April 14, 2011
Political Science Department
When You Think Authenticity, You Think Trump?
Sad news, everyone: Former Drug Czar William Bennett has himself fallen victim to the curse of drug abuse. At least that's the only explanation I can think of for his absurd pro-Trump editorial on CNN.com:
Proving he is willing to call 'em as he sees 'em, and not following the traditional advice for prospective candidates that it's not a good idea to anger your audience, he jumped right in to challenge the Ron Paul supporters in the crowd, saying of Paul, "He has zero chance of getting elected."
Donald Trump has never won any elections. If I've counted right, Ron Paul has been elected to office twelve times. Just sayin'.
Trump was booed and jeered, but he did not care. He did not couch or backtrack. Instead he looked right into the crowd and then said something that converted the heckles to applause, "If I run, and if I win, this country will be respected again."
Because...why? Candidates say stuff like this all the time. It doesn't mean anything.
What most observers picked up from this small moment was: A) Trump would not be a poll-tested, talking point candidate. B) He would be willing to challenge audiences in front of him, caring less about their applause and more about speaking his own mind. C) There is an authenticity to him.
The Donald has an authenticity to him? Has Bennett ever seen Trump's hair? Okay, that's a cheap shot, but Trump has authenticity the same way a babbling street person has authenticity: No matter how crazy it sounds, you know they both sincerely mean every bit of it while they're saying it.
There was something about his speaking up for a newly respected America that rang honest and sincere -- and most importantly, was needed.
Gosh, he wants America to be respected. That would be so cool. I wonder why none of the other candidates thought of respecting America.
Already he has given new life to the dying trope that President Barack Obama might not have been born in the United States. While many of us think the "birther" issue is a distraction and nonstarter, Trump has put it back on the table, raising questions that many of us had long-ago stopped asking, giving a new element of respectability to the question itself.
No. Not really. It's still the same question.
Then there is the latest CNN poll showing Trump to be tied for first place in the Republican field of candidates, beating other, more experienced, politicians such as Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, and Haley Barbour. Much of this renewed fascination with Trump could be the result of an early blasé attitude about the current candidates in the field.
Polls taken this far before the election are nonsense. Remember that at some point during the last election cycle, Rudy Giuliani looked like the unstoppable Republican nominee.
But Trump has succeeded in doing two things the GOP base wants in its candidates: he will not be rolled or take flak from the mainstream media (see, for example, his recent interview on the "Today" show or his recent letter to The New York Times directly criticizing an established columnist there); and he has stated he is now anti-abortion (in a way that actually sounds authentic rather than convenient to some anti-abortion analysts).
Yes, because Trump always sounds so sincere.
Right now, Trump has captured the imagination of those looking for straight talk and celebrity. But despite his early 2011 apprenticeship in politics, Republicans will still need to hear a lot more from Donald Trump. Can he explain his donations to Democrats? What are his foreign and defense policy plans? His tax plans? His views on controlling our deficits? How will he do in debates with other, more seasoned, politicians?
I don't know what Trump's answers will be to these questions, but I predict that if he bothers to spell out actual policies, they will be quite insane...which, unfortunately, isn't always a barrier to winning the Presidency.
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