Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Trump Has No Etch-A-Sketch

Donaldus Magnus Trumpius recently made some sense, when asked about the stupid "bathroom bills" oozing out of the Bible Belt like so much pus.  He sounded reasonable and stuff, and everyone was like, "Ooooooh, he's pivoting to the center for the general.  Watch out Hillary!"

Eh, no.

Trump will no doubt try and pivot center, because everyone tries to pivot center.  This is not a new tactic.

In the age of YouTube and camera phones, there is simply too much video evidence of Trump being a shitheel.  And when people make up their mind about someone, they rarely change it.  Donald Trump's unfavorables among Latinos is YUUUUGE.  You don't pivot to the center and change those minds.  Maybe you can change 87% unfavorable to 85% if you work at it.  My guess is the same dynamic applies to female voters.

Donald Trump has defined himself in the minds of most Americans.

Martin Longman believes that the media will be complicit in this tactic, and I suppose they might be.  If the media mattered anymore, Jeb! would be the Republican nominee and Clinton - whom they hate - would've been more battered than she is.  So, while the media may allow Donaldus Magnus some latitude to redefine himself, he simply isn't going to be able to.

There is one group, however, that will likely buy this act: Republicans.  They will spin the new Donald and the real Donald in order to justify their support.  This, however, will have the effect of more firmly tying the GOP to Trump's form of misogynistic, race baiting demagoguery.

Go ahead and pivot, Trump.  And bring the GOP down with you.

UPDATE: And of course, if he does pivot, he will upset his mouthbreathing base.

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