Friday 4 March 2016

Trump, Romney, and the Fake GOP

I sat yesterday and watched the seventeen minute piece of Romney blasting away at Trump.  It's an odd piece because it might have meant something back in December.  But now....early March?  It's worthless.

I'm not much of a Romney fan.  I look back at the 2012 election and generally regard his attempt as marginal at best.  His staff, his theme, his sales-job to the public.....just weren't going to work.

Why stand there now and do some tough piece on Trump?  It's hard to say who begged him to make the statement or the logic behind it.

So, this morning....I got up and watched thirty minutes of the Trump response.  Basically, he drilled into Romney and made the Romney speech a one-star episode.

Here's my three observations of where we are today.

First, the general Republican public, and roughly a quarter of all Democrats....are fed and frustrated.  They hate DC politics in general, and think most of the guys in DC are actors....more than actual politicians.  This has reached such a stage.....that they even are willing to consider some guy like Trump as the only one who might go in and fire people left and right.

Second, for two decades.....most Republicans have continued the trend of identifying their leadership as simply fake.  If you asked most what the difference was between the Republicans and Democrats in terms of success (what the House and Senate has achieved in the past two years for example).....they'd look at you and start laughing.  There's nothing worth discussing.

Third, there's some belief that the Republicans are more of a lobbyist agenda association....than an actual political party.  You'd like to laugh over that suggestion.....but it's not really a joke anymore.

Two years ago, I would have likely said that Scott Walker would be the person in the lead at this point, and Jeb Bush second.  Well.....something has happened.  A new reality of sorts.  People fed up on fake politics, total distrust of the news media, and frustration that goes across both parties.  November will be an interesting period in American history.