You know, as a lifelong satirist and all around general sarcastic wise ass, if there are two things I have long ago learned to love, it is irony and karma. And never has it been more on display than in The Orange Julius’ run for President.
Full disclosure, I owe this diary to someone who stopped in to comment in my DIARY yesterday about Trump throwing away any hopes of Hispanic support. They said something about how what amazed him or her was the speed of Trump’s pivots on the same subject during the same day,
This started me thinking, which is always a dangerous thing! Trump has built his whole political structure on “earned media”. He spent less in his primary run than almost any serious candidate, and most certainly any winning candidate in history. He has continued that habit into the general election. He has eschewed spending money on advertising and continued to hold large rallies instead, counting on the media coverage to get his word out.
There is just one problem with this, and it’s in the old adage, “Be careful what you wish for”! The problem is that when you court the media to cover you all the time, if they accede to it, you will be covered all the time. And therein lies the danger.
Politics 101 tells you right off of the bat that you never step on your applause line. Even as a dumbass hockey player, when I scored a goal, I took time celebrating with my teammates and getting back to center ice or the bench, let the cheering wash over me. Trump made an unexpected trip to Mexico to kiss and cuddle with the Mexican President. At least he didn’t step on his crank, and he even had some of the more feeble talking heads opining about how diplomatic and Presidential he looked.
So, what does a Presidential candidate do next? Easy, you Shut The F*ck Up! Sit back and bask in the glory as the media fluffs you on national television. You don’t turn around less than 5 hours later and stomp all over your applause! But that doesn’t work here. The media is just a partial fix. Trump needed the “sugar high” of his fans screaming for him. This would have been fine if it wasn’t covered start to finish by the media as a “policy speech”. His Phoenix speech completely overshadowed any positive vibes he may have gotten from the Mexico City trip.
This has been a continuing problem with Der Trumpkopf. His almost Sahara thirst for adulation has slapped him in the past. He says one thing in a speech, and then takes to Twitter a couple of hours later and says some lame brained thing that step all over the effect of his speech. Hillary gets hit with bad press, and Trump immediately makes a statement or Tweets something outrageous to get the cycle back to him. It is almost pathological at this point.
The title of the diary says it all, Trump is his own worst enemy. His constant need for applause and admiration leads him to even overpower a “good” cycle for him if it doesn’t give him the gratification he so desperately needs. This will not change. And as a result his campaign will continue to implode under the incredible pressure that his thirst for self gratification puts on it, and hopefully he takes the whole goddamn GOP with him!
Thanks as always for reading!