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[Cerium]

Great article, worth reading in full.

All politicians, if they are any good at their craft, know the truth about human nature.

Donald Trump is very good, and he knows it better than most.

Trump stands alone on a long platform, surrounded by a rapturous throng. Below and behind him—sitting on bleachers and standing on the floor—they fill this city’s cavernous, yellow-beige convention center by the thousands. As Trump will shortly point out, there are a lot of other Republican presidential candidates, but none of them get crowds anything like this.

Trump raises an orange-pink hand like a waiter holding a tray. “They are not coming in from Syria,” he says. “We’re sending them back!” The crowd surges, whistles, cheers. “So many bad things are happening—they have sections of Paris where the police are afraid to go,” he continues. “Look at Belgium, the whole place is closed down! We can’t let it happen here, folks.”

Four months into his crazed foray into presidential politics, Trump is still winning this thing. And what could once be dismissed as a larkish piece of political performance art has seemingly turned into something darker. Pundits, even conservative ones, say that Trump resembles a fascist. The recent terrorist attacks in Paris, which some hoped would expose Trump’s shallowness, have instead strengthened him by intensifying people’s anger and fear. Trump has falsely claimed that thousands of Muslims cheered the 9/11 attacks from rooftops in New Jersey; he has declined to rule out a national database of Muslims. The other day, a reporter asked Trump if the things he was proposing weren’t just like what the Nazis did to the Jews. Trump replied, “You tell me.”

These people aren’t skinheads. They don’t seem like jerks. Most of them are wearing jeans. There are guys with mullets and satin jackets, and well-groomed young men in blue blazers with gold buttons. There are people with babies and people with canes. There are women in plaid shirts and women in tight dresses and matrons with pearl earrings. There are trucker-hat versions of Trump’s famous Make America Great Again cap, and camo versions, and one in hunting-vest blaze orange. There are a lot of couples. They are, it is true, overwhelmingly white people. Do you have a problem with that?

The other night, at a Trump rally in Alabama, a black protester who shouted “Black lives matter!” was surrounded by white men who punched and kicked him. Far from apologizing for this, Trump is gloating about it: “What an obnoxious, terrible guy that was,” he tells the crowd in Myrtle Beach, who turn around and hiss at the press on his cue. In August, two Boston men said Trump inspired their vicious beating of a homeless Mexican immigrant. This week, a group of civil-rights protesters in Minneapolis was fired upon by four white men in masks and camouflage.

So, America, it seems we do not like each other very much right now. But is this a momentary phenomenon, a passing, mad-as-hell instant? Or is this the eternal darkness of the human heart?

It is fun to be here. Even the reporters, to whose perfidy Trump devotes a substantial chunk of his speech, are having fun—you never know what Trump is going to say, and you get a lot of airtime. “Sometimes it’s ‘bomb the hell out of ISIS,’ sometimes it’s ‘bomb the crap out of them,’ sometimes it’s ‘bomb the shit out of them,’” one network correspondent tells me. “Last night was the first time he said ‘ass,’” in reference to waterboarding, which Trump says—“you bet your ass”—he would resume.

Despite all the negativity and fear, the energy in this room does not feel dark and aggressive and threatening. It doesn’t feel like a powder keg about to blow, a lynch mob about to rampage. It feels joyous.

“There is so much love in every room I go to,” Trump says, near the end of nearly an hour and a half of free-associative bombast, silly and sometimes offensive impressions, and insane pronouncements. “We want our country to be great again, and we know it can be done!”

The people wave and make faces at the press as they go by. One gray-haired lady in a sweatshirt keeps pointing at her butt and sticking out her tongue at us as she ambles by. She has a savage look on her face.

This is the thing Trump knows: You can stand around fretting about truth and propriety and the danger of pandering to baser instincts.

Or you can give the people what they want.

 

[RustyNails]

 

[PBY]

Terrifying. So scary.

