DONALD TRUMP HAS AN UNOFFICIAL CHECKLIST of qualities he wants in a running mate: loyalty, political acumen, debate skills, fundraising ability, and personal chemistry. But in conversations with others about his possible picks, one factor stands out among all others.
“Does he look good on television?” Trump frequently asks. “Who’s the best on TV?”Mark A. Caputo, The Bulwark
Donald Trump is my best advocate for a central tenet of this blog: Voters choose leaders with their guts, not their brains. Therefore, the looks, demeanor, and tone of a leader are the primary message of the leader, not the denoted words. Politics has that in common with Hollywood, and Trump understands that. Some people look the part; some don't. Some people have the magic, some don't.
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| Trump meeting with GOP officeholders |
We are social animals, and we get cues about who is important from other people. At some point, we learned that members of the royal family of the United Kingdom were celebrities. At this moment, about 6 a.m. Pacific Time, I could be watching a procession of marching soldiers following Princess Kate's carriage:
Or her in a carriage:
There she is! A celebrity!
Trump made himself into a TV celebrity long before he was a presidential candidate. I attended my first Trump rally on September 17, 2015. I estimate 2,000 people came out to see him in a Rochester, New Hampshire high school gymnasium. He was just starting to be known for his political positions, having said that Mexican immigrants were criminals and rapists. He was a TV celebrity, famous for being tough and decisive, and saying, "You're fired!" In politics, he was still a "shock-jock," a provocateur. Earlier that day, I attended an event for a bone fide politician of consequence, Hillary Clinton. Possibly 250 people attended. She was boring in comparison.
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| Ed Sullivan Show audience |
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| + Obama in Medford, 2007 |
I saw the excitement about JFK when he was the grand marshal celebrity attendee at Medford's Pear Blossom parade in 1960. I saw Beatle-mania on TV. I saw political celebrity when Barack Obama drew a huge curious crowd in Medford. Major donors got a quick personal visit, a handshake, and a photo. I urged him not to let himself get "swiftboated." He said "I've got it covered." Obama has the magic.
So does Senator Bernie Sanders. When you have the magic, miracles happen. A little bird flew onto Sanders' lectern mid-speech at a May primary event in Portland, Oregon. It was like a sign from the heavens. He nearly got the nomination of a political party that he had spurned his entire political career.
Trump returned to Capitol Hill this week, and was greeted by Republican officeholders, who were giddy with delight at being in his presence. He has been found guilty by juries of finger-raping a woman, defaming her, defrauding his own foundation and taxpayers, and, most recently, felony verdicts for filing false business records to illegally defraud voters -- and yet he is more popular than ever! That is proof that Trump has that secret sauce of celebrity. Trump can do magic. GOP officeholders who previously warned the public that Trump was a dangerous fraud, a liar, and a defier of the Constitution and our democracy were now buddying up to him, standing for orations, singing him happy birthday, and pledging to support him in the 2024 election.
Trump is a celebrity. The normal rules don't apply. People attach to celebrities because other people attach to them. We imagine that a fire that burns too hot must exhaust its fuel and burn itself out. That happens with stock markets.
Personal celebrity seems to act differently. Celebrities create fuel as fast as they burn it. The greater risk is self-destruction or an exogenous attack. JFK, RFK, and Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated. The Beatles broke up. O.J. Simpson murdered people, which should have been enough, but was not. The jury still sided with him. But then he committed another crime and finally self-destructed.
Trump remains the center of attention. He is a celebrity in a way that Biden is not. Polls say he is surprisingly popular with young people and "low-information" voters. People who follow politics the way I follow sports -- barely -- know that Trump is something special and important and that a lot of people really, really like him. That might be enough.
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11 comments:
The computer scientist's view of democracy:
Democracy is the attempt to extract high-quality decisions from large numbers of low-quality components.
That it ever works well is amazing, possibly a tribute to the law of averages, or the benevolence of The Creator.
A very liberal friend of mine thinks we should increase the component quality by requiring all voters to pass the US Citizenship Test. I understand the impulse and would support it, but I am not sure it would improve things significantly.
Winston Churchill once said that democracy was the worst governing system, except for all the others.
(Actually, not all voters are low-quality. But a significant proportion of them are, and the slogan is punchier without this qualification.)
Thank you, Peter, for reminding people of the very real threat Trump poses. Some say that attention like this is what keeps him in the public eye, but that’s nonsense. The fact is that a significant portion of the electorate is attracted by his hateful rhetoric, bombastic style and aura of violence. These people, many of whom are White “Christian” nationalists, have become the Republican base, which is why his GOP opponents now grovel before him. They were right the first time: he’s “a dangerous fraud, a liar, and a defier of the Constitution and our democracy.” Why people find that so appealing I don’t understand, but as Peter says, he’s more popular than ever. And that’s not in spite of his crimes, but because of them.
“Trump can do magic.” So could Hitler.
I think gauzy television celebrity started going to Trump’s head when he was featured in the intro for the old ‘80s Robin Leach series, “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous”. Twenty-five years later, the humiliating roasting he got from Seth Meyers and President Obama at the Washington correspondents’ dinner cemented his resentful, self-centered political ambitions. America’s penchant for strongman celebrity-worship had already revealed itself in politics via Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura—mere governors. Then came our extraordinary, oxygen-sucking national disgrace, inexplicably ongoing at least for now. Thus Trump, by volume, is the unquestioned star of this blog!
What's missing from this discussion is the repulsion. Just when you may have thought Republicans couldn't sink any lower, the floor melts away under them and they are in free fall. The odious display of fealty IN OUR CAPITAL should disgust every citizen to the point of nausea. It does me.
"Low Information" is a euphemism for stupid.
Calling this person a celebrity is no longer valid. Celebrities for the most part represent charming entertainers who are not convicted felons, sexual predators, serial liars, con men and would be despots.
The correct term is criminal and those around them are a gang of thugs.
Cool Obama pic. I've seen two presidential candidates. One was Clinton before I hated him in '92, downtown Oakland only because I was there and the embarrassing introduction by the then mayor of Oakland made it a memory never to be forgotten. I voted for the real George Bush. And I saw Bernie Sanders in Cloverdale Cali at a small private airport where the rumor was he was going to jump out of an airplane and parachute in which never happened. I just went for laughs... was a lot like a trump rally; same rap different shtick. Bernie went back to Sonoma County regional airport afterwards to board one of the two awaiting gulfstreams that carried his entourage to the next gig.
You mean the “read my lips guy”?
The smarter bush who didn't start two needless wars.
“Donald Trump is my best advocate for a central tenet of this blog: Voters choose leaders with their guts, not their brains.”
Too many obviously do, which is how we wound up with a hot, steaming pile of Trump in 2016.
True story:
Trump gave Logan Paul a T-shirt that says “NEVER SURRENDER” under the picture taken when he surrendered for his mugshot. Paul asked, “Is this your mugshot?”
“Can you believe it?” Trump said. “This is what we’re reduced to.”
Which gave Jordan Klepper a great idea for the Republican campaign slogan. “Trump 2024: This Is What We’re Reduced To.”
Yes the read my lips guy. Same one who voted for Hillary Clinton v Trump just like you did.
His promise of turning the clock back to a false nostalgia of a better time, has captivated people who want simple answers to a rapidly changing and complex world. Brand is all about image which is why companies use celebrity endorsements for things unrelated to what the celebrities are known for.
Celebrity is power and people are drawn to the powerful.
“Celebrity is power and people are drawn to the powerful.”
Power comes in many forms. What a shame that so many are so drawn to the fear, anger, hatred and lies that have become the Republican stock-in-trade.
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