600,000 for August alone. By mid-September, Trump will surpass even Shrillary Clinton in total followers. Remember we are still nearly half a year away from the first primaries and Trump is building a formidable organization. Not just on social media but on the ground.
Trump has made his rallies into mass-media events that millions of people watch on TV and YouTube. Because Trump does not read off a teleprompter and stick to a script, you never know what is going to come out of his mouth. Therefore every appearance is an EVENT. Even the press conferences are entertaining because Trump will take questions from anybody about anything. Have we seen this from any other candidate?
What Trump has brought to the campaign is passion and energy. People may or may not like him and yes, the Republicans have more "pure" conservative choices such as Ted Cruz, but Trump knows how to win.
Kind of along the lines of what you said, I would rather have a candidate WIN who I agree with half the time then to have a candidate LOSE who I agree with all of the time.
You’re an example of a binary voter and prove Steyn’s point of the litmus tests we put everybody through.
Shhhh.... don’t let the CruzBots hear you say that!
The problem is that being a “true conservative” only matters to a small percent of the population. Most people don’t understand, like, or care about politics and that includes political labeling.
They just like Trump and they don’t speak political-ese enough to explain it in our language. And they don’t want to learn. They just like him.
Good writeup.
It is not about litmus tests.
THIS was about helping the undocumented antiConstitutional
Tyrant pass his SECRET Laws and Treaties.
Shame on Cruz. Shame on the GOP.
I never thought I’d say this, but I’m starting to find Trump intriguing...
If you live in NYC, you know that Trump is on local TV everyday.
Now that he is running for president, he will be on national TV every day.
It's simply what he does. It's how he's built his brand.
Well.said! Not going to throw candidate away again by standing on principles.
Seems he's doing just fine, how many of the other candidates do you hear about? Recalling those first two circus debates, there were several candidates on those stages that we no longer even hear about. They didn't strike the hearts of the viewers, they failed miserably. Who do you remember other than a few? The Donald has, and will continue getting his message out because the media is doing its best to find ways to trip him up but they are failing. Trump tells "We The People" what they have been waiting to hear for eons, the real test is yet to come, can he deliver?
Binary voter.
That is why he is going to win. Most people do not eat and breath politics and those are the ones he is getting.
Pray America is waking
The appeal of Trump is cuased by many factors:
1) Obama’s socialism has created a moribound economy, wage stagnation, no jobs, overall malaise.
2) Government corruption like Hillary and the IRS has people upset.
3) The size of government is constricting the economy like a python - spending needs to be frozen and agencies eliminated and overly generous DB pension plans eliminated.
4) We are weak at the borders and weak globally as our military is decimated.
5) PC is distastful and has run amok to the point of being ridiculous.
6) the current incumbent party does nothing, they get along to go along to the next election.
7) People want ACTION, BOLD ACTION.
I agree with you 100%.
Bfl
I would add one of my own observations. Some Conservative pundits are quick to throw out the idea that other Republican candidates need to learn from Trump and follow his lead. There is a problem with that assessment. Trump is a unique package. You do not learn his leadership qualities, you either have them in your genes or you do not. Trump emulation will not work. A Donald Trump does not come along just any old day. We need to recognize that fact, warts and all.
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