By DOUG IBENDAHL • January 11, 2016
Donald Trump’s message to a humiliated media establishment and the who’s who list of has-beens and lickspittles desperately struggling to shore-up the likes of Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Marco Rubio couldn’t be clearer.
Trump reminds one a bit of Oliver Cromwell admonishing England’s Rump Parliament in 1653 with these words:
“You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go.”
But we can abandon all hope that this nation’s dying newspapers or failed political class are ever going to get it. They’ve been announcing Donald Trump’s demise from the moment he launched his candidacy back in June of last year.
Not only do they lack the honesty to admit they’ve been colossally wrong, but let’s face it, there’s also a major jealousy thing going on. Trump the newcomer is making politics look easy even as the so-called professionals have everyone wondering what exactly do these people do all day to become so out of touch.
Rather than reevaluate, the Trump haters now take the fallback position that Trump is simply a magnet for the poorly educated and the intolerant. Every sentence Trump speaks is picked-apart in the desperate hope of finding new fodder for the next round of hysterical attacks.
But the more hysterical the attacks become, the more massive Trump’s rallies get.
It all makes perfect sense to me.
Trump’s supporters are actually the smartest people out there. They recognized early on that this election - more so than probably any other in our lifetime - is about competence. And when they study the field in both parties for someone who has actually demonstrated competence in the real world – as opposed to just repeating the same tired platitudes – the only person they see is Donald Trump.
In Trump they see someone who made a large fortune, but someone who did it by building a lot of tangible things and creating thousands of real jobs. Trump is assembling a diverse coalition of support from across American society.
In a real way Trump’s putting the Ronald Reagan band back together again.
Average Americans believe Trump is on their side. It’s no small accomplishment for a billionaire to win that kind of trust. But it’s natural for any wage slave to admire and see her or himself in the brassy real estate developer, born and raised in Queens, who worked hard and basically forced even the snobbiest of Manhattan elites to accept and respect him.
That’s why for example Trump has the street cred to go after hedge fund managers and other Wall Street barons. Trump essentially says, “Hey I’ve been on the inside and I’ve beaten these people before. Let me show you how we’ll beat them together.”
It’s brilliant messaging which has the benefit of coming from a credible source.
Trump is the guy shrewd voters want representing them at the negotiating table – regardless of whether it’s China, Iran, Russia, or any of this country’s special interests on the other side of that table.
Americans feel like they know Trump well. He had already built a strong brand before announcing his candidacy, thanks to decades in the public eye and an enormously popular television show. That’s why the hysterical attacks don’t work. In the past it was always easy for the kingmakers and their money to destroy an insurgent candidate. In Trump’s case they’ve certainly tried, but his combination of press savvy, independent funding, and most importantly, a spine, have utterly discombobulated an ineffectual political establishment and its corrupt media enablers.
Trump has changed the game to such an extent that we’re witnessing something truly historic. The losing candidates don’t even try to lay a glove on the frontrunner anymore. Instead they scurry around attacking fellow candidates who are also way back in the pack.
Trump has put all of his haters on notice that he’ll stand up for himself. He’s almost never the one to draw first blood. But when he’s attacked, he fights back. Trump is the opposite of a pushover and thinking voters recognize that’s key for a president, especially in an increasingly dangerous world.
Trump has also clearly articulated why a president must be a strong negotiator. It’s a key element of his campaign but one his haters still don’t understand.
Well it just so happens we have a person in this race who literally wrote the book on negotiating. The windbags might have less egg on their faces today had they read The Art of the Deal before spouting-off about Trump having no chance in this race.
But Trump’s supporters get it. And they’ve seen what happens when the GOP goes with a milquetoasty nominee. This time the smart money is on the fighter.
Trump is winning because most Americans recognize they’ve had horrible representation at the negotiating table for many years. And in the case of rank-and-file Republicans, the disgust and disappointment with elected Republicans now typically surpasses even the dislike of President Obama.
Instead of hitting a ceiling as the discredited pontificators predicted, support for Trump continues to rise as more and more people become convinced that for the first time in a long time, they would have a real seat at the table under a President Trump.
Not only a seat at the table, but representation by a tough, expert negotiator who would actually stand-up for regular Americans and aggressively fight for them.
Doug Ibendahl is a Chicago Attorney and a former General Counsel of the Illinois Republican Party.
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