Go Trump Go!

Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, July 21st, 2015 - 41 comments
Categories: International, us politics - Tags:

Donald Trump we shall overcomb

From the party that was willing to put Sarah Palin a heart beat away from the nuclear trigger comes the latest episode of mass insanity.  Donald Trump is polling strongly and could conceivably be the next Republican nominee for the President of the United States.

It is hard to understand why, at least to those of us who are sane.  Because Trump has some very unusual views and there is little evidence that he has the skills you would expect would be needed by the leader of the free world.

His views are, how do I put this politely, simplistic.

He ticks pretty well every Tea Party checklist of desirable Presidential characteristics.  He has said racist and appalling things about Latinos, he is pro gun, pro tax cut for the rich because then we all apparently become rich, fiscally conservative and deeply distrustful of China.

He thinks that Obamacare is an attempt to undermine western civilisation.  In his view ensuring that ordinary people can access health care is destructive of the America he wants to live in.  He said this about Obama’s most important policy success:

Obamacare is a heat-seeking missile that will destroy jobs and small businesses; it will explode healthcare costs; and it will lead to healthcare that is far less innovative than it is today. Every argument that you’d make against socialism you can make against socialized healthcare, and any candidate who isn’t 100 percent committed to scrapping Obamacare is not someone America should elect president.”

His skills are, well he is confident and media savvy.  He forced Barak Obama to release his birth certificate and to the Tea Party this is a significant achievement.  However he has had, for someone who describes himself as a successful businessman, a number of business failures.  And his diplomatic skills are, shall we say, limited?

But he is surging in the polls.  Is the thought of Bush III too much for the Republican Party?

Democrats must be hoping and preying that Trump will succeed and become the Republican Nominee for the Presidential contest.  Because there is no way that he would succeed, the American people are far too savvy to think of trusting him with the levers of power.  Surely …

41 comments on “Go Trump Go! ”

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  1. CnrJoe 1
    21 July 2015 at 8:35 am

    Murrica? Gave us Bush 2.
    Trump 1 entirely plausible – murricans have form

  2. Northshoredoc 2
    21 July 2015 at 8:40 am

    Matt Damon !

  3. Crashcart 3
    21 July 2015 at 8:43 am

    Have to agree. It makes for strange primaries.

    As usual the Republicans are tearing each other apart. The most stable are falling by the way side with the only one that is even close to moderate , Jeb Bush, is having to fight hard.

    On the other side you have Bernie who is saying things that seem to be well received but calling himself a socialist in America is almost suicide. He also stubornly refuses to say anything against Hilary. I think it is because he is reasonably sure that she will win the nomination so he doesn’t want to give republicans any more ammunition against her than there already is. Hilray herself seems to be relying on the amount of money she can pulll in. The only policy she has talked about seems to be in response to what Bernie is saying.

    Still expect a Bush v Clinton election but wouldn’t things get ineteresting if it was Trump v Sanders.

  4. Puckish Rogue 4
    21 July 2015 at 8:49 am

    Best publicity ever

  5. AmaKiwi 5
    21 July 2015 at 8:59 am

    Personality cult governments will be the ruin of all of us, including NZ.

    Many Standardnistas complain the Left needs policies. Policies are irrelevant unless we change to a system with binding citizen initiated referendums.

    • mike 5.1
      21 July 2015 at 9:42 am

      A referendum is a vote. Majority wins.
      It’s fatuous to think that the much vaunted ‘citizen initiated referendum’ will be any different to the votes we have now. Elections
      Those referenda throw up slippery John and his mob, Tony Abbott, Tea Party Republicans, Sensible sentencing, and Winston Peters.
      Oh, that’s right, and hundreds of thousands don’t even bother to vote.
      Go figure.

      • AmaKiwi 5.1.1
        21 July 2015 at 10:25 am

        @ mike

        In the past 18 months alone the Swiss have had binding referendums on the following:

        minimum wage
        health insurance
        inheritance tax
        reproductive medicine
        varsity scholarships
        railway financing
        purchase of new military aircraft
        taxing benefits
        restrictions on paedophiles
        capping immigration

        Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

        • dukeofurl 5.1.1.1
          21 July 2015 at 11:28 am

          One of those referendums was about taxing resident wealthy foreigners ( similar to UK non-doms)- Defeated

          “Abolish tax advantages for rich foreigners that are currently taxed on living costs but not based on income or wealth. Some Swiss cantons have tried to attract such wealthy tax-payers, and Michael Schumacher is maybe the most prominent example. The wealthy create more demand for high-quality real estate and are accused of driving prices up. The cantons situated in the mountains (e.g. St. Moritz) are however dependent on their money.”

