Trump Has Emerged As A Force for 2012

Am I surprised over Trumps’ early success in testing the waters as the Republican nominee for 2012? To be perfectly honest, yes I am. The man is in second place in New Hampshire, within single digits of Romney, and according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, he’s second nationally and tied with Gov. Huckabee with 17%. My friends, he hasn’t even spent $500 million yet.

Speaking of which, do you think he is going to take public financing? Paaalease. I understand the need to make a campaign feel like the people own it but in Trump’s case, he is a multi-billionaire. I don’t see him getting a lot of financial support from the average taxpayer who is fighting through high unemployment and a recession. Most importantly, a point to avoid for Trump is when he does receive lackluster fund raising because of that from average citizens, the media will try to spin it as an indicator that Trump enjoys little support. When in actuality people just don’t ordinarily give to billionaires who have billionaire friends. So Trump should definitely consider financing a large part of his campaign and rely on ultra wealthy donors for support. It is all about the early contests. There’s reasons they are held in the order they are. So the candidate can win early and often. If you need a illustrative point, consider Rudy Giuliani’s disastrous attempt to wait until Florida.

If Donald Trump runs for President, he should forgo public finance and federal matching funds not just because, as a mega-wealthy billionaire, he can, but because doing so would allow him to spend in the early primary and caucus state’s without federal limitation. A candidate who accepts matching funds also agrees to observe strict spending limits in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, Florida, and all the primary and caucus states. A candidate who self-funds and doesn’t accept Federal matching funds is under no such limitations.

Bypassing public finance, Trump can leverage his wealth to outspend his opponents in the early states, gaining a significant strategic advantage. Sadly, Trump advisor Michael Cohen, a vice president of the Trump organization, doesn’t seem to understand this. City Hall newspaper recently reported “Cohen said that Trump would raise money from average citizens, rather than just funnel his own money into a campaign.”He wants citizens in the country to have skin in the game,” he said. ( Roger Stone)

Does he have the Trump name brand on his side? Absolutely, and, of course, that helps. But there is something more going on here. He’s saying things that are resonating with people. First and foremost, he certainly doesn’t talk like a politician.

MEREDITH VIEIRA:

If you were President, would keep a military presence in Iraq indefinitely.

DONALD TRUMP:

Let me just say something. There’s nobody more militaristic than me, but it’s also called attack the right target. Iran is going to take over Iraq, because we have de-neutered Iraq, you know that, in terms of their military. They’re gonna take them over very quickly as soon as we leave. If that’s gonna happen, they’re gonna take over the oil fields. The second biggest oil fields in the world. And if that’s gonna happen, I say we take over the oil fields…I would take over the oil fields, because otherwise, Iran is gonna take over the second biggest oil fields in the world. I would absolutely, without question, not leave that section of that country. I would take the oil. To the victor belong the spoils. You know, in the old days, you’d have a war. And you’d be in there. And you’d win. And you’d take over the country. Whether it’s oil or gold or whatever. You take over the country.

Do you know how many times I’ve heard similar things like that said? Do you know how many times I’ve said them myself? How come politicians aren’t allowed to say things like that? It’s because they allow limits to be set by others, especially the media, and are so handled they are rarely authentic. Trump seems impervious to any outside pressure to be anything over than Trump. Consider Obama’s birth certificate issue. That is political dynamite for any respectable candidate to handle. McCain wouldn’t even get near it during 2008. That supposed no-no doesn’t resonate with Trump. He’s going after the issue, raising some tough questions, and is getting little criticism from the media over it. I mean sure there are the sarcastic and conspiratorial comments from the media-left, but not a full blown riot like you would expect if another white Republican male brought it up. Trump’s getting away with it because he is Trump. He’s earned that reputation. He is a kind of self evident, first class, SOB. Everyone knows this, so how can you challenge him on it?

Trump may be the anti-Obama the GOP was hoping for. As Obama was to Bush, so Trump will be to Obama.