One of the truly remarkable things about Donald Trump's run for the White House is the extent to which he has proven to be immune to criticism.
In many ways, the GOP frontrunner is a living, breathing negative ad for himself. Whether you hate him or you love him, you hold your breath when he opens his mouth because you understand there's a decent chance something absolutely off the wall is about to come spilling out and you're never really sure whether this will be "the one" - the Trumpism that finally pushes too far beyond the sensibilities of even the most ardent supporters.
Incredibly, Trump still hasn't met his Waterloo. He's called Mexicans drug dealing rapists. He suggested that John McCain is a loser for getting himself captured in 'Nam. He's theoretically banned the world's fastest growing religion from North America. He's promised to tax Chinese imports at 40%. He's implied he'll force Mexico to built a giant cage around itself to keep its people from escaping. And now he's suggested that if abortion were illegal, he'd need to figure out the best way to punish women who break the law.
But here's the thing: it works.
Trump is onto something. Apparently, America's blood is boiling and "The Donald" has tapped right into a vein.
Now, the downtrodden masses - i.e. an electorate that's sick and tired of the entrenched political aristocracy inside the Beltway and utterly fed up with being told to "eat cake" by the legions of modern day Marie Antoinettes that flit around Capitol Hill and Mahogany Row with their thumbs glued to Blackberry scroll balls that went extinct on Main Street a half decade ago - are mainlining the Trump brand of political heroine. Millions of Americans are nationalists without even knowing it. They're speaking out against EM mercantilism without the slightest conception of what that means. And most importantly, they're prepared to bet two-and-a-half centuries of history on a campaign platform built on an appeal to one man's ad hoc version of Realpolitik.
Would a Trump presidency usher in a new era of American prosperity? Almost certainly not. But note we said "almost." A Clinton presidency will definitely not change anything. And neither would a Cruz presidency or a Kasich administration. In short, Americans know two things for sure at this point: 1) both Trump and Bernie Sanders would bring real (as opposed to Obama-brand) "change" to America; 2) Trump can win his party's nomination, while Bernie can't.
The takeaway: if you want real change, you vote Trump.
In short, by simply saying what a whole lot of people are thinking anyway, Trump has instilled his campaign with a degree of authenticity that's impossible for other candidates to emulate and that makes him virtually unstoppable save a misstep or two (or three) when someone like Chris Matthews presses him on specifics.
What the billionaire's detractors have failed to understand is that the only way to beat Trump is essentially to join him. That is, you have to show his support base that the establishment is prepared to address their concerns.
Simply insulting his intelligence and/or making a scene at his rallies will not only not work (there's a fun double negative), it will invariably backfire, which brings us full circle to what we said at the outset: Trump. Is. Teflon.
Need proof? Take the 15-year-old girl who quite a few people probably thought was set to become the pepper-sprayed face of the "peaceful" Trump protester movement. What was initially billed as an indiscriminate attack on an underage girl who, according to some reports, was being "groped" taharrush gamea-style by a gang of roudy neo-Trump-Nazis, quickly morphed into a far different story wherein a belligerent teenager, unable to tolerate what she perceived as an afront to American democracy, punches an old man in the face and then is pepper sprayed.
Now, authorities have recommended that someone file a disorderly conduct charge against the girl who insists that she "felt pressure on her breasts."
http://launch.newsinc.com/
"Clearly her punch was illegal," police chief David Moore told reporters.
So once again, attempts to derail Trump have backfired in dramatic fashion. No longer is the headline "15-Year-Old Girl Pepper Sprayed By Trump Fanatics," it is now "Police Recommend Charge Against Girl At Trump Rally." From the AP:
Investigators said Thursday that they're recommending a disorderly conduct charge be filed against a 15-year-old girl who was pepper-sprayed after she punched a man at a rally for Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in Wisconsin.
Video of the altercation shows a crowd of people in a parking lot outside the rally in Janesville on Tuesday. The girl can be seen holding an anti-Trump sign and arguing with a 59-year-old man.
The video shows the man turning away with his hands in the air. Seconds later, the girl punches him in the face. Another man wearing a red Trump hat then pepper-sprayed the girl and disappeared into the crowd.
The girl told police the first man groped her breast. But Chief David Moore told reporters during a news conference Thursday that additional video doesn't show any evidence the man groped her and that 12 out of 13 witnesses said they didn't see him do anything.
Moore said the man who was punched didn't want to press assault charges against the girl, but investigators have recommended juvenile authorities charge her with disorderly conduct for what he called "an act of violence." He said time passed between the alleged groping and the punching and the man and the girl were several feet apart when she threw the punch.
The chief said investigators won't pursue charges of filing a false police report against the girl. He said she genuinely believes she felt pressure on her breast. However, he said, quarters were tight and people were brushing up against one another throughout the crowd.
"Clearly her punch was illegal," he said.