Althouse: Young Donald Trump sounds rather sensible.

December 30, 2015

Young Donald Trump sounds rather sensible.

42 comments:

Writ Small said...: Charming and, yes, sensible.

However, could that reporter have been more obsequious? The secret to the good Donald is lots and lots of flattery. Putin figured that out, too.; 12/30/15, 10:25 AM
Limited blogger said...: The MSM better not let that footage get out, you might get quite a good impression of the young man.; 12/30/15, 10:27 AM
Anonymous said...: And then you have This.; 12/30/15, 10:43 AM
cubanbob said...: Amanda said...

And then you have This.
12/30/15, 10:43 AM

Keep deluding yourself and just remember Hillary's odds of spending her nights in The Big House are better than her odds of sleeping again in The White House. Trump might be the nominee and he might be the winner but with all of the scandals around Hillary she is no doubt a loser. Maybe she ought to nice to Cruz as she will be needing a pardon from President Cruz. Hillary Clinton is the Democrat's Nixon minus the charm, smarts,ethics and integrity of Nixon.; 12/30/15, 11:03 AM
cubanbob said...: Once removed of the hyperbole what he is saying still is sensible. That is why he has such an appeal.; 12/30/15, 11:06 AM
David Begley said...: Trump was a liberal Democrat for years and might still be.

We know very little about his past and how he would govern other than building a wall.; 12/30/15, 11:09 AM
Achilles said...: The older Donald is sensible too. It is the elites and cronies like Hillary and her disgusting supporters that are out of line.; 12/30/15, 11:12 AM
mccullough said...: What happened to the color of his hair?; 12/30/15, 11:12 AM
Drago said...: Uh oh. Looks like Amanda is getting on her high horse again.

Remember, obambi mentioned that we should avoid doing that as he was excusing the islamist mass murders and sexual enslavement of women today.

BTW, which of the women that Bill Clinton sexually assaulted are you most happy about Hillary directing the attack against? If you'd like, you can list them in reverse order.; 12/30/15, 11:21 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: Watch, Althouse is gonna start dreaming again of Trump -- the young Trump!

The critics of Trump have lost much of their credibility by overstating the list of horribles against the Donald. No, he's not a Fascist, racist or sexist. He's a successful NY developer, and a celebrity.

The supporters of Trump are also overselling the case a bit. Trump, in my opinion, would be much better than Obama or Hillary in the Oval Office. Also, the fact that he drives the main stream media bonkers (Democratic operatives with by-lines) is also a good, refreshing thing.

But that doesn't answer the question of whether he will govern as a Conservative, win the general election or whether some of his reckless comments will come back to haunt him.

So, my own personal calculation, is that he might not be the best GOP candidate to tackle Hillary in the General. Trump, Cruz and Rubio each have plusses and minuses, all are basically tied with Hillary in the General. So, it's still an open question on whom to vote in the primary, and I'm persuadable.; 12/30/15, 11:35 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: The Jeb! video put forth by Amanda above is exactly what I'm talking about. Because it is so feeble, it makes me like Trump more, and Jeb! less.; 12/30/15, 11:37 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Here's an entire Trump speech from last week. I watched the whole thing.

Here's another. I'm listening to that.

The first one is in NH and the second in IA... tailored to the location.; 12/30/15, 11:39 AM
Michael said...: A goodly bit of the female voting population has no idea about the covering that Hillary did for her husband or about the slut shaming she engaged in over and over that helped him skate again and again. It is an interesting topic in the age of "rape culture" when a candidate for the presidency has a history of slut shaming and ignoring the infidelities of a partner. A partner, by the way, who got blowjobs from an intern. In the office and on the clock. I think the young female voters will be interested in this story and need to hear more of the details. Now maybe Hillary has evolved. She call tell us all about it.

If an executive today is discovered getting blowjobs from an intern in his corner office what happens to him and to his career? You can google it.; 12/30/15, 11:43 AM
Limited blogger said...: ...watching the Nashua rally now.... the hair looks vaguely like that in the old video...; 12/30/15, 11:48 AM
mikee said...: Dilbert creator Scott Adams has the best understanding of Trump of any pundit I have read. Adams analyzes Trump's success based on Trump's use of negotiation tactics and persuasion tactics to emotionally move his listeners, rather than rationally engaging them solely via facts and logic.

Adams notes that this works very well in gaining voter support, and that Trump is good at it. He predicts a Trump landslide.

Hillary? Everyone knows she lies, badly, every time she opens her mouth. Some support her despite this knowledge, based on their belief that Republicans are evil. Which is extremely illogical, irrational, irredeemably stupid. But those votes count, despite the cognitive dissonance.

I predict Hillary will win, because Trump has overcome the number of votes Hillary will get, but not the number of votes that will be manufactured to ensure she wins.; 12/30/15, 11:54 AM
damikesc said...: Watch, Althouse is gonna start dreaming again of Trump -- the young Trump!

