Trump’s show
Some pundits predicted Donald Trump’s hot-air balloon would crash after he criticized John McCain for crashing and being captured in Vietnam. But no. He rose even higher in some polls.
As Slim Pickens asked in Blazing Saddles, “What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here?”
Some pollsters will tell you it’s nothing but a media mirage. Trump’s outrageousness keeps him on TV, which keeps his poll numbers high, which then keeps him on TV. Eventually, they say, the balloon will pop.
Some Republican analysts will tell you it’s much ado about nothing. The public polls, they say, are a misleading national sample of all Republican-leaning voters, not a scientific sample of the actual voters in Republican primary states.
Democrats will tell you it’s the Republican chickens coming home to roost, that Trump is just saying what’s in the heart of mean-spirited Republican Fox-watchers and that he’s the authentic voice of the angry, anti-intellectual, non-fact-based, immigrant-bashing soul of the GOP.
Other critics of the GOP will tell you it’s a shame, because the nutty things Trump says obscure the nutty things other Republicans say: Jeb Bush said we should phase out Medicare. Rick Perry said we need more guns in churches and movie theaters. Ted Cruz said his party’s Senate leader is a liar. Mike Huckabee said the Iran nuclear deal is like the Holocaust.
Poor Lindsay Graham had to set his cell phone on fire to get any media attention. And he got it only because Trump had given out his number.
The Onion got it right with its Trump satire: “Admit it, you people want to see how far this goes, don’t you?” One passage sums it up:
“My campaign’s just barely begun and I’ve already got you begging for more. Sure, you can say you oppose me or that you don’t even take me seriously. But let me ask you: How many articles have you read about Ted Cruz lately? How many news segments have you watched on Bobby Jindal? Or Rand Paul? But if those stories have the name ‘Donald Trump’ in them, well, look who suddenly can’t get enough.”
Why our fascination? Is it like watching NASCAR for the wrecks? Or are we simply sick and tired of an endless procession of cautious, boring, poll-tested, programmed politicians?
Maybe it’s just that Trump is real. Yes, a real asshole. But real.
Trump’s show
Some pundits predicted Donald Trump’s hot-air balloon would crash after he criticized John McCain for crashing and being captured in Vietnam. But no. He rose even higher in some polls.
As Slim Pickens asked in Blazing Saddles, “What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here?”
Some pollsters will tell you it’s nothing but a media mirage. Trump’s outrageousness keeps him on TV, which keeps his poll numbers high, which then keeps him on TV. Eventually, they say, the balloon will pop.
Some Republican analysts will tell you it’s much ado about nothing. The public polls, they say, are a misleading national sample of all Republican-leaning voters, not a scientific sample of the actual voters in Republican primary states.
Democrats will tell you it’s the Republican chickens coming home to roost, that Trump is just saying what’s in the heart of mean-spirited Republican Fox-watchers and that he’s the authentic voice of the angry, anti-intellectual, non-fact-based, immigrant-bashing soul of the GOP.
Other critics of the GOP will tell you it’s a shame, because the nutty things Trump says obscure the nutty things other Republicans say: Jeb Bush said we should phase out Medicare. Rick Perry said we need more guns in churches and movie theaters. Ted Cruz said his party’s Senate leader is a liar. Mike Huckabee said the Iran nuclear deal is like the Holocaust.
Poor Lindsay Graham had to set his cell phone on fire to get any media attention. And he got it only because Trump had given out his number.
The Onion got it right with its Trump satire: “Admit it, you people want to see how far this goes, don’t you?” One passage sums it up:
“My campaign’s just barely begun and I’ve already got you begging for more. Sure, you can say you oppose me or that you don’t even take me seriously. But let me ask you: How many articles have you read about Ted Cruz lately? How many news segments have you watched on Bobby Jindal? Or Rand Paul? But if those stories have the name ‘Donald Trump’ in them, well, look who suddenly can’t get enough.”
Why our fascination? Is it like watching NASCAR for the wrecks? Or are we simply sick and tired of an endless procession of cautious, boring, poll-tested, programmed politicians?
Maybe it’s just that Trump is real. Yes, a real asshole. But real.