Posted on 04/25/2011 9:50:49 PM PDT by jazusamo
The boomlet for Donald Trump as a Republican nominee for President of the United States ought to be a wake-up call for Republican candidates and Republican Party leaders alike.
Why has Trump surged ahead of other Republican candidates and potential candidates in the polls? It is not likely that his resurrection of the issue of Barack Obama's birth certificate has aroused all this support.
The birth certificate issue does more political damage to Obama's critics than to the president himself, because it enables the media to paint those critics as kooks. Nor are Donald Trump's political positions such as to create a stampede to his cause.
Radio talk show host Mark Levin has rebroadcast Trump's varied and mutually contradictory statements on political issues and personalities over the years. It was a devastating revelation of Trump's "versatility of convictions," to use a phrase coined long ago by Thorstein Veblen.
What then is Donald Trump's appeal-- and why should it concern Republican leaders in general?
What Trump has that so many other Republicans are so painfully lacking is the ability and the willingness to articulate his positions clearly, forcefully and in plain English. Too many Republicans talk like the actor of whom a critic once said, "he played the king like he was afraid that someone else was going to play the ace."
What electrified so many Republicans about Sarah Palin in the 2008 election campaign was that she was such a contrast to the usual mealy-mouth talk that was more common among other Republican candidates, including Senator John McCain. Whether you agreed or disagreed with her position on the issues, you didn't have to wave your hand in front of her eyes to see if she was awake.
Donald Trump is dangerous in at least two senses. If, by some tragic miracle, he should become the Republicans' candidate for president in 2012, that would be the closest thing to an iron-clad guarantee of a second term in the White House for Barack Obama.
That would be a huge setback for the Republicans-- and, far more important-- a historic catastrophe for this country.
What seems more likely is that Donald Trump as a candidate for the Republican nomination would use his superior articulation skills-- not to mention brash irresponsibility-- to trash all the other Republican candidates for that nomination, leaving them damaged goods in the eyes of the public, and therefore less able to gather the votes needed to prevent the reelection of Obama.
Why Republicans seem not to understand the crucial importance of putting the same time and attention into articulating their positions as the Democrats do is one of the enduring mysteries of American politics.
It was obvious that the Democrats coordinated their talking points and catch-phrases-- "social justice," "tax cuts for the rich," etc.-- even before the overheard and recorded statements of Senator Chuck Schumer about Democrats' plans to repeatedly use the word "extreme" to characterize Republicans.
But how many Republican catch-phrases can you remember? Republican rhetoric tends to range from low key to no key.
Nor is there much evidence that Republicans have asked themselves how the left-wing of the Democratic Party gained such ascendancy in recent years, in a country where millions more people identify themselves as conservative than identify themselves as liberals.
In short, there is little or no evidence that most Republicans see any need to fundamentally change their approach to the public. But if they think that they can rely on Obama's declining popularity to win the 2012 election, they may be in for a rude shock. Worse yet, the whole future of this country and of western civilization will be in jeopardy, in a world where the likes of Iran and North Korea become nuclear powers, while we engage in empty talk at the U.N.
Barack Obama's declining support in public opinion polls make some conservatives feel that his reelection hopes are doomed. But Donald Trump can be Barack Obama's secret weapon in his fight to remain in the White House. The Donald can be his Trump card.
Dignity? What has that got to do with the price of eggs in England? That's a bad, no, egregiously incorrect usage of the word, which doesn't mean what you wanted to express.
“The birth certificate issue does more political damage to Obama’s critics than to the president himself”
That’s the bad dream I’ve been having is: What if a real birth certificate exists, and the “born in Kenya” idea is just a red herring, that has been hung out there by Obama’s people? Obama could pretend to ignore the “birthers”, until election time approaches, then have his stooges in Hawaii whup it out, too late for Republicans to get over their embarrassment.
“’Why has Trump surged ahead of other Republican candidates and potential candidates in the polls?’ Umm, because our best candidate, Gov. Sarah Palin, has been attacked incessantly by the jourbalists, academia, nutroots, cable TV, Hollywood, the White House, DNC, RNC, RINO central and elites since 2008?”
The answer is YES. But there’s more. The folks supporting or at least not trying to hush Trump know by logic and intuition that there’s some underlying wrong in this administration. Whether it’s the “birthers” as certification-demanders or “national-born” challengers, or the plagiarist-chargers, or the lack-of-all-biographical-document claimers, or those who simply can’t miss the obvious anti-Americanism of this president, the feeling of being “had” is palpable. And the Donald can’t be faulted for mining it.
