With Trump, Chances
of GOP Win will 'Diminish by the Day' (Frankfurter Rundschau, Germany)
"'Politainment' definitely has a bright side. The dark side
is Donald Trump. Since the voter-audience is now more than ever oriented toward
wit and originality, he who offers it will win; and at the moment, no one's wit
is quicker or sharper than Trump's. If he stays in the presidential race he
will drive the Republicans to distraction - and their chances of conquering the
White House will decrease with each passing day."
U.S. Republicans have long awaited this
moment: The administration of President Barack Obama is coming to an end; and
after reconquering the House of Representatives and Senate, they may hope to
retake the White House. It's a pleasant horizon after two bitter election
defeats of Republican candidates by the hated Obama. The president, who stands
for everything conservatives in America abhor: a groundbreaking health care
reform that is no less than the most important social reform of last 50 years, a
generous immigration laws, gun control and marriage for all, climate
protection, military restraint and diplomatic solutions with arch enemies Cuba
and Iran.
So finally the Republicans could hope put an end to this
horror - but now! … instead of a primary campaign in which candidates spar
acceptably and win votes with their proposals, and of course, with their
fabulous biographies that show they have come a long way and risen up from
humble beginnings - which is why they want to give something back to America, a
formula which virtually no election campaign can do without - the primary
campaign has already deteriorated into a clown show. This time, Republicans
didn't need as many candidates as they had four years ago. At the time, Michele
Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich all briefly stirred
excitement and earned the top spot in the polls before their campaigns imploded
quicker than an old tube television.
Fears of the
conservative White underclass
This spectacle damaged the party so thoroughly - and its
eventual nominee Mitt Romney - that from a Republican point of view, it should
never be repeated. Back then, Donald Trump, egomaniacal multi-billionaire and
successful TV reality show host also considered a candidacy. This is a man who
knows no shame, who alternately insults his fellow party members by calling
them clowns, losers, stupid, or ugly; who is unafraid of ruining his ties to
the political elite, because he himself belongs to the economic elite - and in
any case considers himself a genius.
Trump's performances dominate the media – and to widespread voter
approval. He leads all the polls by wide margins. The other candidates, however,
are barely able to get their messages across. In this sense, the first Republican
debate was a Trump show. Nine career politicians attempting to expose him as a
charlatan, and media professional Trump sent them like first graders to stand
in the corner.
However, Trump's success is by no means out of the blue. With
his resentment toward immigrants and society's losers he enunciates common
ideas supported by Republicans. For decades the party has stood for social
exclusion and fighting against state social benefits because they primarily assist
minorities – in other words, primarily Blacks and Latinos. With his tirades,
Trump benefits from the concerns of a poorly educated conservative White
underclass that rightly fears job losses to immigrants. His arguments are all
the more convincing to these Republican voters because they are coming from a
political outsider who has nothing to do with the Washington establishment; and
because, as Trump likes to emphasize, he is "really rich" and
successful. Seventy percent of potential voters have confidence in his economic
competence. This base would prefers one says what one
thinks - but doesn't care if that makes it impossible to win against the Democrats.
Oriented toward wit
and originality
However, there is yet another reason for Trump's rise: the
trend toward "politainment" - a combination
of politics and entertainment. While Marilyn Monroe's birthday song for John F.
Kennedy was exceptional at the time, ever since Bill Clinton's saxophone number
on the Arsenio Hall Show in 1992, leading politicians
have tried to reach voters with appearances on entertainment programs. A quick-witted
comment on the talk show of David Letterman or Jimmy Fallon easily displaces a
good speech in Congress. No one understands that better than Barack Obama. He made
eight appearances on Letterman alone, and seven with satirist Jon Stewart; he
even appeared with Zach Galifianakis, whose comedy show
only runs on the Internet - and with great success. On Galifianakis'
program, Obama had the opportunity to publicize his health care reform and saw
results the very next day, with thousands of new applicants signing up for
health insurance.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
So politainment definitely has a bright
side. The dark side is Donald Trump. Since the voter-audience is now more than
ever oriented toward wit and originality, he who offers it will win; and at the
moment, no one's wit is quicker or sharper than Trump's. If he stays in the
presidential race he will drive the Republicans to distraction - and their
chances of conquering the White House will decrease with each passing day.
