Donald Trump continues to play his cat and mouse game with the media, appearing today in New Hampshire, but stopping short of “announcing” his candidacy for President. While insulting a reporter who asked him about declaring his candidacy (“Are you intelligent?”) Trump pointed out that with a hit TV show on the air right now, he cannot announce his intentions for a couple of weeks.
Excuse us.
Ok, fair enough. But wait, there’s more. He promises that we’ll all be surprised by the NATURE of his decision. Really? The way I see it, there are only a limited number of options:
1) He will choose not to run (unlikely)
2) He will run as a Republican (the scenario everyone expects, so…not a surprise)
3) He will run as an Independent (possible, but even he has said this will split the Republican vote and give Obama another term…so..again, not likely—UNLESS he is denied the Republican nomination: in that case he will run out of sheer ego—not to win, but to beat whomever the GOP nominates)
4) He will run against Obama in DEMOCRATIC primaries—simply to soften up Obama and weaken him enough to convince the Republican party to nominate him for the general election (this truly WOULD be a surprise)
Donald Trump doesn’t need any advice from me, but I’ll give it anyway:
STAY WITH TOPICS OF SUBSTANCE.
His stupid foray into the “birther” debate was costly to both his stature-as well as that of the Republican Party, seeing as he is leading the polls among prospective GOP candidates at the moment. Even Karl Rove considers him a joke.
Obama’s release of his birth certificate today was, in my view, a mistake. The President, alluding to Trump indirectly as a “carnival barker”, nonetheless caved in to The Donald’s incessant requests for the Chief Executive to root out and produce the elusive document that certifies that he was, indeed, Born in the U.S.A. (with apologies to Bruce Springsteen)
With Obama tackling the economy, wars abroad and a host of other important issues like the budget, it would have been understandable (and in my view desirable) to completely ignore the Trump sideshow. The longer Trump kept it up, the further he alienated himself from Independent voters and moderate Republicans. Obama and the Democrats should have milked it for all it was worth. Now, Trump is transitioning to Obama’s scholastic record, accusing him of landing in Ivy League schools under false pretenses.
Please.
Too bad for Trump, who actually has some important things to say.
While he’s a “shoot-from-the-hip” kind of guy who is unlikely to ever possess the statesmanship qualities necessary in a President, it is refreshing to hear how he would deal with China, who he accuses of “screwing us” by manipulating their currency. His proposal for a 25% levy on Chinese goods has resonated with many Americans—and his stated desire to wrest away the oil from countries we are at war with has millions of voters (paying upwards of $4.00 a gallon) listening.
While the practical implementation of many of his ideas may fall short, we like the tough talk from a guy who is sick of putting up with the exodus of manufacturing and jobs from this country.
If Obama learns anything at all, it’s that he better take a tougher stance against the Chinese, whose economy is predicted (as of yesterday) to surpass ours in the year 2016-just five years from now.
No, Trump will not be the candidate to take Obama down. He is, however, providing the Republicans with a virtual playbook of rhetoric that their eventual nominee will undoubtedly use in 2012.
Here’s a funny video monologue of Jimmy Kimmel-on Donald Trump:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCXCEht1_6A
We’ll patiently wait out the next couple of weeks---wondering what The Donald will decide to do. With his personal fortune ready to be deployed, Donald Trump cannot be ignored by Democrats OR Republicans.
Whatever the decision is, it sure as hell WON’T be boring.
If you’d like my blog in your box, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
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