 

[Fat4all]

 

[Aurongel]

L 'Estasi Dell Trumpo.

 

[orochi91]

His hair!

It's not a comb-over!

 

[Bronx-Man]

God bless America.

 

[EatinOlives]

There's really nothing "genius" about his campaign. There isn't even anything particularly smart. All he's doing is pandering to the lowest rung of the Republican party with overly racist and outright fascist shit, with rhetoric lifted wholesale from the GOP playbook with the dog whistling removed entirely. The message is essentially the same socially backwards thinking taken to the extreme, and the only reason why nobody has done it before is because nobody else has had the wealth to run his own campaign. That he gets all the free air time isn't really masterminded by him, as it's pretty clear from day 1 all that attention was incidental from his perspective. Now he's using it to his advantage but it wasn't born from a calculated decision.

There's still a strong chance he'll get the nomination, but again, we're talking supporters that make up about 8 percent of the entire electorate. He has absolutely no clear path to the White House. In short, the guy's not running a good campaign, so I really don't know what amuses people about the guy. He's just Rush Limbaugh with a lot of money to run his own campaign. Whoop de doo.

 

[Future]

He's representing the party in ways you never see: actually having the balls to stay directly what others merely hint at or allow in their proximity. His career will not end in politics as he's wildly successful as a businessman and entertainer. So there is no point in him pandering to moderates or whatever. He just gets right to the core of the republican talking points, and republicans love it. Some democrats do too

 

[Stinkles]

His hair!

It's not a comb-over!

Nobody really knows what it is.


It is perhaps the one true unknowable in a dark and mysterious universe.

 

[Citadelofmythoughts]

so I really don't know what amuses people about the guy. He's just Rush Limbaugh with a lot of money to run his own campaign. Whoop de doo.

I don't understand the people who support him because they think he's bucking the system. He's a rich, old white dude who is only where he is because his dad was rich, he IS the system.

 

[Aselith]

I don't understand the people who support him because they think he's bucking the system. He's a rich, old white dude who is only where he is because his dad was rich, he IS the system.

He'd on my TV box thoygh. "You're fired!"

 

[Shard]

I don't understand the people who support him because they think he's bucking the system. He's a rich, old white dude who is only where he is because his dad was rich, he IS the system.

Lack of political experience is the in fashion this season.

 

[MrCunningham]

This gif is amazing on so many levels if that really is what Vince McMahon said. He's literally insulting the WWE core audience and Trump's supporters at the same time. Equating that they are one in the same. Wow.

 

[Fisticuffs]

He's representing the party in ways you never see: actually having the balls to stay directly what others merely hint at or allow in their proximity. His career will not end in politics as he's wildly successful as a businessman and entertainer. So there is no point in him pandering to moderates or whatever. He just gets right to the core of the republican talking points, and republicans love it. Some democrats do too

What the hell are you talking about? What talking points?

 

[Aselith]

What the hell are you talking about? What talking points?

Racism and xenophobia mostly

 

[DragonSworne]

He's representing the party in ways you never see: actually having the balls to stay directly what others merely hint at or allow in their proximity. His career will not end in politics as he's wildly successful as a businessman and entertainer. So there is no point in him pandering to moderates or whatever. He just gets right to the core of the republican talking points, and republicans love it. Some democrats do too

I love it. It exposes many of the "small government" people to who they truly are, racists that don't want the government helping minorities.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

I may be interpreting this article incorrectly but I'm not sure what's fun or joyous about seeing a bunch of white people kick and punch a black man. The times when this was all "fun" passed a long time ago, people are already getting hurt. Rhetoric from figures of importance has consequences, I can plainly see that now.

Maybe she'd feel differently if she didn't blend into the crowd so well.

 

[Cerium]

I may be interpreting this article incorrectly

You are. The point is how Trump is successfully pumping up his crowds and his followers. The article isn't very subtle about the Hitler parallels either.

