LETTERMAN MAY BE GONE, BUT THE “TOP 10 LIST” LIVES ON!

…the total narcissist, Donald Trump

Here is why “THE DONALD” will be the 2016 GOP nominee!

 

Well, I guess with Trump staying ahead in the polls for so long, it was inevitable that someone would come up with a “Letterman” type “Top 10” reasons why Trump will prevail as the Republican nominee.

As expected, one of the internet news sources has come up with their own list, and I thought I would condense it and offer it for my readers. 

So, hold on to your butt as here we go with the 10 reasons why the New York real-estate mogul and media narcissist, Donald Trump, will be the odds-on favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination:

Reason Number 10: He's so far polling the best of a very weak Republican field. The latest Huffington Post National Republican Primary Poll of Polls shows Trump in first place (30.7%), followed by Surgeon Ben Carson (12.1%) and 15 other candidates in single digits. The early favorites Jeb Bush (8%) and Scott Walker (4.8%) have all faded.

What’s really crazy is that before Trump, most observers thought that the real leader of the Republican Party was Roger Ailes, the current head of FOX NEWS.  But now it’s, “The Donald"....?

Reason Number 9: Trump is a media magnet. Before the first GOP debate, The 538 Poll noted that Trump attracted far more media attention than the other candidates. After the debate, the L.A. Times observed, "Trump gained the most Twitter followers during the debate, was the most discussed on Facebook, and was involved in the majority of incidents in which candidates brought their opponents into the discussion."

Reason Number 8: Trump speaks for the real GOP base. Trump's stance on immigration may have gotten all the press, but what hasn't been noted is that his position is at odds with the GOP leadership. For example, Trump's attitude on trade differs from that of the Washington establishment as he's opposed to the Trans Pacific Partnership.  In addition, Trump doesn't care for Wall Street.  A recent poll found that 65% of Trumps' Iowa supporters, are either "unsatisfied" or "mad as hell" at Wall Street.  Among other things, Trump opposes the "carried interest loophole" that the Financial Industry loves.

Reason Number 7: Republicans do like his brashness. Trump leads among evangelical voters because of: the weakness of his competitors; his attacks on President Obama; his link between religious liberty and religious persecution; and of course, his brash and brassiness.

Reason Number 6: His inconsistency is consistent. Trump is more accessible to the press than any of the other GOP contender. When he bloviates, it doesn't hurt him like it does the others. In the first GOP debate Trump called Obamacare a disaster. Then he was asked why he had once supported a single-payer system. Trump responded, "[single payer] works in Canada... in Scotland. It could have worked in a different age, which is the age you're talking about here."  Total inconsistency.

Reason Number 5: He won't back down. Since Trump announced his presidential candidacy, he's made numerous inflammatory statements: He said John McCain was not a war hero. After the initial Republican debate, Trump said Fox News star Megyn Kelly had questioned him unfairly, "she had blood coming out of her wherever." Trump refused to apologize for these remarks. (MSNBC found that in the past fifteen years, Trump has only apologized publicly twice.)

Reason Number 4: Trump seized the initiative on the number 1 GOP concern. A recent NBC News/WSJ Poll found that Republicans and Democrats don't agree on the top issues facing the US. It was found that 27% of Republicans think "national security and terrorism" is the biggest issue; another 8% say it's "immigration". Trump has linked these two issues and staked out a position so extreme that none of the other GOP contenders can outflank him.

Reason Number 3: He's a total narcissist. All politicians are narcissists, but some more than others.  Among the most successful Republican politicians are uber-narcissists such as Ronald Reagan. Psychologist Maria Konnikova has noted that Trump has all the signs of "narcissistic personality disorder" including "an exaggerated sense of self-importance", "a sense of entitlement," and a “lack of empathy”.

Reason Number 2: Trump is funding his own campaign. A recent CBS News poll found that one-third of Republicans prefer candidates that are self-funded. When Bush, Cruz, Fiorina, Rubio and Walker "interviewed" with the Koch Brothers, Trump tweeted: "I wish good luck to all of the Republican candidates that traveled to California to beg for money etc. from the Koch Brothers…. Puppets?"

And the Number 1 Reason that Donald Trump will be the GOP nominee:  Trump represents White Power. 

It's been fifty years since Republicans launched their "Southern Strategy" taking advantage of southern white democrats disillusioned by the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. While GOP presidential candidates -- Nixon, Reagan & the Bush(s) -- flirted with racism, none of them staked out the extreme territory that Trump inhabits. (McCain and Palin came close with angry rallies where spectators called Obama a "socialist," "traitor," and "terrorist”.) Trump has tapped into deep-seated racial antagonism. A new Public Policy Poll found that "66% of Trump's supporters believe that Obama is a Muslim... 61% think Obama was not born in the United States." Unsurprisingly, 63% of Trump's supporters want to eliminate birthright citizenship. At Southern rallies Trump supporters yell, "White Power".

So, hold onto your sanity! I don’t agree with the expected outcome of the above “Top 10” list, but we're going to be seeing a lot more of the Trumpster before this is over.

Copyright G.Ater  2015