Mark Cuban summarized Donald Trump’s appeal in just 43 words

Washington Post ^ | 07/29/2015 | Chris Cillizza

[SeekAndFind]

Noted Maverick Mark Cuban is a fan of Donald Trump's presidential candidacy. And, writing on something called Cyber Dust, Cuban succinctly and effectively explained the Trumpian appeal. Here it is:

I don't care what his actual positions are. I don't care if he says the wrong thing. He says what's on his mind. He gives honest answers rather than prepared answers. This is more important than anything any candidate has done in years.

That's a remarkable admission. "I don't care what his actual positions are," Cuban said. "I don't care if he says the wrong thing." And, it affirms my working theory that lots and lots of people who say they are for Trump don't know the first thing about where he stands on any issue this side of immigration. His is not a policy appeal or even really a political one. It's pure personality.

In a world in which lots of people -- Cuban included -- believe that political correctedness has run wild and the outrage police are everywhere, someone who is willing to just say stuff and not back down has real appeal. "This guy isn't afraid of anyone!," you can imagine a Trump supporter saying. "He says whatever he damn well pleases!"

That attraction would explain why Trump has survived (and thrived) in the aftermath of comments about Mexicans and POWs that would have ended or, at least, badly damaged, a more traditional candidate. People, at least if Cuban is to be believed (and I think he is), aren't really listening to the specifics of what Trump is saying. They don't care. All they know is that he is freaking out the squares -- and they L-O-V-E that.

[Fresh Wind]

Apart from your multiple postings of that image, it seems to have originated in 2011, and shows up in the following places:

http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/trump_reagan_con.jpg

http://www.alan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/trump_reagan_con.jpg

http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/trump4.jpg

It also appears on the Politico site:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0411/Trump_doubted_Reagan.html

But politico just linked to the image hosted on the thinkprogress.org site.

I can’t say with certainty which of those posts were the first, but it is interesting that it’s origin seems to be from a far left site.

Couldn’t be that some leftie took that excerpt out of context, just to make Reagan and/or Trump look bad, could it?

[SamAdams76]

That’s not his assessment. He was observing how others felt.

[Fresh Wind]

I might add that “alan.com” is Alan Colmes’ “Liberaland” site.

[Kartographer]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3301276/posts?page=64

I might add it is a scan directly from the pages of Trump’s book. All you have to do is go down to the library and read it yourself.

[Kartographer]

I guess you find that The American Spectator is a leftist rag as well?

[Kartographer]

He said: “Reagan is another example”

[Fresh Wind]

How about a link?

[Kartographer]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3301276/posts?page=64

[Fresh Wind]

Thank you for that link. Now we're getting somewhere.

Now follow along, kids, and let's see where this link leads...

Ahhh, it is a link is to a FR posting of an American Spectator Article. Great.

Let's go there...

In that article, we find this link: Trump wrote this about the Gipper.

Well, what do you know? It goes right back to an April 19, 2011 post on Free Republic! LOL!

The subject of that post is a Townhall.com article from April 10, 2011 containing the very same image that you have been posting. And can you guess where that image is hosted?

None other than thinkprogress.org.

That's about as left wing as you can get.

[Kartographer]

http://spectator.org/blog/63120/theres-nothing-reaganesque-about-donald-trump

You can always just get his book and read it for yourself.

[Kartographer]

So are you say that Trump didn’t write the ‘Art of the Deal’? Then who wrote it?

[Fresh Wind]

I have no idea whether Trump wrote every word of that book, or if he used a ghostwriter, but I don't dispute that the scan is from his book.

What I, and others, have questioned is whether there is anything more that FOLLOWS that excerpt that might add to our understanding of Trump's view of Reagan.

Now that it is pretty clear that the scan image that you are posting repeatedly at FR originated at thinkprogress.org (you didn't even bother to change the file name), it's not unreasonable to assume that the excerpt was chosen specifically to undermine both Trump and, peripherally, Reagan, some 28 years after it was written. In other words, it might well have been taken out of its overall context to make a point that might not be entirely justified.

And even if that excerpt is the sum total of everything Trump said about Reagan in that particular book, you start out by being wrong by claiming that it proves that Trump didn't think that Reagan was a man of character. You said this:

To (sic) bad Trump didn’t see a man of character in Reagan.

What Trump said was that the American People were questioning Reagan's substance, which I pointed out was understandable considering that Reagan, the left's "amiable dunce", was being pounded on incessantly by the mainstream media, day after day, year after year. And since this was in the pre-Internet era, there was very little available on a daily basis to the general populace (now known as "low-information voters") to challenge the MSM propaganda.

In spite of what you WANT to read into it, there is really nothing in that excerpt that makes it clear what Trump actually thought about Reagan's character at the time (which was 1987), or how much he had bought into that anti-Reagan propaganda.

And Trump was wrong about how Carter got elected. Carter got in primarily because he wasn't Nixon, and wasn't associated in any way with Nixon. And, to an extent, Reagan was elected because he wasn't Carter.

