Donald Trump will win all the conservative states this November plus at least five more he’s not supposed to win. And it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a landslide victory over Hillary Clinton.
There’s something about Trump that most experienced politicians and political pundits just don’t understand: Judgment. Trump has effectively defeated one of the most politically qualified field of Republicans (17 in total) we’ve seen in decades using only his judgment and a small amount of money. He breaks all the rules; he makes mistakes. For all of his flaws, he appears to be real, uninfluenced by political punditry and handlers - and people love that.
Judgment and empathy is severely missing from conservative politics. We don’t have to agree with the other side on issues, but we certainly should empathize with them. We should use good judgment to appeal (really ‘manipulate’) to them for compromise. Liberals are emotional and rarely logical. In politics, it’s easy to empathize with emotional people and manipulate those emotions for favorable compromise. Conservatives never do this; we try to appeal to emotional people with logic. Part of Trump’s judgment is his empathy. This is how he controls (manipulates) the media and will defeat Clinton.
You can label his rhetoric and beliefs as bigoted, homophobic, xenophobic or demagoguery if you wish. But, you’d missing why Trump won. Trump won because the silent majority of this country actually believes in what he is saying and has been afraid to speak their minds and push back.
This silent majority has been beaten into submission by the left’s outrage circus for the past two decades. We’ve been told to shut up, sit down and be quiet. The consequences for not obeying have been riots, protests, boycotts and firings. In other words, “if you oppose political correctness, we’ll get you fired.” There hasn’t been enough of us committed to pushing back until now. Trump single-handedly has empowered each of these people to be able to speak their minds again. They’ve been silent for years.
Many pundits find the Republicans’ polarizing debate as bad for the country and the party. They are wrong. Some of the greatest advances I’ve had in family and in business are a result of a heated argument or battle. Those moments extinguish damaging resentments the same as tremors release pressure that prevents a massive earthquake. In other words, if we don’t passionately argue about our challenges, we’ll never overcome them.
Let me take you back to February of this year. The Republican field had devolved into chaos. By contrast, the Democratic field was ‘playing nice’ and behaving very orderly. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton were agreeing with each other on the debate stage. It appeared the Republican convention in July would be utter chaos as a result of a brokered or contested convention permanently dividing the party. Fast forward to today. There is just one remaining Republican candidate: Donald Trump. He’s the nominee. By contrast, the Democratic Party is now in chaos and the voters have yet to determine which candidate they want.
It’s only when you litigate and resolve major issues, as the Republican Party has, that you begin to reach your potential. The Republican Party has been afraid to tell the truth to American voters since the era of Ronald Reagan. As a result, it has isolated itself. That changed this year as Trump received more votes than any other Republican in history (in a primary).
The more the people cut through the clutter of media punditry, bruised political egos and the left’s political correctness circus to find the real Donald Trump, the more they liked him. I’ve watched people in my own family and sphere of influence move from #nevertrump to #trumptrain over the course of the last six months.
For most Americans, the political process is boring. Trump brought excitement and entertainment. The political class has no idea how to function in this chaos which explains why they reject people like Trump. But, the American people enjoyed this spectacle - and, they paid attention. As they watched ‘Presidential Celebrity Apprentice’ they realized they were empowered to sit in Trump Tower, in his chair, and say ‘You’re Hired’ or “You’re Fired.’ One by one, the anointed candidates with the best political resumes were fired.
Trump played the media like a fiddle. The media, political-class and punditry played the same old tired and boring game they normally play. The voters fired them too and made their own decisions. The more we were told to be offended, that we must stop him and that he was an existential threat the more the people coalesced around Trump. Every single effort to silence the people failed.
This year, in the Republican Party, the people took control. By contrast, the establishment is in control of the Democratic Party. This will not bode well for Clinton.
Trump is blunt, a fighter and a winner. While the losers focused on his failures (bankruptcy, Trump steaks, Trump University, et. al) the winner focused on winning.
If Hillary Clinton has one campaign rally, Trump will have three. She will be on her heels, in defense for most of the next five months. Clinton will be too slow waiting on her handlers to advise her what to say next (or in response). She’ll hit Trump hard on occasions and he’ll strike back twice as hard. Trump will disrupt what are normally calm, sit-down presidential debates with a shock factor Clinton can’t match. When Trump is hit, he’ll strike back with a history lesson: Monica Lewinsky, Juanita Broaderick, Kathleen Willie, Vince Foster, Whitewater, Rose Law Firm, defending rapists and dozens of other seedy manifestations of the lacking Clinton-character. It will be brutal.
The American people don’t want a list of hollow promises and step-by-step policy papers that have long proven to be lies. They want a bold vision from someone who is capable of seriously disrupting our political process: Trump.