On the Rachel Maddow show last night she floated an extremely interesting and even tantalizing nugget for consideration. Lawrence O’Donnell was certainly intrigued by it, he repeated it on MSNBC earlier today, and promised that he was going to have Rachel on his show tonite to go into deeper detail and more analysis.
Rachel’s hypothesis? Trump wants out. He’s tired of the travel, he’s tired of the appearances, he’s tired of getting his paper thin feelings hurt by opponents, the fun is gone. But, being Trump, HE can’t be the one to walk away. So, he says something so over the top and controversial that he finally tanks his own poll numbers, and can quietly exit stage right.
This theory has several things going for it. First of all, it kind of does sound strangely Trump. Secondly, she went into some detail as to how little money he’s spent, and the scattergun travel schedule and lack of a serious ground game in most states as a sign that he’s not really serious. And besides, he’d suck as President, and why would he want to have to mothball all his holdings for eight years for a lousy salary and a substandard living place?
As far as it goes, it makes sense. And surprisingly, I agree with it. But not yet. It’s too early. When Trump jumped into this thing, he burned his bridges with his scorched earth announcement speech. Trump is the ultimate narcissist, he lives for the spotlight and attention, along with the adulation. Without this candidacy he is no longer relevant. He’s forever lost “The Apprentice”, and unless he buys his own network nobody else is going to come up with an alternate vehicle to satisfy his thirst for spotlights, cameras and adoration. Oh, he can still be loud, and crude, and bombastic, but if he’s not running for anything, who freakin’ cares? He may as well be on top of a soapbox in Grant Park.
And besides, at this point Das (OK Meteor Blades? LOL) Donald has too much invested in this. Maybe not so much money, but time, travel, effort, and the most important thing of all to a narcissist. Adoration. I know the feeling. I was a stand up comic for several years, and when you’re in that groove, the building is rocking, the crowd is screaming with laughter, and the applause is thundering up at you, the best grade Peruvian flake in the world can’t match the rush. That’s what Don of Orange feels every time he walks out in front of that crowd, and I get it. And it really is addictive
But most importantly, he’s not done yet. He’s the top dog. And he’s been the top dog for a long time now, swatting down pretenders without even seeming to try. But what does he have to show for it? A bunch of polls, oh BOY! Those polls and $2.50 will get you a coffee at Starbucks. He wants more. He wants delegates. He wants tangible evidence of his dominance in the political arena. Even if he doesn’t necessarily want the hassle and headache of being the President, he wants recognition of his importance to the party, a prime speaking spot at the convention and a seat at the table. And most of all, he wants vindication. It wasn’t just polls, he turned it into actual votes and results. It’s his due for being the best ever, and in his sick deluded mind, being the savior of the Republican party.
So, I agree with Rachel up to a point, he really doesn’t want to be President, and he will personally implode somewhere down the road before becoming the candidate, but not yet. As for this latest travesty of intelligence? There I must regretfully agree with Erick Erickson over at the open sewer that is Redstate.com who opined;
Hate Donald Trump all you want, be offended by his proposal all you want, but it is really brilliant politics for Trump right now in the Republican primary and the reactions from the other candidates prove it. All the people attacking Trump on his immigration proposals now attacking him on this have done themselves no favors within the primary process.
The link to the entire opinion piece, if you have the stomach for it can be found here. So, while I do believe that eventually the Killer ‘Do will find a way to slide down from the perch he never really wanted to be on in the first place, this ain’t the time. He wants to milk this for all he can get, and when he does finally crawl off the branch, Ted Cruz may be the smartest one int he room for not having pissed him off.
Thanks as always for reading!