Trump didn't say Carter wasn't a man of character, he only said he was incompetent as President.

And since this was written while Reagan was still in office, there wasn't the historical perspective that one would have almost 30 years later to temper one's views.

Regardless of whether or not what appears in this excerpt is a true and complete representation of Trump's view of Reagan in 1987, it is ultimately meaningless, except as a disposable bit of propaganda to be happily circulated by leftists and their unwitting useful idiots.

[Kartographer]

Talking about reading what you want to read? He was clearly placing Reagan to Carter.

Now do you think that thump would let anyone write something under his name that he didn't agree with if so then that alone makes him not man you say he is. But you know and I know that nothing nothing gets the Trump name placed on it with out his approval.


from:http://www.damndirtyrino.com/



I will be happy to go to the library and scan more pages myself, but you won't like them any better.

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

I agree.

Trump has enormous appeal. Especially to people who normally have no interest in politics and dislike both major parties. Trump is an entertainer and showman above all else. Unpredictable, unscripted, an uncorked vox pox, undisciplined, says whatever comes to mind. People love it! He is the Liberace of American politics. There is no denying this.

I have also noticed on the Democrat side a strong surge in support for the Socialist curmudgeon Bernie Sanders. People like to rebel against the establishment and express their discontentment from time to time. The rise of DT in the GOP and the rise of Sanders in the Dem Party reflects this angst and discontentment.

As for me personally, I don’t regard Trump as much a Republican or much of a conservative for that matter. His numerous contributions to Democrat political candidates, most notably the Clintons is enough to give me pause for concern. I would like to see more detailed policy positions from the Trump campaign, less bluster and bombast.

That’s just me.

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

The TV star part of it doesn’t appeal to me. The fact that Trump has spent most of his life outside of politics is appealing. Ross Perot was a self made man. Trump was the son of a wealthy NY real estate magnate and he has filed for bankruptcy. So even his business record is less than perfect. I personally would like to see DT run for another office first, such as mayor of NYC or governor of NY. NY is a notoriously high tax and anti-business state. People are leaving the state in droves. For many years the state was the most populous in the nation. Now it is number four behind CA, TX, and FL. If Trump could elected in NY and turn that state around, that would get my attention.

Being on TV for 12 years and saying, “you’re fired” all of the time, doesn’t do it for me personally. I would like to see more substance over style from DT.

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

Absolutely.

[entropy12]

You are not properly informed, based on your post.

Fact: Donald Trump NEVER filed for personal bankruptcy.

Fact: Donald Trump currently owns 523 DIFFERENT businesses.

Fact: 4 of his SEPARATE & individual business have filed for bankruptcy. A small part of his overall business empire.

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

A thousand pardons, please forgive me.

I remember in 2012, the Left attacked MR because of a few of the deals he did at Bain Capital later went bankrupt, never mind the fact that the vast majority of them were highly successful.

Yes, Trump is an enormously successful businessman. No, not every deal works.

[Kickass Conservative]

Well, I’m enjoying the whole thing no matter what happens.

Trump could fold like a Cheap Suit in the First Debate with his free wheeling style or he could dominate the Field of Losers standing next to him on Stage.

I’m sure my Guy Cruz will be smiling with bemused wonder watching the spectacle unfold before him on the Debate Stage.

One thing for sure, Trump is the only Guy that is drawing People into the Political Process. I speak from experience since I know at least Six Apolitical People, including my Wife whose Ears perked up once Trump showed up. No amount of my discussing why Ted Cruz should be the next POTUS made a dent with any of them.

It’s a long process and none of us have any idea where things will end up.

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

Agree with just about everything you wrote.

Yes I agree Trump brings in millions of people who are normally apathetic, apolitical, and alienated from politics in general. Some say Ross Perot did this as well. Even though Trump is a Republican, he is seen by many as not very partisan.

I am glad to see you are supporting Sen. Ted Cruz, a person I regard as a responsible conservative with a reliable and measurable track record. I would certainly consider Cruz along with Scott Walker, Rick Perry, and Bobby Jindal. All have track records and experience.

If people who are generally turned off by politics are now tuning in thanks to Trump, well I guess that’s a good thing.

I myself don’t have much faith in mass popular democracy. Our Founding Fathers set up a limited government constitutional republic, not a popular mass democracy. Popular mass democracy inevitably leads to unlimited mass government which inevitably leads to Socialism and ultimately bankruptcy.

If Trump is the current opiate of the masses so be it.

I would prefer a principled conservative with a reliable track record advocating limited government, lower taxes, less spending, individual liberty, private property rights, and free market capitalism. I remain unconvinced that DT is the vessel we need to advocate these principles.

Like I said before, I would be more open to the Trump campaign if specific policies were more forthcoming and fewer sound bites and bombast coming from the candidate. Some people might want more fun and entertainment in politics. I would like to see more substance and policy. I do agree with Trump in it, the whole thing is becoming a big circus. The ancient Romans would be smiling. We are following their path.