Trump 2016: Are You Still Laughing?

By Rob Huckins

Listening to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speak after his slate of primary victories this week confirmed anything we really needed to know about his bid for the White House. The joke is over. Trump is gaining momentum with each passing day and he will gladly be the first to tell you so. If you thought Trump as President was a funny or at least amusing punchline last winter it’s time to take a seat and absorb the coming reality — we may not just looking at the all-but-likely GOP nominee but the 45th President of the United States. Memo to Ted Cruz and John Kasich: it’s over. Dear Hillary: get ready. It’s going to be a long slog until November. Trump is unlike any candidate we’ve seen in decades, maybe ever. And that’s exactly the source of his strength.

In full disclosure: I am not a Trump supporter and will officially go on record stating I will never vote for this man. I find him contradictory to everything I think we need and should have in a president, a shameless self promoter devoid of any nuance or the measured strength required of the office, relying more on bullying tactics and name calling than substance. I have yet to hear a cogent statement about either domestic or foreign policy, outside of building mysterious, Bunyanesque walls or the random targeting of groups here in America we should supposedly be fearful of without any supporting evidence. He demonstrates very little respect for women, minorities, people of varying religions, the disabled, virtually anyone who isn’t at least a little bit like him. That said, the rise of Trump is not only unlike anything we’ve ever seen in election memory but deeply concerning and ultimately telling about our current state of republican democracy.

The closest comparison that comes to mind is the ultimately ill-fated (and literally fatal) campaign of Louisiana wannabe-kingmaker Huey Long, a man bloated in confidence and bravado yet seen as a serious challenge to Franklin D. Roosevelt for the presidency in the 1930s. Trump is not philosophically akin to Long, not by a long shot, but the parallels are hard to ignore. The business magnate and reality show star takes on anyone in sight, Democrat or Republican or otherwise, challenging those in his wake to offer up a challenge, another reason or argument he can brush aside with a smile and wink to his expanding crowd, crushing the notion that anything but the White House is not an option worth discussing. More than that, he increasingly justifies why he sees the American presidency as a practical reality, a necessary correction to the supposed “slide” of recent years by both parties (read: Bush and Obama) into the situation which requires his campaign to “Make America Great Again”.

There are numerous aspects to his political calculus which should cause any American concern, not the least of which is the acceptance that America is no longer “great” or in fact needs drastic improvement. This isn’t to say we don’t have enormous problems and challenges that need addressing. But if any president not named Obama was armed with the current economic data under his watch, that chief executive would be deemed an unequivocal success. Moreover, the Trump campaign makes sweeping assumptions that the rest of the world doesn’t “fear” the United States anymore, or that other nations “push around” America in imagined trade room negotiations that Trump promises would end with him at the helm. The evidence for this is beyond suspect; it is so far absent entirely, allowing Trump to nitpick any example out of context to prove his case for a slow regression of American power.

Donald Trump resembles the kid who runs for class president with a sneer, providing nothing of substance, layering enough cool lines in his speech to appeal to those who want pizza and ice cream sandwiches available at every lunch. I don’t think everyone who supports Trump is stupid. I really don’t. This is a lazy point of criticism levied by the left and others who find no other option to oppose Trump’s bizarre and meteoric rise than ridiculing those who fuel its wake. It would be easier to explain away Trump’s ascent if this were the case. But it’s not. I honestly think most Trump supporters care about America and it’s future. I think they love their families and jobs and have great concerns about the future of this country. But I also think more than anything, they are scared. Of everything. If anyone thinks the majority of Trump’s support hasn’t bought into his fear mongering and image of an America under assault by mysterious forces abroad and at home isn’t paying attention. It’s an entirely different vibe, a ethereal but very raw energy resembling some impassioned, fraternal order of some higher purpose than political base. In some circles, this would fulfill the definition of a cult. He cuts close to the bone every chance he gets. At his rallies. In his speeches. In his jokes. The personal insults. The cavalier attitude about how difficult being President really is.

But it doesn’t seem to matter. The picture is clear. Trump says and does whatever he wants. To any end he feels necessary. He pushes the envelope as far as he thinks possible, then some more. And nobody challenges him. Which is another problem, and one that can’t be blamed on Trump: he hasn’t had to present anything of substance because nobody’s demanded anything of him. The resistance of Cruz or the GOP or any other entity to punch back at Trump illustrates his appeal; he’s managed to shut them up for the most part, bullying them into a polite silence which permeates most any debate or public exchange where voters might actually be able to discern some difference between Trump and all the other mostly reasonable people participating in this race.

This is a different election cycle, possibly an outlier for all time, one which demands a different approach to winning, one incongruous with any we’ve seen in recent years but one here nonetheless, a race waiting for someone to take the lead, provide a sensible choice, give a reason for one’s vote, make a case for leadership, but that has yet to happen. Except when it comes to Trump. He’s managed to turn this GOP nomination cycle into his own personal circus, a coronation for his “no nonsense” approach to “winning”, to make “huge” gains in not only getting the GOP nomination but the White House, too. Trump doesn’t aspire to the White House because of its grandeur and magnitude, but because he disdains the position as a necessary mechanism for his own vision. The presidency isn’t a higher calling for Trump; he thinks the job is mostly bullshit, but figures what the hell, nobody else can do it like he could so he might as well do it.

Up to this week, conventional wisdom had any GOP candidate falling easily to Clinton in the general election and early poll data doesn’t deviate from that prediction. But not everyone agrees and more than one reputable political think tank projects Trump as a “likely” winner come November if he gets the GOP nomination, a fact that would seem confounding if it wasn’t increasingly gaining credence based upon recent developments. New York. Delaware. Maryland. Connecticut. Pennsylvania. Not a total shock given his association with those states but nonetheless concerning. This isn’t a joke anymore, America. Either you want a Trump presidency or you don’t. It was amusing to think about Trump in the White House last year. But consider this: he will be making serious decisions about serious issues, domestic and foreign. Executive orders. Supreme Court nominations. Pardons. Trade policy. Intervention (or not) in foreign lands. The image of America abroad and its domestic affairs are in flux. This is underway with or without Trump. He didn’t invent these problems. But if elected, he will get at least four years to run the gamut of executive powers in true Trump fashion.

Many Trump opponents like to compare his rise to that of Adolf Hitler’s In 1930s Germany. This is not accurate, historically or politically. Hitler rose to power by disguising his true intent. Trump isn’t hiding anything so far. A more accurate picture perhaps comes from one of our greatest fiction writers, Philip Roth, who posited the scenario of Charles Lindbergh winning the presidency in his novel “The Plot Against America”. In the novel, Lindbergh’s touch was everywhere but soft. He didn’t do anything. Everyone else did. And the results were chilling. Trump reminds me of the fictional Lindbergh, except much more boisterous and cutting. There hasn’t been anything like what a Trump presidency could portend. Not even close. A famous political axiom claims we deserve our politicians, especially our presidents. But we deserve better than Donald Trump. Unless he is elected this November. If that happens, then we have no one else to blame but ourselves.