How many times have we heard that we are about to see Trump 2.0? How many times have we been told that he is going to be more presidential and use the teleprompter? How many times has it been predicted that he is now going to shift his campaign to focus on policy and away from personal attacks and bluster? Well, it's clear that the predictors and pundits are wrong once again The fact is that what you see is the real Trump. He is a loud mouthed self-aggrandizing narcissist. These are personality traits that may be changeable, but only after many years of therapy. When forced by his advisors he will read a speech off of the teleprompter, but then revert back to type at his next rally.
The thought that a person who is the presumptive nominee for President of the United States from a major political party needs to be advised and coached about how to behave is astounding. We're not talking about obscure issues of protocol or ceremony here. We are talking about representing the United States in the office of President with dignity, respect and gravitas. These are not characteristics that can be easily taught. We have the right to expect that anyone who is presenting himself or herself to the American electorate for consideration for this high office meets these basic criteria. We can have differences of opinion regarding policy, but not on name calling. We can view the world through different lenses, but no lens that includes racism or religious discrimination. We can differ on the role of our government, but not on the dignity with which we treat governments of other countries. Certainly presidents have advisors with expertise and experience in all areas that typically present themselves in the course of a term of office, but a president has to be predisposed to listen and learn and analyze. He cannot be intellectually lazy and closed-minded.
To believe or even desire that a candidate can somehow magically be transformed to be "presidential" is a pipe dream. The strenuous nomination and election process that a presidential candidate must navigate is designed to enable us to assess that candidates strengths and weaknesses. It is a process through which we become aware of where that candidate stands on specific issues. By the time we enter the voting booth there should be little that we don't know about the candidate. Certainly we expect that they grow and adjust during this process. They sharpen their rhetorical skills and hone their policy statements. They learn to listen and assess the validity of advice. We can often see a considerable difference between the candidate as he or she entered the primary process and that candidate after nomination. However,. that is not the case with Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is no different today than he was when he announced his candidacy last July. A year on the campaign trail has taught him little and has only served to reinforce all that he is. He is mouthing the same outlandish and inappropriate statements today as he has all year. Republican are still in shock over his position as presumptive nominee. Some are so distressed that they have publicly announced that they will leave the Party and vote for Hillary. They do protest too much. After all they have been busily pushing the party in a rightward direction for over a decade. Nonetheless as I said in an earlier blog post, it's not that they disagree with what he says so much, it's that he says these things out loud. This is simply not done in polite company. The fact is, Trump is Trump and try as they will, he will remain the Trump we have seen for quite a long time. The polls are showing that Trump might have a difficult election ahead. That is wonderful. So I ask all of you who have tried in vain for the past several months to change Trump,Please let Trump be Trump!