The critics of Trump have lost much of their credibility by overstating the list of horribles against the Donald. No, he's not a Fascist, racist or sexist. He's a successful NY developer, and a celebrity.

The supporters of Trump are also overselling the case a bit. Trump, in my opinion, would be much better than Obama or Hillary in the Oval Office. Also, the fact that he drives the main stream media bonkers (Democratic operatives with by-lines) is also a good, refreshing thing.

But that doesn't answer the question of whether he will govern as a Conservative, win the general election or whether some of his reckless comments will come back to haunt him.

People are still under-estimating him as a candidate, IMO. He clearly has a terrific team in the campaign. You can't avoid making terrible mistakes with incompetents running. The "professional" campaigns of Bush and Hillary are underwhelming.

Is he a conservative? No. But how much of one is Bush these days? And I can see Trump becoming more conservative because I suspect the attacks on him are irritating him and he doesn't give a shit about the DC cocktail circuit.; 12/30/15, 12:03 PM
Hagar said...: "A successful politician is one who can sense where the people wishes to go and hurry over in time to get in front of the parade."
W. S. Churchill.; 12/30/15, 12:07 PM
Anonymous said...: Cubanbob,
Speaking of delusions, you seriously think that Clinton engaged in something that would end up in an indictment? Wishful thinking. Trump is going to make sure Clinton wins the Presidency by a landslide. I'll be here to tell you "I told you so". Jeb could've improved the video greatly, but poor Jeb is too timid. It's going to be very interesting hanging around here until Election Day. I predict there will be some very upset Trumpies, kind of like Karl Rove was on election night 2012.; 12/30/15, 12:13 PM
Hagar said...: Of course, for Churchill, this did not work out so well; it tended to backfire on him whenever he tried it, and he was jealous of those who could make it work and , like Lloyd George, were really good at it.; 12/30/15, 12:16 PM
Anonymous said...: I watched the video. What the heck happened to Trump? He does sound normal in this video. I suspect he either has dementia or his whole 'act' is nothing more than pandering to the worst instincts in his followers and he thinks there are enough of them to win the Presidency.; 12/30/15, 12:31 PM
eric said...: Blogger Amanda said...
Cubanbob,
Speaking of delusions, you seriously think that Clinton engaged in something that would end up in an indictment? Wishful thinking. Trump is going to make sure Clinton wins the Presidency by a landslide. I'll be here to tell you "I told you so".

The best part about these predictions is, there is no down side. None at all. If you're wrong, well, who is Amanda anyway? She just popped up not too long ago. We are all supposed to believe you haven't been commenting here for any length of time under any other names.

If you're right? Well, you get to gloat.

If you're wrong? It's goodbye Amanda, hello some new named liberal troll.; 12/30/15, 12:42 PM
Michael said...: An executive who got blowjobs in his own office from an underling be terminated immediately. His partner who covered it up would be terminated as well.

Oh, and if he was doing business with a private server in his own home he would be terminated.; 12/30/15, 1:02 PM
Michael said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/30/15, 1:04 PM
buwaya said...: "A successful politician is one who can sense where the people wishes to go and hurry over in time to get in front of the parade."
W. S. Churchill.

That's what Trump did, and what only he could really do, because all the rest are constrained by the need to raise funds among certain people who don't want the parade headed over in that direction.
Interesting really that the one time the critics of modern campaign finance are substantially right is when it comes to right-wing populist policies. The big money, it turns out, is mostly liberal-leftist. Not quite left enough for a few, but much too left for many more.; 12/30/15, 1:08 PM
Michael said...: Trump is the signal that its over. No more micro-aggressions, no more rape culture, no more pretending that Islam is full of peace, no more safe spaces, no more war on women, no more hands-up-don't-shoot. The progs will be the last to get it. Their party is over.; 12/30/15, 2:23 PM
Sammy Finkelman said...: He speaks with a bit of a British accent, which seems to have disappeared in the intervening yeasr.

Hia mother was Scottish.; 12/30/15, 2:41 PM
David said...: "People are still under-estimating him as a candidate, IMO. He clearly has a terrific team in the campaign."

Nuts and bolts. Can they assemble the required machine to attend to the details? Impossible to tell but we will know soon.; 12/30/15, 2:43 PM
Sammy Finkelman said...: However, could that reporter have been more obsequious?

Maybe he was that way with all his guests. What show was that anyway, and where was it broadcast?; 12/30/15, 2:45 PM
John henry said...: One of the things that Trump knows, and that any successful top level businessperson knows, is that you have to have top people working for you. The better they are, the better the top person will look.

I doubt that anyone gets hired in any Trump organization for being somebody's cousin, or being able to make an alliance with some other politician. I suspect they get hired for one reason only: An ability to do what they are hired for in an excellent fashion.

I think another secret of Trump's success is that he does almost no polling. It is an Apple/Jobs approach. Bring an excellent vision, incorporated into an excellent product, and then trust the market to see the value. If they do not see the value, try something else.