          As well there was a referendum about an increase in gold reserves by the Federal government- defeated.

          A nonrenewable energy tax was also defeated , by over 90% the highest no vote for nearly 100 years.

          • Colonial Viper 5.1.1.1.1
            21 July 2015 at 12:32 pm

            Rule by the people. And it has kept Switzerland rich and independent.

            • DoublePlusGood 5.1.1.1.1.1
              21 July 2015 at 12:56 pm

              Through being a tax haven for the purposes of ticket-clipping on the corrupt financial practises of the whole of the rest of the world…

              • Colonial Viper …
                21 July 2015 at 1:04 pm

                NZ is a similar tax haven and money laundering centre. Yet they have found their economic place in the world and we have not.

                • Phil …
                  21 July 2015 at 6:39 pm

                  NZ is a similar tax haven and money laundering centre.

                  This is so incorrect I should be laughing out loud, but I know you really believe that statement to be true.

                  Rule by the people. And it has kept Switzerland rich and independent.

                  There are a lot of reasons Switzerland is financially rich…
                  *Taxation policy
                  *Proximity and ease of access to major trading partners.
                  *Reserve currency status of the Franc.
                  *Keeping their heads down when everyone else starts shooting at each other (and selling equipment to both sides).

                  Maybe direct democracy is another factor, maybe not, but it’s certainly not THE reason Switzerland is rich.

            • Mike S 5.1.1.1.1.2
              21 July 2015 at 11:21 pm

              It’s not rule by the people that has kept Switzerland rich, it’s their ask no questions criminal friendly banking system

          • AmaKiwi 5.1.1.1.2
            21 July 2015 at 1:29 pm

            @ dukeofurl

            Without knowing the referendum issues and not being a Swiss, it is unfair for me to jump to conclusions. But I would like NZ voters to have binding referendums on:

            Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement
            workplace safety
            AKL housing & transport
            NZ deep sea oil drilling
            CHC – numerous issues
            rate hikes (AKL & elsewhere)
            charter schools
            Sky casino extension
            Dunedin DHB commissioner
            climate change proposals

            Duke, what is your list of questions you would like we, the people of NZ, to decide?

            • dukeofurl 5.1.1.1.2.1
              21 July 2015 at 2:52 pm

              I seem to remember , but may be wrong, the Swiss have a long history of citizens involved in direct decision making which has evolved to the current direct decision making alongside the representative democracy.

              I dont think you plonk their system down on us because you like some results.
              The US as well has many aspects of the direct democracy where the voters approve new laws or change policies.

              Maybe more direct democracy than we have now but less than the Swiss ( 4 x a year on a range of issues)
              Im concerned that we would end up like California and be very regressive in results of referendums- they banned equal marriage before the courts overturned it.

              • AmaKiwi …
                21 July 2015 at 3:21 pm

                @ dukeofurl

                “I don’t think you plonk their system down on us because you like some results.”

                I agree 100%. It is not the results, it is the principle that the people are sovereign OVER their politicians.

                Most Swiss referendum proposals are defeated because the effect of the system is to make politicians more moderate. MPs are less inclined to make extremist decisions because they don’t want to be repudiated by the voters.

                Dukeofurl, what is your list of issues YOU think should be reviewed by the NZ voters?

  6. BM 6
    21 July 2015 at 9:01 am

    He’s not a Christian nut-bar, that’s a huge plus.

    He’ll also appeal massively to the non-voter.

  7. Lanthanide 7
    21 July 2015 at 9:10 am

    538 calls Trump the “world’s greatest troll”: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/donald-trump-is-the-worlds-greatest-troll/

    • Phil 7.1
      21 July 2015 at 11:16 am

      I was going to link to the same article – you beat me to it.

      Buried mid-way through the 538 post is a line “… the polls in the 2012 Republican campaign were far more volatile than those in any previous nomination race.” It’s shaping up like 2016 may be the same.

      My take is that we’re seeing the effect of a ‘new normal’ which reflects public dissatisfaction with incumbency. The US primaries offer a rare and unique insight to how voters think about nominees – we don’t have the opportunity to see how these preferences and views manifest elsewhere in advanced democracies.

  8. Liam 8
    21 July 2015 at 9:11 am

    Trump is not a serious person. To the extent that he is serious about politics, however, there is good reason to think that Trump is actually pretty progressive.

