February 26th, 2016
How about that debate?
I have some thoughts about it over at TWS. My big take-away is that last night Cruz and Rubio laid out the blueprint for destroying Trump: He’s a liar and a con artist who does not tell it like it is but rather has spent 50 years playing people for chumps. Also, he’s an orange-tinted, stubby-fingered old man with a dye-job. He’s ridiculous. And a wussy.
So that’s the blueprint. All the lines of attack are clear: The Trump tax returns—which I suspect he will never release, because they (a) contain all sorts of fishy stuff and (b) confirm his biggest no-go zone, which is his less-than-advertized wealth. The Trump University case—which is pending litigation for fraud. His extensive use of illegal labor. All of this cuts directly against his persona and—just as important—all of these are live stories with reporting to be done. With Cruz and Rubio making them an issue, the media will finally start to dig on Trump. And as the real media find things, the broadcast media will be forced to ask Trump about the findings. Which will, in turn, cause him to cut back on his free-media appearances.
But here’s the big caution: Trump cannot be destroyed in a day. Or a week. It will require a disciplined, prolonged counter-offensive from the Cruz and Rubio campaigns as well as outside money from conservative donors. This isn’t rocket science: Cruz basically laid out scripts for Super PAC attack ads from behind the podium. But disassembling Trump will take time and resources.
I think Cruz and Rubio understand this now. The big danger is that when Trump romps on March 1—and he’s probably going to run the table—he and his media enablers will try to argue that none of the attacks worked, the race is over, etc.
And this will be a smokescreen. Taking apart Trump’s structural supports will take more than 120 hours. He will win big on March 1 but that will not—will not—be indicative of a failure of the broader anti-Trump strategy and Cruz, Rubio, and outside conservative groups will have to buck the media narrative and push on.
The window here is not March 1. It’s March 29.
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Mickey Kaus said it best last November
“Today, Trump’s massive rallies can be interpreted as an expression of the historic populist undercurrent animating America’s white working class. Or they can be interpreted, with less sophistication, as Americans saying, as loudly as they can, “WE DON’T WANT YOUR F___ING ‘COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM.’” Either way, anger over elite “more immigration” plans is the molten core of the Trump eruption. Is there any doubt that if “comprehensive immigration reform” went away for good, Trumpism would wither? So why don’t Haley Barbour and Karl Rove call a big K Street meeting where they say, “Boys, we have to throw the damn yahoos this bone. We’re giving up on amnesty”?”
http://www.kausfiles.com/2015/11/30/why-doesnt-the-gop-elite-give-up-on-amnesty/ -
I’m disappointed you are making light of rape.
Morgan M February 26, 2016 at 1:06 pm
Why March 29th specifically?