I have no doubt that Trump will
change his positions on issues instantaneously and without the slightest
indication of discomfort, as he has already done many times. But I do not think fundamental character
traits can easily be faked, particularly by someone so obviously in thrall to
powerful infantile needs and fantasies.
As many observers have noted,
Trump is obsessed with anxieties about masculinity, dominance over male
competitors, and sexual prowess with "trophy" women [witness his inability
to let go of the issue of his small hands.]
I think it will drive him utterly
out of control to be locked for months in a contest with a strong woman [and
say what you will about Clinton, as I already have, she is indeed strong.] I can easily imagine him doing something
insanely self-defeating, like manufacturing an excuse to pull out of a
scheduled presidential debate.
If we accept the possibility of serious missteps by the Trump campaign in the general, then it makes sense to assume the same will happen for Hillary. Actually, I think it's more probable that the a combination of the Clintonite penchant for breaking the law, this email business, and / or Hillary's reputation as a poor campaigner, catches up to her. Just look back at all the unforced errors coming from the Clinton campaign when up against Bernie in only the last few months.
ReplyDeleteThis open letter from the former Communications Director for Drumpf's SuperPAC provides some rather strong evidence (IMO) that Il Douche is not at all acting. (h/t Dispatches from the Culture Wars)
ReplyDeleteLet's not underestimate Trump's astuteness or his ambition.
ReplyDeleteHe thinks of himself as a deal-maker and maybe he is one. To make deals you have to adapt to others and to circumstances, to do in Rome as the Romans, to bully when you can and to submit when you have to.
What's more, Trump is going to be increasingly advised, if he gets the Republican nomination, by very smart, highly-paid political electoral consultants who are going to tell when it's time to turn up the music and when it's time to turn down the music. If he's as ambitious as I suspect that he is, he may well pay attention to what they say.
To s. wallerstein -- that all seems right, but it's still Trump who will have to put the suggestions of those advisors into practice, and often in scenarios where he'll be forced to think on his feet. He's already shown time and again that when he's allowed to improvise, he inevitably says things he has to take back immediately, because they are stupid -- witness this recent stuff about punishing women who choose to have abortions in societies where abortion is illegal, for instance. He can do that now, and pretend that he "misheard questions," or "had a bad ear piece," or "didn't understand," or "didn't quite mean that," or whatever, because he's appealing to a relatively small group of people who either don't care about these awful things he says or secretly think them themselves. But that stuff's not gonna fly in the general. At least, dear Christ I hope not.
ReplyDeleteIt's the "small hands" we should all be concentrating on. It seems to drive him nuts for some neurotic reason. https://www.facebook.com/Clisare/videos/1300330343316826/
ReplyDeleteI assume (and I may wrong) that just as there are consultants who will study your weak points before your next job interview and tell you exactly what to say to get the job, there are consultants who are aware that Trump has a thing about his "small hands" and will tell him exactly what to say the next time the issue comes up and even write a few reasonably funny one-liners for Trump to "spontaneously" mouth when the issue comes up, just to show he "has a sense of humor".
ReplyDeleteI also assume (and again I may be wrong) that if he gets the nomination, Trump will receive a visit from some very sinister men (they will be male in this case) from the CIA and the Pentagon who will make it clear to him that if he wants to be president, he better play by the rules of the game (and they and their dear friends on Wall St. define the game) and the rules include following the script written by the media consultants friendly to the CIA, the Pentagon, and Wall St.
So most likely we'll have two packaged candidates to chose from, Trump and Hillary, both totally scripted and phony and both completely subservient to
the CIA, the Pentagon and Wall St.
Finally, I assume that Trump, being very ambitious (because he's competitive), will do what the real big boys (from the CIA, the Pentagon and Wall St.) tell him to do.