Posted on 07/31/2016 1:47:51 PM PDT by Mark
Donald Trump is doing Harry Houdini’s act.
In the 1890s, Houdini was famous for performing a trick he called “Metamorphosis.” The magician’s hands would be tied securely behind his back and he’d climb into a sack that was tied at the top with a knotted rope. Then the bag with Houdini inside was placed in a wooden trunk, which was locked and secured with leather straps.
Houdini’s wife, Bess, his assistant, would draw a curtain around the locked trunk and step inside.
The audience heard her clap her hands once, twice, three times — and on the third clap Houdini himself would step triumphantly through the curtain.
The trunk was unlocked to reveal Bess Houdini inside the bag, her hands tied behind her. In 3 seconds, they had changed places. And now, ladies and gentlemen, we present the presidential campaign version of Houdini’s Metamorphosis.
The trick begins with the Republican Party tied to wealth, privilege, the Iraq War and Wall Street.
Then Donald Trump comes down the escalator and announces he’s running for president.
The Republican Party tries to tie him up and lock him in a trunk.
But when the curtains open, the New York billionaire stands triumphant. The trunk is unlocked to reveal Hillary Clinton tied to wealth, privilege, the Iraq war and Wall Street.
Trump is not getting enough credit for a brilliant campaign.
He has distanced himself from the deeply unpopular and endless war in Iraq while remaining the strong-on-defense candidate who will “rebuild our military.”
And he has placed Hillary Clinton’s 2002 Senate vote for the war into a pattern of bad judgments that have made us less safe.
Trump has made the Republican Party the home of working people who have been hurt by government policies.
And he has successfully rewritten the narrative that frames Clinton scandals.
From the early 1990s right up to the present day, the Clintons have been awash in overlapping scandals, too many to list.
But Bill and Hillary Clinton and teams of surrogates convinced most of the press and much of the public that all the charges were baseless and politically motivated, and that every new revelation was part of a right-wing plot to stop them from helping the American people.
Donald Trump has beaten the Clintons at their own game by branding the Democratic nominee with a competing narrative. New accusations? She’s “Crooked Hillary.” No charges? It’s a “rigged system.”
Some Democrats are watching this Metamorphosis and sounding kind of worried about it.
Bill Clinton referred to the competing narratives about his wife during his Democratic National Convention speech. “One is real, the other is made up,” he said.
President Barack Obama sounded frustrated as he asked convention delegates, “Does anyone really believe that a guy who’s spent his 70 years on this Earth showing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion?”
Quite a few people believe it. CNN’s poll after the Republican convention found that 46 percent of Americans think Trump is “in touch with the problems ordinary Americans face in their daily lives,” up from 37 percent.
Trump’s lead among white voters who do not have a college degree was 51 to 31 percent pre-convention and 62 to 23 percent afterwards.
While everyone’s attention was misdirected by shocking statements and bickering feuds, Donald Trump skillfully and brilliantly positioned himself as the candidate who can’t be bought; who’s strong on defense; who’ll fight for working people. Then he tied his opponent to Wall Street, corruption and the Iraq war. Amazing.
No doubt Houdini would be impressed. But in all fairness, he’d also give high marks to Hillary Clinton for her handcuff escapes.
Susan Shelley is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. Reach her at Susan@SusanShelley.com and follow her on Twitter: @ Susan_Shelley.
Hillary is truly the magic one. She’s going to create all those “magic jobs” for all those coal miners in PA and OH.
As if by magic, the title was changed!!
Oh,well I loved the closing remark about the handcuffs.
MLM telemarketing?
Hillary is truly the magic one.
No joke! The lady with the charity that has taken in hundreds of millions that nobody will talk about.... the one who wears Armani pantsuits (over 7k just for a jacket) to lecture us about how she champions the poor...... the one who now has a net worth of 125 million from her life of public service.... she is the real hero of the little people. Yep, that’s the ticket.
I believe Hillary’s only plan to help the miners in OH, PA, and WVa is welfare. That’s really the only program democrats have to offer.
It’s a shame the media doesn’t call her out on what exactly is her plan to help those coal miners she helped force out of their jobs.
Trump, and Trump’s family works directly with workers on a daily basis. Plumbers, electricians, people who pour cement, people who wrestle with with the bureaucracy of City Hall. Trump actually knows what this is really like.
Hillary hasn’t driven a car in decades. Hillary does not shop. Hillary does not cook. Hillary does not work.
Hillary epitomizes the Elitists. Everything is done for her. Because she’s so darn important.
Trump may be rich, but he understands the people who work and make our society function.
Exactly right - and everyone feels it in their bones.
Hillary Clinton is not a lady. She is a female, that’s about al can be said about her.
Hardly new in America. Teddy Roosevelt was a populist Republican as well. He was an extreme for American Exceptionalism and not exactly a poor man.
But the woman who collects $200,000 for a 40-minute speech knows the people.
“She’s going to create all those “magic jobs” for all those coal miners in PA and OH.”
As she has been saying since Nafta, “New and High Paying jobs”. And not a single ( cough) Reporter, has asked her for an example.
As she has been saying since Nafta, “New and High Paying jobs”. And not a single ( cough) Reporter, has asked her for an example.
—
I remember Clinton and the left trying to sell the nation on NAFTA. They told us that they were going to retrain all those textile workers for better paying high-tech jobs. This was shortly before the dotcom bubble crash.
The textile workers didn’t get trained for better high paying tech jobs. They just lost their jobs. Hillary has promised the same for coal miners, steel workers, and other American workers.
Good piece, thanks for posting it!
You'd have to pay me $200k to sit through a 15-minute speech by Hillary. I can't imagine having to listen to her for 40 minutes.
In a capitalist society how does a billionaire become the bad guy, how does the ceo of microsoft, google and amazon get a free card by the progressives ,billionaires also
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.