 

[KarmaCow]

This gif is amazing on so many levels if that really is what Vince McMahon said. He's literally insulting the WWE core audience and Trump's supporters at the same time. Equating that they are one in the same. Wow.

Isn't his schtick inline with that? I thought he's supposed to be the heel, the suit that ruins everything.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

You are. The point is how Trump is successfully pumping up his crowds and his followers. The article isn't very subtle about the Hitler parallels either.

So what is the point of the paragraph about how fun it is to be there?

 

[Booshka]

Barnhill is wearing a button he just bought from a vender outside the convention center. It says “TRUMP 2016: FINALLY SOMEONE WITH BALLS.”

More Balls than Deez Nuts, #Trump2016. That should be a bumper sticker, print that shit, mass produce it in China, Malaysia, fucking Thailand, wherever.

I love how ridiculous this race has become, one side is straight up Idiocracy.

 

[Emperor_Uriel]

I'd still take him over any real republican candidate.

He's a total wildcard. We just don't know exactly what kind of a president he'd be, in spite of all the huffing and puffing.

In fact, the only thing we can say for certain is that he'd be one of the most powerful presidents ever. His vast wealth, immense connections and global influence could do a lot of good for us all, giving him multi-layered leverage over corrupt corporations and harmful forces that no other candidate can tout.

Of course, if he goes in the other direction it'll be an incredible disaster. Tons of wasteful non-starters like building the Great Wall of Mexico, a level of irreverence that could be seen as highly antagonistic by our allies, and the knowledge of how to totally manipulate the economy for the benefit of the rich... if he wanted to.

We'd basically be flipping a coin. But I wouldn't take Trump's pandering to crazy people as a sign of the apocalypse.

 

[Cerium]

So what is the point of the paragraph about how fun it is to be there?

Illustrating what the atmosphere is like at his rallies. It shouldn't be this hard to parse that.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

Illustrating what the atmosphere is like at his rallies. It shouldn't be this hard to parse that.

"It is fun to be here. Even the reporters, to whose perfidy Trump devotes a substantial chunk of his speech, are having fun"

How am I supposed to parse this? I wouldn't go there if you fucking paid me, doesn't sound very fun at all. Now imagine if you were black or hispanic or, dare I say, muslim with a turban or burqa in that crowd.

 

[Chaotic-Strike]

They say history repeats itself but here we are in 2015 with a McCarthy equivalent.

 

[Cerium]

"It is fun to be here. Even the reporters, to whose perfidy Trump devotes a substantial chunk of his speech, are having fun"

How am I supposed to parse this?

The whole point is that populism is like a drug, hence "The Ecstasy of Donald Trump." I'm not sure how many different ways I can explain this, but it doesn't look like anyone else is having trouble understanding it.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

The whole point is that populism is like a drug, hence "The Ecstasy of Donald Trump." I'm not sure how many different ways I can explain this, but it doesn't look like anyone else is having trouble understanding it.

Okay bro, I'm just not sure how anyone can see this shit going on and think of the word fun but I guess I'm the crazy one.

Like I said before, it's probably a lot easier when you blend into the crowd.

 

[Citadelofmythoughts]

Okay bro, I'm just not sure how anyone can see this shit going on and think of the word fun but I guess I'm the crazy one.

Like I said before, it's probably a lot easier when you blend into the crowd.

Amazing how you get hung up on that one word and ignore the rest of the article.

 

[Cerium]

Like I said before, it's probably a lot easier when you blend into the crowd.

lmao really?

I'm not white. Keep digging tho.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

lmao really?

I'm not white. Keep digging tho.

I was talking about the author of the article. The person having fun at these rallies.

 

[Fat4all]

This gif is amazing on so many levels if that really is what Vince McMahon said. He's literally insulting the WWE core audience and Trump's supporters at the same time. Equating that they are one in the same. Wow.

McMahon's job is to make wrestling fans hate him to prop up heros to challenge him.