Go out and ask people what they want and you get all kinds of answers that you will have no idea what to do with.

Not spending money on polls, and advertising, seems to be what drives most of Trump's bad press. I am continuously reading pundits left and right saying "If he would only spend some money on traditional politicking, he would be doing sooooo much better."

I suspect that he will be fairly tightfisted during the general campaign as well. The MSM depends on the advertising treasure that election years bring. They might be getting a lump of coal in their stocking this year.

Serves them damned well right.

John Henry; 12/30/15, 3:12 PM
traditionalguy said...: The Donald is both a messenger and an advocate for one side. If you want to hear the message he Heralds to you, then he appears to be a gentleman as wise as Solomon. If not, then he appears to be a rude and bullying common soldier from the enemy's camp.

But the man is a great communicator, and No one ignores him.; 12/30/15, 3:45 PM
Achilles said...: Amanda said...
"Cubanbob,
Speaking of delusions, you seriously think that Clinton engaged in something that would end up in an indictment? "

We know the DC elite have no interest in indicting one of their own. Hillary belongs in jail at best. It is only her influence in DC that keeps her out. I had a TS/SCI clearance and handled a lot of the same types of material she did. If I did what she did with classified intel I would be in jail. Period.

Have fun supporting someone you know should be in jail but wont because she is part of the ruling class.; 12/30/15, 4:37 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Trump's understanding of it being a good thing to have "very good friends and good enemies" made me think of Plato's Republic, with Socrates asking Polemachus to defend the idea that justice means being good to your friends and doing harm to your enemies, and labeling that idea "justice as an art of theft."

And so, you and Homer and Simonides are agreed that justice is an art of theft; to be practised however `for the good of friends and for the harm of enemies,'that was what you were saying?; 12/30/15, 6:22 PM
BN said...: "...justice is an art of theft..."

No, justice is an art of covering up theft. So is politics.; 12/30/15, 7:46 PM
cubanbob said...: Amanda said...
Cubanbob,
Speaking of delusions, you seriously think that Clinton engaged in something that would end up in an indictment? Wishful thinking. Trump is going to make sure Clinton wins the Presidency by a landslide. I'll be here to tell you "I told you so". Jeb could've improved the video greatly, but poor Jeb is too timid. It's going to be very interesting hanging around here until Election Day. I predict there will be some very upset Trumpies, kind of like Karl Rove was on election night 2012.

12/30/15, 12:13 PM"

I'll raise your Karl Rove to the aborted third Bill Clinton term election night 2000.
In the meantime the only candidate who is currently a subject of an FBI investigation is Hillary. The only candidate whose spouse is tied to a convicted criminal and could well be a subject of a criminal investigation is Hillary. Come election night when the results start coming in you'll be gone from here.; 12/30/15, 8:30 PM
madAsHell said...: YouTube has several interviews with The Donald going back to at least 1988. It becomes apparent that he has been aiming for President for a LONG time. Check out the Letterman interviews, Letterman accuses him of answering questions like he's running for office.....and that was 30 years ago.

Over several interviews, he repeatedly states that his family is foremost. Yeah....I know he has burned through at least three wives, but he appears to be very concerned about the welfare of his children. The consistency of the message is impressive. No one will accuse him of flip-flopping.

oh, yeah.....he doesn't need a tele-prompter.; 12/30/15, 8:31 PM
Leigh said...: Here's another old clip of Trump, generally around the same time period as the interview Ann linked. This one is from Oprah:

http://youtu.be/SEPs17_AkTI; 12/30/15, 9:54 PM
alan markus said...: Cubanbob, I used to think "Inga" disappeared from here because she died - now I am starting to doubt that.; 12/30/15, 10:12 PM
alan markus said...: I meant to direct my "Inga" comment to Eric @ 12:42; 12/30/15, 10:14 PM
Howard said...: ... and all you flyover dirtballs think trump is just like you hahaha. That might be true. He is an errand boy. Sent by grocery clerks. To collect a bill.; 12/30/15, 10:28 PM
chickelit said...: Have fun supporting someone you know should be in jail but wont because she is part of the ruling class.

"Amanda" never seems to given reasons why she supports Hillary. It's only 100% negative on Trump. This is the tell of a charlatan.; 12/30/15, 11:15 PM
Unknown said...: I think another secret of Trump's success is that he does almost no polling. It is an Apple/Jobs approach. Bring an excellent vision, incorporated into an excellent product, and then trust the market to see the value. If they do not see the value, try something else.
shop thời trang công sở online tphcm We know the DC elite have no interest in indicting one of their own. Hillary belongs in jail at best. It is only her influence in DC that keeps her out. I had a TS/SCI clearance and handled a lot of the same types of material she did. If I did what she did with classified intel I would be in jail. Period.; 12/31/15, 12:07 AM
averagejoe said...: Good interview, good questions, good answers.; 12/31/15, 2:53 AM