A few hours ago I was kicking back with my copy of David Axelrod’s autobiography on the sofa of my favorite neighborhood fancy beer haunt. CNN was on TV, and a banner under John King’s large face caught my eye: “BUSH, TRUMP HOLD DUELING CAMPAIGN EVENTS IN KEY STATES.” Yes, I thought. So it begins.
Donald Trumps’s presence in the presidential race will diminish the stature of his fellow candidates and significantly increases the likelihood that, like in 2012, the GOP nominating process makes their party look like a pack of bellicose clowns. It’s the best thing that’s happened to Hillary Clinton’s general election chances since Bernie Sanders launched his campaign.
Jeb Bush is the former two-term governor of the nation’s fourth-largest state. Trump is, among much else, a loudmouth occasional celebretician who has never shown himself to be serious about public policy once in his life. By describing Bush and Trump’s campaign events as “dueling,” CNN is roughly equating their qualifications for office and the legitimacy of their candidacies. That’s not a great look for Jeb. Moreover, since Trump is laughable to most people who vote, it makes Bush seem laughable to be mentioned in the same sentence as him.
A couple minutes later I looked up again, and the banner changed to the much juicier “TRUMP ON BUSH: ‘HE’S A STIFF.’” I could hear it in Trump’s voice, and I lol’d gleefully. He's going to be a bountiful source of hilarity for months to come.
Poor Jeb. I can’t wait to see what The Donald says about Rubio and Walker — the real threats to Obama’s third term — and more importantly, how CNN portrays whatever he says about them.
I wonder what Sean Hannity and the rest of the Fox News crew are saying about Trump. If they are praising him, that’s good: the more legitimacy Trump has among movement conservatives, the less legitimacy the conservative movement has with the American public. Can anyone let me know? My roommates are playing FIFA on the TV and I don’t think they’ll be happy if I switch on Fox.