Donald Trump scares the crap out of the Good Old Boys in the Republican Party. Not only that, he scares the crap out of Democrats and all the other "Washington Insiders". There is a very good reason for this, and it is delightfully ironic. The "Establishment" types of all parties have got their knickers in a twist because Trump is breaking the whole political machinery of the "Establishment" by not playing by their rules.
It is no secret that in the American system of party politics,
money talks and BS walks. It is also no secret that until Trump came along, any politician seeking any high office, the Presidency of the US in this case, has to have a lot of money to do it. The standard way the political system requires to obtain this money is through donations of cash, and lots of it.
Where does 99% of this cash that politicians require to get elected come from? Everyone ranging from Big Oil (The Saudi Royal Family, Exon,
et al), Big Pharmaceutical Companies, Monsanto, Foreign Governments, George Soros, and any number of fabulously rich international Corporations, Wall Street, Banks, Special Interest Groups and - you get the idea. And these big corporate interest donate to both candidates in any given election just to hedge their bets no matter who wins - they own both of the candidates.
Of course, any politician who takes donations has to take into consideration that they are in fact owned by their donors. No one gives a politician any money unless that donor gets what he's paid for. Politicians have to say the right things that keep their donors happy in order to keep the money coming in. If they screw up or say something their rich corporate donors don't like, the money stops coming in and the mass media piles on because they get their money largely from the same people who donate to political candidates. This is, however, not the case with Donald Trump. He's disgustingly rich and he can finance his campaign a dozen times over. And he doesn't have to please his donors because he is his own donor. And this is what has the Republican Party big-wigs all in a tizzy.
No matter how outrageous Trump gets, his money is essentially bottomless compared to the 'Establishment Candidates'. Trump can screw them all up (and he will) by not taking matching funds from the Federal Government, which means he can spend as much money on his campaign as he wants. He can break any candidate that opposes him. But that's not the reason Trump is rising in the poles even after he handed John McCain his arse on a silver platter with a side dish of 'screw you' as the second course.
The real appeal of "
The Donald" is the very fact that he is not owned by anyone but himself. He has told his supporters that he doesn't need donations so they should just save their money and let him spend his own money to get elected. He makes it clear that he says what he thinks, unfiltered, and this makes for really good Popularist appeal. You don't have to worry about him bending over backwards to kiss the collective arse of Big Oil, Wall Street, or bow down to the Saudi King for publicity shots in The New York Times and Time Magazine.
His rivals in the Republican field for President (most of them) are all bent out of shape because he can say what he wants to say and not have to worry about where the money is coming from. And that alone irks them to death. In the news media,
it's all about Donald no matter what.
Trump is untouchable by the mass media. You see, the normal politician can be lambasted in the media and his donations will dry up. This tactic doesn't and can't work on Trump. After all, he's got more money than all the other candidates put together and all he has to do is keep himself happy and the money is always there. The Mass Media doesn't know how to handle this - even Fox News is frustrated that they can't dent Donald. The media and his opponents in the Republican nomination race attack him, and it only makes him go up even more in the polls. Too funny!
Trump is also not the whimpy "milquetoast" squishy "Democrat Light" candidate that most of the Republican candidates are. You know where he stands - he is unapologetic in the extreme which is refreshing to most people across the political spectrum. Politics is all about Name Recognition and Trump has it. And he has more money than Jeb Bush can muster from Big Oil and the Saudis/OPEC. Trump is nobody's boy but Trump's. And the Washington Insiders hate it.
The biggest nightmare the Republicans have is not that Trump actually gets the Republican nomination. Their biggest nightmare is if he
doesn't get the nomination and runs as a third party/independent candidate. That would guarantee a Democrat win in 2016 at least, or a situation whereby no candidate for President gets enough electoral votes to win at best.
The entertainment value of this campaign is priceless. Trump has got his foot firmly implanted in the arse of the whole political campaign system and is exposing it for what it is: a festival of influence peddling which he is the only one who didn't buy an entry ticked.
Is Trump a clown? A sideshow? Not a serious candidate? I don't think so. I think he's quite serious and given his successful business practices, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he didn't get the nomination.
The only thing that could be more amusing would be a Donald Trump - Bernie Sanders ticket in 2016. Now, I'd vote for that ticket just to see what happens.
Don't you just love it when the whole system comes crashing down in a sparkle-fest of irony and hypocrisy on parade?