In Trump-fawning’s latest iteration, he is All Things Historic—having perceived the essence of the zeitgeist and defied punditry’s collective wisdom—to capture, against all odds, the Republican nomination for president. Nothing like him has ever happened, ever, in American history. How did he do it? The talking heads are mystified.
Unmentioned are two lurking allies—superpowers you might say—Citizen’s United and its buddy Ego.
Fact is, more voters voted against Trump than for him in most of the primaries but the crowded field of candidates did not winnow out as normally happened in the past when money ran out.
Fueled by massive untraceable cash enabled by Citizen’s United and comparable amounts of ego, candidates with little support stayed in the race long past their expiration date. This brimming clown car insured that Trump could continue to ‘win’ with only a sliver of the total votes cast, creating the illusion that he was viable—until, thanks to relentless Trump-fawning by the media, he was.
What’s historic is that these two factors—the gasoline of Citizen’s United and the spark of Ego—have never before been players in the electoral process.
I’m feeling the burn, but it ain’t from a progressive revolution.
[Cross-posted at memester2012.wordpress.com]