There were rival rallies in El Paso. Trump turned it into a Goliath vs. David duel.
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| Trump: Beto has a "tiny little line." |
Trump is Goliath. Mistake.
Trump treats politics as a professional wrestling smackdown of archetypes. He has his role. He is the bad boy bully who fights dirty, but he is a "regular guy," on America's side, me-first and vulgar and proudly politically incorrect, but loyal to his base.
It works for him.
He is shameless in name-calling and humiliating his opponents. His supporters love him for it. He is full-throated and unabashed in disliking his enemies. His base agrees. They, too, dislike Obama, Hillary, Democrats generally, and especially the Democratic aspirants to his presidency. It doesn't hurt Trump politically to seem sexist or racist or ungentlemanly or "unpresidential" when he calls Warren "Pocahontas." Read unmoderated comments and listen to AM talk radio. Trump's people love it.
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| Beto archetype: David |
O'Rourke, Trump said, "is a young man with very little going for him, except he's got a good first name."
Trump's error was making an issue of the size of the rallies and then doing schoolyard nyah-nyah taunting.
Trump swaggered and mocked: "I understand our competitor has a line, too, but it's a tiny little line. We have, let's say, 35,000 people tonight, he has 200 people, 300 people--not too good. That may be the end of his presidential bid."
Trump swaggered and mocked: "I understand our competitor has a line, too, but it's a tiny little line. We have, let's say, 35,000 people tonight, he has 200 people, 300 people--not too good. That may be the end of his presidential bid."
Trump defined a role for Beto O'Rourke: David.
The existence of a head to head contest made a different situation than those where Trump makes his typical dismissive swipes and name calling, as with with Low-Energy Jeb, Lyin' Ted, Pocahontas, and the others. In those matchups, Trump positioned himself as the big shot swatting away an unworthy imposter.
In this case, though, Beto was already calling Trump's bluff. To establish dominance and be entitled to the taunting Trump was dishing out, Trump had to prove up. People would be looking. However, in the pre-match press conference he was clearly exaggerating, looking weak, a guy whistling past the graveyard.
It was game on, but Trump was talking trash. And, in fact Beto O'Rourke's crowd was shaping up to be a big one, and it turned out to be comparable in size.
In this case, though, Beto was already calling Trump's bluff. To establish dominance and be entitled to the taunting Trump was dishing out, Trump had to prove up. People would be looking. However, in the pre-match press conference he was clearly exaggerating, looking weak, a guy whistling past the graveyard.
It was game on, but Trump was talking trash. And, in fact Beto O'Rourke's crowd was shaping up to be a big one, and it turned out to be comparable in size.
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| We know the story |
Americans come prepared with a ready-made mental formula for understanding a matchup between the older big guy--the well-armed presumed victor--versus the younger, slender good looking guy: David and Goliath. It clicks into well-worn expectations: Goliath has a fatal weakness he is trying to hide with bravado, and David has a special power we have not yet discovered. And people like David.
Trump elevated O'Rourke.
Until now, only Sanders had a clearly established rival archetype mindset to contrast with Trump. Sanders was the outsider truth-teller, the gruff incorruptible old man of socialist principle in rumpled suits--a contrast to the worldly con man Trump. Sanders is the more credible populist.
Now there is a second established archetype alternative, the fearless David, untested but with mysterious potential. O'Rourke as David simultaneously gives Americans a way to understand Trump: Goliath, the bad guy who is more vulnerable than he looks.
Bad for Trump, but it could have been worse. Beto O'Rourke missed an opportunity.
Until now, only Sanders had a clearly established rival archetype mindset to contrast with Trump. Sanders was the outsider truth-teller, the gruff incorruptible old man of socialist principle in rumpled suits--a contrast to the worldly con man Trump. Sanders is the more credible populist.
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| Sanders arechetype: Jeremiad |
Now there is a second established archetype alternative, the fearless David, untested but with mysterious potential. O'Rourke as David simultaneously gives Americans a way to understand Trump: Goliath, the bad guy who is more vulnerable than he looks.
Bad for Trump, but it could have been worse. Beto O'Rourke missed an opportunity.
Had O"Rourke's been able to create a crowd clearly larger than Trump's, then David would have proven that he wasn't just a contender; he had the stuff to conquer Goliath. Goliath Trump would have been humiliated, talking a big game but getting beat by the young kid. Democrats are desperate for Trump to be bested, and it would have put rocket fuel into the O'Rourke campaign. He can beat Trump, see!
It didn't happen. It was a draw. Trump dodged a bullet, or in this case a stone.
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