Donald Trump’s tactic in business is to tell people about his success, and begin negotiations from the most ridiculous, or extreme, position. The reason being, if he compromises from crazy, then it is likely that he will get the better-end of the deal.
Imagine you were interested in buying a Trump brand car from a Trump dealership. You have looked the car over and done your research and before you even ask Donald how much he wants for the car, you have a pretty good idea that the car has a retail value of around $15,000. Trump being Trump, he tells you that he wants $33,500 for the car; it is a Trump after all. Don’t forget you are buying the name.
In the end, if he agrees to take as little as $16,000 for the car, then you feel great because you paid him less than half of what he was asking, you got close to what you wanted to pay, and you get to drive around in a Trump. And Trump feels great because he made $1,000 more than he needed and he knows you are now a brand ambassador. This is Trump’s “The Art of The Deal” in a nutshell.
The biggest mistake anyone can make in a business negotiation is to become emotional. If you show the salesman your cards; the fact that you are in love with the car and would be willing to pay the asking price because you just have to have it and can’t walk away, then the salesman wins.
Trump supporters have made this fatal mistake. They have become emotionally invested in their candidate, and now he knows that he “could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose their support.” They have already committed to buying their car for the asking price and they have surrendered all the leverage they would have had in any remaining negotiation.
As a result, the “Alt-Right” Trump supporters are standing inside the showroom yelling at the “Rest-of-the-Right” in the car lot who are not yet sold on Trump cars, and still willing to walk away from a bad deal.
The “Rest-of-the-Right” are willing to walk away, even though everyone knows that there may not be any other cars, anywhere, left to buy. But they know that if they step into the showroom, then they can’t get anything else out of Trump. They understand “The Art of The Deal.”
The truth is that everyone on the car lot (desperately) wants to buy a car from Trump. They certainly have no interest in Clinton’s cars, and they can’t imagine a more sickening experience than having to haggle over the price with her. But in their gut, they just don’t trust a salesman like Trump, they are not impressed by the Trump brand, and they hate to give him the satisfaction of acquiescing so easy. And… They just want more out of their car, and maybe even some kind of warranty.
The yelling from the showroom is not helping. They shout; “You can’t buy from Clinton! What are you thinking? Where are you going to go? Make the deal already! Get in here!” They are turning this negotiation with Trump into a war of attrition, and the atmosphere will ultimately hurt Trump’s sales. Not everyone is comfortable with the high pressure and high stakes, and many are starting to think they might be able to live without a car altogether.
The “Alt-Right” are the “Early Adopters.” (See Technology Adoption Life Cycle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_adoption_life_cycle) They signed up with Trump in the very beginning because he was not a politician and he used different language. He sold them early, and they paid premium prices to be the first with the cool new product. But that product, Trump the candidate, is starting to have problems with quality control and consistency. The early adopters are frustrated with this fact and the stalled sales (especially since the competition is so pathetic). Still, they can’t help but realize that the company may go out of business if sales don’t increase.
Trump’s supporters committed early because he was not a politician, but they overlooked the fact that he was a salesman. Without a commitment to principles, there is no difference between the two.
Trump may get his “Late Majority” for no other reason than time will run out, and the voters will have nowhere else to go. But if there is voter’s remorse with President Trump, then the left will capitalize on the division and never allow “the-whole-of-the-right” to recover. The Right will not be allowed to pick the President ever again if Trump turns out to be a lemon. The stakes are high, and the shameless promotion is not making anyone’s decision easier.
