Steve Benen on MaddowBlog notes that one of the salient features of Mr. Trump’s campaign is its complete lack of policies and plans if it should win the Presidency:
“I think the American people, the American voter, will be bored to tears if that is in fact the way [i.e., detailed plans and policies] this thing goes,” [top Trump campaign advisor Sam Clovis] said.
It’s a valuable insight, if for no other reason because Clovis’ comments make clear that Team Trump is deliberately avoiding a substantive campaign debate over the issues. For the Republican candidate and his team, it’s a feature, not a bug.
In May, Politico quoted a campaign insider saying Trump didn’t want to “waste time on policy.” The Trump source added at the time, “It won’t be until after he is elected … that he will figure out exactly what he is going to do.”
A month later, the candidate himself added that “the public doesn’t care” about public policy.
Which leaves me with the odd vision of two candidates of this type slugging out, differentiating on … just exactly what? Who can make the biggest promise? Who can shout out bizarre promises the loudest?
Sounds like Extreme Populism, a position that the GOP would have disdained just years ago.
Wait, that’s sort of what happened during the GOP primary. And Trump won that, mostly through crude, even ludicrous promises, and by promising all over the map – from increasing the military while cutting taxes to building the biggest wall ever seen. He overwhelmed the media and his opponents by being outlandish.
Here’s the thing. I remember watching that field of candidates grow to 17, and hoping SOMEONE acceptable would show up. What did I see? Failed corporate executives, a Dominionist, a governor under investigation for corruption, another who left office after destroying all of his office computers (and then he tried to ride the Kim Davis spectacle to victory), a wet-behind the ears Senator with no, Z E R O accomplishments … ok, I admit to a brief moment of hope when Dr. Carson joined the fun, but he swiftly proved that, no matter how bright his medical accomplishments glinted, they did not translate to political wisdom – just another fringe-right flake.
But – they were all appealing to a conservative base that has not been trained to think rationally. Those who can have been chased from the party. This lead to the acquisition of the nomination by someone who best appealed to a base who feels, rather than thinks.
And that characterization does not apply to the rest of America. While some of us are even flakier than the GOP, most of us think. And Clinton has come forward with policy specifics that can be considered, evaluated, and judged. From that, we can deduce she was not lying when she said she was prepared to be President.
That willingness to act like a mature political candidate, aware of the tough job ahead of her, should be enough to get the votes of not only those who think Clinton really is the best, but from those who were disappointed that Bernie didn’t win, from the ex-Republicans tossed from their party, even from those considering Gary Johnson as an alternative – because Governor Johnson has been flubbing his big chance to shine.
