Posted on 04/16/2011 12:17:45 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
After the 2008 election, I spent an enormous amount of time and money documenting the media-induced ignorance of Obama voters for my documentary film, “Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted.” The video I shot of Obama voters on Election Day has been seen by over 2.5 million people (not including millions more via television coverage) on YouTube.
The two scientific polls I commissioned to back up the video proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that Obama voters were frighteningly misinformed about basic facts like which party controlled Congress. While McCain voters weren’t exactly “A” social studies students, at least they fared significantly better.
I have always believed that, in general, Republicans are far more informed than Democrats. I thought this was true mostly because very few people are born “conservative” and therefore some sort of education process has to take place for one to emerge from the natural human state of being a liberal.
However, the emergence of Donald Trump as the sudden “frontrunner” for the Republican presidential nomination has made me question just about everything I thought I knew about GOPers.
How in the world a soulless self-promoter who has declared bankruptcy several times, defaulted on huge loans, claimed that George W. Bush was “evil” and the worst president of all time, had a pro-life conversion that makes Mitt Romney’s seem credible, praised Obama in 2008, recently donated to liberal Democrats, once supported universal healthcare, possesses no apparent knowledge of basic civics, already threatened to run as an independent and ensure Obama’s reelection, and probably doesn’t even have the money to self-finance a legitimate campaign, got to this position literally overnight is one of the most depressing developments in the history of the party.
While I am not yet panicked that somehow Trump will be the eventual nominee (though after watching Obama win in 2008, my view of what is politically possible has expanded enough to at least include that among the theoretically possible outcomes), there is no doubt that even if Trump never actually gets in the race, he has already had a profound and permanent impact on it.
Before I get into what Trump’s rocketing to the top of the polls really means, I wish to examine how this has happened.
Obviously, the primary reason that this has occurred is that we have become such a bizarrely celebrity-obsessed culture (and therefore our ratings-driven media is totally celebrity-driven) that if one is well known enough, then literally nothing is off the table. It is almost as if we have created an unofficial class of royalty whose members are automatically taken seriously in almost any endeavor simply because they are one of the “chosen people.”
What makes this development particularly offensive is that there isn’t any distinction between fame and infamy anymore. Being well known is just about all that matters, regardless of how or why it happened.
So when Trump approached CPAC with the proposal to speak (for what would become an episode of his Golf Channel reality show), he already had at least half of the credentials needed to qualify for a spot on the podium: He was famous enough to “trump” his extremely questionable “conservatism.” While obviously I can’t prove it, based on what I know about how things are done at CPAC (as a former co-sponsor), I would be surprised if some sort of “donation” from Trump didn’t smooth over any lingering doubts that they may have had about handing over the conference to such an obvious fraud.
How Trump caught fire
Instead of being ignored or banished to media Siberia as anyone else who has tried to promote “birtherism” has been, Trump, thanks to his celebrity and the perceived power of his alleged fortune, was able to actually make the issue seem legitimate. This gave him a political base with which to make noise in the polls.
Once the polls started to move in his direction (even though his “supporters” were probably too busy constructing tinfoil hats to know much about the real Trump), this created the perception of a “movement” and “momentum.” This of course was all the media (thanks again to the fact that Trump is famous and therefore ratings friendly) needed to rationalize covering him as if he was legitimate, which of course further increased his standing.
The most stunning example of this phenomenon was when Sean Hannity gave most of two episodes of his Fox News show this week to his “Trump Interview.” The conservative talk show host sat on his hands and watched (no doubt distracted by thoughts of how good his ratings would be those nights without having to do much work at all) as Trump made numerous statements that would have caused someone who truly cares about who will be the Republican presidential nominee to immediately take Trump down. Instead, I have no doubt that Trump, now armed with a seal of at least “no disapproval” from a rock star like Hannity, will continue to rise in the same opinion polls he is already routinely leading.
Trump is now in a position where he could be extremely dangerous. Conservatives are aching for someone with the gonads to take it to Obama and really shake things up in Washington if he happens to win. Many are so fed up that they are willing to jump on almost any bandwagon that even appears to be headed in that direction, even if the driver, like Trump, is totally unreliable. Others have given up to the point where they may be backing Trump simply for the entertainment value (heck, if the ship is sinking you might as well make sure there is some fun music playing on the deck as it goes down).
Trump will now start to attract the non-crazy crowd and will be so formidable in the polls that he is here to stay until/unless he says he isn’t running, or he inevitably/hopefully gets killed off in Iowa (can a guy who doesn’t like to shake hands really compete in Iowa?!). Because he has no substance and his supporters don’t seem to care, Trump will not be vulnerable to the standard political attacks. Only losing big or not running at all can stop him now.
Why Trump has already hurt the nomination prospects of Palin, Romney and Pawlenty
Will he run? Who knows? But he is certainly putting on an extremely convincing act that he is (why else the pro-life conversion and the sudden embrace of Christianity?), and thanks to these poll numbers, he almost seems forced into making a go of it. Regardless, his presence has already had a potentially decisive influence on the race’s outcome.
There is no doubt that, in different ways, Trump has had a deep and negative impact on the nomination prospects of Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty.
No one knows if Palin is even running (for the record, I am still pretty sure she has not yet ruled it out), but Trump has attracted many of the “give me someone with balls and the celebrity to use them” crowd that might naturally be Palin supporters. Whether they would return to her if she were to announce is unknown, but the fact that they have at least temporarily abandoned her in polls saps her cause of energy and leverage.
Obviously Trump also steals the mantle of “successful business guy” that would otherwise go to Romney. Since Mitt’s entire strategy is based on getting to 35 percent and outlasting everyone else with his cash, Trump’s emergence is a deathblow to him.
