Donald Trump Can (and might) Win — BUT HE DIDN’T!!!
Donald Trump Can (and might) Win — BUT HE DIDN’T!!!
Trump and his re-election team just threw down the gauntlet with their new commercial.
Trump and his re-election team just threw down the gauntlet with their new commercial.
There are so many things that Donald Trump IS incompetent at. Writing an article of that length would test my researching ability … and let’s be honest, most reader’s attention span on Medium.
Please don’t say that he’s competent or successful in real estate. He’s been successful with real estate because of these three things:
— He inherited the majority of success, wealth, and property from his father.
— He licenses his name, his brand, Trump. He doesn’t own all the buildings that don his name.
— Failing in New York City real estate takes a degree of incompetence that supersedes Donald Trump’s.
Please don’t say he’s a successful or competent businessman. To list Trump’s epic failure’s (EXCLUDING his political ones) would take a separate article so here’s a snapshot from a 2016 article in Rolling Stone:
Trump Vodka — oy vey.
Trump Steaks — I didn’t make this up. It happened.
Trump Magazine — all the words!
Trump University — well, of course, this failed.
The Donald J. Trump Foundation — neither the man nor the brand, has never been know for being charitable, and this was no different.
Trump: The Game — Milton Bradley discontinued the game in 1990 because it didn’t sell. Hasbro tried to capitalize on his Apprentice fame in 2004 — shocking no one, this version was also discontinued due to lack of sales.
Trump Casinos — the house does not always win.
Trump Airlines — to be fair, the airline industry is a tough nut to crack, and tougher in 1988.
Trump Mortgage — officially launched in April of 2005, shuttered in August of 2007.
Trump Tower Tampa — the alliteration is pretty good, I will admit that. AND to be fair, this wasn’t his project; he just licensed his name for $2 million — which seems a bit low against a $300 million project.
And the bankruptcies. Oh, the bankruptcies.
While it can be said that he has never filed for personal bankruptcy, between 1991 and 2009, his casinos and hotels — six of them — certainly exploited the corporate bankruptcy laws:
Trump Taj Mahal — 1991
Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino — 1992
Plaza Hotel — 1992
Trump Castle Hotel and Casino — 1992
Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts — 2004
Trump Entertainment Resorts — 2004 and again in 2009
But here are two things, perhaps the ONLY two things, the man IS NOT incompetent at — self-promotion and his “marketing techniques.”
His “marketing techniques” strong-armed Americans into believing he was a skilled negotiator, successful businessman, and that all of his competition were idiots. This was so successful…well, we know what happened. We’re living it.
And on his “marketing techniques,” this much can be said — there isn’t a technique. Unless, of course, you count lying, bullying, and calling competitors silly nicknames a method.
I’m going to guess those “techniques” are not taught in business schools.
Yes, he’s a billionaire. As near as anyone can tell, he has a net worth of anything between $2.0 — $3.1 billion — which is A LOT of money.
But allow me to posit this — he has been braying about being a billionaire since the 1980s. If you’ve been a billionaire for almost 35/40 years, wouldn’t you have amassed a more substantial fortune? Warren Buffet became a billionaire in 1986 (presumably a single-digit one) and now has an estate worth $67 billion.
I’m not sayin’ — I’m just sayin’.
I admit I don’t know that world, but it seems like you would’ve accumulated more wealth over the years. And IF you didn’t, then it must beg the question why?
All of this is to say that despite his notable and epic failures in both business and now politics, Donald Trump could very well win again.
I recently read an article by Todd Brison called” Trump’s Latest Move Against Biden Is Pure Marketing Genius,” where he breaks it down into one word. It’s this single word and concept that has defined Donald Trump’s entire career: de-positioning.
“De-positioning is not just about saying ‘I am better than you are.’ It’s about saying ‘I am in a league of my own, and you are completely irrelevant.’”
Let that marinate for a moment — “I am in a league of my own, and you are completely irrelevant.”
Donald Trump is 73, and Joe Biden is 78. NEITHER of these men is relevant!
But one is a career swindler cum marketer, and the other is a lawyer cum career politician. Setting that aside, can anyone honestly think Trump’s team is not going to exploit that five-year difference?
Is a five-year age difference in your 70’s that relevant? It seems to me, they’ve both peaked and are now in their final furlong. Rest assured, this is going to become an even bigger issue, especially as the Republican National Convention kicks off.
Now, do I think a 90-year-old Joe Biden would be more competent than 73-year-old Donald Trump? Yea. Do I think a 90-year-old Joe Biden would be more qualified & competent than a 63-year-old Donald Trump? Yea.
To be honest, I think a giant bag of turnips would be more competent than Trump; that’s not the point.
Take the 2:00 minutes to watch; THIS is the point:
Video Source: The Donald J. Trump YouTube Channel
That’s a fucking chilling political ad.
That’s also a fucking brilliant political ad.
It’s on par with Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election ad “It’s Morning In America” — and “The Gipper” squeezed another four years out of Americans riding on that nonsense.
If you notice, the clips they’re juxtaposing of Biden are all within the past five years. That’s not an accident. While I don’t believe one second of that new Trump ad ….there are tens of millions of Americans who will. And those that may not believe it, or are on the fence about Joe Biden, will have their foundations rattled by that portrayal.
I know I did …and I don’t believe a word of it (full disclosure — I’m not the biggest Joe Biden supporter).
The concept of “de-positioning” is what Donald Trump has done his entire career. He isn’t going to stop now. As Bison points out, it’s what helped him get elected in 2016, and I fear it’s what will help him get re-elected in 2020.
Trump and his team will probably attack Biden on his acuity. And they’ll be right to do so. Joe Biden is an EPIC bumbler and gaffer, he has been his entire career, and this kind of “de-positioning” practically writes itself.
Now I don’t think Biden’s bumbling or gaffes are indicative of his acuity OR his ability to govern …but there are tens of millions of people who will. And they’ll vote.
Gird you loins, it’s gonna be a tough couple of months until November.
George Conway’s The Lincoln Project is also putting out similar kinds of “attack” ads against Trump. They’re an excellent ballast to this dreck because I don’t think Democrat’s have the testicular fortitude to go after Trump in the same way.
Unfortunately, these Lincoln Project ad’s don’t seem to be having much impact outside of the Twittersphere. Check them out:
Video Source — The Lincoln Project YouTube Channel
I can only hope Trump gets ahead of himself and has a “stable genius” moment or, even better, a “person, woman, man, camera, TV” moment.
More than anything, I hope Donald Trump goes down in an indisputable and unequivocal ball of flames.
To be clear, by “ball of flames” I mean electoral defeat.
But I don’t know.
More importantly, neither does anyone else — that includes BOTH polls and pundits.
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best — or, in this case, Joe Biden.
In any case, just vote.