NBC’s Chuck Todd is unhappy with Donald Trump:
“This is the problem with Trump,” Todd said. “He doesn’t play by a set of rules. And this is why campaigns complain to folks like me off the record but they don’t have the guts to criticize him on the record because they know he’s kind of a media bully. You know what I mean? He doesn’t — he plays by his own set of rules. He’ll say whatever. He’ll go on any platform to say it.”
Todd expressed concern for the Republican party, saying he doesn’t want the Republican primary turned into a “three-ring circus.” Todd said a Trump candidacy is “not fair” to this cycle’s strong Republican cycle.
“I don’t want to see the Republican primary race or any presidential race turn into a three-ring circus and us, you know, sitting there going isn’t this great?” Todd lamented. “And look at the shiny metal objects. It’s not fair to what is the strongest Republican party presidential field in 36 years.”
Todd’s condescension and crocodile tears aside…what is wrong with a candidate — any candidate — playing by a different set of rules?
As Jeff Greenfield points out, we’ve been here before with people like Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger…because it was voters who broke the so-called “rules”:
For those now supporting Trump—and they are a minority of a minority as of now—his nascent campaign seems to be acting as the Ventura campaign and the California recall did: providing a mechanism to turn a fever of disaffection into action. And from that sense of possibility, the chance to redefine what political plausibility means, comes an overt, enthusiastic rejection of the “norms” of politics. Does he flaunt his wealth? Then he doesn’t have to suck up to rich, powerful influence-buyers. Does he hurl insults left, right and center? Like the Minnesotan said about Jesse Ventura, “I don’t put up with a lot of stuff, and neither does he.” In fact, most of us have to put with a lot of stuff—from bosses, bureaucrats, family—which makes Trump an object of admiration, for his ability to tell pretty much everyone to go to hell). Does he blatantly contradict his past views? Hell, every politician lies, or tells us what the think we want to hear. He’s smart enough not to take all that stuff seriously. If all of his fellow candidates disowned him, if established conservative voices tried to read him out of the movement, as William Buckley did to the John Birch Society, it would only be proof that they are resistant to an honest outsider. If a modern day equivalent of Joseph Welch asked Trump, as Welch did of Joe McCarthy, “Have you no sense of decency?” Trump would likely respond, “I don’t need any lectures from a stuffed shirt wrinkled old geezer!” And his backers would cheer him on.
Indeed they would. Does this mean Trump will sweep to victory? Doubtful. But his campaign, so far, has provided one extremely important service…
It has shown the utter lack of a unifying, galvanizing, GOP message.
Think about it. What does the national party stand for today (never mind the Virginia JV)?
Aside from “we aren’t the other guys,” I have no idea.
Trump has the critique down pat. The current political class is intellectually and morally bankrupt. it is The Problem (nevermind when it began, how it perpetuated or what role voters played in making matters worse). His solution: “Make America Great Again.”
Simple. Optimistic. Fits on a hat or a bumpersticker.
If this is a threat, or unfair, to the “strongest Republican party presidential field in 36 years,” tough. The rest of the GOP field needs to work harder and smarter. Or at least show they’ve got a pulse.