He's very good at doing that.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

If by some bizarro chance Trump wins how scared should I be as a latino man?

 

[Random17]

If by some bizarro chance Trump wins how scared should I be as a latino man?

Presidential elections are won and lost by the middle 20% of undecided voters. Doesn't matter what the 40% core Democrat and GOP voters think, it's the middle 20% undecided "centrists" who are the most susceptible to media campaigns, targeted campaigning and advertising, especially those in the swing states.

The middle 20% does not take kindly to more "extreme positions" or candidates.

Do you think Donald Trump has a chance with these people? Candidates on both sides tend to be more extreme in the primaries, and then migrate towards the "centre" in the general campaign. That's exactly what happened with Romney in 2012, but Trump's statements won't leave him in general. He lives and dies off bombastic and controversial statements. Expect the middle 20% to sway to the Democratic side. Trump is unelectable, ceteris paribus.

 

[pigeon]

If by some bizarro chance Trump wins how scared should I be as a latino man?

If Trump wins something will have fundamentally changed about America, and not for the better.

I'd move, and I'm half white.

 

[Cerium]

If by some bizarro chance Trump wins how scared should I be as a latino man?

The whole world should be scared in that scenario. Fortunately it won't happen.

 

[Abinash117]

I'd still take him over any real republican candidate.

He's a total wildcard. We just don't know exactly what kind of a president he'd be, in spite of all the huffing and puffing.

In fact, the only thing we can say for certain is that he'd be one of the most powerful presidents ever. His vast wealth, immense connections and global influence could do a lot of good for us all, giving him multi-layered leverage over corrupt corporations and harmful forces that no other candidate can tout.

Of course, if he goes in the other direction it'll be an incredible disaster. Tons of wasteful non-starters like building the Great Wall of Mexico, a level of irreverence that could be seen as highly antagonistic by our allies, and the knowledge of how to totally manipulate the economy for the benefit of the rich... if he wanted to.

We'd basically be flipping a coin. But I wouldn't take Trump's pandering to crazy people as a sign of the apocalypse.

I wouldn't take the pandering as he is secretly fooling people either. Why take the risk?

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

Presidential elections are won and lost by the middle 20% of undecided voters. Doesn't matter what the 40% core Democrat and GOP voters think, it's the middle 20% undecided "centrists" who are the most susceptible to media campaigns, targeted campaigning and advertising, especially those in the swing states.

The middle 20% does not take kindly to more "extreme positions" or candidates.

Do you think Donald Trump has a chance with these people? Candidates on both sides tend to be more extreme in the primaries, and then migrate towards the "centre" in the general campaign. That's exactly what happened with Romney in 2012, but Trump's statements won't leave him in general. He lives and dies off bombastic and controversial statements. Expect the middle 20% to sway to the Democratic side. Trump is unelectable, ceteris paribus.

Bookmarking this for a year from now.

 

[Random17]

Bookmarking this for a year from now.

I'd like to reiterate the point about ceteris paribus at the end of my original post. Hillary/the Dems would have to screw up majorly for Trump to win. Also I don't think it'll be 60/40, probably closer to 53/47.

 

[Link]

If Trump wins something will have fundamentally changed about America, and not for the better.

I'd move, and I'm half white.

I'd move, and I'm all white.

 

[Antiwhippy]

I'd still take him over any real republican candidate.

He's a total wildcard. We just don't know exactly what kind of a president he'd be, in spite of all the huffing and puffing.

In fact, the only thing we can say for certain is that he'd be one of the most powerful presidents ever. His vast wealth, immense connections and global influence could do a lot of good for us all, giving him multi-layered leverage over corrupt corporations and harmful forces that no other candidate can tout.

What.

He is the corrupt corporation.

His wealth is dwarfed compared to a lot of the mega corporations out there.

What global influence other than wanting to antagonise Russia and China, the 2 other super powers in the world?

