This Guy Really Gets Trump

No one could have predicted the Donald Trump phenomenon that we are currently witnessing, but I believed from the start that Trump might outperform the expectations of the media and the pundit class. I recognized that Trump articulates a very Perot like message of economic nationalism that plays much better with the GOP’s Flyover Country middle class base than it does with the donor class and the three-legs-of-the-stool ideologues. I also recognized that Trump’s campaign, with his message of decline and his call for restoration (“Make America Great Again”), could potentially serve as a somewhat non-ideological vehicle for anger at the ruling Regime and dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs.

Therefore, I was very pleased when I stumble upon an article soon after Trump announced, that articulated very clearly what I believed was behind the early enthusiasm for Trump. I’m going to quote at length from the article because I think it remains one of the best explanations the prescribed script. He’s not either or. He’s really is neither, which is why the issues box checking obsessives can’t figure him out or fathom his support. Con Inc. wants candidates who check all the boxes because it easily satisfies a certain portion of the base and reinforces the Republican vs. Democrat, conservative vs. liberal, Red Team vs. Blue Team dynamic. The Establishment wants the two sides to shadow box with each other in what amounts to little more than theater while they continue to direct policy in a way that enriches them. Trump is the audience member who won’t shut up about the obvious production gaffes.

Erickson at one point wrote that he would vote for Trump if he were the eventual nominee. Whether he still feels that way I don’t know, but this was an easy promise to make at the time because he clearly stated in the linked article above that he didn’t believe Trump actually had a chance to win the nomination. Erickson was OK with Trump when he viewed him as a safety valve for angry yahoos, but when that match Trump was striking began to threaten to really burn down the house, like when Trump and his angry supporters brought Fox News to their knees, well that’s starting to get serious. Something must be done.