There is also little doubt that Trump has sucked a lot of the oxygen out of the air which would ordinarily go to Pawlenty. Pawlenty is closest to actually announcing and is most in need of an increase in recognition, which could easily spark a victorious run based on the notion that he possesses a unique biography that can work in both a primary and a general election.
There is an adage that a society tends to get the government it deserves. If the same is true of political parties and their presidential nominees, based on how easily at least a quarter of Republicans have already been duped into supporting Donald Trump, four more years of Obama might actually be better than we deserve.
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John Ziegler is currently a documentary filmmaker who most recently released a movie on the 2008 election called, “Media Malpractice… How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted.” He has also been in radio talk show host in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Louisville and Nashville. Ziegler has written two books and has appeared live on numerous national television shows including the Today Show, The View, Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC.
Trump has stated he is now pro-life.
Romney has also stated he’s pro-life. Do you believe him?
Perhaps. Keep giving away our elections to communists for another forty years, and see how far your "most important issue" advances.
It is, but the battle needs to be fought spiritually rather than legislatively. A direct frontal assault will alienate a lot of people who should be our strongest allies: those who have been involved with abortion and know it's wrong, but feel an overwhelming need to pretend otherwise. Such people would move heaven and earth to maintain their pretense that abortion is okay; alienating them is a sure-fire path to electoral defeat.
What's needed instead is to help such people recognize that the Democrats have been manipulating and exploiting their guilt, and that the only path to atonement (secular or religious) is acknowledgment of mistakes and a resolve to be a better person in future (including working to help others avoid similar mistakes). I'm not sure how best to spread that message, but it's the key to the abortion "debate". Until people start hearing that message and acting upon it, legislative restrictions on abortion will be counter-productive.
He has stated he’s pro-life but supports a womans right to choose.
He’s pro-abortion just doesn’t plan to have any himself.
My perception of Trump is that he is very much an Ayn Rand individualist, who is never the less willing to play ball with the Democrats, as long as the benefit was greater than what he was asked to contribute. The Democrats had no use for Trump, though.
I heard a little of his interview with Sean the other night and Trump was just horrible, expounding on his support for the death penalty. He’s not going to last long if that is the kind of political rhetoric he is going to spout. It was as if he was trying to say anything that he thought conservatives would support and he didn’t even know exactly what that was.
My perception of Trump is that he is very much an Ayn Rand individualist, who is never the less willing to play ball with the Democrats, as long as the benefit was greater than what he was asked to contribute. The Democrats had no use for Trump, though.
I heard a little of his interview with Sean the other night and Trump was just horrible, expounding on his support for the death penalty. He’s not going to last long if that is the kind of political rhetoric he is going to spout. It was as if he was trying to say anything that he thought conservatives would support and he didn’t even know exactly what that was.
Your post makes good sense. Thank you.
Not one red cent. Look around. Trump is resonating with Conservatives and has the gravitas to take the White House. He's not intimidated by either party's establishment DNC or RNC.
If the policy points of Donald Trump are as you posted them I could vote for this man.
Yes, Palin and Trump are in line on many issues.
If you dig for the info and read, you’ll find that Sarah Palin is in favor of the current trade relations. She also hiked taxes against oil companies in Alaska while providing “early funding” for public school employees and domestic violence social workers.
Some of us are against those activities, and some of us are in favor of them. Most political people are dishonest about them.
I’m against what is now called free trade. I’m in favor of privatizing education and of traditional family structure. I’m in favor of cutting most social programs and eliminating a few social engineering (anti-family) programs. Most Republicans disagree with me as do most Democrats and liberaltarians.
But then I’ve been promoting a separation of most of us from contemporary politics while promoting a trend toward individual self-sufficiency and anti-consumerism.
Well that' a first. LoL.
Pawlenty - has pros and cons, but has not differentiated himself OR taken strong Republican stands
Palin - used to like her, but the reality shows have made her a caricature; be a Kingmaker and fundraiser for others instead
What is this 15% wealth tax?
Is a trade war with China a net positive for American manufacturing or a net negative due to our debts held by them?
“He’s not intimidated by either party’s establishment DNC or RNC. “
No he’s not, probably because he’s donated so much to the DNC candidates.
Trump proposed a way to bring down the national debt by taxing all wealth above $10 mm in lieu of paying the death tax. He has adjusted the particulars, but it goes like this:
Calculate your wealth according to to consistent set of rules.
This is the amount of wealth that will be sheltered against any future death taxes.
Subtract $10 mm from the total.
Your wealth tax is 15% of the remainder.
You have “several years” to pay the wealth tax.
To pay it, you must purchase US treasury bills and bonds in the open market and then present them to the Treasury for cancellation. This insures that the government never gets its hands on the money.
The Trump Wealth Tax would raise $5-6 trillion and would bring our national debt into a much more manageable position, in addition to saving the interest payments on the retired debt.
He also points out that the stock market would rally more than 15% to reflect the certainty of the future of the US balance sheet. Thus, the tax is free and is derived from renewed optimism in the US markets.
Pretty smart, huh?
I know some folks that would pay this and they are thrilled to do away with estate planning and death tax issues. They would do this tomorrow.
Very interesting! I’m starting to get very interested. At this point - esp. after the 2010 elections when all kinds of stuff was going to happen due to a Rep majority in the House - it’s now clear as day that the Repub elites are just as much the enemy as the Dems. If not more so, since they are the ones supposed to be conservative.
I won’t give Trumpna spin. I don’t vote for liberal Democrats. You know, another successful billionaire says he isna Republican- Michael Bloomburg. You probably would give him a spin too.
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