She has the knowledge and experience in her head to run this country but she cannot transport that knowledge into words she does not have the vocabulary to articulate herself in the debates. Obama would verbally demolish her.
Another problem Sarah Palin has is that she supported the Libya war which is one of our major issues we have Obama pinned on. For Sarah Palin to critique Obama on Libya in a debate would be like Romney criticizing Obama for Obamacare.
GOD forbid that he is the GOP nominee.....he WILL lose to Obama, because there are lots of people who, while they hate Obama, are sick of what he is doing to this nation, don't trust The Donald; some have hated him for decades.
When the Dems unload on Trump, he is so thin skinned, that he will be unable to take it and will react badly. That will add to the lack of confidence prospective voters will have for him. It'll be better the devil we know, than this mad man.
Thomas Sowell id correct and the Trumpettes, here, and elsewhere, are blinded by the Kool-Aid.
Somebody is playing the Trump card. The question is who?
I’m for Sarah.. I live about 10 miles from her house.. maybe 8...
Trump is a bull in a china shop, has NEVER held a political office, has flip flopped more than Kerry and Romney combined, and no, you really don't know WHERE Trump will stand, tomorrow, next week, nor next year on anything. And please don't compare The Donald to Reagan..........there is NO comparison at all, outside of both of them being male and born in America. "FUN"? Trump would be as big a disaster, as president, as Obama is.
Depends on who the alternative GOP candidate is. And I do not see anybody from this pathetic list of names that could win on a non-split ticket let alone a split one.
I'm always suspicious of any candidate that has to run around telling everyone: "I'm a conservative! I'm a Reagan Republican". That means they have done nothing to allow the people to define that way so they must tell people they are conservative. John Boehner comes to mind.
I understand the critics of Trump but WHERE'S THE WINABLE ALTERNATIVE?
Sarah Palin has allowed the media to peg her as an "idiot". I know she's not. We know she's not. But many independents and some republicans think she is. She can't win.
You betcha !
born June 14, 1946 in Queens, New York, NY (Meets the Jus Soli Requirement)
Parents were
Frederick Christ Trump, born October 11, 1905 in Queens, NY, died June 1999 in Queens, NY
Mary Ann MacLeod, born May 10, 1912 in SCOTLAND, died August 7, 2000 in Queens, NY. Arrived in US October 5, 1935. Naturalized as a US Citizen March 10, 1942.
Both parents were US Citizens at the time of his birth (Meets the Jus Sanguinis Requirement)
Donald Trump is a NATURAL BORN CITIZEN unlike Comrade Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama.
Allen West is untried and is NOT running............let the man gain experience. And for crying out loud, the LAST thing we need to do, is try for an AFFIRMATIVE ACTION candidate against Obama.
You have to be kidding? I suggest you go back an look at her 06 debates against the old guard. You have it backwards. She will utterly crush Obama in any debate. I guarantee, the Marxist will find a way not to debate her more than once.
Sarah is ALWAYS been underestimated her entire career by all her opponents. If you haven't read her 1st book, please pick it up. You will not be disappointed. You will see that she is a fearless and tenacious fighter.
Sarah is a gifted writer, you can see that in her writings and facebook postings. She learned a lot from the 08 campaign. She is much, much wiser. She is taking her time and plotting her course. She truly loves our Republic and doesn't want to see it fail. She will rise to the occasion and surprise everyone; and hopefully, including you!
HORSEFEATHERS, AND IN SPADES !
Even if Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama had been birthed in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House he is NOT a NATURAL BORN CITIZEN.
Then I don’t understand the post of yours I replied to and FYI......”dignity” was misused; I think you used it for lack of the word you really meant.
She didn’t “allow” anything............she’s been Alinskied for 2+ years, but has gained supporters.
I think you overestimate Obama. If you go back to the answers he gave on foreign policy during the debates, they were nothing substantial at all. In any case, no, I don't think he could demolish anyone who stood toe to toe with him. McCain did not hestitate to put down Romney, but on the same stage with Obama he was very cautious,. As for Palin, during the three-corner debate during her reace for governor, she did just fine.She was not confronational in tone. But Trump proves one thing. Whoever the candidate is going to be, he/she has to be willing to challenge him to go beyond platitudes.
As opposed to what stellar GOP candidate? It is them, after all, that have to make these Trump weaknesses known. I don't see anyone who can do this in the current field. There is no evidence as it stand right now that people don't trust Trump. That is why he is making so much headway early on.
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