August 11, 2015

"Trump is not a candidate, he's making an infomercial for a yet-to-be fully develped political reality show."

"At some point, when he thinks he's sufficiently milked the press and the public, his campaign will transition into that reality program, which he will then sell to Fox and which Meghan Kelly will host. He'll never run as a third party candidate because that would tick off at least a third to one-half of his intended audience demographic, plus, he will need to have this program up and running during the heat of the 2016 campaign to keep the buzz going. You heard it here first."

Said jaydub, yesterday in the comments on the "Dawn walk thoughts" post.

19 comments:

pm317 said...

Oh, conspiracies..

I agree that his commitment to see this process to the end and win is in question, but he is not a career politician either. Let the process and the clock test him out. Crying foul now is premature.

tim maguire said...

Possible. I've seen nothing yet that tells me Trump is a candidate for the Republican nomination. Has he even bothered to register as a Republican yet? Even Bloomberg took that step before running for mayor as a Republican.

James Pawlak said...

What is "Jaydub" injesting?

Shawn Levasseur said...

A very plausible theory.

The man is an attention whore. He will eventually fade out of the race (some have speculated he will drop out before a single vote is cast for or against him).

Though, if he drops out, what is the premise for the reality show? Trying to rebuild the bridges he burned in this campaign?

Another contributing aspect to not wanting to participate running as an independent: The cost that he'd probably have to shell out of his own pocket.

Petitioning costs in an election year have skyrocketed since the days of Ross Perot. He's not going to spend the kind of money on an organization that is needed to pull it off, nor does he have the kind of following that would gain him any significant volunteer help, like Perot had. I suspect that he'd rather put such enterprise building effort into something more profitable.

The only minor parties with enough ballot access to significantly cut those costs (Libertarians & Greens) are highly unlikely to nominate Trump.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

"Human beings derive meaning the way birds build nests."

-- Some Scientist Guy on the Radio

bridgecross said...

This is describing a Trump with much more forethought and strategy than he seems to have. I prefer to take him at his word; he really is running for president, he really thinks he will be the nominee because he's a popular "winner" and everybody else is "overrated." He has less self-awareness than anybody else in the political field, and that's saying something. I hope he stays on as long as he can, and uses as much of his wealth as he can to make everyone squirm. It's so hilariously awesomely bad. It's like an Andy Kaufman piece.

damikesc said...

I will say this much:

Trump has actually lost quite a lot in this race. He lost his NBC gig. Lost outlets for his wares.

I'm not sure why everybody is so convinced this is a vanity project. I think he's legit serious about running.

Will he win? I'd be surprised. But I don't think this is an audition for a Fox News show. NBC paid better for the Apprentice I'd imagine for a less rigorous work schedule.

damikesc said...

He has less self-awareness than anybody else in the political field

May I introduce you to Hillary Clinton?

Equally less self-aware but with a far weaker record of success and markedly larger record of epic failure.

traditionalguy said...

Methinks your wishful thinking protesteth too much.

TheMexican Government can always order Chappo's Sinoloa Cartel local team to assassinate Trump That might work.

What will you do when Trump survives the attacks and refuses to quit even after being ordered to do so by Saint Megyn Kelley?

Gary Kirk said...

Well I'll tell ya what. His show is much more interesting than the channel I've been watching for almost 8 years, WBHO.

JHapp said...

This ($$$) was obvious from day one. What is not clear is whether or not this is his main plan or a just a backup. He may also want the Secretary of State job.

Known Unknown said...

"He may also want the Secretary of State job."

Treasury.

richard mcenroe said...

"Trump has actually lost quite a lot in this race. He lost his NBC gig. Lost outlets for his wares.

I'm not sure why everybody is so convinced this is a vanity project. I think he's legit serious about running."

Because Trump has NEVER done anything where there wasn't a "get" for Trump. NEVER.

So if he's making this play now, he sees a bigger payoff that what he's lost so far. What is it? And what will it cost America, his involuntary investors?

jaydub said...

James Pawlak said...

What is "Jaydub" injesting?

traditionalguy said...

Methinks your wishful thinking protesteth too much.

Hey, guys, cut me some slack - I was commenting tongue-in-cheek (sorta.) Besides, I live in Spain; so, I'm seriously out of sync with AA's posts, time zone wise, and I don't get much of the politics from the US, which appears to be a huge advantage this year. Still, to answer Mr Pawlak, I'm injesting a really good, but inexpensive Rubera del Duero. Cheers to all.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Trump is running for President of the Nation of Whiners. It's wrong to think he can't win.

Ann Althouse said...

Excellent perspective from Spain, jaydub. I appreciate what you can see from there.

damikesc said...

Possible. I've seen nothing yet that tells me Trump is a candidate for the Republican nomination. Has he even bothered to register as a Republican yet?

Is Sanders a candidate for the Dem nomination? He's not registered as a Dem, either.

Trump is hardly my favorite, but in a shocker, Republicans are expending immense energy attacking one another.

Democrats never seem to really do that.

hombre said...

"... he sees a bigger payoff than what he's lost so far. What is it?"

If he brings about a Democrat win, think graft. Think Solyndra. Think crony capitalism.

The possibilities are staggering!

Cynicus said...

Trump should run for mayor of New York! That is the perfect role for him. Can you picture him going after de Blasio?