Trump, Card

Two things you need to know this morning:

1. Donald Trump will not be elected President — he might not even run.

2. Be awfully glad he’s doing what he’s doing.

Anyway, that’s what I’m thinking after reading a Joseph Curl op-ed from Sunday’s Washington Times:

Mr. Trump is doing the one thing all the other candidates are terrified of: Going straight at Mr. Obama. He doesn’t believe the oft-repeated claim by the MSM that Mr. Obama is “unbeatable” in 2012. He doesn’t think Mr. Obama is the greatest orator since Cicero (you don’t see Mr. Trump with a teleprompter). And he thinks voters will understand when he lays out the complexities that America now faces.

For those GOPers huddled and shivering in the wings, take note. Americans hate timidity – and they hate being talked down to, lied to. Fail to heed Mr. Trump, and you’ll find yourself stumping for him next fall.

Yes, Trump indulges in birther nonsense. And, yes, Trump likes to play in the “secret Muslim” dirt. But he is taking Obama head-on on pocketbook issues, in a way I think will likely stick in voters’ memories. And he’s the only one of the GOP field doing it effectively.

Now, there’s no denying that this is much more about Trump’s ego than — well, there really isn’t much outside Trump’s ego. It encompasses all. Nevertheless, I’m reminded a bit of “B-1” Bob Dornan’s longshot presidential run in 1996. There’s no link to this, but I saw him on C-SPAN or somewhere that year, and he was asked why he was in the race. No money, no support — why are you running? And Dornan said, and I paraphrase here, “I want one person in this race attacking Clinton instead of each other.”

And that, whether he means to or not, is exactly what Trump is doing. Will it work? Who knows — Clinton would have coasted to victory over Bob Dole even with a hundred Dornan’s nipping at his heels. Most everything depends on the eventual GOP candidate.

In the meantime, Trump is generating headlines by reminding people that Obamanomics has been a total failure — and that’s a song we all need to be singing.