Explaining Donald Trump

By Tim Dunkin

For the last six weeks or so, Donald Trump has been The Phenomenon in the Republican primary battle. He's been the guy getting all the attention. He's been the candidate who has sucked away the oxygen from all the rest like a forest fire. He's built up a pretty sizeable fan base with his bombastic attacks on illegal immigration, the GOP establishment, and the sorry state of American politics in general. The political establishment absolutely hates him: The Republican "leadership" hates him for taking the discussion about issues outside of the narrow comfort zone they were trying to force it into, and the Democrats hate him because he's "woke up" a lot of otherwise apathetic people in this country and gotten them to thinking about things like how bad illegal immigration and "free" trade are for them. It has gotten so bad that Fox News had to send out their reliably establishmentarian hack Megyn Kelly to alternately play the attack dog and the wounded lamb in an effort to kneecap The Donald.

Now, I am not a Trump supporter. Personally, I believe he will end up flaming out, and his past history of support for Hillary, for Democrats, for government-run health care, and more preclude me from viewing him as an actual candidate I could get behind. BUT, Trump has served an extremely useful purpose. He has shaken up the race. He has definitely rattled the cages of the inside-the-beltway crowd of media talking heads and mealy-mouthed political hacks. For this reason, I cannot help but be positive toward him. Donald Trump has generated so much attention and enthusiasm because he's something we haven't seen in a long time – a viable contender who isn't part of the Washington elite of hacks, lackeys, grinders, and backstabbers. I think it is a sad testimony to the state of the Republican Party as an institution when a multi-billionaire is the one in their party that people feel they can relate to the most.

So how to explain the Donald Phenomenon? How is it that this guy – out of everyone out there – has managed to grab such a huge amount of support and create so much buzz?

Well, let's consider that one of the most consistent arguments against Trump is that he's not "polished," he's not "serious." Of course, what the media types and politicos mean by this is that "he's not like us." Trump, though obviously a rich semi-liberal from the Northeast, doesn't quite fit in with the sort of limp-wristed, hand-wringing folks who dominate the political circuit across the board. And that's why a lot of Americans in flyover country like him.

Let's face it – Donald Trump is what you would get if you took a steelworker or auto mechanic or coal miner, give him five billion dollars, and told him to run for President. He'd be brash. He'd be crass and probably more than a bit crude. He wouldn't be polished. He wouldn't appeal to the sensibilities of the wine and cheese crowd. But you know what? Neither would any of US out here in flyover country, either. And that's where a good part of his appeal starts. Even though he has more real dollars than the US Treasury has left, he still comes off as being the sort of everyman, tells-it-like-it-is backslapper that many folks would hang out with down at the bar or out at the ballgame.

Sure, the political/media elites call Trump a "buffoon," a "bozo," and a "clown." Maybe he is. But the reason they're calling him that, ultimately, is because he's not like them, he doesn't reflect the sort of culture that they do. But then again, neither would most steelworkers, auto mechanics, coal miners, or any of the rest of us who actually work for a living. The politicos and media types would think that 85% of us out here in flyover country were clowns, bozos, and buffoons too.

So many of the common folks identify with Trump. This is also because Trump evidently shares the attitude held by most Americans toward the "political game." You know what I mean by that. The political game is the carefully choreographed circuit of political talk shows, polling, sound bites, and elitist-established limits of what you can and cannot say in "polite discourse." The political game has been artfully set into place so as to keep any expression of the real opinions held by Americans of the wrong sort (you know, like you and me) from having influence. It's there to reinforce the Democrat/establishment Republican version of how American politics should work. And frankly, most Americans think it's ridiculous and laughable.

Donald Trump kicked off his presidential bid by basically blowing those limits away. See, one of the things that you're not supposed to talk about in "polite" political discourse is how bad illegal immigration is for America, and how much damage illegal immigrants have been doing to our society. Politicians are supposed to address illegal immigration by talking about how hard working these "guests" are (a somewhat dubious assertion, actually), about how much they deserve a fair shake and an opportunity to "come out of the shadows," and how they're really all just good people who should be given the chance to obtain legal status and "take part in the American dream." If you don't say these things, and especially if you contradict them, then you're "racist" and a "bigot."

Donald Trump threw that script right out the window. He addressed illegal immigrants (and the context of his comments shows he was talking about illegals, not ALL people from Latin America), pointing out that they really are doing damage to our society. And you know what? He was absolutely right. Let's face it – there really and truly is no such thing as a "good illegal immigrant," by definition. They are all criminals who have violated American sovereignty and broken our laws. Illegal immigrants actually DO make a disproportionately large contribution to the levels of crime in this country. Illegals have been bringing in all kinds of diseases that we thought we had pretty much eliminated from the United States. Illegals are line-jumpers who just push to the front and rob those who are trying to do it the right way and immigrate here legally. Far from being noble souls simply looking for a better life, illegal immigrants are selfish jerks.

In being right in his criticisms of illegal immigration, The Donald was saying what a majority of people out here in the boonies were ourselves thinking and saying – except we don't get a microphone and a national forum. The political class was aghast – but again, that's because he broke the rules of the game that they think everyone should have to follow. He doesn't follow those rules, and they hate him for it.

Which leads to another reason for Trump's appeal – he presents himself as a real man. He's the sort of take-charge, get it done, doesn't brook any foolishness type of person who does very well in big business, with its wheeling and dealing and highly-charged competitive atmosphere. Someone like that is not going to be easily tamed by a bunch of "rules of polite discourse," or those who make them. The mealy-mouths in the media and the establishment can't handle someone like him.

Even among the other Republican candidates, the difference is pretty obvious. Donald Trump is the one alpha man in a room full of beta males (excepting Carly Fiorina, of course). He speaks his mind and takes charge, while the other candidates smile blandly, speak their sound bites, and hope not to get savaged too badly by the talking heads on the evening shows. Even my own choice, Ted Cruz, while being very smart, very knowledgeable, and very capable, still comes off looking like a preschool-dad beta-provider in comparison.

And frankly, people want leadership. That was a huge part of Reagan's appeal, too. I'm not saying The Donald is the next Ronald Reagan – he's not, as his underlying ideology and his inarticulateness show – but he does project that same image of self-confidence, assurance, and masculinity. And that's what the majority of folks in middle America want – they want a leader, not some metrosexual twit like Jeb Bush or John Kasich.

In summation, yes, I can understand the appeal that Donald Trump has for a lot of people. He's not the kind of person who would make a good President, but he is the kind of person that middle Americans can identify with and whom they will like. I don't believe for a minute that Trump will get the Republican nomination. But I do think that he has served an inestimably more valuable purpose in shaking up the race, forcing the Republicans out of their box, bringing the illegal immigration issue back into public awareness, and serving as a focal point to articulate and direct the anger of regular Americans against the sclerotic and out of touch politico-media establishment in Washington.

© Tim Dunkin