Posted on 09/09/2015 2:34:13 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Jeb thinks he can beat Trump by attacking his liberal past. He clearly doesn't understand the nature of this beast.
I wrote two months ago that Donald Trump is a mirror image of the conservative psyche, a perfect distillation of the Tea Party id: No ideas, no substance just bluster and fiery platitudes. Everything thats happened since has confirmed my initial suspicion. Trump has continued to repackage shopworn stupidities and beam them back at his audiences, and conservatives cant get enough of it.
If youve followed Trumps ongoing spat with Jeb Bush, youve probably noticed that Trump is winning. And the reason is simple: Theyre fighting on Trumps terrain. Trumps appeal is mostly psychological. He rarely makes sense and he never bothers to explain himself; he just demonizes brown people and tells anxious white people that hell make their country great again. Because hes tapping into something deep and dark, the specifics never quite matter its the tone that counts.
Trumps tough guy shtick has made Jeb a soft target. Trumps latest jab comes in the form of a brief Instagram video. Like everything else Trump does, the ad is completely devoid of ideas. It is, however, oddly brilliant, and exactly what youd expect from a reality TV star like Trump. Spanning a few seconds, the ad shows Jeb discussing the intricacies of health care policy while a supporter sleeps behind him. Against this backdrop, the narrator says, Too much energy? Need some low energy? Jeb, for all your sleeping needs.
The message is clear: Jeb is a limp dotard who lacks the vigor to make America great again. This plays nicely into Trumps campaign narrative, which feels like a massive exercise in megalomania and overcompensation. Trump basically stands behind a podium and tells people two things: Hes incredibly awesome and everyone else can stick their political correctness up their ass. Is it any surprise that his ad essentially casts Jeb Bush as the protagonist of one of those Low T commercials?
Jebs response to Trump so far has been mildly amusing. He appears not to understand whats happening to him, or why Trump, despite having nothing concrete to offer, is winning this exchange. One of Jebs longtime advisers, Mike Murphy, now the chief strategist for Bushs super PAC, said that He [Jeb] has faith over time in the people and the power of his ideas. John McKager Stipanovich, a Florida lobbyist and close Bush friend, struck a slightly different note, arguing that Donald Trump epitomizes everything Jeb has spent his political career trying to prevent the Republican Party from becoming.
As best I can tell, Jebs strategy is to engage Trump (so as not to appear meek) without adopting Trumps tactics. At a recent campaign stop, Jeb countered Trump by emphasizing his political stamina: The low energy candidate this week has only been six days, sixteen hours a day campaigning with joy in my heart. He also released a video last week that highlighted all of the liberal positions that Trump has taken in the past.
Heres a bit of unsolicited advice for Jeb: Youre missing the point. Trump supporters (read: the conservative base) dont care if youre campaigning with joy in your heart. Nor do they care if Trump once identified as a liberal. And they certainly dont care about the power of your ideas. What Trump understands (and what Bush clearly doesnt) is that the people flocking to Trump are doing so because they dont give a damn about policy or substance or facts. They want to hear someone tell the establishment that its full of shit, and Bush is the establishment. Trump may not have ideas or political acumen or a basic sense of decency, but he knows what alienated conservatives want to hear and thats enough.
Trumps success (and Jebs decline) shows how easy it is to openly infantilize the conservative base. You dont need ideas to win over Republicans anymore; you simply have to reflect their paranoia and frustration, with as much bombast and superficiality as possible.
Donald Trump gets it, Jeb Bush doesnt and thats why Trump is winning.
Sean Illing is clueless...
In the long run, we do not know what we will be getting with Trump. but that is true of any candidate - ANY CANDIDATE.
What I see is a man that loves this Country and will not roll over like a yellow dog to the muzzies. Anything else is cream.
I tend to agree with you.
Ah shaddup Salon. That place has the most raging mentally ill kooks ever, posting there.
Nobody there has any ideas. They are indoctrinated morons.
“Dont tell anyone, but Trump s base is quite broad. Just like Reagans.”
Well Hillary’s butt is also quite broad.
Well we are raging agains’t the machine. LOL!
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