Meet the Press
Donald Trump has so exceeded the expectations and fears of this election season with his steady diet of shock and awe bluster, that we forget how broadly he has changed the political equation. If you’re not a fan, there’s plenty of meat for hope. His “facts”, petty gotcha threats, and lurid stupidities lull us into a sense that this is one of those dreams when you are trying to sleep in. But week after week we never quite wake up.
The media love him. He’s made the Republican Party swallow the most moderate set of candidates since Rockefeller gave up and became Ford’s vice president. Bear in mind that the primaries and caucuses are there to winnow and rank the field, then establish voting blocks to be traded for cabinet posts and ultimately the Vice Presidential nomination at or just before the convention. That’s why the New Hampshire Union Leader chose Chris Christie as their candidate before the nation’s first primary. Good in a crisis; crosses party lines in a hurricane; just think what happens if Trump offers him #2.
Do the math: Trump can hold his 30% which can get him the nomination, but only if he neutralizes the Goldwater frame that the party regulars think they have up their sleeve. It’s the oh my god he’s gonna blow up the world frame, and having Ted Cruz as VP is not going to help there. Christie is a logical Biden for Trump, and if that doesn’t get your attention you aren’t still reading.
But Trump won’t offer him the slot, you say. He doesn’t have to. Christie has to use the Union Leader endorsement to move up, coming in a moderate second place or even strong third place. Jeb Bush would have to blunt Christie’s move, but remember that he is another centrist in Trump’s new party and a threat directly to Donald for the big job. Donald won’t back off his case which is that Jeb doesn’t have the stones for the job. Christie is not a threat, unless you remember that Cheney/Bush ticket.
The press is rooting for Trump and his ratings power. Because he has the money, he doesn’t need to spend any of it now. The other candicates are slowly figuring out that a frontal assault on him for #1 only provides him more earned media while fragmenting theirs. The winning strategy they have is to play for #2 and let Donald play with his 30%. That race begins today.
