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.
Your Straw Poll was in March.
This Straw Poll was April 10th:
Romney triumphed by a single vote over Ron Paul, who took second place 439 votes to 438. Both men won 24 percent of the vote. Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich essentially tied for third with 18 percent of the vote each.
1,806 ballots were cast by the conservative activists who attended the conference. No other candidate got more than four percent of the vote.
(I prefer the results of your straw poll.)
Rat plant. The play he gets from the MSM proves it.
BRILLIANT!
...anyone but Obama. People are looking for an opponent to Obama.
Tell me you did NOT just use "irregardless" after calling people fools!
Do you really believe he was born in Hawaii?
Why will her speaking engagements be over if she doesn’t run? Are you that invested in her being President that you’ll turn your back on her if she decides she doesn’t want the gig?
Here’s a far more honest take on the issue of a Obama’s highly questionable bonafides than Sowell’s: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2710502/posts
“The anti-slavery issue does more political damage to the GOP than other arguments critics raise of this oddball party."
How do I know? Sarah is neither in office nor a declared candidate, yet she continues to be the subject of vicious relentless sustained personal attacks.
The latest attempt to defeat her is a mixture of falsified push-polls and a media blackout.
That might help for the moment with the undecideds.
But it also means she can work "under the radar" for her grass-roots efforts: and that when she does declare, she will have workers and organizations appear as if "by magic" and (to the MSM) seemingly from NOWHERE!
Oh, and Obaama? His lofty rhetoric will fail big-time.
Going on luxury junkets to India and Hawaii and golfing five days out of every seven is bad enough: but telling a man who can't afford gas to go buy a new minivan ("arugula sure is expensive at Whole Foods" in *Iowa*) will plow him into the political side of a mountain.
As Clinton said, "It's the economy stupid" and everyone knows Obama is against drilling.
Nice try, though.
Cheers!
Thanks for the ping jaz. I can’t say enough “NO TRUMP” to people. His history should be enough, but then too the same can be said in a way for Obama. “His history of his associations should enough”, but wasn’t.
I’m quite concerned.
Trump is the modern Trojan Horse IMO. He’s in it to throw it for his Leftist associates.
You betcha!
I agree. Right now America's fear of loss is stronger than it's desire for gain. Obama loses to anyone with a pulse (and a birth certificate) unless perhaps Trump runs as an independent.
This time Obama runs on his record, and it's a dismal one. No blank slate to write on in 2012. Even blacks will sit on their hands, he is an embarrassment to them. The tea party is enlarging daily, and becoming even more motivated. 2012 will be no different than the 2010 congressional elections, another political earthquake awaits the Democrats, IMHO.
“Per usual, Dr. Sowell sees the situation perfectly.”
Yes! He analyzes the problem and lays out all the parts and shows their relationships to each other.
Once again the Economist/Journalist whose list of reading material started me on this journey has expressed what I
believe true.Mr.Sowell plays the king as a man who holds an Ace high flush.
I will always blame the GOP for failure to talk about kitchen table issues. Just talking debt, deficits, debt ceilings loses the voters.
You have to get people on your side by articulating issues that affect them personally. While we mostly know the debt does personally affect people, the people don’t have enough understanding of it to get fired up.
Austerity is hard to sell unless people can be made to see there is a positive benefit down the road.
We don’t hear much about gas prices, food prices, jobs, housing. We don’t hear much about the Obamacare bill and its ruinous effects either. We don’t hear much about the unusual waivers some people are getting from Obamacare.
If the GOP continues down the current path, they will end up giving time to Obama and his minions to find a way to blame the republicans.
The GOP suffers a failure to communicate and a failure to be in line and up to date with the GOP voters. I also believe this issue could be purposeful on the part of the GOP. Let people believe what they wish to, then do whatever you want when elected.
The Democrat party is not being run by American Progressives but by people in another country who run a red herring farm.
IMHO
Mr. Sowell ignored Obama’s eligibility. This article is Sowell’s attempt to cover his naked body with fig leaves for having failed to defend the Constitution.
Trump has kicked the birther ant hill and has now made it impossible for Sowell to hide from the issue. It's been fun to watch these weenie conservative pundits run around looking for cover to explain their inexcusable negligence of this issue.
Re: Trump and Levin
Sowell maybe be right about Trumps changing positions. Personally, I have not studied them or their time line. If someone were to post my opinions of 30, 20, 15 or even 10 years ago they would see plenty of contradictions. The point is that Trumps statements need to be seen in the context of his political evolution.
Re: Obama’s natural born status.
Sowell is flat out wrong. Trump is resonating with the American public because having a constitutionally eligible president is fundamental to the rule of law. (SHAME on you Mr. Sowell!) Patriots must not flee from the task of defending the Constitution simply because someone may call them a kook! Donald Trump has tapped into a deep well of concern among Americans that Obama may **seriously** be a usurper!
Re: Trump vs. Obama
Trump would wipe the floor with Obama during any debate. Not only that Trump is flat-out far more likable and, if he wins the nomination, I bet Trumps media campaign would be fun to see.
Re: Plain speaking
Sowell is right about that. Republicans rarely do a good job.
So you’re giving up, 18 months early, on having a real Republican elected in ‘12.
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