1) Experience counts. As an outsider who has never been previously involved in politics beyond writing checks and buying off politicians, Trump had never really been vetted, or faced anything he couldn’t buy his way out of. Only Trump’s ego allowed him to believe he could bully his way to the Oval Office without paying his dues.
Not that there isn’t a precedent; another outsider ‘strong’ leader with a history of roaming hands (and other things) bluffed his way into the governorship of California. Jerry Brown is still cleaning up the mess. Governmenting is hard work. Career politician is usually taken as an insult — but sometimes it refers to someone who has found a calling in public service.
2) Can we finally end the nonsense that “government needs to be run like a business”? There is only so much in the skill set of a successful business person that translates to effective governing skills. Businesses are usually authoritarian hierarchies; a democratic republic is an entirely different kettle of fish.
Trump’s legendary business skills are largely just that — legends. The facts are something else again. Have we forgotten the last guy with a terrible record of business failures who ended up in the Oval Office, the first MBA president? (Like Trump, it’s interesting how many times he got bailed out.)
Have we forgotten how Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s bottom line focus from his business background and contempt for government led him to short-circuit government with ‘emergency managers’ and bean-counter cost-cutting that led to toxic drinking water?
Republicans have spent decades promoting the idea that government is inherently flawed, and that people who take it seriously are not to be trusted. Can we start having some pushback, please?
UPDATE: One More Thing. The Republican Party was particularly vulnerable to Trump because for years they’ve been post-policy and reality-challenged. Movement conservatism places ideological purity above real world functionality — it’s an authoritarian cult based on marketing. They keep the base in line by making them angry and afraid, feeding them bullshit, and giving them ‘enemies’ to blame for everything that goes wrong when they can’t deliver on their promises.
Is it any surprise that they couldn’t compete with a man whose business model is based on fraud — relentlessly marketing himself and conning people out of their money? Ronald Reagan was and is their idol, even though his greatest skill was as a spokesman. Ted Cruz has shown how empty his conservative principles are. (He sure picked the wrong time to sell out.)
Look at who Trump’s biggest boosters are: Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich, two people with a record of marital infidelity and ethical failings, both highly respected in the party. Sean Hannity has been in the tank for Trump all along — and he’s nothing more than an accomplished snake oil salesman in a propaganda machine.
Rick Perlstein’s The Long Con exposed this long ago. It would be nice if the media made the connection between the way Trump runs his business empire and the way the GOP markets itself for power and profit.