Tea Party sours on Donald Trump

Even before Donald Trump found himself on defense for disparaging Sen. John McCain's military service, Sal Russo wasn't too impressed with the real estate mogul's presidential prospects.

Russo knows a thing or two about populist uprisings and anti-establishment candidates. The former Reaganite spent eight weeks advising billionaire Ross Perot's third party campaign in 1992. In 2002, he consulted for a conservative challenger to moderate Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan in California's Republican gubernatorial primary (his candidate won the nomination). A few years later, Russo founded Tea Party Express, a group he still runs.

On Saturday, Trump came under fire for questioning whether McCain's time as prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, during which he was severely tortured, qualifies the Arizona Republican as a war hero. The day before, in a telephone interview with the Washington Examiner from his home in Sacramento, Calif., Russo discussed the billionaire businessman/reality television star's upstart bid for the GOP presidential nomination.

Russo's verdict: The frustration with Washington and the political establishment that Trump has tapped into with his unorthodox, blunt style is very real and shouldn't be dismissed. Trump has risen in part by taking a hard line on illegal immigration. But the New Yorker's comments have been interpreted by some as broadly anti-immigrant, and Russo said that Trump's message lacks the substantive seriousness and positive, uplifting vision required to turn anti-establishment agitators, like President Ronald Reagan, into winners at the ballot box.

Russo: Both Trump and Bernie Sanders are taking advantage of abject frustration with the established order — on the left and the right. People think the system doesn't work. The manifestations are, of course, candidates that speak very boldly but not necessarily in ways that make them universally popular. The problem with their electability is, protest candidates aren't usually successful. Those that are successful articulate a vision for the future.

Russo: I would say no to that. We continually poll our donors to see what they're thinking and he has not polled very well.

Examiner: In 1992, you spent about eight weeks in Dallas advising Perot, another billionaire businessman rabble-rouser. Any similarities?

Russo: I don't think the overlap is clear with Trump other than the frustration and [voters] liking the blunt, straight talk. And Perot was pretty folksy — he was far less provocative than Trump.

Examiner: You live in California and witnessed first hand the 2003 recall of Gov. Gray Davis, which featured another celebrity-turned-politician in Arnold Schwarzenegger. Any similarities between that race and what you're seeing with the Trump phenomenon?

Russo: Schwarzenegger has the celebrity that Trump has, [although] in the campaign Arnold never said anything too provocative. That's where Trump — a lot of things he says strains credibility. He hasn't laid out an agenda where people can relate to it. But when you look at Arnold saying, 'I'm going to blow up the boxes,' nobody was offended by that. It was, okay, he's going to go up there and clean up. It's an important pivot point, credible even if unspecified. If voters like you and trust you they'll impute to you what they think should be done. But you need to be likable.

Examiner: Is Trump hurting the Republican Party's brand and jeopardizing the eventual nominee's chances against Hillary Clinton?

Russo: I would generally say no to that. I don't think anything is damaging particularly. The nominee defines the party. When we have a nominee that person is going to define the party and what the alternatives are. I hear all that hand wringing; I think it's pretty silly. I don't think it's going to matter. If Trump's on the ticket, it matters.

Russo: We have never in modern times elected a protest candidate as president. The candidate with the more forward looking agenda has tended to win all of the time. So the big question is, can Trump turn his protest movement into something more appealing to the general public? The personality candidates seem to often be the protest candidates, which means there is a limited shelf life. People want a vision.

April 2011: Donald Trump and Eminent Domain

"....He tried to negotiate, at one point offering Coking $1 million for the land. But she wasn’t budging. So New Jersey’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority filed a lawsuit, instructing Coking to leave within 90 days and offering compensation of only $251,000.

Perhaps the only upside to this story is that in neither case did Trump succeed. The Bridgeport plan fizzled. Coking fought in court, and — in part because these were the days before Kelo was decided, no doubt — she was lucky enough to win. In 1998, a judge threw out the case.

In 2005, however, Trump was delighted to find that the Supreme Court had okayed the brand of government-abetted theft that he’d twice attempted. “I happen to agree with it 100 percent,” he told Fox News’s Neil Cavuto of the Kelo decision.

Can Republicans support someone with so little regard for the property of others? Let’s hope not."

July 18, 2015: Trump Stands By Past Support For Universal Health Care

"Trump said in 1999 — when he was flirting with a presidential rub on the Reform Party ticket — that the U.S. should make health care an entitlement and that coverage should be universal."

May 5, 2015: Trump: Geller 'taunting' Muslims with Muhammad event [she's an "obnoxious blowhard"]

"..We spend billions and billions of dollars fighting and even trillions of dollars fighting. We end up getting nothing out of it. And the last thing we need is an obnoxious blowhard like Geller to go out and start trouble,when there's no reason for it....

TRUMP:Well,there certainly is a war going on.And she should be a--she should be much more responsible because what she's doing is unnecessary. I will give you an example. Let her go out and talk about--she's using those show free speech. She's not using it for any other--and she's using it for her own purpose...

April 26, 2011: Trump’s donation history shows Democratic favoritism

"Billionaire Donald J. Trump, an early presidential favorite among tea party activists, has a highly unusual history of political contributions for a prospective Republican candidate: He has given most of his money to the other side.

The real estate mogul and “Celebrity Apprentice” host has made more than $1.3 million in donations over the years to candidates nationwide, with 54 percent of the money going to Democrats, according to a Washington Post analysis of state and federal disclosure records.

Recipients include Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), former Pennsylvania governor Edward G. Rendell, and Rahm Emanuel, a former aide to President Obama who received $50,000 from Trump during his recent run to become Chicago’s mayor, records show. Many of the contributions have been concentrated in New York, Florida and other states where Trump has substantial real estate and casino interests.".....

When he considered a run for president in 2000 as a Reform Party candidate, Trump said he supported abortion rights. But he said last week that he now opposes the procedure except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother’s health is at risk......

March 2012: Donald Trump with Greta Van Susteren [discusses his feelings about Bill and Hillary Clinton]

".......TRUMP: I think Biden has been a very loyal person, to be honest with you. I think he has been a good vice president for the agenda that they set and he has been a very, very loyal person. I respect him for that.

Hillary Clinton I think is a terrific woman. I am biased because I have known her for years. I live in New York. She lives in New York. I really like her and her husband both a lot. I think she really works hard. And I think, again, she's given an agenda, it is not all of her, but I think she really works hard and I think she does a good job. I like her.

VAN SUSTEREN: She says she's out at the end of this term. Do you think we will see her again running for office?

TRUMP: I think so. Assuming she is healthy, I think she probably runs after the next four years, I would imagine.

VAN SUSTEREN: Do you support her?

TRUMP: I don't want to get into this because I will get myself into trouble --

VAN SUSTEREN: That's why I asked you.

TRUMP: I just like her. I like her husband. Her husband made a speech on Monday and was very well received. He is -- he is a really good guy, and she's a really good person and woman.".......

Donald John Trump

June 14, 1946 (age 69)

POLITICAL PARTY

Republican (Before 1999; 2009–11; 2012–present)

Reform Party (1999–2001)

Democratic (2001–09)

Independent (2011–12)

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