The Republican establishment leadership thought they had the oak stake to drive through the heart of his campaign. RNC spokesman Sean Spicer said "There is no place in our party or our country for comments that disparage those who have served honorably." Senator Dean Heller, R. Nevada joined fellow Republican senators by saying Trump "crossed the line."
This week Trump said he wanted to monitor mosques and ban Muslims from entering the country for some unspecified time. Outrageous!! Crazy!! Disqualifying!!
Top Republican leadership represented the Republican Party and what it stood for. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said Trump's words conflict with American standards. "We need to aggressively take on radical Islamic terrorism but not at the expense of our American values." Republican Speaker of the House said Trump is violating the Constitution and "not who we are as a party." Mitch McConnell said banning Muslims would be "completely inconsistent with American values." Trump is breaking rules.
This is a primary race, and what Hillary Clinton says is mostly irrelevant for now but Hillary, too, is making the same lines in the sand: "He has been dealing in prejudice and paranoia, and that is bad for our politics and our country."
Trump versus Everyone But Trump. What are they accusing him of? In these instances and generally they say Trump fails to meet standards, a standard of decorum, of Constitutionalism, of law and restraints of checks and balances, of respect for the news media as a supposed unbiased referee of political campaigns, and most recently for the equal protection of a currently-despised Muslim minority.
Muslims are the enemy, but we are supposed to be fair, give them presumption of innocence, play by the rules.
They misunderstand Trump and Trump's appeal.
Trump is not a fighter for abstract rules of fair play. Indeed, Trump asserts that Republicans and Democrats--and especially Obama and Hillary--are frozen into weak ineffectiveness because they are so fair minded and politically correct that they destroying America.
Trump is a fighter for Americans, for us, for the forgotten people, not for standards. He is not trying to please the UN or some Court of International Justice. He isn't trying to make America good. He is trying to make America great.
Trump says Americans should play to win. Mexico and China and Russia aren't necessarily enemies ("I love the Mexicans" and Russia is an ally in Syria) but they are certainly opponents in negotiation. No need to be nice and fair to people who interrupt a rally; throw them out. Global trade deals hurt American workers, putting our people into competition with Mexican and Chinese workers; renegotiate.
Most importantly now: no need to be "fair" to Muslims; they are trying to kill us, and there is no "presumption of innocence" standard when you are in a war.
All his Republican opponents agree we are in a war with radical Islam all agree with Trump that Christianity and traditional values are under attack, all agree that America has been brought low by Obama, all agree that the American economy had deteriorated badly under Obama. Trump set the agenda: real-Trump and sort-of-Trumps. The big difference is that his opposition says there are meaningful standards of restraint and fair play in dealing with these issues, Marquess of Queensberry rules of fighting. Trump dismisses this as the response of losers. We have tried that and got Obama the loser, he says. Our opponents and enemies are playing to win, and we should, too. Renegotiate bad trade deals to protect Americans, take it or leave it and while you are at it pay for the wall! Treat Muslims like the dangerous people they are are presumed to be. Play to win.
Trump doesn't cite Hitler. He cites FDR. First we win the war, bombing Germany and Japan killing whomever we need to kill, lots of collateral damage, so what, and at home interring people of questionable loyalty, presume everyone disloyal to be safe. Then, when the war is done we can pretend we care about over-reach and we can have conferences to discuss Hiroshima and make amends 50 years later to the Americans we interred, and we can let the lawyers think deeply about ethical standards of unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct. But in the meantime Americans are at risk and until we are winners we fight for the interests of the home team. That's who Trump cares about, the home team, the USA, and the people who are here, now, legally. Not nicey-nicey rules. He cares about us, regular Americans, the people cheering him and saying "Trump" to the pollsters.
Trump doesn't care about "the line". He cares about America winning. That is his appeal and why his opposition is missing the point. There is a good, liberal defense to this but neither Obama nor Hillary are making it yet.
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