CHAMELEON AT WORK – On Being and Beating Donald Trump

TRUMPING
First there was The Apprentice…a hit Reality TV Show. Then there was Celebrity Apprentice. More of the same and another hit. And now another spinoff- the Presidential Primary Debates.

Donald Trump is once again the star of a reality TV show assuming the role he can play so well: the brash, bragging, big-mouth ‘Boss’ and clearly the star. A media success.

And what a pilot show he produced. Coming down the impressive escalator in his signature building on Fifth Avenue in New York City, preceded by his very beautiful wife, the introduction of a loving daughter speaking of her Dad’s ability to dream, and then a speech loaded with criticisms of America as a loser, his plans for making it a winner, a vicious denunciation of our immigration policies with inflammatory comments about Mexico and Mexican immigrants. His words exploded on the Evening News broadcasts, made headlines in America’s newspapers the next morning. What a beginning.

Then the first debate. Did his stage full of rivals realize that they were in his new reality show? Of course not. Center stage, the first question to him and him alone about his negative attitude towards women from a nervy, coiffed blonde moderator. He ‘resented’ the question, she fought back. Perfect. No matter what else was said in the next two hours, those first few moments established the theme of this new reality show.

He was the star. (the blonde received a $10 million book deal). He would get the best lines. And media’s culpability was established. They play so well together. The special questions, the outrageous answers. There would be debate after endless debate. The public loved it; some because they believed in what Trump was saying…others, like an accident on a highway, unable to look away. Ratings soared and with them income for the stations. Trump sucking up all the air from the others. One by one they fall away and now after all these episodes, he leads the primaries; more than three and a half million have voted for him.

A lifetime of practice has prepared Trump to a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity to wheel and deal in the biggest game of all – the chance to be President of the United States.

A good salesman-where the art of the deal is how to close the deal –knows his customers best. He knows what must be said and promised for a sale to go through. He sees what the competition is selling and knew it would be easy. Because he knew what establishment Republicans still refuse to admit…that there is a measureable number of Republicans who hate and resent what the Republican Party has become…what a Republican Congress has become. Do-nothing. Propose nothing. Just say “no” to Obama and refuse to work. Trump knows exactly what to say to this audience. And just says it. And they love it.

There is no reason to recount what these last three months have been like. If you don’t know you wouldn’t be reading this. So the purpose of this piece is to suggest that if Donald Trump actually wins the Republican nomination the man running against Hillary Clinton will not be this Donald Trump but a very different Donald Trump, with a very different approach, a very different script, a very different leading man.

NOW YOU SEE HIM….
An analysis of the language used by candidates in this campaign shows that Donald Trump is speaking to America on a third grade level. All other candidates are using a vocabulary above that level. Trump the salesman knows that very simple language sticks in the mind…without any thought. He knows for certain that every word is understood and repeated endlessly by a public delighted by the sheer nerve of the speaker.

He will know enough about public policy to explain it in language at a third-grade level. He knows there are Democrats who believe exactly what his Republican supporters believe and will vote for him because he is speaking directly to their feelings and fears and hopes; to their needs and to their prejudices.

While appealing to the lowest common denominator of concerns and prejudices is not new in American politics, what is new is that the speaker is not a man who admires politicians (“ …look at them, they are stupid and are working for themselves not you…”) but who gives them money anyway when they show up in New York to ask for some.

But Donald Trump is far more than the role of loud-mouth bigot he is playing in this new show of his. This role is not the one he is known for in his life-long history in New York City. Far from it.

And more. Trump knew that a friend had promised the Liberal Party of New York a large gift to support its candidate for Governor some years ago and had changed his mind. Trump told him he had to give that donation because pledging money to a political party was like pledging money to a Church…you could not change your mind. The donation was made.

And more. When the Liberal Party leadership recently asked Trump to help rehabilitate one of the 2,700 crumbling buildings in the NYCHA public housing system to set an example for the other real estate powerhouses in New York who showed little interest, he said he would “as soon as he finished running for President”.

Look out for this Trump, America. Watch him become charming and concerned; change his language and his attitude; begin to sound like someone who does understand public policy and is ready to work with everybody to get America moving again.

Think you’ve heard the real Trump? Watch the chameleon at work.

“HATE AND CASTRATE”
There are indications that the Clinton campaign is planning a vicious campaign to match Trump word for word and that Bill and even President Obama might be the spokespersons for such a frontal attack…attempting to match Trump insult for insult.

Before those plans are finalized these strategists might pause to observe the chameleon at work. For all of her unparalleled knowledge and depth of experience, Hillary Clinton is no match for the performance talents of Donald Trump who has beaten an entire political party and is now ready to win the Presidency.

We have been watching Donald the terrible. Wait until America sees another Donald, the ”sympathetic man of the people.” This man is an actor. America likes actors who speak directly to them and can play the part. Ronald Reagan comes to mind.