 

[MrCunningham]

McMahon's job is to make wrestling fans hate him to prop up heros to challenge him.

He's very good at doing that.

Well yeah, but he still seems a little too blunt there.

 

[ButtSLAM420]

If he somehow gets elected his term is going to inspire so many new call of duty titles.

 

[Booshka]

I'd like to reiterate the point about ceteris paribus at the end of my original post. Hillary/the Dems would have to screw up majorly for Trump to win.

In a more optimistic outlook of the 2016 race, Trump is actually trolling for the Democratic party. He is essentially a mole, exposing the 10% or so of the American electorate that are remarkably xenophobic and racist, only to meltdown for the Khaleesi overlord. As a Dem or sensible independent, you should be happy to see Trump doing well in the Republican party, because he essentially destroying the party for a general election win for Dems.

They still own the state and local, but nationally, they are pretty irrelevant.

 

[Fat4all]

Well yeah, but he still seems a little too blunt there.

McMahon's never really been known for his subtlety.

 

[Random17]

In a more optimistic outlook of the 2016 race, Trump is actually trolling for the Democratic party. He is essentially a mole, exposing the 10% or so of the American electorate that are remarkably xenophobic and racist, only to meltdown for the Khaleesi overlord. As a Dem or sensible independent, you should be happy to see Trump doing well in the Republican party, because he essentially destroying the party for a general election win for Dems.

They still own the state and local, but nationally, they are pretty irrelevant.

I have a different theory. Trump just wanted to build up his fame/fortune, but he did not expect to see the level of support he received after his Mexico statement.

Literally no one saw Trump's rise coming, not even Trump, after all he has gone through failure in politics before.

Now he's just rolling with it. His popularity, and by extension Carson's popularity is proportional to the level of media attention he receives. That's a function of the level of controversy and bluntness of his statements.

 

[Sibylus]

I misjudged Trump as a clown candidate for clown constituents.

He's a fascist candidate for fascist constituents.

 

[Booshka]

I have a different theory. Trump just wanted to build up his fame/fortune, but he did not expect to see the level of support he received after his Mexico statement.

Literally no one saw Trump's rise coming, not even Trump, after all he has gone through failure in politics before.

Now he's just rolling with it. His popularity, and by extension Carson's popularity is proportional to the level of media attention he receives. That's a function of the level of controversy and bluntness of his statements.

Your theory is more hilarious because the top two "Outsiders" are actually just in it to sell their brand/books back to the suckers that buy into their bullshit.

It's great, almost 50% of the Republican electorate is getting hosed by some master marketers, selling reality TV, real estate, or evangelical biographies.

 

[B-Dubs]

I have a different theory. Trump just wanted to build up his fame/fortune, but he did not expect to see the level of support he received after his Mexico statement.

Literally no one saw Trump's rise coming, not even Trump, after all he has gone through failure in politics before.

Now he's just rolling with it. His popularity, and by extension Carson's popularity is proportional to the level of media attention he receives. That's a function of the level of controversy and bluntness of his statements.

I partly agree with the latter half, but no way he got into it for fame or money. He's got a lot of both and a run wouldn't get him any more of either than he's already got. His ego wouldn't let him make a losing run unless he had a real goal he could point to. I'm thinking he jumped in to take Jeb out, there's no love lost between Trump and the Bush camp, and when he realized he could win the whole thing in the first debate he got serious.

 

[Makai]

I have a different theory. Trump just wanted to build up his fame/fortune, but he did not expect to see the level of support he received after his Mexico statement.

Literally no one saw Trump's rise coming, not even Trump, after all he has gone through failure in politics before.

Now he's just rolling with it. His popularity, and by extension Carson's popularity is proportional to the level of media attention he receives. That's a function of the level of controversy and bluntness of his statements.

I don't think anyone has a good explanation for Trump's rise. Carson's support already collapsed, probably due to insane comments. It can happen to Trump.