They've been working on this project for almost seven years. They have carefully honed the components one at a time. They tested them in their media lab at Fox. They used internal polls to adapt to regional tastes. They thought they had achieved success in 2012. However, much to their disappointment all of their efforts were for naught. For a brief period it appeared that they were going to return to their roots and go legit. They even presented an "autopsy" to base such a decision upon. However, they couldn't fake it. In time the true nature of who and what they are once again came to the surface. The xenophobic, anti-science, anti-women, anti-education, anti-healthcare, anti-minority, anti-social program, pro-war, pro-business, anti-union, anti-voter rights, anti-gun control, anti-government regulation and anti-immigration character of the GOP was once again predominant. While going through this intense effort to distinguish itself from the Democrats and attract what they perceived to be the vast discontent body politic, a new face began to show itself. Donald Trump listened attentively and even tried to take the lead on the birther issue. He was a high-profile personality ready to be the face of the hateful agenda of the GOP. All of their hard work in the laboratory had paid off. He was the personification of all they hoped to create. But something went wrong. Somebody forgot to stop feeding him the Kool-aid, because he got over done and nobody can de-juice him. The GOP laboratory apparently inadvertently created a monste
There are now 16 candidates vying for the Republican Presidential nomination. They represent all points of the GOP political spectrum from semi-rational to right-wing lunatic. Yet 15 of those 16 are all the targets of the craziest of them all and they don't know how to handle it. Trump, has unapologetically and aggressively, attacked all of the candidates with total disregard for fact or the ultimate good of the party. He has presented himself as a single-minded, self-centered, self-serving egotistical bore on a mission. What exactly that mission is has not yet become clear. He has alienated the party establishment, the key funders and anyone who dares to disagree with him. It seems that his chances of building the kind of delegate support necessary to win the nomination are remote at best. It's not that he will run out of money or venues to scream his poison. His masterful use of the media and his fellow candidates will keep him front and center for as long as he wants. The big question, however, is what is this guys endgame? As I noted, he is not going to get the GOP presidential nomination. Is his goal to simply elevate himself and diminish all others just for the fun of it? I think not.
I think he is ultimately seeking to threaten to run as a third-party candidate. The very possibility of such a run is the prime cause of insomnia and heartburn among the GOP faithful and gives him incredible leverage in the GOP. It is clear that in the general election the big losers with a Trump third-party run will be the GOP. All of those years of that intense lab work gone to hell. What will it cost the GOP to get him to reject a third-party run? He is at heart a businessman who has achieved his success through the art of negotiation, or at least has worked hard to create that image. At this moment he seems to be holding all of the cards. Yet, it is very early in the game and things can change at the flash of the next poll. But my guess is that Trump is in it for the long haul regardless of what the polls say. He smells blood in the water and he likes his odds of becoming a major power and opinion broker in the GOP.
The Democratic future is looking very bright. Thank you Mr. Trump!
Cross-posted on rationalpolitics.co