Puzzled by the rise of Donald Trump? Over at his new website, Styrk, Scott Rasmussen explains it all for you:
The race for the Republican presidential nomination has a long way to go and it’s still quite possible that some candidate other than Donald Trump will be nominated. But, to the shock of many, it’s also possible that Trump could move into the White House next year.
The reason why was visible in the first Republican presidential debate of the season. Trump was asked to explain past campaign contributions to Democrats including Hillary Clinton. It was probably intended as a gotcha question, but didn’t work. More precisely, Trump re-directed the question into an attack on politics as usual.
The billionaire began by saying that he had given money to most of the Republican candidates on the stage with him. Then he connected with the audience by speaking the truth, “our system is broken.” A normal politician might then have described some kind of campaign finance reform proposal or other legislative action that had no chance of becoming law.
Trump took a different approach. He brazenly declared that he gave money to lots of politicians because he was a businessman. “I give to everybody. When they call, I give.” And why did he do so? “When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them, they are there for me.”
For many viewers, that may have been the most honest and authentic line they’d ever heard in a political debate. Think about the contrast with Hillary Clinton who seemed shocked that people wonder why an investment banking firm paid her $675,000 for a speech. For those who doubt that the Democratic frontrunner can be bought, Trump mentioned that Hillary Clinton had come to his wedding. Why? “She didn’t have a choice because I gave.”
Think of Trump as the canary who is ratting out the corruption of the Permanent Bipartisan Fusion Party and you won’t be far wrong. People are fed up, they want to see the temple pulled down, and they don’t much care who does it.
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