 Donald Trumps momentum has nothing to do with his ability to articulate his positions or his policies. He won't win any personality contests or debates. His demeanor may be imposing and his New York brashness may put off people, but what The Donald has going for him is way bigger than he is.
What is carrying him to the White House is what he rightly described last night in the debate. It is a Movement. He said it almost as a throw away line, but it is the truth: He said to Hillary, "Why didn't you do anything about all these issues before this movement came along?" Once again, the man who has blown up all of the traditional campaign templates, who defies the pollsters, and who is for all intensive purposes a bigot, racist, arrogant and selfish real estate developer who has ripped off thousands of his employees, and a man who degrades and uses women, has once again surprised the pundits by surviving his TV confrontation with Don Hillary. Why? It is the Movement that is providing the wave Trump is riding. The Movement of voters who have decided they simply will not stick their collective heads out, to accept the empty promises of the Washington Elites, only to have the Establishment chop off their hopes... Again. Social movements, like teams that play above their talent level, are a phenomena. They can be unexplainable, because they are made up of entirely unique elements of timing and history that may never be repeatable. Trump never set out to be a politician, let alone the President. But he sensed a need, paddled in the direction of the swell, and BOOM, he dropped right in to a wave that seems to be building toward the shore. The rest of the political surfers can only watch from outside the break. |
Rick Elkin
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