Trump is confirming his brand

"Do you think Hillary would be able to stand up here and do this?  I don't know.  I don't think so."

Donald Trump is quite skilled at trolling Hillary.   He says he is so concerned and so sympathetic, as he describes her bedridden:   "She's lying in bed getting better and we want her better, we want her back on the trail."

Isn't that nice and sweet?  He has concern for the sick, sick woman, that poor weak woman.

In hindsight it is evident that there was a good deal of political craft in Donald Trump's release of his original doctor's report.   I have never observed a physician whose look and demeanor and work product was less credible.  Leaning on his hand in his office he reported that he dashed off the letter in five minutes while Trump's car was waiting outside his office.  There were misspellings.   It concluded with an over the top line: "If elected Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency."   

Trump's Doctor.  Trump is thumbing his nose

At first blush an observer might consider the report a major negative for Trump, but it turns out to be a positive.   It communicates that Trump is laughing off the question of his own health.  

Trump did not need an exhaustive report from the Mayo Clinic.  He presented a laughable practical joke response.  

This is clever and powerful.

He is showing he  need not prove anything.   He is not subject to the same standard as Hillary.   He and his surrogates are the accuser, not the accused.  He says Hillary is sick, maybe on her deathbed, who knows, and she needs to prove she is healthy and there is no amount of documentation that can ever be satisfactory, but the more detail she presents the longer her health is under discussion.   He wins because the subject isn't her policies or his gaffes, it is her health.  Even when her defenders say she is healthy, he wins, because after all the subject is her health.

He, meanwhile, need not bother.   His health is  above question.    Being above question is the one thing that is better than being shown to be healthy, and the facetiousness of his doctor's report, and then the appearance with Dr. Oz, just shows how confident he feels in blowing off the issue.  And the more things about Hillary that are "questionable" the better he locks in the idea that Hillary is untrustworthy because she is, after all, questionable.

This is a pattern that works for Trump.  There is no institution--certainly not the media-- that has the moral authority to tell him he is gaming the system.   The fact that he can game the system and get away with it gives him credibility as a change agent.  If he can troll Hillary and confound the Democrats and thumb his nose at the media then, maybe, he can have his way with the Mexicans building a wall, the Chinese buying our manufactured goods, and businesses bringing back factories to America.

Trump refuses to show his tax returns.   Let Hillary prove she has done everything correctly, given to charity, can prove everything.  Your documents are questionable and questions can always be raised and criticisms leveled.   Questionable Hillary.

Trump need not bother.  It is inconvenient to present his taxes until after the election, what with the audit.  You don't like it?  Tough.  

It is the same thing Trump did with Obama's citizenship and birthplace. he questioned and questioned the legitimacy of Hawaii's documents.  There was never quite enough.  Others jump through hoops, your legitimacy questionable.  Not Trump's.

Trump is the likable scamp.   He doesn't apologize or appear to accept the moral or procedural rules of others.   He criticizes offshore manufacturing, but manufacture his suits and ties in Mexico and China.  When confronted he doesn't appear to notice the inconsistency or hypocrisy.     He doesn't blink.  He doesn't hang his head.  Who is to criticize him?  Democrats?   The media?  The Pope?

Isn't that devastating for him?  No.  He is not attempting to present himself as a "good boy" subject to the rules of others.  It is not "fair" and he does not play by the same rules as he demands.   He confidently presents himself as a businessman scoundrel and rule breaker.  He reversed the polarity.  The rule breaking isn't bad; it is good, something voters understand even as the TV pundits do not.   If elected he presents himself as a scoundrel on America's behalf.   

He gets his moral authority not by obeying our rules.   He scoffs at supposed rule makers. He gets moral authority by appearing to be on the side of the forgotten American, the average voter who has been misled and ignored by the rule givers.  And he is selling it.  

One more thing:   I now post a podcast, which you probably already know is a short audio commentary.  I do it with frequent Guest Post author Thad Guyer.  Thad is very data oriented.  I am more "brand" oriented.  We comment on the campaign.  Check us out, please:  Two Left Eyes:Click Here to go to the Podcast