How Will Trump Handle the Indignity of Second Place?

National Review ^ | 11/04/2015 | Charles C.W. Cooke

[SeekAndFind]

Of all the presidential aspirants who are at present scrabbling their way up the White House wall, Donald Trump is by far and away the best, the classiest, and the most handsome. He doesn't pander or kowtow to the special interests. He doesn't back down or apologize. He doesn't sweat, or even drink water. Instead, he makes great deals and knows the smartest people. He writes fabulous books and anchors top--rated TV shows. He makes great gobs of hard cash, sleeps on nothing less than the finest sheets, and imports only the most beautiful women to join him under them. He's richer than Solomon, more elegant than Jackie O, and he has the hair of an exquisite racehorse. (Not Secretariat.) He wins each and every debate with ease and style. Everybody agrees with him, and they tell him so: publicly, privately, and via the most superb online polls. All ethnic groups love him in equal measure, and females up and down the land yearn for his protective hands. He's number one; a winner; the tops.

What's that? Ben Carson is now leading the Republican pack, beating Trump by six points nationally? And Carson is ascendant in more than one poll?

Awkward.

Just how well Trump's triumphant shtick will work when delivered from anything other than the pole position is unclear. There is a good reason that both he and his supporters have elected to rest their case upon a tautology — "He's winning because he's winning!” — and that is that, in a culture that celebrates champions, standing in first place is quite the aphrodisiac. Unsure about the Donald's positions on matters of state? Worry not: He'll make America great again because he is great; he'll choose the best people because he is the best people; and have you noticed how rich he is?

At no point since the man came flying down his glitz--laden escalator has reflection been permitted to intrude upon his deliberations. Any polls that failed to show Trump dominating have been presumed to be biased or flawed, while those that flattered him have been celebrated without regard for methodology. Any evidence that Trump is doing disastrously with groups that Republicans have to win has been casually dismissed, the better to be explained away by aging outliers and good old--fashioned bluster. Any insecurities felt by his supporters, meanwhile, have been melted swiftly into generalities. It is not that they like the man and his agenda, but that all "real Americans” do; it is not that they represent a minority of the Republican electorate, but that they speak for the whole "middle class”; it is not that their hero is one contender among many, but that he is the savior of all "normal” people. Time and time again, the imperative is made clear: Whatever happens, Trump must be perceived to be conquering all before him. Number one! Number one! Number one!

Every campaign likes to talk up its guy. Every political ego needs a massage. But there is something especially fragile about the vehemence with which Trump and his team insist upon his primacy. Could it be, perchance, they know somewhere within their souls that bravado and bluster are compelling when exhibited from on high, but rather pathetic when they pour forth from the second spot or beyond? Could it be, perhaps, that "I'm doing pretty well” is understood to be lethal to the proposition, "I'm winning because I'm a winner”? Could it be, just maybe, that the word "loser” is a relative one?

This election season has yielded not a return to normalcy, but to a primitive and witless Harlequinade. For almost half a year now, Donald Trump has steadfastly ignored the Right's need for a Coolidgian anti--hero and struck a messianic pose: as a deal--maker without peers, as a rock star atop the world stage, as the architect of a great and glittering empire. He has, in other words, elected to run as a more competent and less nuanced Barack Obama, complete with vacuous promises of hope and change and non--ideological star power that, this time at least, will be made to work properly. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Ave, Imperator, morituri te salutant!

How strange the change from major to minor. And how farcical officious men can be made to look when the pedestals are burned and the crowd's hearts have wandered elsewhere in search of cheap sustenance. Heretofore, this election has been full of surprises; moving forward it will furnish yet more. Not least among them will be the scale and nature of Trump's decline when both he and his acolytes come reluctantly to realize that he is not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy.

-- Charles C. W. Cooke is a staff writer for National Review.

[GilGil]

So Trump’s new book is at #4 on Amazon.

Bush has a book too ( I did not know that) at number 9000 ranking on amazon. No kidding.

I do not know where Carson’s book ranks but I know it is way below #4.

And they want us to think Trump is falling. Right!

[Lisbon1940]

That little blonde with the big eyes who sits next to him on Red Eye is also from National Review.

[BigEdLB]

We need here on this forum to post our own averages, using non-push polls. Start out with four. National, Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Rules. No five networks. MOE under 4.5. Internals realistic. On the last one, I would reject a poll that showed women support of Trump half of men. Unrealistic

[Artcore]

This is such B.S!

Carson is nowhere to be seen, and yet the Establishment hacks at NR find a couple of polls (while ignoring all the others showing Trump winning everything) to try and push this bogus narrative about Carson supposedly surging.

Sorry, this shouldn’t be in news! JimRob needs to add a “fiction section” for this type of crap analysis.

[detch]

Hey folks, you want a taste of CHARLES C. W. COOKE’s previous anti-Trump tantrums… some headlines, followed by his trash talk

Donald Trump Is a Yuuuuuuuge Wuss
“He’s a thin-skinned performance artist whose peculiar shtick falls to pieces the moment someone useful elects to return a punch.”

Donald Trump’s Birther Moment Tells Us about Donald Trump, and Not Much Else
“There is, the researchers found, ‘near symmetry between left and right.’ And then there’s Donald Trump.”

The Cult of Donald Trump
“Donald Trump in office in 2017. If you have a wall with holes in it you hire a builder, not a demolition company.”