    – He may not like Obamacare – but would many of our progressives given that it’s essentially a private-public partnership? He has previously demanded a single payer health regime (like NZ and Canada).

    – He’s against any cuts to entitlement programs.

    – He supports hate crime legislation.

    – He is a trade protectionist and opposes the TPP.

    – He is against nearly all foreign interventions.

    – He favours the decriminalization of narcotics.

    – He has previously called for a 14.5% wealth tax on the richest individuals and favours progressive taxation.

    To be sure, he also has a few un-progressive views too – he seems to favour the death penalty and claims to have flip-flopped on life issues. His current momentum is also built on the back of a pretty strident anti-immigration platform (though TBH I can’t keep track of whether the Left is supposed to be pro or anti immigration at the moment).

    • AsleepWhileWalking 8.1
      21 July 2015 at 11:59 am

      I don’t like him but think he is probably the best choice for turning the once great US around.

      Plus, given his background as a businessman and his…uh…winning personality..it unlikely he becomes a handpuppet anytime soon.

      • Jones 8.1.1
        21 July 2015 at 12:48 pm

        “… it’s unlikely he becomes a handpuppet anytime soon.”

        Which is precisely why he will get nowhere near the White House.

  9. Stephen 9
    21 July 2015 at 9:51 am

    The Republican primaries don’t start until early next year. When that time comes around I think we’ll find Republican voters will have had their flirtation with Trump, and revert to more likely candidates.

    • ianmac 9.1
      21 July 2015 at 10:23 am

      Stephen. Have a look at the graph via Lanth @ 7. Shows the interest in Trump versus probability of winning. Interesting.

  10. McFlock 10
    21 July 2015 at 11:25 am

    At the moment he’s the loudest candidate amongst sixteen.

    when it’s 3 or 4 remaining contenders, he’ll just be the buffoon. I personally think he’s just doing it to boost his speaking fees between elections.

  12. PI 12
    21 July 2015 at 12:17 pm

    Trump is a nightmare for the Republican establishment.

    However, his recent comments on McCain (http://tinyurl.com/q89o6z6) – and refusal to ‘walk them back’ gives the mainstream Republican party an angle to attack him.

    • dukeofurl 12.1
      22 July 2015 at 11:19 am

      Angle to attack him.

      The GOP went all in on attacks on John Kerry as a vietnam decorated veteran ( like McCain), remember the ‘swift boat’ saga.
      Cant see it harming Trump too much , as americans love a billionaire most of all

  13. Dorothy B 13
    21 July 2015 at 12:18 pm

    I think that the Republicans deserve Donald Trump

  14. infused 14
    21 July 2015 at 3:32 pm

    All that aside, obamacare is the biggest clusterfuck known to man.

  16. David 16
    21 July 2015 at 7:38 pm

    One word…..Berlusconi

  17. Ad 17
    21 July 2015 at 9:56 pm

    Trump is an amazing populist communicator, and could well win the Republican nomination by demagogueing the base into simultaneous orgasm.

    Scoff all you like, but he’s self-funding, media-savvy, and fun. Someone said Berlusconi, and there’s something to that, except getting nearer to the Trident launch codes.

    H. R. Clinton better figure it out – imagine the head to head debates!

  18. JeevesPOnzi 18
    22 July 2015 at 8:12 am

    I reckon – conspiratorially – that Trump is not in fact as rich as he makes out, and is heading towards bankruptcy again, and also that the IRD are onto him and he is facing 30 years in jail.

    So either some powerful Democrats have said to him – Run Or Else – and split that Republican vote in half.

    Or some very powerful Republicans have said – Run For Us – and then do everything we want, and we mean everything.

    Completely without any supporting evidence – but entirely plausible, do ya think?

  19. dukeofurl 19
    22 July 2015 at 4:32 pm

    Trump gets push back for saying McCain wasnt a hero.

    McCain said the same thing when he was running for President

    “McCain would say that he was no hero, but he served in the company of heroes. McCain also used to boast at almost every stop about how he finished near the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy. ”

    The republicans are stuck with this ego inflated boozo. But its 6 months till the primaries so the news outlets want something to pump the ratings until then and Trump fits the bill to a T.

    • Phil 19.1
      22 July 2015 at 5:37 pm

      There’s a huge difference between (a) McCain playing down his own service record and (b) Trump saying that McCain’s not a hero because he got caught.

      One is an entirely pragmatic (political) strategy. The other is the muttering of a knob-end. Can you guess which is which?

      🙂