Donald Trump has proven a lot of things we didn’t know, or weren’t willing to admit, about our electoral process. Like, for example, that ideology doesn’t matter a single iota to a plurality of voters. Because Trump has none. And that yelling really loudly and giving people nicknames is…an effective strategy.
But it’s so nice to see order returning to the political process and to see someone who has no idea what he’s doing flounder and grasp for a foothold in what increasingly looks like a death spiral. It restores some of my confidence in a process designed specifically to prevent the Donald Trumps of the world from becoming President.
First, hat’s off to new Trump campaign apologist Kellyanne Conway. If I close my eyes and don’t focus on reality, she says a lot of things that feel – down in my soul – like they might be true. Hillary is closed off! She doesn’t hold press conferences! We don’t know anything about her! She’s planning not to engage with the American people because she’s already ahead! Trump is debating ideas, Hillary is just attacking Trump!
Those ideas feel true, but they, um, they aren’t. Hillary has detailed her plans and policy proposals over and over and over. Hell, she’s been in the public eye for the better part of the last three decades. She’s been subjected to half a billion dollars’ worth of investigations. We are literally reading her private emails on a daily basis. Does she need to hold press conferences? Are we going to learn new information? Doubtful. And coming from a candidate who banned the Washington Post from his press pool, yeah, let’s talk about who closes off the press. Hillary has been debating ideas from the start. When she attacks Trump, it’s idea based: the idea that Donald Trump shouldn’t be near the Presidency. Also, Trump’s biggest idea so far is to unveil policy proposals “in the coming weeks.” He’s running out of weeks in which to do that. But this doesn’t matter in the idea vortex.
But that’s really at the heart of Trump’s campaign, and it always has been. This latest campaign reset/pivot/what-have-you is just slapping a new label on the snake oil. Trump understands that what he says doesn’t matter because people don’t like Clinton so they’ll believe whichever of his five hundred positions works for them. It’s brazen and it’s shameless, and it might have worked a few months ago. But when you get the free air time Trump has had, suddenly pretending you’re the friend of black voters…it falls on deaf ears. Trump’s campaign has always been a black hole of ideas, devoid of policy prescriptions, out of touch with reality, built around tweetable buzzwords and axioms like “Build the wall!” and “Mexico will pay for it!” and “We’re gonna win!” That’s barely a functional life ethos; it’s certainly not a governing philosophy for a country. It’s an idea vortex.
So his polls numbers sinking, his campaign in disarray, what did he do? He spun the vortex faster than ever. We’re going to enforce existing immigration laws, but also build the wall, and deport everyone, except just the bad ones, but no amnesty, but maybe a path forward out of the shadows, but also rapists and killers, but very great people, I mean look at the taco bowl, or the violent criminals. It’s misdirection on a scale that makes me actually dizzy. Because once ideas don’t matter, we’re voting on personality, and people don’t like Hillary Clinton. Once facts are gone, we’re voting on the ephemeral idea of an abstract President, and Trump feels like a better conception of a President. He feels honest, even as he’s lied brazenly and openly over and over and over and over and over. He apologized, sort of, publicly, without actually naming what he did wrong. Because he doesn’t know that he did anything wrong. Clinton is a trained lawyer and politician, and a very very good one. That’s why – even if she’s done all of the horrible shit people imagine – no one can pin anything on her. But that feels like she’s playing us. Trump feels genuine even as he’s simultaneously promising to soften his immigration stance and absolutely not soften his immigration stance. The idea vortex spins.
Clinton has armies of people crafting her policy proposals. Trump is just now getting briefed on why we can’t use the nuclear first strike. The Democratic primary was an idea-based primary between a moderated liberalism (as espoused by Clinton) and an aggressive version of Democratic Socialism (as espoused by Sanders). Those debates were frankly so in the weeds on policy I got bored. The GOP debates – with the bizarre exceptions of Rubio’s Gang of 8 legislation and the numbers of H-1B visas – was a children’s pissing contest where the size of Donald Trump’s penis was actually discussed on stage. But Kellyanne only wants to talk about ideas. I look forward to her pulling them from the depths of the swirling, undulating maelstrom that is Donald Trump’s demagoguery.
Don’t worry, though. Whatever version of Donald Trump you want, that’s the version he is. He has, at some point, taken a stance on everything that you agree with. We’re dropping out of NATO (or not), he’s pro-choice (or not), he wants to tax the wealthy (or not), he’s anti-free trade (or not), he loves women (or not), he’s not racist (or he is), he loves Hispanics (except all of the murderers), he’ll soften his stance (but keep the wall). His ideas are to be determined! Trust him! In the next 75 days he will definitely take a solid stance on everything (or not). Because that’s the truth at the heart of Donald Trump’s candidacy: be all things to all people and let them vote for whatever idea they like best. Because the truth is he has no fixed ideology, no firm positions. And once you forget that, you can just vote against Hillary Clinton because boooooo she’s evil. Or whatever.
Welcome to the idea vortex, the gaping maw of Trump’s campaign. Try not to get lost – it’s dangerous here.
Chris Talks Politics 2016! 