The Trump Virus and Its Symptoms
“…the Trump virus yields a second — and equally potent — symptom: It provokes otherwise intelligent people into an ugly form of civil confusion.”

Trump Has Succeeded in Convincing Conservatives to Discard their Principles Overnight
“That Donald Trump is winning their support with the sort of brainless, simplistic, counter-Bastiatian snake-oil that is typically dismissed out of hand is nothing short of astonishing.”

[detch]

corrected for punctuation...

Hey folks, you want a taste of CHARLES C. W. COOKE’s previous anti-Trump tantrums... some headlines, followed by his trash talk

Donald Trump Is a Yuuuuuuuge Wuss
“He’s a thin-skinned performance artist whose peculiar shtick falls to pieces the moment someone useful elects to return a punch.”

Donald Trump’s Birther Moment Tells Us about Donald Trump, and Not Much Else
“There is, the researchers found, ‘near symmetry between left and right.’ And then there’s Donald Trump.”

The Cult of Donald Trump
“Donald Trump in office in 2017. If you have a wall with holes in it you hire a builder, not a demolition company.”

The Trump Virus and Its Symptoms
“The Trump virus yields a second, and equally potent, symptom: It provokes otherwise intelligent people into an ugly form of civil confusion.”

Trump Has Succeeded in Convincing Conservatives to Discard their Principles Overnight
“That Donald Trump is winning their support with the sort of brainless, simplistic, counter-Bastiatian snake-oil that is typically dismissed out of hand is nothing short of astonishing.”

Hey Cooke, go work for Salon. They are more your type.

[angcat]

Carson can’t beat Hillary. Trump is the only one that can.

[20yearsofinternet]

I honestly think Ben Carson is only in the race to make money by plugging his book and defrauding Christians out of campaign donations. He seems like a huckster to me.

[haircutter]

You say....
Meanwhile, Trump fills stadiums...

and your right...I’ve stated for weeks, and weeks, and weeks, that there are NO photo’s in the MSM showing any crowds for Carson...I sincerely believe he is a plant to try and destroy Trump..and it will not work..

Carson is much too weak to Lead and even try beating the Clinton Machine, and the only one I feel can beat and destroy that Machine and Foundation, is DONALD J. TRUMP.

BY SPRING WE WILL KNOW WHO IS GOING TO MOVE FORWARD..IF CLINTON, AMERICA WILL NEVER RETURN TO WHAT WE HAVE KNOWN...THEY ARE EVIL AS B. HUSSEIN O.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: He seems like a huckster to me.’

Where’s the evidence of that?

His ENTIRE career tells us that ON THE NET, he has been above board compared to most other politicians.

[moehoward]

[SeekAndFind]

Carson can't beat Hillary. Trump is the only one that can.

This is the latest from the RealClearPolitics average of polls .... of all candidates, he matches up BEST against Hillary.

General Election: Carson vs. Clinton

Poll	Date	Sample	MoE	Carson (R)	Clinton (D)	Spread
RCP Average	10/1 - 11/2	--	--	48.6	43.4	Carson +5.2
QuinnipiacQuinnipiac	10/29 - 11/2	1144 RV	2.9	50	40	Carson +10
NBC/WSJNBC/WSJ	10/25 - 10/29	847 RV	3.4	47	47	Tie
CNN/ORCCNN/ORC	10/14 - 10/17	956 RV	3.0	48	47	Carson +1
FOX NewsFOX News	10/10 - 10/12	1004 RV	3.0	50	39	Carson +11
PPP (D)PPP (D)	10/1 - 10/4	1338 RV	2.7	48	44	Carson +4

All General Election: Carson vs. Clinton Polling Data

[moehoward]

Maybe if Romney had duplicated that turnout in other places. Trump can, and has no problem drawing double the Red Rocks capacity to boot.

[Captain Peter Blood]

I don’t believe that Carson can or would do that well against Hillary. He really is out of his depth and in a debate she will chew him up.

[moehoward]

“NBC/WSJNBC/WSJ 10/25 - 10/29 847 RV 3.4 47 47 Tie”

How the hell does that square with this from the same poll ?

“Which of the following candidates do you think has the best chance to defeat the Democratic candidate and regain the White House?”
Donald Trump.................................................... 32
Ben Carson ....................................................... 25

[jmaroneps37]

A strong entry in this week’s Wile E. Coyote Frustration Award contest.

[SeekAndFind]

The questions:

“Which of the following candidates do you think has the best chance to defeat the Democratic candidate and regain the White House?”

and

“Who are you must likely to vote for in 2016?”

Are two entirely different questions.

For example, if you ask me WHO I am going to vote for in 2016, I would choose Ted Cruz.

If you ask me if he has the best chance to beat Hillary, given the state of our low-information electorate, I would tell you I am not sure....

[Verginius Rufus]

The margin by which Romney lost Colorado was a bit narrower than the margin by which McCain lost Colorado. In 2012, if Denver County had been a separate state, Romney would have carried Colorado (he outpolled Obama in the remainder of the state).

[DoughtyOne]

That sounds right on track to me.

[detch]

If Carson were to become the Republican candidate, the MSM would destroy him on his belonging to a religion that has a doctrine of pacifism, and many conservative Republicans would rebuke him as well for not being a candidate who would be a strong Commander-inChief.

Then the mantra will be that Carson isn’t tough enough to beat their very tough candidate, Hillary.

I don’t want us to get to that point and lose to a third Democrat in a row,